Riverwood Hollow

Preview from "Chapter 3 Lucky Day" (Squirrel begins this chapter in his dream world where he sees his friends from the puppet tree in the gift shop as real animals. Torn from his adventure by Lion's voice, Squirrel wakes up. When he meets 10-year-old Travis he hopes the boy will purchase him) Dazzling sunlight splashed through the leafy trees of a summer forest. Squirrel loved days like this in his dream world. He scurried around the ground sampling an assortment of nuts, acorns, and seeds. Then he ran to a towering tree whose broad branches arched over a sandy path. Digging his sharp claws into the gnarled trunk he climbed toward the top. Satisfied with the view, he crept to the end of a large limb and paused to survey the woodland he had entered. Squirrel couldn't believe what he saw next. Below him, Roar wandered along the shore of a muddy river that flowed under a covered bridge downstream. He looked much too small to be a lion. Bandita sat in the middle of tall orange flowers on the banks of the river. She turned her head this way and that, looking confused. Pinkie huddled beneath an iron bench. The old bench leaned against a flowering tree whose lower branches dipped beneath the river's water. Shelltin floated on the water's surface next to a partially submerged log. Wings was perched on a birdbath next to a small cottage. He was watching a blue jay that fluttered around a bird feeder. Squirrel had seen feeders before in his dreams. They were good places to find seeds and corn cobs. He also had learned about blue jays. They always chased him away from the food. Squirrel dashed back along the branch to the trunk and descended the tree, swishing his tail for balance. Just a few feet from the ground, he leaped. He felt his tail inflate before landing on all four paws. Delighted with this newfound skill, he called out to his friends. * "Hey, Squirrel, wake up! You're barking in your sleep." "Huh…oh yeah, I was dreaming," Squirrel murmured, blinking his eyes. "It's time to look sharp! Travelers are arriving for the morning flights," Roar said. "It's Christmas time. You want to find a home, don't you?” "Yes, but I was having the best dream. I ran through the grass in the woods and ate crunchy nuts and seeds. Then I climbed up high in a huge tree. I saw a bridge over a muddy river, a path through tall orange flowers, and a little cottage with bird feeders. And everything smelled sweet and tasty. You were there, Roar…and Wings, Bandita, Pinkie, even Shelltin. I was so happy. Maybe that's what love's about, being with friends in a place where you feel at home." "Slow down, Squirrel," Shelltin pleaded. "Now where was I in that dream world of yours?" "You were floating in the river, near a mossy log that had fallen from one of the trees. You were hardly moving." Roar howled with laughter. "Of course, he was hardly moving. What would you expect from a turtle? More importantly, what would a lion like me be doing in the woods? I"m not some fat house cat hunting mice in the forest. Squirrel, you must get grounded. Dreams are only dreams. They're not the real world. Reality is here in this store!" "I know, I know. You keep telling me that. But my dreams feel so real, and I'm a real squirrel in them." Roar continued to laugh. "Well, you can't live your life like a dream." "I've said this before. I'd rather live in a dream than spend my life hanging on a hook in a store." Just as Squirrel spit out the last word, a sticky hand grabbed him off his hook. Bright blue eyes on a boy's gleeful face stared down at him as fingers lid into his puppet mouth. The boy giggled as he made Squirrel's mouth move up and down and his paws back and forth. "Squirrel," he said, "You and I could have so much fun climbing trees. I love to climb trees." When Squirrel took a closer look at the boy, he noticed his sandy brown hair was swept to the side as through he'd just combed it. The boy's red jacket was unzipped, revealing a blue T-shirt with a Superman symbol on the front. A black backpack covered in superhero stickers hung over his left shoulder. Judging by his many days observing children playing with the puppets, Squirrel thought the boy was about 10 years old. Squirrel had seen superhero toys and stickers during his time in the gift shop. He even knew some of the characters' stories, having heard conversations among the children who clutched the toy figures in their hands. Thank goodness I don't see the boy holding a smartphone. Please choose me, Squirrel hoped. Silent conversations only seemed to work among the puppets. But perhaps a special child could hear his wish.