Clarence watched as two children jumped and two others were swinging ropes in opposite directions. He listened carefully to hear the rhyming words they called to keep pace.
“What can you do
With bamboo?
Feed a panda
In a zoo,
Play peek-a-boo
“What can you do
With bamboo?
Carve a flute.
Chase the runners
Chase the shoots
Bamboo roots.”
What can you do
With bamboo?
Put a smile,
On your face.
What’s this place?
Bambooberspace!”
What can you do
With bamboo?
Edison knew
How to use bamboo,
To light the world
For me and you!”
“Do you want to jump?” a little girl asked Clarence.
“Not right now, thanks,” Clarence said. “I need to find a dog. Did you see a black dog with white and brown markings run past here?”
“I think he went that way,” she said, as she pointed down the street. Clarence looked, but he seemed to be looking at everything except a dog. There were people moving around near “Zip’s Barber Shop” with a red and white striped barber pole swirling around. There was a loud siren and an engine burst out of the doors at “Bamboo River Fire Station #4”. Just beyond the barber shop and the fire station was Bamboo River Kayak Tours with bright yellow and red kayaks lined up in a rack. All along the river, he saw busy shops with cheerful people greeting each other.
“You can change your mind,” said the little girl.
“What? Okay,” Clarence answered. “Maybe later I’ll give it a try, after I find the dog. Where am I? I mean, where are we?”