The Shape of Love
One day, Little Pony waded across a small river and successfully delivered the wheat to the mill. On the way back, he saw a strange scene: a little boy, draped in a large cloak and holding a shiny little trumpet, was leading a lion, an elephant, a giraffe, a hedgehog, and—huh, even a little monkey! They were all circling around a big banyan tree, round and round. Little Pony was extremely curious and trotted over with a “clop-clop” to see what was happening.
Tick-tock, tick-tock, the little boy blew the trumpet, and everyone, as if ordered, immediately stood still. The little boy jumped up, grabbed one of the banyan tree’s aerial roots, and swung his body into the air. The large cloak fluttered like wings in the wind. “Ah-oh, little guy, little darling, I’m so ticklish! Let go of me!” The little boy shook up and down, shouting, “I’m going to tickle you, and I won’t come down! I won’t!”
“Ah-oh, my little darling, facing another problem, huh? Ah-oh, spare me, let’s find the answer together. Ah-oh!” The little boy gently landed on the ground, but the cloak got snagged on a branch, and the thin string tied around his neck broke, causing the cloak to slip to the ground.
The little boy didn’t mind the cloak falling to the ground and, as if asking a question or maybe talking to himself, said, “Every day, my mom hugs me and keeps saying, ‘I love you, darling.’ But until now, I still don’t understand what ‘love’ really is. What is ‘love’? It seems like something really fun!”
Hearing the little boy’s words, Little Pony was confused too: Yeah, what exactly is “love”?
“Hey, ‘love’ is a hug! But unfortunately, we’re covered in spikes, so how can we hug?” the hedgehog said, raising its pointed snout.
“I know, I know, ‘love’ is scratching an itch. When you’re itchy, I’ll scratch it for you!” The little monkey did a somersault to the base of the banyan tree, laughing as he scratched the tree trunk.
With the monkey leading the way, everyone started talking all at once. The lion, with the loudest voice, roared, “‘Love’ is a piece of meat! When you’re hungry, I’ll grab a piece of meat for you to eat!”
The elephant, with an even louder voice, bellowed, “‘Love’ is leading the way, guiding everyone to find water and food!”
The giraffe, who couldn’t speak, simply walked up to the banyan tree and started rubbing its long neck against the trunk, rubbing and rubbing…
The little monkey laughed and pointed at the giraffe, shouting, “Look, ‘love’ is scratching an itch…”
Little Pony was even more confused…
Tick-tock, tick-tock, the trumpet sounded urgently, and everyone quieted down.
The banyan tree smiled and said, “Little darling, think carefully, who do you think is right?”
The little boy tilted his head and thought for a moment before saying, “I think I understand a little bit, but I can’t put it into words!”
“Hehe, your cloak’s tie has broken, what will you do?” the banyan tree calmly asked.
The little boy picked up the cloak, holding it close to his chest, and said, “I’ll ask my mom to fix it.”
“My aerial roots are perfect for making a tie!” the banyan tree continued.
“This is something I’m good at!” The little monkey quickly jumped up the tree, tore off a piece of the aerial root, and handed it to the little boy.
The banyan tree, in pain, let out a “ouch,” shaking its branches, and said, “When you need something, I’ll give it to you, even if it hurts—that’s love!”
The little boy stood there, stunned, not knowing what to say…
“Clop-clop,” it was time for Little Pony to go home. On the way back, Little Pony kept thinking: What exactly is “love”?
Children, can you tell Little Pony?
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
