Friends Of The Forest

Friends Of The Forest  - by Paul McCann

.Perched high up on the bare branch of a tall oak tree was Twitch the wise old owl . There was no shelter from the biting wind as all the leaves had fallen . 

The only protection Twitch had from the cold was his soft warm feathers . 

Barely enough to keep him happy as he shivered away in the twilight of a winters day in the forest . He rolled his little beady eyes and uttered through the corner of his beak , 



“Oh who twit who , why does it have to get so cold .“ 



He watched all the creatures collect nuts and berries and hide them away inside their hibernation holes . A squirrel carrying three times its weight scurried up the tree and disappeared inside a hole in the trunk with enough food to see three winters through . 



The owl flew down from his branch and shouted through the hole in the tree trunk . 



“Hello are you there Twit who ?” 





“Ah duh why who wants to know ?” 

Replied the Chipmunk . 



The owl hooted back , 

“Why it’s Twitch the wise old , cold old owl . That’s twit who .“ 



“Duh . Ah what can I do for thee then cold old Twitch ? ” 



“I need a warm place to spend the winter and thought you might have soon room inside ? 



“Oh no . Can’t do de dum . Oh never no .Why I’d have to throw out all the berries and nuts I’ve collected to see me through the long cold winter . Duh.. I’m ever ah , so sorry Twitch . Try asking Rodney the Rabbit . He has lots more room that I have .“ 



Twitch flew through the forest and landed outside the Rabbits burrow and hooted until Rodney hopped up to the surface . 



”Hi Twitch . Can you make it brief . I’m kind of busy . You’ve caught me on the hop and I’m running short of time Winters coming and I’ve got to stock up with supplies ..“ 



“Why hi there Rodney. ” 



“Can we skip the formalities Twitch . I’m a very busy Rabbit and can’t stay here talking all day .What exactly is it you want .” 



“Well as you know Rodney I live alone on top of the old tree in the middle of the forest . 



Suddenly Twitch and Rodney were surrounded by a large number of baby rabbits . They all seemed very curious about what was going on in the forest . Rodney turned around and shouted at all the bunny rabbits . 



“I told you all to stay in the burrow . Didn’t I . Well . What on earth are you doing up here on the surface and if you wake up your Mother from her little sleep I will make you all stand in the corner for the rest of the day ?” 



At once the little bunny rabbits began to hiss and scream and jump and run around tormenting both Twitch and Rodney . 



“Sorry Twitch . They do get very excited at times . “ 



“Are they all yours Rodney .“ 



“Oh I wish . It’s only half of them Twitch . The rest of the family are down inside the bottom of the burrow . Now what is it that you wanted to ask me ?” 



“Well it really doesn’t matter Rodney .“ 

Replied Twitch . 



“Sue is getting cold . Well I must go . Dinner is almost ready and I’ve still things to do .“ 



“of course . You do seem to have your paws full Rodney .“ 



Rodney the rabbit thumped his back legs hard down upon the ground . The earth shook under the impact and Father rabbit said aloud with authority , 



“ Come on you lot of jump about bunny rabbits . Get back inside ! ” 



One by one the bunny rabbits all disappeared back inside their burrow . 



The owl flew away to the otters house who in turn had had been evicted by the fox . The fox was unwilling to share and told the owl to seek refuge elsewhere . The owl asked the beavers who in turn asked the squirrels . 

It seemed that no one had any spare room to offer the old owl . 

Things was starting to look very grim for Twitch but just then a shooting star .  

Propelled itself from the sky and landed directly in the owls line of sight . 

How life can suddenly change . 

Twitch flew over to the spot where the fireball had landed and there in the ground was a very big hole . Inside the hole a tunnel was driven deep into the earth and it seemed that a perfect shelter had been provided for Twitch . 

Twitch inspected the large hole and as lovely as it was he thought the winter would be long and very lonely spending it there without his friends . So he began a plan to bring his friends from the forest home to live with him in his shelter . First he needed a name for this new home that he called Hibernation Getaway . Next invitations had to be made for all his friends in the forest to come and move in and share one another’s company during the cold winter months . 



For the songbirds a stage would be provided for them to entertain the rest of those who would be dwelling there . Everyone loved the Songbirds . 

Then there would be plenty of food for everyone . 

Sure enough as the days went by , each task was done . 

Every creature in the forest had a special need . Twitch tried hard with all his strength to meet the needs of all . 



First there was the large family of rabbits who always seemed so jumpy and unsettled . So Twitch decided he would try to settle them down by creating some space for new rabbit thinking by the way of him telling them stories and using some of his wise old owl relaxing and gentle breathing sessions . These activities would be provided each day during the winter months in his hole in the ground shelter . Yes that would be the perfect answer to entice Rodney and his crew to come and live in Hibernations Getaway . 

For the woodpeckers and chipmunks who would be invited to spend time with Twitch in the woodworking classes . Twitch had some projects in mind to keep them busy for a few months .  



When the invitations were handed out it wasn’t long before the offer was accepted by Twitch’s fun loving friends of the forest . 

Before long the shelter was full and the heart of a new home was shared all winter long . Each creature discovered a new sense of togetherness in the getaway that year . A unique experience almost holiday like was enjoyed thanks to the falling star that had landed unexpectedly in front of Twitch one cold dark evening just before the snow fell . 

The warmth of friendship kept winter at bay inside a place called Hibernation Getaway . 







By Paul Mc Cann 





THE END 

.