Fern The Leopard

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Fern Gets Sick

It started out like any other day. Fern got up in the morning, had breakfast and went on an adventure. She came back home and had tea with Mama Leopard. She had dinner and then read some books.

Fern was sitting on the couch reading with Mama Leopard. They were reading a book of wild animal music that had just recently been published by an elephant. Elephants love music and have great memories but Fern had never met an elephant. She imagined huge white tusks, big grey storm cloud skin, and tiny black eyes.

Suddenly Fern felt a sneeze coming on.

“Aahhhhhhh…choo!!!”

The sneeze sent the pages fluttering everywhere.

“Bless you!” said Mama Leopard. “You might have a cold coming on. Let me get the tissues.”

While Mama Leopard got the tissues, Fern fixed the pages of the book. One or two of the pages had slid under the couch so she got those pages out with a mop. Fern put the mop back in the garage.

Then Mama Leopard came back holding the tissue box. “Here you go sweetie” she said. “We should move you up to your bed. It’s bedtime.”

So Fern went past the couch, up the stairs and into her bedroom. She brought the tissue box with her and put it on her bedside table. Then she went along the hallway to the bathroom and brushed her teeth with her toothbrush, which was made out of reeds. She used mint flavored tree sap as toothpaste. Then she combed her fur and went back to her bedroom. She snuggled up in bed and blew her nose. Then she drifted off to sleep and started having the weirdest dreams she’s ever had.

Fern is at the beach with Grandma and Grandpa Leopard, and Toco and Bella. It is a calm beach with tiny waves and the water is very warm. Every fifteen minutes there’s a big wave that’s freezing cold and then that wave is just gone and there’s warm water again.

Fern is looking for beach treasures. She holds her breath underwater and looks at the bottom and she looks at the beach treasures. She picks up five pieces of sea glass and one shark-eye shell. She puts the treasures in a tiny little bag. Then she pokes her head out of the water and runs out so the big wave can’t get her. But the big wave does get to her grandparents and Fern’s grandpa is carrying Bella. So they run away from the waves. Toco is flying above them and the wave can’t reach him.

Then he figures out that the big wave is caused by a giant sea elephant. Toco sees part of the trunk spraying the waves at them. They hear a loud trumpeting sound, exactly like Fern imagined in the music.

Every time the elephant sprays his trunk, the big wave comes halfway up the beach. The weirdest part about the elephant is that it is an orange elephant. Nothing like the big grey storm cloud skin that Fern pictured earlier while reading on the couch. She can see the elephant now and it is stomping around, sucking up water in its trunk and blowing it at them.

And then there is a loud roaring sound, and suddenly a huge red lion is galloping on top of the waves toward the elephant. So the elephant starts running as fast as a cheetah and Fern wakes up.

The first thing Fern notices is that her nose is leaking.

“Cough cough” uh-oh. She also has a cough. Fern might actually have a cold, she realizes.

“Yaawn” she is tired. There is a knock on the door and Mama Leopard peeks in.

“Hey honey,” she purrs, “I made you some tea.”

“Thanks Mama” Fern says. “Also, just to tell you, I might actually be sick.”

“I know honey” meows Mama Leopard. “I think you might have gotten it from Toco when you had a playdate with him the day before yesterday. He was coughing and the day after that his mom said that he is in bed and sick.”

Fern chased her tail around in her bed as if she had never done it before. She didn’t seem to hear her Mama or care about anything she was saying. She drank the tea and laid back down.

The next dream came immediately. Fern is chasing her tail around in circles. Fern looks at her tail and realizes she is blue. She’s in the sky. Toco is hovering above her but he is orange and his tummy is red, the blue circle around his eye is now purple and his wings are yellow.

Fern catches her tail in her mouth and tries to get it a different way. She’s snapping at it between her legs. Her tail is just out of reach. She is still all blue and hovering in the sky. She is exhausted and lays down on a cloud. The cloud surprisingly is hard like wood, but white. There is no other animal besides Toco in sight.

Then Toco starts doing acrobatics and rolling around in the sky.

“Hey!” Fern calls up. “Toco why are you doing that?”

“Because you were giving me such a good show of chasing your tail that I decided to give you a show back.”

Then Fern gets up and starts nipping at her tail more. She is running around in the sky and doesn’t even see the elephant until she has raced past it.

It’s the huge orange elephant from the last dream. This time it is blowing clouds at her. Then suddenly she hears the same big roar that she remembers from the last dream, and the red lion scares the elephant away. It runs as fast as a cheetah through the sky. Then Fern wakes up.

It’s like the elephant and the lion are dream-visiting her. The lion is following around the elephant and making sure that the elephant doesn’t mess up her dreams, but every time the lion comes, the dream stops!

Fern feels weird. She takes another sip of her tea. It tastes so good that she takes more and more sips until the tea is finished. Then she goes back to bed.

It takes a long time this time, but finally Fern opens her eyes. She is lying on the floor looking up at the ceiling as a little baby. “Bah bah” she says and rolls over. She rolls onto her knees and elbows and starts crawling everywhere. “Beh beh” she says, “beh beh.” Then she suddenly changes direction, goes over to her toy room, sticks a rattle in her mouth and falls asleep. Then she wakes up, crawls out of the playroom and starts playing with a toy orange elephant. And then a red toy lion comes hurling at the elephant. Fern moves the elephant so fast that it’s moving as fast as a cheetah.

And then Fern wakes up again.

“Wow” thinks Fern, “I certainly have had a bunch of dreams.”

Then she sniffles, and then “Aaaahhhh..choo!”

The end.

November 29, 2022
Fern’s Thanksgiving Friend

Once upon a time there was a little leopard named Fern who was four years old. It was Thanksgiving day and Fern was exploring her cousin Flower’s Field when something caught her eye. It was a huge, dark brown and black feather, and it was kind of shiny. Next to the feather were some claw prints that looked like arrows.

Fern told herself it was nothing, and went on with the rest of her day. It was Thanksgiving and she had to get ready for the big feast. At the big feast all of the animals get together at a special place in the middle of the jungle and eat as much as they can.

