LateNightHacking Louis My Writing

Auth

It was Saturday. I had decided to ride the bus to the mall and wander around, maybe hang out in the book store for a few hours. I was now standing at the bus stop, waiting for the bus.

It was a temporary bus stop, and I was standing on the low concrete strip that should have been in the middle of the road. Right now, however, the traffic had been redirected all over to one side while the other side of the street was being torn up. It was Saturday, so there was no activity in the construction area. Only an abandoned steam roller way up the street to give any hint of the work in progress.

I watched the intersection below me, waiting for the bus. The street on which I was standing was on the side of a hill. There was an intersection just a little ways down the hill where the bus would make a left turn and arrive at my stop. Just past the intersection, my street descended quickly, giving a great view of a small valley and its surrounding hills. The valley was mostly undeveloped grassy plains, and it was popular with hot air ballooners. There were none of the brightly colored balloons in the air today, to my disappointment.

Where I was standing, the street cut through a small section of untouched, native cedar forest. Where Man’s influence stopped, there was a wall of cedar and blackberry on both sides of the road. In places there were paths leading into the forest, where little kids and dogs had pushed aside the bushes to explore the wilderness at the edge of the street. Were I to walk further up the hill, the trees would give way to houses and businesses, but here they were still in control. Man had managed to fit in a sidewalk and a few small decorative trees before giving up though. The wall of vegetation tended to direct my view out over the valley, an I continued to wait patiently and enjoy the view.

"Psst!"

There was a brisk breeze blowing. I watched and listened to the dead leaves as they slid downhill along the gutters with a soft dragging sound. My favorite T-shirt and shorts didn’t provide much protection from the breeze, and I crossed my arms. The bright orange flags on top of the construction warning signs flapped quietly. Traffic wasn’t too heavy, and occasionally, it would seem to cease all together. When the cars weren’t roaring by, I could hear the wind through the trees and the chirping of birds. I heard the distant rumble of a jet passing through the sky and looked ahead of where my ears told me it should be in an attempt to spot the plane. I couldn’t see it though. It must have been somewhere in the clouds or behind one of the tall cedars.

"Psst!"

I looked across the street. There was a man waiting at the bus stop that went in the other direction. He was wearing brown pants, a navy blue sweater, and a pair of expensive looking sunglasses. He stared resolutely up the street, ignoring me completely.

"PSST!"

Where was that coming from?! It sounded like someone was trying to get my attention, but there was nobody else around! It certainly wasn’t Joe Cool across the street. I looked the other way, across the closed side. It, too, was totally empty.

Then I noticed something moving around in one of the decorative trees. I squinted, trying to see what it was sitting on a branch in the shadows. It was a small drown animal, a squirrel in fact.

Well I’ll be! It was my friend Nutsy! I was quite perplexed. This was quite unlike him. He was a flying squirrel, and very nocturnal, yet my watch indicated it was almost ten in the morning! Had he never tried to get my attention when other humans were around either. He usually played the role of the simple, unintelligent squirrel whenever there was the slightest chance of his being detected.

Casually I sauntered over to stand underneath the tree. No need to arouse suspicion in Joe Cool or any of the people in the passing cars. The wind blew more leaves down the street and nobody paid any attention. I turned my attention to the creature sitting in the tree barely above my head. "What are you doing here?" I whispered.

"Oh, just thought I’d surprise you. Maybe see what you look like in your natural habitat," the squirrel bantered back quietly.

I heard the growl of diesel and the squeal of air brakes.

"Shoot, that’s my bus. I gotta go. Later!" I turned to dash for the open doors of the waiting bus.

"Wait!" the squirrel cried. "Don’t go! We need your help. We don’t know what to do!"

There was desperation is his usually carefree voice. I waved the bus driver on and stepped back onto the sidewalk as if nothing unusual was happening. When the bus had left, I looked back at the tree again. "This better be good. I just missed my bus," I told him with just a hint of annoyance. I nodded at my shoulder, suggesting he hop on.

Nutsy is an excellent flyer. After all, he’s been doing it all his life. He could land on a swaying branch in pitch darkness and make it look trivial. This time, however, it would be more correct to say he fell out of the tree. He almost missed my shoulder completely and began to slide down the right side of my chest.

"Ouch! Watch the claws!" I blurted. I lifted him with my left hand until he had gotten himself settled on my shoulder. "Damn. Are you all right?" I asked my small friend with concern. I could see a couple of scratches. They didn’t look too bad, but they looked like they needed to be cleaned.

"No, but Josh is worse," he replied, rubbing his shoulder. Keeping up that façade of joviality earlier must have been painful.

"Josh? Who’s Josh?" I asked. This name was completely new to me.

"He’s a friend of mine. Over that way." Nutsy pointed to one of the small paths leading into the forest. Shrugging, I followed it.

By the time I had traveled merely a yard or two, the shrubbery at the edge of the forest had completely hidden the road. Other than the rumble of passing cars, I wouldn’t have realized how close I was to civilization. Once inside the forest, the brush decreased greatly. I continued to walk slowly along the path, brushing away the occasional branch at eye level as I passed.

"I don’t see anyth..." I began to say, when a big raccoon stepped out from under a bush about two yards ahead of me and blocked my path with a snarl. I froze. The raccoon’s fur was standing on end and its lips were pulled back to reveal a set of sharp white teeth. It would have been a handsome beast, with a strong body and distinct markings, but it looked like it had been through a small war. It had scratches on its muzzle and shoulders. It seemed to be favoring one leg. I inhaled sharply when I saw the oozing, bloody wound across its hindquarters. At this, it snarled again. I started to back away, slowly.

"It’s Josh. Set me down," my companion said into my ear.

That’s Josh? I said to myself with amazement. As I picked the flying squirrel up off my shoulder, the raccoon snarled and lunged a short distance but didn’t come any closer. He seemed protective of the squirrel. Very slowly, I went down on one knee and set Nutsy on the dirt path. The squirrel ran towards the raccoon. I remained as still as I could.

Nutsy chittered something to the raccoon, but what I didn’t hear. Josh, assuming that was his name, closed his muzzle but continued to eye me with distrust. I slowly kneeled on both knees and after a short but animated discussion Nutsy led his friend over to meet me.

"Josh, this is Louis. Louis, this is Josh."

I held out my hand, palm outward, as if I was meeting a strange dog. I did my best to express no emotion on my face, but I was extremely nervous. Not only was this an apparently wild animal, but a seriously wounded one as well. I hoped Nutsy had been saying good things about me, because the little flying squirrel appeared to be the only reason Josh was willing to even get this close. I spoke as quietly, calmly, and positively as I could. "Hello, Josh. How are you?"

The raccoon sniffed at my hand for what seemed like a full minute. I stayed still as he looked me over thoroughly. Finally he seemed satisfied. What happened next surprised me. He set his forepaw on my hand and stared at me expectantly. Ever so slowly, I closed my hand on his paw, but he didn’t pull away. We shook.