Arya's COVID 19 Adventure

It was a sunny morning in July when Arya arrived in Antigonish. She stepped off the doorstep and dashed across the gravel parking lot, As she pranced across the soil she could hear a low voice say, "Hey, watch where you are walking, you almost stepped on me!" Arya stopped instantly, glanced furtively and replied, " Sorry, I did not see you. Where are you and what's more important, who are you?" She looked down and all around but all she could see was a hole in the ground. She first sniffed the hole and then sat observing as little Wilbur, an earthworm, popped up out of the hole. "I'm Wilbur, distant cousin of Wally the red worm, who lives in Bolton at Karl Pretty's recycle bin. I prefer soil, Wally eats banana peels, newspaper and lives in blue bin, or so I legend has it. Wally had a big adventure with a biologist, then dropped out of sight. We do not see him in these parts.

Arya eyed Wilbur, quizzically with a head tilt and replied, "My name is Arya, I just moved here from Ontario with my humans, Dr. Dylan and Nurse Emma. We live over there near the garden boxes along the fence. They are always busy so sometimes I go for a sniff around, and learn new things." Wilbur sprung upward out of the hole and landed on Arya's nose. Arya's eyes widened as Wilbur slid along her snout and stopped to perch between her ears. She listened as Wilbur filled her in on the neighborhood. When Wilbur his finished churning his tale, he vanished down the hole, then popped back up in a strawberry patch to say, "... have fun sniffing, I need to get back to work chewing dirt and watch where you are walking because the gardener will chase you away from the danger zone."

Then POOF, Wilbur was gone and Arya said, "woof. She wandered about sniffing and spotted the gardener chopping alders with a hand pick. He would swing the pick and pull on the alders as it struck the roots. Arya watched and wondered where she could find the danger zone. The gardener looked sideways and exclaimed, "Hey you, it is okay to sniff around but you have to stay out of the danger zone." Arya then heard Dr. Dylan and Nurse Emma calling out her name to come home. She ignored their voices and the gardener heard them so he spoke to Dr, Dylan. The gardener explained quickly that she was in the danger zone. "Home you go Arya, " said the gardener, "we do not want you to be injured by the medical waste."

The gardener ushered Arya toward Dr. Dylan and explained the presence of broken vials and syringes buried in the soil. It was not a problem, thought Arya, I will head on home. Meanwhile the gardener continued working to clear the danger zone. From where she lay, Arya watched the gardener load up a small box and walk straight out of the garden. Her eyes became a little heavy and she glanced around to the sound of singing birds. It was peaceful. Unknown to Arya, as she began to nap, Ebenezer, a mean old tick made his move from overhead. He dropped from a higher altitude than Arya was looking and landed on her shiny black fur. Fortunately, Cindy, a busy bee was sitting on a dandelion doing her daily chore and saw Ebenezer land. Ebenezer wasted no time. On landing he bit into Arya's skin. Cindy buzzed over Arya's head, hoping Arya would wake up and shake Ebenezer off. No such luck.

Arya awoke and eyed Cindy on a nearby dandelion. Arya shook herself and Cindy said, "It was not me, I do not bite, you are not my type of flower, but you are a pretty one, all the ticks will love you to death." With that Cindy landed on another dandelion and began talking to Arya. "My name is Cindy, I am doing my daily chore and what are you doing lazing about?" Arya turned her head and nipped at her fur, trying to crush Ebenezer with her teeth, without success. On standing, Arya looked over to where Cindy sat and replied, "I was waiting for the gardener to return from cleaning up the danger zone. He promised to take me for a walk and give me some umbrella training, when it rains. So tell me Cindy, where are you from?" Cindy stopped gathering and sat on a twig long enough to say, "I'm from Brownsville, and I moved here after a chinook excited our hive. We buzzed in a few weeks ago. There were about 40 of us that left and we met some local bees out on a scouting party for healthy bee gardens." "You know", woofed Arya, " me and my humans came from Owen Sound and Blind River a while ago during an emergency. They do not discuss it with me but the gardener told me they do important work at the hospital because of a SARS COVID 2 pandemic." "Interesting" exclaimed Cindy, " nice to have met you Arya. Now I have to buzz off so I want you to do me a favor and try not to pee on the flowers because it makes my work impossible until after the rain ahs washed away the odor.

Nurse Emma was off to work early and Dr. Dylan, a resident, was off on a mission in New Glasgow. The gardener appeared at the front door, to take Arya for a walk. "Away we go for umbrella training Arya," whispered the gardener. Arya was startled and scurried sideways. "It's okay Arya, it is just the umbrella. Nothing to be afraid of, it keeps us dry. The gardener held the leash tightly so Arya could not sniff as freely as she could roaming in the back yard. As Arya stopped near a hole, she could hear Wilbur, "you are now walking on holy ground beside a petwoleum station. Too hard for a worm to earn a living chewing dirt beyond this point. So have have fun." Arya rolled her eyes and pranced along in stride with the gardener. They arrived at the front door. The gardener touched his hand to a magic box with a spigot and caught the stuff as it oozed. He looked at Arya and said, "slurpy thin hand sanitizer - bet you are glad you have paws." They walked inside the convenience store. Arya recognized Allan and waltzed over, tail wagging for a treat. Allan and the gardener discussed old horse manure for a strawberry garden and Arya lay on the floor. Somewhere in the maze of fur, Ebenezer, the nasty little tick, decided to move to another location. Arya squirmed and let out a yelp. As the gardener made a coffee, Allan the managing clerk, ran his fingers through her fur coat. In a moment, Allan located Ebenezer and with the aid of a tick pick, removed Ebenezer to a plastic container for specimens. The gardener drank his black coffee and as Arya lay on the ceramic tile looking across the floor, she spotted a mouse. Arya growled. The little mouse squeaked in a low voice, "don't growl at the messenger...Wilbur sent me. He said, " stay off the leaves near the tall grass, because Ebenezer's soldiers are everywhere looking for him."

The gardener finished his coffee and he jiggled the leash. Arya stood and led the gardener to the door swiftly. She tugged the gardener along until she reached a patch of grass on small stones. After a short squeeze, relief was at hand for Arya as she pinched a loaf and watched as the gardener scooped it up with a poop sack. The gardener and Arya then walked for miles over a trail and made their way back. He looked at Arya and passed her a treat for being so well behaved: " Life is a danger zone Arya and now you will probably need to visit the veterinarian for a puncture wound. Most likely you will receive some antibiotics."

When the gardener arrived at the step, he unleashed Arya and knocked on the door. Nurse Emma was just having dinner. Arya toddled in as the gardener told Emma about Ebenezer safely stored in the specimen jar. Dr. Dylan was seated at the table sipping freshly made chicken soup. It was then Arya saw the elephant run under the table - as the door closed and the gardener walked toward the garden. And beneath the tree where Arya laid, Wilbur squiggled and squirmed for a minute, marking Ebenezer's final resting place. Molly the meek mouse watched Wilbur put the final touches on a marker. Wilbur laughed and Molly snickered. " Poor Ebenezer, lost forever in an August rain."

The End