Savvi galloped to the acacia tree. Then her best friend said, “I’m moving to the far watering hole tomorrow.”
Savvi blinked hard. “But that’s so far!” she blurted.
The next day, Savvi climbed one hill. Her best friend stood on another.
Savvi stretched her neck as high as it would go and waved. Her friend waved back, but the grass kept swallowing them from view.
Savvi stamped the ground. Then she snapped off broad acacia leaves. “We need a better hello,” she said.
Savvi lined up shiny stones, big leaves, and twisty sticks. A signal path began to cross the savanna.
Farther away, her best friend copied the pattern. The path stretched longer and longer.
A hornbill landed right in the middle. Squawk! Leaves flew everywhere, and Savvi laughed.
Savvi tried again. This time she made bigger signs that flashed in the sun.
Soon the two friends were farther and farther apart. Savvi waited by the golden grass and lifted three giant leaf flags. Swish, swish, swish.
For one quiet moment, Savvi saw only heat wobbling over the plain.
Then three bright flashes blinked back from the far watering hole. “It worked!” Savvi called.
After that, every morning Savvi raised a leaf flag beside the acacia tree.
And every evening, a flash or a leaf answer came back from the distant water.
