Feather of the Then-dra-zoe-ah People

The Then-dra-zoe-ah people of the Great Forest live in the Olympic National Forest in the state of Washington. It appears to humans as a ray of sunlight but their kingdom is in a giant big leaf maple tree that is draped with velvety moss that can be seen only by the Then-dra-zoe-ah people and all animals of the forest.

The people are a combination of flora and fauna and they live in the canopies of the trees and on the forest floor. They are six inches tall and their heads and ears resemble that of a deer with large almond shaped pastel colored eyes that have long green eyelashes. They walk upright, like humans, but have hooves and are fast runners. They can run so fast that it appears only to be a blur. Their bodies are covered with some fur, bark, velvety dark green moss and leaves that change color with the seasons and when they don't want to be seen they can conceal themselves by blending into the trees and bushes. Both male and female have long curly green hair with many little braids and the males have antlers. Their hands have fingers that look like think twigs with a small green leaf for a fingernails.

The Then-dra-zoe-ah people eat berries, nuts and grasses and drink the dew off leaves. They use nut shells for dishes and hollow acorns for cups.

They have a king and queen that rule over the people of the Great Forest and keep the people safe and intruders away by a large military force that patrols the forest floor daily. Their weapons are only wooden staffs but can be used in a fast and furious way.

The military has a a new recruit and her name is Feather and she is a private under Sgt. Terra. Feather is eighteen years old and has just finished military school. She lives alone in a little knot hole on the southern side of the tree with her pet ladybug, Dotty.

One sunny afternoon, Feather was sitting on a branch and she was deep in thought as she gently tugged on one of her many braids. She was thinking over a proposal of marriage that Capt. Bark had made the night before when they had gone out to dinner to a little bee hive near the base. Feather had many doubts about getting marriage and having children. She didn't know much about being a wife and a mother since her mother had died when she was born. Feather had been raised by her father, General Thorn and lived all of her life surrounded by the life of a military officer. She had always thought she wanted a career in the military like her father but now she was having doubts even about this choice. Her sergeant had been making her life miserable by always telling her she wasn't strong enough both mentally and physically for military life. Now Feather was wondering if Sgt. Terra was right but wasn't sure she was gentle and loving enough to be a good wife and mother.

Feather was just about to get off duty with the alarm was sounded that Intruders were in the Great Forest. The Then-dra-zoe-ah military went into action. This is why they were first formed to protect the Great Forest from Intruders.

The Intruders lit the forest floor with beams of light. They were yelling and some were crying. For many hours the Intruders were running and searching under the bushes and trees. It was very late when Sgt. Terra sent out a reconnaissance patrol to gather information. Feather was a member of this patrol. They found snapped twigs and branches, large foot prints, huge paper cups that had been filled with bitter black liquid. When they found their campsite, most of the Intruders were sleeping in large bags on the forest floor but a few were still sitting around the campfire talking about a lost child.

The soldier in command divided the patrol into three units. One was to stay and watch the campsite, another to report back to the fort and the third was sent out to scout the area. Feather was assigned to the scouting unit. She was ordered to cover the triangle of ground from the Great Maple to the blackberry bushes to the creek. She set off carrying her staff with her ladybug, Dotty, flying over her head and buzzing loudly every time she saw any movement on the forest floor. Feather walked for quite sometime before she came to hollowed log that had fallen many year before. Dotty started buzzing loudly and flying up and down very excitedly and at the same time Feather heard a small cry. She motioned for Dotty to be quiet and wait on a nearby leaf while she walked slowly towards the sound coming from the log. Feather crawled to the top of the log and peeked through a knothole on the top and saw a small human child lying inside the opening of the log. The little boy's face was! tear streaked and he was sucking his thumb.

