A Parachute Adventure
The thrill of the wind whipping my fur is what gets my heart pumping when I board the plane. My parachute is my own design, made from a very special type of tube plant that lessens wind resistance and allows for greater control on landing. The leaf-straps under my arms are for comfort. (Plus the dark green of the leaves looks fantastic against my handsome russet fur!)
The tube plant is a very fascinating native of Foxmania. It will keep growing forever right up to the sun if you don't cut it down. Most tube plants aren't allowed to get much higher than six feet, though. The higher they grow, the louder they whistle, until you can't hear yourself think. They also change colors as they grow. I like to pair the little pink ones with the large blues. Racha only wants the tallest, thickest, reddest stalks for her parachute. She likes to wait until the very last moment to pull the cord. For this, she needs the best control the tube plants can offer.
It's waiting for the plane to reach altitude that can get your ears twitching with impatience. I can see my eagerness mirrored on Racha's face as the plan slo-o-owly makes its way up through the clouds. While we wait, let me tell you about my very first jump with the Tube Chute.
*****I remembered to calculate for altitude, wind speed, and even the terrain differences that can affect air current. What I didn't consider so well was the time of year. I was just getting a good rush of air when I saw the goose flock far below me. They scattered with honks of annoyance, confusing me with their dizzying patterns and flashing wings. I managed to get clear of the flock but one of the young geese flew so close that her foot pulled my cord too soon!
So high above the forest, I had very little say in where the wind took me. I floated and bobbed, yipping my dismay as the familiar forest of home became a speck in the distance. The forest I was approaching was like nothing I'd ever seen in all my adventures. The trees were all too dark a green and they had these nasty-looking spines instead of leaves. Part of me was afraid that my parachute would be ripped to shreds. Tube plants are tough, but they won't stand up against a rose bush, to say nothing of trees that look like they have teeth.
I was very lucky to land in a small clearing, skimming my paws over the surface of the lake until the tug of the wind landed me safely on shore.
Everything about that forest was wrong. There wasn't nearly enough light in the sky for midday and there was this heavy smell in the air, like the way your cave gets when you've been cooped up inside it all winter because of the snow. All my fur stood on end when a huge shape rose out of the shadows of those spooky trees and started lumbering toward me.
I'd heard stories of badgers but I'd never seen one. This was an especially magnificent badger. She was twice my size, with a coat that would keep out the heaviest rain and a smell that nearly made me faint. Her beady eyes were narrowed as her snout waved from side to side. She wouldn't speak until she'd finished looking me over.
"What are you doing in our part of the woods, little red wolf-thing?"
My fur bristled at that. Imagine mistaking a fox for a wolf!
"I'm not a wolf and I didn't mean to come here. I'm Foxkeh of Foxmania."
She wrinkled her snout. I guess that's a badger's face for thinking. "Not a wolf? A small blessing. You are close to home sett. Come, you will share meal with us. It is badger law. All visitors must eat our food and sleep on the mossy ground if they will be friends and not cousins of wolf."
You should've seen the look on my face when Mrs. Badger set that plate of wriggling grubs in front of me! The little yellow ones weren't bad and the fat black ones were rather savory but nothing could convince me to try those red ones again! My mouth was on fire the rest of the night.
The little badgers gathered around and wanted to hear all about Foxmania. I told them about the haunted depths of Yelping Canyon, the majestic Foxish Falls, and even a few legends of Foximos, the greatest fox that ever lived. Two of the boys got to fighting over a spotted beetle they'd saved for a snack. Mr. Badger roared at them to be quiet or he'd send them to bed early. I was about ready for bed myself at that point but I would hardly deny Mr. Badger his request for a story about Foxtown, the greatest industrial site of Foxmania. At that point, I would have given Mr. Badger all the leaves in my pocket if he'd asked.
The mossy bed they offered really was quite comfortable. I could have laid there well into the morning hours...but I found out the hard way that badgers are early risers.
Mr. Badger prodded me with a paw. My achy eyes and groggy brain told me it was at least two hours before the sun comes up. "See here now, young fellow. This here map will take you right over the border of Badgeria. Where you go from there is up to you. Not all badgers are so welcoming as the wife and I, see? Get going now. Most of my kind are at the best point of the hunt. They wouldn't notice if you snuck up and smacked them on the rumps...though I wouldn't recommend it."
I thought he was having some kind of coughing fit but it turns out that wheezy grunt was a laugh. Mrs. Badger offered me a little basket of grubs to go but I told her I wouldn't dream of taking any more of their food with so many mouths to feed.
I knew the moment I crossed out of Badgeria by the sudden clearing of the air. I settled for a breakfast of blackberries and a few tube roots that tasted something like the tubers grown on Foxington Farm. It wasn't the most exciting breakfast but it filled me and allowed me to keep going.
Clouds rolled in to cover the sun as the day wore on. I am a good navigator even without the sun's aid but this was a land I'd never visited and one cluster of stones looked much like another. I decided it was time to ask for diretions.
You have to be careful in approaching the little animals. They get so nervous, always thinking you want to eat them...even when food is the lat thing on your mind. The red squirrel was so busy gathering walnuts for her winter store that I was nearly close enough to tap her on the shoulder when she noticed me. She scooted up the nearest tree, scolding me with all kinds of nasty words. I gave her a moment to calm down.
"I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you. I was just hoping you could tell me if I'm going in the right direction for Foxmania."
