Pipple and His Friends story by Margaret Leora Workman; Warponie Art

I started writing this story 2 or 3 years ago, then this year I finished it because someone had wanted to read it. I really got attached to these characters. There are 12 chapters. I would like to write a sequel but I have been distracted and I started a few other books. I hope that you will enjoy it! I had an official editor contact me from Twitter in 2023 and asked if I had a book. I had a few chapters of this book so I wrote the rest in a few weeks. I sent it to her. She charged $854.00 for an edit where she trashed this book and laughed in my face about it. Then she suggested so many changes it would have been a different book. She wanted Pipple to ‘squeak’ ??? She wanted me to write in when Pipple was squeaking! And then the next edit was going to be $898.00. I said no thank you and then posted it on my blog. I would rather people read it for free anyway.

Pipple The Mouse
Chapter 1
Pipple was a mouse who had many adventures. This is what he had always wanted to say about himself but his caretakers, The Sampsons, told him that he was too young and not bright enough to leave the cave and he secretly wondered if that was true. One day he decided to find out for himself what those adventures could be that everyone was talking about, though he was very afraid. He had heard of other mice living in one place or the other but he hadn’t gotten even one chance to live in either one of those places himself. You see he was stuck underground cooking and cleaning and being the servant to his caretakers and their many friends. He lived in the dark in an extremely small cave with them. They had many visitors and all of these visitors expected much from him and would chastise him for his many imperfections and all of his mistakes that they convinced him of having. His caretakers and their friends liked to instill much fear into him so that he would never even think about leaving. He had no brothers or sisters, but he could hear other mice through the wall next to the cave where he lived, or he assumed they were mice, just like he was. Pipple referred to them as ‘the mice next door’. He heard them running through their area of the tunnel shafts every day in the morning. He knew it was morning because the Sampsons would come home after a night of hunting for cockroaches and jumping spiders. Then, like clockwork, the mice next door would start running through their area of the tunnel shafts. The echos would be heard for miles because of their excitement of getting to eat all of the items that were brought back to them by their own caretakers. Pipple had not met these mice yet but longed to play with them in the mornings when they were racing through the shafts. He knew that they were friendly mice because he could hear them talking to their caretakers about minding their manners and how they should use inside voices when they were inside their small cave. Pipple also heard their caretakers talk to them about how they would prefer them to be strictly quiet when they were let out of their small cave into the tunnels shafts, but they were never successful in keeping quiet and would always get into trouble by their caretakers after they came in from running around the tunnel shafts. Pipple wondered if they knew that he was right next door to them, but since he was so quiet he thought they might not know about him at all. One night, while his caretakers were out hunting, Pipple took a chance to communicate with the mice next door. He knocked on the wall of the cave with a stick where the wall was indented further in. He knocked five times to say that he was a friend to them. He looked up and saw something that he hadn’t seen before. The wall of his small cave did not reach up to the top of the ceiling. He thought for sure that the wall had extended all the way up to the ceiling before. He said a small ‘Hello mice next door, are you there?’ He instantly heard small voices echoing from over the wall into his cave. They yelled to him and said, “We are here!” in a very excited voice. Instantly Pipple felt that they wanted to be his friend. They laughed excitedly about him being right next door! He knew that they could yell to him because their caretakers were gone as well. “I am here in this cave next to you! How many of you are there?” Pipple yelled back. “There are 12 of us! We want you to come out into the tunnel shafts so that we can meet you! Our caretakers will not be back for a while!” Pipple yelled back, “The door here is sealed shut and I cannot get out. Do you have a door?” asked Pipple. “We do not have a door! Why do you have a door? We can come over there and try to open the door for you so that we can meet! So that we don’t have to keep yelling!” They laughed heartily. Pipple heard mice feet scuffling in front of his door. Their spokesman decided that she would open the door, since she was the oldest and was usually in charge even when the caretakers were around. She lifted the latch from the outside and opened the door. Pipple saw that their spokesman was a girl mouse. She said, “Hello! Pipple!” Pipple wondered how she knew his name before he told her. “Hello”, he stammered. She smiled and said, “It is very nice to meet you. Why are you locked in here, in your own cave, Pipple?” Pipple stared at her because he did not know how to form a single word. He felt she was his best friend right then and never wanted her to leave to go back next door. “Pipple we have been living next door to you and we have known about you but have been unable to come over because our caretakers would not allow us to. We have been discussing this with each other how we can meet you because we know that you have been by your self.” Pipple just kept looking at her. “Are you ill Pipple? What do you need? How can we help you? There are twelve of us here and we want to be your friends! All of the mice started chattering about it and smiling. “I am Frolly, nice to meet you Pipple.” She then turned to all of the 11 other mice and told them, “You have to introduce yourselves to Pipple please. “Hello”, six of them said. “We are ‘the brothers’ it is nice to meet you Pipple” they said while they were smiling. Then the other five mice stated, “And we are ‘the sisters’, thank you for allowing us to come over and meet you.” Pipple looked at them and said, “Thank you for coming over to meet me! I did not know that you already knew that I was over here! “Yes, we have been discussing it and we did not know what to do. We don’t want you to be alone! We want you to play with us in the mornings when we are running through the shafts!” Pipple wondered if this sister had remembered what she wasn’t supposed to do in the tunnel shafts in the morning and he laughed. He looked at Frolly since she was the older sister. Frolly looked at her and said, “Sister you know we get into trouble every time you do not use your manners in the tunnel shafts!” “I know but it is fun to run and make noise, I like to hear the echos through the tunnels.” Frolly stated, “You cannot keep making so much noise, sister, it is not appropriate to keep disobeying our caretakers!” Frolly said, with a frown. Frolly looked at Pipple and said, “Pipple, I would like for all of us to be able to leave this dreary place where we live. We need to be able to go outside every day and play together. What do you think we could do?

