A story about a tiny bug who lives in a mysterious forest, written from the bug's point of view. Things are not always as they first appear.
The Bug in The Big White Forest
By Mark E. HardenAuthorHouse
Copyright © 2009 Mark E. Harden
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4389-6477-5Chapter One
Once upon a time a tiny bug lived in a big white forest. All the trees in the forest were white, and they seemed to go on and on forever.
Everything the tiny bug and his friends needed was in The Big White Forest. They had plenty of food and shelter.
If the forest became too hot, it would cool off with a soft, pleasant rain.
If the forest became too cold, the trees would allow the sunlight through to warm the forest floor.
There was a legend in The Big White Forest about something called the Icky Green. Legend had it that a horrible storm sometimes hit The Big White Forest. Along with the heavy rain, an icky, sticky, green goo would come and wash nearly every bug away from the forest, never to be seen again.
The tiny bug was not sure he believed the legend of the Icky Green. He could not imagine anything going wrong in his bug paradise.
Then one day, a storm hit the forest. It started very much like one of the cool, gentle rain showers the bugs so much enjoyed. Only, it soon became clear to everyone that this was no brief rain shower.
The storm soaked the forest, and, then it came, the Icky Green. It rolled through the forest without mercy, coating every tree, turning into white fluffy stuff and choking everything in its path. Then another downpour hit the forest. Bugs were being washed away. They were desperately trying to cling to the white trees, only to lose their grasps and disappear.
The tiny bug kept running for higher ground. Somehow, some way, he managed to hold onto a tree and not get washed out of the forest. However, when the storm was over, he realized he was the only bug left.
Soon other bugs began to migrate into The Big White Forest. The tiny bug told the other bugs about the Icky Green; some of them believed him. Others did not.
Still, now and then an Icky Green storm would hit The Big White Forest. Eventually, all the bugs learned the legend was true.
The tiny bug survived two more Icky Green storms. Both times he was the only bug left behind in The Big White Forest. He was beginning to think he must be a very special bug.
Nevertheless, after surviving yet another visit by the Icky Green, the tiny bug was just getting himself dry when, overhead, something very big started parting the white trees.
The bug looked up. This was something he had never seen. Two strange objects were directly over the tiny bug. He ran as fast as he could, but the mysterious objects continued to follow him until, at last, he could not get away.
The tiny bug was plucked out of the forest. He was moving through the air, and The Big White Forest was getting farther and farther away.
Before the bug could catch his breath, he was falling through the air. He looked down and saw nothing but water.
He splashed down into the water, not knowing where he was or what was happening.
Whoosh! The tiny bug heard a rumbling noise and the water began to move. He was moving around in the water, faster and faster, spinning and sinking. The noise was getting louder and louder and the water was disappearing into a hole. "Weeeee!" shouted the bug.
Meanwhile, back in The Big White Forest, another tiny bug was being told the legend of the Icky Green.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Bug in The Big White Forestby Mark E. Harden Copyright © 2009 by Mark E. Harden. Excerpted by permission.
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