1 - Introduction

PROLOGUE

“How did we get this information?”

A rather corpulent gray squirrel turned away from a screen and stared at the six other squirrels who were attending the secret meeting.

Christopher Bitsquirrel, who had called the meeting, cleared his throat. “Bob Smitcorn sent a kuk from somewhere in the west, perhaps Nutchez. We don’t know much about this place. That was last week. Since then we haven’t heard from him or the other team members. Here is a fact sheet for everybody.” He handed out the six small scrolls that lay next to him.

The squirrels looked at the information and the room fell quiet. Finally, the tallest squirrel in the room stated, matter-of-factly, “If this information leaks out, our economic development plan will fall flat, for obvious reasons.”

“It may not even be true,” a thin-lipped squirrel argued. “This is probably just one of the many forecast models.”

“It’d be inconvenient if it were true. We are planning to launch an economic revolution next year,” the tall squirrel reiterated. “I believe it would be irresponsible to share this information with the tribe as long as we are not one-hundred percent certain that this projection is correct.”

“Exactly... Irresponsible,” the thin-lipped squirrel agreed.

“Haste makes waste,” the only white squirrel in the room chimed in.

The corpulent squirrel teetered nervously. “Okay. So then I propose to wait with any further action until we get more facts. Christopher, please notify us immediately when you hear from Bob Smitcorn. Meeting adjourned.”

~*~ 

1 – HARRY

(Eighteen months later...)

It was an extraordinary day. Harry just knew it. The obvious proof was – he had spotted a big, juicy raspberry. Raspberries were so rare, he had only seen them in pictures.

His view of the raspberry bush was partially obstructed by an oak tree he had wanted to climb. Then again, he had already forgotten the oak tree, the acorns, and everything else.

Stepping closer, Harry saw that the raspberry bush had produced only a single berry.

Even better! This meant it was his.

If the bush had produced more than one berry, he’d be required to run back to the burrow, report the finding, and get help with harvesting the sweets. The bounty would be shared by many squirrels. Who knew if he’d be allowed to eat a whole berry? This had never happened before.

There was but one conclusion to be drawn. Better eat the raspberry right now before another squirrel comes by.

Cautiously, Harry climbed the thorny cane, secured the berry with a spider web thread, and carefully lowered it onto a big flat rock right underneath. Then, he jumped down to savor the treat. Slowly, he munched each drupelet separately. Oh, my... what a delicacy!

v

Harry laid back on the rock and reflected on how lucky he was. In history class, he had learned about the famines the squirrel society had to endure after the environment changed. Though there had been forewarnings and signs, the disastrous surge had arrived suddenly. On the coast, tens of thousands of burrows got flooded and millions of squirrels drowned; woods and farmlands got destroyed.

After the waters receded, the fathers of today’s nation, George Squirrelton and Benjamin Franknut, had told his great-great-great-great-great-grandfather’s generation that squirrels had to organize themselves to form a society that helped all squirrels in all of the land. The wisest of the squirrels had come together and written down the rules, for instance, that squirrels could eat a single berry if they found one. Though the guidelines allowed for small indulgences, in general, all decrees focused on securing the safety and health of all squirrels, nationwide.

Still, conditions stayed grim for a long time. Often, the tribes had to move because excessive heat and storms destroyed their food supply. His own mother had died during one of those devastating storm periods. Things only changed when the late, great Steve I’Squirrel discovered that the weird boxes they found in deserted human dwellings could be used to communicate with other tribes. I’Squirrel named them smartboxes. And, clever Bill Gatsquirrel discovered an industrial complex full of power kernels which stored the magic power that kept the smartboxes working. A school was set up so squirrels could learn using the boxes.

President Bill Clintsquirrel, who liked new technologies, promised a smartbox in every classroom in the nation. Legend had it that it took the efforts of more than ten thousand squirrels to distribute the thousands of smartboxes and power kernels to all tribes in all the lands. Luckily, he, Harry, became a beneficiary of this program.

The clever idea lead to great prosperity in the squirrel nation.

The year after the boxes were delivered, the Brighter Future for Squirrels Conference was held for the first time. Steve I’Squirrel and Bill Gatsquirrel were the keynote speakers. They explained how using the newly discovered technologies would help squirrels in taking control of their future.

Harry remembered the event well. Using the smartboxes, I’Squirrel’s and Gatsquirrel’s comments were live-streamed to most squirrel tribes. It was the first time that squirrels watched moving pictures.

Soon thereafter, legendary Jeff Biztree set up a trading platform. Tribes who needed healthy foods could order it by using the smartboxes. And, Bill Russellsquir, Bill Waddellsquir, and Alex Majorsquir set up a transport system to deliver foods to all burrows in the republic. They named their company The Deer Express. The inventive trio accomplished this seemingly impossible task  by setting up partnerships with deer societies. The deer transported squirrel messengers and merchandise in exchange for vital information about the weather, storm damage to woods and fields, updates about the water quality of rivers and lakes, and, of course, predator sightings.

To protect the nation and support their allies, The Squirrel Council also established the Central Kernel Agency for the specific purpose of collecting, analyzing, and disseminating this type of information.

v

Somewhere behind Harry, a branch cracked.

Startled, he sat up and looked around. “Better hide,” he thought. A deer broke out of the woods and ran downhill. Even though he could only glance at it, Harry spotted Phillip Deerrel, his tribe’s finest messenger, on the back of the deer. Obviously, Phillip

returned from making a delivery.

“Phillip is going to climb the career ladder,” Harry thought. “And I? I have been daydreaming, again. If I keep doing this, The Council will never give me permission to go on an expedition.”

Going on an expedition was his ultimate goal. He would have gladly traded the raspberry or even a dozen, if he had that many, just for getting permission to go. The bitter truth was The Council had said “not this year” for the second year in a row and there was no arguing with The Council.

Harry decided to return to the burrow and record the coordinates of the raspberry bush. If, in the future, it’d produce plenty of fruit, maybe he would get promoted; after all, he discovered the bush. And, maybe, a promotion would lead to getting permission to go on an expedition.

 ~ v ~ 

Thank you for reading the prologue and the first chapter of my book, "Are We Nuts? A Modern Fable. It's on pre-order right now, to be released on July 4, Independence Day. 

My "typist" is a multi award-winning author, Gisela Hausmann. 

To find out more about my book please click the picture below:

Black and white engrave isolated squirrel illustration: Evgeny Turaev

Excerpt from "Are We Nuts?"

ISBN 978-1-7324211-1-0 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-7324211-2-7 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-7324211-0-3 (ebook)

Library of Congress Control Number:  2018906505

©  2018 by Gisela Hausmann