Pipple Becomes Brave
Chapter 2
Pipple thought about all of the times that he had been thinking of how to leave but his caretakers spoke of many scary situations outside. They said the wind was so scary it could take is breath away and he really, really liked breathing. They said the rocks were so big they could stop a mouse right in his tracks. They mentioned that the dirt was just like quicksand and would suck his insides right out of his body. He wondered if his caretakers were describing the world correctly? This caused Pipple to be afraid of the outside and that maybe the world is not a very inviting place for a small mouse, such as himself to be out in. So day after day he served them in every way, but in his mind he imagined many things that could be. He had wanted to meet the mice next door but did not know how to do that and he hadn’t been confident that they would want to meet him as well. Now that luck was on his side in meeting all of these new friends he started to feel more confident in himself. He turned to Frolly and said, “I would like to leave this place one day and have adventures, and it would be fun to be able to have adventures with you, Frolly, and all of your brothers and sisters. We are friends now and I am so happy about that. I have been wanting to meet you all and play with you in the mornings. I think that we could make a plan and leave these caves and live outside!” “Oh yes, Pipple I think that we all agree with you!” Frolly said emphatically. Frolly said, “Pipple, I think we have to go back to our cave because we will get into trouble if we are talking to you. What kind of plan do you think that we should make?” Just then they both heard their caretakers in tunnels coming back from hunting. They were discussing their unsuccessful time of finding spiders and cockroaches with each other and Frolly and Pipple both felt fear about being in this situation. Frolly and her siblings darted back into their cave successfully. Pipples’s caretakers came around the corner and looked especially mean and he instantly worried about what he had done. They had extremely hideous costumes on that they liked to wear to scare him with, always randomly, and unexpectedly, if they thought that he was going to run away. This day was the day that he decided that the time had come to leave with his Frolly and his new friends and suddenly that cave seemed very small and dreary, just like Frolly had talked about. He longed to be out of that cold darkness. He waited until they were very busy taking those scary costumes off and he walked out of the entrance because his caretakers had left it open. This entrance brought him to the corridor which was a long, dark, moist, muddy tunnel that he had to run through to be in the open air. He wasn’t used to being out of his home and he began to be fearful about all of the unseen creatures he could run into in the dark. His vision began to focus and he could see many shadows throughout the corridor. He then saw the open entrance of Frolly’s cave where they lived. He became worried because it was completely quiet. He wondered where they were. He always heard them running in the tunnel shafts in the mornings after their caretakers had come back from hunting. He then heard voices up above. He looked up to the top of the shaft and saw a box made out of metal that was open on the end that he could see that was lodged in the rock. That box seemed to be funneling sound from somewhere within the tunnel shafts. He could hear Frolly and her siblings. He wondered if their caretakers had moved them to a different cave. He suddenly became very worried that he would never see them again. He saw that there was only one tunnel and the metal box seemed to be funneling their voices from the corridor that was right in front of him. The situation became very clear that he had to start running down that corridor to find them. He had wanted to make more of a structured plan but maybe that was not possible now. He dashed ahead and then he saw a mole a little way up ahead as he was running. The mole seemed not to notice him for some reason and, Pipple, unable to slow down crashed right into him. The mouse screamed in fright with his mouth gaping open and his small beady eyes suddenly opened and exclaimed, “Oh, where do you think you are going? Aren’t you the son of the Sampsons?” Pipple stuttered a small reply of nonsense because he had not expected this mole, who was named Mighty Mole, would speak to him. And he had never heard himself being called a son of anyone. Mighty Mole always refused to speak to him when he had been a visitor of Pipple’s caretakers, and that mole never wanted to lower his face down to small animals to speak. “I demand an answer! You small excuse for an animal!” Pipple knew he had not much time before the Sampsons would be looking for him and they could be running down that same tunnel right for him at that very moment. The Mighty Mole was blocking his way so Pipple stomped on his foot, and as the mole bent over he yelled, “Ouch!” The mole touched his smashed foot and Pipple smashed his nose which caused the mole to lose balance and fall to one side. That was all it took for the Mighty Mole to crash. Pipple heard some commotion somewhat further back from where he was, and he realized that he was hearing the voices of his caretakers. At that moment he jumped and flew over the mouse who had toppled over on his side. Pipple ran as fast as he could until his lungs felt like they were going to explode out of his chest. He knew he had to have courage even though he wanted to allow his fear to stop him and cause him to go back home. He realized that the blackness of the tunnel was turning gray and he saw what seemed like a bright hole with daylight coming closer to him. He heard his caretakers imploring him to come back while yelling at each other in angry voices. He saw a separate pathway that led into another tunnel that turned right, and another one that turned to the left as well. He started wondering if he was going to make it out of the tunnel before the Sampsons caught up with him. He decided to turn right and enter that other tunnel and hide there for a little while. As he turned to enter into the tunnel his horrible caretakers who had held him in servitude his whole life saw where he had gone and followed him in. They grabbed him and caught his arm. He felt very weak because he hadn’t been able to run and play like the other mice, and he wasn’t used to all of the running he had already done. As his caretakers were yelling at him and mocking him, he began to cry and didn’t know what to do. He was hopeless and felt terrified. Right then he heard a voice, “Who is there? Who are you? This is my home! And you have come in and bothered my sleep!” This booming voice belonged to a mud skipper. Pipple had only heard tales of them and thought they were just folktales passed down through generations of mice families. The mud skipper was black and sleek and gooey from head to the end of his tail. He wiggled and contorted on the ground towards all of them with a fiery anger that Pipple had never seen before. Pipple had only seen the kind of anger that his caretakers had had towards him, but this anger was different. “Take your hands off of this young mouse and who are you to treat him as you so desire? This will not do at all!” At that moment the mud skipper leapt onto the Sampsons and started devouring them, for he had a very large mouth and was able to fit much of their bodies into it. They were screaming in agony and fear as Pipple witnessed the mud skipper having a nice meal. The mud skipper stopped for a moment and stated, “Where are my manners!? I apologize for the delay of letting you know that you are free to go from my lair, and the advisement is for you to go at such a time as this, my friend, while I eat your parents!” Pipple stared in amazement as the mud skipper was eating the Sampsons and talking to him. The mud skipper was chomping and staring at Pipple with a questioning look and wondered why he was still in his cave. Pipple turned back and ran out the way he had come in.

The Tunnel Shaft System
Chapter 3
Pipple dashed straight into the other tunnel that he had seen hoping to find Frolly and her siblings. Pipple was very worried that he would not be able to find them because he was not familiar with the tunnel shaft system. Pipple raised his hand to the wall to turn around and his hand felt a fuzzy caterpillar. He looked at the wall where his hand had touched the caterpillar. He found himself staring at the caterpillar who was staring right back at Pipple, smiling but worried. The caterpillar said to Pipple, “Sir, please brace yourself.” Suddenly, Pipple heard a noise that came from under the cave that he was in and became very fearful about his present circumstances. Pipple steadied himself with his right hand on the wall, and he saw a jagged hole in the rock that he hadn’t noticed right away. The black, fuzzy caterpillar slunk himself into it. Pipple heard more rumbling below the floor of the cave, he imagined the whole earth starting to tremble along with the rumbling that was still happening. A crack formed between his two feet going away from him. The noise was so loud that he had to cover his left ear, hoping his ear drum would not burst. He felt the floor beneath him start to move. Pipple could feel the caterpillar in the hole as he thrust his hand in to brace himself, but the caterpillar moved further down. Pipple wondered what was coming next. Right then an explosion that sounded like a whirling wind sounded from above him, and he felt his body being squeezed and he felt the air being sucked out of his lungs. Pipple felt lightheaded and the room started to become white in color. His head started to feel so painful he screamed in terror. He tried to lodge his hand further into the hole as he felt the floor fall from beneath his feet, crumbling down into deep darkness. Pipple started to breathe again because the pressure was gone from the air. Pipple suddenly distinguished a very large shape crawling up and along the wall in front of him. This creature came up from where the floor had crumbled. Then numerous other dark creatures started to crawl up the same wall, following the first one. Then they crawled past him and scuttled further up. One of the creatures crawled and slithered onto him and he could feel the rough tentacles searching his body. It moved and shoved its face into Pipple’s face and Pipple hissed at him. The tentacled creature cowered and jumped away from Pipple. The creature slithered onto the wall and traveled upward to the ceiling and then out of the entrance along with many of the other creatures. Pipple did not realize how tired he had become from hanging onto the wall with his hand buried in the hole. His wrist was hurting as it was constrained against the rock of the cave. He started hearing the noises of other mice scurrying through the tunnel shafts in all directions. He then heard rushing water down below and fear sprung into his face and down into his body. He felt lightheaded again and made himself breath so that he could think clearly. He wondered why he felt heavy and paralyzed, while all of the other mice were running up the wall to the same exit where the creatures had slithered out of. The water started rising higher towards him and he could see it rushing now. He looked down and saw Frolly swimming and frightfully yelling at her siblings to stay with her as they were trying to swim through the waves of the rushing water. She looked up and when she saw Pipple she was so excited to see her friend! Pipple noticed that Frolly looked scared and worried. She yelled up at Pipple to jump in the water with them but then Frolly disappeared under a wave. Pipple could see that her siblings had gotten thrown over to the side of the cave and were not strong enough to swim to her because the current of the water was too strong. He suddenly felt fear again sting his face and travel down to his feet. He wanted to help them and not let them out of his sight, so he let his hand slip out of the hole and he fell feet first into the water. He could not see her but swam over to where she had disappeared under the current. The same current sucked him down further and he was terrified about never seeing her again. He hoped that her siblings could stay up above the water next to the wall. The water pushed him through a small tunnel into another small room. The water here was less turbulent, and it was completely dark. He could not see, but the water took him to an area where there was a gap between the roof of the cave and the top of the water. He took a breath above the water and smelled how musty it was. He also smelled something that he had smelled before when he lived further down in the tunnel shafts with his caretakers. He never knew what it was, but the smell made him feel ill. He yelled for Frolly after he caught his breath. “Frolly!” “Pipple, I am here” Frolly whispered. Pipple heard her voice behind him faintly talking in his ear, he turned his body to find the voice and she wasn’t there. Then he felt a hand grip his ankle, so he lifted his knee and grabbed the hand. He felt her body surface directly in front of him. She started to talk but then coughed. “Oh, Pipple its you!” Frolly cried desperately. “Frolly, what happened? Everything is gone. Our whole life was here. We have to get out. How do we get out?” Pipple cried to Frolly. “Pipple, hold my hand. I feel the earth shaking again and the water below our feet is getting warm.” They locked arms and the water began to pull them down under the water. They both felt for the entrance, and they could feel rushing water going by them. They pushed themselves out and the water took them tumbling through the water. They tried to keep their arms locked but it was impossible because their arms became too slippery. The water flowed at different speeds as it flowed through the tunnel shafts. Pipple swam for days with many other mice wondering if he would ever see Frolly and her siblings again. He hoped the water was not going down further into the darkness of the earth. He had no idea where the end was or if there was an end to these tunnel shafts. He decided to look for something to hold on to, maybe a plot of earth he could rest on. He noticed the tentacled creatures were on the sides of the cave traveling up the sides to the top. He saw that in some of the areas there were gaps where the walls did not continue all the way to the top and those creatures were disappearing through those gaps. He started to feel larger rocks in the water and wondered if the water was not as deep in this area. Other mice were noticing that too and were getting scraped on their legs and arms. He then saw a small area of mud that lined the bottom of the wall, and he tried to swim over to it. The water current was still too strong and kept carrying him towards more darkness. He started to feel more air circulating on top of the water. He felt relieved and happy, he wondered if the water was going to take all of them out of the tunnel to safety. The area of the cave widened and became larger and Pipple wondered why. He started hearing echoes of water rushing but those echoes were coming from somewhere else. He looked up ahead to see how the mice who were further up were reacting.

