Coco was a lazy bird who lived in Sunshine Woods. He would fool unsuspecting animals and get his work done. While some animals were aware of his ways and would stay clear of him, many fell prey to his tricks.
One day, a cyclone hit the forest. It rained heavily for days. Nobody could step out. All the animals were given a prior warning about the cyclone and were asked to stock food at home. But Coco hadn’t paid heed to the warning, so he was stuck in his nest without anything to eat.
After three days, it finally stopped raining. Coco flew out of his nest to look for some food. He was starving.
After searching for a few minutes, Coco decided it was too much effort to look for food. So, he went to meet his neighbour Becky, the cow.
“Hello, Becky! How are you?” asked Coco.
“I am okay. The cyclone was severe, wasn’t it?” said Becky.
“Yes. I was quite scared,” said Coco.
“I just met our neighbours. They were all terrified, too,” said Becky.
“I don’t care about them. I was talking about myself,” said Coco. “I haven’t eaten since the cyclone hit. I am very hungry.”
“Then what are you doing here? Hurry up, and go find some food before it starts to rain again,” said Becky.
“Where will I look for food in this slush? Why don’t you share your food with me?” suggested Coco.
“Sure. If you will eat grass, I’ll be happy to share some with you,” said Becky.
“I can’t eat grass! I’ll figure something else,” Coco said irritatedly and flew away.
“That lazy Coco always tries to reap the benefit of someone else’s hard work. He had enough time to stock food before the cyclone but he didn’t. And now he wants my food,” Becky said to herself.
Meanwhile, Coco was in search of someone who he could fool into giving him food. Just then, he saw Billy, the goat.
“Hello, Billy! How are you, my friend?” greeted Coco.
“I am doing great!” said Billy.
Coco was surprised. “Really? Didn’t you go hungry from being stuck at home for days?” he asked.
“Not at all. The moment they issued a warning about the cyclone, I collected enough food to last me for days and stored it at home,” said Billy.
You are very smart, Billy,” appreciated Coco. “But you have overlooked an important problem.”
“What problem?” asked Billy.
“When it rains, the moisture in the air increases. This moisture will spoil stored food,” said Coco.
“Oh! I didn’t know that!” said Billy.
“You need to check your food right away. I can help you if you like,” offered Coco.
“Thank you, Coco. That would be great. Please come along,” said Billy, leading the way to his house.
At Billy’s house, the two checked the sacks of food.
“This sack is full of worms,” said Coco, inspecting a sack of grains.
“Where? I can’t see anything,” said Billy.
“Your eyesight is weak, Billy. Trust me. I’ll clean this up for you,” said Coco, quickly gobbling down fistfuls of grains.
“What are you doing?” asked Billy shocked.
“Can’t you see? I am cleaning the grains,” said Coco.
“You’ve cleaned it enough. Give it back to me!” said Billy, snatching the sack from Coco. By then, Coco had emptied half of it.
“See? The grains have become clean,” said Coco.
“You think I don’t know what your plan is? You are lazy to find your own food, so you fooled me into giving you some. Why didn’t you just tell me so?” asked Billy.
“Where’s the fun in that? All you animals would have anyway stocked loads of food, so why should I take the effort to look for food,” replied Coco coolly.
“I should have listened to the other animals who warned me about you. Get out of my house, you sly bird!” said Billy angrily.
“Fine! Bye, Billy!” said Coco, flying away.
This time, it was Billy who had learnt a lesson about not trusting those who mean no good.
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