Soon it began to get late and Fern went to the feast. To get to the feast Fern had to get her parents help because she wasn’t allowed to go there without their supervision. Her mom was worried about her getting lost in the thick jungle. Fern got her parents and they went to the feast. At the feast they ate all sorts of delicious things like sixteen different types of pie, mango pudding and peach palm fruit cookies. They got back home super late and went to bed.

But the next morning, Fern woke up to lots of loud squawking. It was very weird squawking because Fern knew all the bird languages, but not one of them sounded like this.

Fern got up to investigate. She snuck quietly down the stairs and quickly opened the door. She tiptoed outside and started to follow the noise.

“I wonder what this noise can be coming from,” Fern thought to herself. “It certainly must be a new species, because I have never heard it before!”

The noise led her to where she had been the prior day in Flower’s Field. And there, before her very eyes, was a huge bird. It had a really round body with black on top and brown on the bottom. Its legs were very thin and it also had white speckles on some of the bottom feathers. The tail feathers were on its back, sort of, going from black to dark brown. It had lots of tiny orange iridescent things on its belly and a blue circle around its eye. The head was bald. There was a red thing that seemed to be hanging down from the bird’s chin, and it was really bright.

“Hi” purred Fern. “What is your name and why haven’t I seen you around here before? I thought I knew all of the birds of the jungle.”

“Where am I?” Squawked the bird. “Am I really in the jungle?”

“Yup! But what type of bird are you? I’ve never seen you before.”

“I” said the bird importantly, “am a Turkey.”

“What’s a turkey?” Fern asked.

“I am a turkey” said the bird. “You can tell by my wattle.”

“What’s a wattle?” Fern asked.

“This” clucked the turkey “is a wattle.” And he pointed with his foot at the red thing hanging down from his chin.”

“Ohh” meowed Fern. “That’s good to know. What’s your name?”

“My name” gobbled the turkey “is Trot.”

“Nice name” Fern meowed. “My name is Fern. Where did you come from?”

The turkey kept gobbling. “I just ran away from my owners, the humans, because they were gonna eat me for Thanksgiving. But I didn’t want to be eaten so I decided to run away. So I waited until the middle of the night and then snuck out of my pen through a hole in the fence. It was yesterday night so I’ve been wandering about for over a day now and I’m very lost. Do you know the way to the pyramids of the Maya in Guatemala? I have some relatives there in the rainforest and it is one of the only places I might be safe from humans.”

“Yes you have to go a long way north from here. It is a different rainforest. But how do you know you have relatives there? What do you know about them?” Fern asked.

“Well,” said Trot, “we turkeys have been telling stories for a long time and it just so happens that I heard a story about the rainbow turkeys that live in the rainforest by the Mayan pyramids in Guatemala. It said that they were happy there because nobody ever tries to eat them.”

“That sounds wonderful,” purred Fern. “And I think Guatemala is that way.” She pointed north. “You have to cross the human highway and then go through the cloud forest beyond. But before you leave, do you want to come to my house? You’ll love it.”

So Fern and Trot went over to Fern’s house and Trot asked “Do you have any acorns?”

“No” said Fern.

“What do you have to eat?” Asked Trot.

“Well we have mangoes and I think we have some leftover banana pie.”

“What are mangoes?” Trot asked.

“Mangos are orange fruit that taste sweet and sometimes a little sour. And they have a big pit and you have to peel them to eat them. And they are really yummy!”

“Oh” said Trot. “I’ll try some mango.”

Trot liked the mango and so they both ate until their tummies were full. Then Trot said he had to start on his journey. So Fern’s dad gave Trot a leaf phone and told him if he ever needed help to call him through it but it would only work in the Amazon rainforest because that was where the magic worked. Fern said goodbye to Trot and Trot went off onto his journey.

A couple of days later Fern heard a ringing coming from her father’s office. “Maybe it’s Trot” Fern thought excitedly and rushed to pick up the phone.

“Hey Fern, it’s Trot” he said. “I’m at the edge of the Amazon rainforest and so far nothing has tried to eat me, which is great. Anyways now I have to say goodbye because soon I am not going to be able to use the leaf. So bye Fern and thank you for helping me.”

So Trot the turkey stepped out of the rainforest and the connection between the leaf stopped working. But something special had stayed in the rainforest: Fern’s friendship with Trot.

The end.

November 24, 2022
Fern’s Bedroom

Fern’s sitting on the couch and doesn’t know what to do. She gets up and goes to her room. She looks around her room: it’s a lavender colored room with dark green leaves painted on the bottom. The ground is brown wood, and the paint on the walls is shimmering, like dew drops in a spider web. Fern’s ceiling is black with thousands of clear white diamonds sparkling in the sunlight like distant stars.

Her bedsheets, pillows and blankets are huge green leaves that the leaf-cutter ants sewed together and stuffed with cotton. She has a big bookshelf that has a comfy wooden chair next to it. There is a plant in a purple pot, and her window overlooks her favorite kapok tree. There’s also a desk for drawing, a beautiful pink, purple, and white rug, and a bedside table and on the wall opposite of that is a golden mirror.

Above the bedside table, she has a portrait of her grandma and grandpa. Behind this portrait, Fern has a secret tunnel. She discovered the passage when she was nine and a half, with the help of her super duper duper duper duper bouncy ball. Fern just has to knock once in the middle of this portrait and the picture slides away to reveal the passage.

As Fern looks around her room now, she wonders if there are any other secret surprises in her room. Fern starts to look around for some passageways. First, she checks the mirror. She takes the mirror off, she knocks it three times, then two, then one, then all the other numbers in order up to her lucky number 11. And then, she tries to say a secret passage word, “abracadabra”, but that doesn’t work, and so Fern moves on to the next thing.

Fern goes to the bed. She goes underneath her bed but there’s no hole. So she takes off all her bed covers and sheets and even her mattress, but there’s nothing. She checks everything in her room, but there’s still nothing.

Then Fern has an idea: “What if the secret passageway is in the ceiling? What if it is hidden because it is black, just like the ceiling?!” she cries.

Fern goes downstairs and goes to the garage (where there is no car, but is where they keep all of their work supplies.)

Fern gets a ladder and heads back upstairs.

Mama Leopard is in the kitchen too busy to notice what Fern is doing.

