Updated: Jun 18, 2020
Tumble climbs out of his soft tree and sees Ruff near a Wild One.
Huggy calls from his rose tree, "Ruff, There's a wild thinga-mabob behind you!"
Ruff turns around and roars, "Ruff! Ruff! RUFF!"
"Are you coughing?" The Wild One asks. "Please use your sleeve."
"I'm scaring you away," Ruff explains.
"How come it isn't working?" Wild One asks.
Wild One yawns a huge, tooth baring yawn, and stretches out his long sharp paws.
Ruff sits down and thinks. "I don't know why it isn't working. It worked on the Buzz Bird. Do you know why?"
"Well," Wild One says. "Maybe it's because I'm bigger than you. Or maybe it's because I am tired and don't wish to move."
"I'll try again, if you don't run away right now," Ruff threatens.
"Or maybe it's because you're inept," Wild One guesses as he climbs a nearby tree.
"I am too ept," Ruff pouts. "I'm as ept as they come in my fur type. You should be scared when I bark."
"Okay. I'll work on that," yawns Wild One. "Meanwhile, what's your name?"
"I'm Ruff."
"Not that again," Wild One says, stretching out his sharp claws.
"What's your name?" Ruff asks.
"Can't you guess," Wild One says. "It's pretty obvious."
"How'm I supposed to guess? Ruff asks.
"Rumplestiltskin," guesses Tumble. "That was in a book once, at bedtime."
"Wrong, but a good one." says Wild One.
"Kitty?" guesses Huggy.
"No. A lot more obvious than that," Wild One yawns again.
"Okay," Ruff says. "I give up."
The Wild One says, "My name is Spot." and he promptly falls asleep in the rainforest.
Updated: Jun 18, 2020
"Look, Ruff! Here's a bench. I could rest on on this bench while you chase your tail."
"I think I won't be chasing my tail anymore," Ruff says.
Tumble climbs up on the back of the bench. "Hey, here's some green stuff behind the bench."
Tumble's tail comes out to wag.
"You grew a new tail," Ruff shouts.
Tumble looks around at his tail as if in surprise. "Sure did," he says. "I hear it is a characteristic of my species."
"Aren't you a dog?" Ruff asks.
"Not sure. My label got shortened by Kid Scissor. That was a long time ago."
Ruff looks around at all his seams and finds his label. "I'm a Westcliff Collection Wash in Cold Water."
"Is that a species?" Tumble asks while exploring. "Look at all this stuff back here."
"It's our big rainforest. Be careful, we don't know what other wild animals there might be here."
"Oh! Oh! Oh!" Tumble cries out.
Ruff climbs up on the bench and peeks through the railing. "Are you okay?"
"Perfectly fine. Think I"ll take a nap here."
"Take a nap in the rainforest?" Ruff says. "That could be dangerous."
"I like this jungle bush. It's very soft."
"Okay. You sleep. Huggy and I will keep watch for the wild thanga-mabobs."
"What are those?"
"We don't know. We haven't met them yet."
Updated: Feb 15, 2021
Ruff meets a stranger on the steps down to the rainforest. Ruff is afraid at first but then he remembers that the stranger might be afraid, as well. So Ruff says, "Hello. Welcome to our jungle."
The Stranger says, "Ooops."
Ruff says, "Who are you?"
The stranger says, "I took a tumble."
Ruff yells to Huggy, "Hey, Huggy, meet the new animal. His name is Tuka Tumble."
"No," The stranger says, "My name is . . .
"Huggy says, "Nice to meet you, Tumble. I'm hanging out over here to avoid the Buzz Bird. Watch out for the Buzz Bird."
Tumble says, "That's not a Buzz Bird. That's a Hummingbird."
"Sounds Buzzy to me," Ruff says.
"And," Tumble says, "My real name is . . .
Ruff says, "My name is Ruff."
"Are you barking at me?" Tumble asks as he tries to hide in the flowers.
"No. That's my name. I'm Ruff."
"Okay. My real name is . . ."
"Wanna play, Tumble?"
"Aw heck, sure," Tumble says.
"Let's chase our tails," Ruff says.
"Have you ever caught your tail?" Tumble asks.
"No. That's what makes it a good game."
"That's pretty funny," says Tumble. "An endless game of chasing your end."
"Huh?" says Ruff while he sniffs the basil in the pot.
"Do you ever listen?" Tumble asks?
"Come on Tumble, let's chase our tails now."
"I don't have a tail," Tumble says, hiding his tail between his legs.
"Why not?"
"I caught it once." Tumble says.
Ruff sits down fast. "Maybe that's not such a good game after all."
