Jiminy Crickets!
Once upon a time, there was a small and hard-working gecko. He ate crickets and slept on a comfy heat rock and lived happily with a flowering cactus plant.
One day, his lunch crickets were dropped into his tank as usual, but before he could hunt them all, two of them escaped. They cricketed around the house, chirping to each other. Eventually they died, but not before the landlord of the house got an earful of their calls. He warned the gecko not to let it happen again.
For a while, the gecko was careful, and caught all the crickets every time. He grew. Beautiful black spots dotted his yellow body. His long tail had a lovely blue tinge, and he shed his skin. Months passed, and he forgot the landlord’s warning…
One winter’s day, the gecko was sluggishly dozing on his rock when his lunch dropped in from the top of his world. Crickets, surprised by their fall, and wary of the predator waiting for them, hopped frantically about, launching themselves against the walls of the tank, into the cactus plant and even landing on the sleepy lizard.
In his panic, one cricket sprang up, lighting on the top of the cactus just long enough to re-load the powerful spring in his legs, before flinging himself at the top of the tank. The cover was coming down. He twisted his body under the lip of the cover and escaped!
There wasn’t much for a cricket to do in the cold house. There were no potential mates to answer his plaintive calls, and though he chirped and chirped and chirped from his hiding place, he was neither answered nor found.
“That’s it!,” the landlord shouted several days later, exhausted from crawling under the couch and behind the bookshelf for his insect nemesis. “This chirping is driving me crazy! Gecko, you will have to move.”
“Move??” thought the gecko. “To where? To do what?” Confidence shot, he knew his questionable hunting skills, and reptilian physique, would do little to recommend him to potential housemates. He spent hours in silence, thinking about what he could do.
Eventually, it dawned on him. Children! He could be a children’s gecko! He loved seeing their excited faces pressed against the walls of his tank as he hunted. The ringing sounds of their voices urging him on, the little fingers tapping on the glass. He could teach them about different kinds of animals.
Meanwhile, at Buddings, we were looking for a handsome creature, either aquatic or terrestrial, that would take over the counter in the block corner when the fish moved to their new aquaponic system above the puzzles.
We all got together late last Friday night, and it was a perfect match! The gecko’s attractive personality and fierce hunting delighted us and we know the daycare kids will love the beautiful little creature. Now all that remains to make him an official member of the team is to give him a name. Maybe you have an idea. Why don’t you leave it in the comments box below?
