Book 5. Mapuf – the “action hero”!
CHAPTER 22 – Mapuf’s sad day
The Little Pink Ant had been created by Anastasia’s great power of imagination. Timothy only imagined Boss Frog after Anastasia had told him about the Little Pink Ant. So, if there was no Little Pink Ant there could be no Boss Frog. All this is very clear and easy to understand.
But what about Mapuf?
He was different. Anastasia had imagined him seperately and had then given him as a present to the Little Pink Ant. Even if there was no Little Pink Ant, it did not mean that there was no Mapuf! He was a separate magic creation by Anastasia’s imagination – and he still existed!
Mapuf flew around the garden and could see that everything was like a normal garden. Everything, that is, except him. Tears started to run done his stem because of his sadness at loosing the Little Pink Ant. He wanted to be friends with someone, but it was impossible for a magic propeller umbrella flower to be friends with normal creatures. He was absolutely alone.
Mapuf did not understand why the garden was now normal. The Little Pink Ant had not told him what she was going to do. And he could not talk to the Owl to ask his advice.
Mapuf felt that he did not want to live any more. He felt that he wanted to fade away – just disappear like he used to do when the Little Pink Ant did not need him. The Little Pink Ant did not know what happened to Mapuf when he used to disappear. She once asked him, be he could not tell her – because even he did not know!
Anastasia’s greatest gift to the Little Pink Ant was her intelligence and creativity in solving problems. She was not meant to be an “action hero”. But Mapuf was different! Anastasia’s greatest gift to Mapuf – apart from his huge sharp teeth – was his courage. Mapuf was meant to be fearless – and a true “action hero” when the need arose.
“The Little Pink Ant does not need me anymore, but I am still here and I can still do good deeds”, said Mapuf to himself as he tried hard to feel less lonely.
As he said these words to himself, Mapuf suddenly realized something. He was “still here”, he had “not disappeared” – so, the Little Pink Ant must still “need” him!
Mapuf suddenly felt better. He did not know what an “action hero” was, but this is how he now felt. He would save the Little Pink Ant. He did not know how, but he knew that he would.
Being an “action hero”, Mapuf could not be still. He flew around and around the garden until it was dark. Because he was a magic creature he did not get tired. But as night fell he knew that he must stop and think.
Mapuf landed on a tree branch to plan what he should do next.
Suddenly, a voice from the dark said: “Mapuf, I think that I can help you and The Little Pink Ant.”
Mapuf turned to see the Owl. He has never seen an owl before, but he knew who the Owl was because The Little Pink Ant had told him about her friend.
“How?”, pleaded Mapuf.
“The Little Pink Ant is now a little black ant again, and she walks on six legs”, said the Owl. “Everything in the garden has gone back to how it was before Anastasia first imagined The Little Pink Ant and created her.”
“So, Anastasia does not want The Little Pink Ant anymore?” asked Mapuf.
The Owl did not reply for a while. Then he said: “We must know more. Come with me.”
Mapuf followed the Owl as he flew to Anastasia’s bedroom window. Anastasia was sitting on her bed with her pink locket in her hand. She looked around the room and then appeared to call out something; but because the window was closed neither the Owl nor Mapuf could hear.
After watching Anastasia for a while, the Owl said: “I think that Anastasia does not know what has happened. She still thinks that there is a Little Pink Ant. She does not know that somehow her magic imagination has been broken. She needs to imagine again.”
The Owl then explained to Mapuf what he needed to do in the morning. Mapuf became so excited that he wanted to do it immediately and flew off. But then he suddenly realized that he could not do it immediately because he did not know one very important piece of information.
When Mapuf flew back to the Owl to ask for this last piece of information, the Owl said: “I will tell you in the morning.”
“Now I am hungry”, said the Owl, “and I want to find some food. I will return later.” He then flew away.
Mapaf was so excited that he could not keep still. He flew up into the air, then landed on a tree branch, and then flew up into the air again. He did this all night.
Finally, the sun began to rise and the Owl returned.
