A Faery's Adventure

A Faery’s Adventure.

         Mor’nen crept between the sunflower stems with her collection bag hanging in front of her. The sunflowers rose to the sky, angling their broad faces to the sun. Before looking up, Mor’nen made sure her collection bag was secure before she prepared to climb to the top of the flower and deposit some pollen from neighboring sunflowers on this one. Mor’nen being only 6” tall, the flower grew to 5’ or more, she began the climb. Wrapping her arms around the thick stem, she made a small jump to land her feet on either side of the stem and pull herself up. It was a physical job that not many of the faeries of Autumn Dale were willing to do.

Nevertheless, M’ornen loved this part of her assignment. Climbing to the top of the flower, she dusted the young flower with pollen. Now she could rest for a moment and take in the view of the meadow below. She watched a doe and her fawn forage for food. The doe often raised her head to check for danger as her fawn followed close behind to her. A loud retort from a rifle peals through the air. The doe leaped away, leaving her fawn to hide beneath the bramble and tall grasses.

         Securing her bag, so no pollen would be wasted, she slid down the sunflower stem and ran toward the fawn's hiding place. Mor’nen rans silently. Upon finding the fawn, Mor’nen spoke with a calm melodic voice, “It’s okay, little one, I will protect you. Mama will come back to you when she is safe to return. Then, pulling a flask of water from her pocket, Mor’nen offers water to the fawn. “There, there, that’s a good fawn. You are well hidden.”

         Just then, Mor’nen hears the buzzing of many wings. Pulling some of the tall grass aside, Mor’nen looks up to see a group of dragonfly riders fly above the treetops. Turning back to the fawn, Mor’nen comments, “I wish I were a dragonfly rider; then I could see more of the world from where they sit.” Letting the grass fall back over the fawn, Mor’nen returns the water flask back to her pocket and discovers that she’s lost. She doesn’t see the path she took to find the fawn.

         “Oh great! Now, what am I going to do?” Mor’nen says to the sky. Then, turning to the direction she thought she came from, she tries to retrace her steps. None of the plants look familiar. Mor’nen doesn’t see any sunflowers either.

         The sun passed the noon hour, and Mor’nen was hot and tired. Looking for any of her familiar landmarks and seeing none, Mor’nen sits beneath the shade of a Carambola tree. Opening her flask to take a drink, a dog suddenly appears from the other side of the tree, snuffling at the ground. “How are you doing, fella?” Mor’nen asks the dog as it sniffs her and licks her face. Upon hearing its name, the dog bounds off in the direction of its handler.

         “Well, that’s a fine greeting,” Mor’nen said aloud, as she wiped the dog’s drool off the side of her face. Being by herself, Mor’nen could hear more of the forest sounds of creatures finding something to eat or just finding each other. Mor’nen hoped a search party would find her if she did not return to the faery village before the sunset.

         The afternoon wore on, and Mor’nen did not hear any sounds of a search party looking for her. The sun just about touched the horizon. "I better find a safe place to sleep tonight than on the ground." Looking around and seeing nothing to protect her, Mor’nen looked up at the Carambola branches. Near the middle of the tree, she saw a big bird’s nest. “Now that looks like a good place to shelter for the night. Mor’nen climbed the tree. Upon reaching the nest, she discovered an owl sitting on the nest.

         “Excuse me, Lady Owl, may I share your nest tonight? I won’t take up much space,” Mor’nen asked politely.

         The owl looked at Mor’nen to sense if she was a friend or foe. Feeling that Mor’nen was speaking the truth, the owl stood up, stretching her wings. In the nest were two eggs. Mor’nen carefully stepped into the nest so as not to disturb the eggs. The nest was cozy with a lining of soft feathers, bits of fur, and scraps of cloth.

         “Thank you, Lady Owl, it is very kind of you to let me stay here tonight,” Mor’nen said.

         The owl bent her head down and gently nudged Mor’nen closer to the eggs before sitting down again on the nest.

         Early the following day, the owl flew from the nest to find breakfast. Mor’nen stretched as the sunlight showed through the tree branches. Scanning the valley, a smile grew on Mor’nen’s lips. In the distance, she saw a small group of faeries, men and women, that were from her village. Happy to see to her people, Mor’nen secured her bag to wear across her back before leaving the nest to climb down the tree. Just as she was climbing over the edge of the nest, Lady Owl returned with a fat rat clutched within her clawed feet.

         “Good day, Lady Owl; I see you have captured your breakfast. Members of my village are searching for me, and I’ve seen them in the distance. Thank you for letting me stay in your warm nest last night,” Mor’nen said, thanking the owl while she bowed.

         Placing the dead rat near her eggs, Lady Owl turned to Mor’nen; gently clutched Mor’nen within her right claw, she leaped from the nest and flew high into the sky. Lady Owl circled over the village searchers for a moment and gave a loud hoot; she landed a few yards away from them.

         Mor’nen hugged the owl’s leg and said "Thank you for showing me the world from sky." Lady Owl leaped into the air as her large wings lifted her higher into the sky.

         The searchers reached Mor’nen, hugging her and checking for any injuries.

         “I’m okay, really. I just had a bit of an adventure and will tell you about it when we return home," Mor'nen said.