Ashton and the Bogworts

Ashton was in the backyard, alone and bored. His brother Aaron and sister Ella were gone at school. His younger sister Livia was taking a nap, as was littlest brother Preston. Ashton was all alone on the swing set and bored, bored, bored. After going back and forth on the swing for a little bit a feeling of thirst pushed through the boredom and he jumped off and ambled over to the grapevine. He had just reached out for a juicy bunch of grapes when a small hand reached out from the other side and grabbed it first. He almost fell over, he was so surprised. He knew about Jake and Julie, of course, but it had always been Ella who they talked to before.
“Those are my grapes.” He protested.
“Oh really,” answered Julie, from the other side of the vine, “Did you plant them?”
Ashton shook his head no.
“Water them?” asked Julie, “Weed them, fertilize them, pollinate them or pick little bugs off of them?”
Ashton sort of looked down at the ground and again shook his head no.
“In that case, I guess I can share some anyway,” said Julie and she neatly broke the bunch in half and handed some to Ashton. “After all, it’s only fair to share with a fellow adventurer. We could use your help with a little Bogwort problem we’ve been having”.
“You need my help?” breathed Ashton. This was so cool, he was the only one there and Julie the elf was asking for his help.
“You’ll have to check with your Mom,” replied Julie, “but help is always good when Bogworts are around.”
“Hurry and ask,” put in Jake, “We’ll be right here.”
Ashton quickly ran into the house. Mom was reading on the sofa and Ashton bounced up next to her and whispered (so he wouldn’t wake Livia or Preston, “Mom, can I go help Jake and Julie? They said they needed me.”
Mom looked Ashton in the eye, “You can go with Jake and Julie, but you have to promise me you won’t cross any roads.” They lived in a small block with an alley behind the house. You couldn’t go very far if you didn’t cross any roads to get there.
“I promise,” said Ashton, “Thanks Mom” and he gave his mom a quick hug and headed back outside.
It was only 50 feet back to the grapevine but Ashton was breathless when he arrived. “Is it Bogworts?” he asked when he got there, his face pushed into the leaves as far as he could. He could see nothing but big green leaves until Jake reached out a hand and pulled him through a gap in the big vine. “It seems like it’s always Bogworts” replied Julie when he was through. “If we don’t do something fast we could lose the best raspberry patch for miles.”
“How can I help?” asked Ashton with a big grin. He loved raspberries and he had a pretty good idea that if he could help Jake and Julie with their Bogwort problem he could end up with at least a good sized handful of them.
“We’re really not sure of a plan,” answered Jake, who almost always had a plan for everything. “They’ve managed to get a garbage pile going so fast and so big it could take serious magic to get rid of it before it piles into, on top of, and all over the raspberries.”
“Let’s go,” broke in Julie, looking up at the sun. “I’d sure like to see what we could get done before we have to get Ashton home.” With that, she started jogging down the path into the forest that by anything Ashton could think of should be in the middle of the neighbor’s back yard. For some reason it just wasn’t there when the kids were with Jake and Julie.
“Serious magic,” thought Ashton, not even noticing that he wasn’t getting tired as he ran along for a pretty long time with Jake and Julie. “I’d really like to see some serious elf magic.” It seemed like it was about 15 minutes later that Julie signaled them to slow down to a quiet jog. The three of them slipped off the path and into some undergrowth across a clearing from a huge garbage pile of beer cans, pizza boxes, potato chip bags and candy bar wrappers. Bogworts apparently didn’t much go for fresh vegetables or anything else that didn’t come out of a can, box, or BHT soaked wrapper.
“Where’s all the Bogworts?” asked Ashton in a very quiet whisper.
“It’s just after lunch,” answered Jake. “Or at least just after a really late breakfast,” Julie put in as she looked carefully at the giant trash pile and stood up out of the bushes. “It’s still best to be careful though,” she went on quietly, “there could still be someone around and we don’t want any trouble.”
Just then they heard a rustling in the bushes behind them and a somewhat larger elf than either Jake or Julie stepped through the low plants at the edge of the woods. “It looks like we made it here just in time,” said the new elf, without even whispering.
