Alternate Hiss-tory

Kaa was resting on a tree branch in the jungle when he heard a loud bawling noise. He awoke and looked at the source of the noise. The branch lay over a river, and Kaa could see a basket floating down the river.

Curious, Kaa lowered his tail and wrapped it around the basket, pulling it up into the tree. When it was in the tree, Kaa peered inside and saw the reason for the noise. A baby was inside, crying!

Kaa thought about this. Perhaps the baby was crying because it was hungry. Kaa could sympathize; he was always hungry. Kaa wrapped his tail around a banana and plucked it from the stem. He managed to peel it with his mouth and gave it to the baby, who managed to chew on the soft, mushy fruit.

Kaa did some more thinking. What should he do with this baby? "You're far too s-small even to s-serve as-s a s-snack," he mused. He had no idea where its parents were, and knew that the child would not survive long in the jungle.

"You know, you look like a little frog." Then he would have snapped his fingers if he had them. "That's-s it! I'll call you Mowgli, meaning 'Little Frog'. I think I'll rais-se you till you're of s-sufficient s-siz-se."

Pleased with himself and his decision to adopt the boy, Kaa slithered off, his new "son" in tow, basket and all.