Happenings In the Forest
Chapter 4
In another part of the forest lived Henry the Helicopter. He was a small praying mantis who felt either very small or very large depending upon the company that he kept. He knew if he felt extremely small then those friends were not very good friends because they were detrimentally mean. But when he felt very large then he wondered if those friends were telling him how so very wonderful, he was and that he was better than all of the other praying mantises they had ever known. He wanted to know the truth about himself at all times so he made a practice of only listening to his very trusted friends who always spoke the truth to him. He was walking around under leaves and crawling up tree trunks one day as he had been doing all of his life. He wondered that day how long his life would last and if it could be expanded some how. That day had been a trying day for him. The fly that he caught for his breakfast wasn’t as tasty as he thought it would be. He started home but was not feeling well. He normally was extremely fast in getting home but today his body ached and just could not sprint like he usually could. A bird saw him in the distance. Wally the Sparrow saw Henry the Helicopter and started zooming his direction. The Praying Mantis felt the sound waves break around him from the sparrow’s flight. Henry dove under the bottom of a tree that he had luckily been near. He felt a coolness cover his whole body and realized that he had a fever. His head hurt and his vision was blurry. He collapsed and curled up in a corner of that hole and slept. He made that his home for several hours and hoped no other bugs lived there. Wally the Sparrow missed Henry but saw a huge green caterpillar along the way eating a leaf. He swooped down and gobbled up that soft, fat caterpillar. Wally had been out of his nest for the whole summer and was still learning to find food for himself and was so happy for this unexpected morsel of food. While Henry the Helicopter slept Wally the sparrow perched himself on a tree limb near the place where he had seen the Praying Mantis racing for cover into a whole at the bottom of a tree. He began to chirp and sing because he wanted to know what happenings were of the older sparrows who always seemed to be in-the-know. He was several other sparrows perched on other tree limbs and he called them the in-the-knowers. Wally officially called the older sparrows in the forest the ‘in-the-knowers.’ He wondered if they too had seen the praying mantis jump in that hole and were waiting for him to emerge. Wally tuned his ears into what they were chirping about. He heard many conversations between the beloved in-the-knowers and several of the other sparrows. Two of the sparrows were singing about how sunny it was that day for the sun was directly overhead. Then many of the other sparrows chimed in and had opinions about the sun and why it had seemed brighter that day. They also sang about friendship and love. Some sparrows sang very sad and bitter songs about losing their dear hearts. Those loved ones had been their parents who had been eaten by cats or their children who had flown from the nest too soon and landed on the ground unprotected. They too had been eaten by wild animals. This made Wally feel bitter too and he sang a song of sadness about his broken heart. He wondered why everything was so burdensome. They were also chirping about how that summer had been very dry and many of the sparrows were singing and crying softly about this and how it had been difficult to find water. Some of their friends and loved ones had died because of the drought and lack of food. Since Wally was still young and only had been out of the nest for that first summer it worried him to hear all of the pain and sorrow that this drought had brought to his family of sparrows. Many birds also chirped about the coming Fall. They had hoped that the water sources would grow since the heat from the sun would evaporate those water sources at slower pace.
The in-the-knowers had been having their worms and caterpillars together that day. They were comparing each one and sharing stories about how they had caught their wiggling morsels and how large they were. They talked about how the sun was especially bright that day just as some of their counter part sparrows had noticed. They knew that after the rain the sun always did seem brighter because of the light reflecting off of all of the water droplets, but today there were added colors of red and gold. Fall was starting and the in-the-knowers had once again observed how the leaves were turning from green to red, gold, yellow and orange. The leaves had just started to fall for there was a fresh smattering on the ground. As the in-the-knowers they also had always known that water droplets would reflect off of the wet leaves into the atmosphere. These colors that were reflected by the water droplets which directed their flight patterns, and would direct them to food for the earth was set up that way. The sound waves in the air that they followed would bounce off of the different colors in those water droplets, each differently, depending on the color. These waves directed their lives. Because of the drought, they were experiencing much confusion that had come over their fellow sparrows because of the lack of direction for food, water, and shelter that those water droplets had always provided. Wally the Sparrow was thinking about all of this information when suddenly he saw movement from the underbrush. A small lifeless form was moving through the leaves but at a much slower pace than the normal slowness of a praying mantis. He decided to stay perched on his branch to see if any of the other sparrows wanted the sickly bug. By the time he looked down again Henry the Helicopter had disappeared under a leaf on the floor of the forest. He then saw another sparrow who he hadn’t seen yet swoop down from above him into the forest floor. He assumed right away that she was new at catching bugs and he was reaching for his sparrow instruction booklet entitled “How To Catch Bugs and Worms For Young Birds” that he wished he could have given to her at the beginning of her journey. This manual had instructed him in how to correctly find and catch every bug that was available in the forest for their region. Right then she emerged with a worm in her mouth and looked directly at him, and then turned and flew away. He was confused about this situation and turned and looked at the in-the-knowers. They chirped and sang along with all of the other sparrows while smiling at him. He looked down feeling very frustrated that he still wasn’t seeing the praying mantis. So he flew away looking for other tasty morsels wondering if he would ever see her again, so he could give her that instruction booklet, better late than never!

