|
Aspen was an angel with
gossamer wings. She wore a lacy, pale pink dress with golden sparkles all
over it, had short brown hair with golden highlights, and a small golden
halo floated in the air just above her head.
Aspen was the guardian of a
glen in the heart of Scotland. The glen had a shallow stream flowing
through it, tall waving grasses, and was thickly carpeted with wild
flowers of every color imaginable. One of her much loved duties as
guardian angel of the glen was to watch over and help care for all the
baby animals that lived there. She also tended to the flowers, bees, mice,
and butterflies.
Aspen loved being in the
glen. If a baby bird fell out of its nest, she’d quickly fly over, catch
it and carry it back up to its nest. She’d lay it softly under the wings
of its mother. Now and then she’d take a fawn down to the stream for a
drink while its mother rested. Aspen helped the flowers shake off the
morning dew, but only after she was sure that the butterflies had sipped
what they needed for the day.
The baby mice would
sometimes wander off and she’d be there to help find them. Once she found
one near the stream, almost ready to fall in. She’d picked it up by its
tail and flew it home to its unhappy mother. All of the animals, flowers,
and insects loved Aspen. At nights she slept inside a bright red tulip,
always having an ear open for anything in need.
One day the sky was a
silvery gray color. Aspen was concerned. She knew this meant a storm was
coming. Quickly she flew around the glen, making sure all of the baby
animals were accounted for and that all the flowers had closed up tightly.
When she was sure everything was all right, she flew into her tulip and
shut herself inside. Soon the wind began to blow. The flowers bent nearly
to the ground. Aspen could hear the wee animals crying in fear. She heard
the leaves on the trees shaking in the wind’s fury. The stream began to
flow faster as huge raindrops splattered on the side of the tulip’s
petals.
After the storm had passed,
Aspen left the safety of the tulip. She straightened out her gossamer
wings and wiped the raindrops from her pink dress. She flew high up into
the air so she could see the whole meadow at once. The deer were all
right. They’d found a pine tree to huddle under. The birds were all in
their nests with their babies next to them. The butterflies came out and
flew around the flowers, which were all standing up straight and tall
again.
Everything seemed to be
fine. Then she spotted Mother mouse. She was running around frantically.
Aspen flew over to her. Mother mouse told her that one of her babies was
missing. He had wandered out before the storm and had never come home.
Aspen knew exactly which baby it was too; the one she’d saved from falling
into the stream a few days before. Aspen gasped. The stream was flowing
much quicker because of the rain. She told Mother mouse to keep looking
and flew off towards the stream. She looked in the water and was horrified
to see the baby mouse, sitting in the middle of a huge red maple leaf that
was floating down the fast moving stream. He was squealing and running
back and forth on the leaf, which floated right past Aspen. She could see
the terror in the wee mouse’s eyes. She flew into the air and chased the
leaf. She got close enough to grab the wee mouse by the tail, just as the
leaf hit a rock. She held onto him and dropped him into the grass. The wee
mouse hugged Aspen tightly and cried. Aspen picked him up and flew him
back to Mother mouse, who was happy to see her baby.
Just then a beautiful
rainbow appeared in the sky. All the animals in the glen came out to see
it. Aspen looked at them all and felt very happy. Everyone was safe once
more. She was glad that she was guardian angel of this glen! |
