Lucy Pendergrass

The Vera Flower

"Good morning, Lucy" said Droplet cheerfully grinning.

Lucy hoped down from her hammock and said "good morning Droplet, are we leaving?".

"After breakfast we are," confirms Droplet.

Just at that moment Lucy realizes because of the fox chase they had not eaten dinner yesterday. Lucy's stomach starts to growl softly. Nobody hears since at that very moment Rainix jumps down from his top hammock making a loud thud noise. Around them fairies were stirring from their sleep. Lucy, Droplet and Rianix chat for a bit then Rainix leads them to the mess hall for breakfast.

"So this Darken forest, what will we find there?" asks Droplet.

"Well no telling really, I heard there are wolves and giant spiders" says Rainix.

Lucy gulps and shivers that did not sound like a walk in the park.

"No worries about the wolves though they only come out at full moon but as for the spiders we will have to be vigilant" says Rainix.

Droplet nodes his head "well looks like we should head out".

They go back to the dormitory to retrieve their packs. Rainix arranges a backpack of his own. They head downstairs to the nook in the tree. Passing through the nook Lucy feels the warmth of sunshine. Droplet soon finds Kiwie nearby, he feeds her some fruit. Rainix turns his head up and whistles loudly. Soon a squirrel descends from the tree. The squirrel comes to Rainix.

"His name is Maximus" says Rainix to Lucy as he pets the squirrel.

"May I?" asks Lucy as she extends her hand.

Rainix nods his head in approval. Lucy's hand meets Maximus' head, it is soft yet a bit thick and sleek. Maximus closes his eyes as if enjoying the attention.

The three of them mount their rides while Rainix leads the way. Nobody talks along the way as the forest starts to grow thicker. Lucy notices there are more trees packed closer together; they are also heading for higher ground.

"I am going to go to the top of the trees," says Rainix.

"Okay make sure you are visible" says Droplet.

They travel for an hour through the dense forest. Lucy follows and hears Maximus in the treetops in front of her. They follow Rainix until suddenly the treetops are quiet.

"Help I got stuck in a web!" yells the familiar youthful voice.

Soon Lucy sees Maximus and Rainix in a spider web that shimmers slightly as they struggle within it. Lucy reaches in her pack for the knife and hands it to Droplet. Droplet takes the knife in hand and unfolds his wings. Flapping them he ascends in the air headed for Rainix and Maximus. Droplet is able to cut through the webbing freeing both fairy and animal. Maximus is able to find a branch to land on.

At that moment Lucy noticed a giant spider heads their way up in the trees.

"Spider!" yells Lucy.

Rainix and Droplet turn around to see the spider charging towards them. Quickly Rainix climbs on Maximus and Droplet drops down on Kiwie they start to escape the spider. After five minutes of traveling in the forest they turn back to look and make sure the giant spider is not behind them. They get back on track and make it out of the Darken forest and into a meadow. Rainix leads them to the middle of the meadow to a small purple flower.

"This is Vera flower" says Rainix proudly.

Droplet grabs the empty backpack and begins to fill it with the flower. Lucy and Rainix help finish filling the backpack. Once all pockets are full they smile at each other.

"I will be traveling by ground only," says Rainix seriously.

They mount their rides and enter the Darken forest. They stay quiet as they ride on. There were almost no noises from animals in the Darken forest. They do not encounter any more spiders thankfully. They started to head downhill. The trees were spaced out from each other. Soon they reached Concordia as the magnificent oak tree.

Rainix dismounts Maximus as the squirrel returns up to the oak tree's familiar treetop branches. Droplet let's Kiwie stay near the oak tree. Lucy, Rainix and Droplet pass through the nook in the tree.

After dinner they go to the dormitory to sleep for the night. They occupy the same hammocks. Lucy wakes in the morning.

"Well thank you for guiding us," says Droplet to Rainix.

"Anytime" says Rainix.

Droplet returns to help Lucy mount Kiwie. As Kiwie starts to move Lucy waves goodbye to Rainix who is standing at the nook of the oak tree. The oak tree goes out of view. Kiwie is able to cross the creek with ease. In no time they are back in the forest.

This time there is no fox to run from. It takes Droplet and Lucy little time to retrace their steps back to the flower field where the willow tree lies home to Willowian. They cross the flowers as their aroma penetrates into their nostrils. They head into the terminal area.

Droplet and Lucy gather their things and head for the staircase. Droplet leads them to the assembly hall. It is wooden and polished as last Lucy saw it. There they see the Grand Elder.

"Grand Elder we have Vera flower" says Droplet proudly presenting the backpack.

The Grand Elder receives the backpack and smiles.

"Well done young Droplet" says the Grand Elder.

"Grand Elder, how can I return home?" asks Lucy.

The Grand Elder looks at Lucy and pulls out some Vera flowers and says "one simply eats a bit of Vera flower to return".

Lucy takes the flower.

"Well this is goodbye Droplet" says Lucy as she hugs Droplet.

Lucy puts the Vera flower in her mouth. She swallows the flower. In a blink of an eye she sees a flash of light then she feels grass. She looks around, she is outside the willow tree; she is also back to normal size.

The flower must have turns back time too.

A few weeks have passed and Lucy writes her journey in her diary. She is back in the flower field near the willow tree. Suddenly she hears a soft voice. This way. A new adventure begins.