Huckleberry Hound: Hero of the Stage

Act 3: Boogie Through the Jungle

The curtain closed, and Huck prepared for the next scene. He looked through the script and saw a scene that looked like an island with a jungle.

"Oooooooh!" he exclaimed. "We should have the ship sail to the jungle!"

"The jungle?" Lyra asked. "I've never been to a jungle before. Will we be okay?"

"Of course!" Huck replied. "The jungle is filled with animals, and a treasure or two! And if an animal chases us, I'll be right there with you!"

He took off his sea captain's cap, and put on a safari pith helmet, and he put his camera around his neck. "Come on, Lyra! We're going on a safari!"

When the curtain opened again, Huck and Lyra arrived at the jungle. The whole place was covered in lush green tropical plant life and tall towering trees with moss and vines. There was a drone in the air of buzzing insects and squawking birds. Colorful flowers poked up from the ground, spreading their petals out wide for the buzzing bees and midge flies to come and lap up the sweet nectar inside. You could almost feel a hazy, humid mist in the air as well.

Huck and Lyra slowly made their way down a small trail past a huge grove of guava trees. They could already hear a familiar sound coming from the branches up above.

"Eek! Eek!"

"What's that noise?" Lyra asked.

"That's a monkey!" Huck explained. "Or better make that a bunch of monkeys!"

All of a sudden, a group of cute capuchin monkeys leapt down from the trees and started leaping around, chattering at the duo. One plucked a guava from the tree and flung it right at Huck! It landed on his snout with a splat. He chuckled in response and licked his lips as the pink juice dripped down his face.

"Mmm! Tasty!" he grinned. "Thanks for the snack, Mr. Monkey!"

"Eek! Eek!"

Lyra giggled. "They sure are cute, aren't they?"

"Yeah, they're hilarious too!" Huck replied. "I love pretending to be a monkey!" And he started hopping around, screeching like a monkey. "Oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh, AAAHH, AAAHH, AAAHH!!"

Lyra burst into laughter. "You sure are silly, Huck!"

Huck laughed. "Glad you think so! I love imitating animals!"

They walked a little further into the jungle, and soon came face to face with some very colorful birds! There were parrots, parakeets and even a big toucan! Huck chuckled as the toucan hopped on its perch and titled its head at him, making a clicking sound.

"Now he sure is a funny little feller!" the hound smiled. "Just look at the size of that beak! Must feel pretty heavy." And he snapped a picture with his camera.

As they kept walking, they soon came across a hyena.

"I've never seen an animal like this one, Huck," Lyra said. "What is it?"

"That's a hyena! And I love hyenas! They love to laugh, and when they laugh, well..."

But before he could say another word, the hyena began to laugh. Huck was laughing so hard, he nearly fell to the ground.

"What's so funny?" Lyra asked.

"Those hyenas!" Huck chortled. "I can't help it! Whenever they laugh, I laugh too! HAHAHAHAHA!!"

Huck laughed and laughed until his sides began to hurt. When he finally stopped laughing, he and Lyra continued to walk through the jungle, when they saw a giraffe!

"A giraffe!" Huck shouted. "I can try to stand just as tall as one!" He stood on his tippy toes, but he began to wobble, and he fell on his bottom.

"Are you okay?" Lyra asked.