"We passed a lake and a beautiful waterfall yesterday on the way to the palace so we are going to go there and cool off plus swim some," said Tigressa. "That is Sandy Lake and the water is always at a perfect temperature, said Ginger. People go to the beach there to sunbathe and nude sunbathing is allowed there too if there are no kids around." "Well I just want to swim and cool off a bit, said Tigressa. Shasta loves getting in the water also." "Then maybe you should go to the west end of the lake where the waterfall is, said Ginger. You best stay away from it because the water comes down very hard but there is a little nook off to the side of it that I like to go to. The water is calm there and shallow like the rest of the lake but a bit hidden from the path leading to town. It is a nice place to relax and enjoy the scenery. A perfect view of the waterfall and the mountains around the lake." "That sounds perfect, said Tigressa, so we have to swim across the lake to find this nook?" "No, just go back the way you got here. That spot is close to where you live, said Ginger. Just round the corner of the waterfall mountain and head towards town. You will see a small spot where the west mountains leave a gap where you have to climb up just a bit then you will see the lake and a nice place to sit and dangle your feet in the water or swim some in private. Close to the shore it is just a few feet deep but out further it gets over five feet deep." "Okay sounds good, said Tigressa. Shasta want to go for a swim?" Shasta stood up and smiled. "Okay then lets go and find this nook, said Tigressa then she got on Shasta and they headed for the west end of Sandy Lake." "Well now I am back to waiting for Alieta to get back," thought Ginger. They followed Gingers instructions and looked for the gap they needed to climb up. "There it is Shasta, said Tigressa. Not that hard of a climb at all." Shasta was able to jump up to the top fast then disappeared behind the rocks. "Hey wait for me, said Tigressa as she climbed up. "Wow, the waterfall looks so much higher from here. No way I am going under that one," she said. "She climbed down and found Shasta already in the water swimming around so she jumped in and joined her. After a bit of splashing around and playing, Tigressa sat on the edge of the lake, dangling her feet in the water. Shasta came close to her and laid down in the water. "This is a perfect place for us to come and get clean, said Tigressa. No fish or water snakes to worry about like the pond in the jungle we used to go in. Lets hang out here some then go back home and see how that spaghetti sauce is doing. I am getting hungry just thinking about it."

Back at the palace, Ginger was back to looking up jungle animals on her cell phone when she saw Alieta flying back with Oscar. Alieta landed beside Ginger and Oscar went back to his regular spot on the cement block. "So what did you see?" asked Ginger. "You wouldn't believe the place, said Alieta. It is a jungle alright and a very huge one too, said Alieta. When I first got through the tunnel I flew up above the trees and that jungle went on for miles in all directions. First I met Sheba the elephant after I called out her name then Hollie the Hippo ran out to see me. Sheba wrapped her trunk around me and lifted me up onto Hollie's back and she took me over to meet Robby the Hippo. Then Toco showed up and told me all about the jungle and how it was a special paradise for animals. It is like a heaven for good animals I figure." "What, animals have a heaven too?" asked Ginger. Well I am not sure, said Alieta. Toco was unsure about what a Heaven was but he justs knows they are not dead and it is a paradise for them that God picks himself that don't kill plus birds too that just eat nuts and fruit." "So no lions and tigers are in this paradise? I looked up jungle animals and most seem to be meat eaters," said Ginger. "Nope just big animals that eat only plants and fruit. I asked Toco where the meat eaters go when they died but he didn't know. Toco is kind of in charge of everyone in the jungle and someone named Haiku that is like a caretaker of the jungle but he didn't know what she was, said Alieta. He is the only one that can talk there and said there are hundreds of animals in that jungle. He called it the never ending jungle and I believe him because when I was up above the trees I couldn't see no end to the trees anywhere. Next time I go there I am walking into the jungle and see what else is there." "Can you take me with you next time," asked Ginger. "Sure, I will just get Jazmen to watch over the palace while we are gone," said Alieta. "Well Oscar, I am glad you came back here, said Ginger. I was afraid you might want to stay in that jungle." "Nope, that place is beautiful but not for me, said Oscar. None of the birds I met could talk back to me and just talking with Toco all the time would get boring after a while. I like it here best where everyone talks and lots of stuff happens." "Good because I would of missed you. So you must be hungry after your adventure, said Ginger. Do you want to go into the dining room and have a snack?" "You bet, you read my mind again," said Oscar.

