The Pod and The Bog: Zoey and Sassafras

by Asia Citro

ONLY TWO

  I grinned as I tickled the baby merhorse under the chin. I thought nothing could be cuter than merhorses … but baby merhorses? Yep, pretty much the most adorable thing ever.

  Sassafras was peeking at the little one in the water from his perch on a fallen log (as much as he loved merhorses, there was no way he wanted to get wet!) and his ears started twitching. Then his head snapped toward home.

  I strained to hear my mom calling my name.

  “Sorry, merhorses! It was so much fun playing with you, but I’ve got to go. We’ll visit again soon!”

  Pip hopped on my head and I lifted Sassafras into my arms and hauled them both to the other side of the stream.

  “I can’t wait to show Mom the flowers. Do you think they’ve bloomed? It’s been longer than I thought if Mom is already home from work. Let’s hurry!”

  We ran the whole way, and as soon as we made it into the yard I could tell that something was wrong. My mom was not smiling like usual. Instead she looked really sad.

  “Mom!” I puffed, slightly out of breath from running. “What’s … wrong?”

  Mom opened her mouth, then closed it. She opened it once more, then sighed. “There’s just not an easy way to tell you. I’m sorry, but there are only two plants left.”

  Pip and I both gasped.

  “But … how?” I looked over to the tree where we’d left the plants, but they weren’t there. “Wait! Where are they?”

  Mom put her arm around me and we started walking together to the barn. “When I got home, I went over to see if I could figure out why you had moved them outside, and I noticed that seven of the plants had turned to ashes. The only two that were left were shaded by the tree’s shadow. I rushed them back into the barn. I think they can’t handle full sun, honey.”

  A tear rolled down my face. “We should never have left them. We shouldn’t have gone to the stream! We only have two left?”

  Mom wiped my tear away. “They’re fine for now. There are even some flower buds, which is exciting! We just have to keep trying our best.”

  “But what if the bog you’re thinking of isn’t the right place? What if I do something else wrong and the last two plants turn to ashes? I don’t want the plants to die!” I didn’t want to say my biggest worry out loud, but I couldn’t hold it in anymore.

  With a big sob I blurted, “What if I’m the one who makes this plant go extinct?!”

  “Oh, sweetheart! Magical plants are rare, but I would be really surprised if this was the last of its kind ever. Let’s focus on our plan and hope that bog is the right one. And even though we lost plants today, now we know something new, right?”

  I nodded sadly. “Yeah, we know not to plant them in the sun. We’ll need to find a place that’s shaded.”

  “You still look like you need some cheering up. How about a picnic dinner with Dad? I picked up some of your favorite things to eat at the store—we can set up a feast!”

  I sniffed. “Thanks, Mom. Can Pip join us?”

  Pip huffed. “I highly doubt you’d have anything I’d find delicious on the menu. Human food is so gross! And besides, I’d better get my rest. We have a big hike tomorrow.”

  I clapped my hands together. “You’re coming on the hike with us?”

  “Wouldn’t miss it!” said Pip. He gave us all good-night hugs and headed off into the forest, calling out, “See you tomorrow!” as he hopped away.

  CHAPTER 12

  WHAT’S THAT

  SMELL?

  Mom, Dad, Sassafras, and I were all enjoying our picnic dinner. Mom had even picked up a can of tuna fish for Sassafras, and he was savoring each bite as he purred loudly.

  A warm breeze ruffled my hair.

  It was such a beautiful night and the food was so delicious that I actually started to feel a little better. Maybe those two plants weren’t the last of their kind. And now I knew not to plant them in the sun at the bog. Maybe those flower buds would get pollinated and turn into a bunch of rainbow seed pods after all. Hopeful for tomorrow’s hike, I made a silent wish that everything would work out.

  I took a deep breath to try to let go of some of my worries. Wait a minute. I sniffed. Something smelled amazing.

  Mom, Dad, and Sassafras must have noticed the smell, too, because they stopped eating and started sniffing the air.

  “What is that incredible smell?” asked Dad.