Ferrous
Chapter 5
Ferrous was one of the lucky mice who had escaped the tunnel shafts in time. He remembered that he and his brother had had no time to prepare and his whole mice community was dredged out of their caves and had to escape to the surface. He had been eating lunch with his brother that day that the tunnel shaft collapse had happened. They were laughing and joking about the meal that they had prepared together. His brother helped him to hunt for that cockroach that day and it was the first time that Ferrous had been successful in catching one himself. His brother Mershis was extremely proud of him and was telling Ferrous that he was a successful mouse. Then they felt the earth start to tremble and they heard water rushing near their cave. The water started flooding the floor of their cave. They looked at each other and hugged. Mershis said, “Ferrous if we get separated please stay in our territory so that I can find you. We need to leave here and try to swim to the outside air. You will always be my best friend and brother.” Ferrous had felt the worst he had ever felt before about losing his brother and being alone. They looked outside of the cave and the water had flooded up to their knees and then almost to their shoulders. Mershis grabbed Ferrous’ hand and he told him to be brave. They tried to start swimming but the water current carried them turbulently through the shafts. Mershis couldn’t stay with Ferrous and they eventually were separated. Ferrous was carried for many miles and finally one part of the flood was draining out of a hole in the rock into another area of the tunnel shafts. Ferrous was caught by a small funnel that was formed by the water swirling in different directions and thrown out into the mud outside. He called for his brother then and the area he was in seemed like it was a small cavern because his voice echoed. He did not realize the tunnel shafts were so long. He had been carried along for days and then he landed here unexpectedly in this cavern. He tried to understand where he was but it was too dark and musty. He wondered why the water was not flowing throughout and flooding this area. He felt the water rushing by, he did not want to enter the water again to be carried along for more and more miles and then possibly drown. He sat down in the mud and knew that he might have to walk into the dark cavern to survive. He then noticed that his vision was getting clearer and he could see more clearly down into the tunnel. He heard a loud roar of the water and the sound of tunnel walls crashing down where the water was flooding. He started to run down the tunnel. He felt soft, furry bodies of mice under his feet. I realized that many mice had drown in the flood and their bodies were carried into this cave. He tried to move to the side of the cave and run up onto the wall. Ferrous came to a place where there were two entrances. He saw that one entrance seemed like it would take him back to the area where his cave was where he lived with his brother. He started to cry and wanted to see his brother and ask him what to do. The other tunnel looked like it went further down into the tunnel shafts. He was afraid that more water was flooding that area. He took the first tunnel shaft that he saw. He started running through that tunnel and he hoped it would take him outside. He thought about how the outside was above these tunnel shafts and that he might have to find a way out that took him up to the top. The tunnel started taking him up further and he felt relieved. Then he saw a small hole to his right, it had a sliver of light coming out of it. Right then another lound crash sounded and the walls of the caverns seemed to shift slightly. He tried to hold onto the walls of the wall but since it was rocky it was impossible. He looked at the hole and there were other steel pipes that were stacked right next to it that he hadn’t noticed. There were also stacks of wood and other metal rods that were on the ground. They once were stacked against the wall. He saw the hole and it had gotten bigger with the shift of the walls. He could see more light filtering through. He was nervous to enter into this hole because he did not want to get stuck in case the walls were going to shift again and then he would be suffocated and it might break his legs. The noise suddenly got quiet and he felt the air pressure inside of his ears and head getting stronger. He did not like this feeling and it caused great fear inside of him. His lungs started to feel tight and he could not breath and the color of the room became brighter. He decided to try to squeeze through the hole. He put his hands and arms through and caused friction on the side of the hole. This friction sent a shock through his whole body. He then felt as if that shock sent him straight through out into the grass. He started to run away from that hole because he sensed that there were more shock waves that were being sent throughout that room where he had just been. He picked himself up and he heard loud thunder coming from inside that room. He could hear explosions happening. The wall that he had been behind suddenly exploded and he felt his body fly through the air and then he landed in a stream that was there coming out of another area of the big rock that had been protruding out of the earth. He flew into the water and was instantly cooled by that water and felt the electricity diminish from the hair on his body. He was so happy to see the sun.

Henry The Helicopter’s Call For Help
Chapter 6
Henry the Helicopter was struggling to get to his home crawling through the leaves and dirt. He felt alone today. He had heard many sparrows flocking above him while while he was resting in the crook of that tree trying to feel better and they frightened him. He knew he had to leave that tree to get home before dark. He remembered how fearful he felt leaving the entrance of his resting place. It was becoming late afternoon and he knew he had to leave. He crawled out slowly and started ducking under leaves so the sparrows wouldn’t see him. He remembered catching a glimpse of a small sparrow swooping down and catching a worm. That Sparrow had glanced at him but swooped away with a wiggling worm in its beak. He had been elated that it had not come after him for a small meal. He saw many other bugs as he was traveling home, they too were hiding from predators and were waiting to come out from their hiding places until it turned dark. He finally arrived at his home under an old tree that had fallen in that forest. He lived under the rotten wood of that log and could always hear the sound of rushing water nearby which comforted him as he slept at night. He could smell the wet earth as he laid down to rest hoping that he would feel better soon. He sent calls out to his colony for another available mantis to come and help him to get well and to bring more food. He fell asleep to the sound of rushing water and frogs bleating. When Henry the Helicopter woke up he saw daylight streaming through his log making the earth feel warm and moist. He heard movement coming from outside of his den that made him nervous. He felt all of his limbs of his body and was relieved that they were still attached. He heard more movement and then a hissing sound and he knew that another praying mantis was outside of his den hissing at a predator. He immediately looked out and saw two praying mantises attacking a bird. The bird was fluttering its wings trying to fly away but because there were two mantises and the bird was a small young bird they were able to overtake it. The praying mantises were very skilled at killing animals for their food and Henry was later very happy to have this food provided for him. He was sad to see an animal die so that he could eat but since mantises are very skilled at killing their prey the bird did not seem to suffer very much pain The mantises started pulling out all of the bird’s intestines and hung them to dry, and then they pulled out the rest of the bird’s inner parts. The feathers fell off and blew away. They smiled Henry and reminded him that he had called on the Praying Mantis Colonies for help. They had volunteered to come and help Henry and were happy that they had arrived in time. The bird had been sneaking around his den for a while before they had scuttled up to his area. They attacked the bird from behind and jumped right onto the back of his neck The bird had smelled Henry while he was sleeping and was waiting for him to come out. He liked these new mantises and they became friends very quickly. They talked for a while as they ate all of the intestines and feet of the bird together. They liked having the crunchiness of the feet and the softness of the intestines as one meal. The larger mantis was called Masters Mantis and the other one was named Peter Mantis. They all three called on the rest of the Praying Mantis Colony to come and share this bird meal. The two mantises had already brought food that they had caught along the way for Henry so that it would be fresh. Mantises started showing up and brought other insects that they had caught that morning. They told the mantises that this eating party was very convenient for them to be apart of which made everyone very happy.
Henry the Helicopter enjoyed his new friends. He hadn’t seen the mantis colony for such a long time. The mantis colony had designated mantises who were elected to rescue other mantises when called upon and they would also travel to praying mantises’ homes to take care of ill mantises. This ensured the success of future generations of mantises to keep their world wide colony stable. These mantises who were elected had to complete a six month training course to be considered for this special job of saving other mantises. Henry the Helicopter admired these strong mantises and wanted to be just like them. These training courses involved passing physical endurance classes, educational classes and classes about the health and well being of all praying mantises. Henry the Helicopter had always known how smart his colony was and he was proud of them. He had only six months left before he was going to be the acceptable age to start training. The colony also had set up a program for all of the mantises who went through the training but did not get elected so Henry knew that he would always enjoy his life in the colony. Masters and Peter found Henry enjoying the food that all of the other mantises had brought and they asked him if he wanted to play Stompish. Stompish was a game that all of the older mantises played who had been elected to be rescuers. Henry was overjoyed to play Stompish! Masters and Peter knew that Henry was intelligent and had great sportsmanship. He was also very athletic and team oriented, so they were excited for the six months to end so that Henry could start training. They both wanted to train Henry in order to be a rescuer but had not told him yet. They wanted to play Stompish so that Henry could get to know them and feel confident when he was around them. Masters and Peter were famous mantises among all of the mantises and their colony. Henry the Helicopter did not know that because he had been somewhat on his own in the forest, surviving.

