Two days later, as Aundrei was attending her private worship service, the cricket she had met before came flying out of the grass and crashed into her. The cricket was breathing heavily, and his words came out in gasps. “Help…me…Sister! A…bird’s…after…me!” “What do you want me to do?” asked Aundrei.
“Eat me.”
“WHAT?”
“You heard me. If the bird eats me, there will be nobody to pray for my soul. If I were to choose who was to end my life, it would be you.”
“How sweet!”
“Hurry up, the bird is coming!”
“Climb onto my back.”
“Hunh?”
“I’m not going to eat you.”
“But I want you to.”
“Well, I don’t want to eat you. You have such a sweet personality.”
“Thank you.”
“Hurry now.”
The cricket climbed onto Aundrei’s back as she spread her wings and soared into the sky, but the bird was faster. Before they could find a safe place to hide, the bird gripped Aundrei and tore her left wing off. “AAAH! My wing! Brace yourself little cricket!” She cried as they streaked toward a large tree branch. There was a loud snap as one of Aundrei’s legs broke and the pain knocked her unconscious. The cricket landed in a pile of soft compost. “AUNDREI!!!” he cried. “Are you hurt?” Aundrei was lying on the ground, moaning and clutching her injured leg. “My leg…I think it…it’s broken!”
“I’ll make you a splint for it from a blade of grass.” The cricket said briskly.
“Thank you” she replied. “Oh, I never got your name.”
“Joshua.” He answered with a smile as he tended to her wound. “Does your wing hurt?”
“No”, she said. “My wings are just like a human’s hair or fingernails. They have no nerve receptors in them. It should grow back in about a week.”
As Aundrei lay awake that night, she thought about being the only predator that was friends with its prey.

To be continued…