Nerida & Her River Otter Friend Narelle

Nerida is a rather precocious child of five with long auburn hair cascading down her back in natural ringlets, emerald green eyes and an adorable dusting of freckles across her button nose and cheeks. She enjoys spending her days playing outside, running through the forest that surrounds her house and talking to the plants and small animals she comes across. More times than not she finds herself down by the creek that runs through the forest. She enjoys the way it seems to play with the rocks and branches as it bubbles along its path. She often stares at the water to see if she can spot any little fishes swimming in its protective barrier. There have also been occasions when she was walking along the edge of the creek that she had scared a frog or two when she had unknowingly walked by them. The little chirp they let out at the shock of her presence confused her in the beginning at what had made the noise. Then one time she had caught sight of one just before it dove into the safety of the creek. She giggled in delight. She had been unaware frogs could even make such a noise.

So like every day when the weather is nice Nerida is down playing by the creek startling some frogs, giggling and talking to the plants as if they were old friends. There is one tree she always finds herself drawn to. It is a lovely tree that hangs a little over the edge of the creek. She enjoys leaning against the pale gray bark of its trunk watching the water flow by carrying various items big and small as it goes by.

After her fourth visit to the same tree she decided to name the tree. After much thought she decided to name the tree Alice after Alice in “Alice and Wonderland”. It is her favorite story and while she herself doesn’t look anything like Alice she thinks the tree just might, if you squint real hard, with its pale grey bark. When she told her mother the following morning the name she gave the tree her mother looked perplexed. “Dearest” she had said, “It looks nothing like Alice to me but you have a much better imagination then me or your father. So Alice the tree will be.” Her mother then picked her little girl up and gave her a big hug, spinning them around and around at the same time. After the third or fourth rotation, Nerida lost track, her mother put her down then giggled as Nerida tried her best to walk in a straight line out the front door. “Be careful dearest.” Nerida heard her mother call to her as she eventually made her way out the front door, only veering off course a time or two from dizziness.

Half an hour later Nerida is daydreaming about being a tiny leaf floating on the surface of the creek when she hears a voice call her name. It seemed to come from behind her and yet somehow below her at the same time. She tears her gaze from the little leaves and first looks directly behind her. When she sees nothing there she looks down and before her is a little river otter. It's a rather cute animal but slightly scary at the same time. She has never in all of her visits seen a river otter swimming in the creek. She does know that there are some river otters that live in the rivers and lakes nearby that feed the creek so maybe it makes sense. She is still leery of the creature but not wanting to be rude she replies, “Hello Otter. How do you know my name? Have we met before?”

The river otter smiles or rather appears to smile Nerida is not really sure if river otters can smile. She’d think about that later though. The river otter, smiling her maybe smile, replies, “No Nerida we have not officially met. I have heard you speaking to the trees and flowers so I know your name. I am Narelle. I live in the lake with my family. I sometimes follow the river that the lake feeds, then eventually I make my way to this creek.”

Nerida finds herself smiling brightly down at the little river otter. If someone had told her this morning, before she left to come down to play by the creek, that she would become friends with a river otter she probably would not have believed them but the next instance she would have made it her main goal for the day. “So Narelle what are you up to today? Are you on any particular journey?” Nerida asks the otter as if she had known her whole life. She then moves to sit on the banks of the creek so that she can be closer to Narelle so they can visit easier.

Narelle knew she would like the little girl the first time she heard her talking to the other animals, trees and flowers. Now though after only speaking to her in person for only a moment she knows that they will be best friends from that day on. Narelle moves to a large rock closer to her new friend and lays on her stomach to look up at Nerida. She then replies, “Well Nerida this is my only plan for the day. I came here with the sole purpose of visiting with you, for as long as you are able to visit.” After that they fall into a comfortable conversation about themselves and their families. They only stop talking when they notice the day has grown a little darker and Nerida’s mother calls for her to come inside for dinner.

When Nerida hears her mother calling her she turns towards where she knows their house is. Then turns back to her new friend and she says, “I better go inside. Will I see you tomorrow?” Truly she wants nothing more than to stay outside all night with her new friend but she knows that is not possible for a few reasons. The most important of which being that predators roam the forest at night.

Narelle isn’t really sure if she will be able to come back tomorrow but she will try her best. To her friend she says, “I will do my best to come visit tomorrow but I may not be able to. I will see you as soon as I can though. I enjoyed our visit so much today. I can’t wait to do it again.” With that the duo part ways and return to their homes for the day with promises to visit again as soon as it is possible.

