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Lil'Owl's Boubliwae Adventures
Chapter 3
The Forever Forest
Not far from the home of Lil'Owl lives a lively gnome named Eddie. Eddie
is Eric's twin brother and they both enjoy wandering the forest and
fields around Boubliwae Falls. Eddie is a very cheerful gnome who loves
music and poetry. Whether snapping his fingers to some newly created
tune, or humming along side a swarm of honey bees, Eddie is usually
heard before he is seen!
On this particular morning, Eddie is laden down with a rucksack filled
with wool, bulrushes and milkweed flax that he has been collecting for
Sarah. He strides very fast while humming an age old rhyme; however, he
has changed the words from those that I remember from my childhood.
Eddie is able to travel exceptionally long distances and adjusts his
speed by the particular tune he chooses to sing or hum. If you or I were
to hear Eddie we would likely think it the warble of a bird. His
distinctive lilt is known to all the wee folk who reside near the
Boubliwae Brook.
Eddie's quick pace causes him to draw air into his throat through his
rather large nose, which would induce his ears to tingle and turn
rosy-red. Eddie weaves upward, through the woodland and plunges along
winding mossy and bark-strewn paths running between the narrow aisles of
cedars and other forest trees. He wanders into spiderwebs flecked with
diamond dew drops; past bluejays and butterflies suddenly all a-flutter;
along never ending trails created by scampering hares. On the edge of
the forest Eddie often encounters leaves up to his knees, burrs attach
themselves to his woolen clothes, as he makes his way along the well
worn paths leading through brambles. Now this may sound like a
wilderness to you or I, but to Eddie it is wealth, and he never tires of
launching himself through it to collect some of nature's bounty for
Sarah.
Eddie's routes varied, but usually his destination was the same;
the tranquil place of the wild sheep. He would arrive famished, parched
and gloriously exhausted! Before leaving home Eddie fills his rucksack
with cheese, nuts, fruit and wine to enjoy while relaxing amid autumn
scents. Eddie would feast, while leaning against one of the majestic
giant red cedars, drawing in through his nostrils the blessed aromas of
the Boubliwae Forest. Then he would go about gathering tufts of wool
from wild sheep. Eddie often visited with the longhorn sheep that travel
down, from the tall rock cliffs, to forage on the rich clover covered
ground by the banks of the Boubliwae Brook.
With his woven rucksack full and a song in his heart; Mildred in
his pocket and followed by some busy bees; Eddie makes his way to
Sarah's house snapping his fingers and humming...
Ya, ya wild sheep
Know you have some wool
Yes sir Eric, come have-a-pull
Some for Sarah
Some for you and
Some to be left on the ewe
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