Fairy Glade and Other Enchanting Tales (2 page)

Samantha the Lizard and Arty the Frog

Samantha the lizard lay on the sunny blue porch pillar at No.6, the heat from the sun felt good on her skin. Slowly her skin changed from green to the color of the pillar she rested on. She was a pale blue and impossible to see.

At the bottom of the porch, was a garden with a little pond in the middle. The reeds at the far end stretched up to the blue sunny sky. The water lilies grew in abundance in the pond; their pink petals open wide to the heat of sun.

Arty the frog sat on the lily pad sunning himself, waiting for his supper to fly close enough so he could catch it with his long tongue. He sat very still waiting patiently for the big blue fly to come closer. Out shot his tongue and the fly was gone from sight into his tummy.

“Yummy, yummy,” mumbled Arty.

Samantha watched him from her vantage point on the post. How handsome Arty's skin looked, he was green and yellow and his skin shone in the sunlight. He jumped from lily pad to lily pad, no trouble at all. Then he plopped gracefully into the pond, swimming to the far side of the pond. Samantha watched him with awe. She dearly wanted to be his friend; she was lonely as there was no one to play with. Arty seemed to be alone too on this beautiful sunny day.

“I'll go down to the pond and talk to the frog to see if we can be friends.”

Arty watched the lizard running down the pillar of the house. How lucky to be able to go so high up in the world, I wish I could do that. I wonder if the lizard will be my friend so we can play together each day.

Samantha reached the grass and made her way to the pond where Arty now lay stretched out on a lily pad.

“Hello froggy, do you want to be friends? My name is Samantha, but you can call me Sammi for short! What's your name?”

“Hello lizard, my name is Arty the frog! Pleased to meet you I'm sure!” He hopped over to Samantha.

“I would love to be your friend I am lonely, are you?”

“Yes, I am! What we shall play Sammi? Do you like to swim?”

“Oh no! I can't swim, I climb really well, do you Arty?”

“Oh no, Sammi I can't climb, I can jump really high, can you?”

“No, I can't jump! I can leap a long distance”

“We don't seem to do the same things and we definitely don't look alike. But we both love the sun. Shall we lie on a lily pad at the edge of the pond?”

“Oh yes! I would love too Arty.”

They lay in the sun together chatting about this and that.

“Isn't this wonderful, Arty. I feel so content and I love being your friend.”

“Me too,” said Arty, flicking his tongue out catching a juicy fly. Sammi watched a mosquito fly close to her; she too flicked out her tongue and caught the mosquito.

“Hey,” said Arty, impressed with his new friend. “You do that very well, as well as me! That's another thing we have in common.”

“Where do you sleep Arty?” asked Sammi.

“In the pond under the mud, where do you sleep Sammi?”

“I live under a rock, where it's damp and shady.”

“We have a similar home as well.” said, Arty.

“So we do, Arty. I can't swim and you can't climb trees.”

Hee, hee, they chuckled together as they lay in the sun. “This is fun.” The chums agreed, “Let's see what else we have in common.”

“You start, ladies first,” offered Arty. Sammi rubbed her head along the lily pad, thinking what to say, “Well.” she continued. “I have a little white pouch that balloons out when it fills with air, here look under my jaw, when I breathe”.

“I do too, when I croak,” said Arty.

“I can jump a long way, horizontally, of course,” said Sammi.”

“I can jump high. We are both green, but we have different body shapes,” said Arty.

“Well my friend, it seems we have many things in common even though we are very different to look at and come from a different part of the garden,” said Sammi.

They agreed they were great friends. They knew they had done the right thing because they didn't make up their minds until they had given each other a chance to get to know one another.

“If we were all friendly towards one another the world will be a better place to live. We may look different in size and colour, but we all have many things in common. We should take the time, to be a friend to a new person each day,” smiled Samantha.

“I agree,” said Arty.

THE END

THE DOVE

One warm sunny day, the sky sparkled sapphire blue, and a gentle breeze rustled the leaves on the trees in the woodland.

Dusty, the dove perched on a branch of a willow tree in the woodland where he lived with his mother and sisters, Chaunty and Tilly. Dusty needed time to think. He was sad and troubled. His once happy family had suddenly become unhappy.

