A New Era 🐹🦇 A Story Whale Finale 🐳

It's time for the final chapter in Ginny and Bruce's tale...

G’day!

It’s finale time!

A massive thank you to everyone who has supported this series. I’ve read some truly lovely words of support.

If you need to catch up, here’s the full chapter list:

And if you’re new here, good timing! You won’t need to wait around for new chapters!

Thank you again and I hope you enjoy the final chapter!

---

Ginny stood by on the branch and waited while Bruce had a long conversation with the community leader of the fruit bats, Buffy. During that time, Ginny got some very confused looks from some of the bats who had been stirred awake by all of the ruckus.

Bruce was pleading with Buffy to get everyone to join his strawberry mission.

“There’s nothing here for us,” he told her. “We search and we search, but there’s just not enough food here.”

“I know,” said Buffy. “I know. But we’re bats, not ants. I’m a leader, not a queen. It’s not my decision.”

“They will do what you tell them to do,” said Bruce. “I know I would.”

“I will let them decide,” said Buffy.

“There’s something else too...” said Bruce.

It was afternoon now. The sun had softened and the bats were waking up for the night ahead. There had been enough time for the gossip and whispers to spread.

Sun setting, Buffy got all of the bats to cluster together.

“So,” said Buffy, “as some of you know, Bruce has found somewhere that we have all been dreaming of. Somewhere with enough food for all of us.”

The bats broke into chatter among themselves. Buffy had to settle them down.

“If you want to join us, we are going to go and visit Bruce’s oasis. This is our chance at starting anew. This is what we’ve been waiting for.”

The bats were thrilled and couldn’t contain their excitement.

“Calm down, calm down,” said Buffy. “There’s a bit more to it. You will notice Ginny standing here beside me on this branch. She’s not a wingless bat. She’s a guinea pig. She’s also the reason we even know about this new paradise.”

Ginny looked around at the community of bats who were all staring at her with different variations of the same puzzled expression.

“Hi,” she said, finding her voice. “My family and community live together in a shrub not too far from here. As you all know, life in this forest is hard. There is twice as much danger as there is food. And we all go to sleep with hungry bellies almost every night. You all have a chance to change that for us. We need your help.”

She explained the plan. The bats were good listeners. Buffy shared her own opinion too.

“It’s the least we can do.”

It turned out that hungry bats are fast and motivated movers.

Bruce’s community kicked into action and got themselves ready to migrate. Ginny was amazed.

Once it was time to go, Bruce and Ginny led the way.

It was quite a short flight compared to Bruce and Ginny’s recent giant voyages.

Rather than overwhelm the guinea pigs back home with a sudden flock of bats, Ginny and Bruce went ahead first while the others waited at a nearby tree.

The guinea pigs were thrilled to see Ginny safe and sound and quickly rushed her to the leader guinea pig, George.

“Ginny!” he said. “You’re ok! We’ve all been so worried. Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I’m sorry, George,” said Ginny. “I just had to go.”

The other guinea pigs had gathered around.

“I found something while I was gone,” she said. “Well, we found something. A new home.”

Some of the guinea pigs began whispering amongst themselves.

“A new home for all of us,” Ginny added.

She turned towards the exit.

“I want to show you all something,” she said.

Ginny led them out of the shrub and nodded up towards the bats waiting in the tree above.

“They’re going to help us,” said Ginny. “They’re going to take us to a paradise where we will be able to eat all of the strawberries we can fit.”

The mention of strawberries excited the crowd.

Ginny looked back to the shrub.

“We can’t keep living like this,” she said. “Searching all day and finding nothing. Just look at our home. It’s dying.”

It was true. The shrub was losing its colour and the leaves were beginning to fall.

There was a long discussion among the guinea pigs. Even George turned to some of the other elders to deliberate.

Eventually, he called for everyone’s attention.

“All those in favour of leaving, say ‘aye’.”

There was a cheer of guinea pig squeeks.

“Aye!”

With everything decided, it was time to get to business. There was no time for mucking around. They were going to get this done tonight.

Introductions between guinea pigs and fruit bats were quickly made. Thankfully, the numbers added up perectly. Each guinea pig would have a bat to carry them, with a few extra bats at the side just in case.

It was take-off time.

With a full moon standing high in the clear dark sky, the flock of bats and guinea pigs took off from the forest floor and took to the air. Any other animals who saw them must have thought they were dreaming.

The flock flew low above trees as Bruce and Ginnny led the familiar journey.

They made good time, moving with the confidence and security of a flock on a mission.

Before dawn, they reached the strawberry paradise. They landed just outside of the world of weaving strawberry vines and then walked in altogether.

The forest had not seen so many smiles in a very long time. A spontaneous party erupted among the fruit bats and guinea pigs. Singing and dancing and a strawberry feast.

Ginny and Bruce stood together and watched the unfolding festivities.

“What now?” Ginny wondered aloud.

Bruce smiled. “I could go for some mango.”