Sloopy Squirrel

For our Christmas luncheon, everyone in my writing group traditionally writes a one-page story or poem. We take turns reading each other’s pieces out loud, then guess who wrote what. Apparently I have an identifiable style, because everyone guessed mine correctly! Anyway, here’s that story:

Sloopy Squirrel lay curled up in despair. His mama had trusted him with the nuts, telling him they were for the family dinner on Christmas Eve. These are very special nuts, she’d told him, the kind Sloopy and his brother wouldn’t get to eat often, but the humans in the backyard had carelessly tossed them away. They looked so good.

Yes, he’d eaten them. Every last one. It didn’t seem like much until he’d finished most of them, then his tummy began to hurt. Shortly after that, his heart began to hurt. He’d destroyed the family dinner! He’d taken the gift of these nuts and selfishly eaten all of it. Sloopy was a young squirrel, but he knew right from wrong. Sort of.

So Sloopy decided to look for some more nuts on his own. He peeked out of the tree. Up ahead a little girl hopped on some squares in the sidewalk. She’d been nice to Sloopy before, even wanted to pet him, but that scared him, and he ran away. This time he boldly went before her, stood on his hindquarters, and begged. Did she know about begging?

“Hello, little squirrel,” she said, bending down before him. In her hand she held, hmmm, not nuts, but it looked delicious. “Would you like a Snickers bar?”

Sloopy crept up to her slowly. A Snickers bar? It looked like it had nuts in it. She proffered the candy, then dropped a piece of the bar in front of Sloopy. He sniffed it, looked at her, and chirped in delight.

“Take it,” she said. “I have more.” She broke it in two. Sloopy grabbed both pieces and stuffed them in his cheeks. He scuffled away, back to the shelter of the tree.

Mama and his brother stood there, waiting for him. “You ate the nuts, you naughty squirrel!” Mama cried out.

“I hate you!” His brother added.

Sloopy spit out the candy and looked expectantly at them both. “Merry Christmas.”

So Sloopy saved the dinner treat he’d ruined, and never felt tempted to eat the Snickers bar before Christmas Eve.

Image Credit: Squirrel (we’ll call him Sloopy) © FMSTUDIO–stock.adobe.com; Merry Christmas, Everyone! © elenarostunova–stock.adobe.com Christmas in the Woods © Rawpixel.com