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Carnation, the flower fairy, fluffed
her pink dress up. The tiny silver sparkles on them caught the sunlight
and sent shiny rays out. She looked like she was lit up with tiny fairy
lights. Her legs dangled over the edge of the tree stump, swinging back
and forth. Her chubby cheeks were rosy pink and her short brown hair
enveloped them. "Have you seen the ants? They are so busy right now,
gathering bits of food and storing them for the coming winter," she said.
A dragonfly, the color of a sweet
smelling red rosebud, stood next to her on the log. She nodded and looked
down to the ground.
"Just look at them, Dragonfly.
They’re carrying things that are ten times their size and taking them to
their mound. I’m sure it’s a busy place in the ant hill," she added.
Dragonfly stretched her arms and
fluttered her wings. They were as delicate and gossamer as Carnations.
"Maybe we should help the ants find food, or maybe we should find food for
all the animals in Periwinkle Glen. It might be a harsh winter this year.
Will you help me look?" she asked.
Dragonfly nodded. Both Dragonfly and
Carnation flew into the air and headed toward the stream that ran through
the glen. "Let’s start here. I’m sure there are a lot of things growing
along the side of the stream," she said. The lifted up leaves and moved
rocks aside. "I found some mushrooms," Carnation called out, "but if we
pick them, they’ll shrivel up and won’t be much good by winter. We’d
better leave them alone. I know," she said, "let’s pick the acorns off the
oak tree."
They flew over to the mighty oak.
The acorns were growing in clusters. They were green with darker green
helmets on them. Carnation reached for one. "We can’t pick these," she
sighed, stopping. "The squirrels need the acorns to get bigger and to drop
to the ground. If we pick them now, what will the squirrels do?" Dragonfly
nodded and the two flew off.
They fluttered above some poppies
that were bright red and filled with pollen. Carnation looked at
Dragonfly. "We can’t gather the pollen either. The bees and butterflies
need to pollinate the other flowers and take it back to the beehive for
honey. Oh dear, what will we do?"
Dragonfly raised her arms, not
knowing the answer. "It seems to me that all the animals take care of
themselves during the winter. The ants gather food, the squirrels gather
acorn, the bees make honey and the butterflies pollinate the flowers. I
think we should just let nature take care of itself, don’t you?" she
smiled at her friend.
Dragonfly smiled a big smile. "Let’s
go and find some dandelions. Doesn’t it sound fun to blow the helicopter
seeds into the air and watch them twirl to the ground?" Carnation asked.
Dragonfly nodded and soon the air was filled with swirling dandelion
seeds. All the animals in Periwinkle Glen heard Carnation and Dragonfly
laughing as they gathered food for winter. |
