Little Bat

Field of Rice

"I wonder where we are," Little Bat said when she woke up.

"Just come this way and you will see," Dan said.

Little Bat followed Dan over to the middle of a field. The plants were very tall and she noticed some of them were falling over. Curious, she flew over to where the plants were falling over. There she saw Lance, Beth, and Patrick working with a sharp object in their hands. Lance kept on picking up and moving the plants over while her father and mother worked. Soon Dan, Alicia, and Jack caught up to her.

"Do you know these people?" Alicia asked.

"Yes. There is Lance my friend I met back where we live. The other two are her parents Beth and Patrick. There must be something going on," Little Bat replied.

"Indeed. It looks like they are harvesting this field. Maybe we can go down there and ask what it is that they are harvesting," Dan said.

"Good idea," Jack said.

Little Bat flew down to where Lance was. Lance stopped picking up the plants and ran over to where Little Bat is cheerfully. The two of them talked until Little Bat's family came down. Then Lance went and grabbed her parent's attention so that they could speak to Little Bat's family.

"This is the rice field and we often have Lance come along and watch us work," Patrick said when they finished introducing each other.

"Cool, a rice field. How do you get the rice then?" Little Bat asked.

"Well, the rice needs to be fully mature before we harvest it. Then we collect the plants and put it into a big farm machine where the rice gets separated from the plant and into its own place. Then the rice becomes the food we buy and eat," Beth replied.

"Cool! Can we watch?" Jack asked.

"Of course. You can play with Lance when you get bored," Patrick replied.

"This will be fun," Dan said.

Then Patrick and Beth went back to work. After a little bit Little Bat wanted to play with Lance. Others joined in as they worked. When it came time toward the end of the day then Beth and Patrick packed everything up and headed to their car, inviting Little Bat's family to come along. Then they drove away from the rice field toward an old farm.