Rabadaba awoke to the sound of robins chirping nearby. The early morning light shone through the window of his hut illuminating his small living quarters. He hopped out of bed wondering what new adventures the day might bring. As he was thinking about how he had nothing to fix for breakfast, he heard a muffled knock on the door. It was a knock he recognized. He jumped up from his bed and hurried to the door to answer it.
As he pulled open the door, the smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies wafted into his hut. There by the door stood the mama bear, Heatherperk holding a heaping plate of cookies. "Good morning, Rabadaba!" She said while gesturing at the cookies in her paws,"would you like some cookies?" Excitedly Rabadaba wolfed down s couple of cookies. Cheeks stuffed full of cookies, he realized he had forgotten his manners "thank you," he mumbled the best he could around the cookies in his mouth.
"You're very welcome," she replied, beaming at Rabadaba. "I was just going to take some cookies to my good friend VIA. Would you like to join me?" Rabadaba nodded his head while trying to swallow the cookies that he had attempted to eat too quickly. They headed out the door together. Rabadaba started towards the cafe since that was where they had seen VIA before, but Heatherperk quickly pointed him in the opposite direction.
"VIA's not at the cafe today. We're going to go visit him at his home. I think I may have upset him earlier by tipping his artwork even though he didn't want me to. Now he's disappeared from the Cafe, so I wanted to bring him cookies as an apology." The two headed up the path in a direction Rabadaba had not explored yet.
He found himself wondering where VIA the fish actually lived and how he travelled around to get to the cafe. That's when he notices a small shimmering stream running along side the path. Apparently he had been so busy exploring with his new friends that he hadn't bothered to look down at the ground. He pointed the stream out to Heatherperk. "Oh yeah, the streams." She explained, "you'll see those all over. VIA has a very large family and of course they all need a way to travel around so there are streams that run alongside the paths. They're so quiet that most of us even forget that the streams are there." Rabadaba felt relieved that he wasn't the only one who didn't always notice the streams.
They followed the path for a distance until they come to a spot where the stream drifted away from the path. Then they ventured into the woods following the stream until the came out into a beautiful clearing. On the other side of the clearing, a small waterfall splashed into a clear shimmering pool of water. Rabadaba stopped in his tracks mesmerized by the beauty in front of him.
Then he came back to reality as he heard Heatherperk calling out "VIA! I know you're around here somewhere. I brought you cookies! Please don't be upset with me anymore." VIA, the silver fish, popped up from under some nearby water lilies. "How could I stay upset with you?" He sighed. "You know my weakness for baked goods." And with that, he smiled as he ate a few of the cookies Heatherperk had set down on a water lily pad near him.
"Oh hi Rabadaba!" VIA exclaimed. "I didn't notice you there before. Welcome to my home! What can I do for you?" "Well," Rabadaba the Rabbit replied shyly. "I have been wondering if you finished the painting I saw you working on the other day. I was curious what kind of picture you were creating."
"Oh that," VIA laughed. "I was just painting our mystery man Q." With that he gestured over to the side of the stone cliff near the waterfall. There hanging on the wall were 9 canvases hung in a square. An owl wearing a mask was depicted soaring through the air with wings spread wide across all the canvases. "I was hoping maybe if I drew him, I would be able to figure out his true identity."
"It's wonderful!" Rabadaba exclaimed. "I've been trying to figure out that mystery myself but unfortunately there are still so many other animals that I haven't met yet so I have a feeling I haven't met his alter ego yet." Heatherperk and Rabadaba sat down on the pond bank near where VIA was floating. The three spent the morning enjoying the freshly baked cookies while they speculated about Q's true identity.
In the distance an owl sat perched in his tree grinning. He had overheard their conversation and knew they would never be able to guess his true identity. He was simply too clever at never leaving any clues behind.
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