Tigressa figured it was time to go home and check the sauce on the stove so the two of them climbed back over the rocks and got back on the path that led home. Penny was on her way to Yeanny's place when she saw the two of them climb down the rocks. She heard about Tigressa and Shasta but hadn't had a chance to talk to Tigressa yet. She walked up to Tigressa and said hello. "Hi Tigressa my name is Penny, I live in the house beside you. I have seen you a couple of times riding Shasta but you take off so fast I never can seem to catch you to welcome you to the village." Hello, how do you know our names seeing we have never met?" asked Tigressa. "I work in the palace on the same shift as Sally that is the cook for the dining room. We are best friends and she told me about you two. She lives beside me so we are all close neighbors," said Penny. "She is the girl that made spaghetti for me when I first got here yesterday, said Tigressa. She was nice and went outside to meet Shasta. I was just on my way home to check on the spaghetti sauce that Yeanny taught me how to make today." Penny looked at Shasta. "Hello Shasta, you are such a beautiful girl. Just sitting there quietly as we talk, said Penny. I hope my baby will be as well mannered as Shasta is." "You have a baby?" asked Tigressa. "Not yet, but in another seven and a half months I will and so will Sally," said Penny. "Wow that's a long time, Tigers only take a little over three months to have a baby and they usually have two to six baby cubs," said Tigressa. Patty smiled. "Well I hope I am just having one baby for now, said Penny. So how long have you had Shasta?" "A little bit after she was born, even before her eyes were open all the way, said Tigressa. I used to sit with the mother and watch the cubs feed off of her but Shasta kept walking over to me looking for food too. I named her Shasta because she she would also drink water that I would bring for the mother to drink and none of the other cubs would." "So why did you call her Shasta?" asked Penny. "Because the name Shasta means precious water drinker. At least that is what the pixies told me, said Tigressa. Shasta is just one year old and grew faster and stronger than all the other cubs." "Wow one year old and she is that big!" said Penny. "Yep she spent more time with me than her mother so I kind of adopted her and taught her how to eat meat and not need her mother's milk anymore." Penny laughed. "So you became her mother then it sounds. That is amazing," said Penny. "Well, I better get going and check on the sauce," said Tigressa. "Can I come with you, I am a pretty good cook too," said Penny. What about you visiting Yeanny?" asked Tigressa. "I was going over there so I wouldn't go shopping again for baby stuff, said Penny. As soon as Sally and I found out that we were pregnant we have been buying lots of stuff preparing for the babies." "Okay come on over, we can have some ice cream too," said Tigressa.

They walked over to the cabin then Shasta laid down on the porch. "Why is she laying out here?" asked Penny. "She likes to take her cat naps outside on the porch, Shasta likes being out in the fresh air," said Tigressa. They went inside and Tigressa went straight to the stove to check the sauce. "Smells good, said Penny. "Yep, just about ready. She gave it a stir with the big spoon then took a taste. "Wow this tastes great. Come and have a taste," said Tigressa. Penny walked over and took a taste. "That is good, maybe just thirty more minutes then you can get the pasta cooking," said Penny. "Yep, I'll wait for Yeanny to show me how much I need to boil, said Tigressa. "Hey where did you get the cute toy elephant?" asked Penny. "At the grocery story yesterday when Yeanny took me shopping," said Tigressa. "It reminds me of all the friends I had when I lived in the jungle, plus I think it is cute." "So you made friends with the elephants?" asked Penny. "Yep I made friends with lots of different kinds of animals there, giraffes, monkeys and even some of the frogs, said Tigressa. I am going to see if there is a store in town that has more animals like that one so I can put all over the place in here. "Really, that gives me an idea, said Penny. Let me go to my place and get Sally too. I will be right back." Then Penny ran out of the cabin. "In a few minutes she came back with Sally that was carrying a big box. "Hi Sally what is in the box?" asked Tigressa. "It is our house warming gift to you," said Sally. "What is that, it is already warm in here," said Tigressa. "No silly it is something that neighbors give someone new that moved into the neighborhood," said Sally. Put the box on the floor Sally and lets watch Tigressa see what is inside," said Patty. Sally put down the box and sat on the chair then Penny sat on the floor beside it. "Come on sit down and open it," said Penny. Okay, so is there something alive inside?" asked Tigressa. "Nope, just open it you will see," said Sally. Tigressa slid the lid off the box and a big smile came on her face. She pulled out a stuffed giraffe. "Wow a toy giraffe, I love it," said Tigressa. "Yep, we have too many toys for our babies and got doubles of all of them, said Penny. Have a look at the rest." Tigressa pulled out a monkey, then a baby deer and then a small bear. There was a unicorn and a few other kinds of toy animals in the box. "Where did you get all of these?" asked Tigressa. "We had to go to Cumberland to buy most of the baby supplies and toys because there is not much in the west town yet for babies, said Sally. So do you like them?" "I love them. Come help me put them all over the place in here like a couple on the couch and on the bed and where ever else that they will look good," said Tigressa.