“Hi Earl,” greeted Jake, “This is our friend Ashton. He came here to help with the trash problem that seems to be growing here.”
“Ashton,” went on Julie, “this is Earl the elf. He lives in our village.”
“Hmmm,” muttered Earl as he looked down at Ashton. He was more than a head taller than either Jake or Julie, and they were bigger than Ashton, even a little bigger than his sister Ella, and she was just finishing third grade. “He looks like he could help sneak around to see how we can get those Bogworts for piling their trash in our forest.” Earl looked at the trash pile and then to each side along the edge of the woods. “Come on Ashton, you come with me this way and Jake and Julie can go that way and we’ll meet on the other side of the trash. That way we can be sure none of those rotten Bogworts are around and we can set a trap without anyone seeing.” Without even seeing what anyone else thought he took Ashton’s hand and headed around to the left of the trash mound.
“What about a plan?” whispered Julie, in a pretty loud whisper, so Earl could hear as he headed away.
“Plans are for weaklings,” answered Earl over his shoulder as he guided Ashton along.
Jake looked like he was going to say something loud, but Julie pulled him over to the right side and just whispered, quietly this time, “Come on, we need to scout around to the other side before Ashton gets to the ‘you know what’ and there’s trouble.” Jake had a questioning look in his eyes and then he realized what Julie meant and he nodded and moved silently back into the trees and moved along, keeping the trash pile in sight. Jake and Julie could move really fast without a sound when they wanted to, and now they really wanted to.
Earl and Ashton went around the left, a little closer to the trash pile, and not as quiet, but still not so loud that a Bogwort would be able to notice them. As they moved along, Ashton noticed two things at almost the same time. A somewhat small Bogwort was sitting at the edge of the trash pile seemingly hard at work on something in his hands. The second thing Ashton noticed was that he was sitting on the other side of a small road that led to the trash pile.
Ashton froze as they came closer to the road. “I told my Mom that I wouldn’t cross any roads,” he whispered urgently to Earl. “I just can’t do that.”
Earl looked over at the small Bogwort and then down at Ashton. “It’s just a road,” he said, “There’s not even a Bogwort cart in sight. I’ll make sure you cross safely.”
Ashton just stood there staring at the road. Just as Earl was taking hold of his arm Julie appeared behind them from the woods. “We’ve looked all around the other side,” she said, “There’s just this little Bogwort. I can’t tell what he’s doing, but he sure is interested in it.”
“Perfect,” answered Earl, “I’ve got just the thing for this nasty little Bogwort.” He started to pull a fine rope out of his pack.
“This isn’t just about Bogworts Earl,” Jake piped in, appearing soundlessly from the woods. “We need to figure out how to get rid of all this trash.”
“First I’ll take care of the little Bogwort, and then we can figure out the trash,” replied Earl. He didn’t take his eyes off the Bogwort.
“Come on Ashton,” whispered Julie, “I know a shortcut to the other side of the road without crossing it.” Ashton wondered how that could work, but he followed Julie into the woods where she took off running down a twisting path to the right. It seemed to Ashton that they were only running for a few moments when they arrived in the woods a little behind the Bogwort, without ever crossing the road. Earl was standing in the clearing, just out of the woods, just a little ways from the Bogwort, who was still doing something with a piece of trash in front of him.
Earl started swinging his rope that had a heavy pinecone tied to the end. It was pretty clear to Ashton that Earl was going to hit the Bogwort with the pinecone. That didn’t seem like a very nice thing to do to anyone; especially someone who didn’t seem to be doing anything to hurt anyone else. Ashton wished Aaron or Ella was there, but with them at school there was no one but him with Jake and Julie. They were both looking at Ashton, with a little bit of a question in their eyes. Ashton looked at Earl swinging the pinecone really hard and knew what he had to do.
