Word of this child spread quickly among the community that resided in the forest. It was not long before many of the animals had heard about the child or had even heard the child's cries themselves. The deer had passed the word on to one animal that passed it to the next and soon, the entirety of the forest knew about the mysterious child, yet none knew how or why it was there in their forest.

     The cries of the child could still be heard. Unfamiliar to human children, the animals could not decipher what it needed. Some of the animals came up with possible solutions. Some suggested it wanted something beautiful and some suggested it wanted something mighty and others simply speculated that it only wanted to be welcomed to the forest. These theories sparked ideas into some animals who decided to take action. Before long, all of the animals were preparing gifts to bring to the child, in hopes that their gift would be fit for the young child.

     Some of the animals went off to prepare a gift that was beautiful. Some of the animals went off to prepare a gift that was mighty. Some animals, however, were completely unsure of what to bring to the child. They would wander along beneath the green trees, wondering what, if anything, they could bring to the child.

     These were the thoughts of young Tiger. She was rather small, still being in her youth herself, her fur being a light orange color with black strips running across. Her white paws yielded no lethal claws, for they had not yet developed. Her eyes were small and round, constantly seeming unsure. She had a curious red dot high up on her forehead, but even she did not know of its origin and her white tipped tailed curled and swayed as it pleased. However, her tail did not curl or sway at that moment. It dragged along behind her as she thought and thought, trying to come up with something, anything.

     Tiger walked along, her paws padding gently on the ground. She passed by vines that hung down from twisted trees overhead. It seemed like every animal she knew was bringing a gift to the child. Tiger knew that she needed a gift, but she did not even know where to start. She pushed her way through some bushes and she found herself in a small clearing.

     As Tiger looked around the clearing, she saw something sitting off by on of the forest's twisted trees. Intrigued by the item, Tiger hurried towards the object to see what it was. Walking up to it, Tiger saw that it was a dried gourd. It was painted with odd colors, its dried skin orange with red spots where too much sun had hit it. Tiger was not sure if gourds like this grew in the forest or if some bird had flown by and dropped it on accident.

     Tiger nudged it with her nose, rolling it out into the middle of the clearing. Tiger sat and laid down with the gourd before her. With the birds and bugs all chattering away around her, Tiger scratched at the gourd's dry skin with her dull claws. It caused a hollow sound. It was odd. She had not heard a sound like that before. It was much like how she had never heard the sound of a human child crying before. Her tail curled a bit and patted the ground. Tiger inspected the gourd closely, smelling it with her pink nose, poking it and scratching it once more. Her tailed curled again and swayed as she continued in her fiddling with the dried gourd.

     The sound was a strange one. Perhaps, like the strange cries the human child made, the child would like the strange sounds the dried gourd made. Tiger purred in approval. She had decided. This dried gourd, although simple, would become her gift for the child in the forest. Tiger purred once more, brushed her cheek against the gourd and licked it affectionately.

     Tiger nudged the dried gourd with her nose and rolled it over. She picked it up, the curve of the gourd fitting comfortably in her mouth and she started on her way. She paced to the edge of the clearing and pushed through the bushes once more, her soft paws pushing against the brown ground of the forest floor.

     As Tiger walked along, she wondered if she should tell others. She was curious as to what the other animals were preparing and wondered if they were curious too. She walked along, beneath dangling green vines that hung down from the twisted trees. She held the gourd securely in her mouth as she walked, not wanting to drop it. It might have damaged her gift.

     Tiger passed by the stump of a fallen tree. It had old, jagged bark sticking straight in the air where a tall, proud tree once stood high above the rest. The tree must have prided itself until one day it fell, leaving nothing but the dirty stump behind that Tiger walked passed, paying it little attention.

     From high up in the trees, over the sounds of the birds and the bugs, Tiger heard a rustling sound. It was coming from a bulky tree, a towering plant that stretched up into the canopy of the forest. The rustling sound like that of leaves or even flower petals, Tiger noticed. She made her way towards the tree with the brushing sound and gazed into the branches above. Tiger then discovered the source of the sound

     It was Hornbill, a bird with very large beady eyes and a long winding neck that trailed to its head from its black body. Hornbill sat perched on a very thick branch, his two small gray feet gripping the bark. Tiger noticed that Hornbill was holding a small white flower in his large, bumped yellow beak. Hornbill rustled his black wings with a jagged white strip.

     Tiger watched as Hornbill stretched out his neck with the white flower towards a bouquet. The bouquet was absolutely breath-taking, exploding with all colors that could be found in the forest. It had the large red flowers and the extravagant purple flowers. It had flowers of every variation of orange, yellow and gold. Hornbill tucked the small white flower into a cluster of other white flowers towards the bottom of the bouquet. All of the flowers were bound tightly together by a carefully wrapped leaf. It sat enveloped it the arms of a twisted branch in the tree.

     Hornbill nudged the flowers, moving them about, making sure that they were arranged in the absolute perfect way. Tiger watched Hornbill intently, sitting at the bass of the tree Hornbill was perched in. Hornbill finally took notice of young Tiger, turned his attention away from his bouquet. Hornbill looked down at Tiger expectantly, barely noticing the dried gourd that she carried in her mouth.

     Tiger lifted her chin, raising the gourd so that Hornbill could see it clearly. Tiger purred as she did so, sure that Hornbill would be impressed by the gift he intended to give to the human child. Hornbill eyed the gourd with his large eyes, surprised that Tiger would offer such a meager gift to the child. Hornbill shifted his footing and stretched out his neck once more, drawing attention to his wondrous bouquet. He pulled it towards him to give Tiger a better view of the flowers. Hornbill knew that this was a gift worthy enough for the child. It was a show of the forest's marvelous beauty. It was a gift not only fit for the human child; it was a gift fit for a king.

    Hornbill turned back to Tiger and cawed mockingly at him. Surly, the child would accept his gift and not the pitiful excuse of a present Tiger would try and give. Tiger, somewhat embarrassed, cast her eyes away for a brief moment. Hornbill continued to keep his gaze on her, suggesting that it was time for her to leave. Tiger gave one more short glance at Hornbill before she lowered her head and left him to his flower.

     Tiger started off again, her tail dragging along the ground. It did not curl, it did not sway. Tiger was having second thoughts about her small gourd being a gift for the child. It was not beautiful like the striking arrangement Hornbill had prepared. However, Hornbill was only one of many animals in the forest. Tiger could find another animal with perhaps a high opinion of her gift.

     With her head still hung low, Tiger walked away from Hornbill's bulky tree, keeping her chin down, the gourd tucked into her chest. She walked by the green bushes as the birds and the bugs continued the sounds that created the everyday noise of the forest.