Nerida returned to the creek early the next day and spent most of her time by the creek only venturing a few feet away in case Narelle came for a visit. By mid day she realized though that Narelle would not be able to visit today. A little sad but understanding she begins to spend more time in the forest and away from the creek. She chases butterflies and talks to the beautiful flowers they lead her to. She heads home for lunch a little later when she feels the pangs of hunger.

When her mother sees Nerida trudging out of the forest she wonders what could have happened to cause her usually bubbly little girl to look sad. When Nerida makes her way to the kitchen table her mother asks her, “Dearest what is the matter? Why do you seem so sad?” Her mother looks at her little girl but for the life of her she can’t think of anything that could have happened to cause her daughter to be so sad. She wasn’t really prepared for what her daughter told her but at the same time it made her smile.

With a frown upon her face Nerida replies, “Mommy, I’m a little sad because my new friend Narelle could not come visit me today. She must have been busy at home with her family in the lake. While I understand, I really wanted to see her as well.” Nerida can’t help the sniffle that escapes her nor the lone tear that makes its way down her cheek. She quickly catches herself before she can all out cry at the idea of not seeing her friend.

Her mother smiles at her daughter and asks her daughter the one thing at the forefront of her mind, “Dearest who is Narelle? Is Narelle a child you met that lives nearby?” She watches, her heart breaking a little, as her daughter struggles to not cry.

With tears heavy in her voice Nerida replies to her mother, “Narelle is a River Otter I met yesterday while I was playing by the creek. She is so nice. She lives in the lake with her family and comes from there on occasion to see what is going on along the creek.”

Her mother gathered up her daughter and hugged her tightly then replied, “Well dearest river otters are busy creatures. She probably had to stay at home to help her family with river otter things. I’m sure she will return as soon as she can.” Deep down her mother didn’t really think that her daughter had made friends with a real river otter but had created an imaginary friend that just happened to be a river otter. Her words seemed to calm her daughter somewhat and make her smile a hopeful little smile. That smile, as small as it might be, and the innocence behind it always makes her mother feel better and brightens any room her daughter is in. A part of her did believe that her kind hearted daughter had befriended a river otter. It would make a kind of sense in a way. The idea of such a thing made her smile even more.

Mother and daughter spend the rest of the day together walking through the forest, visiting the creek and just having a great time. At the creek Nerida described meeting her friend Narelle and the conversation they had the day before. Just talking about her new friend made Nerida happy and excited for their next visit.

The next morning Nerida again returned to the creek and to her absolute delight Narelle was there waiting for her. Before Nerida had left home her mother had prepared her a sack lunch to bring down to the creek in case she got to see Narelle and ended up spending the whole day visiting and playing with her friend. As soon as Nerida was sitting down at the edge of the creek she said excitedly to her friend, “I am so very glad you were able to visit today. I missed you so much yesterday. I know you must have been pretty busy. My mommy said that you were probably doing river otter things with your family.” Nerida was practically bouncing in excitement as she talked. Narelle couldn’t help the giggle that escaped her as she watched her friend’s excitement.

As Narelle watches she knows that from this moment on they will be the best of friends. So she says to her best friend, “I missed you too Nerida. I’m sorry I couldn’t come visit yesterday. I was pretty busy helping my family prepare for the coming winter and fortifying our home. Unfortunately once the winter does come our visits will most likely be less frequent or possibly stop all together until spring . Once it gets too cold and the snow and ice fall I won’t be able to leave my den or you to leave your house. I’ll come whenever I can though.” She watches as Nerida’s face falls at the thought of not seeing Nerida for possibly months. Narelle smiles her river otter smile and adds, “It won’t be forever. I promise. Until then I will be here as much as possible and we will play and talk and have fun until I have to stay home.” This made Nerida smile brightly. She shakes away the sadness and smiles.

“We will have so much fun until then and when we have to stay at home we can remember each day and all the fun we had.” Nerida replies to her best friend then they begin to play the whole day away and will do so every day they can from that point on.

When winter finally comes they part on the last day with a promise to return to this same spot once the weather turns warm and both can come out and be safe from the cold.

They played together as much as possible after that up until Nerida went off to college. The day she had left for college had been a sad day for them both but they made the same promise they did when they had to stay home for the winter. So every time Nerida came home for a visit she made it a point to visit the creek and see Narelle. When Nerida finished college she moved back home to be closer to her parents and Narelle. When Narelle had her children she began bringing them with her to visit Nerida. Once she had children of her own Nerida had begun bringing with her so that they could enjoy visiting with Narelle and play with Narelle’s children. Everyday they could for many years Nerida and Narelle visited and grew older and raised their children together until one day Narelle did not come but in her place was one of her children.

As time passed Nerida’s visits became less frequent before they stopped completely. Her children continued to visit and their children after them as did Narelle’s children’s children.

THE END