Henry the Helicopter’s Parents
Chapter 7
His parents had been captured by another colony of mantises who were led by a mantis called Traipen who had been thrown out of Henry’s colony because of his dishonesty and hatred towards other members of Henry’s colony. He had committed many crimes against the colony members and would not stop so he had to leave for the safety of all of the mantises. Many mantises had decided to follow Traipen because he had convinced them that life in his colony would be better with less rules and regulations. He convinced those members that they would be happier with him and was able to convince those mantises that the law of the colony was a hindrance to their happiness and well being. Henry did not know where his parents had been taken and was very worried and fearful for them. Henry had found out from a grasshopper who had witnessed it happening. His parents were out hunting while Henry was at home one day. Henry usually went with his parents so that he could learn to hunt as well as they hunted. That day Henry stayed at home because some of the chores did not get done from the day before because his parents had had a party at their den. Henry had been reluctant to stay home that day, the air in the forest seemed heavy and he did not know why. He wanted to go with them and did not want to be by himself. He had wanted their protection but they had insisted that the chores needed to be done so that their den would stay organized. He had cleaned and organized all of the items in their den, washed all of the leaves, swept the dirt, dusted all of the walls, and waited for them to come home. He waited all night, and all the next morning and they never came home. At mid day he started to walk in the direction that he had remembered them taking. He walked until night fall trying to find them, and then he sat down and did not know where he was because he was so worried he forgot to pay attention to the signs around him. He knew he had not been wise in paying attention to those signs but it was too late. He remembered sitting by a tree and a grasshopper was sitting at the next tree. Henry the Helicopter had not noticed him there when he sat down but seemed to appear right when Henry started to cry. The grasshopper looked at him and smiled and said, “Henry everything is going to be ok. The situation of your life is how it is supposed to be right now. Do not be afraid because you are strong to have come out here to the forest to find you parents. You are young but you show great strength and the whole forest admires and respects that. Henry I am a grasshopper and I see situations because I am small. There were two adult mantises who were overtaken, but not killed. Three other mantises took them to the colony that Traipen is in control of. They did not want to go to that colony but had no choice. They explained to those three mantises that they had a son at home and that they were needed at home but they were taken anyway. I, the grasshopper, want to tell you to go back home to safety, Henry. I believe they will be able to somehow escape one day and you will see them again. Do you know the way back to your den? Henry the Helicopter was so relieved to know what had happened. “Sir, grasshopper, thank you for telling me this. I do not know where my den is.” The grasshopper looked at him and smiled and said, “This is good that you do not know where your den is. This tree that you are next to will your new den and it is fine that you will leave your old den behind. Maybe one day when you see your parents again you can go back and see if it is still there. Right now you can sleep in this tree.” The grasshopper came over and shook Henry the Helicopter’s hand and led him into the tree that he was resting by. “Henry, you have my permission to have this as your den and I will tell all of the other forest creatures that this is your new home and we will watch out for you since you are very young. We all need you to live because praying mantises are very important for our survival.” Henry cried, “Thank you, sir, grasshopper.” Henry then went to sleep wondering what was going to happen to him.
Henry was remembering this when he was trying to learn to play Stompish with Masters and Peter. Masters and Peter could see that Henry was sad and they wondered what he was thinking about. They knew what had happened to his parents and had talked about the situation on the way to his Henry’s house after he had called for help from their community. Some of the mantises had wondered if Henry had wanted to be alone and that maybe he felt that the community had failed him in trying to find his parents who were trapped in the other community that was controlled by Traipen. Since Henry the Helicopter was so young he did not know how to ask for as much help as he could have and he did not want to be a burden on the community. Henry lived in a den that was in a certain territory that had not been taken over yet by any of the mantises in any community. The community had asked Henry if he had wanted to come live closer to the community but he was afraid that if his parents escaped he would be too far to find him, so he stayed where the grasshopper had put him. Masters and Peter really liked Henry and they really liked this area of the forest. There had been a recent flood underground and Fall was soon setting in. More bugs had come to the surface because of the flood and more water was available in this area as well. Masters approached the leader of the community after their game of Stompish had ended. “Hello, can I please have a time of talking with you sir mantises? I would like to move here with Peter mantis into the den next to Henry the Helicopter’s den. There will be many benefits to us moving here. We have to find mates. There are also many other mantises to save here and bring into our colony. Also it will help Henry to feel more of a connection to our colony.” “Yes we agree”, stated the leader mantises. “You and Peter may stay here and the rest of the colony will take down your den that you already have and other mantises may live in that den if that is acceptable to you dear Masters Mantis.” “Yes, that will be just fine. Peter is that fine with you as well?” Peter said, “Yes, thank you very much.” Peter was excited for a new adventure. “Henry has six more months before he can start training and I would like to have permission to start training him now since we will be moving here next to him.” Masters asked. “Yes that is acceptable.” Stated the sir mantises. Peter and Masters were so excited to stay and help Henry that they sang and chirped about the notion. They sped over to Henry who had been standing watching all of the colony talk among themselves. He had been to shy to approach them and he had wondered where his friends were. Masters said, “Hey Henry have you ever been to this den here in this tree? The one right next to yours?” “No” said Henry. “Well this den is now where Peter and I live! We will be right next to you! We already asked and the sir mantises said that we could move here and start training you right away and that you do not have to wait another six months to start.” Henry was overjoyed at all of this good news! He could not keep in his happiness and laughed with happiness that his friends were going to be right next door and that his dream of getting trained to be a rescuer was really going to happen! He hugged them, and helped them to set up their den, right next to his.

Wally the Sparrow and the In-The-Knowers
Chapter 8
Wally the Sparrow flew from tree to tree wishing he could find that girl sparrow that he had seen the other day. He had his manual all ready for her to read. He thought that she could start reading on page seven of chapter two. This chapter was named ‘How many bugs and worms are appropriate to eat in one swoop.’ He was worried that she was out flying alone in the forest not knowing what to do. The in-the-knowers knew that Wally was wondering where she was and so they too were looking for her. They put out some chirps to see if they could successfully find her. The in-the-knowers wondered where her parents were and if they were still alive. The in-the-knowers were a group of seventy-five elderly birds that were all different sorts of birds in their small area and each of those groups of in-the-knowers were in charge of each area. Wally flew up high into the tallest tree that he could find. He decided to sit on a branch and sing and chirp about how he felt about the day, the sun and the weather. He could not find the song inside of him and all of the chirping came out as sadness. He looked to his left and saw a black, fuzzy, caterpillar. Wally was surprised that this caterpillar was sitting right next to him on a branch. Wally said inquisitively, “Black, fuzzy caterpillar why are you sitting so close to my beak? I thought all caterpillars were afraid of birds.” Wally stared at the caterpillar in amazement because the caterpillar smiled at him. “Yes I agree! We are afraid of all birds, young sparrow, but I have to tell you about the situation that is close to your heart. The girl sparrow that you have been wondering about has been hunting and finding food for a few weeks. She has been helping to eat all of the weak bugs and caterpillars and worms. This has helped us in the bug community to be strengthened because of this the food and water sources are less depleted for the stronger bugs in our society. We hope that you will not take her out of this area because we need her here in this territory and now that Fall is almost here her presence is needed” Wally the Sparrow longed to meet her and wished to find her but then he would have to convince her to like him and that was going to be the difficult part. The Caterpillar said, smiling, “She has been flying in and out of the tree tops in this area, young sparrow, please look to your right wing now to see her.” Wally felt his heart skip a beat, he suddenly looked to his right, forgetting about the caterpillar and how wanted to eat him. He glanced over and she was sitting on a branch very quietly. She said, “Hello