Tortoise and the birds

A long time ago, when a bird died on earth,

its spirit would leave its body and float up to the clouds where it lived as a cloud person,

watching over and caring for the birds and animals on earth.

The birds and animals knew about these cloud people.

There came a time when there had been no rain for a whole year.

The grass died, the water holes dried up and the animals were starving.

The animals and birds came together to decide what to do about the terrible drought…