The moon was shining bright through the trees in the forest, casting its white glow across the surface of the pond. Some animals came out to play, while others came out to eat. There were animals with fur, some with hard shells, some with scales, but Dan was none of these. Dan's kind were whisperers.
“I must hurry, the moon is high in the night sky!” yelled Dan. He was only about two feet tall, and probably weighed no more than a large rabbit. His long ears blew backwards as he sprinted as fast as a whisperer could run, dodging the moon beams that blasted down through the openings in the forest trees like lasers.
“Hello Mrs. R, hello Robbie,” said Dan as he passed by a mama raccoon that was cleaning her small kid by the water. Mrs. R waved at Dan and asked, “Where are you going in such a hurry?” You see, a whisperer can talk to and understand all animals.
Dan quickly tried to come to a stop, but tumbled about three times across the ground before landing on his back. Old Mr. Owl hooted, laughing at Dan from the tree limb above. Mr. Owl said, “I think your big ears may have gotten the best of you. Maybe you should try to pin them down where they won't get in the way” as he continued to hoot.
Robbie looked at his mother and asked out loud, with a giggle, "Why do his ears stick out so funny?" Mrs. R told Robbie, "I do not know,” as she tried to hold in her laughter. “But the ears of a whisperer will grow as long as they live.” Mr. Owl hooted, saying "Dan's ears are even bigger than his father's ears and all the other whisperers in the forest. Dan is just a young whisperer in their eyes, but he has lived a far longer life in this forest than old Mr. Owl."
Dan stood back up on his two feet and began to brush his tiny blue shirt off and tried not to notice that they were laughing at him. He just looked down and smiled. He had always had different ones laugh at him because of his ears. He knew that his ears were huge and different from the other creatures of the forest.
Then Dan said, "Well tonight is my birthday, and I will receive the great moon flower. My papa has told me about this night my whole life. Now the night is finally here." He then began to slick back his dark hair that went behind his large, pointy ears. "You are all invited to come and see. It will be at the great oak at the other side of the pond. My dad said we will have cake and all kinds of food."
Old Mr. Owl tells Dan, "Dear boy, the great moon flower is just a story. Even my great grandmother said she had never seen the moon flower."
"Yes, but the story says that once the great moon flower blooms, the youngest whisperer must drink its nectar to keep the forest safe," Dan replies. "Papa told me that the bigger the ears are on a whisperer, the longer the forest will stay safe."
Mr. Owl hoots out even louder, "Well, we all should be safe for a long time if you are the one drinking the nectar." Ms. R and Robbie begin to laugh out loud as well.
"No," Mr. Owl says with a chuckle, “I will not be wasting my time watching that. The only thing the great oak is good for is it makes for a good strong shelter. I have things that I must go do.” Mrs. R then tells Dan, “Sorry we will be cleaning our tree tonight, we won't be able to make it either.” As she and Robbie walk away laughing.
“But we will be having cake,” he says softly as a small tear drop rolls down his face. Dan slowly begins to walk away, heartbroken.
“Why does everyone laugh at me? I'm always nice,” Dan says to himself. “I have no one to play with, and everyone I talk to always brings up my big old ears.” Dan looks at his own reflection in the water as he holds his ears down behind his head. “I wish they were smaller, or that I just didn't have any ears.” He then takes a small vine and ties it around his head to hold his ears down behind his head so they can't be seen.
Dan hears laughter again in the distance. He turns around and sees Mr. and Mrs. Fox and their eight pups, Dash, Silver, Red, Mexie, Tyler, Sly, Brina, and Pete sitting on a large log. They are all watching Dan as he brushes his hair with his fingers, thinking he might be able to keep his ears from being seen. They all laugh harder, asking Dan what he is doing. Dan tries not to embarrass himself anymore than he already has. “I'm practicing my speech,” Dan says. “Papa is having a party tonight for me, the great moon flower party. Maybe you have heard of it.” He says slowly. “I can only invite very important animals or” Dan looks upwards, trying to think about what he should say next. “Or very nice friendly families and you guys are one of the families that I have chosen.”
Mr. And mrs. Fox looks at one another then looks back at dan. “ well we are teaching our pups to hunt and sneak around tonight. We just don't have the time to make it. “ mr. Fox says. “maybe another night. “ as he and his family leap off the log and back into the forest.
Dan then goes and sits down on the log looking across the pond. He can see the top of the great oak tree in the distance. “why should i even want to go to my own party no one else does. Will anyone there even realize that i'm not even at the party? Oh yeah, sure they will when they don't have me to laugh about. “ dan then lays down and curls up on the log falling asleep.
