The Fable of the Squirrel by Barry J. Northern There once was a young grey squirrel who became lost in the woods and could not find his way home. He spent a hard year alone casting about for food, for he was used to the help of his family, but in time he learnt well how to eat the spring buds, and later to find and gather the summer nuts, so that by winter he knew he would live to see the new year. Though Grey had now learnt how to live, it was a lonely life, so when one day he met a black squirrel he became excited and desired to make friends with him. "Hello there!" he cried, "How come you are alone in the forest?" But Black hid behind a tree and would not answer. Grey moved closer, slowly, not wanting to alarm the lone squirrel, and it was then he saw that Black was thin and starving. Grey ran back to his horde of acorns and fetched one for Black, hoping then that they would be friends, but when he returned Black was gone. The next day Grey spotted Black again, and this time he did not hide when Grey called out to him. Yet still, when Grey moved closer to offer Black an acorn, the lone squirrel ran away. The next two days were the same, until the third day when at last hunger overtook Black's caution and he took the nut from Grey's paws. Grey stayed nearby, and spoke to Black. "How come you are alone in the forest?" But as soon as Grey spoke, Black dropped the acorn and fled, and so Grey knew he would have to be patient, for the poor squirrel was a nervous creature who must have had a much harder life than he. The same happened the next day, and the next, but on the third day Black answered Grey's question. "I fell from my tree and was chased into the woods by a monster, and so I became lost." "Why are you so thin?" said Grey. "I used to eat the buds and fruits of my family's tree, but there are no trees like it in this part of the forest, and I do not know what is good to eat." Now Grey was so happy to have someone to talk to that he resolved to lead Black around the forest and show the poor squirrel all the good things there were to eat. For many days Grey lead Black around, and after many more days they became friends. Now one day, to Grey's delight, Black said he wished to try foraging alone, and so Grey stayed home to count the acorns in his horde. He soon found he did not have as many as he reckoned he would need for the winter. It was because he had been leading Black around the forest when he should have been gathering for himself, and so when Black returned with an acorn in his paws, he grew angry and said. "You should give that to me, for I have been helping you when I should have been stocking my horde." Black gave the acorn to Grey, and said. "It was a gift to you anyway, for all your help. I will bother you no more." And with that Black left. Grey soon regretted his words, and searched about for his friend, but he never saw Black again. The birds in the trees heard him calling out apologies for his lost friend, and mocked him, singing, "As food is eaten speedily, But very sorely won, So friends are made by many acts, And lost by only one." The Fable of the Squirrel by Barry J. Northern is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License. Hosted by The Internet Archive, download MP3 here. Music by Jeff Wahl from the album, Meditative Guitar, track 10 "Alone", and provided by magnatune.com