Neverendinglike Story

by

Bolt Greywing

Stormy Night

It was a dark and stormy night as lightning flashed across the treetops of the Waldemar Forest. A very foolish and unwise bat decided that tonight would be the perfect night to go out flying. As he flew rain began to beat against his wings while he was out searching for food. The rain started to get much worse but the dopey bat was able to down at least two or three moths before his wings became effectively waterlogged. He decided to continue his search but thirty minutes later the wind blew so hard that his wings were pinned to his body.

The bat valiantly fought against the pouring rain and harsh wind but it was no use. The bat was forced to make a crash landing into the trees below. He rolled and flipped a couple of times before coming to an end on a waiting tree branch. The dazed bat didn't have any time to recover when a large branch came crashing down right on top of him.

Sometime later after the storm had died down a small and lowly carpenter set to work on one of the forest trees. With his back full of gear he proceeded to climb the tree inching his way up the thick tree bark. Once he climbed up to one of the large branches he pulled out his sturdy ax and began to hack at it. It was quite sturdy and would make for good lumber material. However wood cutting is a very dangerous business and one can never be too careful. He had many memories of some of his own friends who fell to their death from a tree branch such as this which is why he strapped himself to the tree just in case.

After getting the bark a bit started with the ax he then proceeded to saw the branch but as he did so he took the time to gaze out at the moonlit night. He always liked this time of night everything felt so magical even the lunar moth glow was a site to behold, lighting up the area wherever it went. He continued to saw until the branch gave way and yelled out timber just so he wouldn't hurt anyone if the branch came an animals way so it had to move. This piece of wood would make for many fine toys to sell the carpenter chuckled feeling rather proud to make toys for the children as long as it didn't hurt his pockets too much. The money he would make off of this little venture would provide his wife with a pretty good income. He chuckled to himself.

Yet it was far too much for him to carry in its current form and would need to be whittled down a bit. He then decided to shimmy on down to the forest floor where the wood was.

The noise of the fallen branch was enough to stir the bat. The bat looked around curiously wondering where the sound was coming from till it was replaced by an even different sound. It cocked its head to the side for it was quite unsure where all these loud noises were coming from. It decided to try heading on downwards to investigate. As it tried to move its massive wings it felt a sharp pain sink in. It was not even able to move at all. The bat looked down and noticed that its wing was caught under a large branch. Not only that but the branch also obscured him from view. No one would be able to find him. Any other bat would have found it easy to wiggle out from this predicament but not this one. Instead the silly bat began to squeak so loudly that he could he could be heard from miles away.

The woodcutter turned his head as he tried to make sense of the noise he was hearing. As soon as he did it suddenly stopped for quite a while so he assumed whatever was there had flown off. He then back to his work on the log sheering away a bit of the wood here and there trying to make some toys out of it. Then it started all over again with the squeaking again this time it was even louder than before. With a grumble and a huff the woodcutter packed up all his tools for he knew that only one bat in that entire colony could ever conjure up such a din.

"Blast that stupid bat! He is likely to get himself killed that little scamp! Oi with that racket he has probably woken up every last snake in this vast forest!" The woodcutter spoke knowing that he'd have to save him yet again. He then went off very quickly to search for the noise.

Several snakes stirred from their pleasant slumber from the sound of a creature calling out for help. This was too good of a chance to miss out on a free meal like that. The snakes thought to themselves. The sound of the noise was like a dinner going off quite loudly. Stupid bats were quite a rarity to find as most tended to be more quiet making the process of capturing them harder. A single bat or two could last a snake two weeks to a month at best. Now it would be a race to see who gets to snag this most important meal.

The woodcutter after much searching finally located the tree where the sound was coming from and began to climb it. He would have some harsh words for that bat later after he was safe. He took his time going through the many limbs till he finally reached the bat's branch. At first he didn't see the bat but the noise coming from the fallen branch on his left gave him a good idea where the bat was. It would have been almost comical of a site to see if it wasn't as serious as the woodcutter thought. He needed to get this bat out of here quickly as he frantically searched for the appropriate tools in his bag.