The clouds have completely covered the once bright shinning moon as trees are bending over from the strong winds that are howling like a pack of hungry wolves. All the animals have taken shelter inside the great oak. As each family from the forest comes inside the oak tree dan's papa asked if they have seen dan.
Mr. Owl hoots nervously, "I might have been a little hard on the boy. I was laughing at him when he fell down earlier. I may have made fun of the boy's ears." Mrs. R and Robbie say, "We did too. I hope Dan is okay." Mrs. R says. "If Robbie was still outside in this storm, I would be worried sick right now." Mr. and Mrs. Fox come running inside the tree with their pups. "We just made it!" said Mr. Fox. "The larger pond upstream is breaking up, and the waters are just impossible to pass over if you're still on the other side."
Dan's papa asked Mr. Fox, "Have you seen Dan?" Mr. Fox said, "We saw him earlier, but he was still on the other side of the pond. I told him that we didn't have time to come to his party, and we might have hurt his feelings by laughing at him trying to hide his ears. We didn't mean to hurt his feelings." Dan's papa says, "I'm not the one who needs to hear that" as he looks at everyone inside the tree. "Now my son is out there in this storm when we all need him here."
The high waters from the pond begin to flow inside the opening of the great oak. Dan's papa runs over to an unbloomed flower in the center of the tree. He quickly digs it up and places the flower in one of the party cups. Everyone watches Dan's papa holding the flower up high to keep the water from washing it away.
Mr. Owl says, "Is that...the great moon flower?" Yes it is, says Dan's papa. "I must keep it safe until Dan gets here so it will keep us all safe." Mr. Owl then flies over and lifts Dan's papa up to the highest point inside the tree. Within minutes, everyone else climbs up to the now small ledge as the waters continue to flow inside up to their waist. They all wrap around Dan's papa to keep him from being pulled out by the waters.
Dan wakes up from the sound of loud thunder as a lightning bolt strikes a tree nearby. "I shouldn't have stopped!" Dan yells. "No matter how sad I am, or how it makes me feel when everyone is making fun of me, I must be strong and selfless. I don't know if the great moon flower is real, but if there is a chance it will keep everyone safe, I must be there."
Dan then realizes that the log he had fallen asleep on was now floating in the high waters. "Oh no!" yells Dan. "How in the world will I get to the great oak now?" Then Dan can tell that someone is shining a light behind him. He spins around to see where it is coming from, but the glow is still behind him. "What in the heck?" as Dan begins to realize that there is no one shining a light at him.
Dan reaches up and grabs the vine that he had tied around his head. With a quick tug on the vine, his ears pop back up. They were glowing as bright as the moon once was. They were beautiful in their own way. "Whoa!" Dan says with surprise. "My ears, they are awesome." Dan can feel the energy flowing through his ears as they straighten backwards like arrows. Dan then shoots off like a rocket. He skips across the surface of the water as if he was wearing a pair of boat shoes. Dan laughs out loud and yells, "Yeah, woohoo!"
He had traveled across the pond in no time, and could see the great oak, but the opening was already underwater. Dan jumped off the surface of the water high in the sky and plunged down into the water like a diver. He swam under the water through the tree opening as fast as a fish. He then exploded back through the surface of the water inside the great oak. Everyone's eyes were so big and round as they saw Dan and his glowing ears. Even Mr. Owl's eyes were bigger than normal.
Dan moved across the surface of the water towards the group, and as he got closer, the great moon flower began to open. The flower shone as bright as Dan's ears. Everyone was amazed by the flower and Dan's beauty.
Dan's papa picked the flower from its stem and held it out to Dan. "For you are like no other, my son. Please drink this nectar and keep the forest safe until it is passed on to your child." Dan grabbed the flower and drank the nectar, which caused a warmth to shoot through his body. Then a flash blasted out of his ears, filling the entire inside of the great oak. The moon began to push through the dark clouds, shining down on the great oak. The water then pulled out from the inside of the tree, and the winds stopped howling and the lightning stopped just as fast.
The group yelled with excitement, cheering for Dan. "He saved us all!" They each apologized to Dan for always laughing at him and asked for his forgiveness.
Dan said, "It always hurt my feelings when I was being laughed at. Just always try to put yourself in the shoes of the one you're making fun of, and realize that it may not be funny to them. I don't hold any hard feelings, that's just the way I am. I only wanted everyone to like me for who I am."
"Now how about some cake!" Dan yelled. They all gathered around and hugged Dan, yelling, "Happy birthday, Dan!"
Dan will continue to keep the forest safe...for now.
