Darrow Brook Fairies
How I met the Darbries:
Part Two
Part Two
It was quite a long hike to get out there, so I took a sandwich and a cold beer knowing that the beer was probably going to be warm when I got there. As I walked, I listened for any odd noise and scanned the ground for Daisy’s tag. I walked slow and deliberate. Along the way, I would stop and look into the swamp for deer, yeah, it was deer I hoped to see, as I lied to myself. When I finally got back out there, I couldn’t find the tree I was sleeping against. I looked at a lot of different hemlocks, and probably one of them was the one, but I couldn’t be sure. I just started looking on the ground all over the area. I kept looking into the swamp thinking I could remember the look of the place where the strange bird flew but I didn’t recognize anything and finally gave up.
I sat down, leaned back and soon closed my eyes. I was perfectly comfortable until I heard a noise from in the swamp. Shit, it was coming right towards me. I couldn’t see what it was but it was splashing and then I could see the water moving, again, right towards me. What the hell was it? I stood up as it came out of the water towards my feet, that ugly thing scared the shit out of me! A fish with a human like head walking on four legs, was climbing up the bank towards me, so I ran!
I didn’t run far. I remembered some of the guys from work saying how ugly mudpuppies are. I spun around and went back to get another look, but it was gone. I laughed at myself, and headed off for home. I didn’t want to be anywhere near this swamp come dark.
I went back, again and again. Once, while I was sitting under one of my trees, the whole woods went suddenly silent. You never realize just how noisy the woods are, until this happens. There were no warning sounds, no alarms at all, it was like everything knew there was danger. I froze. As I looked around, I suddenly saw a huge shadow flickering on the ground, heading my way. I looked up and saw it. The owl’s wingspan was at least six feet. It glided effortlessly and silently through the trees and branches. It pulled up and landed a few trees away from mine. I breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly I got angry. I don’t know if it had anything to do with the mudpuppy or not, but it just came over me and I got mad about things scaring me.
I jumped up and down, spread my arms and went towards the owl, screaming, “Get out of here! Go on get! You’re scaring everybody!” I bent down picking up sticks and chucking them up at him. I must have gotten one close enough, and he stretched out his wings and flew off. It was all over as quickly as it came on, as it was only minutes before the chipmunks and the squirrels were back to chirping. Soon the woods were back to normal. I wanted to yell, that’s all on me! I didn’t, I didn’t want to scare everything again.
I decided to call it early. I took my sandwich and broke it into pieces for my new friends, and I put my beer in the water in the swamp to keep it cool. As I was leaving, I swore I heard, “jude man” or “good man” or something like that. I was definitely alone, and the wind was still. I remember saying, “goodbye bird girl, goodbye mudpuppy” and I left.
That is how I met the Darbries.
Back
Next
D
