Meanwhile, Back At The Home Clearing

 

Sea Serpent's Birthplace

            Evening was creeping in. Days were getting noticeably shorter now. As Ralph trundled back home, he could see Ramona and Cherry waiting for him at the fire. It’s not far from Bunny Town to the Home Clearing, after all.
            “Mona! You’ll never guess who I saw today!” sang Ralph when he got close.
            “Hm, I can’t guess,” she said, looking up from something she was doing to something on her big square pan.
            He took a seat, exhaled a big breath, and said, “A sea serpent came clear up the  river to see me. Bob saw it too!”
            “Why? Why would a sea serpent come looking for you in that little river, Baby?” said she.
            “He said I saved him when he was little and wanted to thank me! How about that? A grateful sea serpent! He was awful small the last time I saw him. Years ago. At the beach on the Sound. Some boys had him in a bucket, but when I walked up to see what they had, they took off! I remember taking the bucket back to the water and turning him loose. Anybody would do the same!
            “So, pretty wench, what’s for dinner?” said Ralph.
            “Fishes, my dear, fishes. Cooked in Thaga’s butter, and a few of Ooog’s little red potatoes. You bring me fishes, so I cook fishes!
            “Where is your sea serpent now?” said Ramona, getting back to the point.
            “He went back to the sea!” said Ralph. “I wonder if he has a name.”
            Three or four trout and six potatoes later, Ralph had a sudden thought. He had been distracted by Cherry sitting on his left, and Blue, with her muzzle resting on his foot.
            “Oh, Mona! Here’s the real news of the day! Not only did I meet a sea serpent, Bob and me ran into Maurice tootling away up by Bunny Town! What a surprise, huh?
            “Maurice had a heck of a good idea! A concert! For real! Him and Bob have been up there at the Stump House making music. Maurice does the tunes, Bob makes up the lyrics, and sings, and even Suzie sings. Did you know what they were up to? What do you think about that?”
            “Sometime I hear music on the wind. I had to assume it was them. But, oh goodness, where would it be? Who is coming? I guess anything is possible, since Maurice does have some experience performing in public!” said Ramona.
            “At the Stump House, three days from now, at high noon,” said Ralph.
            “It could be a potluck!” said Ramona. “Sort of musical, potluck picnic! Everybody could bring something to eat! I need to talk to Thaga!”
            “Hold up, Mona! I need to talk to Maeve. I think this is going to have to be word of mouth, and Maeve has the mouth with the word in question. Where is she anyhow?”
            And just like she always is, there she was, drifting down, silent and black from the middle of the air.
            “What’s what Boss? You were thinking too hard! I heard you,” said Maeve settling in.
            “I have a proposal, my glamorous feathery friend,” said Ralph. “You have veto, if you want, but I bet you won’t!”
            “Let’s hear it!” said the bird.
            “Maurice and Bob want to give a concert up at Bob’s Stump, three days from now, at noon. Now, none of us can write, so posters are right out! It’s got to be word of beak if it happens. Will you spread the news, Birdy? You know who to talk to. Twigg and Leely, Thaga and Ooog, and Milly of course. I’ll put it on our Forest Keepers underground, so don’t worry about us!
            “What do you think? Anybody else?” said Ralph, thinking.
            “Maybe Rick and his crew,” said Maeve.
            “Yeah, and you might talk to Ma Bear, see if she’s interested. Oh, may as well tell the B’s too!” said Ralph.
            “Tell them to bring picnic food!” said Ramona quickly.
            “Sure, Boss. No problem. Sounds like fun! A first! A Great Forest Concert! You know Milly could print up some cute invitations, and I could just deliver them to the readers,” said Maeve. She was getting excited too. “I’ll tell the crows, jays and robins too! Then the news will spread, you bet!”
            “I’ll go see Milly first thing, and I’m sure she’ll play too, so I will drop off the invitations by noon,” said Maeve.
            “OK, good. I’ll go up and square the whole thing with Bob and Maurice in the morning. That should give everyone lots of time to prepare.”
            “What about seating?” said Ramona.
            “Oh, me and Bob will pull up some logs tomorrow. I can see them kind of arranged in rows in a  half circle facing the Stump! Maybe three rows?”
            A few dreamy moments went by.
            “I made some cookies out of hazelnut flour and raisins! Anybody want a cookie and some coffee?” said Ramona as the conversation slowed down.
            Of course, everyone wanted a couple cookies, including Blue and Bob and Berry. But only Ramona, Ralph and Maeve had coffee. The animal friends and Cherry were water drinkers.
            It looked like tomorrow was going to be a very interesting day!

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