Wet dragonflies

Leafkit woke up early and at first did not understand what had attracted his attention. He lay under his mother’s warm side, feeling her warming breath, and thoughtfully looked at the exit from the nursery, slightly shaking his still rather heavy head. There were no other queens and their kittens, they were only alone with their mother, so nothing distracted the baby from contemplation. He squinted, looking at the outside looking out from behind the branches and moss, and blinked, not understanding what had changed. Only when the mother, stretching, slightly leaned away from him, stretching out her paws, did Leafkit understand what had happened. The sound of the white flies falling from the sky changed. Previously, it was a dull, barely audible noise, similar to the fall of something soft and fluffy. However, as the white flies littered the ground, they actually became soft. It was pleasant to run on them, although they were cold on the tender pads of the paws. Lying on the ground, the white flies became as pliable and fluffy as the moss mats in the nursery. However, now the sound of falling white flies was completely different. And the flies have changed. They are no longer white and slow. Sweeping down with lightning speed, they turned into water dragonflies and fell to the ground with a characteristic “Squish!” The squelching sounds of hundreds of wet dragonflies mixed together, and Leafkit’s sensitive ears tucked in fear. He fluffed up, becoming a little larger, jumped off the mat and, backing sideways, got to the very exit. The water dragonflies created many large, gloomy puddles on the ground outside. Their surface bubbled as more and more dragonflies fell into the water, and the squelching here sounded stronger and more ominous. Surprised, Leafkit craned his neck, sniffed, but did not smell anything except the dampness of the earth and the tart smell of moss. “Mom!”, he squeaked quietly, but the queen cat heard him anyway and stood up, yawning. “What is it, honey?” she purred, licking her son between his ears. “Mom, ah… where did the white flies go?” Leaf turned his perplexed yellow gaze on her. “Oh,” the cat queen chuckled slightly. She sat down on the threshold of the nursery and hugged the kitten to her, wrapping her luxurious red tail around him. Baby Leafkit closed his eyes, absorbing the familiar smell of milk and warm wool, and the cat quietly said: “When you were born, it was the time of the Bare Trees. Do you remember, they had no leaves at all?” “Yeah.” “White flies love Naked Trees. They always arrive when the leaves have all fallen to the ground. They are probably afraid that the trees will freeze, so they rush to cover them with themselves. Do you remember how the branches were all covered in white flies?” “Yes!” Leafkit’s yellow eyes flickered. “Darkpaw complained that white flies made it difficult for her to climb trees. And Oattail said that if there was no cover on the trees, they could get sick and die. He even saw such a tree, but it was far in the forest, so he He didn’t show it to me.” The cat smiled softly. “See,” she purred. “That’s exactly how it is. If there are no white flies, then it will be cold for both the trees and the bushes. And now there are new leaves and flowers on them. That’s why the white flies are gone. The time of the Young Trees has begun.” “Oh,” Leafkit became slightly depressed. “But… they’ll come back?” “Of course. When all the leaves fall from the trees again, the white flies will return. You will see them again, I promise.” “Ah… what are these wet dragonflies?” Leafkit, curious, stuck his nose out. A drop of moisture splashed onto his nose, and he recoiled back with a squeak, under the protection of the mother cat. “Oh, it’s cold!” The mother cat laughed softly. “When the white flies leave, it becomes hot in the forest. The puddles from the flies dry up, the river is far away. The trees want to drink in order to continue to provide us with protection from the sun. Then wet dragonflies appear. When they come, the sky darkens and can even growl. And then wet dragonflies fall from above. They create puddles that feed the trees, provide water to us and to all other living inhabitants of the forest. While the trees are young, there are always many of these dragonflies. There is no need to be afraid of them, although, of course, it is not bad to sit in tent, because dragonflies are very wet, and your fur may not like it,” she, smiling, stroked the cowlick on her kitten’s head with her paw. Nodding, Leafkit looked at the wet dragonflies with a new look. The sky was indeed gloomy, but a strip of light behind the hills meant that everything would soon stop. Realizing this, the kitten sighed and buried his nose in his mother’s fur. “That means I won’t be able to go for a walk today,” he muttered, and the cat queen, understanding his mutterings, said softly: “It’s okay. I’m sure Darkpaw will still come to you to tell you about what she saw on the hunt.”