With a quickness you had to know Ashton to understand, he ran at Earl and tackled him with a hard jump onto his back. Earl went down like a sack of potatoes with Ashton right on top of him. As Earl struggled to get up Ashton grabbed the rope and pinecone and threw them into the woods. It wasn’t until Ashton got off him that Earl was able to stand up. His eyes were angry as he looked down at Ashton. “I’ll get you for that,” he threatened as he bunched up his fists and took a step forward. Jake and Julie both quickly jumped between Ashton and Earl. “It’s easy to pick on someone smaller than you,” said Jake, who didn’t look even a little worried. “The two of us add up to about your size,” went on Julie, “if you want to start something, why don’t you try us?” She wasn’t holding anything but there was a long stick near her feet that Ashton could just imagine would be in her hands to break over Earl’s head if he made a move.
Earl seemed like he could imagine that too as he gave a small snarl, “You’re all going to get it from me,” and he ran back into the woods. It seemed to Ashton that Earl made way too much noise for an elf. The way he crashed through the bushes was louder and clumsier than Ashton knew even he could move. Ashton turned around to see the little Bogwort. “Who are you?” the Bogwort asked, looking Ashton straight in the eye.
“I’m Ashton,” he replied, “and these are my friends Jake and Julie.” He paused for a moment. “They’re elves,” he finished. The Bogwort looked at Jake and Julie’s pointed ears, light build and green clothes and nodded. “I figured,” he answered. “My name’s Bob. Bob the Bogwort, but you can just call me Bob if you want.”
“What are you doing?” asked Julie, looking at the piece in Bob’s hand. It was a can, paper removed and the sides cut in varying strips. Some of the strips were curled into tight rings. It looked not a bit like trash. More like something being made… maybe even something kind of pretty.
Bob looked suddenly bashful. “It’s just something I like to do.” He answered. “I like to turn ugly things into something nice. This can be a little doll chair when I get done. I like to give them to little kids for toys. Some little ones don’t have any toys you know.” Ashton looked hard at Bob. He couldn’t be sure, but it seemed like Bob’s ears were getting just a little pointed, like Jake and Julie’s.
“Hmmm,” hummed Julie, “We have a problem with trash here and you seem to be able to turn it into toys.” She looked thoughtfully at the pile of trash.
Bob looked at the trash. It was a really big pile. “I don’t think I could do anything about that big of a pile,” He said with a sad regret. “I just can’t work that fast.”
Ashton looked at Jake and Julie. He wished his brother and sister, Aaron and Ella were there. They had really good ideas sometimes. Then it seemed to pop into his head what Ella would say. “Isn’t there some kind of elf magic that could help Bob get more done?” he asked.
Julie looked thoughtfully at Bob. He did seem a little slimmer than your typical Bogwort. And yes, his ears were definitely getting pointy. “It takes an elf to do elf magic,” she said, looking Bob right in the eye. “Tell you what,” she went on, “Bob, you and Ashton stay here and see what you can do about making trash into toys while Jake and I go see what we can do to tangle up that road the Bogworts use to get here.” As she and Jake skipped off down the road she looked back at Ashton and Bob. “Don’t worry,” she called, “Have fun and you’ll be done before we get back. And that won’t seem like more than a couple of minutes.” With that they vanished around a corner.
Ashton looked at Bob with some doubt, “Do you think you could show me how you do that?” Bob smiled back, “I’ve wanted to show people what I do for the longest time.” With that he showed Ashton how to turn cans into doll furniture, pizza boxes into little houses and wrappers into shiny stars. They had only been at it for the blink of an eye when Jake and Julie came running down a path out of the woods. Ashton looked down at a little pile of toys at his feet. There was no more trash anywhere to be seen. “How…?” he muttered at Jake and then he looked at Bob.
Jake scooped up the toys and put them into his pack. “I know some kids who would love these,” he said. “They live over in the elf village. Bob do you want to take them there? I’ll bet you would know just how to get there.” Ashton looked at Bob and realized he was looking at an elf. The Bogwort he had been was gone and he was now a slim elf; pointy ears, green clothes, a fun little smile and just a hint of sparkle on his cheeks. “I’ll see you there at dinner,” said Bob the elf, “I know where I can get a big bunch of raspberries on the way.” And with that he skipped off through the woods without a sound.
