What was happening in the woodland burials site?

By Hazel Metherell

 

Well me and my friend Fuchsii were just sunbathing one day. She is farther past it for this year than I am. You should have seen her in her prime; all pink with dainty darker tracery around her lower petals. Dozens of flowers in the spike, beautiful blotches on her leaves. Loads of seeds she had this year. But now she only has a bit of stem left and a couple of rather withered leaves. Lovely juicy root bulb though, at least so she said.

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I have done not so bad myself. My creamy red- green flowers were less showy, but very elegant. My broad leaves very, well, broad really. My sort don't go in for blotches on the leaves. Don't know why, that is just the way it is.

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So there we were, minding our own business, when some people arrived. They starting digging up Fuschii and her family. What was going on? The lumps of clay soil with their roots in were tossed into buckets and carried off. There I was, and there she wasn't. Then someone put a white marker next to me, rather like the one that had been beside Fuschii before. I was very suspicious of these people but they soon went away.

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Well, my flowers faded, and leaves too. My seeds all scattered around but my root ball juicy like a fist of fresh macaroni. And all of a sudden there were the people again, with spades. This time they dug up me and all my family.  Into the buckets. But we were taken to another part of the wood, and put into holes in the ground. And there, rather bedraggled, but fine, was my friend! I was ever so pleased to see her, but what was it all about? She told me that the part of the wood we were in first was going to be flattened to build an 'aywun', so we were moved to another part of the wood which would be safe. So the people with spades and buckets were good guys after all!

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Thanks from Fuchsii

( Common Spotted Orchid,  Dactyloryza fuschii to give her her Sunday name)