“Oh! That horrible sound!” Mama shook her head.
“PLEASE. STOP. DOING. THAT!” his siblings said, but Revver couldn’t help it. He wasn’t listening to them anyway. And he had a whole day of racing to watch.
“Brothers!” Sprite moaned under her breath.
As the day passed, Mama left the nest to collect food. Her children were all busy in the tree with the usual squirrel activities. All except one.
Bounce hopped happily from tree limb to tree limb below the nest. He was smooth and quick. Only the rustling leaves gave away his location. He sped from here to there like a brown blur through the tree.
Farty was settled into the comfy V of some limbs, enjoying a huge pile of nuts and berries.
And, like a tiny high-wire acrobat, Sprite stood, perfectly balanced on the tiniest of twigs, only to leap gracefully and swoop down to a row of swings she’d made that were hanging on nearby branches.
Revver had the nest to himself. With the binoculars still in his paws, he leaned his elbows atop the side of the nest to watch a very exciting race. There was a close run for first place. Three cars skidded and traded turns taking the lead. One would get ahead on the straightaway. Another would get by in the corner. A third car raced right behind, just inches from the cars in front of it, waiting for the chance to pass. One car would try to pass. Another car would block the way. Engines raced and tires smoked. Revver held his breath as the white flag waved. He knew what that meant: one more lap to go! He was so excited he could feel his heart beating!
Squeal! Boom! There was action in the far corner! It looked like one of the cars had skidded out of control, but it was too smoky for Revver to see what had happened. He could hear more squealing and gasping from the crowd. He saw the audience jump to their feet.
Revver’s heart was pounding. “What’s happening? Who has the lead? Is everyone okay?!” he yelled. Not knowing was more than he could stand. He popped up on the tippy tips of his back paws, s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g, trying to make himself a little longer, a wee bit taller, with his binoculars pressed tightly against his eyes. He leaned WAY OUT of the nest to get a better view. The excitement was too much!
“Vr-vr-vr-VRRROOOOM!” From deep in his chest, the sound of excitement burst out of him.
And before Revver understood what had happened, he had vibrated himself right out of the nest!
Now he sped, face-first,
right
toward
the
ground!
He was going SO FAST! It was AMAZING! The wind rushed through his whiskers and whistled past his ears. “Woo-hooooooo!!! This must be what racing feels like!” he squealed with pure joy at the speed. He loved it!
Then he caught a peek at the hard ground, coming closer and closer, faster and faster. Instantly, he remembered how Sprite had saved him from jumping off the top branch. He remembered his visions of what could have happened that day. He flashed back to all the cars he’d seen after high-speed crashes—mangled and ripped, with pieces scattered everywhere. A bee sting and a tail tug would be NOTHING compared to this! Uh-oh! he thought. NOW I’ll know what CRASHING feels like!
Revver squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself for a very bad ending.
11
“Shave Rebber!” someone screamed through a mouthful of food.
“What?!”
“He said, SAVE REVVER!” he heard someone else answer.
“Oh, brother!”
Bounce, Sprite, and Farty jumped into action in the branches below Revver. None of them were big enough or strong enough to catch him. All they could do was try to slow him down, break his fall, and hope for the best. There was no time for anything else.
Suddenly a brown blur came bouncing up, speeding toward Revver, pushing him and pausing his fall for a moment. The blur shoved into his stomach HARD. Revver coughed and gasped. Now he was coming back down again, but more slowly.
“Your turn!” Revver heard.
Another, much smaller brown blur swung from a branch and pushed at him. Again, Revver stopped falling for a tiny moment. He started falling back down again, even more slowly.
And then a very big, very heavy, thick blur pushed into him, hard. And again, the first blur. And then the littler, second blur again.
Each time, Revver stopped falling for a split second, and then he continued down more slowly. Each hit was slowing his fall.
“Now ALL TOGETHER!”
Finally, Revver was knocked sideways, with three brown blurs bouncing and pushing at him with full force, all at once.
