Pleoni stopped in a tree later that night with sheltering branches, the lightning of a midnight thunderstorm crashing loudly above him. He huddled under a thick branch, clutching it tightly as fierce winds and rain pulled at his wings. He found himself wishing for a sweater, though flying with one in summer would be absurd. He briefly contemplated tying his ukelele beside him to stop the weight for dragging at him during the storm, but discarded the idea the moment he realized it would just hit the branches or trunk due to the wind.
He waited quietly, before realizing the storm stood no chance of subsiding during the night. Looking around, he eventually gave up on locating a food source by sight, and resorted to echolocation only to realize that the rain was interfering with even that. Stomach growling, he hunkered down close to the trunk to weather out the storm.
The rain didn't stop for the entire day. Just before dawn, it slowed to a drizzle, and he left to find food. Returning to the tree, he figured he would spend the day there, since it was dry.
Pleoni wasn't prepared to continue in the middle of the day. He slept fitfully, worried about his fairly exposed position.
That night, he flew off, using echolocation to follow the lutes back towards the coast.
With the coast almost within sight, he spotted an unusual symbol woven into the trees. It was one he knew well--a mangrove. It led north and to the west, away from his present heading. The symbol was tattered, but it was unmistakeable.
He followed it with trepidation. After a few trees, the symbols tattered out. He flew in ever-larger circles hoping to find another echologram, but there were none. Presumably, unlike the lute, the spiders had been asked to not maintain that echologram any longer.
Returning to the lutes and then the coast, Pleoni decided that it would be wise to follow the coast farther north, where he'd originally come from. The subtropical rain forest was not a typical habitat for his species, and the desire for the true tropical rainforest was overpowering. He had only left the tropical rainforest in search of the luthier, and would not have even gone if it wasn't a case of desperation.
YOU ARE READING
The Queensland Mangrove
FantasyA lone bat returns to the grove of trees where he was raised. What he finds may alter his path forever. This is a short story to be featured in my upcoming book. All rights are reserved.
