Nubby

Sitting in a tree on the North East side of the Pond, Nubby the squirrel watches his surroundings carefully. There are a few squirrels to his right, a few birds to his left and a very large nut in front of him. A large black bird is also eyeing the nut.

Nubby shakes his shoulders, drums up some confidence and throws his tail over his frail body so it envelops him like a blanket. Stealthily, he darts forward and steals the nut, returning quickly to his branch. The black bird squawks in confusion, blinking rapidly.

"Who stole my nut?" he bellowed, looking around in confusion. "That was my nut! Who took it?"

Nubby giggled silently under his tail. He quietly ate his nut, savoring the rich flavor.

"What is that?" the black bird croaked, his eye popping out slightly as he looked around.

Nubby crunched his nut louder, trying not to laugh. The black bird began to hop around indignantly.

"Whose eating my nut?" he bellowed angrily. "Someone's eating my nut!"

Nubby continued to munch on the nut.

"When I find out who you are," the black bird threatened, looking around with narrowed eyes, "I'm going to report you to the Forest King! He doesn't take lightly to thieves! Especially during the winter!"

Nubby giggled and happily popped the last bit of the nut in his mouth. The bird squawked and flew away. From the window, Beverly watched the squirrel prance around triumphantly on the tree branch.

"Dear, that's so sad," she said. "That squirrel doesn't have a tail!"

Her husband narrowed his eyes and peered through the window. "Doesn't seem to bother him," he grunted. "He's still twitching it and acting as though it was there."

They watched Nubby swing from limb to limb without a problem.

"What a remarkable squirrel," Beverley said.

"He's pretty cool, isn't he?" her husband grinned.

"I still feel sorry for him," Beverley pouted, wondering how hard it would be to take the squirrel home. "It must be horrible not to have a tail."

But, it's even more wonderful to have an invisible tail, Nubby thought, listening to their conversation. Wonderful, indeed.