Magpie was perched on the back of a chair outside her favorite cafe in the town when she noticed several members of the Wren family in the park across the street. She flew over to say hello.
“Hello, Anna, hi Bob,” said Magpie. “And is that Clarissa? You’ve gotten so big since I last saw you!”
“Hello, Magpie,” said Anna Wren. “how are you today?”
“I’m fine,” said Magpie. “I’m spending some time in town because I had to get out of the forest.”
“You had to?” asked Bob. “Why? What happened?”
“It’s Squirrel,” said Magpie. “You know Squirrel, don’t you?”
“We do indeed,” said Anna Wren, “but the Squirrel I know is quite a pleasant fellow. Why did you have to get out of the forest because of him?”
“It was all the questions,” said Magpie. “The unending, incessant, annoying questions. I just couldn’t stand it any more. At least for a while.”
“What’s Squirrel asking about?” asked Clarissa Wren. Then before Magpie could answer, she flew away to play flying tag with her brothers Dan and Ed.
“I apologize for Clarissa,” said Bob, “that was rude. But we’re curious too, Magpie, what IS Squirrel asking about?”
“Flying,” said Magpie.
“What it’s like?” asked Anna, puzzled.
“More like ‘how to do it’,” said Magpie. “Squirrel’s cousin Filbert is visiting for the month. He’s from the other side of the forest, you know, and he’s put all these ridiculous ideas in Squirrel’s head.”
“What ideas?”
“Filbert is a flying squirrel, you know,” said Magpie. “Not that they really FLY, of course; it looks to me like all they do is glide. But Filbert has convinced Squirrel that any squirrel can fly like he can. Squirrel believes it, and he’s trying to really do it.”
“Oh my,” said Anna. “Do you think it’s true, Magpie? Could Squirrel really learn to fly?”
“It’s not just a matter of learning,” said Magpie, “Filbert has flaps of fur between his front and back legs, and when he spreads them out they work like wings. Squirrel is trying to make his own wings, and he’s coming up with all sorts of ridiculous inventions.”
“Like what?” asked Bob.
“The latest one,” said Magpie, “is made from a couple of plastic bags he borrowed from Beaver. I don’t know why I ever brought the first plastic bags into the forest and explained how useful they are. Look what it’s led to now.”
“But that sounds like a pretty good idea,” said Bob, cocking his head to one side to think about it better. “If Squirrel can come up with a way to fasten the edges of the bag on the front and back, it might work…”
“It DOES work!” shouted Squirrel, swooping down and landing in the grass in the park. He was holding a plastic bag with all four paws. “It works, it works!”
“Far out, dude,” said Filbert, swooping down and landing next to Squirrel. “Hey there, fellow flyer.”
“Hello Filbert, hello Squirrel,” said Anna and Bob. “Congratulations, Squirrel. That’s pretty impressive.”
“Dude, you gotta see this, though,” said Filbert. “It’s, like, exceptional, dude! Even I can’t do this.” He turned to Squirrel and said “show ‘em, man!”
“I still need practice,” said Squirrel, “but I figured out how to do this. Watch.” He grabbed his bag with all four paws — Bob noticed it wasn’t a whole bag, just a piece about the right size — and started spinning his big tail. As Bob and Anna and Magpie watched, Squirrel’s tail spun around so fast that it seemed to push him along the ground. He lifted up with his front paws, the air caught the plastic, and he was flying again. He flew some big circles, getting higher and higher, and finally, when he was a treetop height, he relaxed his tail and called down “I figured out how to use my tail like a propeller. Now I can take off from anywhere!”
He swooped back down and landed again. He was still breathing hard. “It’s easier if I just climb a tree and jump,” he admitted, “but there isn’t always a tree handy…”
“Dude,” said Filbert, “that is totally rad. The coolest thing I ever seen! You rule, dude!” The cousins fist-bumped their paws.
“VERY impressive!” said Bob. “Welcome to the flying club!”
“Really? There’s a club?” asked Squirrel.
“No,” said Bob, “it was just an expression. There’s no club.”
“Maybe we should start one,” said Squirrel eagerly. “We could have classes so us new flyers could ask you experienced pilots about things.”
“Fer sure, dude,” said Filbert, “like you had some radical wipeouts with your first landings, cuz.”
“And it’s thanks to Magpie that I figured it all out,” said Squirrel. “Thank you, Magpie. I got you something. It’s just a token, but I appreciate all your help.” He took out a shiny ring he’d found somewhere and held it out to Magpie.
“Oh,” said Magpie, who loved shiny things. She took the ring in her claw. Now she felt embarrassed for the things she’d said about Squirrel. “Squirrel, I, um…”
“No need to say a word,” said Squirrel, waving a paw. “You helped me out a lot, Magpie, even when I could tell you were getting annoyed.”
“Thank you, Squirrel,” said Magpie. “I’m sorry I got annoyed.”
“Hey, dude, you literally have no idea how frazzled my cuz can make somebody,” said Filbert. “Whatever you do, don’t start arguing with him about acorns.”
“Acorns?” asked Bob.
“My cousin Filbert doesn’t understand that when you’re gathering acorns,” said Squirrel, “you should concentrate on the ones that have caps. The others, where the caps have fallen off, aren’t nearly as good.”
“Cuz,” said Filbert with a sigh, “that is so not true. Acorns are all the same, dude.”
“There’s where you’re wrong,” said Squirrel. “Now gather around, everybody, this is important. The acorns that still have caps attached…”
“Excuse me,” said Magpie, “I just remembered I need to be somewhere.” She flew off to stash her ring in her nest.
“Dear,” said Anna to Bob, “was that Felicia calling us?”
“I think it was,” said Bob. “Sorry guys, we need to go make sure the kids aren’t getting into trouble.” They flew away.
“OK, Filbert,” said Squirrel, “now I’ll explain this one more time.”
“Oh, cool,” said Filbert. “there’s a totally rad chunk of cookie over there next to the path. See ya, dude.” Filbert scampered off.
“Huh,” said Squirrel. “Oh well. I’ll just get all the good acorns before Filbert even gets back.” He grabbed his plastic, revved up his tail, and took off back to the forest.