  “I’m not sure,” answered Mom. She sniffed some more.

  “It smells like roses and lilacs and honeysuckle all blooming at once.” I sighed, and then sniffed some more. “Can Sassafras and I go find out where it’s coming from?”

  Mom and Dad nodded their approval. Sassafras looked at me, then his tuna, then me, then his tuna. Finally he gave a big sigh, gobbled a giant mouthful of tuna, and trotted over to me.

  We walked around our house and through the garden, but we couldn’t figure out the source of the smell.

  “Where is it coming from, Sass?”

  Sassafras gulped the last of the tuna in his mouth and sat for a second. He sniffed first one way, then the other, spinning around in a complete circle. Then his eyes lit up, and he started chattering and took off for the barn.

  The barn? OH!! THE BARN! I ran after him.

  I threw open the barn door and turned on the light.

  “Woooooowwwwww,” I breathed. Sassafras started purring. There in front of us were several of the most beautiful flowers I’d ever seen.

  “They’re beautiful,” I murmured. “We have to tell Mom!”

  We ran back to the picnic blanket and I blurted out, “You have to come see! In the barn!!!” before I remembered. My dad can’t see magical creatures. Or plants. Whoops.

  Mom’s eyes got really big, but she answered, “Oh, the smell is coming from the barn? How unusual! Sure, we can come check it out!”

  She gave me a wink as she and Dad got up and followed us to the barn.

  Inside, Mom couldn’t seem to help exclaiming, “Oh my goodness!” The flowers really were so breathtaking!

  Dad looked around puzzled. “You’re right, hon, this really is so strange! It smells so wonderful in here, but the only thing I see are these pots of sand and … moss? Are you trying to grow something, Zoey?”

  I did my best not to laugh. Poor Dad! All he could see were the soil cups. I really wished he could see the flowers too. At least he got to smell the amazing smell. It was a start!

  “I sure am, Dad.”

  “Well, keep at it. I’m sure something will grow for you eventually.”

  Mom coughed to cover her laugh. It was so funny to hear Dad saying this in front of these enormous plants covered with gorgeous flowers. Oh, Dad.

  Hey, wait a minute. It was kind of weird that the flowers didn’t bloom until the night. “Um, Mom? Just out of curiosity, are there plants that only flower at night? Or do most plants start blooming at night and I just haven’t noticed?”

  Mom smiled. “What a great question! Some plants only bloom during the day, and some only at night. Some bloom both day and night. The flowers are meant to attract their perfect pollinators, so you can get clues about who that pollinator might be by looking at the flower. For instance, a flower that smells like rotting meat and garbage is probably pollinated by a fly. And a flower that only opens at night is probably pollinated by a nocturnal creature—something only awake at night.”

  “Wait, what? I thought only bees pollinated plants?”

  Dad jumped in. “Ooh! I know the answer to this one. There are actually lots of different creatures that can pollinate plants. Birds and butterflies are great pollinators. So are monkeys, lizards, bats, beetles, ants, and even your favorites—mosquitoes!”

  I shivered. “Ew, mosquitoes are pollinators?”

  Dad laughed. “Yep, there are some endangered orchids that rely on mosquitoes to pollinate them.”

  “Weeeeeird.”

  Mom looked at Dad. “Hey, honey? What if instead of going on a day hike tomorrow, Zoey and I camp overnight? She
might be, uh, able to see some nighttime pollinators up close.” Mom winked at me again.

  I crossed my fingers. The only thing more exciting than a hike would be a hike AND camping overnight.

  Dad thought for a minute. “That’s a great idea! The weather should be nice. I might be able to come with you, but I have that big project from work …”

  “Why don’t you take a quiet evening at home,” Mom said. “We’ll be just fine.”

  “As long as you don’t mind?”

  “We’ll be great, Dad!” Mom and I quietly high-fived.

  CHAPTER 13

  CAMPING!

  I held my breath as I opened the barn door the next morning.

  “Oh, thank goodness! They are OK, Sassafras. Oh, and look! The flowers are closed again. Mom is on to something with that whole nighttime pollinator thing.”

