The Enchanted Forest of Mangga

1. It's a bug, it's a rat, it's a...huh?

Young five-year old Sez crouched down to the floor, stealthily like a tiger. His eyes wide and never blinking as he watched side to side and breathed down on a parade of black ants marching into a crevice of the wooden door into Lolo's shed. No one was inside the shed but no one didn't say that the shed was off limits.

"One, two. One, two. One, two," Sez chanted as he stood up on his legs and marched, careful not to stomp on his tiny six-legged comrades.

"Onward!" he shouted in place. His stubby hand rose to the air and pointed straight inside the shed the same direction as the ants. He straightened his posture and puffed out his chest. "March!" He flung the door open and the moment he did, the scent of fresh mangoes filled his nostrils.

Slinged around his hips was a small bucket hooked around an elastic belt. There were a couple of smooth rocks and an empty, snail shell that he found earlier in the dewy morning. A toy shovel and a magnifying glass was also stuck in between his belt. On his other hand, he held a plastic butterfly net. He hasn't caught any butterflies yet, but maybe he could catch a different bug like a beetle or a spider. He was going to collect them and show his discovery to his Ate and Kuya and even Lolo. Lolo always looked so pleased to see his bug collection. But Mama and Papa were always so busy working in the mango field that they didn't have time to stop and look at what he had found.

Sez maneuvered around the crates of mangoes as he followed the ant parade crawling up to a nearby table where mangoes laid.

"Hmmmm," Sez tried to decipher what the ants were up to. He pulled out his magnifying glass and observed them. "What are you guys up to?"

As he absentmindedly followed the ants, he tripped on a crate in front of him and his knees fell to the cement with a thud. He winced in pain as his hands rubbed over his skin luckily there was no blood. If there was, mama would for sure scold him again for not being careful. He blew on his knees as if it would make the pain go away. As he dusted himself, he heard a squeak.

"A rat?" he said. Uh-oh. Having a rat inside Lolo's mango shed would be bad news for his business. He needs to find it and chase the creature from the site. And so, Sez stretched his neck forward listening very closely for another squeak. He tiptoed.

"One, two. One, two," he whispered slowly.

He was going to find this rat and he was going to be a hero!

Something moved to his left at the corner of his eye.

"I found you!" he shouted as he dashed after the creature. The creature was so fast that he could only see a shadow. Sez gripped tightly onto his butterfly net with two shaky hands. A superhero shouldn't be a scaredy-cat. Showing determination, he lunged over with his butterfly net above his head.

"Aaaaahhh!" Hoping he would scare the rodent away and never set foot in Lolo's mango shed ever again.

He pushed away empty crates as he hurriedly hunted beneath tables.

Squeak!

His head whipped to the direction where the noise came from. Sez crouched onto his four limbs to the floor, and crept ever so silently. He had a good feeling the rodent was hiding behind a tire of a wheelbarrow. He steadied his butterfly net. If the rat ran into one side, it would be caught in his net. If to the left, Sez thought he could block it with an empty crate beside it. But what he did not expect was that the rat would jump over the wheelbarrow.

Not jump.

Fly.

With quick reflexes, he dropped his butterfly net and clapped his hands together, trapping what he thought was a rat was actually not a rat at all. It was too small for a rat to fit in his stubby hands. And rats certainly did not scream.

Almost sounding like a girl.

He slowly opened his hands, revealing a tiny human girl dressed in yellow shaped like a flower. On her back were a pair of wings. One side looked slightly drooping. Her dark hair was a mess and when her purple eyes looked up. She screamed in terror.

And Sez screamed too. 

746 words

February 7, 2021