2014 The Squirrels March 31, There in Brady forest a long time ago lived a family of sleeping squirrels until a great sound like thunder awoke them. There were 4 squirrels in the family: mother squirrel, father squirrel, Jane, who was 13, and her twin sister, Vane. “What in the world is going on here? What is that great sound?” Jane cried out as the sound sounded again. “I don’t know,” inquired father squirrel. “I’ve never heard anything like it before. I’ll go take a quick look outside”. After they had heard father walk outside the squirrels heard a defining crash, looked outside and found father squirrel’s tail peeking out from under a log. The moment that Mother Squirrel saw Father Squirrel’s tail she collapsed. At that moment the twin’s friend, a flying squirrel by the name of Sammy emerged from his whole in the pine tree where he lived. Sammy was an orphan from another forest and the squirrel family checked on him from time to time. “Hey, how are you do-” Sammy stopped short when he saw the states of his friend’s parents. “What happened” asked Sammy, feeling Mother Squirrel’s pulse. “Your mother is still alive, just unconscious”. “Thank G-d you’re here, Sammy” said Vane, sobbing. “We heard a loud noise and when Pa went outside to look around we heard a defining crash, came outside, and Ma fainted at the sight of the log on father!” “Well we better get out of here now before one of us is crushed!” urged Sammy. “Not without our mother!” Jane said firmly, wiping away her tears as her sister agreed. “Look” said Sammy. “I won’t be able to carry the three of you on my back; we don’t have enough time!” and on that note, Sammy glided out of the clearing where the twin’s mother lay as the twins sobbed, gliding between the trees. Their last glimpse of the forest they had grown up in was of humans tearing down the trees of the peaceful creatures of the forest. They finally came to rest outside of the forest, in a field of grass. They were exhausted when they landed and immediately fell asleep. The next morning Vane awoke as a rock covered with a leaf hit her in her head. “Ouch” said Vane as she rubbed her head, looking for the thing that had awakened her. It was a blue and purple speckled rock and Vane could see that there was something covering the rock. She detached a leaf from the rock and found a message on the leaf. It goes as follows: Captured by humans in Brady forest +moved to human residence in outskirts. Please help! Candice As soon as Vane read those words she shook her sister and friend awake. “Wake up” Vane yelled into her friend’s ears. “I found a note on a leaf asking for someone to rescue a poor, helpless animal! We have to do it. She was captured by humans!” “Okay” said Sammy, yawning. “Just let us see the note”. Vane handed the note to Sammy while Jane read over his shoulder. “Your right” said Sammy. “Your father and probably your mother died for the same reason and I feel like I have to get this ‘Candace’ back to take revenge on the humans”. “I agree” piped up Jane. “I guess we’re going home”. As they flew over Brady forest the squirrels saw just how much damage the humans had inflicted on the forest. As they flew through the air some human children started throwing rocks into the air. As Sammy swerved to avoid the rocks his left wing was caught in a tree branch and his wing broke. As the wing tore Sammy screamed bloody murder and the squirrels fell to the ground, unconscious. When the squirrels finally awoke it was nighttime. Sammy was still bleeding a bit. The first one to arise was Jane. The moment she woke up the memories came flooding back: leaving her parents behind in the forest, her sister finding the note, their crash landing. Then she looked at her friends only to find them still unconscious and bleeding. She then shook her friends awake. Soon they were all sitting around a small fire with Sammy’s wing wrapped in leaves. “We’re going to have to get a move on in the morning, so we should get some sleep now” said Sammy to his companions. Jane and Vane agreed so they drew closer together and one by one fell asleep. The next morning they woke up early and started walking through the forest east, towards the human residences. Soon they came to the tree where they used to live. As they looked around trying to see if their mother had survived they came upon their mother’s tail also sticking out from under a branch. At this sight the twins cried as the muscles in Sammy’s neck tightened. Their walk was mostly peaceful but on their 5th day of salvaging for nuts and berries and walking through the woods something happened. It was nighttime and the squirrels were just lying down after a dinner of beech nuts and raspberries when suddenly they heard a faint growl. When Vane lifted up her head she was staring into the face of a giant, ferocious wolf. Vane screamed. The scream aroused Vanes companions and they scurried up a tree and from that point on the squirrels made it a rule to always sleep in the trees. The next morning Vane woke up earlier than her companions. When she saw her companions asleep she decided to take a walk near the premises of the humans. As she came near to a fence she faintly saw a C behind a pile of leaves. As she cleared the leaves away she saw a name she had seen before scrawled messily on the fence, reading one word: Candace Vane then immediately rushed back to the clearing where her friends were sleeping, yelling “Wake up! I need to show you guys something”. She then led her companions to the fence that read the captive’s name. “That’s her handwriting all right” remarked Jane. “Let’s go”. As they climbed up a tall oak tree to see the house things didn’t look promising. There, roaming the back yard was a great big black cat with white markings on its fussy belly. As the squirrels sat up in the tree they tried to figure out a way to get past the cat so they could find this “Candace”. As they sat in the tree Sammy threw rocks at the ground near the cat and noticed that the cat was following the sound of the rocks hitting the ground. “There’s our distraction” whispered Sammy as he showed the girls his observation. At exactly 12:30 p.m. by the clock in the human’s house Sammy threw a rock on the other side of the yard. At the sound of the rock hitting the hard earth the cat jumped up and ran around the house, following the sound. “Come on, let’s go” whispered Jane to her sister. On that note they sprang from the tree, dropping into the yard of the human and squeezing under the door. As they entered the house they looked around. Everything was enormous; the chairs were bigger than the squirrel’s former house and when they looked in the cupboard the bowls where so big the squirrels could have bathed in them! Thought they look for some time they could not find a living other than the humans. Just as they were searching under a great big yellow fruit the cat came in. Though the squirrels tried to find a place to hide it was no use and soon the cat had them cornered. Then a crazy idea entered Jane’s head. “What’s you name” Jane asked the cat. “Candace” said the cat. Vane’s eye became as large as saucers. While Jane explained how they came to this place Candice listened intently to their story. Finally, she spoke “My parents were killed by humans to” she said quietly. “Can you help me get out of here?” “Sure” said Jane. “Just let me call a friend”. As Candice pulled the rope Sammy had attached to a log it crashed over the side of the fence. As they landed on the other side of the fence Candice had much to say. “Thank you so much” said the cat. “I only wish I could repay you”. “Well, there is one way you can repay us” ventured Sammy. As the squirrels rode Candice through the ruined woods Sammy said to his friends “This is the life. I’ve always wanted to ride a cat. Yehaw!” “Don’t push it” said the cat, amused. “Right after this ride I am bucking you off like a human on a bull”. If you were driving down Brookshire road on that warm, summer night you might of heard a short “Ow!” emitting from a squirrel sitting in the grass, rubbing his head.