Batty's stories from the sky

Batty was a little black bat with soft fur and gentle green eyes. He lived in a big oak tree in the park with all his bat friends. Halloween was coming soon! All around the park, Mr. Grumbly the gardener was getting ready for the big Halloween party. He planted orange pumpkins and purple flowers. He hung up pretty lights in the trees. "This will be the most beautiful Halloween park ever!" said Mr. Grumbly. But Mr. Grumbly didn't like bats. Every time he saw them, he would wave his hands and shout, "Shoo! Get away, you scary Halloween creatures!" This made Batty very sad. "We're not scary," he told his bat friends. "We just want to help make the park nice too." *Flutter, flutter* went their wings as they flew sadly back to their tree. As Halloween got closer, something terrible started happening. Little green bugs called aphids began eating all of Mr. Grumbly's beautiful flowers! *Munch, munch, munch* went the hungry bugs. The orange marigolds started turning brown. The purple petunias got holes in their leaves. Even the pumpkins looked sick! "Oh no!" cried Mr. Grumbly. "My Halloween flowers are ruined! The party is tomorrow night!" Mr. Grumbly tried everything. He sprayed the plants with water. *Splash, splash!* He brushed the bugs away with his hands. But there were too many bugs, and they kept coming back. That night, Batty had an idea. "Friends!" he called to all the other bats. "Let's help Mr. Grumbly, even though he doesn't like us." "But why?" asked his friend Flutter. "Because helping others is the right thing to do," said Batty. All night long, the bats flew around the park. *Whoosh, whoosh!* They ate up all the hungry aphids. *Munch, chomp, gulp!* They ate the bugs on the flowers. They ate the bugs on the pumpkins. They ate every single bug in the whole park! The next morning was Halloween! Mr. Grumbly came to check on his flowers. He couldn't believe his eyes! "Amazing!" he gasped. "All my flowers are perfect again! How did this happen?" Just then, families started arriving for the Halloween party. Children in costumes ran around the beautiful park. "Look at the pretty flowers!" said a little girl dressed as a princess. "The pumpkins are perfect!" said a boy in a pirate costume. "And look!" pointed a tiny witch. "Real Halloween bats in the trees!" All the children looked up at Batty and his friends hanging from the oak tree. Instead of being scared, they were excited! "Wow! Real bats! They're so cute!" "Can we see them fly?" Mr. Grumbly watched as the children smiled and pointed happily at the bats. Suddenly, he understood. "Wait a minute," said Mr. Grumbly slowly. "Could the bats have eaten all those bugs?" He looked up at Batty, who gave a little friendly chirp. *Chirp!* "You helped save my flowers, didn't you?" Mr. Grumbly asked softly. Batty nodded and did a little flip in the air. Mr. Grumbly felt ashamed. Mr. Grumbly's face softened. "I'm so sorry I was mean to you. You're not scary at all - you're wonderful helpers!" From that Halloween on, Mr. Grumbly and the bats became the best of friends. He built special little bat houses in the trees. The bats kept eating the bugs that tried to hurt the flowers. And every Halloween, when families came to the park, they loved seeing the friendly bats who helped make their celebration so beautiful. Batty learned that sometimes helping others is the best way to show them who you really are. The End