  Sassafras meowed in agreement.

  “Do you think the pollinator will be some kind of giant magical moth? I loooove moths!”

  Sassafras chattered excitedly.

  “ARGH! No eating the pollinators, Sassafras.”

  I gave each plant its six teaspoons of water, and then Pip hopped in through the open barn door.

  “Everyone ready for the hike?” Pip asked. “Wait, where’s your mom?”

  I explained about our discovery the night before and bounced up and down a little when I got to the part about getting to camp overnight at the bog. “Pleeeeease say you’ll come camp with us?”

  Sassafras bumped Pip gently with his head.

  “Ohhh, all right, you two. I’ll go.”

  “Mom says we should meet back here at one o’clock.”

  “One o’clock it is!” Pip declared. “I just have to hop home and pack.”

  Sassafras and I spent the morning inside setting up more pea plant experiments. In all the excitement about the magical plant, I’d forgotten about the colored leaves experiments I wanted to start.

  At long last, it was time to leave. Mom, Sassafras, and I arrived at the barn to find Pip wearing a tiny frog-sized backpack.

  “Ready to go!” he announced and hopped up onto my mom’s head.

  Mom laughed. “I’ll carry the frog and the backpack and one of the plants. Can you carry the other plant, Zoey? And Sassafras, you can walk?”

  We set off on our long, long, long hike. It was really tiring having to carry a large plant AND hike. I was trying hard not to be too grumbly … and not being too successful … when Mom finally declared that we’d arrived.

  I carefully set down the plant in the shade and took a look around. The bog looked really cool, but I didn’t see any plants that looked like ours.

  I squished my fingers in some soil I found in the shade, though. “This squishes just right, Mom. Should we plant them or should we leave them in the pots until we know for sure this is the right place?”

  Mom sat down and sighed. “Well, they’re getting too big for their pots as it is. I don’t know of any other bogs nearby, so let’s just be hopeful and try planting them here.”

  I dug a big juicy hole in the sandy and mucky bog soil. I closed my eyes and whispered a wish that this was the right place and the right thing to do. Then I gently removed the first magical plant from the pot and placed it in the bog. I squished the soggy soil back around the roots.

  Once it was solidly in the hole, the plant grew almost instantly about an inch in every direction.

  “Did you see that?” Pip yelped.

  “I did!” Mom exclaimed. “I think that’s a promising sign! Let’s keep our fingers crossed.”

  I planted the second plant, and it did the same little growth spurt, then nothing.

  Mom handed me a bottle of water to clean my hands, and we settled down for an early dinner. After all that hiking and plant carrying, I was starving.

  Sassafras chattered hungrily, and I patted his head. “Remember—no eating moths or any other buggy creature that might be the magical plant pollinator.”

  Sassafras meowed in agreement, and I opened a can of tuna to the sound of rumbly cat purrs. Pip hopped off into the forest to find a froggy snack.

  After we’d eaten, we just sat and stared at the plants. The sun was starting to think about setting. I was hoping once it was dark out, the flowers would bloom again and the pollinators would be able to follow the flower scent to find the magical plants.

  “Waiting can be kind of boring, I know,” said Mom. “So I thought I’d bring a little something.” She dropped a bag of marshmallows on my lap.

  I perked up. “S’mores? YES!!!!!”

  We roasted marshmallows as the sun finally set. “Do you think we’ll ever see baby Marshmallow again?” I asked.

  “Well, I’m sure he’s hardly a baby anymore. And dragons tend to just stick with each other. They don’t often interact with humans. You were pretty lucky to get to meet him. He was the first baby dragon I’d ever met, and I’ve been helping at the barn for most of my life.”

  I sighed. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

  Pip was staring at the plants. “Do the flowers seem to sparkle a bit more out here?”

  Mom nodded. “I noticed that too.”

  “Meow! Meow!” Sassafras interrupted.

  Mom, Pip, and I turned to him. His ears were doing the weird twitchy thing they do when he hears something interesting.

