call of the gullon
by c. safos

deets was in charge of the egg. her father, the chief of the gruffons, knew that deets was the only one he could trust. she had taken care of the tribe's bird, the gullon, since she was old enough to feed it.
when the tribe found out that the gullon had laid an egg, they were excited. it meant there would be another bird to protect the tribe. the gullon kept the tribe safe from the wicked plygmies, the monsters that hunted the gruffons.
as the night fell, the gruffons knew it would be safe to move the egg. the plygmies didn't come out at night. the gruffons moved the egg into a different part of camp each night just in case the plygmies tried to steal the egg. deets was told to move the egg from the north side of the camp to the east side. on her way to the east side of the camp, she felt a claw on her leg. it was a plygmy, and it was dragging away deets and the egg.
deets was scared, but she knew she couldn't run. there were too many plygmies. she also couldn't scream. if the tribe heard her scream, they would go to rescue her and leave the gullon cage. the plygmies would definitely go after the gullon if it wasn't being protected.
deets put the egg under her shirt. she thought about the times she fed the gullon and how the gullon's cry would send the plygmies running. she had practiced its caw over and over.
as she was being dragged, she called out the gullon's cry. the plygmies heard the call and panicked. they looked to the sky and ran, leaving deets behind. deets kept calling and watched the plygmies run off. she smiled. she could hear the gullon at camp cry out, responding to deets. deets had saved herself, the egg, and the camp.
1
what is the conflict in the story?
a. the gruffons cannot find any food to eat.
b. the gullon has been stolen from its cage.
c. the plygmies are attacked by the gruffons.
d. deets needs to escape from the plygmies.