Merisel Does A Rescue

 Merisel was very fond of Far, it turns out. The gentle flying heck liked company and they also enjoyed eating a lot of the same foods. For a baby bokkudo that was enough to make them fast friends. Sometimes Thisbe left the two of them together for a few minutes so she could go and forage somewhere Merisel couldn’t follow (generally high in a tree).

One warm sunny day, she’d done just that, and the pair of them were enjoying the weather, mostly by rolling about on the grass, which felt soft and had taken on a very pleasant temperature in the sunlight, and by Merisel scratching Far behind the ears, something the little heck seemed to be very fond of.

Thus distracted, it was a startling surprise when they heard a loud noise from a nearby stand of trees. Far knew what it was right away- another flying heck! Far wouldn’t leave their new family, but certainly had missed their own kind. But this one sounded like it was in some kind of distress.

Merisel had begun to run toward the noise before she really realized that she’d decided to check it out. Soon she was able to see that there was an animal like Far (only blue), tangled in some vines growing on a tall tree. Diving recklessly had sent the heck off course, and they had a collision with the trunk. The vines had cushioned the blow somewhat and kept them from falling to the ground, but now, wings and vines were a hopeless tangle and try as they might, no amount of flapping was pulling them free.

Oh no! Merisel was worried. That creature is in trouble! She remembered when she had been in trouble and lost, and that then, her family had come and found her and made everything okay again. Maybe she could do that.

The heck had ceased struggling for the moment, winded from the exertion. They’d loosened the vines enough for them to sag, but not enough to escape. There the little creature dangled, close to the base of the trunk, gasping and deflated and for the moment, entirely out of fight. Merisel approached, making some little peeping sounds like she used when she was interacting with Far. The heck opened one eye and looked at her, then closed it again. There was no energy left to deal with worrying whether this small animal was friend or foe. Let them do as they would.

Thisbe could see that what needed to happen for the heck to be free was for the vines to come off. She grabbed the nearest one and tugged with all her might. Unfortunately, being so small and so young, she didn’t really have a lot of might. In fact the vine wasn’t budging at all. But she wouldn’t give up! She kept on tugging, cheeping as she did. If Thisbe was anywhere near, she’d hear.

Between the distress of a fellow heck and Merisel’s upset noises, Far really didn’t know what to do. Alternately taking to the air and spinning about looking for Thisbe or Oophaga and landing to flap about in an anxious fidget was not getting any results. Finally, in desperation, the overwhelmed animal threw back their little pink head and screamed for all they were worth. It was much, much louder than the noises Merisel was making. And it worked.

Thisbe came bounding up in probably less than thirty seconds, worried sick. What was wrong? Was something attacking them? Had something eaten Merisel?! She took in the scene at a glance. She gave Far a quick pat for a job well done in alerting her and joined her little adopted child at the base of the tree.

Merisel had managed to pull away the loosest vine from the edge of the heck’s wing, but that was all she could budge. Thisbe, however, was larger, stronger, more dexterous, and had small sharp teeth for any particularly stubborn vines. It was the work of about a minute to have the little blue heck free of the tree.

Merisel gave a series of joyful peeps and hugged the little animal, which sagged into her gratefully. Far joined in, nuzzling at the new heck as if to offer comfort. They seemed very pleased with the attention, and while Thisbe trotted off to collect the food she’d been gathering (which she’d dropped when she heard Far’s horrible screams), Far and Merisel stayed with them. In short order the animal had recovered and was able to get up and move about again. The trio rejoined Thisbe and Oophaga, who by this time had returned from a splash in the pond. Thisbe had explained what happened.

“Well, I suppose everybody needs a pet, right?” Oophaga said. He was very proud of Merisel for helping.

“They kind of match with Far,” agreed Thisbe. “I think we will call this one Near.”