  Very faintly, I could just make out a “lalalalalalalalala.” I had never met a fairy, but I imagined this was what one would sound like.

  “Fairies?” I whispered.

  Mom’s eyes lit up. She jumped to her feet.

  Pip hopped up and down and cheered. “Fweeps!”

  I followed their gazes and saw dozens of floating furry shapes. They looked like they were swimming through the air. They reminded me of the dancing sea slugs, nudibranchs, that I loved watching at the aquarium. But these magical creatures were furry and sparkly. And they sang!

  Several of the fweeps circled my mom, their sparkly fur rippling gracefully in the air. One landed on her shoulder. One landed on her hand. They nuzzled her cheeks.

  Mom knelt down. “Oh, Zoey. These are my little friends, the fweeps. I got to help them many years ago.”

  I reached out to touch them. They were so so soft. “I remember! From your science journal!”

  Just then the fweeps’ song got even faster and they swam-flew through the air to the magical plants.

  “Look, Mom! I think they are the magical plant’s pollinator!”

  We tiptoed over and watched. As the fweeps sang, the plants grew, and more buds opened. Of course! Their songs made the plants grow even better than mine (or the radio’s). The fweeps carefully landed on each blossom. It sounded like they were eating something from the flower. Maybe some sweet nectar at the back? And each time a fweep landed on a flower, you could see something sparkly like glitter on their fur.

  Pip proudly pointed, “Look, Zoey—pollen!”

  Mom and I nodded in agreement.

  After the fweeps visited every flower on each plant, they swirled around all of us once more. Then just as quickly as they’d appeared, they left.

  Sassafras meowed, and Mom, Pip, and I turned. He was staring at one of the flowers. As we watched, the flower petals slowly shriveled as the bottom part of the flower swelled and grew.

  “Whaaat?” I started to ask.

  “Shhh, just watch,” Mom said with a smile.

  The bottom part of the flower grew and grew. And as it grew, it started to glow. First red, then orange, then …

  “MOM! NEW SEED PODS! We did it! We saved the magical plant!”

  Pip and Sassafras jumped in my arms, and Mom hugged us all. “You sure did, baby!”

  CHAPTER 14

  A PHOTO?

  The next morning we woke up early to the sounds of the birds in the forest. I held my breath, slowly unzipped the tent door, and stepped out.

  The plants were still there. They were still huge. There were still a few new closed flowers. And there were a ton of glowing see
d pods lying on the ground near each plant.

  I let out a big sigh of relief.

  Mom came out of the tent, and we cuddled together, eating some warm oatmeal while we watched the beautiful rainbow show of the new seed pods.

  “So … we have to leave them all here, right? I mean, this is where they belong. So it’s what’s best?”

  Mom nodded. “I know it’s hard to leave them. Now that we know where the plants grow, though, we can come camp again sometime soon. Maybe even bring your dad?”

  “That’s true. I bet Dad would love it here, even if he can’t see the fweeps or the beautiful plants.”

  “And there’s one other thing you could do to make saying goodbye a little easier.”

  I raised one of my eyebrows.

  “Check in the backpack toward the bottom.”

  I ran over and dug through the backpack. My hand closed around … my camera!

  “Yessss! Thank you, Mom!” I knelt down to get a close-up photo of a rainbow seed pod that had already fallen on the ground.

  “How about I take your photo with one, sweetie?”

  “Oooh! That would be even cooler!”

  Sassafras let out a long and fussy meow, and Pip humphed.

  “Sorry, guys! Of course you should be in the photo.” Pip leaped onto my head and I snuggled up to Sassafras.

  “Say cheese!” Mom said. Sassafras purred, and Pip and I grinned at the camera.

  When we got home, I went straight to my room and added the photo to my science journal. Sassafras, Pip, and I looked frozen in time in the photo, but the seed pod glowed out from the photo in rainbow colors. “Coooooool,” I breathed.

  Just opposite the shimmering rainbow photo was a blank page, ready and waiting for whoever we would meet next.

  GLOSSARY

  Bog: A wet place with lots of mud and usually standing water.