Dandelion was not like other Boggles. Boggles, when still, look like tree stumps. They are wider than they are tall, and have thick woody legs and arms. Their heads are flat on top. They can run fast, shaking the earth with their heavy feet. Some Boggles carry sticks, banging them on the ground to scare small animals from the underbrush for their dinner.
But Dandelion did not like to run, he preferred to ponder the flowers. Instead of eating fish, squirrels or shrews, he liked to nibble moss and chew the tender bark of baby sugar maple trees. One day, his twiggy fingers were wiggling out the pine nuts from a large cone when Fandang ran by, chasing a water rat and banging his Boggle stick. Dandelion froze in place, hoping Fandang would not notice him. Fandang always made fun of him.
Fandang dazed the rat with his stick, stuffed the limp rodent in a bark bag and turned to Dandelion with a sneer.
“You can unfreeze, Dandelion, I know you are not a stump!!” Fandang jeered. “Want some rat?” Fandang swung his bag near Dandelion’s head, which was home to several yellow dandelions. The bag knocked into a tall dandelion that had gone to seed, and the wind carried seeds up into the sunlight. Fandang struck at the seeds with his stick, but they floated easily away from it, bobbing higher in the turbulence.
“Fandang, why do you hunt rats? They don’t even taste good.” Dandelion asked his question softly, trying to make his question as light as dandelion fluff, but Fandang’s words still struck him heavily.
“Boggles eat meat.” Fandang thrust his flat head toward Dandelion. “Rats give me a fun run, and they don’t get away like those pesky river rats. You should eat meat!”
“Pine nuts are delicious, and I don’t miss meat.” Dandelion rubbed his bark nose.
Fandang gave a disgusted hum
ph. “You’re weird. Why did I have to have you for a brother?” Fandang ran off into the wetlands, squish-squashing as he neared Trickle Brook. Dandelion felt sad as he watched him go, but he munched a few pine nuts and contemplated some dwarf irises.
To read more about Boggles, click here.
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
Inspired by Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Fairy Tale Prompt #3.
18 thoughts on “Flash Fiction: Dandelion the Boggle”
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Friendly Fairy Tales 
That’s a good little story with an interesting argument for a vegetarian diet! 🙂 I think if my options were rats or dolphins I’d be rather partial to pine nuts too! 😉
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See, there you go! Makes perfect sense! LOL Dandelion will be a character in my next kids’ book. I’m glad you liked him.
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Dandelion is a great character and I love the sound of the name, very memorable! I used to watch a TV programme for little ones in the 70’s, a lunch time show. It was called The Herbs. The main character was called Parsley – a name you could never forget! It was great way of teaching little children about herbs! There are a lot of You Tube videos out there, if you want to check them out – it might give you some inspiration. I don’t think there were any fairies in the stories but there was a little bit of magic every now and then, unless I’ve remembered that wrong. It was very sweet and educational at the same time – I still love it now!! 😀
Have you published a children’s book yet? Just wondering, because I’m looking for people I’m following who have their own books, to display them in my sidebar for about six weeks at a time – got a poetry book there now. Just a way of making the blog a little more interesting – it’s free, no charge! 🙂
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Sorry, no. I’m going to a writer’s conference in early May, and I’m looking for advice on publishers. It’s a career change for me, and I haven’t been trying to get published for long. I’m working hard, though, and if hard work can accomplish anything, then one day… 🙂
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I love Dandelion – and not just because he reminds me of how my li’l fingers as a child wiggled out pine nuts from the cones of pine nut tree at the side of my childhood home 😀
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Thanks so much! I’m so happy to have taken you back to childhood! 🙂 Dandelion has a special place in my heart, too.
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😀 Look forward to meeting him 😀
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This is a wonderful story Brenda =)
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Thanks!
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How sweet and lovely!! However, he ate pieces of my bark!! Ouch!! 🙂
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LOL He only eats the part that peels off on its own. 🙂
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Hihi! 🙂 Good!! 🙂
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Dwarf irises always make the world seem better.
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Definitely!
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After 20+ years, I don’t miss meat either. Dandelion and I would get along juuuust fine. 🙂
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I have a special affection for Dandelion. I’m glad you like him, too. 🙂
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there are those beautiful dwarf irises again, i cannot get enough of them. the boggles like mini versions of big foot, but so much cuter. i love them and i love this story.
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Thanks!! They are characters in the novel I’m working on, so I get to see if people like them. Blogging is fun. Thanks for reading!
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