Wally, I heard from the in-the-knowers that you were looking for me.” Wally instantly felt flushed with embarrassment. He could sense the black fuzzy caterpillar was chuckling at him and he did not like it but he also felt some comfort from the caterpillar and did not want him to leave. The caterpillar started to laugh and crawled away down the branch to safety. He curled up on a leaf and rested. Wally knew that he had to say something to this other sparrow and explain why he had been looking for her. “Hello, my name is Wally he chirped. I wanted to meet you and I would like to know if you need any help with finding food. Are you well, and what is your name? You seem to be alone and I wanted to make sure that you had all that you needed.” The sparrow started singing about friendship and knew that Wally was her friend and she was so happy about her new friendship. She sang to him, “My name is Dawn and I have made many friends in the forest, thank you for asking sir, Wally. I like this area of the forest very much, it has given me so much joy to live here. I like the in-the-knowers here, they are very wise and friendly.” “It is nice to meet you Dawn, I did not get a chance to give the bug manual to you about how to catch bugs and worms for young birds. Do you think this could help you in any way?” asked Wally the sparrow. She looked at him in a confused manner and said, “I did not know that there was a manual, Wally. I thought that our bird instincts helped us to know what to do and what kind of bugs and worms to catch. I look to the signs of the earth and talk to the other bugs and worms to ask them permission to eat certain bugs. They always direct me in the way that they would want me to go in order for their bug species to survive. Since my parents were eaten by a wild animals while I was still in the nest I have had to try and survive anyway that I can. While I was still in the nest a black, fuzzy caterpillar came and talked to me. He kept me company and brought me worms and bugs that were deteriorating. Remember the caterpillar that was sitting to our left, Wally? He is the black, fuzzy caterpillar who is my helper who helped me to survive and to be able to grow strong. He always explains to me the ways of the forest and what bugs and worms need in order to survive and how birds should only eat the weak ones and to also make sure that we do not eat certain ones that have diseases. I did not know that there was a manual. I would like to read it and understand what it says.” Wally was trying to understand all that she was saying to him and wondered what to do. He knew he had to have a response. He said, “Yes Dawn I agree. I am wondering if we could add in all of the knowledge that you have learned from your caterpillar as well as everything that you have learned from the signs of the earth into this manual.” “Yes Wally I think that is a good idea. Do you think, Wally, that the manual may be describing many of the things that I do but just in a different way? I am sure that we all use our inner knowledge about how to hunt and live as we do here in the forest.” Wally liked her more than he had ever liked any other bird. Wally asked, “Can we meet tomorrow right before the sun comes up? We can travel around this area to find out more about the terrain and all of the hiding places that all of the bugs use, will you have time to do that with me?” asked Wally the sparrow with a smile. Dawn said with glee, “I would love to go searching all of the areas with you Wally! I will meet you here at this tree. I will see you tomorrow.” Dawn flew away right then.

Ferrous, the Crow and the Sparrow
Chapter 9
Ferrous was a very young mouse who always looked up to his older brother to take care of him. He had been looking for his brother who had been separated from him because of the tunnel shaft collapse and the large flood of water that had come up from deeper inside of the earth. Many mice were still trying to find their families. Mice were wandering every where calling for their loved ones. The mice community had started sending messages of hope through certain mice message carriers who had been appointed to carry messages to other territories in order to find lost families of mice that had been carried along to different territories by the flood underground. The tunnel shafts covered many miles of territory and the water flooded many miles of these shafts. Ferrous heard that the mice carriers were being very successful in finding lost mice and in delivering messages to them from their families and so it had brought him much hope about finding his older brother. He had already met a mice carrier who had come through his area asking if he had anyone who he was searching for. Ferrous told him about his brother Mershis and that Ferrous was still in the territory that Mershis had instructed him to stay in. Ferrous knew that luck had brought him this carrier and so Ferrous was able to gain hope in finding his brother. He was lucky that he had been able to find small bugs that had come to the surface from the flooded tunnels. He hated when the sun went down and the warmth left the surface of the earth. He was easily chilled and had to find places to hide where it was warm.
He looked up and saw a crow high up in a tree staring at him with one eye and then the other. “Ferrous the mouse, I presume!” He said. “Why yes, that’s me!” Ferrous squeaked. The crow cocked his head and said, “Well there ain’t much to look at I suppose but you’ll do for a small meal.” Ferrous asked, “For whom??” “Well for me, who else would I be referring to?” At that moment the large crow swooped down and became even larger! Ferrous ducked down and pounced forward and then sideways but the crow was too fast for Ferrous and caught him by his tail. He picked Ferrous up with his beak and began to fly up into the air. Ferrous shrieked, “Let me go! Please!” The crow laughed at him. Ferrous saw another bird approaching. As it got closer Ferrous saw that it was a swallow. The swallow attacked the crow and pecked him on the neck and began to pull the feathers right out of the wing that had Ferrous crushed. Ferrous screamed, “Swallow! Please save me!” Ferrous suddenly fell out of the sky like a lightning rod right into a very low nest in a deciduous tree. Ferrous noticed as he fell that the leaves had started to turn bright red and flaming orange. Some of Ferrous’ favorite colors. The nest was extremely low in that tree which was unfortunate for Ferrous because he hit many branches before landing in the crow’s nest. Ferrous wondered after he landed if it was the nest of the very crow that had Ferrous crushed in his wing. It was an empty nest but still had remnants of broken egg shells, bits of string, skeleton heads of other creatures and many bits of foliage pressed together. He realized right then that there was another crow lurking in the shadows of the leaves. A few brightly colored leaves had fallen in the nest which Ferrous used to try to hide under but the crow started pecking at him. That crow did not like strangers in her home and wanted to eat Ferrous just to get rid of him. Ferrous scampered as fast as his body could take him but he was extremely tired. He leapt out onto another branch and started to descend down just as the crow’s beak touched his injured neck. He lost his balance and slipped and fell straight down into a crook in the tree. He saw an old knot and quickly hid there. Luckily some commotion distracted the old crow and Ferrous took the chance and ran out of that knot and ran down the trunk of that tree into some underbrush in the mud at the base of the tree. The swallow saw Ferrous and flew down to meet his friend. “Well hello!” said swallow as he looked at Ferrous happily. Ferrous loved the swallow’s warmth and Ferrous immediately felt protected by swallow and swallow vowed to always protect and help Ferrous. Ferrous felt safe with him and they became fast friends. Ferrous squeaked a small hello at swallow and fell asleep in the underbrush. Swallow, the kind fellow that he was, Picked Ferrous up gingerly, making sure not to wake the poor, tired mouse. He placed Ferrous in the crook of his wing and leapt up to fly away. Suddenly a large cat started to creep up to eat Swallow. Normally Swallow would have sensed the cat was there and that danger was near but Swallow had missed the signs of that danger because of all of the commotion. The cat jumped right at his back and scratched Swallow and then placed his jagged hooks right on top of Swallow and Ferrous. Right then Ferrous woke up and screeched. He saw a huge set of teeth bite down into Swallow’s feathers and mid-section. Ferrous had lost all hope of living and so had Swallow and when their eyes met for a split second they both knew that this could be the end of their lives. Right then another cat pounced on the Terrorizer Cat because he was angry that he had been left out of this succulent meal of two fat morsels. They started rolling around screaming at each other in sheer anger. This caused the Terrorizer Cat to let go of Swallow and Ferrous but Swallow and Ferrous were in such shock over these circumstances that they forgot to run away and just stared in awe at the two Terrorizer Cats. Suddenly the cats stopped and looked at each other then silently turned and looked at their meal. It dawned on Ferrous and Swallow that they needed to run at these Terrorizer Cats and attack them before getting eaten. Pipple looked at Swallow to see what needed to be done. Swallow was in sheer terror because he had been bitten by the Terrorizer Cat and was feeling warm blood dripping down his mid-section. His breathing started to become shallow. He knew that with both of them they might have a chance to escape but first they had to attack their adversaries. Blood trickled out of Swallow’s chest…

Wally and Dawn
Chapter 10
