Popo and Bobo

Gosh...I wrote this such a long time ago. I still enjoy reading the story of Popo and Bobo. Maybe I'll write more next time.

(1) Once upon a time, there lived two berries in a place hidden under a small leaf, on a Woogee tree in my garden.
They were called Popo and Bobo.
Popo smelled of strawberries and cream. And Bobo smelled like a garbage truck. Despite their differences, Popo and Bobo got along fine. They played, ate and slept together everyday under that small leaf. It was hard to hear them in the day because everyone was up and about, talking and doing their everyday things.
But in the nights and especially when it was very quiet and still, you could almost hear them talk to each other.
‘Hello?’
‘Hello?’
‘Hello, you still there?’, asked Popo.
‘Yup, I am.’, replied Bobo.
‘When I wake up I will find you right Bobo?’, Popo whispered with a lilt. She loves saying ‘right’ with a lilt.
‘Yes you will find me, now don’t worry just go to sleep.’
‘Ok. Bobo?’
‘Yeah?’
‘Just checking!’
Bobo began to find Popo’s behavior really odd. He did not understand why she felt like he was going to disappear in the morning. After all, he had been living under that little leaf for so long and there was never one day he was not around to play, eat and sleep with her. He decided that maybe Popo was suffering from a worm infection, because he remembered his friend Toto complaining to about his Lolo’s stange behavior too, which cleared up after a visit to the Koyok berry. So Bobo stopped worrying for Popo and suggested she go see the Koyok berry to check out the worm infection.
Popo felt happy after Bobo told her to go visit the Koyok berry. She always knew that Bobo would not disappear in the morning, she just asked because she was afraid Bobo may have had the same thoughts as she did.

(2) Popo heard stories about places beyond the Woogee tree, where more berries who smelled of strawberries and cream lived under bigger leaves. She began to wonder how living with berries so much like herself would be like – she would not have to pinch her nose when she was near them - for starters! So Popo thought and thought about that place where berries like her lived.
Bobo could not understand why Popo was in a daze the whole day. Maybe the worm infection was really making her really sick. Popo did not play and said ‘hello’ to him anymore, but she sat on the edge of the leaf tracing the patterns on it over and over again. She alsp kept asking him if he was going to be around when she woke up the next day.
Then Bobo lost his temper and shouted, ‘Hello, hello! What’s wrong with you. If you keep asking me I will fart my garbage truck fart in your face! Stop asking me!’
Popo got really scared because she has never seen Bobo lose his temper like that before. So her eyes started to rain and she started to trace the patterns on the leaf more furiously.
The skies opened with lots of rain that day too. Popo and Bobo clung onto the stalks they held onto during the rain and waited in silence for it to stop. Woogee had never seen so much rain in its tree lifetime and Popo and Bobo never clung onto their stalks as long as before.
Bobo could not stand the silence any further, finally asked, ’Popo, why do you keep asking me if I will be around when you wake up? I have no where else to go you know.’

‘ So the only reason you are still here is because you have no where else to go?’, hissed Popo.

‘That is not what I’m saying, Popo.’, Bobo replied tiredly.

‘I thought you said we would look for another leaf when this one falls off. So is this the only leaf that has not fallen off, so far? Is that why you are still here?’, demanded Popo.

(Bobo came from a type of berry family that shared its leaf with other berries)

Bobo kept very silent. He was for two reasons – one, Popo had never asked so many questions at one go and he was finding it hard to answer them. Two – this was the longest leaf he has ever shared with a berry in the Woogee tree and he really did not know if that was the reason he was staying with Popo. Perhaps her leaf would never die.

(3) The rain finally stopped after two sunrises. On the second sunrise Popo woke up with a start and realized she had slept through 2 sunrises. She had never slept so much in her berry life. ‘It must be too much thinking’ she thought.
She looked spun around to look for Bobo. He was not there. Popo rubbed eyes and looked around again. Bobo was really gone. Then Popo wailed in agony that her berry friend had left her. She cried so loudly that the berries from the top screamed at her to shut up.
Meanwhile at the bottom of the tree, Bobo was looking for a new leaf for Popo and him because the long rain damaged the small leaf and it could not keep both of them dry anymore. He jumped on them and tried to tear them with his small hands but he could not find a suitable leaf. He spent sunrise to sunset looking for a new leaf. When he finally he found one it was minutes before the sun set.

Bobo made his way back up to the small leaf. The moon was not out that night and he could not see if Popo was on the leaf. He was a distance away. He used his little legs and arms to fling himself from leaf to leaf to get himself back to Popo as soon as he could. He was afraid he would worry her and make her sicker if he took any longer.
Finally Bobo made his way back to the small leaf. He sniffed hard for the smell of strawberries and cream but there was none.

‘Where is Popo?’, Bobo thought.

‘You stupid berry! You said you would be around when I woke up, where on earth did you go? You stupid berry!’.

Popo's eyes filled up with tears as she spoke and it made Bobo's heart turn into jelly.

Bobo did not leave the Woogee tree after all. That night, I saw them dance around the Woogee tree and laugh the whole night through.