Wasps buzzed
enthusiastically at the pond’s edge, eager to take the
life-sustaining liquid to their larvae waiting at the nest. Rosemary waited
for the sun to set and the wasps to leave. She was very thirsty, but was
afraid to get too close to the wasps. They were very large and became
angry at the slightest disturbance. Rosemary was certain she could defend
herself against a few wasps, but there were hundreds at the pond now.
Later, when the moon was out, she could approach the pond in relative
safety. She looked at the small clock she wore around her neck. It was
over an hour before sunset. She might as well hunt for food while she
waited.
Rosemary pushed her way through the grass, looking for a
daisy. There were a lot of them in the garden where she lived. Normally it
was a short flight from the pond to the daisies, but she had sprained her
wing battling an assassin bug two days earlier, and wasn’t able to fly yet.
She could whistle for a butterfly to help her, but she was rather
independent and didn’t like to rely on others for help. It was difficult,
but she decided to travel through the garden on foot while she waited for
her wing to heal.
She didn’t find a daisy, but Rosemary did find some
daylilies. Daisy pollen was her favorite food, but daylily flowers were
almost as tasty. She began the climb up the tall stem to the flowers at the
top. She kept her eyes open for enemies. She couldn’t escape by flying, so
she needed to avoid attracting the attention of predators. Her clothes were
green and matched the color of the stem she was climbing. Her wings were
chameleon-like and changed color to match whatever she was near. So they
were green now too. In an emergency she could wrap her wings completely
around her body and stay still, looking like a lump on the side of the stem.
She heard the sound of bird’s wings, and froze. Most
birds would never knowingly eat a fairy. She had heard of birds mistaking a
fairy for a bug and grabbing them. The birds were always sorry, of course,
but that was small consolation to the fairy, who usually suffered a broken
leg or a broken wing. Rosemary didn't want to take any chances on receiving
another injury. Since crawling up a flower stem was not a normal
place for a fairy to be, Rosemary was extra careful to remain hidden.
The bird left, and Rosemary climbed the rest of the way
up to the flower. If she could fly, she would circle carefully to be sure
there were no spiders or bees in the flower before landing on it. Since she
couldn’t fly, she decided to cut into the flower from the bottom and stay
hidden under it.
After listening carefully to be sure there wasn’t a
honeybee in the flower, Rosemary pulled out the long knife that served her
as a table knife or a short sword, depending on her need. She began cutting
bite-sized pieces of the delicious flower. Soon her belly was full and she
had a hole large enough to allow her to get on the top of the flower. She
was still thirsty and wondered if the daylily had any nectar. She
carefully poked her head through the hole and looked around for danger.
She didn’t see the crab spider whose color matched the
flower perfectly, but it saw her. The vicious hunter remained still and
waited for her to come closer.
Seeing no danger Rosemary climbed up into the flower
and went to check for nectar. She didn’t realize she was heading straight
for the spider.
Rosemary saw the spider just before it jumped at her.
Fortunately, she still held her knife in her hand. She swung the knife at
the spider and threw herself flat on the flower. She cut the end of one of
the spider’s leg as she rolled out of the spider’s reach. She picked
herself up and saw the spider had turned to continue its attack.
Seeing that Rosemary was crippled, the spider decided
she would be easy prey. It quickly turned and ran at Rosemary. She
jumped to the center of the flower and placed her back to the stamen. The
spider advanced carefully, trying to avoid her knife. It tried to knock the
knife from her hand, but she twisted her knife at the last moment and cut
the tip off another one of the spider's leg. The spider backed off, and
tried to maneuver around behind her. She kept the stamen behind her and
turned to face the spider as it moved..
The injuries to two of its legs made the spider
cautious. It realized Rosemary wasn’t the easy catch she seemed. It leaped
at her once more, and she was able to cut another large piece off of one of
its legs. The spider decided she was too dangerous to hunt, and made its
way off the flower. When Rosemary was certain the spider had left, she
turned to check for nectar. The base of the flower was full and she drank
deeply.
She felt the flower move, and quickly turned, prepared
to face new danger, holding her knife before her. Instead of an enemy, it
was two fairies she knew, Jim and Pete.
“Whoa! Rosemary!. Would you point that bee-sticker
somewhere else? I come in peace.” Pete said.
Rosemary grinned and lowered her weapon. “ I thought
you were a spider coming back to finish me off.”
“We saw the last part of that battle.” Jim said. “That
is how we found you. We’ve been looking for you all day.”
“Everyone got worried when you didn’t come home, “ said
Pete. “So we sent out search parties today.”
Jim was examining Rosemary’s wing. “We can take you
home. We came prepared with a flying sling. What I don’t understand is why
you didn’t call for help or get a bird or butterfly to take you home.”
Rosemary shrugged, “I was on my way home. I would
have gotten there all right.”
“I'm sure you would have at that.” Said Pete. “But
now you don’t have to. C’mon, let’s get you home.”
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