Beezerk

BEEZERK

“Hello!”

Beezerk startled and jumped back. He was not supposed to make contact with the humans. It was the number-one rule. And, more importantly, humans were not supposed to be able to see him. But no, here was one of them looking at him, talking. His eyes darted around, looking for an escape. But there was none. He was stuck under the bush, with no way out. Not that he’d be able to get very far, what with his busted wing and all. So he shut his eyes. Maybe if he couldn’t see her, she wouldn’t be able to see him anymore.

“My name is Poppy. What’s yours?”

Beezerk squeezed his eyes tighter, not letting “Poppy” know that he’d heard her. Surely, she’d go away if he didn’t encourage her.

“You look like a dragon, but way smaller. Can you breathe fire?”

He peeked out one of his eyes. No, he couldn’t breathe fire! But she was within firing distance if he could. He sighed.  She was only trying to be nice, but he just wanted her to go away.

Poppy poked her head in farther.  “Your wing is hanging funny. Are you hurt?”

He was hurt. An unfortunate collision with an electric bike. Who knew those things could move that fast? He was in a real pickle—if this human child could see him and find him, then all manner of critters would be able to as well. So, he was a bit panicky about the wing.

He wasn’t sure how many hours he’d been cowering under this bush, hoping that another clyvrol would come looking for him because he didn’t show up back at the hive.

“Can I help you? Get you something?” Poppy paused, considering. “Do you need water? My mom always says to always stay hydrated.”

Beezerk was a bit thirsty. “Yes, please. Water would be nice.”

Poppy’s eyes popped. “Oh my goodness! You speak English! I didn’t know dragons spoke English! That’s so cool!” She gladly handed him her water bottle, only to realize that it was far too big for him to manoeuvre, especially with his wonky wing. She poured some of the water into her cupped hand and held it out to him. He drank greedily, dropping his snout into the water and slurping in up. When there was none left, she poured out more into her cupped hand. He drank more. When he lifted his head he said. “Thank you. That was very kind of you.”

Poppy smiled a huge smile revealing a missing front tooth, with the new one just pokping through her upper gum. “My Granny says sharing is caring.”

“Your granny sounds like a very smart woman.”

Beezerk watched Poppy take a good look at him. He was pretty small—he could comfortably fit into her hand, or sit on her shoulder. One swat of her tiny hand could send him reeling. He had to make sure that he didn’t startle her, or he could get hurt even more.  

Beezerk was pretty sure she had never seen another creature like him. And, thankfully, she seemed more curious than frightened.

“What are you?” she asked, a little confused.

Beezerk took a big breath. This was one hundred percent not allowed. It was against all the rules of survival. “I am a clyvrol.”

Poppy looked confused. “A clyvrol?” she asked hesitantly. “What’s a clyvrol?”

Okay, valid question. “A clyvrol is a small—compared to humans—flying being who travels around the world righting wrongs and setting things back the way they should be.” Poppy was leaning in, really listening. “Clyvrols are invisible to people … at least they are supposed to be.” He looked at Poppy, still bent over, her head under the bush. “I don’t know why you can see me. This is highly unusual.”

Poppy squinted her eyes at him. “How do you know? Maybe everybody can see you, but because you’re so small, they think you’re a bug, or a bird?” She sat up, bum on the ground and crossed her arms, looking unconvinced.

Beezerk would have shrugged his shoulders but it was painful. “No one has ever seen me before today. Maybe because I’m hurt, people can see me. My magic might be off.” He shook his head. “I have no idea why you can see me.” He looked at her, bit worried. “I hope this can be our secret. The world’s a dangerous place for clyvrols.”

Poppy knew that was true. She’d watched the movie ET with her granny, and the army people were not very nice to ET.

“Are you from outer space, like ET?” she asked Beezerk, worried that the army was going to swoop down on her house at any moment. Beezerk had no idea who ET was, but he knew he wasn’t from outer space.  

He shook his head. “No, I’m from Earth. We just exist on a different plane than humans.” Poppy looked confused, so he tried to explain it to her. “We can see humans, but humans aren’t supposed to be able to see us. We’re magical.”

Poppy’s confusion disappeared, and she smiled brightly. “You’re magic! I know what magic is!”

To humans he was magical. But to clyvrols, it was as if humans weren’t tuned into their own world as completely as the clyvrols were.  

He looked at Poppy. She could see him. Maybe she wasn’t ignoring the world around her, and was just more open to its magical possibilities. After all, magic was all around. You just had to look for it.

Poppy looked at him. “Can you show me some magic? Can you make my brother disappear?”

