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Ian and Mac lay in their tree,
listening to the sounds coming from the woods. "There’s a lot of noise
tonight, isn’t their, Mac?" Ian said.
"Och, it’s a loud one. I’ll be lucky
to get to sleep tonight," Mac replied.
"What is all that noise anyway? I
hear crickets, an owl, a fox, and the crunching of leaves and twigs. What
do you think is walking about?" Ian asked.
"It might be a bear; then again, it
might just be Mrs. McGregor’s cat. Let’s try to ignore it and get to
sleep. You’ll need your blanket tonight. It’s going to be a cold one," Mac
suggested, pulling his up around his neck. "Winter is here."
Ian grabbed his woolen blanket from
inside the tree trunk. He wrapped it tightly around his furry body and
curled up in a ball. He couldn’t get comfortable for some reason. He
stretched and moved about. His leg was feeling stiff so he stretched it
and his claw went right through the blanket. "Och, no!"
"What’s the matter, Ian?" Mac asked.
"I’ve gone and poked a hole in my
blanket. Now cold air’s going to come in," Ian sighed.
"Well, move the blanket and put the
part with the hole underneath you, silly," Mac laughed.
Ian did just that. He rolled around
on his branch and when he stretched again, another claw tore the blanket
and made a hole. "Och, no! I’ve done it again!"
"What now?" Mac asked.
"I’ve made another hole. That’s two
holes in my blanket. Maybe I need to clip my claws," he muttered and tried
to go back to sleep.
All night long, whenever Ian moved,
his claws tore a hole in the blanket. All night long, Mac had to listen to
Ian complain. All night long, Mac had to listen to Ian shivering and his
teeth chattering because he was cold. When they woke up, Mac looked over
at Ian. "Look at the holes in that blanket. What did you do, Ian? Chew it
up? I think it’s time you cut your claws," Mac said.
Ian looked at his blanket. It was
full of holes. "This blanket’s no use any longer. I’ll have to get a new
one or sew this one up." While Mac went out to find breakfast, Ian sewed
up his blanket. It was hard for the raccoon to sew, but he sewed every
hole up.
That night, Ian stuck his claws
through the blanket and made more holes. "You can’t keep sewing them up,
Ian. You’ve got to cut your claws!" Mac said, tired and fed up with Ian’s
restless nights.
Ian sewed up the other holes the
next day. When he went to bed that night, his blanket was nothing but
holes. After tossing and turning again, Mac insisted Ian clip his claws.
Ian spent the morning down at the river cutting his claws. When he came
back to the tree, Mac said, "Ian, I’ve got a surprise for you, but first,
did you cut your claws?"
Ian showed him his shortened claws.
"What is the surprise, Mac?" Ian asked.
Mac reached into the tree and pulled
out a brand new blanket for Ian. "There’ll be no more holey nights for
you. Here’s a new blanket. It’s tartan. I hope you don’t mind. I borrowed
it from Mr. McFarland’s wash line."
"Thank you, Mac. At least tonight
I’ll get some sleep," Ian said.
"Yes, me too," Mac mumbled.
That night Ian and Mac crawled under
their blankets. Ian wrapped his around him and was toasty and warm. Mac
stretched and yawned and stuck his claw right through his blanket. RIP! "Och,
no! My blanket ripped this time!" Mac complained, looking at the hole.
"Time to trim your claws, Mac," Ian
laughed and fell asleep. Mac tossed and turned all night and kept ripping
his blanket. The next morning he went down to the river and cut his claws.
When he came back, Ian was smiling. "What are you smiling for?" Mac
grumbled.
Ian pulled out another tartan
blanket. "Mr. McFarland had another blanket out on his wash line," Ian
laughed. Mac started to laugh too. From that night on, both raccoons made
sure they kept their claws cut and slept cozy under the tartan blankets. |
