CHAPTER FOUR: SHORTY IN LOVE
"Uhhhh, Littlefoot." he woke up.
Shorty was staring at him.
"It's not what it looks like!" said Littlefoot defensively.
Dayo also felt embarrassed.
Littlefoot and Dayo both got up and moved away from each other. Dayo went off toward a Tree Sweet tree. She slipped on the mud from the rain and went sliding down a hill. Mrs. Maia looked with horror as Dayo went skidding at her. CRASH! Dayo collided with her. Mrs. Maia had been carrying Tree Stars, which all went scattering as she fell. Many blew away in the wind.
"YOU!" she said angrily.
"Hello." said Dayo nervously.
Mrs. Maia stormed to grownups a while later. "Things were a lot better before she came along!" she grumbled.
Dayo frowned and started to leave. "Where are you going Dayo?" Littlefoot asked her, concerned.
"It's clear I'm not wanted here." Dayo sighed.
"Ignore her. She's a grouch." Littlefoot whispered to her.
Dayo smiled. Much to their shock, Shorty voiced aloud what Littlefoot had whispered. "Leave her alone you old grouch!" he snarled.
"SHORTY!" shouted Bron angrily.
"No, I won't be quiet! She's really hurt from something and she's getting dumped on! You remember what I was like, don't you Bron?" asked Shorty.
Bron nodded. He recalled back to when he'd first met Shorty. Shorty was very afraid of being around anyone outside of his group. He seemed terrified of something that he wouldn't mention. He seemed very overly protective of the others in his group and mistrusted Bron. Shorty's strange behavior, especially his rudeness to others, seemed odd and put off some of the grownups. But Bron had defended him.
"HMMMMPPPPHHHH, the nerve of that Longneck!" snapped Mrs. Maia, storming off in disgust.
"Shorty, I..." said Dayo in shock.
"She shouldn't treat you like that. It was an accident. And you're hurting. Something is bothering you." he said. She nodded. "You don't have to tell me what it is. I held it in for a long time. I finally told Bron. I still don't like to talk about it." said Shorty.
"What could that be?" asked Cera.
"Nunya!" snapped Shorty angrily. Cera backed off.
Dayo approached Shorty. "You are very kind Shorty." said Dayo to him appreciatively.
"To some people." muttered Cera.
"Dad, what did Shorty mean?" Littlefoot whispered to his father. He wondered what could be troubling his foster brother.
"It is very painful. To have to see that. He only told me parts of it. There's parts of it he still won't tell me." said Bron.
"What is it?" asked Littlefoot, feeling sorry for Shorty.
"He told me not to tell anyone. You'll have to ask him yourself." said Bron.
Littlefoot returned to Dayo. He liked playing with other Longnecks. He didn't get to do it often.
Dayo, however, seemed to be spending more time with Shorty than him. He noticed that his foster brother was acting weird around her. Though normally gruff and snappy, he was really sweet around her and got her green food to eat and was always very polite to her. The others noticed it too.
"Shorty sure likes Dayo. He does. He does." said Ducky.
Dayo's mood improved greatly by being with Shorty. This made Grandpa and Grandma Longneck happy. They had asked Dayo where her family was, thinking that perhaps she might have been lost from them. She said nothing.
Shorty came to Littlefoot at night. He seemed in a great mood. "I've never seen you this happy before Shorty." said Littlefoot.
"I'm in love." said Shorty. "With Dayo. I love her." he said dreamily.