Revver came to rest on his back with a boom! in a thick tangle of leafy branches, just a few feet from the ground. His binoculars bounced off him as Bounce, Sprite, and Farty landed around him, all weary and panting. They had worked together, jumping and pushing at him, to save him from the fall.
“Revver! Are you COMPLETELY nuts?!” Bounce gulped for air.
Farty sniffed the air. “Nuts?” he asked. “Where?!” Somehow, through all of it, he was still chewing.
“Revver!” Sprite squealed. “You almost killed yourself!”
“And we all could have died trying to save you!”
Revver did not hear a word. He was filled with a kind of excitement he had never felt before. His heart was pounding. His paws were shaking. He jumped to his feet. “Did you SEE that?! Did you SEEEEE?! Did you notice how fast I was going?! SO fast! WOW! That was AMAZING!”
“Oh, BROTHER!!! Did you hit your head on the way down, because I’M SURE what you meant to say was, ‘Thank you all for saving my life’!” Sprite boomed. She was NOT pleased.
“Don’t worry, Sprite. It was an accident—I promise! I was just watching the race, and I leaned out a little too far, and . . . Oh! The race! I need to see what happened!”
Revver started searching around for his binoculars.
“Oh, Revver! How will you ever survive in the wilderness?!”
Not even bothering to look up, Revver said, “You know, I’ve been thinking about this. I’m not very interested in the wilderness. I’ve decided that I’m going to live at the track.” Revver spoke matter-of-factly. But if Revver was being honest, he would have to admit that he hadn’t been thinking about it. Revver did not really plan anything. This wonderful idea had occurred to him that very second, inspired by the incredible feeling of SPEED that still had him tingling.
His siblings were so shocked by the very idea that they froze in place with their mouths hanging open. Then they all started talking at once:
“Oh, brother! Are you kidding?!”
Bounce jumped up and began hopping wildly. “The TRACK?! You’re a SQUIRREL! What can you possibly do there, around all those DANGEROUS CARS?!”
“Cars!” Farty gulped as he swallowed. Cars were a scary thought.
All together, his three siblings chanted, “If you get near THAT, you’ll end up FLAT!”
“What WILL you do there? How will you survive without any Essential Skills? What EXACTLY is your plan, little brother?!” asked Sprite.
Ugh! He really hated when she called him that. Revver said nothing. He tried to hide the fact that he was getting very annoyed and just kept searching for his binoculars. Sprite knew darn well that he had no plan, ever.
“I have skills,” Revver said simply.
“Watching cars and wanting everything fast and making that horrible sound are NOT valuable skills.”
“They are valuable to me. And maybe they would be valuable to someone. Maybe I have different skills. Maybe I just need to find someone who understands.” And somehow, Revver just knew, if that someone existed, the track would be the place to find them.
They all felt scared and worried. All except one.
“Aha! Here they are!” Revver untangled his binoculars from around a nearby twig, thankful they were not broken. “I have to get back to the race to see what happened!” he said as he hurried up toward the nest. “Oh yeah, and thanks for saving my life and everything . . . ,” Revver’s voice trai
led off as he scurried away.
Sprite’s stomach was in knots. She was pretty sure that, as much as she loved her brother, she would never, could never, understand him. Would Revver ever get the chance to leave the nest at all? Even if he could prove to Mama that he had mastered his skills, Sprite had already helped save Revver’s life TWICE in the last two days. Skills? DID Revver have a single useful skill? Sprite knew him better than anyone, and even she doubted it.
Sprite feared that, one way or another, Revver was doomed.
12
Once again, Squirrel School dragged on and on. And on. Revver really tried to pay attention, but the excitement of the track that day was too magical to ignore. And now he imagined himself down there, around the cars and the speed: up close! It just HAD to happen. He HAD to live at the track! He only needed to try a little harder to pass Squirrel School . . .
