a lead!

The little lamba settled down besides their newfound friends, tucking into a delicious feast of sweets that the other cosprouts had gathered. While they ate, the little lamba asked about their cossetling friend- had any of the others seen them? The bevaca and bebom shook their heads- they had been out in the meadows all morning, they hadn’t seen them. The kerora and the patoy shook their heads too- they had been sunbathing by the riverside, and while they had seen a few cossetlings, none matched the little lamba’s friend. The estra and the longon had been keeping lookout by the bakeries and saw lots of cossetlings, a few of which seemed like they could be the little lamba’s, but none of them fit Just Right. The lapito and the vulorro had been gathering food just like the jengipan, and so were more focused on their mission than on looking at cossetlings.

The little lamba slumped in place, all of a sudden not very hungry for the sweet pastry they had been munching on. The other cosprouts looked at each other, unhappy that their new friend was so sad. Suddenly, the jengipan stepped forward, wiping some chocolate away from their face, and gave a perfect description of the little lamba’s cossetling, who they had seen boarding the train from Town Brote! The little lamba jumped up, ecstatic. They had a lead on their cossetling! The other cosprouts cheered, and packed up some of the leftover treats, putting them in a little backpack that the little lamba put on.

The cosprouts all went back to town with the little lamba, the jengipan in particular riding on their back and pointing out where they had seen the cossetling. Once the group reached the station, the jengipan slid off the little lamba’s back, giving them a friendly good-bye pat on their fluffy head. The little lamba slipped onto the train in-between a few boarding cossetling’s legs, settling into a comfy seat by a window, where they could see their friends all huddled together, waving goodbye. The brave little lamba waved back, smiling widely, as the train blew the whistle for departure. They kept waving, even as the other cosprouts faded away, until they were well and truly gone.

The little lamba nestled further into the soft cushion on the train seat, tucking their legs underneath them and letting their eyes fall closed at the rhythmic motion. They were one step closer to finding their cossetling friend, and so they were allowed to relax a bit. A little nap for a brave little lamba, as they traveled on their journey.