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The Search for BlackBerry Bat Part 1

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For several weeks the FruitBats stayed in their grove and played together under the protective leaves of their trees, bushes and vines. Watermelon led them in many games. Kiwi invented fun gadgets. Grape learned from other animals about the island. Mandarin created tasty treats. Pear and Apple sang songs. Batnana made art. Strawberry always lended a hand with building and Blueberry was sure to help if anyone got hurt. Lemon and Lime gathered the whole Bushel together to host fun parties whenever they found an excuse.

One late afternoon (for that is morning to a bat) Watermelon woke up and swooped out of his hollow watermelon house. Everyone was getting up, but Grape Bat, sitting in his favorite clump of grape vine leaves, looked awfully contemplative for having just awoke. Watermelon decided to go over and find out what’s up.

“Sure is early for thinkin’ so hard,” he said, landing on a leaf and having to scramble up to where his tiny toes could grab the vine. Grape didn’t appear to hear him, so Watermelon poked his ear. “Hello?”

Finally paying attention, Grape wiggled his ear. “Oh, hi, I’ve been thinking!”

“I can tell,” Watermelon replied, “But about what?”

“Well,” Grape looked out across the fruit grove, “About all of us.”

Watermelon tilted his head like a confused puppy.

“You see,” Grape explained, “When the shooting star spread it’s magic over the grove, every fruit plant grew one fruit that became a bat.”

“So we’ve come to learn, yup.”

“So, logically, there should be a BlackBerry Bat!”

Watermelon looked to where Grape was staring, and sure enough, on the edge of the cliff that overlooked the bay, there grew a blackberry bush.

Grape leapt into the air and started flapping his way toward the bush, so Watermelon came along. The other bats, now alert and following their conversation, began to stretch their wings and join them.

“Maybe the magic just missed it,” Lemon suggested shyly as they all gathered in front of the bush.  It’s dark, plump berries looked juicy in the low afternoon sun.

“But what if it didn’t? What if BlackBerry is out there somewhere all alone?” Blueberry chimed in. “That would just be awful!”

“Yes, I don’t think we should take the risk. If there is a BlackBerry Bat out there, then they should be a part of the Bushel!” Watermelon declared.

“Flippidy-piboppidy-wop,” Batnana said as she did a loop-de-loop and landed smack in the blackberry bush with her wings open for a hug. A second later she fell out, hopping around with her eyes crossed in pain. “Owowowowow!” Sticker thorns were all over her. Blueberry and Strawberry came to the rescue: Strawberry holding her still while Blueberry gently and expertly plucked the thorns form Batnana’s belly. Strawberry told them that Batnana was agreeing they needed to find their lost Bushelmate.

“Well that’s one exciting way to start an adventure,” Mandarin Orange Bat said as he joined the circle of on-lookers. “Haven’t even left the grove yet and we have our first accident. I’ve heard of a prickly pear, but a prickly banana is new to me!”

“What adventure?” Apple asked, checking Pear Bat for thorns. The Bushel turned expectantly toward Watermelon.

“We,” he said, lifting one wing into the air dramatically, “are going to find BlackBerry Bat!

“We are?” Grape asked, looking a little worried. “Oh my.”

 

 

Introductions #8 Blueberry Bat

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Meet Blueberry Bat. She is the nurturer of the bushel. Whenever anyone gets hurt, she is there with her little first aid bag and knowledge of herbs to make them all better, and lots of hugs of course! It’s always a good idea to have a healer on an adventure, and that is Blueberry’s purpose. She also has a weakness for adorable things, and will go all squishy when those puffy little cotton ball FluffBats come by to gossip about Willowyk Islands current news!

Introductions #5 Lemon and Lime

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Lemon and Lime are always together and will not be separated! They complement each other perfectly. Lemon is shy and sweet, easy to startle but always optimistic. He loves making lemonade for the Bushel on warm evenings, and at the parties that Lime is so fond of throwing. Lime loves to plan and host parties for the whole Bushel. When he plans a party in his Lime tree, the whole orchard lights up and it’s the best event on Willowyk Island. He’s loud and hyper, and always up for fun. When Lemon gets skittish if an adventure gets scary, Lime is always there to cheer him up and promises to protect him. He always finds ways to get Lemon to come out of his shell.

Introductions #4 Mandarin Orange Bat

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Mandarin Bat is the “class clown” and also passionate about cooking! When things get serious, you can rely on him to get the mood fun again. He spends lots of his time baking, creating new tasty treats for all the Bushel to enjoy. One of his favorites is dream sickle cinnamon rolls with orange drizzle. YUM! In fact, there is a whole story based around his cooking. If you know about the CupCake Bat, you have met one of his proudest creations! She is his masterpiece, and he fell quite head over tail for her, but that’s a whole story, so we will get to it after the introductions!

Introductions #3 Batnana

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The Bushel would all agree, Batnana is the cute one. And the artistic one. And the weird one. Batnana is like the little sister, even though all the bats came to life on the same night. They feel very protective of her.  She has never gotten over the fact that she is now a bat, and will follow behind the rest of the Bushel doing barrel rolls and loop-de-loops in the sheer appreciation of being able to fly! Batnana never goes anywhere without her paintbrush and is always drawing and painting. Adding to her eccentricity, Batnana is unable to speak the same language as the other bats, as she only communicates in a cute version of Jazz scat. Luckily, her best friend Strawbatty has come to understand her, and can translate to the others. Fun fact: Batnana is the only of the fruits to have an eye color other than black. Around her eyes is a sparkling blue. The others guess this is because she just seems to see the world a little differently from everyone else.

 

Introductions #2 Grape Bat

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Grape Bat is the Spock to Watermelon’s Kirk. Watermelon Bat likes to keep him close while on adventures, because Grape Bat is a keen observer and very well read (for a Bat that came to life from a fruit)! He is logical and thoughtful. Sometimes it’s hard to get him out of his head long enough to come on adventures, but once the Bushel gets going and there are problems to solve and new things to discover, he forgets his hesitation. To Grape Bat, nothing is more important than knowledge! He likes to tell everyone in the fruit grove about all the things that he learns, even when they might be busy with other things. Mandarin Orange likes to poke fun at him sometimes for being such a bookworm, but it’s all in fun. On a sunny day on Willowyk Island, you are most likely to find Grape Bat snuggled up with a book in the grape leaves.

Introductions #1 WATERMELON BAT

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If we are going to start with introductions, it is only right to introduce Watermelon Bat first, as he is  undoubtedly the leader of the Bushel! A good moderator and loyal to his friends, he is brave and makes sure to involve everyones talents when problems arise on adventures. When something goes wrong, the Fruitbats know they can count on Watermelon to fix it. Level headed and fair, he is also a good bat to go to if there is an argument. He has made it his responsibility to keep the Bushel happy, safe, and healthy, and that means adventures! Because there is nothing more healthy than a good adventure!