She flicked her tail and glared at me for long moments. "Ooh, you meat eaters get worse all the time! Try to sweet-talk the squirrel who's only trying to keep her little ones fed through the winter. Squirrels are curious, so she must be dumb enough to let one of those sly foxes talk her into coming down. Not this tree dweller, buster! You go find some other creature to chew on! Go on! Get out of here!"
There was no convincing her I was anything but a savage brute so I left her to her scurrying, hoping my next encounter would prove more helpful.
The red deer drinking from a small pond would surely prove better to talk to. After all, a majestic creature of his size had little to fear from one fox.
Just as I was aout to call his attention, a robin came zooming through the trees to land on his antlers. "Quick, Sunhoof! Get us out of here! Those gophers are going to be ready to gnaw through solid oak when they figure out I've gone and stolen theire shiny."
Three irate gophers popped out of the ground just seconds later. The leader didn't even seem to realize what I was. He looked me in the eye and addressed me with much whisker twitching and teeth chomping.
"Which way did they go? I'll have that bird stuffed this time, see if I don't Which way did they go?"
I pointed a paw in the right direction. The gophers didn't even take the time to thank me as they disappeared under the dirt.
It seemed that not one creature in that whole section of forest could take the time to give me simple directions. Two paths opened before me. One led down into a little valley that was hard to see in the fading light of day. The other led up to a rock formation with some spooky-looking caves that could hold anything.
The crackle of a large paw on leaf litter made me wheel around. The wolf was huge. He had silver fur matted from many days of wandering and you could count his ribs, even from a distance. He looked on me the way I'd often looked on birds foolish enough to make their nests on the side of Foxish Lake.
"You're a long way from the safety of Foxmania, my friend."
"An explorer dares to go where others have not trod, dear cousin. I can honestly say I'm the first fox to set paw on this land."
A wolf's laugh is a terrible thing. There is something of the howl and the growl in those choked barks. "You can say you're the first fox to die in this land as well. A double distinction. The poets of the Foxemy Art Academy will be singing your praises."
"Ah, but I have no intention of dying. You see, an adventurer comes prepared for everything, including the unfortunate hunger of our distant cousins. I pity the plight of the wolf. Yours is a thankless life of too few kills and too many harsh words."
"Don't mock me, fox. I know well the ways of your kind."
"You do me an injustice, sir. Let me prove what I'm saying to you. In the bag I carry is a pheasant I managed to take by surprise just this morning. She is a fat and juicy bird with tender flesh and bones that will almost melt in your mouth. A stout fellow like me can afford to give up a meal. I want you to have her. After all, you can always eat me second if she does not prove just as filling as I say."
His ears twitch to and fro and I know I've got him confused. "Let's see this bird, then. If you're lying to me..."
"I wouldn't dare lie to such a magnificent creature. I've never seen claws or fangs as sharp as yours. You must have some special stone you use to keep them in such fine condition."
The fur of his ruff puffed out a bit at that. "Not at all. They're quite natural, I assure you. Now let's have that bird."
I was sorry to sacrifice the parachute that had led me on such a fantastic adventure but the designs were all safely stored in my head. I backed away slowly as the wolf took his time picking the bundle apart. The only food to be had were a few extra blackberries I'd saved for a snack. He wolfed these down and looked for me. His growl turned into a laugh when he saw me standing at the mouth of the small cave above his head.
"Death by my teeth will be far less painless than what awaits you in there, cousin."
"An explorer never fears to take his chances. Good day, Wolf."
The tunnel into the cave narrowed and led down. I could hear my much larger cousin straining and snapping his jaws behind me. That huge body would never be able to follow me into the depths.
I was just starting to think that wolf was a liar when the underground thunder started. It was a sound rising in strength until the whole cave vibrated. I could feel my paws leaving the ground!
I wanted to turn and run but all that waited for me above was another kind of horror. An adventurer must be brave no matter what. It's what I told myself to keep moving closer to that awful sound.
The cavern at the end of the tunnel was huge, nearly half its floor taken up by a lake. At the very center was an odd stone formation shaped something like the bill of a goose. I'd never seen anything like it and I had to get a closer look.
I stuck my head in that funnel and very nearly went deaf when a giant blast of air sent me flying head over tail, only I ran the wrong way. I very nearly panicked when I realized there was nothing in front of me but solid rock. Then I spotted the rabbit.
His heavy foot thumped the stone, making a gentle pounding rhythm that was made large and terrible by that odd rock. He ceased to thump when he realized I had figured out his game.
"Oh, sir. Please don't eat me. This is the only place I've ever felt safe, and if the other animals knew it was here..."
I put on my best stern look. "This is quite a trick, for such a little creature. Lucky for you, I'm in the middle of a very important expedition. There's a certain rare artifact in my pocket that is needed to save the lives of a number of fox cubs. Unfortunately, I have run into a most inconvenient problem in the form of a wolf. This impertinent fellow wouldn't listen to my pleading and now he has me trapped in this cave. If you show me the way out and point me toward the fastest road to Foxmania, I may just forget that I ever saw you or that contraption."
Not only did he show me a second door, he even gave me tips on all the best berry patches for miles around. I ate like Baron Foxtail all the way home!
*****"Ready, Foxkeh?"
"Ready, Racha!"
"Okay...one, two, three...jump!"
We are flying, free-falling, floating on the air. We are shooting back to earth and eager to see where our next adventure will take us.
Story by Pureflower