THE SINGING KAMILA

One day  Kamila was nibbling on some green grass in the field. The sun was shining in the sky and kamila's big ears were filled with the delightful sound of grasshoppers. The grasshoppers rubbed their legs together and sang their tiny hearts out.

KAMILA felt light and merry and exclaimed:

“What delicious grass! What a delightful day! What wonderful music! How wonderful it feels to be alive on a day like this.”

Of course, although he was happy, his eyes still looked sad - Kamila can’t help looking like that.

Anyway, Kamila did a little dance - a kind of foxtrot - and swished his tail.

“You know what?” he said. “If I could sing like those grasshoppers, I would never feel sad, and I would always be merry. Even when I’m carrying a heavy load, I could sing to myself and be happy.”

So he worked up the courage to go over to the grasshoppers, and speak to them about their music.

“Excuse me dear creatures,” he said, “I hope you don’t mind me interrupting your performance. I’m your biggest fan! I love your music and I go to all your concerts!”

“No problem at all,” said the lead-singer of the grasshoppers. “Flattery will get you everywhere!”

“Oh good,” Kamila said, “because I have one little request.”

“Sorry, we don’t do requests. We only have one tune, and the one that goes crickets, crickets, crickets.”

“Oh yes, that will always be my personal number one,” Kamila said. “But my request is of a different nature. I want you to teach me to sing.”

“Certainly,” said the grasshopper. The more who can sing the merrier. Try this, “DO, RE, MI, FA, SOL, LA, TI.”

Kamila tried. “Do Ray Me EeeH AWE!”

The sound was truly awful. All the baby grasshoppers were terrified and went to hide in the bushes.

“Hmm,” said the grasshopper’s lead singer. “Maybe you are going to need a few lessons to get the hang of this.”

“Oh yes, I’ll keep trying. I will never give up! People say I’m super stubborn. It’s my best feature!”

“How awful, I mean good for you,” said the grasshopper, “Trying is all very well, and admirable, but if you want to be a great singer, you should take this top tip from me. Over on the other side of the mountain, there is an especially musical spring. You’ll know it, because it sings all sorts of heavenly tunes. If you go and drink from that spring, your voice will be ten times better. All the top singers drink from it. But don’t tell anyone, because it’s a secret spring.”

“Thank you,” Kamila said. “Thank you so much. I’ll head off right away and find that secret spring.”

Kamila left the lush green field, and headed off round the mountain in search of the musical spring that could help him sing beautifully. Of course he never found it, because it didn’t exist, but he kept on looking for ever more. Every now and then he stopped to sing for various creatures, but none of them appreciated his art. And so the poor Kamila never made a successful career as a singer, however much he tried.

- END