“Come on Ashton,” said Julie, “We have one last problem. There’s about a thousand Bogworts following us and we need to lead them around in a circle to finish the spell that tangles the road so they can’t use it to find their way back here ever again.” She took Ashton’s hand and led him off into the woods. “Have you ever heard about plan number seven?” Ashton ran along with Julie, real excitement rising up inside him. Aaron had told him about plan number seven and he couldn’t believe he would get to be a part of it. “Can I be the rabbit?” he asked as they came into sight of the Bogworts, “I can run really fast.”
“Perfect,” said Jake as he ran ahead to the right, “you lead them in a circle that way. We’ll take care of the rest.” Julie peeled off to the left and Ashton was alone with all the Bogworts running towards him.
As they got close, Ashton thought he recognized the lead Bogwort. It looked just like Earl.
“I see you,” shouted the Bogwort that looked like Earl. “I told you I’d get you and now you’ll never get away. Get him you guys.”
Ashton smiled a sad little smile. Earl might have once known about plan seven, but that was when he was an elf. “You’ll have to catch me first,” he yelled as he turned to run where Jake had showed. Bogworts could just never seem to avoid chasing anything smaller than they were when it was running away from them. Ashton ran just fast enough to keep the Bogworts from thinking they couldn’t catch him. Earl was big and should have been able to catch up in no time, but he must have eaten too much cold pizza and he seemed to catch his feet on every vine and bush that Ashton ran past.
Plan seven needed them to stay close though, so Ashton let them get ever closer to catching him. He could almost feel them grabbing his neck. It was tricky running so close to the Bogworts. Ashton hoped Jake and Julie would start plan seven soon. At just the time he was hoping this, he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye…both eyes really. Jake and Julie came swinging down out of trees on both sides of the trail Ashton was running on. Jake scooped up Ashton and they were both standing in the tree that Julie had been on moments before…before she swung across the trail. Jake gave Ashton a reassuring pat on the shoulder and a whispered, “good job” before he swung down again, to stay on the ground this time.
Jake and Julie took off, slowly running in opposite directions, leaving the Bogworts in a terrible frenzy about which direction to run. If they had really wanted to lose them, Jake and Julie could have walked away carrying a big sign that said, “Elves going this way !!” and the Bogworts would have had trouble finding them. As it was they stopped to pick some really good looking berries along the way, stop to warn a passing rabbit to get off the trail, and discuss racing strategy with a passing turtle. By this time Earl managed to split the Bogworts into two groups. One group running after each elf. Ashton stayed up in his tree, very quietly, and watched the whole thing.
When Jake and Julie circled back to cross paths with each other, the colliding groups of Bogworts made any pursuit hopeless. Jake and Julie skipped along through the branches while the Bogworts argued about which trail each group was supposed to follow. Earl’s yelling could be heard above it all, and he didn’t sound happy, or elf-like, at all. The Bogworts probably would take a day or two to find their way back to their village, and never would be able to find the road to their former garbage dump.
Jake and Julie came back and picked up Ashton and brought him back to the grapevine. “Did Earl really turn into a Bogwort? And did Bob really turn into an elf?” asked Ashton as he crawled through into his own back yard.
“Bogwort is as Bogwort does” answered Jake, with a sad smile. “And elf is as elf does,” went on Julie with more of a happy smile. As Ashton turned to the vine to say goodbye, Julie handed out a big bag of raspberries. “You were a big help,” she said, “Please give these to your mom with our compliments.”
Ashton went into the house just before Aaron and Ella got home from school. Livia and Preston were just getting up from their naps. Everyone thought raspberries, with a little cream and sugar was a wonderful afternoon treat.
After that, every time he did something especially good, Ashton would check his ears, just in case. You could never be sure.
The End

PS: Just a note from Grandpa-- The idea of turning trash to toys came from stuff my dad used to do. He really could turn a tin can into a very cute doll chair. He even taught me to do it. Maybe I could show you some time.

© Roy E. Moxley 2011, all rights reserved