Springtime with Geraldine Woolkins by Karin Kaufman

Author:Karin Kaufman [KARIN KAUFMAN]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Winter Tree Books
Published: 2023-07-20T00:00:00+00:00

THE SQUIRREL WHO HAD NO FRIENDS

Papa and Mama settled into their armchairs by the fireplace, while Geraldine, Button, and Theodora found seats on the couch. There was no need for a fire this night, but still, Geraldine, Mama, and Theodora had laid dandelion-fluff quilts across their legs, and Theodora was sipping a cup of hot dandelion tea.

Food and drink were not always allowed in the living room, but this night was special. The Woolkins family was celebrating Theodora’s new home—and the happy fact that she was going to be their new neighbor.

There would be more changes to come, as Theodora had warned when she’d said the words At least for now, but tonight, and maybe for a long time to come, all was well.

“Are we ready?” Papa asked, opening the Book of Tales on his lap.

Mama began to work on her knitting and Geraldine nestled deeper into her quilt. The moment of anticipation had come. Papa turned several pages until he found his place. “This story is called ‘The Squirrel Who Had No Friends.’”

“It sounds sad already,” Button declared. “I don’t know if I want to hear it.”

“Now, now,” Theodora said, “let the story begin and finish before you judge it.”

“Thank you, Theodora,” Mama said.

Papa cleared his throat. “This is a true story,” he said.

All the stories in the Book of Tales were true. They had been gathered and written down by mice living in faraway places long ago.

Even so, to Geraldine the stories sounded familiar. The creatures in them felt the same kinds of happiness and sorrow that she did. They dreamed the same dreams she did and were scared and impatient and worried about change in the same ways she was.

If she one day met these creatures, she thought, she would know them. They would be old friends.

“It was a beautiful summer day in the Hickory Forest,” Papa began, “a favorite place for squirrel families to gather nuts and romp with friends. The trees were thick with squirrels, leaping from branch to branch, playing games of chase and tag while they jabbered like monkeys. But one young squirrel by the name of Chester sat by himself, on his own lonely branch in a squirrel-filled tree. He had no brothers or sisters, and none of the other squirrels chased him or asked him to chase them.”

“Why wouldn’t they play with him?” Button asked.

“I’m sure we’ll find out,” Mama said. “Continue, Nigel.”

“On the branch above him,” Papa read, “three squirrel friends played and laughed, but none of them paid Chester any mind. It was as though he wasn’t there, though the other squirrels could clearly see him if they cared to look. At one time in his young life, Chester had tried to join in with the games—and he was proficient at squirrel games—but after a while, after being ignored for so many days, he gave up and learned to sit alone in the tree.”

“He was disheartened,” Theodora said. “Like me.”

Mama stopped her knitting. “What do you mean?”

Theodora rested her cup in her lap.

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