Brixtle

Brixtle knelt under the leaf, watching the human.  It was large and slow, lumbering across the glade.   One hand clutched a large wooden stick, which it leaned on heavily.  The other held a  wooden pail which bounced against its leg, splashing water with each step.  Brixtle covered his mouth and laughed.

He danced across the branch, following the humans progress. The human was heading down the path which cut through the Great Woods.  It appeared oblivious to everything around itself.  Its attention was focused solely on the road ahead of it. 

Jumping off the branch, Brixtle flew ahead of the human.  Leaves rustled in the wake of his flight, causing the human to look up.  Shaggy hair the color of dirt covered its head and most of its face.  Its eyes appeared small, nearly swallowed whole by the deep folds of flesh around them.  Brixtle, whose own eyes were large and lidless, stared with fascination at the human’s slow but steady progress.  

When the path finally emerged from the Great Woods, the human paused, lifting its face up towards the bright sky.  Perched on the nearest branch, Brixtle watched as the human continued down the path.  Its pace had quickened, seemingly energized by the sun’s rays.  Brixtle wanted to continue following the human, but he was hesitant to leave the woods.  

Pausing once more, the human glanced back towards the woods.  Brixtle froze in place, certain that the human was staring right at him.  The look was brief, and the human was once more moving down the path, but it was enough to decide Brixtle.  He leapt forward, leaving the safety of the woods.

He followed behind at a distance, keeping to the tall grasses bordering the path.  Before long the human cut down a side path, heading towards a small wooden structure in the distance.  Its home was set in a clearing, with only two small trees nearby for shade.  A smaller wooden hut sat off to the side.  Beside that was a patch of vibrant green, surrounded by pieces of wood driven into the ground and covered by what looked like thick spider webbing. 

The human leaned the walking stick against the side of its home and went inside.  Brixtle flew into the branches of the tree nearest the human’s home.  He felt safer hidden among the leaves, but he couldn’t see inside.  Curiosity soon outweighed caution, and he flew down to the house, landing on the window ledge.  He peered through the transparent barrier, wanting to learn more of this human.

The human had placed the bucket of water on a table at the far end of the house.  A large thick pot sat above a hearth beside it.  The human was seated on its bed at the other side of the room, its head bowed.  It soon laid down, rolling over so its back faced Brixtle.  Brixtle was disappointed.  He didn’t follow the human all this way just to watch it sleep.  He crossed his arms in frustration.  

He flew back up into the tree, intent on returning back to the Great Woods, when a thought occurred to him.  He could have some great fun with this human.  He smiled.  Jumping from the tree, he flew back to the Great Woods, his head full of ideas for the human's next trip through the woods.

Two days passed before the human traveled through the Great Woods again.  Brixtle followed close behind, keeping to the branches above.  Not yet burdened by the pail of water, its pace was fairly steady, almost spry.  It paused often, though, to check out the flora, occasionally cutting some off to add to a pouch hung at its side.

Before long the human left the path, pushing through the vegetation.  Instantly Brixtle knew where it was going.  He was surprised that the human knew of the spring.  It was hidden deep in the woods, surrounded by thick walls of vegetation. Even for Brixtle and his kind it was easier to approach the spring from above.  But the human pushed through with hardly any effort, and the evidence of its passage was all but non-existent.

Brixtle landed on the branch nearest to where the human had settled.  He hid behind a thick curtain of leaves, his body blending in with the shadows.  He watched as the human pulled at its feet, exposing pale flesh beneath.  

With a grunt of effort, the human stood.  It began to remove its coverings, exposing even more wrinkled flesh.  It placed its coverings neatly in a pile atop a nearby stone.  Closing its eyes, the human began to mumble to itself.  Its voice sounded like wood scraping against a stone.

When it finished, the human grabbed its pail and cutter.  It entered the spring slowly, mindful of the slick stones.  When it was far enough in, the human submerged itself, leaving the pail floating on top.  

Brixtle flew down to the pile of coverings.  Sitting beside them was the pouch.  Brixtle cast a quick glance towards the water.  The pail still bobbed alone on the surface.  Using all his strength, Brixtle pushed open the top flap of the pouch, which was much larger than himself.  Crawling inside, he pushed out all the cuttings the human had placed inside.  He stared at them, wondering what to do.  His face lit up in joy at the idea he had, and he quickly began pushing the cuttings around, arranging them to approximate the human’s face.  He finished it off by using two dark pebbles for the eyes.  He laughed at what he had done.

Loud splashing came from the spring as the human resurfaced, breathing loudly.  Brixtle hid behind the coverings.  He watched as the human dropped several items loudly into the pail.  The pail canted to the side, but still stayed afloat.   Taking a deep breath, the human dove under the water again.

Curiosity once again outweighing caution, Brixtle flew out to the pail, landing lightly on the edge.  Inside were funny looking rocks, each one shaped like a seed and with a crack running around its center.  He was about to go in for a closer look when the human surfaced again, spluttering for air.  Brixtle raced back to the tree in a panic, bursting through the leaves.  He saw the human turn towards the shore, frowning.  It had heard him.

Several long moments passed with the human staring towards the tree.  Brixtle remained hidden behind the leaves, his heart beating nearly as fast as his wings during flight.  Eventually the human returned to what it was doing, and slipped back under the water.

Emboldened by his narrow escape, Brixtle flew back down to the human’s coverings.  Using all his strength, he pulled each one in turn off the pile, dragging it in a different direction, catching them up in the branches and prickers of nearby bushes.  Exhausted yet pleased by his efforts, Brixtle flew back up into the tree and waited behind his leaf curtain for the human to return to shore.

The shadows had begun to lengthen in the other direction by the time the human made its way back onto shore.  Its flesh was even whiter and more wrinkled than when it had first gone in the water.   It paused at the shore long enough to add water to the pail, enough to cover its collection  of funny rocks.  

Brixtle watched from above with mounting excitement as the human trudged slowly back to where it had left its coverings.  The expression on the human’s face when it noticed its coverings scattered about caused Brixtle to spin in joy.  It was well worth the wait.   But when the human saw its own face made out of the cuttings staring back at it with stony little eyes,  Brixtle nearly rolled off the branch in fits of laughter.  Looking up towards the branches, the human began yelling in its harsh language, shaking its large fist in anger.

Brixtle laughed at its outrage.  He shook the leaves in time with each thrust of the human’s clenched hand.  His laughter danced through the air.  Giving one final shake of the leaves, he leapt from the branch and flew back towards the main path of the Great Woods.  The human turned out to be great fun.  Brixtle’s laughter trailed after him as he flew back home.  He couldn’t wait until he saw the human again.