Beezerk snorted, and yes, even though he wasn’t fire breathing, a tiny bit of smoke rose from his nostrils—mostly dust from his crash landing. “No, I can’t make your brother disappear. But I do try to do good deeds.”

Poppy looked at him. “And people can’t see you?”

The irony was not lost on him, but she was, what, seven years-old, so maybe she didn’t realize what she was saying. “No, usually people can’t see me.”

He watched as she sat back and thought. “Maybe I can take you to my Granny’s house? If your magic is off, maybe she can see you, and fix your wing. She was a doctor before she retired. And if she can’t, maybe I can help you.”

Beezerk had to admit, the idea of sitting around, in the wild, hoping that something didn’t eat him was a bit daunting. Maybe Granny could see him, maybe she couldn’t. He was willing to take the chance. Better than being a sitting duck—or sitting clyvrol.  

“Okay,” he said, hoping he was making the right decision.

Poppy stuck her hand out, and Beezerk hopped onto her hand and gently crawled up her arm, his tiny claws helping pull him up to her shoulder.

Poppy turned her head and tried to look at him perched beside her ear. “Ready?” Beezerk gripped a little tightly to her tee-shirt, and they headed to Granny’s house.

Fortunately, Granny was only a couple of minutes away from Poppy’s house. They found her in her garden, weeding her tomatoes.  

Granny looked up. “Poppy! What a nice surp—” Granny stopped and looked at Poppy. “Is that a clyvrol on your shoulder?”

“You can see me?” asked Beezerk in utter surprise.

“You can see him?” asked Poppy trying to look from Granny to Beezerk.

“I can,” said Granny, leaning in to have a closer look at him. “It has been many, many years since I last saw a clyvrol.” She smiled at Beezerk, which made him feel safe. “What’s your name, little fella?”

“I am Beezerk,” he said, inclining his head slightly towards Granny.

Granny continued to smile. “Welcome to my home, Beezerk. I am Emily.” She looked a little closer at him. “You’re injured. Your left wing has been damaged.”

“Yes. And unfortunate collision with an e-bike. Knocked me right out of the air. I landed under a bush on Poppy’s front yard, where she found me.”

“Let me have a look at your wing.” Emily stuck her hand out for Beezerk to hop on. She carried him into the house.

Poppy was stunned. First off, Granny could see—what did he say his name was? Beezerk! Granny could see Beezerk, and she knew that he was a clyvrol! How did she know that? Poppy was so confused. She trailed into the house behind Granny and Beezerk.

When they got to her kitchen, Granny put her hand on the counter for Beezerk to jump onto. She pulled her glasses off of her forehead, and put them on. “Let’s see.” She gently touched Beezerk’s shoulder. “Tell me if it hurts,” she said.

She gently pulled out his wing, which looked an awful lot like a bat’s wing. He winced. “No tears in the skin. That’s good.” She gently ran her fingers along his forearm, and all five “fingers”—the bones where the skin was attached—looking for breaks. “All good here,” she said. “No breaks. I think you might have a dislocated shoulder, Beezerk. I’m going to pop it back in place. It’s going to hurt.”  

“Okay,” He was glad that there were no broken bones or tears in his wing, but not so much about popping his shoulder back in place. But, he needed to get it done.

Emily gently tugged on the fragile wing at the shoulder, rotated it a bit, and there was a small clicking sound. Beezerk made a hissing sound as he exhaled the breath he’d been holding.

“Are you alright?” asked Emily.

“That was a bit more than I was expecting,” said Beezerk slowly opening his eyes, which he’d scrunched tightly against the pain.

Emily gently rotated his shoulder. It moved as it was supposed to. Beezerk looked at her. “It works! And it doesn’t hurt!” He looked at Emily as if she hung the moon. “You fixed me! Thank you! You saved me!” He fluttered his wings and lifted off the counter. “Amazing!” He flew in a circle. “I can fly!” He kept flying faster and faster around the kitchen, bobbing and weaving. He flew circles around Emily and Poppy. He dove from the ceiling, only to pull up in time to skim the floor. He flew all around the house. He came back into the kitchen, and landed in front of Emily and Poppy.

“I don’t know how to thank you—both of you. You saved me. I’m sure something would have found me and eaten me. I owe you my life.” He bowed from the waist, his wings behind him. “I am indebted to you both forever.” Beezerk looked from Emily to Poppy. “For your good deeds today, you will be blessed by magical good. Your hearts are pure, and clyvrols reward pure spirits who strive to help others. When something unexpectedly good happens to either of you, think of me.”

With that he flew out the window, and disappeared from sight.

From that day forward, Emily and Poppy were destined to live good lives as a reward for their kindness.