Chapter 6 - Meeting Mother Nature

. .. . .. . .. . .. . . . .. . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . .. . .. . . . .. . . . . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . . . .. . .. . . .. .

"Max, come on!" Six year old Spark giggled as she ran through the grassy plains.

"I'm coming Spark!" Max giggled as he chased after her.

Spark stopped and smirked at him. "Hey Max, I bet you can't catch me!"

Max grinned a big toothy grin. "Oh, really?"

"In fact, I bet I can find such a good hiding place that you won't be able to find me aaaaallll day!" Spark bragged.

"Oh yeah? We'll see about that!" Max laughed.

"All right, you count and I hide!" Spark said, flapping her wings excitedly.

Max put his head against a tree and covered his eyes. "One …. .. two …. .. three … .." Slowly Max started looking away from the tree and back towards Spark.

"No Max, ya can't peek!" Spark protested.

"Oh." Max said as he looked back at the tree.

"Now start again." Spark said.

"One …. .. Two …. .. Three …. …" Spark scampered off as he counted. She puffed two flower crowns she had made earlier into existence, pacing one on her head and one on her tail, keeping close to the ground in a crawl.

Hmmm is this enough camouflage? She rolled in the grass, gathering as much as she could of it on her back. There! Perfect!

" … .. Six …. … Seven …. … Eight …. .."

Uh oh! I gotta hide, and fast! She rolled down the small hill into a small valley, then took cover in a nearby bush.

"... …. Nine …. … Ten! Ready or not here I come!" Max called.

Spark huddled closer into the bush, hugging her legs and tails close, mentally giggling to herself. She waited a second to see if she heard Max's footsteps or anything. Once she was sure the coast was clear she stuck her head out slightly and scanned the area.

Spark followed out of the bush and took shelter behind a tree. Where even is he? She climbed the tree trunk and sat on one of the branches. She could see Max still on the other side of the hill, looking for her.

Spark put her hands to her mouth to stifle her giggling. Oh Max! You'll never find me! She pulled back into the leaves and stayed there, keeping an eye on Max. When she was positive he didn't see her, she slid down the trunk back into the grass. The farther I get away, the better my hiding spot!

She crawled through the grass some more until she reached a large plot of sunflowers. Oh wowzers! I wonder if I could make a giantflower crown out of this? Daddy would love it!

Spark flew through the flowers, admiring their beauty. "Ooooh, these are so pretty!" She sniffed one of them, then she sneezed a small purple flame. "Oops."

"Bless you." Said an older, gentle voice.

"Thanks." Spark sniffled. "Wait … .. is someone here?"

"Yes my child, I am over here." Continued the soft voice.

Spark flew over to the source of the sound and landed. "H … .. Hello?"

"Over here young one."

Spark looked over to see what looked like a middle aged human woman. She had soft brown curls, and a white, flowy dress. Spark sat by her, mimicking the criss cross way her legs were as she sat. "H … .. hello I'm Spark."

"I know." The woman smiled gently. "You're Figment's daughter right?"

Spark's eyes widened slightly in surprise, but she nodded. "Y … .. .. Yeah. Who … .. .. Who are you?"

"Well, my duties deal with humanity." She explained. "I look after the non magical areas, and deal with well , .. … .. the rather mundane I suppose."

Spark blinked. "No, I mean your name."

"Oh." The woman blushed visibly. "I'm Mother Nature, but I also go by Gloria."

"Hello Gloria!" Spark giggled. "It's nice to meet ya!"

Gloria smiled a bit. "It's not the first time we met, but it has been a while."

Spark blinked again. "We've … .. .. met?"

"Goodness yes, your father is a personal friend of mine." She took out her own tablet. "Imagination is a huge part of humanity."

She scrolled down. "We have so many creative people. Look: Bay Kennish , Lizzie Mcguire , Chyna Parks , Miley Stewart. So much creativity, see?"

Spark flapped her wings in excitement. "Cool! But , .. … .. I still don't remember meeting you."

"I didn't think you would dear." Gloria said. "You were an infant when I visited you."

"Oh." Spark let out a dry laugh. "I guess that makes sense. Daddy says babies aren't good at 'membering stuff , or imagination."