"Now the Giraffe has to go beside the elephant because they are usually found together in the water," said Tigressa. "Where do you want the monkey?" asked Sally. "On one end of the couch," said Tigressa. Penny put the bear on the bed and Sally put the baby dear on the other end of the couch. "We still have the unicorn, said Sally, where should I put it?" "On the table I think, they are magical so she should be the center of attention," said Tigressa. Just then Yeanny came in. Well nice to see you two came over to visit Tigressa," said Yeanny. "Yep and look what they gave me for a house warming present, said Tigressa. A bunch of toy animals found in a jungle." "That was very nice of you two, said Yeanny. Tigressa sure loves her animals. So did you check the sauce?" "Yep it is really good, said Tigressa. "Well I cooked the pasta already at my place, said Yeanny. I took out enough for us three at home and brought over the rest for you. I just need to take some sauce back with me." "Okay, is there enough pasta for three? I want to invite Sally and Penny to have supper with me," said Tigressa. "Yep there is more than enough, said Yeanny. I used the whole package." "Good so do you two want to have spaghetti with me?" asked Tigressa. "You bet, that is my favorite food," said Penny. "Me too, spaghetti and ice cream are my favorites," said Sally. "Okay then, looks like you need another chair so here is one," said Yeanny. She created a extra chair for the table. Then she scooped out some spaghetti sauce and put it in a container. "Okay you three enjoy your supper, said Yeanny. You know all these stuffed animals do look really good in here." "Yep my own little jungle," said Tigressa. Yeanny smiled then left. "Okay we will set the table and you mix some sauce into the spaghetti, said Penny." Soon they were all sitting at the table with a plate in front of them. This is my first time having someone over for supper," said Tigressa. "Well we will have you over to our places too, then you can meet our men, said Sally. If you ever need anything done they are both very handy and can make and fix just about anything. So Shasta doesn't eat spaghetti?" Maybe but she can wait until we are done," said Tigressa.

After they finished eating Sally and Penny decided they better get going home and see what their men were doing. "So do you have to make them dinner now?" asked Tigressa. "No we always make more than we can eat so there is always left overs in the ice box, said Penny. We are going to just relax and do nothing. Yep, men are funny when they know we are pregnant. They do most of the house work so we don't strain ourselves, said Sally. All we have to do is cook for them sometimes." "Well relaxing sounds good to me also, said Tigressa. I am going to take that chair onto the porch and just watch people going by but first I will give a bit of spaghetti to Shasta and see if she will like it. There is grounded beef in the sauce so maybe she will." "Okay let me open the door for you so you can bring it out, said Penny. Rocking chairs are awesome and easy to fall asleep in." Penny held the door open while Tigressa carried the chair out then put it beside Shasta that was awake now. "Okay bye see you after work maybe," said Penny. "Well I might be back visiting the jungle by then," said Tigressa. "What jungle? asked Sally. "I will tell you tomorrow. It is a bit of a long story," said Tigressa. "Okay see you," then they both walked home. Tigressa put the plate of spaghetti down in front of Shasta. "Here try this Shasta. Tastes good and there is a bit of meat in it too." Shasta took a few sniffs of the spaghetti then looked at Tigressa then went back to sniffing it. She sat down on the rocking chair and stretched out her legs. "This is a nice chair, she thought to herself. I can rock myself to sleep." A couple of minutes passed and Tigressa was beginning to nod off when Lily showed up on the porch beside her. "Hi Tigressa, I just came by to see how you were doing," said Lily. "I am doing great, it has been an amazing day," said Tigressa. "Really, what was so amazing?" asked Lily. "Well first Sakura took me out to explore Fae Land but we found a cave with a tunnel in it that led to a jungle that had an elephant and a giraffe in it then Yeanny taught me how to make spaghetti sauce, said Tigressa. Then a bit later we went swimming in Sandy lake. After when we came back home, Penny and Sally came over and gave me a bunch of stuffed animals for a house warming gift. They stayed for supper and just left not long ago." "Wow you have been busy, said Lily. Where did you find this jungle with animals in it?" "North of here on the Grassy Plains, you can't miss it," said Tigressa. "Okay maybe I will check it out tomorrow," said Lily. "Well I am going back there in the morning if you want to go with Shasta and me," said Tigressa. "Okay, maybe I will, said Lily. So is that the spaghetti you made that Shasta is eating?" "Yep but she is just sniffing it so far, said Tigressa. She has only eaten raw meat before." "Lily went down on one knee in front of Shasta. "You are never going to know if you like it by just smelling it," said Lily. She took a noodle off the plate and ate it. "This is good,"" said Lily. Shasta watched her eat the noodle then bent down and gobbled up all the spaghetti in one bite then licked her lips. "I guess she figured I was going to eat it all on her," said Lily. "Yep, that is one thing about Shasta, she does not like to share her food with anyone," said Tigressa.

