Season 3, episode 5
Zunzuncito is done dealing with the small life. He wants to be big. Luckily, his new frog friend Monty knows about a special magic flower that might be able to grant his wish. He just doesn’t know where it is. So, the hummingbird and frog head to the woods in search of the all-knowing Majá. On the way, Zunzuncito learns a few things about his small amphibious friend.
This story is told in the the present tense. Repeated words and phrases include frog, forest, trees, ground, jump and fly.
Chapter 5: Monty
Zunzuncito only wants to live his life and suck sweet nectar from pretty flowers. He doesn’t want to have problems with other animals or insects. But Zunzuncito has had problems. He has had problems because he is small.
First, he had a problem with a bigger hummingbird. Zunzuncito is a hummingbird, but he is the smallest hummingbird in the world. Then, he had a problem with bees. The bees attacked him because they didn’t want to share the flowers. Then he had a problem with a spider. The spider wanted to suck Zunzuncito’s blood for his dinner!
An animal rescued Zunzuncito. He thought it was a big animal, but in reality his rescuer is very, very small. It is a Monte Iberia frog named Monty. Monty is small, but Zunzuncito wants to be big. Monty says that there is a magic flower and that it is possible to be big by sucking the nectar from the flower.
Zunzuncito is very happy that he is no longer trapped in a spider web. He is also excited to have a new friend. He is anxious to drink the magic nectar from the special flower and be big. To do that, Zunzuncito and Monty need to talk to Majá. They want to find the flower with the magic nectar. They don’t know where it is, but Majá knows everything.
“Where is Majá?” Zunzuncito asks Monty.
“She is in the forest. She likes the trees,” Monty replies.
Monty hops in the direction of the forest. Zunzuncito moves his wings to fly. He can’t fly very high in the sky because it is really difficult to see Monty in all the plants.
Zunzuncito flies and Monty hops in the forest. While they go to the forest, they talk about their lives. Zunzuncito learns that Monty is a special type of frog. He is a Monte Iberian frog. The Monte Iberian frog is only one centimeter long and is the smallest frog in Cuba and all of North America. It isn’t the smallest frog in the world, but there are only two frogs smaller than Monty in the rest of the world.
Monty is an amphibian. As an amphibian, he lives in the water and in plants. He likes to swim a lot and he likes to eat little insects. Sometimes he eats little spiders too, that’s why he knows how to break spider webs.
Zunzuncito is fascinated by his new friend. Monty has an interesting life with a lot of adventures. He doesn’t seem frustrated by his small size. But Zunzuncito is frustrated with his small size. He doesn’t like being little. That’s why he needs to talk to Majá and find the magic flower.
But there is a problem. Who is Majá? Zunzuncito doesn’t know.
“Who is Majá?” Zunzuncito asks Monty.
“Majá is the smartest animal in all of Cuba,” Monty responds.
“Yes, I understand that she is the smartest animal. But what kind of animal is she?”
“She is a reptile.”
“What kind of reptile.”
“She is a boa.”
“What is a boa?”
“It’s a…a…snake,” Monty finally says.
“A snake?!” Zunzuncito exclaims. He doesn’t like snakes. He is afraid of snakes.
“Yes, Majá is a snake. But she is intelligent and good. Do you want to find the magic flower?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want to be big?”
“Yes.”
“Then you need to talk with Majá,” Monty says.
When they arrive at the forest, Zunzuncito looks for the snake in the trees. He flies high among the trees and looks for Majá. Monty looks for the snake on the ground. He hops among the plants and looks for Majá on the ground.
“Majá! Majá! Where are you?” Monty shouts while he hops.
Zunzuncito doesn’t see anything in the trees. Monty doesn’t see anything on the ground.
“Majá isn’t here, Monty. What do we do now?” Zunzuncito asks his frog friend.
Suddenly, the plants move and Zunzuncito and Monty hear the hiss of an enormous serpent. The two small animals turn around and see the face of Majá.
You can also watch a video of this story on YouTube!
Zunzuncito’s Adventure is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats.
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