Chester and his Missing Acorns

Hi! My name is Chester Chipmunk. I am in a bad mood today. I went to visit one of my newest friends, Tommy Blue jay, but he wasn’t home. Tommy lives near my home, in a big pine tree. I really wanted to see Tommy, too. He is a very good friend and we have lots of fun together.

I remember the day that I was out collecting acorns to store for the winter. Tommy came by to see me and the next thing I knew was that all my acorns were gone.

“Don’t you worry,” said Tommy. “I’ll find out what happened to them.”

Tommy flew into the afternoon sky. He is a magnificent flyer. He circled high above a group of pine trees off to the east. Suddenly, he swooped down to a nearby stream. A few minutes later, he came back to where I was waiting.

“Did you find them, Tommy?” I asked anxiously. “Did you find my acorns?”

“Now, hold on there Chester!” exclaimed Tommy, out of breath. “Yes, I did find them.”

“Where are they?” I asked, my cheeks instinctively puffed out, almost tasting those sweet acorns.

“Well, they are over there,” said Tommy, pointing in the direction of the stream.

“They are over by the stream,” I said. “Lets go and get them.”

“Now Chester,” said Tommy, suddenly looking a little frightened. “I wouldn’t do anything hasty.”

“Why?” I asked. “Tommy, who has my acorns?”

“Do you remember that big black bear that hangs around here?” asked Tommy.

“Yeah, I do,” I commented. “What about him?”

“Well, he’s the one that has your acorns,” explained Tommy. “I don’t think that going after him is such a good idea.”

“We just can’t let him get away with stealing food,” I said. “What are we going to do about it?”

I think that we should just stay away from him, said Tommy. “He is nothing but trouble.”

I wasn’t so sure. As soon as Tommy went away, I took a long walk over to the stream to see the black bear. Sure enough, he stood by the stream. He was huge, but what I was interested in was the big mound of my acorns, piled up nice and neatly beside him.

“Hey there, Mr. Bear,” I called out to him. “What do you think you are doing with my acorns?”

Startled, Mr. Bear took a step backward and landed right into the cold, fast flowing stream.

“Hold on, Mr. Bear,” I cried. “I’ll help you.”

“Hurry,” cried Mr. Bear. “I’m going to drown.”

Just then, I saw Tommy circle high above our heads. He was assessing the situation.

“To your right!” called Tommy. “Go to your right! There is a shallow strip there!”

Mr. Bear pulled himself over to the right of the stream and sure enough he was in a shallow spot within minutes. Hurriedly, I caught up to him.

“Are you alright?” I asked Mr. Bear.

“Yes,” said Mr. Bear. “I am. Thank you very much!”

“It’s alright.” I said.

“That was a close one, Mr. Bear,” said Tommy, as he landed down beside me. “What were you doing so close to the edge of the stream and Chester, what are you doing here, or, should I ask?”

“I, uh,” I stuttered.

“Look, Tommy,” said Mr. Bear. “I can explain everything. I think Chester was here because he thinks these acorns are his.”

“Well, Mr. Bear,” said Tommy. “These are Chester’s acorns. I know, because I helped him collect them.”

“I am so sorry,” said Mr. Bear. “I saw this big pile of acorns just sitting there, so I took them.”

“I think that you should be more careful about where you are getting your food from,” said Tommy. “As you can see, poor Chester had to leave those acorns in a big pile like that because there is no way that he can carry them all at once.”

“I understand that now,” said Mr. Bear. “Look, why don’t I help you carry these back home for you?”

“That would be great,” I said.

Within an hour, I had all my acorns piled up nice and neat, just outside of my home and I had made a wonderful new friend.