By Kathrine C.

The sun was shining through the leaves warming Nutty’s body. He heard the sound of children laughing
from below his nest in the tree. Nutty began to wake up. He stretched until he felt like he could touch the sun. He
shook out his fur and washed his face with a drop of rain from last night. He scampered down the endless tree.
When he finally reached the soft dewy grass, he was thrilled with what he saw. It was one of those big white
tents again. He couldn’t wait to see what left over treats there were today!
He scurried under the giant white tarp and smelled a sweet, strawberry smell. He found what looked like a
pink cloud only it was small and on the ground. He realized that the delicious smell was coming from the pink
cloud. He picked it up with his tiny hands and put it in his mouth. Instantly, he was filled with happiness as the
pink cloud disappeared on his tongue. Just then, a tiny person came waddling into the tent. He was crying out,
“Momma, where are you?” Nutty remembered times when he was little and he was lost and looking for
his mom. He decided to help. He ran across the tall damp grass until he reached the little boy. The boy seemed
frightened. His eyes widened and he shied away. He calmed down after Nutty gave him his best “puppy eyes”.
The boy asked,
“Have you seen my mom?” Nutty nodded yes, even though he hadn’t, just so the boy would let him help.
The boy made a gesture and set his hand on the ground so Nutty could climb on. Nutty scrambled on and went
up and up into the air as if he was flying! The boy started to move. Nutty had to balance himself or he would fall
off the hand. The boy then talked on and on about how he got lost. Nutty tried his best to understand “toddler
talk” but could only make out that Jared, that was his name, got separated from his mom at the fountain by the
rose bushes. Nutty nodded throughout the story until Jared stopped walking. Nutty looked around and then
looked at Jared's eyes to see where they were looking.
“I cant remember where the fountain is!” Jared whined as his lip began to tremble. I looked once more at
the endless park. I found, not the fountain, but a map! I was so excited that I squeaked with joy. Jared asked me if
I saw something. I nodded and as he gently set me down on the stone path, I ran over to the map. Jared wobbled
as quickly as he could. We both stared at the map and soon realized that neither of us could read. Then, Jared
came up with a great idea.
He said, “We should look for things around us to see where we are on the map!” I squeaked with excitement.
As we looked around, we saw a hot dog stand, a small blue bathroom, and a gift shop.
“A gift shop!” Jared shouted. “Lets try to find it on the map!” I squeaked again and looked for a gift shop
marking on the map. As soon as I saw one, Jared did too. So we had established where we were.
“Now we should look for a picture of a fountain.” Jared said. I smiled up at him and yipped “Good job!” I
don’t think he heard me, he was busy looking for a fountain. When he found the fountain marking, he set down
his hand and not so carefully picked me up. I could tell he was excited by the speed of his little legs. I didn’t
know where we were going, but Jared did. He turned corners like a soldier; precise and quick. He was a boy on a
mission. I just hoped I wouldn’t fall. It was a long way down. When we saw the fountain, Jared started running. I
was bouncing up and down and losing my balance as his feet leapt towards the fountain. When we got there, we
walked around and looked for his mom.
Then I heard, “Jared, Jared.” At first I thought I was mistaken, and that I was just day dreaming.
“Did you hear that?” Jared asked. I nodded excitedly. Now I knew that the voice was coming from him
mom. He knew that too as he started jumping up and down. I was thrown into the air and did an accidental flip,
which was very fun, but very scary. Right then, his mom came running towards us and grabbed Jared in a giant
hug. I was thrown to the ground with a thud as Jared returned the hug, which apparently I was not included in. I
landed on the ground with a bump as I did a summersault into a Pepsi can. As Jared’s mom kissed him all over
his face, Jared pulled away and walked over to me. He scooped me up, thanked me for my help, and gave me my
very own pink cloud! I was so excited to show my squirrel friends. As I watched Jared and his mom walk away,
I told myself that this was a day I’d never forget.