The Owl looked down on the little black ants hurrying about on their six legs in the garden.
“Which one?” asked Mapuf.
“Not yet”, said the Owl. “There is another problem, and I think that you will need to solve this problem by yourself. If Anastasia did not break the effect of her imagination, then The Little Pink Ant must have. But why?”
“She did not like the fighting”, said Mapuf.
“Ah! Yes, that is it”, said the Owl.
“What? What is it?” asked Mapuf who had not understood the full significance of what he has said.
“The Little Pink Ant must have broken Anastasia’s imagination so that the fighting would stop”, said the Owl. “If the Little Pink Ant returns and you want her to stay, the fighting must be stopped immediately.”
The Owl now looked straight at Mapuf, and said: “When the fighting starts again, Mapuf, you must stop it as fast as you can. You must think very quickly and act very quickly.”
“Yes, yes”, said Mapuf, who was impatient to get into action.
The Owl look down at the little black ants in the garden, and said: “The one climbing to the top of the fence post.”
CHAPTER 23 – Mapuf to the rescue
Mapuf swept down and grabbed the little black ant climbing the fence post on its six legs. The ant was terrified, but Mapuf would never have hurt it for he knew that this little black ant was special. It was really The Little Pink Ant.
Mapuf flew under the front door of the house and was soon in Anastasia’s bedroom. Anastasia was sitting in front of her dressing table mirror brushing her hair when Mapuf put the little black ant right in front of her.
As soon as Anastasia saw the black ant she again thought of The Little Pink. And then the magic of imagination happened again! The little black ant on six legs become The Little Pink Ant on two legs.
“Hello, you are back!” said a delighted Anastasia to the Little Pink Ant. “What happened to you?”
Mapuf was so happy that he nearly forgot what the Owl had told him about quickly stopping the fighting in the garden. When he remembered, he flew outside.
The fighting in the garden was getting worse. For a moment Mapuf did not know what to do. Then he saw Boss Frog.
Mapuf had told the Little Pink Ant that because he was magic he did not need to eat insects like a normal sundew. But he now knew that he must eat something much bigger than any insect—he needed to swallow Boss Frog. And, so he did!
By the time that the Little Pink Ant had managed to run out of the house on her two legs, the fighting in the garden had stopped. Indeed, the fighting had stopped in gardens all over the world.
There was no longer a frog in his garden and Timothy’s imagination could thus no longer work. Everything that he had told other children about his imagination became nothing! All this information disappeared into thin air.
Bloss, Loss and the “Bad Imagination” disappeared just as fast as Boss Frog.
“What happened?” asked Anastasia. “How did you stop the fighting?”
Mapuf did not know what to say. He did not know if the Little Pink Ant would be angry with him for swallowing Boss Frog. Then he burped!
The Little Pink Ant looked at Mapuf in shock. “You swallowed Boss Frog? How? You don’t even have a stomach.”
In fact, Mapuf did not know how he had done it. He did not know if he had a stomach either. Then he burped again!
The Little Pink Ant looked at Mapuf, and gently said to him: “I am not angry with you. You did the right thing. You had no choice because it was the only way to stop the fighting.”
The Little Pink Ant looked around the garden. It was beautiful and peaceful like it normally was. And she understood that gardens all around the world had returned to normal.
Nevertheless, the Little Pink Ant was a little sad about Boss Frog. She remembered that he was the frog who had saved her from the Bad Spider by swallowing him. And, now he had been swallowed because he was behaving in a similar way to the Bad Spider.
Mapuf could see what the Little Pink Ant was thinking. To make her happy, he picked her up and flew way up into the sky. He took her so high that they even went above the clouds, and then he flew her to see many beautiful gardens. He flew all day holding the excited Little Pink Ant.
When evening came, Mapuf took the Little Pink Ant back to her favorite place – Anastasia’s pink locket. But, on the way they stopped to say thankyou to the Owl fall all of his good advice.
That night, the Little Pink Ant slept very well. And Mapuf? Well, he just disappeared – as usual!
….