The bat couldn't see the woodcutter but heard the sound of him moving about with his large ears. He was quite curious about this small creature compared to others of his colony. The bat's own curiosity and his strangeness made other bats question whether he fell on his head at birth since he had almost no sense for danger. He could feel the branches thorns sticking directly into his wings some of which were drawing blood. The bat felt the intense pain from this branch and began to wiggle about trying to get into a more comfortable position but the branch on top of him was not helping things. As he turned his head he saw small parts of the branch fall off but it was not going as quickly as he wanted it to happen.

"Quit your wiggling you stupid bat! I can't get this branch off you if your moving around so much. Now sit still!" The woodcutter shouted as if trying to calm an over zealous child.

The bat's ears drooped at the loud scolding he received from the woodcutter as it reminded him of the many times he was shouted at by members of his own colony. Whenever he tried to do something nice for them, it often got messed up though most of the time it was not his fault. He got blamed for pretty much everything and was forced to spend most nights indoors while the other were out. This was the first time he snuck out in a long time without the others notice as he was a bit tired of being cooped up in the tree with little to do. He wanted to go out exploring but the others had said no to him since he was still grounded from before.

The woodcutter trimmed and cut the branch part after part. Nearly 25% of the work was already done. He moved over to the opposite side to to trim that part as well. The bat continued to wriggle, but a lot less than before.

"Do not give me that pouty bat face it is not going to work on me you stupid bat, so quit your belly aching." The woodcutter said.

The bat broke down into tears at the harsh words. He let out a long wail for it seemed like no one really liked having him around.

"Oh for peat sakes stop that infernal din can't you see I am trying to work here." The woodcutter sighed.

The bat quieted down for a bit, but looked like he was waiting for something.

"Okay what do you want now?" The woodcutter asked.

The bat attempted to point with his good wing to himself and then to the woodcutter. The meaning was a bit vague for the woodcutter to understand, but he gave it his best shot.

"I am guessing your trying to indicate friend." The woodcutter spoke while he tore off more of the branch.

The bat nodded his head to indicate he understood.

"If I became your friend will you please be quiet for a bit?" The woodcutter asked.

The bat nodded once more.

"Fine I will be your friend." The woodcutter replied.

The bat gave the small woodcutter a big lick as a way to show his appreciation.

"Now cut that out. Yuck. If there is one thing I can't stand its bat drool." The woodcutter grumbled as he tried to get the gunk off of him.

At long last the bat was finally free of the branch that he was under for the last 30 minutes. However when the branch was finally removed it left large gaping holes in the wing structure. The bat walked around here and there while he tested out his wings to see if they were okay. After a while he finally settled himself down on one spot and began to clean himself unaware of the hidden danger that lurked within the tree branches. A large snake hidden away secretly was watching the two with its glowing orange eyes.

"Bat now is not the time to be giving yourself a bath. We can't stay here." The woodcutter warned.

The bat ignored the woodcutter's warning and continued to get himself clean. The serpent began to slither closer towards the bat.

The woodcutter turned around and saw something out of the corner of his eye and whistled. "Bat there is a snake behind you. We need to fly now!"

The bat cocked its head and turned its whole body around. The bat glanced at the snake just briefly before returning back to his cleaning. The snake was now well within striking distance. It unhinged its jaw to snap up its unsuspecting prey.

"Oh you stupid bat!" The woodcutter shouted realizing the bat was not going to listen to reason. The woodcutter pulled out his knife from his bag and plunged it with all his might directly into the bat's sensitive tail.

(Author's notes: This story will have many more chapters and adventures ahead. So expect more to come soon. This part felt like a good place to end the chapter. So guys I hope you enjoy reading about this wonderful story.)