The Sloth and His Friends

“Good morning, sleepy-head,” said Toco the toucan. “Zzzz…” “I said ‘Good morning, sleepy-head!’” “Zzzz…” “Wake up!” “Huh?” Sal awoke with a start (a very slow one). He was in his usual position, hanging upside down in the tree with his claws curled around the branch above him. “What time is it?” “Almost lunchtime.” “Oh no… I must have slept through breakfast… again.” “Don’t worry about it. You can have a big lunch.” Toco stretched his black wings. “So, what’s hangin’? I mean, besides you?” “Let’s see…” Sal spoke slowly – as always – with time to pause and reflect. “Before I dozed off, I was working on my To-Do List.” “Oh, really? Got any big plans for today?” “Um… Let me look at the list here…” He slowly turned his head so he could see the branch where he had scratched a few things down. “Alright… First on the list… Wake up… Okay… I did that… So I guess I can check that off…” “Nice.” Toco smiled. “What’s number two?” “Let… me… see…” He studied the primitive scratchings. “It’s kinda hard to read my writing… Um… Number two on the list is… eat.” “I like that.” The sloth smiled. “Yeah… Me, too.” “What’s number three?” “Let me see… number three… oh, yeah… that’s a big one… climb tree.” “Very nice. What’s next on the list?” Sal shrugged (very slowly). “That’s it… for now.” Toco nodded his big beak. “Well, it looks like you got a good start on that list. You’re already halfway up the tree, so…” The sloth sighed. “Yeah… But I was hoping to make more progress… today.” “I see.” The high-flying bird tried to put it gently. “Well, you can’t expect to get much done when you sleep all day.” Sal got his back up (very slowly). “That’s… not… true.” “What? What’s not true?” “I do not… sleep all day.” “Okay. Most of the day.” “No… I do not even sleep most of the day… I sleep part of the day… Just like every other creature in this forest.” “Hm. I didn’t know that.” Toco couldn’t keep his big beak shut. “Could have fooled me.” “What?” “Nothing.” Sal shook his head (in slow motion). “This idea that sloths sleep all the time is a terrible lie… I don’t know who started it… But it’s just not fair… The truth is that we are very… productive… creatures.” He yawned. “Is that right?” Toco had heard this speech before. His slothful friend was very passionate about this subject. “Yeah… I’m so tired of hearing… No, that’s not the right word… Let me put it this way… I’m really fed up with everyone calling me slow and lazy… I mean, I may be slow… But I’m certainly not… lazy.” “We know that,” said Toco, hoping to change the subject (as quickly as possible). “Say, do you know the weather forecast for today?” Sal slowly turned his head (about 260 degrees), and looked at the sky through an opening in the canopy. “I’d say… there’s a pretty good chance of… rain.” Toco laughed. “Yeah. I think that’s about right.”