Fern gets to her room and pushes the ladder through the doorway. Then she props it up against the wall and starts climbing up until she’s reached the ceiling. She feels around on the ceiling and finally comes to the biggest diamond on the ceiling – the moon.

For as long as Fern can remember, she has had a diamond shaped moon on her ceiling. Fern looks at it – there has to be a secret passage behind the moon. It’s the only place there could be a passage because she has checked everything else and she is almost positive there is another passageway from her room.

But how does it open? It feels like there’s a latch in a crack on the moon diamond. So Fern hooks her claws into the latch and pulls and pulls and pulls!

Suddenly, the moon slides quickly to the side and reveals a gaping hole like a mouth. Fern peeks inside – it’s pitch black. She goes down the ladder and gets a candle from the kitchen. Then she comes back to her room, climbs back up the ladder, lights the candle, and hops inside the passage. The passage has dark grey stone walls and seems to go on forever. It smells just like the outside rainforest and Fern starts walking. All she can see are the stone gray walls beside her, the stone ceiling, the stone floor, and the pitch blackness of the rest of the tunnel. Fern starts to feel afraid. She’s thinking “What if there’s something in this passage that eats leopards!?” But Fern tells herself not to worry. She knows that she’s a good fighter. Fern feels less afraid and keeps going.

An hour later, Fern sees the end of the tunnel. It goes off into the treetops and looks like it ends in a big treehouse. “Hey wait a minute,” thinks Fern. “I recognize that treehouse! That’s Patter’s Treehouse!Check out how she met Patter.” Fern met Patter the Panther by accident on one of her times exploring the rainforest just about two weeks ago.

She hurries along the tunnel and gets to the end. She goes across the treetops and finally ends up hurling herself onto Patter’s couch. Luckily the candle goes out and didn’t set anything on fire.

Patter is baking as usual. “Hey Fern,” he says, surprised. “What are you doing? How did you get in here? I didn’t hear you climbing up!”

“Uhh.” Fern mews to Patter, “Patter did you know that you have a secret tunnel that connects my house to yours?”

“I do?” He answers, sounding confused. “But that’s good to know! Why is there a secret passage connecting our houses together?”

“I have no idea” Fern answers. “But now we can visit each other faster! It connects to my room. Hey do you want to have a play date with me?”

“Sure” he replies. “Let me just pack up these cookies and I can bring them for you and Mama Leopard to eat.”

”Great!” Purrs Fern, “What flavor are they?”

“They are crunchy chocolate cookies!”

“Yum!” Meows Fern. “My favorite! Come on!” She looks around for the passage, but it’s not there! “Umm Patter, where did the passage go?”

“I don’t know. Let’s look for it.”

Fern is feeling around on the wall when suddenly she sees something in the far bottom corner of the wall. “Patter!” She calls, “I found it.”

“Great! Come on Fern!” He dives into the blackness. He is carrying a tray full of chocolate cookies and somehow none of them spill because of magic.

“Wait for me” calls Fern into the blackness. She dives in after Patter and immediately starts running forward into the pitch darkness. She accidentally leaves the candle over at Patter’s but that doesn’t matter now that she knows there is nothing else in there except for Patter and her.

“Hey Fern,” Patter calls, “What’s your room like? I’ve never been there.”

“Oh,” says Fern, “It’s pretty cool…” she explains everything about her room to Patter as they run along the passage back to her room.

One hour later Fern is still running but then she sees the light of her room up ahead and stops talking. “Hey Patter,” she calls to him “We’re almost there!” And she starts running even faster. Soon they burst out of the passage and land headfirst in her bed.

“Wow,” Patter purrs, “your room is really beautiful.”

“I know” Fern meows smiling.

Just then Patter and Fern hear Mama Leopard’s voice calling from the kitchen. “Fern! Lunchtime!” She calls.

“Well,” says Patter, “I guess it’s time to eat”

“Yup” says Fern still smiling.

They wink at each other and hurry down the stairs.

“I don’t know how you got here,” says Mama Leopard to Patter, “You didn’t even open the door…”

The end.

November 11, 2022
Fern’s Secret Passageway

Once upon a time, Fern was nine and a half years old and really wanted to go outside further than the castle backyard. She was really desperate, so one day she decided to run away. First, she looked for ways to escape. But then, Fern suddenly remembered that she had a toy ball in her room, so she forgot all about escaping and started rummaging around for the ball.

That ball was super bouncy. It was a yellow ball with green leaves on it and it was very rubbery and super duper duper duper bouncy – so bouncy. Fern loved her ball and usually played with it all day long.

Fern found her ball and started playing with it. She loved how bouncy it was. She would sometimes bang it against the floor as hard as she could, and it would go up, up, up, up, up and it would bounce back from the ceiling – and it was a super duper high ceiling.

She bounced it harder and harder until it started getting out of control, and then it started bouncing across the room, banging off walls, and making lamps crash to the ground.

“Uh oh,” said Fern.

She tried to get the ball but it just bounced right off her and toward the wall, where her grandpa and grandma’s portrait was.

“Oh no!” cried Fern. She leapt toward it, but the ball bounced off it, and for a moment Fern was sure that the ball would make the picture crash to the ground. But instead of doing that, the ball bounced back out and came to a stop. The portrait didn’t break – instead, it slid away to reveal a secret passagewayThe secret passageway is the same hole that Bella saw in her story.

Fern was so surprised. She had never known there was a secret passageway in her room! She peeked in. The tunnel was pitch black and she couldn’t see the bottom, but there was something wooden that seemed to fall down, down, down forever. Fern quickly scrambled around and found her flashlight and shined it at the wooden thing. It was a ladder! The longest ladder you have ever seen.

Fern decided to go down the ladder; after all, she was a very curious cat and she had no idea where this went, which meant she was even more curious and really, really wanted to see what was down there so badly, that she climbed down.

She was climbing for a really, really, really long time. Finally, she saw light. She started climbing even faster and soon reached the light – but it was only an illuminated torch. She wondered where it came from. She kept climbing, and soon found the bottom. She expected the bottom to be dirt, but it was stone.

There were more torches along the side of the walls, but only a few of them were lit. Fern wondered if she should go back. “But then I’ll never be able to escape!” Fern said out loud. “So I guess I’ll just have to see what’s at the end!”

