The jungle river had run the same direction for ten thousand years.
Downhill. Obviously. Rivers run downhill. That is the whole point of rivers.
So when the animals woke up to find the river running uphill —
Upstream. Against the current. The wrong way entirely —
Everyone agreed this was very bad.
The crocodile said so.
The heron said so.
Even the fish, who were being moved backward whether they liked it or not, seemed displeased.
“Rivers don’t run backwards,” said the crocodile.
“This one does,” said the river, unhelpfully. 🌊
🌿 Find the Cause
The animals split up.
Upstream: the heron, the otter, and a very determined turtle.
Downstream: the crocodile, a family of capybaras, and Alexander, who happened to be there.
“Something is blocking downstream,” said Alexander. “If the water can’t go forward it pushes back. We need to find the blockage.”
“How do you know that?” said the crocodile.
“I read it,” said Alexander. “Once. In a book about water.”
The crocodile considered this.
“Lead the way,” said the crocodile, which was an excellent sentence to hear from a crocodile.
🌊 The Blockage
Half a mile downstream, they found it.
A landslide.
Recent — the soil was still wet. A whole hillside had come down in the night, quietly, while the jungle slept, and dropped itself across the river’s path.
Mud. Rocks. Three trees lying sideways. One very confused armadillo sitting on top of it all, not sure how it got there.
“We have to move it,” said Alexander.
“It’s enormous,” said the capybara.
“There are a lot of us,” said Alexander.
💛 Everyone Digs
The crocodile moved rocks with his tail.
Crash. Splash.
The capybaras dug through the mud with their broad flat feet.
Squelch squelch squelch.
The otter, back from upstream, directed operations from a high rock.
“Left! Your other left! No, the big one!”
Alexander pulled at branches with both hands until the palms were red.
The armadillo, recovered from its confusion, helped in a small armadillo-sized way.
And then — after two hours of organised chaos —
A gap.
Water trickled through.
Then more.
Then the river found its way with the sureness of something that has waited long enough —
WHOOOOOOSH.
Back downstream. The right way. The only way.
The fish stopped looking disgruntled.
“How did you know?” said the crocodile to Alexander.
“A book about water,” said Alexander again.
The crocodile looked at Alexander with new respect.
Books about water.
Who knew. 🌊