The Magic
Wand
Once upon a time, there lived, in a beautiful little
flower
garden, in the middle of the city, a wee tiny Fairy with
wings so delicate, they would hum a charming melody
as she flew from flower to flower. She was quite happy.
One day, she awakened to discover that her Magic Wand
was missing and without it, she could no longer fly. She
could no longer taste the sweet nectar of her beautiful
flowers. Perhaps one of the little animals near the garden
carried off her Magic Wand thinking it was a morsel of food
to be stored for the winter. Of all the animals that she
asked,
none knew what had become of her Wand. However, the
little rabbit was willing to offer his assistance.
First, the young rabbit filled his tummy with yummy, yummy
clover, of the large lavender type that the bees love to
visit.
Then he sat up on his long thumpers, sniffing the air to try
to pick up the scent of the Wand, which had been hand made
from one of the tall Cedars of Lebanon. As he turned around
and around, his puffy white tail skimmed the tops of the
grass,
tickling him so that he had to chuckle now and then. With his
little wiggling nose, he detected a faint indication of the
direction he should go.
So, he said good-by to the wee tiny Fairy and hopped off
towards the slight but pleasant aroma of Cedar. The October
sun had reached its high point for the day but still caused
the
trees to cast a shadow long enough for Mr. Cricket to sit in
the soft moss that grows on the shady side of the tree trunk.
Although he could no longer see him, he knew where the
young rabbit had gone. A very warm breeze, unusual for this
time of year, made him glad he had some cool moss to
comfort him.
After six and a half minutes, the rabbit came to a third
street.
After looking both ways, he crossed the street and suddenly
stopped. A voice from the nearby grass said,
“Mr. Rabbit. Why are you shaking? Are you afraid?”
“Yes,” replied the rabbit. “I’m on a mission to find the
Fairy’s Magic Wand, but, I’m afraid of slopes and I can’t go
down there.”
“Oh, I’m not afraid of a little slope,” said the turtle
boldly.
“I’ll go down there for you.” So, the turtle set off in the
same
general direction, feeling very pleased with himself. After
forty-six and a half minutes, the turtle stopped. A very
worried expression appeared on his face.
A tiny voice spoke up just then and said, “Mr. Turtle. Why
are you shaking? Are you afraid?”
“Yes,” answered the turtle. “I’m on a mission for the
rabbit,
who is on a mission to find the Fairy’s Magic Wand, but, I’m
afraid I’ll fall into one of these slots that cross my path.
I
can’t get beyond them.”
“Oh, I’m not afraid of those slots,” said the ant. “I’ll go
on
across for you. No Problem!” So, the ant continued the
journey in the same general direction until he became very,
very tired. He had been walking for 4.85 hours, the sun had
already set, and he just wanted to curl up into a ball and
sleep.
A quiet voice whispered to the sleepy ant, “Why are you
curled into a ball? Are you afraid?”
“Oh, no,” called out the ant slowly. And with the
remaining
tiny bit of energy left in him, he explained, slurring his
words,
“I’m on a mission for the turtle, who is on a mission for
the
rabbit, who is on a mission to find the Fairy’s Magic Wand,
and I’m just too tired to go on.”
“Well,” announced the glowworm, who was visiting from
Europe. I’ll go on for you. I’m not tired at all.” But the
ant
didn’t hear him, for he was already asleep. Now, the
glowworm set off in a different direction, and, with the help
of his glowing light, after sixteen and a half minutes he
found
the Fairy’s Magic Wand where Mr. Chipmunk had been
storing things for the winter. However, it was more than he
could carry, and he needs your assistance.
You must solve the puzzle for the co-ordinates of the Fairy’s
garden. (See the link to the picture below). In the garden area,
you will find a micro with a list of the rates of travel for each
of the critters in the story. Then sit down with your pencil
(or calculator) and perform a little magic of your own.
Stay on the trail and go South.
Link to CIGA Home Page
You can check your answers for the first part of this puzzle on
Geochecker.com.