On Purpose
One day, as the legend goes, Barty Badger and Felicity Fox were on an adventure!
They didn’t really pick this adventure. There were minding their own business in Old Raven’s Forest when a sudden gust of wind blew them right out of the forest, across the ocean and onto a strange island. It was the Island Where No One Helps; that’s the rule. But they decided that they were going to help anyway because they were adventurers, and Adventurers always help.
Well, after saving that poor otter who was trapped in the pounding waves, Barty and Felicity started to scope out the island. Where were they? How would they get home? They weren’t quite sure, so they started walking around.
Pretty soon, they came across an iguana. The iguana sat on a rock in the sun and glared at them. They trundled up to him to say hi, and he grunted and said, “Go away!”
“That is the grumpiest iguana I’ve ever met,” said Barty. “Actually, that’s the only iguana I’ve ever met.”
“Oh yes!” said a voice behind them. Barty and Felicity jumped. Somehow, the old puffin they met when they first arrived had popped up right next to them. He went on, “Iguanas are usually pretty funny, but not this one. He’s always grumpy.”
Barty thought for a moment, and then said, “What do iguanas eat? I’ll bet he could use a snack.” Barty hurried around picking up mustard greens, dandelions, and a head of romaine lettuce, tossed it all together in a light vinaigrette. Barty presented the beautiful salad to the iguana and topped it off with a sprinkle of crickets. The iguana stared for a moment and then said, “How did you know?!” before digging in and devouring the food. He wasn’t grumpy at all after that! The puffin stared and said, “How did you know?”
Barty and Felicity shrugged and trundled on, exploring the island. Soon they found a shrew. She was pacing back and forth before a tree trunk, rubbing her paws together, bouncing a little bit, and muttering “oh no oh no oh no.” Barty and Felicity hurried over. Felicity said, “What’s the matter, how can I help?”
“Help?” squeaked the shrew. “No one helps on this island. Not even when a cave-in destroyed my home under this tree!” Felicity put her paws on her hips and thought for a moment, looking at the dusty, dirty tree trunk. “I’ll help,” she said.
Felicity got to work, building and digging and setting and lifting and moving and hauling and then… she stepped back, dusted herself off, and said, “there you go, little shrew. I fixed your house.”
The shrew’s eyes got big and she gasped. There was a beautiful, reinforced wooden frame around the tunnel into her den with beautiful carved scroll work. “That’s wonderful!” she said.
Suddenly, a voice behind them said, “It’s really true!” Barty and Felicity jumped around to see the same old puffin. “My parents told me this day would come!” He said. “Long ago, they said that one day Helpers would come. You are the Helpers!”
“No,” said Barty. “We’re here by accident; that big wind, remember?”
Felicity shook her head and said, “It sure seems like we’re here on purpose. You knew how to help that grumpy iguana. I knew how to help the shrew’s house. I wonder if we’re here for a reason.”
Well, that’s what the legend says, but I know one thing is true: Adventurer’s always have a good reason to help.