Fern started running super duper fast following the tunnel. She soon saw light ahead, but it wasn’t a torchlight – it was sunlight! Fern started running even faster.

Then she realized that the tunnel got smaller and smaller, all the way to the opening. She tried to squeeze past, but it was too small. She tried and tried, and soon her head fit through just enough for her to peek out. She saw a tiny clearing with a little stream that was bubbling next to the secret passageway. This was super amazing for Fern, since she had never been out of the castle. Fern was so excited!

Fern tried to get out, but the hole was too small. So Fern started digging and digging and soon made the hole big enough for her to fit through. She came out and looked around. There were some tiny mouse prints by the side of the hole, and it seemed like a mouse had been looking into it also.

Fern leapt across the stream and looked at the clearing.

“Hmm,” she said. “Maybe I should build myself a little house.”

Fern got a bunch of sticks and came back. She put them all in a pile and started putting three of the biggest sticks in a teepee shape. Then Fern (who was always carrying around scrunchies) took a scrunchie from her paw and put it on top of the sticks, so that it would hold them together. Then Fern got the smaller sticks and filled in the gaps the bigger sticks had made so whomever was in the teepee was safe from wind and rain (the rain can slide off the sides).

Just as Fern was putting up the last stick, it slipped and made a cut on Fern.

“Ouch!” Fern yelped, “That hurts a lot! It’s probably going to leave a scar!”

Fern got some leaf bandages and put them on the cut. Then, she carefully put up the last stick and went inside.

Fern thought the teepee was very plain; it had nothing in it except the ground, the sticks, and some grass.

“I have an idea!” Fern said to herself. She scampered back out of the teepee and went back to the secret passageway. She ran through the passage, came back into her room, grabbed a snack, and a basket with a few spare blankets and pillows, and leapt back inside the passage. She got back and put the basket inside the teepee and snacked for a bit. Then she crawled in after and spilled all the blankets and pillows into a pile. Next she started arranging them neatly and put two of her biggest, softest blankets on the floor so that it would be a very comfy floor. Then, she decided it was getting dark. So Fern hurried back home and went into her room just as Mama Leopard arrived to check on her. Fern pretended she was sleeping and Mama Leopard just hugged her and went back out of her room.

The next morning, Fern woke up suuuuper early and ran down her passage and back to the teepee and went inside. She brought her ball with her to play in the grass. There had been a big storm that night yet everything was like it was the day before.

Fern noticed that the teepee was darker than outside. She decided to bring in a torch from the secret passage. But first, before getting out of her teepee, Fern made a little gap between the blankets and made sure it was all dust in the gap, not grass. “If there was grass here then it might catch on fire,” she thought.

Next, she went back to her passageway but this time only went a little bit into the passage before she came to the second torch. She didn’t want to take the first one in case she lost sight of the hole when it was dark. She took the second torch, went back out of the tunnel and into the teepee, and placed the torch in the middle of the circle of dust, away from the blankets. It lit up the teepee immediately, giving off a warm glow.

She settled herself into the blankets and fell asleep. Fern woke up and saw that the sun was high in the sky.

“I must have slept for hours,” she thought. “Mom must be worried about me. I have to go back home and eat breakfast.”

When she left, she noticed that the blankets which were green, and the pillows which were yellow, really matched the dark brown color of the wood as well as the warm orangish glow of the torchlight.

The End.

November 9, 2022
Bella’s Story

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.

November 8, 2022
Fern’s Lake

Once upon a time, there was a leopard named Fern who was princess of the rainforest. She was six years old and loved the rainforest. It was her favorite place in the whole world – even though she’d never been anywhere else. She adored the bromeliads, she cherished the ipê trees, but most of all, she loved her friends and family.

One morning, Fern was sitting on the couch, bored. She had been bored since she woke up and it seemed like there was nothing to do. Nothing had cheered up Fern – coloring hadn’t cheered up Fern, or reading, or taking a nap, or having a snack, or going to the Forest Market or not even visiting Marsh. Then suddenly, she got an idea.

“Mama,” Fern called to the kitchen where Mama Leopard was busy making a snack for herself.

“Yes, honey?” Mama Leopard answered.

“Can I go for a walk?”

“Of course,” purred Mama Leopard.

Fern’s idea was that she would walk around and look at everything she loved, and she could go to her favorite lake. By then she’d probably not be bored.

She scampered through the door and started walking in the direction of her favorite lake, past the Toucan Village. Soon, she spied a giant hibiscus.

Wow, thought Fern. That’s a huge hibiscus!

She kept walking and was startled to see her pathway blocked by a humongous, giant tree.

That’s probably a kapok tree, Fern thought.

She went around it and soon came to a watering hole. It looked like the hole had been abandoned because it was covered in a green mat.

Water lilies! Fern thought. She remembered that the Amazon Water Lily was the world’s biggest lily, and could hold four caymans.

She wondered if she should walk across it.

“Well,” thought Fern out loud. “This might be my only chance!”

She poked one claw at the water lily. It swayed a little, but stayed there. She cautiously tiptoed on to the lily. It stayed afloat, and started sailing across the water with the push of her weight, like a boat.

It smoothly slowed to a stop at the bank of the watering hole.

That was so fun! Fern thought. I wonder why lilies don’t grow in the Amazon river. It’s probably because the Amazon river has water going far too fast for it. It would just be swept along with animals on it!

She continued on her way to the pond. Soon, she spied something orange hidden inside the bushes.

Fern went to the bushes and moved the branches aside to reveal the most beautiful flower she’d ever seen. It was shaped like a bell; a mustard yellow-orange on the outside; on the inside it was a pale yellow with a pinkish, reddish tongue thing and it had brownish-black speckles on the outside.

Everything is a mix of colors! What should I name it? Fern thought. I mean, it’s a very pretty flower but I don’t know if it has a name or if anyone has discovered it yet. I know! I’ll name it The Orchid.

Fern collected some of the seeds in a little pouch she had brought along and started tossing them wherever she went. She saved some seeds so that she could grow them in her backyard.

Soon, she came to a little river with no way to cross. On the other side was the Toucan Village and beyond that was her favorite lake.

Almost there! Thought Fern. But how do I get across the river? I know! I’ll weave a raft!