Gloria let out a small giggle. "That is true. However I could see that, … .. .. pardon my pun, spark of imagination in you, even as an infant. You truly are Figment's daughter."

Spark blushed a bright red. "Th … .. .. thank you … .. .."

"You're welcome." Gloria said sweetly. "So, what brings you here, young one?"

"I … .. .. I was playing hide and seek with my friend Max." Spark said. "I bet him that he wouldn't be able to find me, because I'm the master at hiding!"

"Oh I see." Gloria said. "But, you didn't wander too far did you?"

"Well I uh … .. .. I … .. .. I .. … I guess I did … .. .. just a little … .. .." Spark said anxiously as she gripped her tail and blushed a deeper beet red.

"Oh dear, you should probably head back." Gloria said. "He might get worried if he can not find you."

"But that's the whole fun of the game!" Spark protested.

Gloria shook her head. "Not if he thinks you're missing, young one. You need to go back before he gets worried."

"No!" Spark huffed. "I wanna win!"

"Spark … … .." Gloria warned, her voice firm yet still silky and smooth.

She sighed. "All right … … I'll go find him … … .."

"Spark! Spark!"

"Cuckoo Loca?" Spark asked. She stumbled over to where she heard her name called from and paused. "What are you doing here?" The little bird landed in front of her, her wings crossed and her foot tapping.

Spark let out a small, nervous chuckle. "Am I in trouble?"

Cuckoo Loca nodded once firmly, not changing her posture. "We've been looking all over for you!"

"I .. .. .. I'm sorry." Spark whimpered, folding her wings and tail down.

"She meant no harm Cuckoo Loca, she was merely playing." Gloria explained. "She ended up here by mistake."

Cuckoo Loca softened her posture. "O … .. .. oh! Mother Nature! Hi!" She looked back at Spark who was shaking slightly. She felt a small prang of guilt in her stomach. She is just a kid, and it's not like she's been hostile … … .. Unless she was planning something behind our backs!

She looked back to Spark and her teary eyes.

"I'm sorry Cuckoo Loca." She sniffled.

Cuckoo Loca sighed as she put her wing gently on Spark's snout. "Come on kid, lets just go home. Figment will have to deal with punishing you."

Spark's stomach churned. "O … .. Okay." She looked back at Gloria as she followed Cuckoo Loca.

"Perhaps we can catch up sometime young one." Gloria said. "When everyone knows you are here."

Spark nodded slightly, afraid to speak, as she and Cuckoo Loca left.

.. … … … . . . . . .. . . . . .. . … .. . … . . .. .. .. . . .. . . . . . . . .. . .. . .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. … .. .. .. ..

"Cuckoo Loca … … .. are we lost?"

"No of course we're not! Why would you ask that?"

"Because we've passed this same rock five times." Spark said, huffing out of breath.

Cuckoo Loca landed on the rock and rolled her eyes. "We're not lost. The rocks around here are just similar, that's all."

Spark frowned and sat down.

"We're not lost, I know exactly where we're going." Cuckoo Loca continued, not noticing that Spark was getting distracted by the rock that she was perched on. When she started giggling Cuckoo Loca looked at her. "What's so funny?" She asked curiously, jumping down to her level to look at the rock too.

Spark pointed to a small patch of moss and laughed even more. Cuckoo Loca tilted her head. "I don't get it … .. .."

"No, no, look!" Spark laughed, pointing again.

The bird shook her head. "I'm sorry, I still don't see it."

"It's a clown on a unicycle juggling flaming cactuses!" Spark laughed, her wings flapping in excitement. "Don't you see it?"

Cuckoo Loca squinted as she leaned in closer. All there was to her was just an odd patch of moss. She sighed a little. "You truly are Figment's daughter aren't you?"

"Yep!" Spark giggled.

There was a rustling in the nearby bushes. Cuckoo Loca panicked and fell off the rock. Spark joined her and crouched behind the rock, curling her tail close to her body.

"What was that?" Spark whispered in fear.

"I dunno kid." Cuckoo Loca said. "Just … .. just stay low I can handle this."

Cuckoo Loca regained her perch on the rock and squinted at the bushes. "Who … .. who's there?"

Out of the bush came a rabbit with ruffled black fur,in tattered blue shorts.