LateNightHacking Louis My Writing

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Nutsy walked across the broad walnut branch. "Food, food. Hmmm. I'm hungry. What is there to eat around here?" he thought to himself. He kept an eye open for anything that might be edible. As he wound his way outward on the forking branch, sure enough, he found what he was looking for. He clambered out onto the smaller branch and pulled off a walnut. Returning to the main branch, he sat back and relaxed.

A crescent moon shown down from above, making it a pleasant night that was not too bright. He was hidden enough in the foliage, and a slight breeze kept his movements from being two obvious. He sat down to enjoy his lunch. Picking one end, he quickly chewed off the skin and began to gnaw at the shell of the nut with his large incisors. Soon he was picking out pieces of the meat and nibbling away.

Nutsy ate hungrily, but kept his eyes and ears open. He was about half finished when he noticed something moving below him. He leaned over the edge of the branch to get a closer look. The thing was about much bigger than a squirrel, but not as big as a bobcat. It was mostly gray, with black markings. Its coloration made it hard to discern in the shadows of the great tree. Nutsy watched the mysterious animal closely as it searched under fallen branches and riffled trough the leaf litter.

Suddenly something slipped. The Nutsy lost his hold on the walnut and it fell off the branch. He stared in disbelief as the nut slowly fell to forest floor. Thunk! It landed right on the other animal's head.

"OW!" It cringed and rubbed its head with its paw. It slowly sat back onto its haunches and looked up, still rubbing its head ruefully.

"Oh my," thought Nutsy. "Now what have I done?" He bounded back along the branch to the trunk of the great tree, and scampered down to the ground. The gray creature turned and watched him. Nutsy stopped in front of it.

"Hello! Sorry about that. I didn't mean to drop that on your head. I hope you're all right. It was an accident. You just happened to be standing right underneath me," Nutsy chittered. "I lost my balance and it just fell. I'm really sorry. I won't do that again. Say, are you knew here? I don't recognize you. Can you talk? Do you have a name?" Nutsy's tail flicked as he spoke, as if punctuating his sentences.

The other animal answered slowly, stunned both by the ballistic walnut and the verbal barrage. "My name's... Joshua," he said, very slowly. He stared dumbly at the reddish brown fur ball chattering away in front of him, and rubbed his head again.

"Hi, Josh! How are you? Well, you're probably not doing too good after I dropped that walnut on your head, but other than that how are you? My name's Nutsy! Nice to meet you! I'm a squirrel. Well, flying squirrel to be exact. See?" Nutsy held out one foreleg and pointed with the other paw. "Wings! No, not really. If they were, I'd be a bat. But I'm not. I'm a squirrel. What are you? I don't think I've ever seen an animal like you before," Nutsy chittered happily, his tail flicking erratically.

Josh answered slowly, "I'm a... raccoon." He continued to watch Nutsy with confusion. He'd seen a few flying squirrels, although he'd never talked to any. How could this one not know what a raccoon was?

"Are you sure? You don't sound very sure. Maybe you're not a raccoon. You know, like the ugly duckling. He thought he was a duck when he actually was a swan. Although, I don't know. You don't look like a duck or a swan to me," Nutsy chittered with concern.

"Ugly who? What? No," said Josh, shaking his head. With much more conviction, he added, "I'm sure, I am a raccoon." Taking stock, the 'coon asked, "Aren't you ever quiet?"

"Oh, sure. I can be when I want to. You know, when you're being chased be an owl, you have to be very quite." Nutsy paused for a moment and shivered. Then he continued. "Other times, though, I forget sometimes. I get excited and I start chattering up a blue streak. I have so many things to say, I forget to stop. Usually one of my friends has to tell me I'm talking to much, or I don't realize it. Then they can never get a word in edgewise." Nutsy flicked his tail twice and paused for a breath.

"You are," said Josh bemusedly.

"I am what?" asked Nutsy in confusion, his train of thought derailed.

"Talking too much."

"Oh. OK. I'm quiet now," chittered Nutsy, then he fell silent. Even his tail stopped moving. He just watched Joshua and grinned broadly.

Josh watched.

Nutsy waited.

Time passed.