Fern started getting materials. She collected some thin branches and long grass, and got a sharp stone and a long stick, and whittled the stick to be an ore. Next, she weaved all the branches together into one nice, floating, water-proof raft.

She got on and paddled all the way across the river to the other side. Then, she left the raft to dry on the bank with the ore, and planned to go back that same way.

She got up and walked a long way until she realized she felt hungry. She looked around and saw a big mango tree.

Fern walked over to the tree and started climbing the thick bark to get some of the ripest mangoes at the top. She grabbed three of them and scampered back down the tree.

She sat down on a patch of nice soft grass, and started eating. Then, she got up and went to the river to drink some water. She hid the ore and raft in a clump of tall grass and went back to her picnic area and finished one of the mangoes and started on her way.

She saw lots more amazing sights on her way to the lake, but finally she got there.

The lake was a big pool of water in the shape of a flower. It was dotted with a couple of small islands and had one sandy, pale-yellow island in the middle, like the center of a flower. On that island was a little palm tree and a mat fern had woven on the day she had discovered it.

Fern had also made a canoe with a paddle to get to the island. Fern put the rest of her mangoes and orchid seeds inside the canoe and started paddling toward her island.

She got there and had a picnic on her mat. She stayed there for about an hour listening to the squawks of the birds and the hums of the insects and the hisses of the snakes. Soon, she realized it was getting late.

My mom must be worried about me, Fern thought. She stayed there for a minute longer and then got up and went to the canoe. She had saved the ripest mango for her mom.

Fern got inside the canoe and paddled back to the bank. She got out of the canoe and put the mango in the pouch with the seeds. She swung the pouch over her back and started walking in the direction of her house.

She paddled across the river;

…she passed the mango tree;

…she collected more seeds from the orchids;

…she sailed across the lily boat;

…she went around the kapok tree;

…she passed the giant hibiscus;

…and finally, finally, finally got to her castle.

“Mooooooom,” Fern called through the front door. “I’m hooooooome!”

“Oh honey!” Mama Leopard said bursting out of the door. “Where have you been this whole time? I’ve been so worried! You’ve been gone for two and a half hours!”

“Hi mom, I found these cool seeds on my walk. And I named the flowers Orchids because they’re super duper beautiful, and I’m wondering if we can plant them. Can we? Can we???”

“Of course, honey!” purred Mama Leopard.

Fern went around the house to the garden and climbed over the gate to get to her flower patch. She planted all of her seeds (ten seeds) and got the watering can and watered them a little bit. Then, she went through the door to the kitchen and hid the mango behind her back.

“Hey mom,” Fern called. “Come here, I have a surprise for youuuuuu…”

Mama Leopard scampered into the kitchen and looked at Fern’s paws holding the mango behind her back.

“What is it?” she asked Fern.

“This!” said Fern, revealing the mango from behind her back. “Surprise!”

“Oh Fern, that’s so thoughtful of you! Thank you,” purred Mama Leopard.

“You’re welcome,” said Fern, smiling.

“It’s very nice and all, but where did you get a mango?

“Oh,” said Fern, “on my walk.”

“Where did you go on your walk?” purred Mama Leopard.

“Oh,” said Fern, “I just went to an ordinary, little lake.”

The end.

November 1, 2022
Fern Fights a Vampire

Fern had just finished dinner and was going upstairs to read books – this is how she usually falls asleep. She said goodnight to Bella, Mama Leopard and Tsunami, and made herself comfortable in her bed. (more…)

October 29, 2022
Fern and a Python in the Temple of Treasures

Once upon a time, Fern was eight years old and was walking through the forest on a morning hunt when she noticed there were a lot of vines. Then she noticed one in particular that was further up the path that was different from all the others, and it looked like it had eyes.

“Oh,” said Fern. “It’s probably just my imagination.” But she couldn’t help shake the feeling she was being watched.

Fern continued hunting, but as soon as she got an inch from under the vine, the vine dropped down in a coiling snake position and hissed, “Hello, I’m Malika.”

“Umm,” stammered Fern. “Aren’t you going to eat me?”

“Why would I?” Malika hissed.

“Umm, because you’re a python? And pythons eat things like me?”

“Oh, no!” said Malika. “No, that’s just stories. We don’t actually eat you.”

“Oh,” said Fern. “Um, thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” hissed Malika cheerfully. “Do you want to come see my house?”

“Sure,” said Fern. “By the way, my name’s Fern.”

“Cool name,” hissed Malika. “Come, it’s this way…”

Fern gasped when she saw Malika’s house. It was in the ruins of a golden temple.

“This is your house?” gasped Fern.

“Yep,” Malika hissed. “Just watch out for the giant spiders!”

Fern gulped. “Giant spiders?”

“Yeah,” Malika hissed. “They live here too. And unfortunately the stories about them are actually true.”

“So…” said Fern. “Are you sure it’s safe to go in here? I mean, if the stories are true and there actually are giant spiders and the stories actually say that they paralyze you and eat you whole, then I don’t think it’s pretty safe to go in here.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Malika hissed. “I’ll keep you safe. They are our enemies…”

“Oh,” said Fern. “That’s relieving. But how will you keep me safe? Won’t they just paralyze you?”

“Nope,” said Malika. “The paralyzing venom doesn’t work on me. Also if it did work on me, I’m too fast for them to catch.”

“Oh!” said Fern. “Um, is that one right now?” she pointed a shaky claw at the doorway of the temple.

There, perched right above the doorway, was a massive spider with huge fangs, eight red eyes, and silk spinning out of it.

“Yep, that’s one for sure,” hissed Malika. “Stand back, I’ll get it!”

She slowly circled around so that she was right behind the spider. Then she gracefully stretched up so she could reach onto a vine and pulled herself up – slowly, carefully and quietly. She slithered along the vine until she was right above the spider. Then suddenly, she dropped onto the spider, wrapped herself around, and squeezed!

The spider choked for a second and then fell down, dead.

“That was amazing Malika,” Fern cried. She raced over and hugged Malika super tight.

“Hah, thanks. Anyways, it’s time for you to meet my family. Come.”

She slithered into the doorway with Fern following close on her tail.

