In The Woods

Chapter 2

The Forest is Awake

         The quiet forest starts to light up.  The dew sparkles like diamonds in the rising golden sun.  It sits atop the beautiful, colorful petals of flowers,  glistens on spider-webs, drips from young, golden tipped blades of grass, and gently rolls off of the beautiful green leaves of the trees.  A particularly large drop drips off a pine cone and lands on a squirrel's nose.  Startled, he jumps to his feet and nearly falls off of his Evergreen perch.  Realizing what awoke him, he calms down and yawns, stretching his still drowsy muscles.  He fluffs his his tail and washes himself with the very dew that woke him and scurries down the tree.
         As many of us will agree, squirrels are very nutty creatures.  They are quite agile and speedy, but they haven't the sharpest of wits. This squirrel would fit this description completely.  Already in this early hour of the morning, he runs around in search of acorns, presumably for his breakfast, and causes quite a ruckus with his burying and scratching about.  He runs to grab a snack and stubs his little toes on a rather large pebble.  Twirling his long whiskers and chattering at himself in indignation, he sidesteps into an old hole.  He jumps back up in fright, then turns full circle in midair.  He heard a familiar chuckle from behind him; it is friendly old Mole. 
         "What are you laughing at?" twitters agitated Squirrel.  "Oh, nothing," laughs Mole, contentedly munching a worm.  He casually pulls it in half, slurps the one half up and sets the other half free.  This, he said, was to ensure him a meal and to ensure the worm's life. Many of us know that if a worm is split in half, both halves will continue to live as separate worms. Irritated, Squirrel flags his gray tail, fluffs up, and twirls his whiskers.  He turns on his heel and runs in a spiral up a nearby tree. The tree lets out a sigh, causing a great rustling of leaves and Squirrel to fall off of the tree.  Mole chuckles harder than ever, his little round belly heaving as he laughs.  "Humph!" Squirrel runs into the woods.
         Mole, recovering from his laughter, looks up at the tree, smiling a wide smile that exposes his funny buck teeth and wiping shimmering tears from the corners of his bright, watery, beady eyes.  "Good morning, Maple!  How are you this fine morning?" 
"Oh, I'm doing lovely Mole, thank you," breathes the tree, showering a few leaves down on Mole's small head.  His eyes reflect a bit of joyful light as he smiles once more at the tree and burrows back into his earthy home.  Maple stretches her long branches.  Gently, she caresses the birds in her branches with her light, soft leaves to wake them up.  She lovingly rustles them until their sweet eyes open and they take off, bursting with song.  Then she rustles her branches and softly calls the trees to wake them up. 
         The birds are building nests and finding food for their children.  The mice, shrews, squirrels, moles and voles scurry around a burrow in the soft soil.  Even the trees are beginning to whisper to one another through the breeze.  The forest is teeming with life.  New sounds can be heard and new sights can be seen and the creatures of the forest are having fun with their daily lives, for now, the forest is awake.