His daddy had left the nest that morning, he cried bitterly. He perched on a branch above the nest. He didn't want the family to see him crying. He was a young male dove and Daddy had said they shouldn't cry.

“Men don't cry, son,” he used to say.

He was all alone, so why not cry? Who would see him? Teardrops glistened as they trickled down his feathers. What should he do? How could he heal the pain he and his family were feeling?

It must be my fault that daddy left us. I haven't always been a good son. Sometimes I was naughty, he thought to himself. Dusty overheard his daddy talking to his mummy. Daddy said that he loved another lady dove. Then he left, to go and live in another nest with another family; too ashamed to say goodbye to his children.

Mummy and his sisters were crying.

The clouds covered the sun briefly, and the wind began to blow stronger. He shivered, shook his feathers and spread his wings to catch the last rays of sun.

He thought to himself, I know what I will do; I will fly away to a new place and start a new life in a new tree. I will leave all the sadness and heartache behind.

If I leave home, perhaps Daddy will come back to Mother and my sisters, and then they will be happy again.

He decided to sleep in the willow tree where he'd perched earlier that day. He'd wait until sunrise the next morning before leaving.

The sun came over the hills and treetops, and the morning dawned sunny and warm. Dusty took off heading south. He just wanted to get far away from the hurt and sadness at home. He left without telling his mother and sisters.

What he did not realize was that he was taking all his troubles with him. There is no way to leave behind the pain and hurt that had befallen him and his family. Dusty, the young dove had much to learn.

He flew over an ocean edged with pristine sandy beaches and dotted with swaying palm trees. This is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, he mused to himself. The sun shone brilliantly. The reflection of the sun on the ocean hurt his eyes. Dusty was very tired from the long flight. He had never flown so far. He landed on a palm tree to rest a while.

There was a nest to build before darkness cloaked the beach. He began gathering twigs and dried grasses to make his nest in the top of the palm tree. When he was finished, it was time to look for food. After his supper of bananas and breadfruit, he settled down to sleep.

But sleep did not come even though he was tired. He thought of his family and knew they would be worried about him. He should have been home with them now getting ready for bed. He lifted his head to look at the ocean. Moonbeams cast a silvery pathway over the water that seemed to reach back up to the sky. Finally his eyes slowly closed and he was sleeping peacefully.

As sunrise bloomed brightly the next morning, Dusty opened his sleepy eyes. “Where am I?” he called out. He panicked and then remembered.

“Hey you up there! Who are you?” called a seagull from below.

“Good morning,” said a sweet feminine voice. “My name is Nelly and this is Eddy my brother. Who are you and where did you come from?”

He looked down and there below were two seagulls looking up at him in his new home.

“Hi, my name is Dusty. I am so glad to meet you both. I could use a friend right now. I came from the other side of the ocean; a long way from here.”

The two seagulls listened with interest to Dusty.

“I have left my home. There is much unhappiness there. My daddy left us to go to live in another nest with another lady dove and her family.”

“We are sorry to hear that,” said the seagulls sadly.

Dusty continued, “My family is shocked and very sad. I felt it was my fault daddy left us as I was naughty many times.”

“You sound as if you need to talk about your troubles. Come down here and perch with us and we will talk,” suggested Eddy.

Dusty flew down to his newfound friends.

“You cannot run away from your troubles,” said Nelly.

“What's more to the point, it's not a smart thing to do. Your family will be worried about you and they are already hurt and sad,” Eddy pointed out.

“We would like to help you Dusty. Don't you realize you can't run away from your troubles? They will just follow you. You have to deal with them and try to understand them,” said Nelly softly.

Eddy chimed in, “Your family is hurting too. They need you back. You all need one another to get through this sad time.”

Dusty knew Nelly and Eddy were right. He felt ashamed and he hung his little head.

“It was very selfish of me to run away and leave them with the extra worry of wondering where I am,” said Dusty. “I'm so sorry. I can now see I was only thinking of myself. I will have to leave at first light in the morning to go home to my family.”

Eddy and Nelly agreed with Dusty's decision.