It was becoming darker by the minute and the darker it became the harder the little boy cried. She crawled down next to him and lit her oil lantern. He stopped crying when he saw Feather. She could tell he was cold because he was shivering in his little thin shirt and his bare legs were scratched and dirty. She thought about how she could keep him warm through the night and decided to gather leaves and cover him by making a blanket out of leaves. This took a long time because Feather could only gather a few leaves at a time. By then it was very late and a new worry came into her mind. He was probably hungry and thirsty. The blackberry bushes were growing near the log so she found a large leaf and she and Dotty filled it full of berries and dragged it back to the child. This would have been a feast for her people and this human child ate the berries in a few gulps. So it took many trips back and forth to the blackberry bush to feed him.

Feather noticed her lantern light becoming fainter and she feared she would be alone in the dark with the child. She had to act quickly and decided to make herself a small torch and leave the lantern and Dotty with the now sleeping child.

She slowly made her way back to the fort in the darkness but quickly found some fuel and an extra lantern. As she was slipping out the gate Sgt. Terra saw Feather and followed in the shadows.

Quickly she made her way back to Dotty and the sleeping child just as he started waking up and began crying again. Feather was beginning to panic. How was she going to comfort this large human baby? Just then she remembered the old military songs her Father use to sing to her at night to lull her to sleep.

She had just finish singing a song and the child was calm again when she heard a loud voice shout,

"Private, what do you think you are doing?" "You don't have a pass to be out of the fort tonight and you know you must report all intruders immediately, big or small!"

Feather turned to find Sgt. Terra standing akimbo and glaring at her with her mean looking black beetle, Tick.

"I'll have you thrown in the brig for this."

Before Feather could make a reply she saw a dark pair of red glowing eyes piercing the darkness just above Sgt. Terra's head. Without thinking, Feather grab her staff and ran towards a large rat hiding in the thicket.

Sgt. Terra's eyes grew large with alarm and outrage as Feather ran towards her. She ordered her to stop and put down the staff but Feather knocked her to the ground. Swinging her staff, Feather smashed one of the rat's front paws making it retreat a few steps. The rat was startled but not afraid and began hissing and coming towards Feather very fast.

Sgt. Terra had left her staff at the fort and looked around for a weapon. She saw a broken thorny vine from the nearby blackberry bush and picked it up and began to circle behind the large rat. While Feather kept it busy in the front, she crept around and struck it with the thorny vine using it as a whip. After several minutes of fighting, the rat fled into the forest.

Through the night, Terra and Feather took turns standing guard until the faint morning light when they started planning on how to get the child out of the forest. Feather suggested instead of moving the child they could make a trail to bring the Intruders to the child. They worked hard the next couple of hours clearing pathways and laying sticks on the ground to form arrows that pointed the way to the lost child. It was hard and tiring work but finally they were finished and hid away in an empty bird's nest.

It wasn't long before the Intruders began searching again and soon Feather and Terra saw them discover the trail of trigs. There were shouts of joy and laughter when they found the boy. Feather and Terra overheard the Intruders wondering aloud how the little child knew to cover himself with so many leaves and to gather berries to eat but others said he must have had a Guardian Angel to help him through the night.

After the forest was quiet Feather and Terra started back to the fort. Both had grown to respect one another during that long night.

When they reached the gate and started to part Lt. Branch approached them saying, "Pvt. Feather, you failed to report for duty this morning and I'm putting you on report!"

Before Feather could reply, Terra said "Lt. Branch, the Private has been with me during the night on a rescue mission." "I will be making my report to the Commander in a few minutes."

After the Lieutenant walked off, Feather told Terra, "Thank you, Sgt. Terra, for explaining last night to the Commander and for helping me and I am sorry for any trouble I have caused you."

The Sergeant looked Feather in the eye and said, "I misjudged you, Private. I believe you do have what it takes to be a good soldier and may even an officer. After many years of military training, of course."

With that, Sgt. Terra walked off towards the Commander's office, leaving Feather alone with her thoughts. Yes, she was proud that she could make a good soldier like her father but what really made her happy was knowing that she would make a great wife and mother.