Inside the temple, it was even more magnificent than outside. She loved the way the pearls were set into the walls, like it was a sparkling city – full of pureness and beauty.

“Wow, it’s even more amazing here than outside.”

“Just wait till we get to the grand hall,” hissed Malika, delighted. “Here, it’s this way…”

Fern followed Malika through an archway into the most beautiful place she had ever seen. There were diamonds, rubies, and emeralds embedded into the walls with silver and gold and pearls, gemstones, and treasure. Lots of treasure. The ceiling was painted over with a thick layer of black paint with little white sparkling diamonds painted with silver on them, reflecting the light from the silver lanterns, sparkling like stars in the sky. The floor was a dark brown color with black gemstones in it, glittering like mica.

It was the most beautiful thing Fern had ever seen.

Fern stood there in awe for a minute, absorbing the beauty with her eyes. It was a very old temple, but still very beautiful. She could see the cracks in the walls, but they were painted over with the same golden paint that the temple was painted with, so you could only see them if you looked closely.

“This is probably the most beautiful place in the world,” Fern gasped to Malika. “How come no one’s ever seen it before? I mean there have been rumors about a lost golden temple of treasure, but I didn’t think those stories were actually true! No one’s ever seen it before!”

“Well,” hissed Malika, “sometimes they do discover it, and when they try to run off, the spiders eat them. Not our fault, though.”

“Oh,” said Fern. “That’s… creepy.”

“Stand back,” said Malika. “There’s another spider up ahead.”

Fern ducked behind a golden statue so that her fur blended in (since her fur was yellow). She couldn’t exactly see what Malika was doing, but she knew it was something violent.

“All right, Fern!” Malika called. “You can come out now!”

Fern came out and followed Malika to the next hall. But before they could get through the archway, they found their path blocked by another giant python.

“Malika,” she hissed. “Who have you brought home today?”

“Oh,” said Malika. “Hi, mom. This is my friend, Fern.”

“Nice to meet you,” Malika’s mom hissed to Fern. “Malika, you should have been here an hour ago, it’s lunchtime.”

“Oh,” said Malika. “Sorry. Come on Fern, join us for lunch.”

“Okay,” said Fern. She followed Malika’s mom into the room Malika’s mom had been guarding. Inside, there was a huge golden table set with golden dark wood chairs, and a green tablecloth.

“Come on, Fern,” said Malika. “We have a special guest chair for visitors. Here, you can sit next to me!”

She showed Fern to a fancy chair and seated herself next to Fern.

Just then, three more pythons came out from the shadows. Two seemed to be about the same size as Malika and one was probably Malika’s dad.

“That’s Greenla and Marco.” Malika pointed to the two other pythons. She pointed to the bigger one, “That’s my dad, Boris.” She pointed to her mom. “And that’s Hemma.”

“Oh,” said Fern.

“Hello,” hissed Greenla. “Are you joining us for lunch?”

“Yup,” purred Fern.

“Great!” hissed Greenla. “You’ll love the food here. I’ll bet you’ve never tried it before.”

“It must be delicious,” meowed Fern.

“I’ll go get the food,” hissed Boris.

He slithered out of the room and came back a few minutes later carrying a trayful of fruit and meat and whatever was edible.

“That looks delicious!” cried Fern.

Next, Marco got up and went to the kitchen and got some silver plates that looked like they had real flowers on them, even though it was actually paint.

Then Greenla got up and got the silverware and then Malika got up and got some teacups and a tea kettle. Then Hemma got up and got some napkins.

They all returned to their seats and started feeding their plates with food.

Fern did the same and tried each food, one by one, until she decided which she liked most. Then she ate more food, had some tea, and realized it was getting late and she should go back home.

“Um,” said Fern. “I better go back home. My mom is worried at all times and she must be anxious!”

“Malika and everyone, you can come visit my house anytime you want! My house is a wooden castle and it’s in the center of the rainforest. Bye!”

“Bye,” everyone waved to her.

“Here Fern,” Malika offered. “I can lead you outside the temple so you don’t get caught by any giant spiders.”

“Sure,” said Fern. “Thanks again, everyone!”

She and Malika went through the archway with Malika warning her when there was a giant spider up ahead.

They got out quicker than Fern expected, and Malika went out the archway first to make sure there was no spider up above the archway. There wasn’t, and Fern and Malika went through.

“Bye,” said Fern, hugging Malika. “Hope to see you soon!”

Fern waived goodbye as she walked away toward her house. She soon got home and told Mama Leopard everything that had happened.

“Oh, dear,” said Mama Leopard. “That must have been tiring. Here, have a cup of tea.”

“No thanks, mama. I think I’ve had enough tea already.”

“Well,” said Mama Leopard. “It’s time to go to the playdate you and Marsh planned. Bye, honey.”

She waved goodbye as Fern scampered into the trees.

Fern came back two hours later for dinner and they had dinner, and went to bed, and the next morning there was a knock on the door. Mama Leopard hurried over to see who it was.

“It’s Malika!” said Mama Leopard when she came back from the door. “She wants to have a playdate with you!”

The end.

October 27, 2022
Fern Plans A Halloween Party

Once upon a time when Fern was eight years old, it was the day before Halloween Night and Fern was very anxious because she was not prepared for Halloween at all! She wanted to carve jack-o-lanterns, she wanted to make a costume, and most of all she wanted to have a big Halloween party. She was not ready at all!

“Mama,” Fern told Mama Leopard. “I don’t know what to start with!”

“Well,” said Mama Leopard. “Start at the beginning. What do you want to do most of all?”

“I want to do the party… a big party, with jack-o-lanterns and lots of candy, and you can dress up, and all of that!”

“Well,” said Mama Leopard, “Let’s see. First we have to go to the Forest Market to get all this stuff. First of all, it sounds like we’re gonna need pumpkins. How about we make a list of the stuff we need to buy?”

“Okay mama!” Fern meowed. She dashed out of the room and came back with a clipboard, a piece of paper, and a pencil. “Can you write it all down?”

“Of course, honey,” Mama Leopard purred. “Okay so what do you want?”

“First, pumpkins. And then I also want candy, balloons, and jack-o-lantern carving tools. I also want fake spiderwebs and other Halloween decorations. We also want a lot of food, like, like, the oranges can be drawn on to look like jack-o-lanterns and the bananas can be giant scary smiles!”

