Angel Feathers

Belfry the Stuffed Bat

Six-year-old Annie was terrified of bats. She cringed whenever she saw pictures of them. Halloween was a dreadful time for her, because everywhere she looked, there were bats: plastic bats, stuffed bats, furry bats; giant bats hanging from the ceiling, tiny bats on rings as party favors, even skeleton bats!

“Why are you so petrified of bats?” Her big brother Andy asked one afternoon in October. “My English teacher assigned me this big book to read, all about bats! Want me to read you some fun facts?”

“Ack! No, never, please!” Annie turned a shade paler, shrinking back as Andy held out the book. “I'll have nightmares.”

“But why?”

“I saw a movie with monster bats that chase people and drain their blood. And Uncle Joe said they'll get caught in my hair!”

“Aw, that's silly,” Andy scoffed. “They're harmless. Have you ever even met a real live bat?”

“No, and I hope I never do!” Annie scooted away to seal herself in her room.

Annie's birthday came along a couple days later. It was a lovely celebration, with cake and friends and gifts… Until she unwrapped a squishy package from Andy. Tears spilled down her face as she stared in horror at the soft black toy in the wrappings.

“A stuffed bat?! Andy, you know I hate bats! What an awful gift!”

“Aw, shucks, Sis, I thought it was cute…”

She ran into her bedroom, threw it into a corner and cried herself to sleep.

When she woke up, it was dark. She'd forgotten to turn on her nightlight. Shadows crept up the walls like eerie winged creatures. Annie wrapped the blankets tighter and tried to fall asleep again. A tiny squeak at her bedside table made her jump. Andy's little stuffed bat was sitting on the table, big eyes glowing a soft green, watching her.

“Eek! How'd you get here?”

“Greetings,” the toy squeaked. “I'm Belfry. Are you Annie?”

“Yes,” she quavered.

“Andy brought me home to teach you all about how nice and helpful real live bats are,” Belfry said, flapping his undersized wings. “Did you know we have a marvelous echolocation navigation system?”

“What's that mean?”

“It means we fly at night, emitting sound waves that bounce off of objects. Our precisely tuned ears pick up these reflected sounds and use them to find our way around and catch bugs to eat.”

“Wow, really?” Annie sat up a little straighter. “Why can't we hear all that noise?”

“The noises we make are higher pitched than what human ears are tuned to hear. We can also fly really fast – in fact, the Mexican Free-tailed Bat has been clocked at nearly a hundred miles an hour – faster than those cheetahs you always thought were the fastest mammals!”

“Goodness, that's fast. Did you say you eat bugs?”

“Yep. Bats eat up to twelve hundred mosquitoes an hour. We can eat our body weight in nasty bugs every night. Imagine how beneficial that is!”

“Yeah, I hate mosquitoes. Mom says they spread disease. You guys don't do that, do you?”

“No, not under most circumstances, but that doesn't mean you can touch or play with us.”

“Ugh, I wouldn't dream of it. If you eat bugs, does that mean you don't drink blood?”

“No, bats don't do that, that's a myth. In fact, the giant Flying Fox bat is a vegetarian. It eats fruit in the South Pacific islands.”

“And if you have such great navigating skills, I bet you don't really get caught in people's hair, either,” Annie mused.

“Of course not. That's another silly myth. We're harmless, friendly creatures. My mom could recognize my voice among thousands of other bat pups in the cave I grew up in.”

“Aww,” Annie smiled. She reached out and smoothed down Belfry’s shiny black fur. “How many bats are there?”

“There can be millions of us roosting in a single cavern. You should see us when we all come pouring out of the entrance at dusk!”

“Eek! I don't think I'm ready for that yet.”

She leaned back against her pillow with a yawn. Belfry hopped from the table up onto her bed. She giggled and pulled him close, feeling the weight of his squishy beanbag body in her hands.

“You're awfully cute, you know? What a nice birthday gift.”

When Annie awakened in the morning, Belfry was a silent, ordinary, palm-sized stuffed bat. His big green eyes twinkled in the sunlight. She brought him downstairs with her.

“Hey Andy, can we read your bats book together? I wanna learn all about them.”

“I knew you would,” he smiled.

Annie didn't have any reason to be afraid of bats anymore. She slept with Belfry guarding her pillow every night, keeping the spooky shadows at bay.

Words: 793.
Written for "Merit Badge Magic" 
For a selection of fun facts about bats from The Nature Conservancy, click https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/arizona/storie...

Join "WDC Dragon Vale "