Fun and Games

Asarum and Nymphaea had spent the day working in the garden and were looking for a way to relax.

"Have you ever played golf?" Nymphaea asked.

"Isn't that the game that the Big People are always talking about? How is it played?"

"Well, we've never seen them do it, but we think the basic idea is to use a stick to put a little ball into a hole. We've set up a course for it on a mossy log."

Nymphaea brought Asarum to the course and they had a wonderful time working together to get the ball from one end of the course to the other. In fact, Asarum became so enthralled with the game that he was constantly recruiting his cousins to play at all hours of the day. He even practiced on his own when no one else wanted to join him.

At last, he decided that if he were going to really improve his game, he needed to see how the Big People did it. And so, the next time he saw them pulling their golf clubs out of the garage, he dashed into one of the pockets of the golf bag. They loaded the bag into the car and set off on a short trip to the course. Asarum just barely peeked his head out to observe them. Such a variety of clubs they used! And how clever to use the little stick with the flat top to keep the ball off the ground when hitting it! At first Asarum was very glad he had come along. But as the game went on, he noticed that the Big People were not working together at all. Instead, they each seemed unhappy when the other did well. And when they themselves made a bad shot, they became downright irritated. "Congratulations," Ursula said through clenched teeth to Ned as he announced with some smugness the final score. They loaded up the clubs again and returned home. Asarum rushed back to the shelter of his cottage.

"Where have you been?" Nymphaea asked as he entered the cottage. "I've come by to see if you wanted to play some golf."

"I think we need a different name for our game," replied Asarum. "I went along to watch the Big People do a round of golf, and I think it actually isn't a game at all. They are very serious as they work their way through the holes, and it doesn't seem to bring them much enjoyment. There must be some important purpose to it that we don't understand. Since ours is just for fun, perhaps we should call it 'fairy stick.'"

And so they did, and enjoy their game to this very day.