Bro Druid: Sleeping Bodhi

Bodhi swore he wouldn’t touch another book while he was in the waiting room. Yes, they were fun, but it wasn’t making any time outside the book to pass. The blue-striped sea otter lifeguard would just sit and impatiently wait for his recertification test. He decided to lay his back on the floor and count ceiling tiles. It wasn’t the most thrilling activity, but it would prevent Bodhi from accidentally opening more magic books. A door opened, and a female red kangaroo in a blue floral bikini padded out to stand over the reclined otter.

 

    “Did you pass Sheila, bro?” Bodhi asked, looking up at the lovely view. The kangaroo was a beach ranger, but he still had to pass basic first aid certification.

 

    “Course I did, you bloody bludger,” Sheila scuffs going to kick the downed otter but stops. She spies the pile of books and grabs the one off the top. With a light toss, she sends it lightly, flying at Bodhi as he sits up. “There’s a written portion, Bruce, so you might want to learn how to read fast before they figure out you’re a drongo.”

 

    A familiar flash of rainbow light lit up the sea otter’s vision as the open book hit him in the face. Bodhi found himself in a mess of giant thorns when his eyes cleared. Overhead, the sky was grey and storming, and lightning struck far off in the distance. The kind of gloomy day made the lifeguard usually want to stay in his hammock, but who knows how many miles away right now. Bodhi spotted a tower off in the distance and decided to head towards it. A large thorn tore a hole in his black aloha shirt, and a few others snagged his purple board shorts as the otter climbed through the thick vines that covered everything.

    

    When the tower entrance finally came into view, the roar of a dragon echoed across the sky. Fearing the beast was after him, Bodhi ducked inside and started climbing the stairs. The sea otter ran up the spiral stairs while a knight fought the dragon outside. Flames from the massive scaled beast ignited the thorns, warming the tower. At the top of the stairs sat a large wooden door Bodhi pushed through. Inside was a small room with a large four-poster bed and a spinning wheel. The lifeguard spun the wheel with his hand when it accidentally slipped and pricked a finger on the spindle. Quickly, Bodhi sat on the bed and used medical supplies from the green hip bag above his tail to disinfect and bandage the wound. Tired from all the stairs, he ran up the otter and quickly napped on the bed.

 

    “Princess, I’m hear,” the knight called as he opened the door to the tower room.

 

 His flame-blackened armor reeked of smoke. On the bed, the knight spotted Bodhi sleeping. Legend said it was supposed to be a beautiful princess, not a large blue-striped sea otter. Maybe the stories confused it since it had been over a hundred years since anyone had seen the tower captive. Bodhi wasn’t what the knight had hoped for, but maybe the tales of the riches that promised the one that slayed the dragon and awoke the captive were still true. Sitting on the bed, the man leaned in and kissed the sea otter on the lips.

 

“Bro, if you’re going to wake someone with a kiss, you can at least throw some tongue,” Bodhi groggily groaned as he woke up. Before the knight could pull away, the lifeguard grabbed the man and passionately kissed him. A few hours later, the sun rose over a new day on a kingdom free of the curse that once plagued the land. Bodhi had given the knight a treasure he wasn’t expecting but was happy to receive. A burst of light brought the sea otter back to where he sat on the waiting room floor.

 

“Got yourself legless on some goon when I wasn’t looking,” Sheila asked as the red kangaroo waved a hand before Bodhi’s eyes. The book he had hit him with now lay on the floor with images of him like the others. Had he just been sitting there in a daze for a bit? “You’re a bogan if you had a coldie but didn’t save one for your cobber.”

 

“Sorry, bro, guess I just spaced out in a good book,” Bodhi smirked as he stood up. “I’ll take you out for a round after I get this test done with.”