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It was one of those
glorious autumn afternoons when the sun was shining and there was just a
slight nip in the air. The colorful leaves crunched under Ian and Mac’s
paws. Acorns, olive green with tan caps, fell from the trees around the
two raccoons. It was a perfect autumn day.
Ian and Mac ran through the
woods and out on the heather-covered hills. Today they were going to enjoy
running around, being free. As usual, Ian began to feel hungry. "Mac, do
you suppose we could stop for a bite to eat?" Ian asked.
"And just what do you think
we’re going to find in the heather?" Mac answered.
"Help me lift up this rock.
There are probably some roly-poly bugs under there, or a worm or two." Mac
helped Ian lift the rock. "Aha, there they are," Ian said, reaching for
the wiggly bugs. He popped them into his mouth, crunching them and then
swallowing. "Delicious," he said. "Help me with this rock too," he asked.
"Ian, I don’t want to spend
the whole day lifting rocks. I’m not partial to worms anyway," Mac sighed.
Just then they heard a
muffled cry. WAAH! WAAH! WAAH!
"What was that?" Ian asked.
"It sounded like a baby,"
Mac answered.
WAAH! WAAH! WAAH!
"It doesn’t sound very
happy. Maybe we’d better look for it. What if it’s lost?" Ian said.
"The crying is coming from
this way," Mac said, running towards it.
WAAH! WAAH! WAAH!
The two raccoons stopped at
the top of the hill. Sitting among a patch of mushrooms was a wee raccoon.
It was a wee lassie raccoon. She had big brown eyes, soft gray-brown fur
and a striped tail, just like theirs. "Why, it’s a wee thing," Mac said.
"What’s the matter, sweetie?" Mac asked her.
Sniffle. Sniffle. "I’m
lost. I can’t find my mummy. WAAH! WAAH! WAAH!" she screamed.
"Calm down there. We’ll
help you find your mummy. First, tell us your name," Mac said.
"My name is Molly. I want
my mummy! WAAH! WAAH!"
"My name is Mac and this is
Ian. We’ll help you find her. Don’t worry sweetie. Come on, take my hand
and we’ll go and look for her."
She jumped up, managed a
big smile, wiped the tears off her cheeks and took Mac’s hand. Ian took
Molly’s other hand. They ran down the hill, swinging Molly high into the
air. "Let’s look for her down by the stream," Ian suggested.
"Good idea, Ian. She might
be there looking for a fish."
They ran down to the stream
and looked all around. There were a lot of fish swimming about but no
mummy raccoon. "Say, Molly. Are you hungry? Would you like Ian to catch
you a fish?" Mac asked.
"Yes," she said, happily.
Ian jumped into the water.
Brrrrr, it was cold. He tried to catch a fat trout. He caught one in his
hand but it wiggled around so much that it made Ian fall into the water.
Molly started to laugh. She thought that was pretty funny. Ian stood up,
dripping from head to toe. "Fish," Molly said. Ian got his balance and
caught another fish in his hands. It wiggled about and he nearly fell
again but managed to toss the fish onto the bank near Mac’s feet. It
squirmed and tried to get back to the stream but Mac stepped on its tail.
"Fish," Molly said again. Mac picked it up once it stopped wiggling about
and handed it to Molly. She must have been very hungry as she gobbled it
down.
"Now catch one for us," Mac
ordered.
Ian spent the next hour
trying to catch two more fish. He caught one quickly and gave it to Mac
but every time he caught another, it wiggled out of his hands and swam
away. Finally Ian gave up. "I’ll do without this time," he said.
"WAAH! WAAH! WAAH! I want
my mummy," Molly said, suddenly realizing her mummy wasn’t there.
"We’ll find her sweetie.
Let’s go into the woods. Maybe she’s in there looking for some berries or
nuts," Mac said. He took her hand and they walked into the woods, followed
by a very wet Ian. They had to jump over some logs and climb around some
rocks. "Oh look, there are some berries. Should we pick some?"
"Yes," Molly said.
"Ian, go and pick us some
berries. Wee Molly wants some. Make sure they’re ripe," Mac said.
Ian climbed into the
bushes. They were prickly and poked him all over. "Ouch. Ooch. Ouch. Eech!"
he said. He picked a handful of red, juicy berries and then climbed back
out of the bushes. "Ouch. Ooch. Ouch. Eech!" he went again. He was covered
with scratches. "Here you go," he said, handing the berries to Molly.
She put them in her mouth
and quickly gobbled them down. "WAAH! WAAH! WAAH! I want more!" she cried.
"Ian, go and get Molly some
more berries," Mac said.
"Oh Mac. I don’t want to,"
he whined.
"Ian. She’s hungry," Mac
said.
"WAAH! WAAH! WAAH! I want
some more," Molly cried.
"Ian!" Mac commanded.
Ian climbed back into the
bushes. "Ouch. Ooch. Eech. Ouch!" He brought her another handful. She ate
them quickly.
"That’s enough," Ian said.
"Let’s go and find her mum now. I’ll bet she’s close by right now."
"Molly! Molly!"
"What was that?" Mac asked.
"Was that your mum?" Ian
asked.
"Mummy," Molly giggled.
Just then her mum came
around from behind a tree. "There’s my wee Molly. You got lost. I couldn’t
find you. Who are these nice raccoons that have been watching out for
you?" she asked the two.
"I’m Mac and this is Ian.
We’ve been trying to find you."
"I had fish and berries.
Ian fell in the stream and got scratched by the bushes," Molly told her
mum. She started to laugh.
"Thank you for taking care
of my wee one. Come on, Molly," her mum said. Just then she thought, "Say,
would like to baby-sit Molly sometimes?"
"Of course," said Mac. He
liked wee Molly. "Bring her by any time."
"Yes, bring her by
anytime," said Ian.
From then on, Mac and Ian
babysat Molly once a week. They had a lot of fun with her and she was
always happy when she came and so were Ian and Mac. |
