Three Hungry Squirrels and One Blue Jay
On a calm summer afternoon, a couple of squirrels were the only ones causing a stir. They were outside fighting over a pile of peanuts beside a bedroom window. The first squirrel held the pile. She kept having to chase away the second squirrel as he tried to inch ever closer to the tasty morsels.
A blue jay nested in the tree above, and he eyed the ruckus like a disgruntled neighbor. Yet upon noticing the peanuts, realized he was also being tempted with a good meal. Right outside his residence, he couldn’t resist trying his own luck at picking a peanut from the stash. He fluttered down to the ground and boldly hopped toward it.
Yet the first squirrel continued to hold her ground, turning to intervene either of their advances. The blue jay tried to come at it from a different angle, but the first squirrel was quick. She picked up her bushy tail and bristled it over her head like it was a flowing cape. She was prepared to fight.
The second squirrel scurried behind a tree, tucking his own tail. Left hopping on the ground, the blue jay thought better of it and took flight back to his tree. There he watched with a resentful eye as the first squirrel continued to munch on the pile of peanuts.
Hungry, the second squirrel poked his head out from behind the tree. He inched closer, but turned tail and ran right around the tree again as the first squirrel chased after him. This turned out to be the right decision, and was much to his delight as he found the pile of peanuts unguarded.
Seriously duped, the first squirrel sat herself on a short stump beside the tree to sulk. Then she hopped up on top of an electricity box close to the tree, all the better to keep an eye on her lost prize.
As she settled in, she began to realize she was actually quite full. Even so, she decided to keep an eye on the second squirrel as the morsels started to look quite tasty to her.
Just then, a third squirrel hopped out from the parking lot and onto the grass. She was hungry, and she was foraging among the grasses for something to eat. She perked up, spying the other two squirrels some ways away. And where there were squirrels, maybe there were tasty seeds.
She hopped excitedly forward as she saw the second squirrel busy nibbling on something. But, then decided to laid low when she noticed the first squirrel looking at her from the corner of her eye. She ducked to the right, pretending to forage for something delicious in the grass.
She peeked up slowly and watched the second squirrel continue to munch. She couldn’t help herself, peeking her nose forward and wiggling it excitedly as she hinted something savory on the wind. She hopped forward. Just as she was craning her neck to peek around the second squirrel’s back, he spun on her.
She froze. But just then, the first squirrel took her own chance as well at the pile. The second squirrel shifted direction and made to cut her off. But he made a crucial mistake by moving too far off from the pile. The way was open. The third squirrel’s bellow rumbled, and she dashed toward the pile. She spun to meet him as he realized his mistake, bristling her own tail.
The first squirrel ran off completely, and the third squirrel now owned the pile. The second squirrel decided to also alighted upon the electric box, the better to watch his new rival. Yet after settling in, he too realized he was actually quite full. He reveled in the feeling. Yet it didn’t take long for him to set a jealous eye on the third squirrel and the pile of peanuts she nibbled on.
All the while, the man who enjoyed feeding all the squirrels and the birds sat by his bedside window watching the scene and slapping his knee. He hadn’t laughed like that in quite some time. That evening, as the sun began to set and the world was falling slowly asleep, the squirrels sat in their own nests, fat and content.
It was then the blue jay came down from his tree to inspect the ground where the pile had been. He hopped around it and was able to find for himself just a few peanuts, the only ones the squirrels left. They were quite tasty indeed, and worth all the trouble.
