Seleke and the Squirrel

One day there was a girl named Seleke. She lived in a house with her mother, not at the bottom of a cliff, and not at the top, but right in the middle. Below the cliff lived Ugly Giants, and above lived Snarling Wolves.

One morning, after Seleke had eaten breakfast, she sat down to do some reading. It was a book about a [boy/girl] named [your child's name] who lived in a far away land called [your town]. Seleke was very interested in [your child's name's] adventures.

As she read Seleke heard a sudden (rap on wood once with your hand). She looked up, but didn't see anything. Then it came again (rap twice). Seleke looked around, but again she couldn't see anything making the noise. She went back to reading.

Suddenly she heard (rap a lot). It was coming from the roof! She got up and went outside to see what was disturbing her reading. When she looked at the roof nothing was there except a few acorns. What could be making that noise?

As she watched more acorns fell from the sky and landed (rap rap) on the roof, then rolled down and landed at her feet. Looking way up the cliff she saw a big tree, and in the tree was a squirrel. The squirrel was collecting nuts for the winter, but he was dropping many of them out of his nest and onto Seleke's house.

Seleke wanted to read, but the banging of the nuts was too bothersome. She decided to do something about it. She gathered up all the nuts she could find into a basket.

Seleke walked along the cliff ledge to where a long, strong vine hung down. Vine's didn't always hang from above, but it was the rainy season and everything was growing and growing. Seleke slung the basket over hear shoulder and began to climb up and up the vine.

After a few minutes she was near the top. When she peaked over she saw a big snarling wolf. It was not one of the baby wolves, this one was full grown and had great big teeth (make teeth with your hands).

The wolf hadn't seen her, and Seleke ducked. She waited, and tried to decide whether to give up because the wolf was so scary. After a few minutes she peaked up again, and the wolf was gone. But which way had it gone? She did not know.

Seleke climbed over the edge and stood up. She looked around. She listened. Then she started walking as quietly as she could towards the tree.

When she reached the tree she looked right up at the squirrel and said, "Hey, squirrel, stop dropping nuts on my roof!"

The squirrel looked down and said, "I am not dropping them on purpose, I assure you" (bring your hands to your chin like paws, and chitter with your mouth, blink your eyes, and look nervously about)

"I don't want to lose these nuts!" said the squirrel, "but they just keep slipping out of my paws."

Seleke said, "Oh! Well, that is different. Maybe I can help you."

"That is very nice of you," said the squirrel (make the face), "What is your idea?"

"Do you have cloth?" Seleke asked.

"Yes." said the squirrel. (make the face)

"Do you have rope?" Seleke asked.

"Yes." said the squirrel. (make the face)

"May I climb up?" Seleke asked.

"Certainly." said the squirrel. (make the face)

Below the squirrel's nest were other branches. Seleke climbed up, and using the cloth and rope she made a net to catch any nuts the squirrel dropped. When she was done the squirrel said, "Why, that is terrific! Now if I drop a nut I can go get it from the net!"

Just then Seleke and the squirrel heard, "Arroooooo" (howl like a wolf).

The wolf was coming. It had smelled Seleke! Wolves prefer to hunt in groups called packs, and the wolf had gone to get some friends.

Seleke said, "Oh no, the wolves! There is nowhere for me to hide."

"Hide inside my nest!" said the squirrel, "They will never find you there."

Seleke climbed into the squirrels nest. It was a bit small for her, but she managed to fit.

The wolves ran up to the bottom of the tree.

"Come down from your tree, squirrel, so that we can eat you!" they said.

"I will not come down," said the squirrel.

"Have you seen a little girl?" asked the wolves, "If you tell us where she is, we will eat her instead of you."

"Yes, I have seen her." said the squirrel.

Inside the squirrel's nest Seleke thought "Oh no! The squirrel will give me away!"

"I have seen her, and she went that way!" the squirrel said, and he pointed away from Seleke's vine.

The wolves snarled and went running off in the wrong direction.

"Thank you!" said Seleke. She climbed down the tree and ran as fast as she could to her vine. Seleke climbed down. When she got to her house she sat in the big, comfy chair and read her book to the very end.

The End
(c) 2008 Ken Demarest