[Storytime!] Stella Visits the Poppy Flowers and The Whispering River

It’s a sunny day and there are no clouds in the sky. You breathe in the fresh air, the strong fragrance of fresh flowers hits you. You look ahead of you and see a small dot growing larger as it gets closer. It’s not quite clear as the heat rippling in the distance causes you to squint your eyes.

The small dot, now a blob is closer to you now. It’s no blob, it’s Stella!

“Hello, friend! I hope you’re well! I found this map as I was on my way to ‘The Glowing Forest.’ It was just on the ground, lying there with no-one to read it. I’m sure glad I picked it up! I was going to follow it by myself, but, I thought I would ask you to come, too! Would you like to join me on this mini adventure?”

You nod your head and smile. Stella flies closer up to you and sits on your shoulder.

“Great! let’s go, we have to get there before sunset! We can go on your bicycle!” you grab your bicycle and start cycling down the gravelly road.

After cycling for a while, you and Stella come across a large poppy field. The large red petals swaying in the hot breeze.

You notice something sparkly around one of the poppy flowers. Stella bounces off of your shoulder and grabs a rolled up piece of aged paper. She opens it up to reveal a map.

On it, it says, The Poppy Field of Sprites and The Whispering- the rest of the map is torn off.

“I know, it’s a bit tattered, but maybe we’ll find the rest of it. Anyway, I think we should someone here about this map or where it leads to.” Stella squints her eyes to look in the distance. “Oh, look! It says ‘sprites’ on the map, of course, Sprites live here! Let’s go and say hi! Follow me.”

As you follow Stella through the poppy field, you notice the sparkly things, but they’re not sparkly things. They’re small tiny human-shaped things they almost look like faeries would but not quite. You and Stella walk up to a friendly looking sprite. She has a mop of orange curls and big brown eyes.

She cracks a large smile and says, “Hello! Welcome to The Sprites Poppy Field! I’m Poppy, I run the tour guides ’round these parts. Is there anything in particular that I can help you with?”

Stella tells Poppy about finding the map on the way to glowing forest and how she wants to go an adventure with her friend (you!). Poppy nods her head and whispers something in Stella’s ear.

“Well, Stella and her lovely friend, I wish you luck on your travels and I hope you have a safe journey. Here’s the rest of the map. I’ve had it for a while wondering if someone would come here looking for the other half and I think it found the right people to find the lost book news!”

Both you and Stella thank Poppy and say your goodbyes as you get back on your bike, ready for the next part of your adventure.

Stella guides you along the dirt roads as you peddle. just as you think it’s been to long, Stella jumps off of your shoulder and yells, “Stop, we’re here! I know I didn’t tell you, I’m sorry but, I wanted to surprise you! The map led us to ‘The Whispering River,’ apparently, if you ask it a question it can tell you something about about the future! As I didn’t have enough time to travel far enough this week, I think this is the perfect way of finding out!”

You and Stella make your way over to the shore. The sound of rushing water and the sun just about to set is so peaceful Stella flies up to you and grabs your hand with hers so your palm is facing up. “Let’s go together!”

You and Stella make your way into the water until the water is up to your knees. Stella bounces off your hand and hovers over the water you bend down to so you can hear her whisper to the water, “Hello, whispery river, my friend and I have travelled for quite a while just to visit you. So, may I ask you a question, please?”

You notice the water ripple slightly around your legs and underneath Stella.

She says “Thank you,” and whispers, “Do you know of any new books that my friends should know about?” The water ripples again and it looks as if it sparkled.

You bend down and whisper to the water, “What do you see in our near future?” The water ripples again and in your head, you hear, “cake and lots of it!”

You giggle, and hear a flutter of wings by your ear, “The River gave me what I needed and I wrote it down. It sounded like a very wise soul!”

You both giggle and notice that the sun is setting.

“We should get home,” Stella says and she hops on your shoulder and you both head to your bike and cycle home.

Stella sniffs the air and gasps. “Is that cake and can we have some? I’m so hungry after that adventure.” You nod and grab a plate and share a slice of strawberry-glazed cheesecake.