Elora was hanging upside down. In the dark. From the ceiling. As was her nature- her wings were wrapped around her tiny body as she sensed day give way to night and the moon’s rays shine, her little eyes opened. More importantly her ears perked up. Elora was a small bat and bats fly best in the darkness because they can sense their surroundings through sound.

Elora stretched her wings and released her grasp from the ceiling, falling just a bit before flapping her wings and taking flight into the crisp night air. Elora’s mother and father often told her not to fly off alone, but she was young and wanted to experience all the interesting things the world had to offer! She was constantly trying to make new friends but, so far, had little success. Her most recent attempt had gotten her into some trouble when she tried to befriend the snake. Fortunately her parents had been around to swoop in and save her.

This night Elora decided she would say hello to the mice. The mice had always intrigued her. They were consistently hanging out together and she found them quite cute. She flew around for a while before spotting a cluster, or a Mischief as they are referred to in a group, and so she swooped down. In an attempt to make an impression she did one somersault, and then another, in mid-air, just above their heads. But something was wrong- the mice seemed panicked and they started frenetically running about. Elora swooped down closer to them, flying back and forth over them asking what was wrong. But it seemed the more she flew around, and the more concerned she got, the more they ran away. She finally found several huddled against a log and she landed in front of them. Before she could even say hello the biggest one yelled: “Get away from us!” And lashed out with his claws making a mean sound and bearing his teeth. Elora was surprised and tried to say sorry but the big mouse yelled again: “Get away!”

Saddened, upset, and confused Elora flew off into the night. She thought about all her efforts to make friends and how none of them had worked. She thought about how the snake had been dangerous and the mice had been mean. From that night on Elora stopped trying. She decided it better to be friends with the other bats. The other creatures had hurt her and so she concluded the world was a mean place.

Elora grew into a fine bat. She was one of the best fliers and her ears were so attuned she could often hear things even the other bats could not. One night she was out for some exercise and when flying around heard many, many squeaks- they did not sound like happy squeaks. They sounded like trouble. She flew toward the noises and found the snake was after the mice. Elora knew that not many things preyed on her and her kind but everyone was afraid of the snake, especially the mice. Elora remembered her parents and how they had helped her when she had tried to befriend the snake. They only reason they had been able to fight it off was because they could fly. She thought, even though they had been mean to her, these mice were in trouble and since she too could fly, she could help. So Elora gathered all her courage and dove directly toward the snake, scratching it with her little talons. She scratched at its head and immediately flew upward- the snake struck out after her with its dangerous teeth, but missed. Elora knew if even one bite from the snake found its mark, she would be in big trouble. She perched in a near by tree waiting, hoping to see if her scratch would stop the snake, but it did not. The snake continued after the mice. Elora gathered her courage once more and this time she went right after snake’s eyes- its only vulnerable spot. She hit her target and flew up hovering in the air. Snake hissed and bit wildly, and finally, injured, recoiled and slithered off into the night. Elora, flapping in the air, heart beating faster than it ever had before, could not believe what she had just done.

The mice started to peak out of their hiding places. One big one came out and spoke to her “You saved us,” it said. This mouse did not recognize Elora, but she recognized it. It was the mouse who had told her to get away. The one that had hissed at her.  The one that was mean to her. Elora stood still, listening, and the mouse continued “Thank you so much for your help” when Elora exclaimed: “Why were you so mean to ME?!” The mouse was taken aback. “What do you mean?” It replied. As Elora’s head sunk, the mouse remembered, “I was mean to you, wasn’t I? And you were just trying to say hello weren’t you?” He asked in remorse. And Elora simply shook her head in acknowledgement. In his efforts to protect his Mischief of mice, his family, he had taught them to be afraid of what they did not understand. After a long pause, the mouse admitted: “I was mean to you because you were scary. You eat different things than we do. You are capable of things we are not. You look different than we do. I was mean to you because I was scared- scared because you are different.” Elora could see the shame and regret in mouse’s eyes and hear it in the words he spoke. She raised her little bat head and said “I understand being afraid. Just now I was so scared of snake. But I guess we can’t let the things we’re afraid of stop us. So maybe now we can stop being afraid? Maybe we can start being nice to each other. Maybe now we can even be friends.” The mouse, who was named Brexton, smiled. “I’d like that,”Brexton replied. And over time Elora and the mice did become friends. Elora taught her Colony of bats to be kind to the mice and Brexton taught his Mischief not to be afraid of things just because they are different.