So on a nice sunny day Wispy and Puddy set off. Not knowing where they were going made it even more exciting just to go. They circled around for a bit, hoping to confuse their families, then Wispy blew Puddy south looking for anything interesting that there was to see.
There were large lakes, mountains and orchards, but nothing that they hadn’t seen before. Then Puddy called Wispy to slow down.
“Look at that down there. There’s a huge long gash in the earth and lots of people riding donkeys down the side of it to the bottom. And there’s a big river there too What ever could that be I wonder,” Puddy said.
“One day when Crash came home he talked about a place just like that. He said it was called the Grand Canyon. He said people from all over came to see the place. I think that must be it from what he described,” Wispy told Puddy. “Let’s get a little closer.”
Wispy quickly blew Puddy down for a closer look noticing that there were people in rafts going down the river. The seemed to be working very hard with paddles. Some of the people were on what looked like a glass sidewalk out over the edge of the cliff.
“Most of those people look scared,” Puddy remarked.
“Some of my family are starting to blow down here so I think we had better leave. Looks like your family is coming over too,” Wispy said, and taking Puddy up high, they continued on their journey.
“Now what in the world is that they are doing down there. It looks like some men in fancy clothes are playing with a cow in a big ring and people are watching,” Wispy said.
“Yes and the people are yelling. Oh my goodness, I think those men are hurting the animal. I don’t want to see that. I hear some very nice music so lets find where it is coming from,” Puddy told him.
They soon found the place for the music and Wispy started to flip Puddy around in time to it. “Oh I like this music and look at the dancers, they have such nice costumes on. And look there’s a parade coming down the street. Don’t stop keeping time,” Puddy told her friend.
Sure enough there were bands playing music and people marching. Some men were very carefully carrying statues of a lady on their shoulders. Everyone seemed so happy so Puddy suggested that they stay here for a while.
“I remember when we were going to school with our Dads they gave us some words people use to name places and those words I see on a sign down there spell “Mexico.” That’s one of those places we were told about. Your Dad told us that because it is so nice and warm here people from colder places come here in the winter and stay for weeks,” Wispy said.
“I’m sure you’re right. It is warm here and I’m sure you would like a rest Wispy. You have been blowing for a long time. Please, let’s stay awhile, okay?
Just then Wispy noticed a man giving some money to his children for treats bu the one child dropped hers and a fellow, passing by, quickly grabbed the money from off the ground and ran away with it. The father cried out and started chasing but soon tired out and gave up.
“Stay where you are Puddy, Ill be right back,” and Wispy was soon in pursuit of the thief. Down the street the fellow ran then he ducked into an ally and jumped a fence at the end of it. It didn’t take Wispy long to get in front of the thief who soon had his eyes filled with sand and leaves. In order to rub the dirt away he laid the money on the ground where Wispy picked it up and soon had It back at the fathers feet.
The poor man could hardly believe that a little gust of wind delivered his money back and looking upa t the sky above he whispered, “Thank you.”
“That was a great piece of work my friend,” Puddy praised him.
Wispy was glad to stop blowing Puddy around for a while so when he was some of Puddy’s family higher up he took him there. Puddy’s family were happy to see that the younger two were safe and had been enjoying their travels. It was a good place to rest before going on further south.
After a good rest for a week Puddy and Wispy decided they still had lots to see ahead of them so they left one day joining in a light rain shower as they went. They both thought that it would be nice to see some of the famous beaches that people visited. They were surprised by the size of the buildings and all the people.
“Look, there’s a girl out over the water being carried along by a kite,” Puddy told Wispy.
“Well not much doing here, just people laying on the beach. Some out in boats fishing and, oh my goodness Wispy, that girl is falling, there is no wind to carry her. Where is your brother,” Puddy yelled.
“I don’t know. Stay here, I must go and help.” And Wispy was off like a streak to where the girl was falling. He could see people pointing and heard the girl screaming. When he reached the kite he found it hard to get into the folds but he managed to find an open spot and got inside.
“Oh Wispy, Hurry, she is falling fast,” Puddy yelled. Just then he saw the kite was filling up with air and it soon stopped falling and was sailing over the water again. It wasn’t long before the men in charge took the girl down and into her parents arms.
“I don’t know what happened but I felt a sudden rush of wind go by me and the first thing I knew the kite was sailing again,”the father said as he hugged his daughter. “The wind just came out of nowhere.”
When Wispy got back to Puddy he was just a little breeze. “I think I’ll rest a bit,” he said.
A few hours later the two buddies took off again, this time determined not to stop until they reached another country.
However it was not to be. Wispy was skimming over the tree tops of a very green forest when Puddy saw something very unusual on the tall trees.
“Whispy have you noticed that the trees are covered in orange, as a matter of fact so is the ground. How very strange.”
“I’ve never seen a forest like that before. Those kind of trees have brown cones, not orange flowers,” Wispy replied.
“Wispy take me down,” Puddy told his friend. “There is something telling me we know what that orange is.”
Sure enough the did know what was making the orange colour.
“Monarch butterflies that spend their winters here where it’s warm,” Wispy said in a hushed voice. “There’s thousands of them.”
“Hey up there,” a tiny voice called up to them.
(Continued from page 8)
“Who are you, where are you?” Puddy asked.
“It’s me, Millie the Monarch. Just wait, I’ll fly up a bit but I can’t fly as high as you two are. Please come down closer,” said Millie. “I used to be Cathy the Caterpillar and remember I changed into a butterfly.”
When they got closer they recognized Millie right away.
“Millie, for goodness sake. I have always wondered where you went when winter came,” said Puddy.
“Millie however did you come all those thousands of miles,” Wispy asked. “What did you eat, where did you sleep?”
“Sure wasn’t easy for any of us what with ants, birds and especially storms. We ate milkweed and the nectar from flowers we stored up. Anyway we’re here. There’s lots to eat and it’s warm. What are you two doing down here anyway?” asked Millie.
“Well we had nothing to do and our families didn’t think that was good for us so they decided that…”
“We should see some of the world,” Puddy interrupted Wispy.
“Well it’s been nice seeing both of you. I had better get back to the others so enjoy your trip,” Millie said and she flew down to a big tree that was covered with monarch butterflies.
And so Wispy blew Puddy high into the sky and they went on their way not knowing what other adventures were ahead for them.
Jimmie Kobayashi writes childrens stories from her home in Lake Country.