Fern was sitting on the couch with Bella coloring and wondered what Bella had been doing before she had met her.
“Bella,” Fern asked her, “why did you come to live in the wizard’s old tower?” Fern had found out about the Wizard’s Tower right before her eleventh birthday. She had come upon it on her first adventure when she took Bella with her back to the rainforest and befriended her. They had saved the Toucan Village from the wizard’s spell. And Bella had been living with Fern the past year.
“Well,” said Bella, “it all started a long time ago when I was just a little baby…”
“I was born in a little underground cave that had a tiny tunnel connecting it with the outside world. It came out in the middle of a clearing with a little stream running past it. Inside we had a simple little mushroom table with an oil lamp on it and three moss beds. One bed was for my dad, one was for my mom, and one was for myself. I was in the middle. My dad was a lumberjack and carpenter, he had a big ax with a wooden handle that he carried everywhere with him. And my mom was a weaver and had seven different kinds of needles and yarn.
“My family was very poor, but we were still happy. My dad usually went out to cut the wood, and he made lots of beautiful shoes and boots to sell and for us to wear. My mom usually stayed at home with me and hummed little tunes while she worked on her big carpets and scarves. She taught me to weave little scarves and mittens for when it got cold.
“I didn’t know what I’d be yet. I liked the idea of weaving, and I liked how soft the yarn was and how comfy the blankets were, but I also loved the cozy warmth of the fireplace burning the wood that my dad had cut down.
“Then one day, my dad said to me that it was time for me to go and get my own house, because it was getting very crowded. My bed was getting too small for me. So I grabbed my only things that belonged to me (which were my stuffie, a little ball of yarn with a needle and a sack of food) said goodbye to my parents, and started on my way.
“I walked for about fifteen minutes and then I got to a patch of cleared grass. I found a little hole in the center of that clearingThe glow Bella saw coming out of the hole was the torch light from the secret passageway. and tried to get in, but it was too small. And besides there was a glow coming from it so I wondered if someone else was already living there.
“Next, I kept walking and soon found a huge burrow, but it smelled like weasels. Weasels eat mice so I started running as fast as I could, and soon found a hollowed-out tree.
“Well, that tree was way too big! I told myself I could stay here for one night and then keep going on my way tomorrow. So I knitted a little scarf and mittens for myself. Then I fell asleep, and the next thing I knew, I woke up by a loud clap of thunder. I realized the tree stump was flooding. I very carefully gathered up my food, yarn, needle and stuffie and waded through the water for a long time, maybe an hour. And then the rain finally stopped and I could see again. I looked around and realized I wasn’t in the rainforest anymore! I realized I was in some place with no trees, and lots and lots and lots and lots of wooden huts, with barely any grass – mostly dust. I sneaked around the village and then found the Wizard’s Tower!
“I found a little hole where another mouse had probably lived and I snuck inside. It reminded me so much of my parents’ old den that I stayed there. Instead of a mushroom there was a little rock ledge with a point coming out that reminded me of my mom and dad’s table. There was also another little ledge, which was longer and thicker and lower down, and it had a tiny woven really old blanket. The blanket was made out of grass. There were a few spider webs so I cleaned them up and had a snack, and then went to bed.
“The next day I woke up and peeked out of my hole. It was darker than I had expected and two humans were walking around the room. And then one of the people said: “Mr. Wizard, have you finished your spell for that village in the rainforest?” And the other human, who was probably the wizard, said: “Not yet, it’s almost finished. And I’ll be ready soon.”
“I told myself it wasn’t important, went back to my den and ate my breakfast from the sack of food. Halfway through my breakfast I realized that I was running low on food. So after breakfast I slipped through the hole back to the outside world. I scurried through the village and got to the edge of the rainforest. I scampered up a tree and picked some mangos. I had brought my food sack along with me and I picked each mango and dropped it in the sack. Then I scampered back down the tree with the sack and came to a huge cocoa tree. I climbed up and opened up some cocoa pods, took out some seeds and dropped them in my sack. Then I went back home to the wizard’s tower.
“That’s how I came to live in that old tower. But I like your castle much better,” said Bella to Fern.
“Wow,” said Fern. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”
“It’s okay,” said Bella. “It happened a long time ago anyway.”
“Bella, why didn’t you come back into the rainforest and tell your parents you wanted to live with them?”
“Well,” said Bella, “I kind of didn’t think my parents would take me back. Also, I was kind of getting bored of that old den. But now that I think about it, I miss my parents and my mom’s blankets and my dad’s cozy fireplace and the three moss beds.”
“Wait, how old were you when you left?”
“Umm,” said Bella, “maybe six or seven?”
“So you’d been living in that tower for…”
“More than a year,” answered Bella.
“Did you have any friends before you went to the Wizard’s Tower?” asked Fern.
“I only had one friend.” answered Bella. “And that friend was a tiny little insect that barely talked. He was pretty boring. But I have way more friends now thanks to you.” Bella smiled at Fern.
The End.