It's bedtime now.
Time to snuggle into bed and let your eyes softly close.
Let's take three deep breaths together.
Ready?
Good.
Notice how warm and safe and comfortable you feel.
Keeping your eyes closed,
Allow your mind to travel with the sound of my voice.
Beneath you,
Your bed has transformed and you find yourself resting in a large pod of others of your kind.
The adults in your group stay at the perimeter,
Ready to defend your domain at any challenge.
You,
However,
Are safely tucked into the middle of the pod.
As you look around,
You can see all of the massive bodies of your family and beyond the barrier of their bodies,
You see the river rushing past.
You long to get in the water.
Though your skin is thick and porous and able to secrete your own sunscreen,
Which also serves as an antibiotic,
It will dry and crack if you're out under the African Sun for too long.
Fortunately,
It seems that the rest of your pod is also getting warm and so they begin to disperse.
You bring your four legs under you to support your substantial heft.
You can feel your four toes on each foot with their thick nails making contact with the dry mud.
Your pink belly has now come off the ground and you steadily make your way towards the rushing water.
Your front right toes reach the water first.
Then as you ease your full body into the water,
You instantly feel relief run through your gray skin from the tips of your toes all the way to your skinny short tail.
Your webbed toes pull against the surface of the water as you propel yourself deeper in.
The sound of the river is quite loud as it moves quickly downstream,
Swirling around your body,
But not as loud as your family.
They grunt,
Groan,
Growl,
Roar,
And make loud wheezing sounds.
They even make chuffing noises,
All of which can be so loud that you can even hear them when you're underwater.
You can sense that sound is being filtered through your ears that sit at the top of your head.
Your head is bulbous and long.
Big round bulging eyes sit just below your ears at the top of your long head with its broad jaw.
As you look straight down your muzzle,
You see a mound where your two nostrils are bringing in the rich scents of the river.
Suddenly you are overtaken by a large yawn and you reveal your enormous mouth filled with teeth.
In the front of your mouth are your tusk-like inch-thizers and canines.
In the back are many molars that help you to grind your herbivore diet.
Your eyes,
Nostrils,
And ears stay above the water as you glide and sway along,
But alas you still feel quite hot so you decide to investigate the river bottom.
As you lower your eyes into the water,
Your third eye neatly slides across your eyes,
Allowing you to see as if you were wearing goggles,
While the internal flaps and muscles that protect your ears and nostrils also act to block water from coming in.
It feels wonderful to be able to see and explore underwater.
You see fish of varying size swimming past.
You feel the river grasses tickling your belly as you walk along the river bottom.
Even underwater you can hear the loud calls of your pod above you and you hear your name being called.
Making your way back to the land,
You see a log drifting near the edge of the river and you playfully nudge it.
Turtles spill over the sides and swim all around you.
These little guys are so cute that you let a few climb on your back as you surface.
You give them a ride back to their log to rejoin their friends.
You feel your toes sinking into the mud at the bank of the river as you slowly make your way out of the water.
You're a bit tired after all that swimming and playing,
So you lie down in the shallow water,
Your nostrils,
Eyes and ears the only parts of you that are visible above the surface.
You start to feel a deep sense of relaxation come over you from the tip of your muzzle down the length of your head,
Down your back,
Into your body,
Down your legs and feet and all the way to the end of your short skinny tail.
You let your eyelids become heavy and gently let them close.
Your breathing becomes deep and soft and effortless.
You are completely comfortable lying submerged in the water with your body resting softly in the mud.
You breathe in the smell of the water,
In the air,
In the earth.
The muscles in your body release and you feel fully supported by the ground beneath you.
You are completely relaxed and you let yourself drift off to sleep.
Good night little hippopotamus.
