Oakley and Jora were in The Birdhouse on a bright and cool autumn day, perfect for badge earning! Jora was pouring over her Sparrow Scout notes while Oakley jealously watched her over her shoulder.

 

Ding!

Jora's phone chimed and she pulled it out of her plumage.

"Oakley, look!" she shouted. "Our Sparrow Scout Leader sent us a message about the newest badge to earn! The Forest Patch will be the only one I haven't earned."

 

"Oh, no fair," Oakley moaned. "I haven't earned a single badge yet!"

 

"It's ok Oakley, we can work together," smiled Jora as gently laid her wing on his back. "Here, I've got everything we need."

Jora gathered supplies and handed them to Oakley. They placed everything on the floor, a map of the forest, a freshly sharpened pencil, and a Sparrow Scout Notebook. Jora and Oakley familiarized themselves with map for a few minutes before collecting their things and heading for the garage.

 

Down at the garage, Oakley nervously pulled out the car. He had doubts about their trip, for he had never been to a forest. He feared almost everything.

Seeing his worried face Jora said, "Everything is going to be great! You will LOVE the woods Oakley, and we will earn our Forest Patch!" With a strong "PUUTTTTT" from the engine of the car, they were off.

 

"Welcome to the jungle my friend," Jora joked.

 

"Umm, I'm not so sure about the forest..." Oakley mumbled and started drawing the nearest leaves into a pile with his rake.

"Jora, something you should know about me... when I'm uneasy (which is a lot) I... ‘stress rake'."

 

"It's ok Oakley! I can help you feel more comfortable. I found this amazing leaf and guess what? Part of earning the badge is drawing interesting plants we find," Jora exclaimed.

Jora was right. Oakley agreed, the yellow leaf was amazing! Jora and Oakley sat on rocks by the river and Oakley sketched the yellow leaf in their Sparrow Scout Notebook.

 

After some adventuring, Jora stopped and patted her feathers vigorously.

"What's wrong?" asked Oakley.

Jora looked up at him with a horrified face, "I can't find the map!" she panicked. "And to make matters worse, I think it blew into that thicket of ivy! We'll never find the map in there. Without the map, we can't get home!"

 

Feeling brave Oakley declared, "No Jora, we aren't giving up! We are going to go into the ivy, and we are going to find our map. I'll even lead, I can rake away the leaves in our path."

"Thanks Oakley," Jora said timidly.

Jora followed Oakley into the ivy. She was disappointed that she lost track of their map, but she appreciated Oakley stepping in to help.

Jora spotted the map on a clump of ivy overhead. "There it is!" Jora shouted to Oakley. "Yes, we found it! I was so worried."

 

Once they had found their way out of the thicket, Jora gave Oakley the biggest hug ever!

"Thank you, Oakley, I couldn't have found it without your help," Jora said.

 

When it was time to leave Oakley was in great spirits.

"You're right Jora, I love the forest! That was the most fun badge earning project I've ever done," Oakley said as they climbed up the hill toward their car. With a grin on his face, he run up the hill leaving Jora in his excitable dust.

Jora laughed. "Wait for me," she called.

 

The following week, Oakley got something in the mail from the Sparrow Scout Leader....it was his Forest Badge! Oakley was so happy to finally get his first patch, that he leapt into the air. Oakley attached the badge to his sash and immediately flew to The Birdhouse to show Jora.

"Oooo. Aaah." Jora said with admiration.

Oakley asked, "Can we earn a new badge tomorrow?"

"Absolutely!" Jora said, "Let's get every badge in the Sparrow Scout Book!"