This mini-story is based upon the characters in my new children's book: Tales From The Glades Of Ballymore
The Chipmunk kids, Colin, Connor, and Craig were playing on their dock last week in the early morning.
Connor said, "Do you know what today is?"
His brothers shook their heads, no.
"It's February 15, and today, Grenby Groundhog awakes and resumes his weather forecasting. Let's go watch."
Grenby Groundhog is Ballymore's venerable weather forecaster for nine months of the year. The other three months, November 15 through February 15, he sleeps. Today, he would indeed awake. He lives in an old hut on the southwest end of Ballymore pond. He generally keeps to himself and has never had any real contact with the chipmunks. Perhaps, they met briefly at the Midsummer's Eve or Winter Solstice festival. Some say he doesn't like visitors, but that's not really true.
Colin said, "I don't know if we should go. He might not like it."
"It'll be fine. We're just going to watch him raise the flags," answered Connor.
Eventually, the chipmunks agreed to go and began the half-hour walk to Grenby's.
Meanwhile, in the lower level of his hut, Grenby was still sleeping. He wore his usual red and white striped pajamas and was curled up under a heavy quilt. Groundhogs have a natural built-in clock, and now, it roused him from his deep sleep. He yawned and rolled over but his eyes remained closed. He thought to himself, is it already February 15. Like many people, he wasn't eager to leave his warm bed.
But leave he must, and he knew that. He lay there another half-hour before he threw off the quilt. He was not really awake but felt quite hungry. That's not surprising since he hadn't eaten since the Winter Solstice festival. He crawled out of bed, put on his green bathrobe, and slowly climbed the stairs to the kitchen.
As Grenby was waking, the chipmunks reached his hut and went to the back. They were able to get onto the ledge of the kitchen window and peer through. Grenby was just coming up the stairs, and they scrunched down. With his eyes only half open, he went about making some porridge and tea. Eventually, he became more aware of his surroundings. It was then, out of the corner of one eye, that he noticed the chipmunks staring in the window.
He smiled to himself but didn't let them know that they were caught. He thought, those must be the chipmunk kids. I wonder what they're up to. Probably, just curious.
A plan occurred to him and he made some extra porridge and tea.
Then he said loudly, "Oh, I'm so stiff after sleeping so long. I wish I had someone to help raise the weather flags.
The chipmunks looked at each other.
Colin whispered, "Do you think we could help him?"
Connor whispered, "I don't know but let's go around to the front door and introduce ourselves."
They climbed down from the window ledge, scampered to the front door, and knocked.
From inside they heard grumbling, "Who is bothering me this early in the morning?"
The chipmunks got scared and were about to run away when the door opened. Grenby looked out into the bright daylight and asked, "Who is it?"
Colin answered, "I'm Colin Chipmunk and these are my brothers, Connor and Craig."
"And why are you knocking on my door?" the groundhog asked roughly.
"Well, we were wondering if you might need any help in raising your flags," said Craig.
Grenby smiled.
"And why do you think I might need help?"
The chipmunks blushed and didn't want to admit that they had been spying on him.
"I um. We um were just wondering," said Connor.
"Well actually, I could use a little help. Isn't it amazing that you have come to my door this morning?"
"Yes, sir," said Connor as he shuffled from paw to paw.
"Let me make my weather forecast and then we can raise the flags," said Grenby.
He walked out of his hut and looked at the sky and the trees. He sniffed the air.
After a short while he proclaimed, "I think the weather will be fair but cold for the next few days."
That meant his weather flags would be the following:
Today
Highest flag - blue - fair
Next flag - green - moderate winds
Next flag - green - cold
Tomorrow
Next flag - blue - fair
Next flag - green - moderate winds
Next 5 Days
Lowest flag - blue - nice weather
He pulled the appropriate flags off of a large rack and strung them in the correct order.
"Fellows, you can now raise the flags," said Grenby.
The three chipmunks jumped onto the flag rope and began to climb. As they climbed, the rope came down and the flags went up. When the highest flag reached the top of the pole, it stopped with a bump. The chipmunks were thrown off the rope and landed on the ground. They were unhurt and laughed.
Grenby said, "Fellows, you did a great job. Thank you. How about some breakfast of porridge and tea. I made extra because I had a feeling I was going to have three guests. Why do you think I thought that?"
The chipmunks blushed and looked down at their paws. Grenby smiled. The four walked into his hut and had a nice breakfast. It was a good start to the new year for him.
© 2012 Robert N. Brooks
The weekly Story about the animal residents of Ballymore is available for free syndication to family-oriented blogs and websites. For information, please contact me at: ballymoretales(at)gmail(dot)com.
Tales From The Glades Of Ballymore
I am pleased to announce that I have completed my children's novel. It is a heartwarming, humorous, and adventurous family book about a community of lovable animals. It has an underlying theme of the
"Golden Rule". The early reviews are excellent. I hope everyone enjoys reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. The book and a free sample are now available on
Amazon.
NOTE: Kindle or iPad not required.
Thank you, Bob Brooks
Story - "Flags Fly Again"
Maeve is unnerved when she and her grandfather find a body in the bog in Ballywhinney, Ireland. It turns out to be the body of a young girl who lived more than a thousand years ago. A girl like Maeve, with fair hair, who walked the same fields and picked the same flowers. When archeologists display the mummy at a museum, Maeve wonders: Does the girl mind being displayed in a glass case for all to see? Or does she miss the green meadow where she had lain for so many hundreds of years? Two picture-book masters sensitively capture the layers of thought and feeling arising in the face of an awe-inspiring and mysterious discovery.
