The Legend of Baba the Brave

Prompt~What does a hot sidewalk feel like?
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The Legend of Baba the Brave

“Beyond our village of homey brown and green lies a wizened stretch of ordered defiles. This vast desert of man-made composite is known only as the Marble Expanse. It is the place of legend, a widow maker, a blight in our otherwise natural and blissful world. As younglings our parents spun tales of its evil, parables of how its tortures represented the darkness beyond the safely of burrow and web.

“To us it was a place of fiction; a location as terrifying as the legends portray could not possibly exist. In our rebellious youth, before we became parents and longed to protect our own, we struck out on a summer adventure. One I would never forget…

“The journey began in the cold shadow of night as it fled before the dawn. There were four of us that day; Anji, Baba, Colby, and myself. We stood on the edge of the hardened soil. Anji hopped up and down on the smoothness of the desert’s border.

“This isn’t so bad, my feet hardly notice the different between whatever this is and the dirt.” She gazed out at the gray horizon.

“It sure does stretch forever.” Baba squeaked. “Maybe I should take a flight and see how far it goes.” She unfurled her azure wings and jumped into the growing light. She hovered above us for a minute until she began to quake with fear. A sudden rush of air forced its way past us, in a blur of brown and white. The giant hairy beasts’ rumbling call deafened us temporarily.

We huddled together until our hearing returned. After a brief meeting, we agreed that the occurrence must be a fluke and took our first valiant steps into the rough stone-like platform before us. We traveled in a straight line for a long time; our twenty-six legs marched along the parallel defiles, each of us making our own way down our own thin crevice. The grainy, abrasive surface curved up around us, scraping at the facade of our Tarsi.

As the journey progressed, the sky became lighter and with it, the bright yellow orb appeared. Rays of light heated the Expanse; mists of air rose up to meet the rays, intensifying the effect. Our feet began to crisp up from the blistering granular bits of quarts below as they left their brand on us. The sudden gusts of wind which had accompanied the beast along the border, returned again.

The ground underneath us began to shake. A whooshing boom repeated across the Desert, tiny pebbles rattled and jumped against our carapaces. Baba took flight again to regain her balance. Her wings hummed above the din.

“Baba!” Colby yelled. “Come back! I need your help!” She continued to dance back and forth on her eight legs, barely keeping her abdomen off the red-hot ground.
“Keep running… that way!” Baba pointed with one of her front legs. “We’re almost across!”

“With Baba gliding above, the rest of us scrambled as fast as we could, trying to reach the safety of the grass forest on the nearest side. When I arrived at the blessed edge of the Marble Expanse, I turned around to help my friends jump to freedom.

“I was too late.

“A group of Giant’s different from the last had passed along the path, one of them dropping a gigantic pink blob. The sticky gloop landed on the sweltering surface in a wet lump, trapping Anji, pinning her between its steaming heap and the jagged tarmac.

“Anji opened her mandible and let out a high-pitched squeal of pain and despair. Colby pulled at her with four of her legs, but to no avail. I was frozen with fear. My eyes wide, I couldn’t move or even cry out to them. I could see another group of giants approaching, oblivious to the life and death struggle below their feet.
“I gathered my courage and willed my body into action. At first my six limbs refused to work in unison, I had to let out a cry of my own. This time it a yelp of determination, a war cry if you will. I would hear Baba’s voice reverberating off my antennae, but I couldn’t make out her message. My mind and body was set on one course, helping Anji.

“The wind of the passing giants began again and I fought hard to keep my body down low and on course. I could see one large sandaled foot as it loomed demonically above her. In an instant, I could feel Baba as she struggled to pick me up and lifted me high in the air. We sputtered past the giant’s tousled heads, back in the direction we had come from. I argued with her, but she refused to listen. I closed my eyes and cried for my lost friends. When I opened them, we were flying toward the green safety of home. When Baba dropped me in the soft cool dirt where I had begun my journey, I discovered I was not alone. Everyone who had loved us was there, surrounding me in a circle of hugs.

I will never forget that day…”

“But, Grampa… Whatever happened to the giants? Did anyone make them pay for what they did?” My young grandson asked me.

I gentle rubbed my tarsi at the top of his head.

“My dear boy, the giants hold no guilt for my losing Anji and Colby. They are far too large to notice such tiny insects like us. They were merely traveling along their own path. We juveniles knew the stories. We thought we were greater than the threat we faced, that we could overcome whatever occurred. We were wrong.”

“Did Colby and Anji every come back home?” His eyes took on a look of fear.
“No, we never say them again.” I replied.

“Why did you tell me that story, Grampa?” He asked, his eyes rolling and his antennae drooping.

I led him back toward our family tree. “No reason.” I stated simply. As we walked past where his mother lounged in the nighttime breeze, she winked at me knowingly.

“I just want to make sure you understand that some of life’s hazards can’t be avoided and the best we can do is to face them bravely and think them through with tenacity. Others, however can be avoided if we take precautions. “

“Aww grampa…” He sighed. “Everyone knows caution is for old buggies.”

“Caution is how one gets so old.” I replied, smiling.

“Don’t you mean luck?” He quipped.

“…luck and the loyalty for a good friend.” I winked to his mother and the old Dragonfly lounging next to her.

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