squirrel

Sandy Jane had always wanted a pet.  She wanted a dog named Spot, a cat named Ginger, and a goldfish named Bernie.  But her parents always said, "No pets!"


One day while Sandy Jane was in the park, a little squirrel fell out of the tree and onto her shoulder.  "Poor little guy," she said.  "Are you okay?"


The squirrel just stared at her, its eyes wide and frightened.  "Don't be scared, little squirrel," Sandy Jane said.  "Do you want to be friends?"


So without her parents knowing, Sandy Jane had a squirrel named Quentin.  She didn't keep him in her room or feed him dinner, but she did meet him at the park sometimes.  She liked to follow Quentin around and learned how to climb trees from him.  She even learned how to break nuts open from him.


The other children at the park began to notice Sandy Jane playing with her squirrel.  They would laugh and have their cats and dogs chase poor Quentin around while Sandy Jane angrily ran after them.  "Meanies!" she yelled to them, but the other children just laughed.


Sandy Jane decided to teach Quentin how to punch.  She helped him close his fingers and practiced on a leaf on the ground so he could learn to do it himself.  "Good!" she said when he weakly moved a big green leaf.


"What are you doing there, Sandy Jane?"  A mean boy and his big dog were standing there looking at her.  "You look silly."


"I do not look silly!" Sandy Jane said.  She looked like she was about to cry, so Quentin the squirrel quickly climbed up a tree nearby and dropped down on the boy's shoulder.


"What -"  Before the boy knew what was happening, Quentin curled his little hand in a fist and lightly tapped the boy on the cheek.


The boy's mouth dropped open just as Quentin scrambled back up the tree.  Sandy Jane began to laugh, but that just made the boy angrier.  "Get her!" he said to his big dog, and immediately the dog barked and ran towards her.


But Sandy Jane just turned around and quickly climbed up the tree like Quentin taught her.  Both the boy and his dog were angrily standing below while Sandy Jane and Quentin smiled up in the tree.


"You're a good teacher," she said, patting her squirrel.  She broke open a nut and chewed half of it, handing the other half to Quentin.