Lily's friend
Idea By Crawfordbrian17 Written By Sean Rudin
Leading a house with eleven children is a challenge. But Rita was very good at it. She was able to master even the wildest of situations. Eleven children mean eleven times the happiness, but also eleven times the work. This Saturday Rita was busy repairing the banister. One of the struts was broken. Rita was annoyed.
"How in the world can you damage a banister like that?" she said annoyed.
Lucy, lying on the couch, was writing her poems. Lily was on the floor playing with blocks. She built what looked like a castle.
"Lucy, do you know who damaged the banister like that?" asked Rita. "Sigh. Lynn fell down the stairs today with a bag." said Lucy.
"What bag?" asked Rita.
Luan walked in with Mr. Coconut in hand.
"It sounded like there was roller derby stuff in the bag." said Luan.
Rita sighed. She installed the new bracing. And varnished these. Even if it was expensive, Rita used the strongest building materials. When she was done, she was a little proud of herself again. She went to Lily.
"Lily darling. Shall we go for a walk?" asked Rita.
"Walk." said Lily happily.
"Well done Lily. Lucy, Luan, I'm taking Lily for a walk in the woods." said Rita.
"OK." said Lucy.
Rita took Lily and put on Purple pants, a white sweater, and white shoes. Then she put Lily in the stroller.
The two went towards the forest. It was slightly foggy in the forest. You could see the sun's rays very well. Lily liked the forest. Especially the birds. Rita pointed to a tree where there was a woodpecker.
"Look Lily. A woodpecker." said Rita. Lily looked at the woodpecker. "Oodpecker." said Lily.
The woodpecker looked around and flew away. Rita pushed the Kinderwaen further. They ran past a bush, from which came a loud chirping. Rita took Lily out of the stroller and walked behind that bush with her. There was a bird in a net trap that was cleverly constructed. Rita put Lily on the floor.
"Look Lily, the poor bird is trapped. Who would do such a mean thing?" said Rita. "I'm doing something like that, please leave the bird alone." said a girl.
The girl was 14 years old, wore black glasses, had long brown hair that fell down her back and was tangled with leaves and twigs. She wore a sky blue mid-length skirt, a red t-shirt and cerise small earrings. She approached Rita.
"Why are you catching these poor birds?" asked Rita, stunned.
"I'm Allison from the Royal Woods Bird Bird Conservation Society." said the girl.
Allison carefully removed the bird from the net and pulled out her cell phone. She held it to the bird's leg and the phone beeped. Allison released the bird.
"It was an American Robin. There is a small ring on his leg that has a chip. This allows us to study the songbirds' behavior when traveling.
"How long have you been here?" asked Rita.
"For five hours." Allison said, pulling the twigs out of her hair.
"Can you help me? I still have four traps." she said.
Rita agrees. They introduced themselves, and went deeper into the forest. Then they reached another net trap.
"Oh no." said Alison.
"What is wrong?" asked Rita.
"There's a hawk in the net."
Now Lily and Rita also saw the hawk. Lily hides behind Allison's skirt. "Lily, you don't have to be afraid. I am now." said Alison.
Allison took out her backpack and then she put on long leather gloves. Then she went to the trap, and it hurt Rita to watch. The hawk fought back with its claws and bit Allison on the arm. Luckily she had the gloves on. She released the hawk and went to Rita and Lily.
"How long have you been doing this?" asked Rita.
"I've been setting net traps for two years. It's only bad if there's a hawk in there." said Alison. "Why?"
"Hawks are birds of prey, and these critters love to show it." Allison said, pulling off her left glove. There was a large scar on her arm.
They walked on and saw a loop trap in which a woodpecker was caught. Allison carefully took it out and scanned the chip with her cell phone. Then she went to Lily.
"Look. It's a woodpecker. It's got some kind of spring system in its head that protects it from concussions when it's hammered."
Lily looked admiringly at the woodpecker. The woodpecker looked at Lily with his small black eyes. Allison got up and released the woodpecker. Then they went back to the path. Then they came to the last trap. A nightingale was in the net. Allison registered the nightingale and released her. Lily liked what Allison was doing. Lily went to Allison and hugged her legs.
"I guess Lily likes what I'm doing here." Allison said sheepishly. "I think the same." said Rita.
They went back to the forest path. Rita put Lily back in the stroller and the three of them walked to the tram stop, Woods Hill. The stop was old, and was made of cobblestones. There was also no waiting shelter. Instead, the trees protected from wind and weather.
"How often are you here?" asked Rita.
"Every weekend." Allison replied.
"Lilly loves the forest, could you take her with you next week?" asked Rita. "I'm a girl you just met."
"And I'm good at judging people."
Lily gestured in the stroller for Allison to hold her. Rita took them out.
"She wants you to hold her." said Rita.
Allison takes Lily. She had never held a baby, but she liked it.
Lily suddenly hugged Allison. Allison was surprised but she smiled.
"Lily trusts you." said Rita.
The tram pulled up. It was a modern, red Stadler Tramlink, with graphite gray window frames. On the side stands, in white letters, RWR, Royal Woods Railway. The three got in. They sat down. The seven-car articulated railcar started moving and they left the forest.
"Is that your only daughter?" Allison asked. "No, I have eleven children."
"Eleven children? And they have enough time to take care of their youngest? That's impressive." Allison said, intrigued.
"Well, most can take care of themselves." said Rita.
An announcement came from the loudspeakers of the tram.
"Next stop, Meadowriver."
"My station. Nice to meet you. Bye Lily." said Alison.
Allison gives Lily to Rita. When the tram stopped, she got out. Lily looked bored. "Hey Lily. Cheer up because it's Daddy's Pizza today." said Rita.
"Izza." said Lily.
"No Lily, pizza. P...pizza." said Rita and smiled at Lily.
The tram pulled into Royal Woods Central Station. Rita put Lily back in the stroller and got out. Rita went through the underpass and left the station. Now she went with Lily towards the house of the Louds.
end of first chapter