“All right, i wrote it down,” said Mama Leopard. “I’ll call Marsh and ask him if you can go to the store with him.”

“Okay mama,” Fern told her. She went up to her room and went over the list of stuff while Mama Leopard called Marsh and asked if he could go to the store with Fern.

“Fern,” Mama Leopard called upstairs, “Marsh said it’s okay if you go with him and is coming soon.”

“Okay mama,” Fern called downstairs. “I’ll be here the whole time!”

Fifteen minutes later there was a knock on the door.

“Marsh!” Fern called. She scampered over the door, dropped her coloring book, and opened the door. And there was Marsh!

“Hi, Fern! Ready to go?”

“Of course I am,” Fern cheered. “Let’s go!”

“Bye mama,” Fern called back to her mom as they set off through the forest.

They walked until they got to the Forest Market.

“Okay,” said Fern. “Here’s my list of stuff. First we have to get pumpkins.”

“Great,” said Marsh. “I see a pumpkin stall over there.”
So they went over to the pumpkin stall and picked out eight pumpkins, since there were going to be eight party guests, including herself.

They paid and put them in a cart Marsh had taken with him.

“Next, we need candy!”

“Hmm,” Marsh looked around. “I don’t see any candy stalls.”

Fern giggled. “They’re right behind you!”

“Oh!” Marsh spun around and there was the candy stall.

“Which candy should we get?” Fern asked him.

“Hmm, maybe some M&M’s? And Lollipops? And Skittles and KitKats? And Bubblegum?”

“Bubblegum isn’t a candy,” Fern pointed out.

“Yeah but it’s still good,” said Marsh.

“Fine,” Fern replied.

They went into the candy stall and realized there were bucketfuls of candy all around them.

“Woah,” said Marsh. “That’s a lot of candy!”

“I know!” Fern squealed with delight. “This is the best place in the world!”

“Fern, don’t eat all of it yet. Remember, we’re just buying some for your party. Not buying it for yourself to eat in one second!”

“Awwww!” Fern meowed. She looked around. “I don’t see any Skittles.”

”Let’s go ask the store owner where they all went.”

So he and Fern went up to the front desk and asked the shop owner (a very aggressive looking panther) where all the Skittles went.

“We ran out,” purred the panther. “But don’t worry, we’ll have it refilled soon.”

“How soon?” Fern asked the owner.

“Oh, in a couple of days,” said the panther. He looked down at her. “There is another candy shop, if you’re looking for Skittles, that has all the types of candy.”

“Great,” said Fern. “We’ll go there for the Skittles. Anyways, how much is ten packs of M&M’s, eight packs of bubble gum, five packs of lollipops, and three packs of KitKats?”

“That’ll be ten cocoa beans, miss!”

“Thank you!” said Fern. She gave him ten cocoa beans plus one extra as a tip.

Marsh put the candy in his cart and pushed it over to the other candy shop.

They got four bags of Skittles and went on to the Halloween decorations store.

In the Halloween store there were costumes everywhere and they got five costumes and a bunch of scary Halloween decorations and spiderwebs.

“Phew,” said Fern. “I think that’s enough. Come on, let’s go back home and give it to Mama Leopard for the party. I’m so excited I can hardly stand it!”

So they went back to Fern’s castle and found Mama Leopard reading on the couch.

“Fern!” she cried. “You’re back! And Marsh. Come on, come on, let’s decorate the yard and the house!”

So Fern and Marsh started decorating. They decorated the front door with spiderwebs and eyes and they decorated the hall with ghosts and zombies and skeletons. The ceiling had thousands of cobwebs on it with fake big black spiders, and in the yard there were white balloons everywhere with ghost faces drawn on them (floating) and in the middle of her yard was a big see-through canopy made out of thin leaves and there were cobwebs on the gate and there were zombies and spiders hanging down from thin wire that they tied to the trees up above, and blankets with ghosts drawn on them tied to the trees, and there was even a pretend coffin to play in. And they made a show platform and put a coat rack with all the costumes in and different backgrounds.

“Phew,” said Fern. “I think we’re finished!”

The sun was setting and it was almost dinnertime.

“Yay!” everyone cheered.

“I have to go home,” said Marsh. “Bye Fern, bye Mama Leopard.”

“Bye,” Mama Leopard and Fern called as they waved back.

“Well, it’s dinnertime,” said Mama Leopard. “Who wants some ice cream?!”

The end.

October 27, 2022
Fern Visits The Beach

One day Fern was sitting in her rocking chair, reading a book, when Fern noticed the only water she had seen was in rivers and ponds. She wondered if there was a bigger source of water in the world. She went to ask her mom who was upstairs if there was a bigger source of water. Fern went up and found Mama Leopard reading in her bedroom on the bed.

“Mama,” Fern asked her, “is there a bigger source of water that’s bigger than the amazon river?”

“Well,” Mama Leopard said, “let me tell you the story of when I found out about something called The Beach. It was a rainy day in the jungle when I found a little book laying on the ground underneath the palm tree that was keeping it dry. So I opened the book and started to read. I was your age then, and I was very curious. Inside the book there was a picture of a bright sunny place with lots of sand and lots of water. The water seemed to go on for miles and miles and there were no clouds in sight. It looked as if the sky had scattered its stars all along the edge of the sand but the stars weren’t just white, they were all different colors of the rainbow. I looked around, and saw a little sign that said “Beach”

“What does beach mean?” Fern asked her mom.

“Well, I won’t tell you because that will spoil the story. Anyways… I went down to the water and dipped my claw in. Suddenly I heard a loud crashing sound and a big wall of water came crashing down on me! I ran up the sand a ways and found a little palm tree with shade that I could rest in.”

“But Mama,” Fern asked her mom, “You’re telling me that you’re in the book.”

“Yes,” said Mama Leopard. “I just then noticed that I was in the book while I was resting in the shade of the little palm tree. I wondered how I could have gone into the book. Just then, as I looked around, it all vanished and I was standing on top of the book in the rain under the palm tree. I was very astonished and confused. I went back to the castle and brought the book with me. I put it in the bookshelf, but I haven’t seen it since then.”

