Okapi’s Mysterious Musical Object
Follow Okapi and her friends as they discover the sounds of the Congo rainforest, using a peculiar object Okapi discovers. This story is humorous, fun, and subtly stresses the importance of enjoying each other’s company, rather than depending on technology to entertain us.
Illustrations are ongoing, full text is below.
FULL TEXT:
Deep in the Congo Rainforest, lived an Okapi.
She was known for her fancy stripes, but it was her ears that made her special.
Okapi loved to listen to all the wonderful sounds she could hear.
Today, she was visiting her friend, Hippo.
“What’s your favorite sound?” She asked, Hippo.
“I like the sound when I blow bubbles like this!” Hippo replied.
Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle!
As Hippo blew her bubbles, Okapi heard the wind blow through the leaves.
The wind was carrying a melody! Deep in the rainforest, music was playing.
Okapi followed the music, passing the sounds of the waterfall.
Whoosh, Whoosh, Whoosh!
As the leaves parted, Okapi found an object in the grass.
It was small, square, and made a noise like:
Boom-shaka, Boom-shaka, Boom-shaka!
Animals from around the rainforest began to gather around.
“What is that?” asked Hippo.
“I don’t know,” replied Elephant, “but it makes me want to dance!”
The animals all cheered as Elephant began to dance.
Stomp, stomp, stomp!
The ground shook as the animals joined Elephant to dance to the music.
Bow-chicka, bow-chicka, bow-chicka-wow!
The music stopped suddenly when the object spoke:
“I’m sorry I didn’t catch that, try again!” Beep.
The animals stopped. Parrot recognized the language.
“Hello?” He cawed.
“Hello!” goes the mysterious voice.
The animals gasped.
“Is it alive?” asked Monkey.
“Playing monkey noises.” replies the voice.
Ooh ooh, aah aah, ooh ooh, ahh ahh!
“It knows the song of my people!” Monkey exclaims.
“What other songs does it know?” asked Okapi.
“Music?” says Parrot with his best imitation voice.
“Opening music app…” the voice says.
Elephant trumpets her nose in anticipation of the music.
The object repeated her trumpet sound right back.
Brrrr, Brrrr, Brrrr!
Okapi thought for a moment, then stomped her hooves with a thump, thump, thump.
The object played back, Brrr thump, Brrrr thump, Brrr thump.
“Everyone, make a sound!” Okapi said.
Parrot went, “Squawk, squawk, squawk!”
The object replied, “Brrr squawk thump, Brrr squawk thump!
One by one the animals gave their best noises.
The rainforest filled with their music.
The music came to a halt when the voice said, “Battery at zero. Going to sleep.”
The animals stared at the object.
“It’s sleeping.” explained Parrot to the animals.
“Do we say goodnight to it?” Asked, Okapi.
“Seems rude not to.” Replied Parrot.
“Goodnight!” The animals say together.
They stood in silence, already missing the object’s music.
But, Okapi began to stomp her hooves again with a smile.
Thump, thump, thump,
The animals caught on quickly and began to form a line.
With Okapi in front, they formed the best conga line in the Congo.
They joined their noises together once more.
They danced and sang into the night, enjoying the company of one another.
Even today, the rainforest animals tell the legend of Okapi’s mysterious musical object.
But most importantly, they remember just how fun it was to make music together.
All words and images belong to Jessie Fitzgerald. All rights reserved. Copyright March 27th, 2024.