PSHHHHHH! The sound of shooting geysers woke Arlo up. Groggy¹, he looked around, trying to remember where he was and what had happened.

 

When he finally did remember, he looked down at his foot. All of the rocks had been pushed away. He was no longer stuck! Arlo looked around and was stunned² when he saw human tracks in the mud. He wondered if the boy had pushed the rocks away while he was asleep. Could that critter have done something to actually help Arlo? Even if he had, it wouldn't matter. Arlo was still angry; he pushed the thought out of his mind and pressed on, walking along the river.

 

Drip.

 

Drop.

 

Drip.

 

Drop.

 

Cold raindrops began to fall from the sky. At first, Arlo felt as if he could hear each drop falling against the leaves, with their soft pitter-patter. But the rain quickly picked up, and in no time the pitter-patter turned into a constant stream—soaking everything and softening³ the ground. Thunder rumbled⁴ in the distance and little creatures scurried⁵ about as they ran for shelter. The rain came even down harder and Arlo shivered, cold and wet.

 

BOOM! A loud clap of thunder startled him. The storm was getting worse. Arlo collected some sticks and tried to build a shelter.

 

He leaned the bundle of thick sticks against each other, and they instantly collapsed⁶ to the ground.

 

"Arghhh," Alro grumbled⁷.

 

Arlo tried again.

 

Nearby creatures were nestled in their cozy⁸ dwellings⁹, safe and dry. A twitching¹⁰ nose with little whiskers peeked¹¹ out from inside a hollow log. A small brown animal snored from his hole beneath a boulder¹². A bird sat comfortably inside her sheltered nest. It seemed all the little creatures fit neatly¹³ and comfortably into their tiny dry homes. One of them watched as Arlo struggled, trying to get his stick-shelter to work. Once Arlo managed to get the sticks balanced, he sat inside and stuck his tongue out at the creature, proudly.

 

Drip.

 

Drip.

 

Seconds later raindrops dripped through the shelter and right onto Arlo's face. The creature squeaked¹⁴, almost like it was laughing. Then disappeared. When it returned, it had brought friends, and they all watched. They squeaked, staring at Arlo as if he were their evening entertainment.

 

Too tired, wet, and hungry to care, Arlo groaned¹⁵. He decided¹⁶ to try and rest while the rain poured down.

 

Then some shrubs¹⁷ nearby rustled¹⁸ and Arlo sat up, anxiously looking around for the source of the noise. He began to breathe rapidly as he became more and more nervous. The noise was coming closer and closer. The bushes stopped moving for a moment and suddenly the boy from the trap came prancing¹⁹ out from behind them.

 

"You again!" Arlo said, infuriated.

 

The boy held a lizard²⁰ in his mouth. He dropped it on the ground in front of Arlo, offering it to him. But Arlo wasn't interested. "Get outta here!" Arlo yelled. The boy backed up and carefully watched Arlo, as if waiting for something to happen. Arlo wondered what the boy expected him to do. Still alive, the lizard hopped²¹ up and quickly scurried away. The boy scampered²² off again, leaving Arlo in his shelter. As the setting sun turned the sky a dusty shade of pink, Arlo fell asleep.

 

The sound of the boy growling²³ woke him from his nap. He appeared again, only this time he was dragging a huge, ugly bug²⁴ toward Arlo. The boy flipped²⁵ the bug on its back and signaled to Arlo. But Arlo was confused. What did the boy want him to do? Eat the bug? Arlo was disgusted. The boy sat—still and staring—as if he was trying to read Arlo's expression.

 

Then the boy ripped the bug's head off with his teeth! He spit it out and tossed it aside, then dropped the bug's lifeless body in front of Arlo. He stepped back, waiting and watching him again.