“Mama, can we find it and go in?” Fern asked her.

“Well we’d have to do a lot of cleanup to find it.”

“Oh mama,” Fern cried. “I’d love to go into the book. I’d do anything to go into the book!”

“Oh really,” Mama Leopard purred. “Even chores all day?”

“Um, maybe not everything,” Fern meowed.

Mama Leopard laughed. “Well, I guess we’ll have to start.”

So Mama Leopard started cleaning up as Fern looked through the bookshelf and organized all the books by color. Suddenly, she found a book that was old and torn up, with a blue cover.

“Mama,” Fern called upstairs. “I think I found it!”

She flipped through the pages and found the one with the sandy beach.

“Mama,” Fern called. “Come here!”

“Coming,” Mama Leopard called down.

Mama Leopard raced down the stairs and looked at Fern and then the book.

“Well, it definitely looks like you found it!”

“How do you go in?” Fern asked her.

“I don’t know,” Mama Leopard answered. “Remember, it was a long time ago and I don’t think I figured out how you get in.”

Suddenly, Fern was standing on the sunny beach listening to the waves crash along the shore.

“Well I guess we’re here,” Mama Leopard said to Fern.

“Wow,” said Fern. “I didn’t think it would take this short.”

Fern dashed down the beach to the water and splashed in. It really was freezing. She leapt out with a yelp! She looked around and saw the little palm tree and the sign.

“Mama,” Fern called. “Where are you?”

“I’m over here,” Mama Leopard answered.

She was standing on the other side of the beach looking down into the water.

“I think I found something!”

Fern hurried over to her and looked into the water. There, there was a fin much like the dolphins fins except this one was gray and much bigger.

“What is that?” Fern whispered.

“I don’t know” Mama Leopard answered.

“Hello,” said the fin. “I’m a shark! My name’s Finley.”

“What’s a shark?” Fern asked Finley.

“A shark is a lot like a dolphin, it’s just bigger and it eats meat. I mean, like, not tiny little fish. I mean big meat!”

Fern gulped. “LIke us?”

“Well,” said Finley. “I wouldn’t eat you, since I don’t even know what you are.”

“We’re leopards,” Mama Leopard told finley. “We come from the Amazon rainforest!”

“What’s the Amazon rainforest?” asked finley.

“Do you know what a forest is?” Fern asked her.

“Yes,” said Finley. “There are kelp forests here.”

“What are kelp forests?” Mama leopard asked.

“They’re a different type of forest, just they grow in water.” Fern answered her. “I read that in a book. Though, I thought it was in the Amazon river, not at the beach.”

“Nope,” said Finley. “It’s at the beach.”

“Huh,” said Fern. “Never knew that.”

“Anyways,” interrupted Mama Leopard, “Can we get on with figuring out how to see this kelp forest?”

“Can you swim?” asked Finley.

“Kind of,” Fern answered.

“But the water’s a little bit cold here…” continued Mama Leopard.

“We’ll be fine, mama,” Fern answered.

“What about the huge waves?” Mama Leopard protested, “and what about rocks you could bang your head on, or, or…”

“Don’t worry, mama!” Fern told her.

To Finley she said, “All right let’s go!”

“I have an idea,” Finley told her.

“You can ride on my back!”

“Okay…” Fern answered.

“Hop on!” Finley said.

Fern hopped on to Finley.

“Oh,” said Finley. “You are a little bit heavy, but I think I can carry you. Let’s go!”

So Fern and Finley set off and Mama Leopard waved goodbye.

Fern rode for about 15 minutes before Finley stopped and said, “Here it is!”

“What?” Fern told her. “I don’t see anything.”

“Oh,” said Finley. “It’s in the water, of course!”

“Oh,” said Fern. “So how will I see it?”

“Well,” said Finley, “I’ll give you a bracelet to put on that allows you to breathe underwater.”

She handed Fern a little gemstone teal bracelet that sparkled in the sunlight. Fern put it on and dove into the water.

To her surprise, she saw a whole forest of kelp come into view as the bubbles faded away.

Finley dove after her.

“See?” said Finley. “This Is the kelp forest. It’s where I live.”

“Really?” said Fern. “It’s very beautiful.”

She looked around and noticed there were animals everywhere. They were just hidden. There was a long snake-like animal that had slimy green skin, and lots of rainbow fish. There were crabs everywhere, and even an eight-armed orange thingy.

“Um,” said Fern pointing to a big ball that had lots of little tentacles coming down from it. “What’s that?”

“That’s a jellyfish,” said Finley. “Wait a second, If there’s one jellyfish, that means there are many jellyfish…”

Just then a whole cloud of jellyfish swarmed toward them out of the dark kelp forest.

“Swim!” cried Finley.

“Wait, why?” said Fern. “I don’t think they can do anything to…”

“JUST SWIM!” cried Finley again.

“OK!” said Fern. She took off swimming as fast as she could with Finley leading the way.

Soon they arrived back at the beach and Fern leapt out of the water and ran to the palm tree and rested in the shade of it, panting.

“What happened?” Mama Leopard cried, running toward them. “Are you okay?”

“We’re fine, mama,” Fern told her. “We just had a jellyfish attack.”

“What are jellyfish?” Mama Leopard asked her.

“Look into the water and you’ll see,” Finley called to Mama Leopard. Finley started swimming as fast as she could around the beach.

Mama Leopard and Fern looked into the water and saw that there were hundreds of jellyfish in the water in one big cloud.

“Oh dear,” said Mama Leopard, backing away from the water’s edge. “We should get going.”

“How do we go back home, though?” Fern asked her.

“Well,” said Mama Leopard. “How did we get here?”

“We wished we could get here.” Fern answered.

“So,” said Mama Leopard. “To get back home, we just have to…”

“Wish to go back home!” Mama Leopard and Fern said at the same time.

Suddenly, Fern was sitting on the couch with Mama Leopard reading an old blue torn book.

“Well,” said Fern. “I guess we’re safe from the jellyfish.”

Suddenly, Mama Leopard’s banana phone started ringing.

“Yes,” Mama Leopard said.

“It’s Finley!” Mama Leopard gasped. “And she says to meet her by the pond.”

And Fern still meets her at the pond, even today.

The end.

October 25, 2022