Annabelle in the Woods #3: Annabelle Visits the Insect Village
Here is the third in the Annabelle in the Woods series. I used acrylic and gouache.
In a lush meadow in the woods, Annabelle came across the
most delightful little village. The village was very tiny, yet with a robust
population, yet not overcrowded….a riddle indeed! But the riddle is solved
easily, because Annabelle was in a village of miniature…the insect village.
Instead of a village of men, women and children, the village was full of grasshoppers,
bumble bees and ladybugs.
Annabelle had been drawn to the village after
noticing a large blue beetle glistening on a tree trunk. She quietly sneaked up to
it but the little creature was startled and fluttered zipped away through the
air. Annabelle went chasing after it. But she was stopped when she heard a
chorus of little voices saying “Stop, or you will trample us all!” She stopped
in the nick of time. If she had put her foot one step further, she would have
crushed a little acorn that was also a house.
“How do all you little insects of so much variety live
together in peace?” Annabelle asked, her voice thundering around the village.
The cricket told her a little story full of little chirps
and squeaks. “Once a long time ago, we didn’t live in an insect village. I
lived in a cricket village. Bob lived in a bee village. Lacey lived in a lady
bug village. Sometimes we’d see members from other bug villages, but we mainly
ignored them.
Then one day the ravens swooped down and ate all the tinkerbugs.
Not familiar with tinkerbugs, you say… well, that is because they are extinct
now. If the bees had been there, they could have stung the raven. If the
crickets had been there, they could have distracted the raven with a song, and
if the lady bugs had been there, they could have charmed the raven with their
cuteness. That is when we learned we are stronger together then apart. The
raven hasn’t bothered us once since we have joined forces.”
“The insects are wise” Annabelle thought as she carefully
explored the beautiful town.