Wally thought about how happy he felt after talking to Dawn in the tree top of the deciduous tree. He loved all of these trees here in this forest that was his home. He wanted all of the animals to be as happy as he was at that moment. Dawn made him feel as if he was the most successful bird in the whole forest. He liked Dawn and wanted to be her best friend. He hoped that tomorrow he could have the courage to speak more to her about her life. He had wanted to tell her that his parents had also been eaten by wild animals and that since that time he had not found a friend that he could sing with everyday. A grasshopper had been crouching at the base of a tree when Wally flew down to the forest floor. Wally saw that the grasshopper was too fat for him to try to catch and eat. The grasshopper also was a very old and wise creature and Wally was afraid of him. The grasshopper looked right at Wally as he was flying down. “Hello Wally.” Said the grasshopper thoughtfully. Wally looked at the grasshopper in fear and wondered how the grasshopper knew his name. Wally squeaked, “Hello sir.” the grasshopper looked at Wally sorrowfully and said, “I need to tell you that your parents will not be able to come back home to take care of you. I know that this is the first time that you have flown from the nest and I am proud of you and want to tell you that you are good at flying for such a young bird, Wally. You are a very courageous sparrow. Your parents were caught today by two wolves who have been in this area searching for food.” Wally saw the whole forest turn gray and the grasshopper came closer and chirped at Wally. Wally felt calm with this grasshopper chirping a song of sorrow with Wally. The grasshopper stopped and looked at Wally and shook his hand. It is an honor to meet you Wally. Now you have to fly up to the tree tops to be safe because the wolves are still around wanting to hunt and kill. The grasshopper looked at Wally and Wally wondered what he was going to tell him. “Wally, do you like this tree that I am sitting in front of?” Wally looked up and saw that it was higher than the tree where he was used to being. “I do like this tree” said Wally. “This tree has survived many long summers and winters here in this territory. I live here at the base of this tree inside of this opening. I chirp in the evenings when the sun is going down and I chirp in the mornings when the sun comes up. I know what is happening in the forest and what animals are in the area that are dangerous. Would you like to share this tree with me. You can fly up to the eagle’s nest that has been abandoned that is in the two lower branches. Wally felt extremely lost and fearful. Wally understood that grasshoppers help all animals of the forest because they are wise and hey use this wisdom that they have for the benefit of the earth. Wally said, “Thank you sir.” The grasshopper said, “Please Wally fly, up now to the nest to be safe from the wolves that have entered this area .” Wally flew up and landed in the eagle’s nest that had been there for a long time. It was larger than his but he gathered some sticks and leaves and hopped under them. He fell asleep and fell completely alone. He was relieved that the grasshopper was just down at the base of the tree and he could hear him chirping.
When Wally woke up he felt very lucky that the grasshopper was his friend. His friendship helped him to have confidence to live a life as a young bird though he did not have his parents’ love and protection. He respected this grasshopper and enjoyed talking with him. This grasshopper kept Wally alive because he was always warning him of danger. Wally wanted to tell Dawn about his friend the grasshopper tomorrow and he wanted to know more about her friend the caterpillar. He also wondered why the caterpillar had specifically named her as a very important bird to have here and he wondered what this Fall would bring to his territory. Would the water sources grow? The Caterpillar seemed to be saying that the insect society was in a state of successful growth and that relieved Wally’s worry about food sources. The drought from this summer had affected all of the bird territories detrimentally. But the flood that came up from underground helped Wally’s whole territory. He was going to have to ask Dawn what kind of hunting practices she had and how it could be different from all of the other birds. He wanted to add all that she knew to his manual.
The sun was setting over the territory and all of the birds started softly chirping about the day to their loved ones. They sang about their nests of comfort, the warmth of the sun during the day and how the nights were getting colder as Fall was setting in. Every day during twilight all of the birds of the land chirped to one another regarding their worry about finding so little water and food in many places. Wally tuned into what they were all saying. The bird community then had their annual summer meeting and the in-the-knowers instructed all of the birds about how to get along and be a supportive bird community. They reminisced about the summer happenings and how each circumstance positively or negatively affected the bird community. They talked about the issues that arose during the summer and how successful each group of birds were in supporting each other during each of those situations. Many of the birds won awards based on their bravery in avoiding cats and other wild animals. The higher achievements went to birds who fought with cats and squirrels and won their territory back and did not get caught by them. They talked about how the flood helped their community to come out of the drought that they had been in during the beginning of the summer. The in-the-knowers explained that the other leaders of other bird communities were relieved to have the flood in their area as well. They then had their annual achievement party. Wally was excited to attend because he had been elected to speak at this event about any subject that he wanted to speak about. Dawn was in the top of the next tree over so that she could see Wally speak about the manual that he used when he first started hunting for food, ‘How To Catch Bugs and Worms for Young Birds.’ She smiled at him and sang about what he was saying. Wally did not speak about it as much as he thought he would because he was nervous but Dawn helped him to feel more confident because she was such a sweet bird.

Pipple and the Creatures
Chapter 11
Pipple could see all of the mice up ahead start to become afraid and start swimming for the sides of the tunnel. The water at the sides of the tunnel carried all of the mice at a slower pace so all of the mice swam to the middle of the water to get out of the flood faster. He started hearing echoes of mice up ahead and he wondered what was happening. He hoped that the tentacled creatures were not attacking the mice up ahead. Then he started to feel a creature lurking next to him and he did not want to look over. He looked diagonally to his right and saw part of a tentacle and a large body. Pipple could hear it mumbling while it swam up ahead. Then it slowed down and lurked at Pipples’ right arm. It nudged his arm and Pipple lunged ahead through the water to his left. He then felt the tentacles wrap around his right ankle and held Pipple in the water so that he could not keep drifting forward. Pipple heard mice yelling for help up ahead. Pipple could finally see the water was swirling up ahead over large rocks and falling over them into a great chasm. Pipple screamed and the tentacle of the small creature tightened onto his ankle. The creature reached one of his other tentacles out to grab Pipple around his waist and his shoulders. The creature screamed along with Pipple trying to speak to Pipple about his intentions to save him. Pipple was trying to separate himself from the creature and not fall over the edge into the chasm of water. The creature grew stronger it seemed and grabbed Pipple even again around his hands. Then another larger creature came up out of the water in between Pipple and the water fall and pushed Pipple into the smaller creature. Pipple tumbled into it but then the larger creature got caught on one of the rocks and could not break free. The smaller creature grabbed for the larger one and tried to hold onto it so that it would not tumble forward but it was too late. The larger one fell into the water and was jolted into the falling water. The smaller creature screamed in terror and Pipple realized that they had both been trying to save him from falling over into the chasm and now the larger creature had fallen over into the chasm. Pipple decided to grab the creature and he lunged both of them forward into the chasm of falling water to try and find the larger creature. Pipple wondered if the larger creature was the parent of the smaller one and he wanted to help them to reunite. Pipple did not know how large this chasm was but he hoped that they would find the bottom soon. He tried to keep himself in the waves of the water to keep warm and so that he would have a softer landing at the bottom. Pipple could feel the tentacle still on his ankle and wished that he could have been able to stay with Frolly. They finally splashed into the another body of water after some time. Pipple saw a larger creature lurking next to the side of the shore near some mud and hoped that that was the one that he had seen at the top. The creature that was helping Pipple screamed with delight and lunged forward to be reunited with the other creature. Pipple had to yell because it was so loud, “Hello! Thank you for trying to save me at the top of the waterfall! We came down here so that you could find each other. I do not know your language but do you know what I am saying? My name is Pipple the mouse and I am looking for another mouse named Frolly and her siblings. Have you seen a mouse named Frolly?” The creatures grabbed his arm and Pipple was instantly afraid but had to remember that they were being friendly. He had assumed that they were dangerous but they had tried to save him. He wondered why they lived so deep within the earth and if the flood was displacing them out of their homes but Pipple did not know how to ask them. They grabbed onto Pipple tightly and propelled themselves through the water so fast that Pipple did not know what to do. They brought him up for air a several times and