My story

This is a story about Burns Bog and
Leon the vole.
He was a very lonely creature,
living in a hole.


One day, Leon woke to find
his house filled with garbage!
Humans had covered his home with their trash.
Poor Leon had to find a new place to live.
On his journey, a hawk caught sight of him.
Running for his life, Leon entered Burns Bog,
which was the only safe cover in sight.

---

Running into the bog,
Chased by a hawk,
Leon looked for a place to hide.
He saw a group of mushrooms that looked safe.


Running into the mushrooms,
chased by the hawk,
Leon bashed right into a little mushroom named Rudge.
All the mushrooms abruptly woke up
and yelled, “Hey! Get outta here!”
“Oh I’m sorry,” said Leon, who began to leave.
“No wait! Can’t you see he’s in danger?
Let him stay,” said Rudge, the forgiving mushroom.
“Thank you,” said Leon, the relieved vole.

---

“Ignore them.” Rudge said.
“They’re grumpy
because if they could just
get to the centre of the bog,
they could meet the Great Sandhill Crane
but we’re stuck in the ground
and can’t go anywhere.”
“Why would they want to do that?” Leon said.
“I can’t tell you.
The other mushrooms would be angry.” Rudge whispered.
My name is Rudge by the way.”
“CAW!”
“I’m Leon. It’s nice to meet you.”

---

“Leon, don’t move.”
“Why?”
“The hawk is right behind you!”
“CAW!”
“Run behind me now!”
Leon hid quickly behind Rudge.
The hawk attacked.
It’s beak landed in the dirt and uprooted the mushroom!
It pecked around, but couldn’t reach Leon,
so after a few minutes, it flew away.

Leon came out of hiding and
found Rudge lying on its side.
“It’s okay, Leon. I’m fine.
but I’m not stuck into the ground anymore!
That silly hawk dug me up
so that means you can take me with you!
We can find a home for you
and I can see the Great Sandhill Crane!”
Leon realized that the mushroom was determined to come. “Alright. Let’s go!”

---

Leon picked Rudge up
carefully with his tail
& they began their journey
to the centre of the bog & to find a new home.

“We can’t stay on the boardwalk,” said Rudge.
“This is where the humans walk.
They’ll step on us.”
They jump off the boardwalk.
“The ground is so springy!” Leon noticed
after they had hid from humans and hawks under the boardwalk.
“That’s because the ground is made of peat moss.
If you jump, the ground will jiggle like jelly.
It happens more in the centre of the bog.
Right now, we’re just at the edge of it,” Rudge explained.


---

“What’s so special about
the Great Sandhill Crane anyway?”
asked Leon.

“He has magic that’s connected to the bog.
He only comes to the bog once a year to nest
& he grants one wish!
He’s always wise and he sees everything.
I’m telling you this because you’re my friend.”

“I would wish for a home.
What would you wish for?” asked Leon.

“Feet,” said Rudge.
“So I could go anywhere I wanted to.”

---

Leon and Rudge were on their way again when,
CAW!
They heard the hawk.
“Over there! There’s a tractor I heard about
because it’s stuck into the bog.
Some human tried to steal it
but got caught by the bog’s squishy ground,” said Rudge.

“Let’s hide under it!” agreed Leon.
They huddled under the tractor.
CAW!
SCREECH!
“Wait! Leon, don’t go out there!” yelled Rudge.
Leon came out from under the tractor.
“Look! It’s not the hawk!” explained Leon.

---

There was a commotion in the sky.
Two birds were fighting each other
& one quickly vanquished the other.
A bird appeared in front of Leon.
It was a blue-grey colour.
It was tall, with a long neck.
On its head, there was a patch of red feathers.

The hawk was gone.
The Great Sandhill Crane bowed in front of Leon the vole.
Leon stared.
“Th-th-thank you for saving us,” Leon stammered.

---

The Great Sandhill Crane spoke.
“I saw something strange on the way
to my nesting ground.
A vole and a mushroom traveling together
& helping one another.
I also saw the hawk stalking you.
I think that you’re worthy of a wish, Leon.
What is it that you want?”
Leon thought about it.
He looked back at Rudge.
“I wish Rudge had feet so he could go anywhere.”
“No! I wish you had a home!” Rudge exclaimed.
“I’d be happy to stay with you, Leon.
I don’t need feet.
We have so much fun already.”
The Great Sandhill Crane nodded.
“Your wish, Leon?” he asked.
Leon thought for a second.
“I wish... just that Burns Bog will always exist.
I want it to be protected forever.”

---

“No one has ever asked me for that,”
The Great Sandhill Crane said approvingly.
“It is done.
Good luck on your search for a home...
You might want to look North.”
The Great Sandhill Crane flew away
leaving Leon and Rudge happy to go North
in search of a home.

They do find a home to the North...
but it’s a secret spot that you can only find
if you look very hard.

The End