Dusty thanked Eddy and Nelly for their friendship and advice.

Early the next morning Dusty said goodbye to his new friends. He flew up into the warm winds and took one last look at the beauty of the tropical island and its beaches. Sunbeams shimmered on the ocean casting a golden path for him to follow on his long flight home.

When Dusty arrived home it was late and very dark and cool in the forest. No moon tonight, he thought. His family was sleeping when he landed on a branch close to their nest. He sat looking at them with pride. He loved them so much and oh, how he had missed them! He was so sorry for leaving them. He wanted to wake them and embrace them but decided to wait until morning.

He slipped into the nest and found a comfortable place to snuggle down. He was just drifting off to sleep when his sister Chaunty opened her eyes. She saw him tucked up in the warm nest. “Oh, Dusty!” she cried out, “You're home. It is wonderful to see you. We were all so worried about you.”

Then his sister Tilly and his mother woke up too. They hugged and kissed him. They cried happy tears because Dusty was home.

“We will talk in the morning; right now we all need our rest,” said Mother. “Good night, children.”

“Good night, Mother,” they all said in unison.

In the morning they had breakfast together. Then they sat in the sun to talk. Dusty explained where he had gone and why. He told them about his new friends Eddy and Nelly. He told them how they had helped him to sort out all his hurtful thoughts and feelings.

Then Mother said, “Truly my family, this is and will be a hard time for us. We will get through these sad times and come out happier and stronger but we have to do it together.” Then she added, “We will go and visit Granny and Granddad. We can leave first thing tomorrow morning after we finish breakfast and the chores. That way we can get an early start.”

Granny and Granddad lived in a beautiful old oak tree in a very big park. When they arrived, Granny was sitting, sunning herself on a branch at the top of the oak tree close to her nest.

“Hello, family!” she cried excitedly. I am so pleased to see you.” She hugged and kissed them. “Your Granddad is away right now. He has gone to collect the food for supper. He will be home by noon and he will be happy to see you. Why don't you children go and play while Mummy and I chat over a nice cup of tea.”

“Let's go to the far end of the park and play hide and seek in the big trees there,” suggested Dusty. Once there, they had so much fun playing hide and seek. Dusty was the best at seeking. The girls were the best at hiding.

After a while, they sat for a spell on a big branch of an old oak tree to rest. They watched the baby rabbits chasing one another in the long grasses. They heard the songbirds singing in the trees around them. Dusty, Chaunty and Tilly began to sing along with them too. The sun was setting fused with shades of reds and purples. They all watched in awe.

“Come on girls, it's getting late. Let's get back to Granny's. I'm hungry. I bet you both are too.” Off they flew high into the sky and shortly after landed at Granny's nest.

“Hello!” said Granddad. “It's so good to see you. Come let me give you all a big hug!”

“Time for supper,” declared Granny. “Let's eat now. When we are finished, we will have time to chat and play before you go to bed. Mummy has agreed that you will all spend the night here.” Dusty and his sisters were so happy they hugged their mother. After supper they all played hide and seek together. They had a fun time. Granddad would peep to see where they had gone so he could find them really quickly. The children knew what he was up to but didn't mind at all.

“Time for bed,” said Mother finally. Soon they were all snuggled up in bed. She kissed them good night.

As they snuggled together in the nest, Dusty said sleepily to his sisters. “I feel so much happier now, don't you?”

“Yes!” agreed the girls.

Dusty said, “We are a close family that love each other. That's all we need to get though this.”

The girls sleepily agreed. Their eyes slowly closed as they drifted off to sleep. Their mother looked in on them and kissed them all. All three of them had a happy sleepy smile on their faces.

As Mother sat on a branch above them, she overheard all they had said. She smiled to herself. “We will all come though this much a stronger family. We will be all right now,” she said.

THE END

The inspiration for this story came from a little boy's broken heart when his parents separated. I wrote this story from the point of view of a bird family because my grandson Dustin and I would often sit watching the doves in our birdbath. He told me he wanted to be a dove to fly away from his unhappy life because of his parent's separation. I am so happy I was there for him on the day we had a heart to heart talk. Dusty has grown into a wonderful young man that I am very proud of.