 

噗嘶噗嘶！间歇泉喷水的声音吵醒了阿乐。他昏昏沉沉地环顾四周，想弄清自己在哪、发生了什么。

 

最终，当他记起一切时，他低头看了看自己的脚，卡着脚的石块都被移开了，他解脱了！阿乐环顾四周，当看到泥地上的人类脚印时，他惊呆了。他想知道是不是那个小男孩趁他睡着的时候搬开了岩石堆。会是那个小男孩做了什么帮到了他吗？即便他做了什么，也没什么大不了。阿乐还在生气呢。他把这些想法从脑袋里赶走，继续上路，沿着河流往前走。

 

滴答。

 

一滴。

 

滴答。

 

又一滴。

 

冰冷的雨水开始从天而降。起初，阿乐感觉仿佛能听到雨滴落在树叶上发出的轻柔滴答声。但很快，雨越下越大，滴滴答答的细雨变成了倾盆大雨——雨水浸透了万物，湿润了土地。远处雷声滚滚，小动物们都在匆匆忙忙地寻找庇护所。雨下得更大了，阿乐全身都在颤抖，又冷又湿。

 

隆隆！一声响亮的雷声吓了阿乐一跳。暴风雨越来越凶猛了，阿乐找了一些树枝，试图搭一个庇护所。

 

他将一捆粗树枝互相靠着立起，可是，它们瞬间就倒塌在了地上。

 

“啊哟。”阿乐嘟哝道。

 

阿乐又试了一次。

 

附近的动物都待在他们舒适的家里，既安全又淋不到雨。一只长着小胡须的小动物躲在一块空心的木头里抽着鼻子往外偷瞄；一只棕色的小动物在巨石下面的洞里打着呼噜；一只鸟舒服地坐在她的庇护所里。似乎所有的小动物都干干净净、舒舒服服地待在自己小巧又干燥的家里。其中有一只小动物一直看着阿乐在那儿奋力地用树枝搭庇护所。成功地使树枝保持平衡之后，阿乐就坐进去自豪地朝这只小动物吐了吐舌头。

 

滴答。

 

滴答。

 

几秒钟过后，雨水穿过庇护所正好滴落在阿乐的脸上。这只小动物吱吱叫着，就像是在大笑。然后它就消失了。等它再回来的时候，还带了几个朋友过来围观。它们盯着阿乐吱吱叫着，好像阿乐就是它们今晚的开心果。

 

阿乐太累了，身上又湿透了，肚子又饿，所以没心思理会它们，仅仅哼哼了几声。他决定趁着大雨倾盆的时候，休息一会儿。

 

这时，旁边的灌木丛里发出窸窸窣窣的声音，阿乐坐起来，不安地环顾四周，寻找声音的来源。他越来越紧张，呼吸也开始加快。声音越来越近了，有那么一会儿，灌木丛停止了晃动。突然，从陷阱里逃跑的那个小男孩从灌木丛后面跳了出来。

 

“又是你！”阿乐愤怒地说。

 

小男孩嘴里衔着一只蜥蜴，他把它放到了阿乐面前的地上，给阿乐吃。但阿乐对此并不感兴趣。“给我滚！”阿乐喊道。小男孩往后退了退，关切地看着阿乐，好像在等待什么。阿乐很好奇小男孩想让他干什么。那只蜥蜴还活着，它蹦跶着，飞快地逃走了。小男孩又匆匆跑走了，留下阿乐在庇护所里。当落日将天空染成灰蒙蒙的粉红色时，阿乐进入了梦乡。

 

阿乐还打着盹儿，就被小男孩的嚎叫声吵醒了。那个小男孩又来了，只不过这一次他拖着一只又大又丑的虫子到了阿乐面前。小男孩把虫子翻转过来，示意了一下阿乐。但是阿乐还是不懂，小男孩想让他做什么呢？吃虫子吗？阿乐觉得有点恶心。小男孩坐在那里——一动不动地盯着他看——好像正试着读懂阿乐的 表情。

 

接着，小男孩用牙齿把虫子的头撕了下来！他把头吐出来扔到一边，然后将虫子毫无生气的尸体放到阿乐面前。接着他退了回去，等待并观察着阿乐。

 

阿乐被吓坏了。刚才的一幕让他反感，他抓起一根树枝将虫子扫开，他一点也不想收下小男孩的无头小虫。

 

小男孩叫着，又跑开了。

 

片刻之后，有一些浆果掉在了阿乐面前的地上。阿乐有些迟疑，但是他又很饿。他迅速地吃了几个浆果，口中却说：“我告诉过你了……离！我！远！点！”

 

小男孩爬到一块巨石上，尽责地看着阿乐狼吞虎咽地吃完最后一个浆果。

 