But just when he would make up his mind to focus on Mama and his studies, vroooom! a car would roar along the straightaway at full speed, and Revver could not help but watch the action into the next turn.
Revver had already gotten three questions wrong. Mama was growing more and more irritated and Sprite felt more and more desperate for her brother. The nest felt sad and serious. Finally, Mama changed the subject to try to lighten the mood.
“So! Have you all thought about where you might like to live when you turn fifty days?”
They started nodding excitedly, as best as squirrels can nod, and shouting out their answers. All except one.
“I like that walnut tree waaay over there! Its branches are perfect for my ropes and swings!”
“I’ve seen a grove of pines off to the east. It has LOTS of trees and LOTS of solid limbs for jumping!” cried Bounce. He was so excited that the whole nest bounced.
“I think I will go to that joke tree!”
“Farty, I think you mean OAK tree,” corrected Mama.
“Yes, OAK, I mean.”
“Oh, brother,” Sprite whispered.
“Oh, that all sounds perfectly lovely!” said Mama Squirrel, clapping her paws, as best as a squirrel can clap.
Now, Revver WAS listening, but he did not dare answer. He knew his plan would not go over well with Mama. She definitely would not approve. And he already knew his siblings’ opinions on the subject.
Just then, a darkness fell over the group. Mama and all four children quickly looked up. The shadow passed by just in time for Revver to see a huge black hawk circling the tree.
The hawk took aim and swooped in, heading straight for the nest! Branches broke and leaves showered down on the squirrels. In no time at all, the hungry hawk was upon them.
There was no time for hiding, or running, or camouflage. They would have to scratch, fight, and bite to protect themselves.
Furry paws flailed. Teeth grabbed and chomped.
Squirrel squeals were muffled by the hawk’s screech. Revver could barely tell Sprite or Farty or Bounce apart as they tumbled and kicked. They were no match for the enormous bird. It felt nothing!
Suddenly, all of Revver’s feelings rumbled up inside him—his frustration about never being understood, the hurt of no one believing that he had any real or important skills, and his anger at this awful beast, trying to swoop in and hurt his family. An idea came quickly, like a sudden, powerful thunderstorm. Revver gathered up all the energy from all his feelings. He imagined starting up a giant engine inside himself and making it roar to life. And then he bellowed out, louder and longer than ever before,
“Vr-vr-vr-VRRROOOOOOOOOOOOM!”
The sound was so enormous that the entire tree—maybe the entire world—began to shake. The giant bird shook, too. Its eyes opened to the size of big black walnuts. For a split second, it was paralyzed with confusion and fear. It stopped moving at all. Then it squawked in terror and flew high into the sky and far, far away.
13
For a long time, everyone sat in the nest, panting. No one spoke. Farty let out a little squeaker in relief, but no one even noticed.
All of them had a few bumps, bruises, and scratches. Here and there, they had lost a few tufts of fur in the battle. But no one was badly hurt.
Everyone stared at Revver.
Revver looked around at everyone.
Time stood still.
What had just happened? It started to sink in. Tiny Sprite was suddenly overcome with joy. She jumped up, ran toward Revver, and wrapped her little arms around her brother’s neck. The force nearly knocked Revver onto his back.
He was startled. Little Sprite WAS a lot stronger than she looked.
“Revver! You saved us! You saved our lives! You saved us, little brother! That crazy, awful, beautiful sound saved us all!”
His brothers began to cheer, clap, “high-paw,” and pat Revver on the back while Mama nodded—as best as squirrels can nod. Mama went over and rubbed Revver behind his ears. She quickly wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, trying to hide her own fear and relief and . . . pride. The nest had never felt so joyful.
Several minutes passed.
Finally, Revver cleared his throat, and everyone quieted. “Mama,” he said, “when I turn fifty days old, I’m going to live down there”—he pointed with his paw—“at the speedway!”
14
It was night fort y-nine. Sprite was awake in the nest for a long time after everyone else had fallen asleep, looking up at the stars and listening to the sounds of Mama and her brothers breathing and snoring.
