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The Panda Who Never Climbed a Tree To The Top

 There was once a panda. He was a relatively nice panda. He had a bag, belly and a hand full of bamboo. 

This relatively nice panda with a bag, belly and hand full of bamboo, travelled everywhere he could. He looked up at the sky, constantly. It was beautiful but, then his neck started to hurt. So he started to look down. All he could see was his belly. An hour he was looking at his belly. Apparently there is nothing interesting about bellies. He almost fell asleep 4 times while looking at his belly. The danger of getting hurt was too great, so he decided to look ahead.

Smart decision. The panda wondered why he hadn’t been doing all this time. While on his journey to look ahead, he met a lot of animals. 

The 1st one were squirrels. Squirrels were interesting to him. They were always running. He wondered why they were always in a hurry. 

He decided to sit there on the ground and eat more bamboo. (Classic panda!) 

He noticed them carrying acorns back to their trees. 

Trees! Another people who can climb trees. “Why does everyone like to climb trees?”, he thought to himself in frustration. “Anywhere I go, these people always want to climb trees! “ He said while he ferociously chomped on the bamboo stick.

One moment they are at the ground, another they’re at the top. I wonder if I could do that. So he got up, took a breath and ran at the tree. He got up half a feet before falling flat on his feet.

“Well that’s not for me!”. That’s our panda, falling FLAT on his back again. Wait,  no I don’t think he has done this before, or has he? Why does his back hurt all the time then?

*

He sat there for a few more hours, seeing the dedicated squirrels making pyramids and pyramids of acorns, standing tall, showing off the skill of the squirrels. He took his bag and belly. Left once more.

He walked through plains. Deserts. Forests. Mountains. Plateaus. Plains. 

Plains…..? Oh shit, he walked in a circle. He randomly chose a new direction.

*

Having changed his direction, the panda eventually landed in a different forest. Another arboreal animal. These were monkeys. The monkeys were scary and intimidating and cool. The panda both wanted to be them and live as far as possible from them. While he couldn’t swing between trees like the monkeys, but maybe, he could climb like them? They were far more dextrous. They even had toys! I mean they were sticks bound together with a vine, but still, it was pretty cool.

So he tried. He studied the monkeys. Placed his feet exactly where they placed it. Every time he tried he fell flat on his face. He would never be able to climb the thin branches of any tree, he thought. He tried to get rid of those thoughts and climbed again. 

He jumped, placed his feet, jumped again. Climb. Climb. Climb. Fall. Fall. Fall. 

He could never figure out how they climbed, it’s like each one of them had their own ways and method. Yet it all looked the same.

Disappointed once again, he packed his bamboos and left. After weeks of travel, he came back home. Where all his panda buddies lived. Some of them lay, sat and relaxed on the ground, while others were having fun in the trees. They all greeted him on his return and like nothing had changed, he simply reclaimed his place on the ground. He was happy to be back at his place. Some climbed up, others came down, he didn’t move. 

“Will you ever come up?” , someone from the trees shouted. Panda, turned away from them. He could never understand why they teased him like this. He knew he had never been able to do it, they did too. He had made his peace with it, why couldn’t they?

*

It’s another day, another time. The panda is lost. Yes after travelling the world, panda is lost in the local forest. It can happen.

He’s terrified until he comes across THE BIGGEST TREE EVER!!

Without any other thought, he thinks, “This I can climb.” He tries and oh my god he can. He places every step properly, the branches are thick enough to support him. He climbs and climbs. The top is so close!

 

 

 

The top was so close. His feet slip and he falls to the ground. Fortunately, he isn’t hurt. 

He will never climb a tree properly. He doesn’t care. He goes back to his home and just lies there. Chanting to himself.-

Calm.

Calm.

Calm.

Calm.

Calm.

Calm.

Calm.

Calm.

Calm.He is calm. There are no worries. He asks himself, “Why did I want to climb the tree?”

Silence.

“To be able to see the sky properly.”, a voice in his head whispers.

 

He gets up. He grabs his bag and borrows some from the other pandas. 

He starts collecting bamboos, as many as he can. All bags are overflowing. He takes them next to the giant tree and starts working He arranges a wide base, with bamboos and then slowly builds ahead to the top. Tying them together with vines. He just keeps building.

*

Oh my god.

He looks at his creation. He grabs his bag and comfortably climbs it. The steps are stable. Nothing is going wrong.

 

He enjoys the climb so much. He only notices he is at the top, when they are no more steps left.

 

The view is breathtaking. Definitely worth it. He takes out a piece of bamboo and enjoys the rest of the day and every other day.

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