“谢谢你，”考虑了一分钟之后，阿乐说道，“但我还是会要你的小命……”虽然已经吃完了小男孩带来的所有浆果，但阿乐还是觉得饿，所以便问小男孩能否再去找点浆果来。但是小男孩好像不明白他的意思。“你知道……嗯……那个，那个，那个。”阿乐说完后假装咀嚼树枝来。

 

小男孩用嘴咬住树枝的另一端，开始拉扯着玩拔河比赛。“不对……不对……停！”阿乐放开树枝吼道。小男孩咬着树枝，然后跑了！

 

“嘿，等等！”阿乐叫道。小男孩带着树枝跑了，他好奇地跟了上去。远远地，阿乐看到小男孩刨了一个坑，把树枝放进去想把它埋起来。小男孩吐出口水，用脚蹬土把坑埋上，然后又跑走了。

 

阿乐不知道小男孩在想什么，又开始感到沮丧。“你连自己在做什么都不知道吗？”他生气地说，但依然跟着他。

 

小男孩跳到旁边的一棵树上，穿过树枝，敏捷得像只松鼠。阿乐跟着他，脚下的路变得越来越窄。很快阿乐发现自己在悬崖边上！他看着下面的深渊和摇摇欲坠的岩石，开始恐慌。小男孩伫立了一会儿，好像在思考什么，努力弄清楚一些事情。

 

“我知道了！”阿乐打破了寂静，叫道，“因为你，我会死在这里。”

 

小男孩转向阿乐，开始推他的脚。阿乐努力保持平衡，但仍然晃得厉害。小男孩跑到阿乐的另一边，开始将他往悬崖边 推去！

 

“别，别，别。停！停！停下来！”阿乐惊声叫道，他已经失去了平衡，往前倒去。他的双脚还在悬崖边上，身体却倒向了下面的峡谷。他撞到了悬崖的另一边，磕到了牙齿！此时，阿乐伸展开四肢，架在峡谷上方的两个悬崖边上，就像一座巨大的恐 龙桥！

 

小男孩兴奋地漫步在阿乐身上，脚踩他的眼睛走到另一边。“为什么你个破小孩……你回来！”阿乐紧咬牙关怒吼道。

 

但是，小男孩继续走着，嗅着地面在寻找什么。最后，他身体颤抖，脚不停地跺着地面，像击鼓一样。

 

“嘿，嘿，嘿，嘿、”他兴奋地喘息着，回头看向阿乐，好似在向阿乐示意，让他看一片灌木丛。

 

阿乐顺着小男孩的目光看去，他立刻明白了。“浆果！”阿乐看到灌木丛上面有成千上万个鲜嫩多汁的浆果，开心地喊道。看到这美好的食物，阿乐瞬间有了力量，激励自己成功跨过悬崖。他跑向灌木丛，乐得咯咯笑。

 

小男孩猛地扑到阿乐的面前，开始怒吼、咆哮。“你怎么了？”阿乐问，“我们找到浆果了，就在这儿。”阿乐继续朝浆果跑去。小男孩的怒吼声和咆哮声越来越大。“你这个疯子。”阿乐折断一根浆果灌木枝条，喃喃自语道。

 

嘶嘶！突然，一条毒蛇从灌木上掉下来，正好落在阿乐的脸上。阿乐大叫起来。不一会儿，他脚下的地面开始塌陷，他从悬崖上跌落，一路上不停地撞到树上并撞断了许多树枝。

 

阿乐摔到地面上，痛苦地呻吟着。他试图辨认方向，但是毒蛇一下子出现在他面前——发出嘶嘶声，准备攻击他！阿乐倒吸了一口气。

 

“啊！”他尖叫道。阿乐被吓坏了！

 

一眨眼，小男孩出现在了阿乐面前，朝毒蛇怒吼！毒蛇冲向小男孩，但是他本能地跳开，成功绕到了毒蛇的后面。然后，小男孩出其不意地抓起蛇，开始撕咬它覆盖着鳞片的蛇皮！小男孩使出了最后一击，用头猛击毒蛇，吓得它灰溜溜地爬走了。阿乐赶忙站起来，跑向小男孩，他正兴奋地喘着气。阿乐实在不敢相信眼前的一切，但是小家伙似乎因为保护了阿乐而喜笑颜开。

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