She sat up to look at Revver, cuddled between Farty’s foot and Bounce’s shoulder. There were tails here and there, but she could not tell whose was whose. They had all gotten so much bigger these past few weeks. It WAS getting crowded here. There was no doubt it was time for Sprite and her brothers to leave the nest. She knew that was true.
Sprite noticed that Revver still wore the chain she had woven for him, tied around his furry ankle. For some reason, this made her want to smile and cry at the same time. Her chest felt tight.
“Revver,” she whispered into his ear. But Revver was sound asleep. It didn’t matter. She kept talking to him. “Revver, please stay safe. Try to slow down and think things through. Most importantly, just be safe. And be happy, too, Revver. I want you to be happy.”
Sprite cuddled down into the nest next to Revver. This would be the last time they were all together like this. She tried to notice everything she could. She didn’t want to forget: the sound of the leaves, her brothers breathing, the crickets chirping. She studied the stars and the moonlight through the branches above her. This was home, but only for one last night.
She took a deep breath of the night air and, of course, Farty let out a pfooooof! at that very moment. She held her nose. Tonight, that made her laugh. She giggled quietly and felt less sad and a little less worried.
Finally, she started to feel sleepy. She whispered one more time, “I won’t be around to save you, Revver. So please, please be safe.”
Sprite had no way of knowing that SHE might be the one who would need saving.
15
The sun had not even started to peek up.
“Hey,” Bounce said, bolting up.
Silence.
“HEY!” he said louder, and he started jumping.
Still no answer.
“HEEEYYY!” This time he screamed and pounced, making the nest shake like a trampoline.
“Oh, brother! Hey, what?” answered a sleepy voice from deep down in the nest.
“IT’S TODAY!” yelled Bounce again.
“What’s today?” said another sleepy voice, along with a little squeak of air.
“What’s today?! WHAT’S TODAY?!” Bounce huffed. “SERIOUSLY?! How could you forget?! We’re fifty days! Today is SCURRY-AWAY DAY!”
“He’s right! It’s morning! It’s TODAY!”
The children untangled themselves from under one another.
Mama had been out gathering berries. “Breakfast, dears! And happy birthday! Fifty days already! My oh my, time does fly!”
she said.
Everyone was excited and chattered about their plans. After breakfast, it was time for the long-goodbye group huddle. Mama and her children sat in a circle in the nest. Five sets of paws stacked one on top of another, with one of Mama’s paws on the bottom of the stack and her other paw on the top.
“Now, remember to stay safe. And report back to me often, and remember that we always keep an eye on one another . . .”
“We know! We know!”
“And don’t forget your Essential Skills . . .”
“We know!”
A stink of air rose through the nest. “And, Farty, dear, do try to eat more slowly.”
“Yes, Mama. So I can request!”
“It’s digest, dear,” Mama corrected. “And, Sprite, be careful and please try to keep an eye on the boys when you can.”
Oh, brothers, thought Sprite, eager to be brother-free for a while.
“And, Revver, dear, for the life of me, I just cannot unders—”
“I know, Mama. No one understands. But it’s okay! I’ll be fine.”
“Well, dear, do at least try to be careful around all those dangerous—”
“Mama, I know, I know!”
“Yes, well, okay, then. Good luck, my dears. Go ahead.”
All together, four voices chanted, “Aaaand we’re OFF!” as they raised their paws in the air in victory, cheering.
“Vr-vr-vr-VRRROOOOM!” went Revver, startling everyone.
“PLEASE. STOP . . . Oh wait. Never mind!” said Bounce. Everyone laughed as the four of them jumped out of the nest for the last time and ran their separate ways.
For just a moment, Sprite turned back to look at the other three, heading off in different directions.
“Oh, brothers,” she said. She smiled at them. This time, she was not one bit annoyed.
Revver the Speedway Squirrel Page 3