Orianga in the Thickwoods

Dawn was breaking through the Thickwoods as Orianga was born. Protected by her mothers’ wings she received her name. She lived with a troop of Flyerlings, her people. They made wings, from a thick fabric, so they could glide from tree to tree. The trees were called Oriana trees. These particular trees could walk and talk and bore blingers. The blingers were fruit.

* * * * * * * *

One beautiful autumn day, when Orianga was practicing flying, she heard about a flying contest. She ran to her mother and said, “Mother! I want to participate in the flying contest!“

“Well, I don’t know Orianga. You can’t really fly.“

“Yes I can! Look! I can flyyyyyy!!!“ Orianga flew three meters, then fell into the mud. “You will have to practice more,“ said her mother.“I will! I will!“

Late one afternoon, when Orianga was practicing flying, a huge gust of wind picked her up and carried her far away from her home. She landed in an Oriana tree. All of a sudden, she saw a pair of red eyes watching her. She recognized them immediately. They were the eyes of the Bolter, the cruelest, most unpleasant, malicious, despicable, and colossal bird in the Thickwoods. He had captured Aria in the summer and they had never seen her again.

Aria was Orianga’s best friend. Orianga jumped down from the tree, ran as fast as she could, and hit another tree. She begged the tree, “How can I escape?“

The tree responded, “I know how, but it will be hard.“

“What can I do?!“

“Quickly, I will tell you,“ the tree responded. “Well, you will have to get caught by the Bolter. He will bring you to his nest on a cliff, but I will say yoo-hoo, Bolter, come over here! I’ve got some blingers for you! All his sentries will come while the Bolter stands guard over you. I will give you a blinger now. Throw it as far as you can, so the Bolter will disappear into the forest. When he does this, crawl out of the nest. You will find a narrow block of stone. Jump on it, and it will slide down the cliff to the ground below. The tree who lives there will help you. Tell her Thawbod sent you. She will bring you back to me, and you will be able to return home.“

“Thanks!“ said Orianga.

The Bolter came back soon after. He picked up the struggling Orianga and managed to get her to his nest. Then, Orianga heard Thawbod call, “Yoo hoo! Bolter, come over here! I’ve got some blingers for you!“ The Bolter sent all his sentries to get the blingers for him. All of a sudden, Orianga noticed Aria in the nest. She quickly threw her blinger as far as she could, and the greedy Bolter flew off after it. She then cried, “Aria! I thought I would never see you again!“

“Oh Orianga! I’m so glad to see you too!“ said Aria.

“Quick!“ said Orianga. “There is a stone here. If we jump on it, we will slide down.“ They slid down into the branches of the friendly tree.

“Thawbod says that you have to help us,“ exclaimed Orianga. The tree walked with huge steps back to Thawbod.

“Thank you, Glofer. These little girls needed help,“ said Thawbod. “Any time,“ said Glofer. The girls thanked the two trees warmly and set off for home.

Aria, being a few seasons older than Orianga, knew the path quite well. However, within a few hours, the sky darkened and evening crept in. Aria said, “It’s getting dark. Let’s camp here.“

“Oh no, Aria! It’s too dangerous!“ said Orianga.

“I know this place quite well, Ori,“ said Aria.

So, they found shelter under a rocky cliff. Aria and Orianga were hungry, but had nothing to eat. Even so, they slept because they were so tired.

The next day, Orianga woke up first. She found herself surrounded by some strange people. She quickly woke up Aria. They both saw these people. The two girls were so frightened that they were shivering. Finally, one of these people asked, “What tribe are you from?“ “The

Flyerlings,“they responded.

“We are the Manaa tribe. We know you will not harm us. Come, follow me. I will show you where we live.

“The two girls entered the Manaa village. Aria and Orianga noticed it was quite small. They were served some rutufruit and laviabread, made from rutu seeds and the sap of the gumjar tree. Orianga ate it all quickly because she was very hungry. Then she settled down in a comfortable leaf and vine chair that they had given her.

Later on, the chief of the Manaa tribe, Rigalith, approached them.

“So, what brings you Flyerlings here?“

“We got captured by the Bolter and managed to escape. We walked to a cave and fell asleep,“ said Aria. “Then you found us and brought us here.“ “Interesting,“ the chief replied. “I know that merciless and vicious bird. He captured one of our tribe members yesterday. Some of us went to search for him. That is when we met you.“

“We owe you a favor. You have saved us,“ said Orianga.

“Well, I suppose you could help us in our search. Rogun, the man captured from our village, was carrying the Sacred Staff. We must find him! Our village can not survive without the Sacred Staff. Maybe you know where he might be.“

“We did not see anybody apart from some friendly Oriana trees near the nest.

They were called Thawbod and Glofer. These trees helped us escape.“

“Well then, we will continue our search if you would be willing to come.“

“Oh, we have to have lunch of course,“ said Orianga as Aria kicked her in the shin under the chair, but Orianga was hungry.

“Ok, so we’ll see you later,“ said Rigalith.

While the two girls ate lunch, they decided on what to do. “Oh, we must find Thawbod and Glofer. They’ll tell us if they saw anyone with a staff,“ said Aria.

“Good idea,“ said Orianga.

In the early afternoon, the two girls and a second score of searchers set out to find Thawbod and Glofer. They walked along slowly, and suddenly Orianga said, “Look, there is Thawbod!“ Surely enough, it was Thawbod. Orianga ran and caught up to him. “Thawbod! Have you seen anyone with a staff?“

“No, my dear. No-one has been sighted.“

“Oh no! We wanted to find them so badly!“

“Well, I suppose I could help you search,“ He said.

“Oh yes! Please help!“ said Orianga.

“Ok. So, who are you looking for?“

“A very important man with a staff,“ said Aria.

“The Bolter tried to capture him,“ put in Orianga. “Well then, come up into my branches and I’ll take you back to his nest.“

“Oh thank you!“ said the girls.

They reached the nest quickly and scared away a few of the Bolter’s sentries. They noticed that one of them wouldn’t leave. Even tempting him with blingers did not work. Finally, they decided on a plan.

While Aria and Thawbod distracted him from the front, Glofer and Orianga would creep up behind the bolter and find Rogun.

They put the plan into action.

When Orianga and Glofer reached the back of the nest, they saw that no one was there! The man called Rogun was, in fact, crouched under a boulder that was about to collapse.

As it did, Glofer stopped it with a sweep of her massive branches. Rogun slid out from under the boulder and onto the ground.

When they ran into the woods, Orianga, Aria and Rogun thanked the trees warmly and then went back to the Manaa village. There they were met by all the Manaas in celebration. They were received like a king would be. Congratulations were showered upon them until they thought that they could receive no more. Now they understood how important the Staff was to this town.

Finally they announced that they had to leave. They were given enough provisions to last a week, even though he journey was short. Soon, they set off, escorted by a score of guards. They journeyed for half a day, and then Orianga called out, “Look, there is our town!“ And it was.

That night, the Flyerlings celebrated the return of Orianga and Aria. There was a large campfire and a huge feast. They danced to the drums of celebration. The festivities lasted all night long.

* * * * * * * *

The next day was the flying contest. Lots and lots of people had entered because lots of people knew how to fly and wanted to win the prize, a big basket of blingers. Orianga was scared she would lose because other people had practiced and she hadn’t. Aria was not in the contest because her mother had not let her. While Orianga was flying, she reminded herself how fast she had to fly when she was in the woods. That made her fly even faster than the others and she ……. won!!!

The End