A Nutty Retrieval: Downfall's Dilemma by Olivia Lunsford

A Nutty Retrieval: Downfall's Dilemma

By Olivia Lunsford



It was a nice, cool, breezy fall day in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. Everywhere the birds were gossiping, the squirrels were racing, and the leaves were leaving their homes to fly to distant yards. Downfall and his sister Blossomflower were very happy with their squirrely friends on the oak tree. Their nest was small but comfortable, the acorns, crunchy and sweet, and little Blossomflower was bursting with energy. All the squirrels had started collecting acorns for winter, and Downfall was ready for it.

"Ok, the large acorns shall go in this hole, the medium acorns shall go in this hole, and the small acorns shall go in this hole," Downfall decided.

"Why do the acorns have to be in separate holes? And why do we want small acorns? Couldn't we just eat big acorns?" Blossomflower asked, jumping up and down as she said it.

Downfall couldn't understand his sister. He wished that she could have been born orderly.

"Instead," thought Downfall irritably, "she likes mud, her side of the nest is the messiest thing you ever did see, and her acorn hole has any kind of nut imaginable."

"Hellooo! Downfall! Earth to Downfall! Are you dead?"

"Of course not!" thought Downfall. "If I were dead, I would not be standing up or talking. Therefore, I am not dead." He jumped to his feet.

Blossomflower, looking satisfied to know that Downfall was not dead, galloped up a tree, singing,

"I love to dance,
I love to prance,
I love to dance at every chance!"

Downfall climbed after her, wondering where she was going.

The maze of branches and leaves was unfamiliar to Downfall as he raced toward his sister. He kept bumping into everything and everyone. Then Downfall stopped. The only thing that was between him and Blossomflower was a large, black road. Downfall had heard stories of roads like these. One step on these forbidden roads would trigger a towering, reeking monster that rumbled at lightning speed and could flatten a squirrel almost instantly. He had to be quick and crafty to get past this terrible road. He backed up, measured the distance, and took a leap of faith. Downfall went flying into the air. Blossomflower was getting closer every second. Then, he stopped flying and started falling. Panic covered his face. He couldn't stop! He fell flat on his face.

"Ha!" called a high voice. "The same thing happened to me!"

"Blossomflower?"

"Duh!" she called out. "Who did you think it was? Grandpa Feller?" Then she ran off.

"Wait! Blossomflower! Stop!"

Downfall scurried after her, then stopped again.

"Where did she go?" wondered Downfall, who, by this time was exhausted. He searched in the trees. He thought he saw her light brown fur in one of the tallest trees in the forest. He was getting worried. He searched one more time then ran back to the village, hoping that Blossomflower had gone back home. He asked everyone he knew if they had seen his sister.

"I haven't seen her since she ran off toward the forbidden road," said Treebark, a fellow "nerd squirrel" .

"How should I know?" complained Birchbranch, one of the smallest squirrels Downfall knew."I've been busy working on gathering acorns."

Downfall had to find Blossomflower. Where could she be?

"What yew lookin' fer, Downfall?" wondered a deep, growly voice.

Behind him was a dark brown squirrel, twice as large as Downfall, with big, bulging muscles. He had had his eye on Blossomflower since the acorns of last winter had started sprouting. He thought that Downfall was trying to keep Blossomflower away from him. Next to him was a bunch of other bulky squirrels who half-feared him.

"My sister, Breakwood," said Downfall calmly.

"Whar is she?" grunted Breakwood suspiciously.

"I don't know.That's why I'm looking for her."

"I ain't gonna listen t'yew." rumbled Breakwood. "Where'd ya hid her?"

"She just ran away."

"I knowed that yer liein' t' me. Where's Blussemflowar?"

Downfall knew this was the time to run. He flew up a tree, climbed under his nest, and slid into the secret tunnel that he had dug into his tree. He heard a muffled voice call out, "Whar is he?" Find 'im, boys!"

Downfall breathed a sigh of relief. He thought it was weird that Breakwood had a crush on Blossomflower. He hoped that Blossomflower didn't like Breakwood. That would be a disaster!

After a few minutes he climbed out of the tunnel and into the open air. What could he do? He ran back to the place where he had seen her last and jumped up a tree, hoping to get a glimpse of her soft fur darting through the trees.

"If I were Blossomflower, where would I go?" he wondered.

Then he saw a human house in the distance. It was a small blue and green homestead with a large, fenced in backyard. A dog lived inside.

"Bingo!"

He leaped through the trees, then jumped on the roof. He ran around the entire house, memorizing it from head to toe. Then something light brown caught his eye in one of the windows. He took a closer look.

"Blossomflower!" he cried.

Inside the kitchen was a brand new cage with a rowdy little squirrel, doing everything from gobbling her food to just scurrying around her cage.

He ran through the doggy door and jumped up to the table where her cage was.

"Hi, Downfall!" she cried, rather cheerful in spite of her current condition. "You like my new home? One of the littler humans caught me in one of those cagey thingys. But on the bright side, I don't need to find food now! The humans provide it all."

"Well, now you're leaving," said Downfall firmly as he unlatched the door, "The humans might want to make you into squirrel chowder soon!"

"In that case, what are we waiting for?"

"For you to get out," said Downfall.

They dashed out the doggy door, turned around a corner, then stopped. In front of them was a reddish brown labrador, lying down in the yard. He looked slightly bored. Downfall felt like this was the end for him. Blossomflower, on the other hand, skipped right up to the massive canine.

"Hi, Jim!" said Blossomflower cheerfully. "How are you? Downfall, this is Jim. He is the humans' dog. He's a big sweetheart once you get to know him. Right, Jimmy?"

"Right! Wait, aren't you that squirrel that Ellen caught? You need to get back into your cage."

"Nope!" cried Blossomflower, jumping up, "I'm not going to become squirrel chowder in this lifetime! Come on, Downfall!"

They zipped past the dog and ran through the trees back to the village. Downfall felt relieved and exhausted. He laid down on his part of the nest.

"I'm pooped!" said Blossomflower, who was really not tired at all. "The way you saved me from being squirrel chowder was exhilarating! Want to do the same thing tomorrow?"