then they would go under the water with him. Pipple wished that mice could swim as fast as these creatures could swim. Pipple saw more of the creatures under the water propelling themselves forward. Pipple understood then that these creatures have been swimming with him and all of the other mice without being detected. Pipple wondered how long these creatures had been by his side before they fell into the chasm. He could hear the creatures communicating with each other and the large one was asking where a mouse named Frolly and her siblings were. The creatures communicated with each other and said that they had all been scattered. The large creature communicated with all of them and said that they needed to be located and brought to the mouth of the tunnel as soon as each one was found. Pipple did not know where the mouth of the tunnel was but was overjoyed that these creatures were going to help him. He wished that he could give them some form of payment but did not know what they would want. Pipple wondered how long he would have to wait to see Frolly and her siblings again. The mouth of the cave was visible within a few minutes and Pipple was so excited to see his friends. He noticed the creatures were starting to move slower through the water. Pipple wished that he could communicate with them to ask. He noticed that the creatures were becoming lethargic in the water but still trying to swim. Pipple felt the water had become cooler in temperature and Pipple was hoping to see dry ground at the mouth of the tunnel. When they were almost there his friends who had helped him seemed to be swimming slower as well. Pipple worried that the creatures were bothered by the cooler temperature of the water and if they could not swim back to the lower parts of the earth. As they got closer to mouth of the tunnel there was a great collection of creatures that seemed to be suspended in the water. It was difficult for their group of three to get through to the entrance. Pipple was worried about his friends. He knew that Frolly and her siblings could make it to the entrance if they were brought to this area. Pipple stopped swimming and noticed that this area was familiar. Pipple was shocked to see that this area was the same area where he had escaped his caretakers with the help of the mud skipper. He knew where the tunnel was where the caterpillar had shown up and helped him to be aware of the tunnel collapse before it happened. He knew that that area could bring those creatures deeper into the areas of the earth where it was warmer. Pipple motioned with his hand to the creatures to wait. Pipple looked to his left and saw the entrance that he was thinking of but some of the mud was blocking the entrance and stopping the creatures from entering. He realized that they were trying to swim into that tunnel but the cold water was hindering them. Frolly yelled for Pipple at that moment and he felt his stomach fall to his feet. She was excited to see him and he swam over to him and grabbed hands and embraced. Frolly yelled, “Pipple I was afraid that I would never see you again!

Reunited With Friends
Chapter 12
Pipple looked at her and felt his heart start pumping inside of his head and his vision became blurry. Frolly asked, “Are you alright, Pipple?” “Frolly, do you remember when I saw you in this tunnel and I was hanging on the wall?” Frolly said, “Yes I remember but then the current was so strong that it took me under and I could not see anything.” Pipple said, “Yes I remember and I plunged in after you and met up with you in another tunnel that was completely dark and we talked with each other, remember?” Frolly looked at him and said, “Yes, I remember and you will always be my best friend because you entered those waters to save me.” Pipple said crying, “We will never part my dear heart. Now Frolly where are your siblings?” The creatures were coming in will all of her siblings just then and they all embraced. Frolly’s siblings were crying because of how fearful they had been trying to find each other. Each one had a story to tell about their experiences in trying to survive the flood. They were wondering who the creatures were that saved them and they had become friends with them during their trip to the tunnel entrance. The sisters asked, “Pipple, why are the creatures moving so slowly now?” Pipple stated, “I have noticed that, sister, and I believe it is the temperature of the water. I have seen how they came out from the darkness of the deep areas of the earth and it may be warmer near the center of the earth.” Pipple looked at the creatures and smiled warmly to say, thank you. They grabbed his hand and brought him through all of the other creatures who were suspended in the water to the entrance of the tunnel where Pipple had ran into after leaving the mud skipper. That day seemed like it had happened many years ago. Pipple realized that he did not know how long he and his friends had been in these tunnel shafts trying to survive. Pipple looked at the entrance and the water flowing over the mud and it seemed less impacted than he had previously thought. Pipple felt fearful for the creatures and wondered if he and Frolly and her siblings could dig the mud out from the entrance to that tunnel. He noticed how the entrance of the tunnel to the outside was draining slowly and he was worried that the creatures needed to keep their skin wet and if the water was seeping out then the creatures might all die, including his friends who had saved Pipple, Frolly and her siblings. Pipple became more nervous that they were running out of time. Pipple yelled at Frolly emphatically, “Frolly can you and your siblings come and help to dig all of this mud out from this entrance? We need to get this dirt moved out so that they can propel themselves into this tunnel to get home. “Yes, Pipple we want to help!” The creatures who were still able to move made a pathway for them to swim through. The creatures had become so weak they could not dig the mud out for themselves. Frolly and her siblings found some sticks beneath their feet and pulled them out so that they could help. They all gathered together at the entrance and started pulling the mud out towards them. Then Pipple thought that pushing the mud in would create a path in both directions. Pipple and Frolly pushed the mud inwards and the siblings pulled the mud out. They all felt weak but knew that they had to save these creatures who had helped them to reunite. Pipple started pushing the mud to the right towards the wall where he had seen the fuzzy, black caterpillar. Pipple looked up to the hole where he had been. Pipple saw him and announced this in amazement to Frolly, “Frolly! Look! Here is the caterpillar who warned me right before the tunnel collapse happened.” The caterpillar smiled at Pipple and watched them as they worked. Soon there was a path but all of the creatures were just sitting in the water motionless. Pipple looked for his friends and they were at the entrance trying to propel the other ones through to the area where the path had been made. Pipple and Frolly and all of her siblings started grabbing the creatures and pushing them along the path to the other side. There were some other mice who had been able to find their way to the tunnel entrance as well. Pipple asked them if they could help all of the tentacled creatures through the path into the next tunnel. Pipple explained how the creatures had helped them and the mice were happy to help. The mice had been helped by these creatures as well. The mice had been afraid of them at first but then realized that the creatures had insisted on helping them. The creatures helped many of the mice to survive the tunnel flood. The mice did not know why the creatures had helped them, but knew that they wanted to help the creatures survive as well. The mice started grabbing the tentacled creatures and pushing or pulling them through the path to the other tunnel. The water was warmer in that tunnel and the mice hoped that this would help them. The creatures started coming back to life in the warmer water and all of the mice were very happy. They continued to grab creatures that were being pushed into the tunnel by the water that was still flooding the shafts in the main tunnel. The mice that were next to the tunnel entrance also started helping all of the mice that started coming in from the main tunnel flood to gather together and remove all of the sediment that had collected by the outside entrance. All of the mice had been swimming for days and were extremely tired and weak. They soon felt stronger at the thought of making it out of the tunnel alive. They all started digging and collecting the mud at the entrance. They all made a line of mice and each mouse took some mud and passed it to the next mouse in the line and the mouse at the end threw it out to the flood water to be taken away. Soon the sun started showing through the entrance and the mice all cheered for their successful escape to soon take place. They all took turns grabbing the creatures as they came flooding in. They decided to make a path outlined with mud starting from the flood waters into the tunnel where the warm water was. The creatures started swimming down into the warmer waters and started going back home through the dark caves back to the center of the earth.
Pipple and Frolly and her siblings and all of the rest of the mice finally got the entrance fully open. Frolly chased her siblings out to make sure that they were safe among the hundreds of other mice that were escaping through. Pipple wanted to make sure that all of the creatures were on there way to safety. He waved good by to his tentacled friends and watched as they swam to warmer waters into that tunnel. Pipple went into the tunnel where he had met the mud skipper and remembered what had happened and how the mud skipper had saved him. His tunnel was empty now and he hoped that he had made it out alive. Pipple came out and saw the light at the end of the tunnel that was to the right, and he simply walked right out into the light of day.
Written By: Margaret Leora Workman 4/27/2023