Adam’s Bubble
by
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“Well, Hello there,” said a voice. “I’m Fergus. What brings you here?”
Adam looked around and saw no one. Nothing was moving at all - not even an insect. “I must have imagined it,” He said to himself. “No one is talking to me. How could they?”
What he did see was truly amazing. He was looking at what appeared to be some kind of flower - at least he thought it was a flower. It had a brown center with many splotches making up the core. Surrounding the center were white feathery hairs. As he looked, Adam could see that there were flower things all around him - hundreds of them. “What are these?” He thought aloud.
“My brothers and I saw you coming,” said Fergus. “They thought that we should ignore you. That you’d go away if we didn’t talk to you. But I don’t think you are like most people. No one has ever come up for a closer look before.”
“Who are you? What are you?” Said Adam.
“Why I’m a fungi. Humans call me a powdery mildew. They tend to try to kill us - powdery mildew I mean. You aren’t going to do that are you? Who taught you the magic of the soap bubbles? Am I talking too much? My brothers keep insisting that I talk too much. They are always telling me to SHUT UP!” Said Fergus.
“Well, you are talking an awful lot.” said Adam. “Let me get this straight. You’re a fungus - one of many living on this leaf. Right?”
“Right!”
“And, you fungi are afraid of people because they kill you. Right?”
“Right!”
“So what about me?” said Adam. “Are you afraid of me?”
“No.”
“Why not?” Asked Adam.
“Well, for one thing, you’re too small. We might not be able to leave this leaf (Leave this leaf! Ha! Ha! Get it?), but we could still fight you off.”
“Yeh right.”
“We have mycelium - those little hairs your sitting on - you know. We might not be able to walk away, but we can move you around.”
“Hey Fergus. SHUT UP! Can’t a fellow enjoy a spring afternoon in peace?”
“Ah. Just ignore him. That’s Mycy. He’s got a bad temper. That’s the problem with being stuck here in a colony. You can’t choose who you share a leaf with. Although most of us are related. And you can’t get away from anyone in a bad mood. You just have to let it pass. Although, with some fungi the mood never seems to change.”
“What do you mean by you’re mostly related? Aren’t you all the same?” Asked Adam.
“Good heavens, NO. We’re not even all the same type of fungi.” Said Fergus.
“You’re not?”
“No. See that small colony over there - the group with the black fuzz? They’re a smut. They only got here because a fly came up here and walked around on the leaf. He was covered with spores, you know. They do a lot of grumbling, but they’re not too bad really.
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About the Book
It was just another spring afternoon. Adam was alone and bored. Then he decided to try out some special bubbles that he had just gotten and everything changed.
Shrunk to the size of an ant, he finds friends and excitement in his own back yard as he attempts to get back to his own size. Aided by a fungi - powdery mildew to be exact, an ant, a cricket and several others he finds out about a whole new aspect of life. Imagine getting to talk to the toad you played with last summer or visit a wood roach in his own home! In the process of getting him back to normal, the creatures of his back yard teach him about their lives and how they work to make a life, a home and incidentally a great soil for his garden.
About the Author
Alison Pockat is a Landscape Architect with a small private practice in Cary, NC. When not working on site plans, she spends a great deal of time with her son, Del, roaming in the woods of the nature preserve that borders her back yard. Together they also like to go hiking and camping in parks throughout North Carolina and in places like St. John, USVI.
She has practiced landscape architecture for 25 years. Prior to this, her experience includes work with the Soil Conservation Service and she has had articles published in Erosion Control International Magazine and Landscape and Irrigation Magazine.