Based on true events
“Rivers are roads for lazy people.” Such is the definition of “ River” in the Herbal Dictionary for Plants. If this was so or was not so, few plants were able to tell, for few ever returned from a trek down a river. But one little character did do so, a character as sharp in mind and body as a pin. And this quaint personage was a pine needle shaken from an immense and wonderful Jack Pine which was the lone native plant on a quiet urban street. At first the needle settled quite cozily beside a pathway nearby and there lay for many days. He soon grew weary, for the Tea Roses which hedged the path were so prickly that they hardly deigned to start a pleasant conversation, and the Dandelions only sent out little umbrellas on the wind when addressed. These were for the insects to use. A House Mouse scurried by, but he was nibbling pine needles, and quite certainly not befriending them. And so the Jack Pine needle had to wait there to be parched by the sun. The process of parching, though, did not last long, for hardly had the needle lightened one shade when a cloud sped over the sun and blocked its rays. Then another, and another, each combining its scowling grey with the other, and colliding and joining and transforming. Finally, the sun had not a crack to peep through, and the clouds, which had seemed glowering when separated, now brightened to a sheep white and down came a torrent of rain. It only lasted a minute or two, but hardly had a few seconds passed when the needle noticed in terror that a great flood of water was surging up the path directly towards it, rushing, and gurgling, and tumbling at a speed higher than a Jack Pine itself. With a terrified squeak, the pine needle found itself swept away on a road of running water. Yes, it was on a river suited to its size, and as the Dictionary for Plants had described it, it was a good road for lazy people. For no effort was needed to proceed forward, because anything upon its surface is simply thrust along by sheer force. The river journey of the needle was quite smooth to begin with, but then there came an area in which the waterway grew shallower, and the needle found itself darting forward like a mad bull. There were dips in the surge, very small dips, but very large for the needle who went bounding along them like a waterlogged seesaw.
To be continued...