Dazel woke up to the mellow light of the rising sun. She realised with a start that she had overslept. Then she smiled. It was a Saturday.

“I would never have been able to oversleep when I lived in my old pond,” she said as she bathed herself in the cool water of the artificial pond which was her new home. She could see Wiz Rooster’s house from where she floated in her new pond home in the rooster’s backyard. Through the window, she could see the rooster engrossed in reading something at his desk. As if sensing her gaze, he looked up, glanced at Dazel and raised his white wing in greeting.

Dazel shouted cheerily, “Good morning, Sir!” The rooster grinned back. Dazel sighed as she relished her breakfast of sunflower seeds; the sound of the breeze blowing through the trees provided soothing music. She loved the privacy her new home provided her. She had worried about feeling isolated when she first moved from the community at the old pond where she had lived with several other creatures.

She realised soon that she enjoyed her solitude. She liked to ponder by herself and loved the peace and quiet. But most importantly, she loved the space the new artificial pond provided her.

Dazel loved to collect interesting things that she found when she adventured around D’Land. For safekeeping, she used to hide these items in holes dug under rocks. But there had never been enough space for her to organise her precious collection in her old home. The old pond had been crowded and........

© Dawn Young Magazine