Din Din was working in his garden when he received an unexpected visitor.

"Hello, Din Din!" said Wiz Rooster as he landed on one of the trees surrounding Din Din's fragrant flower garden.

"Wiz Rooster!" exclaimed Din Din in surprise. "What a pleasant surprise, Sir!" Din Din was amazed that such a wise and senior creature of D'Land had paid him a visit.

"I needed to speak to you about something," said Wiz Rooster. "Do you have a minute to spare?"

"Of course! Anytime Sir," replied Din Din, his curiosity growing by the minute. "What could a creature like Wiz Rooster need me for," the dinosaur wondered to himself.

Wiz Rooster smiled and began, "I have a suggestion to make and I hope you won't mind. The last storm caused damage to a lot of creatures' homes in D'Land. This has caused me to wonder about how we can make more secure shelters for the creatures here. Parts of the Aviary School were also destroyed in the rains so I was thinking that we should make a secure roof and some fences for the school premises."

"That is a good idea, Sir. But how may I be of assistance?" asked Din Din.

"You are an excellent gardener, Din Din. I need you to grow a kind of flowering perennial plant called the bamboo. This plant is the largest member of the grass family. But bamboo is a unique kind of grass—they are like hollow, long columns. This bamboo can be ideal to help us build a secure shelter for the Aviary School," explained Wiz Rooster.

"Bamboo species are found in diverse climates, from cold mountains to hot tropical regions and your garden has the conditions to host bamboos. Also, bamboo is one of the fastest-growing plants on Earth and I have heard that it can grow to even 100cm in 24 hours, so once you start growing, it is sure to thrive," said Wiz Rooster.

"It would be a pleasure to do so. Where can I get a bamboo cutting from to start planting?" said Din Din, proud as punch that he could help in the prosperity of D'Land.

"Now that, my dear, might be a problem," said Wiz Rooster with a frown. "There is an area in D'Land where bamboo grows in profusion. It is very far though and that is why I suggest that you grow it in your garden so that it is easily accessible to us. However, the pesky pandas might create a problem."

"Pandas?" asked Din Din.

"Yes, panda is a bear—it is easily recognized by the large, distinctive black patches around its eyes, over the ears, and across its round body. And 99% of its diet comprises of bamboo. So we will have to be very careful about venturing into the Panda territory. They are very possessive about their bamboo," said Wiz Rooster. "I see! Well, not to worry. Dazel and I will go and get a bamboo shoot," said Din Din.

That evening when Din Din met Dazel and Delma at the lake, he told his friends about the task Wiz Rooster had assigned them.

"Let's do it!" cheered Dazel. "We should go tomorrow as it's a Sunday."

So the next day Din Din and Dazel set off to the Southern part of D'Land. As they travelled further, the weather became hot and balmy. Finally, they reached a large area surrounded by columns of tall sticks.

"These must be the bamboo," said Din Din excitedly. But there was no way to get inside the fence of bamboos.

"I can fly over it," said Dazel. But when she tried to enter over the bamboo Sticks, growling sounds greeted her.

A hoard of pandas who were sitting on the bamboos snarled at her menacingly. Dazel hastily flew out of the enclosure. Outside, Din Din asked, "What happened? What was all that noise?"

"These pandas are huge and frightening," said Dazel gasping.

"Now how in the world will we get a bamboo shoot?" wondered Din Din aloud.

Just then, they saw a tiny baby panda peering at them from atop the bamboo fence. It smiled at Din Din and Dazel.

"Oh! He's so adorable," said Dazel. The baby panda scampered down the fence and came to them. It sniffed at Din Din's legs.

"Hello there," said Din Din softly.

"Hello," the baby panda replied in a squeaky voice. "What are you here for?" it asked boldly.

"Well, we wanted some bamboo shoots to plant them in our part of D'Land," replied Din Din.

"Can you help us, baby panda?" asked Dazel eagerly.

"Sure, not a problem," the panda quipped with a cheeky grin. "What will I get in return?"

Din Din and Dazel looked at each other in wonder.

"W...What do you want?" stammered Din Din.

"Flowers!" said the cheeky young panda. "I love lovely, fragrant flowers and I want loads of them to decorate my home. Also I want honey. I have heard it's very sweet and I want to taste it."

Din Din let out a sigh. "Seems like we will have to make another trip home, Dazel." The duck nodded in agreement.

"We will get both the things but please keep the bamboo shoots ready for us," said Dazel. "We will be back tomorrow." The panda agreed and Din Din and Dazel trudged back to their vicinity of D'Land.

The next day, both the friends made their way back to the panda locality. Sure enough the mischievous, young panda was waiting for them, perched atop the bamboo fence. "So you came," it retorted.

"Yes, but first give us the bamboo shoots," said Din Din. He put down a huge basket. "This basket has bouquets of roses, daisies, violets and jasmine. And there is a pot of honey which we borrowed from the bees."

The eager panda leapt down the fence and opened the basket. It smiled in satisfaction and then held out a bunch of bamboo shoots.

"Thank you," said Din Din.

"It's all right," the panda rejoined with a grin and ran away dragging the basket behind him.

"What a character!" said Din Din to Dazel and the two friends laughed as they made their way back to their home.

Wiz Rooster was very proud of the two friends. Soon Din Din's garden had an entire section of bamboo. Birds and animals came to take the bamboo from him and make walls and roofs from these sturdy sticks. The birds of Aviary School also built a roof over their school which stood on tall bamboo sticks.

Whenever Din Din saw these structures made from bamboo, his chest swelled with pride and he thanked God that he was able to play a productive role in uplifting the lives of the creatures of D'Land.

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