  "Okay, see you in the morning, I don't want to go there alone, said Lily. I still startle very easily plus you can talk to the animals where I can't." "Okay we will wait for you," said Tigressa. Then Lily flew back home. "Tigressa went back to relaxing on the rocking chair while watching Shasta licking the plate clean. "All gone Shasta, you can have a bit more tomorrow," said Tigressa. Shasta laid back down and Tigressa went back to rocking in the chair. Soon she fell asleep. She woke up and it was dark out but to her amazement she saw hundreds of colourful lights flickering all over the place. One of the lights stopped right in front of her face. A little pixie said hello to her then flew off. "Wow, looks like something is always going on here in Fae Land, even at night," thought Tigressa. "Okay Shasta time to go to sleep inside." They both went in the cabin and Tigressa changed into her nightie then laid down on the bed. Shasta laid down on the carpet beside the bed. Tigressa grabbed the stuffed bear that was on her bed an cuddled it then soon the two of them fell asleep.

In the morning, Tigressa woke up to a knock on her door. She walked over and opened the door to see Lily standing there with a big smile on her face. "Hello, Lily, you sure get up early," said Tigressa. "Yep always as soon as the sun starts coming up," said Lily. I didn't want to miss you, all I could think about was going with you to see the jungle last night." "Well come on in, I have to make breakfast yet before we go," said Tigressa. "I can make you breakfast," said Lily. "Ya that's right, okay sounds better than me cooking," said Tigressa. Lily walked in and looked around. "Where did you get all the stuffed animals?" asked Lily. "My neighbors gave them to me as a house warming gift," said Tigressa. "They add a lot to the room plus they are all really cute looking." "So how do you like the place?" asked Lily. "I love it, perfect for me and Shasta," said Tigressa. "Good, now have a seat and let me make breakfast for Shasta first then I will make eggs and bacon with toast for us." "Haven't eaten yet?" asked Tigressa. "Nope, I was to excited to eat and just wanted to get here," said Lily. After Lily made the food for everyone and they ate. Tigressa then got changed and they headed out. "So what kind of animals are in there?" asked Lily. "Just the giraffe and elephant, that is all Sakura and I saw but I am sure there are lots more, said Tigressa. The jungle is too big for just them two. Toco that is a Toucan bird said there are lots of animals and none of them are meat eaters plus birds too." "Okay, this is going to be a real adventure for me," said Lily. "Me too because we are going to walk into the jungle and not just stay in the clearing, said Tigressa. We had to leave early yesterday because Sakura had to be home for lunch. Today we can stay as long as we want." In a few more minutes they reach the cave. "Here it is," said Tigressa. "Looks kinda spooky, said Lily. "Not really, it is a small cave with a short tunnel, said Tigressa. Once we get through the tunnel it is like walking into a new world of wonder." "Well let's get going, I can't wait another second," said Lily.

They all went through the tunnel then walked into the clearing. "Wow, this is what a jungle looks like? It is even better looking than what my place looks like, said Lily. A lot of the plants are the same that I have." "Well I have never seen your place but yes this is a real jungle wonderland. Now we have to walk down some to get to a spot where we can walk into the jungle. The waterfall here is in the way and the trees are very close together. Sheba was able to get through the trees by bending them to the side but we are not elephants." "So we have to go in there to see some animals?" asked Lily. "Well Sheba came out because she saw us while playing in the water and then she had to make a loud sound with her trunk to get Blinky to come out further down but you never know who might see us, said Tigressa. So are you ready to go?" Yep, I want to see some jungle animals," said Lily. The three of them started walking towards the opening in the trees.

They walked over towards the opening and as they got close to it Robby the rhino came running out fast towards them and stopped about a foot away from Tigressa. "My who might you be big strong and handsome?" asked Tigressa. She looked behind her to tell Lily to come and say hello to Robby but she was no longer behind her. She then looked up. "Hey what are you doing way up there?" asked Tigressa. "It came out so fast, it is just an impulse, said Lily. What is that?" "This is a rhinoceros and his name is Robby, said Tigressa. You wanted to see a jungle animal so here is one so get down here and say hello to Robby." Lily flew down just above Shasta, Hello Robby, nice to meet you, my name is Lily. "Is that as close as you are going to get?" asked Tigressa. "Yep, he is a bit scary looking with those two horns," said Lily. "Well those are just for defense, said Tigressa. Just don't look like you are going to attack him." "Ya right I am going to try and attack a huge rhinoceros, said Lily. He must weigh a million pounds," said Lily. "No not a million but probably six thousand pounds, said Tigressa. Not many animals with attack or intimidate a rhino. They can charge towards you at forty miles per hour busting through small trees so it is best to be friends with a rhino. So Robby what is through that opening that you came out of? He said there is another small clearing with a pond but the trees are too close together for the tiger to fit through. There is another way but it is long winding route. We will have to let Shasta stay out here for now." "Will he be okay alone out here by himself?" asked Lily. "Yep, she knows the rules of the jungle and won't bother anyone," said Tigressa.