The Legend of Ompa

The Legend of Ompa

A Prelude:

Once in a ponderosa pine forest long, long ago, in a nest made of twigs and pine needles and feathers and fur, there was born a tiny, pink and hairless squirrel named Ompa. No falling star filled the night sky. No shrill call was heard to announce danger. There was nothing at all that his mother could have done to change the events of that stormy night.

The wind tore through the branches taking with it part of the nest and the single fragile body of baby Ompa. He, along with forest debris, landed on a pile of canvas packs waiting to be loaded in the back of a pick-up along with a half dozen burlap bags filled with green pinecones. With his young eyes still closed, he crawled and wiggled deep inside a pack until he was out of the powerful wind and warm in the wool garments belonging to the forest ranger. Ompa may not have survived had he not been discovered by Mrs. Coleman and by then he was far away from the Kaibab National Forest and his family.

The ranger's wife put him in a basket with a litter of new kittens and the mother cat didn't seem to notice any difference. It could have been then that Ompa's fate took a turn for the phenomenal. He awoke one morning and found that he not only could understand cats, birds and humans but, he could talk with each of them the same as you and I.

The Colemans explained to Ompa that as much as they loved his chatter, opinions, hyperbole, political insights, warnings of intruders, messages from cat and what not, that the human society wasn't ready, on a whole, to accept him. They told him that his life would be ruined by torturous scientific probes or experiments or continuous brain scans or worse or running from them, if his talent of speaking was discovered. He would never be safe as long as he lived. It was imperative that he never speak to any other humans.

So after days of brainstorming they came to the concurrence that it would be in Ompa's best interest to return him to the forest, any forest, as long as it was far from any chance meeting with humans.

~~~Many, Many, Many Years Later~~~

"Are you sure you won't stay just a little longer? The acorn cookies will be done soon."

"Thanks Turry, I really do have to move along now. But, thanks again for your warm and furry hospitality. Oh, and don't worry" Ompa said holding up a pouch of rare cedar seeds. "I will take good care of these."

"If anyone can get them to fertile soil it's you, Ompa." Turry said as she walked to the tree lobby with her oldest and dearest friend. His silver colored hair rippled with each heavy step of his four legs. He held his white fluffy tail royally as he turned to look over his shoulder and smile at her. Then he scampered quickly up the ornately carved wall of the inner tree to the opening which led to the great, vast, outdoors.

Turry's Great Aunt, The McGregor Grand Squirrel Diva herself, had adopted him, giving him a place of nobility and citizenship in the Inner World. This proved to be beneficial many times over as Ompa was not only a talented linguist; (fluent in all animal tongues, and most languages of the two-legged creatures including humans) but also the fastest carver in the kingdom.

He was a dragonfly as he darted from tree to tree in random zig-zag spurts, lingering in the darkened shadows only long enough to gulp a few enabling breathes before venturing on to the next location. Soon, he came to the edge of the forest. A vast wasteland, as far as he could see, lie before him. Ompa was a small squirrel but his courage was as immense as the sky and he was on the most important mission of his life. To fail was not an option. Suddenly, a cold shadow fell over him and the chill raised the hairs on the back of his neck like the fanned hackles of a fighting cock.


THUD! Dirt flew nearby as the talons of a young eagle hit the ground. Ompa sat up on his hind legs and screamed. "Hey! I'm not your dinner! Knock it off!"

The eagle looked him over awhile. "You could be." He said.

"No, my friend not today, not ever. You see there is something important, much larger than the two of us that I must do and I need your assistance. "

"Yea, and what might that be?"

"Tomorrow. Yours, mine, everyone's. These are the last cedar seeds in the world. We must find a place safe from bulldozers and cement. A place with soil; rich and dark. A place to begin again."

"Is there such a place?" The bird asked.


Ompa wrapped his strong front legs around the eagles' neck. This wasn't the first bird to carry the strange squirrel but it certainly was the largest. He dug his long clawed toes deep into the silken feathers and screeched, "Fly!"

Ompa closed his eyes to avoid the rapid moving rush of air created as the enormous wings propelled them up, up into the air and high above the treetops.

"Eagle, do you see a piece of bark down there? We need one about the size of one of your wings."

"There's one by the river." The bird screeched as he turned ninety degrees and dropped straight towards earth.

Ompa instantly and instinctively adjusted his tail. You see a squirrel uses its tail to control direction or for balance or even like a parachute. A bird uses his feathers the same way. So like a kite wobbling out of control, they spiraled downward, splashing into the cold, deep, rushing river. Ompa hung on. The bird struggled slowly regaining his dignity and pulled up out of the water. Bn
Gnats and mosquitoes, swarmed nearby; but the roar of the river drowned their buzz. As the eagle landed on a rocky shore, he screamed. "Get off me!"

"I'm sorry about the tail thing. Honest. I couldn't help it." Ompa said as he scurried off the bird. "Where did you see the bark?"

" It's over there." He said pointing his wing feathers. "But how you get it back is your problem. I'm going fishing." Ompa started to say "Thanks for the lift", but the bird was gone. He shook the water from his fur and scratched his long tufted ears. His nostrils were filled with the smell of the river, so different from the familiar richness of the Inner World. He would be glad to get back home. Then he remembered the pouch with Turry's sacred cedar seeds. They were wet from his dip in the river. He had to find a place to plant them soon.

First he ran in the direction of the bark. It would make a perfect cover for the door. He pulled it free from the rocks and rolled it over several times. If only he had help but he didn't. So he decided to leave the bark and find a place to plant the seeds.


The hillside was easy for him to climb. When he reached the top he was pleased to see a meadow. The meadow would make a perfect spot for a cedar grove. He dug a hole and planted the first seed. Then another. Eventually several animals came by and he told them that he was planting a cedar grove for the New Inner World. He had more volunteers than seeds. It became apparent that everyone wanted to be a part of the new world.

Then, just as the sky turned orange and gold, the screech of an eagle was heard and in his talons was a large piece of oak bark. He landed in the meadow in the center of a circle of animals and no one was surprised when the squirrel with long ears and a fluffy white tail climbed on his back.


Ompa and friends chewed and sculptured the bark making a perfect fit to cover the door. If anyone HAD seen it before, they would never be able to find it again. All visitors would now have to take an alternate route to enter the Inner World.

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