Once
Upon a Time…
..
in Central Park, on a sunny day, groups of children played, lovers strolled,
flowers bloomed and – for that day – all seemed right in the world. And, on
this day, a bag of peanuts fell out of a stroller as a mother hurried a child
home. (Just by the by, the child never
missed the nuts, as she was being rushed home to see Pippa Pig, her favorite
show, and she was very busy exploring how to place cheerios up her nostrils. So,
it was a perfect day even for that little girl.)
With
the bag of peanuts on the ground there was a race to get to them. Tentative
squirrels crawled down the trees in increments, searching for safety before proceeding
again a few feet at a time. Chipmunks crawled in confusing formations towards
bag, helter skelter, but proceeding always closer. Pigeons, the worst of all
Central Park creatures sent out a call that brought others fleetly on the wing.
But
first to the bag were a squirrel and chipmunk, both thought reckless by their
families. The squirrel and the chipmunk were conditioned by years of history
and tried to ignore each other, but finally one spoke. You could ask them later
who spoke first and what they said, but neither really remembered. Instead they
remembered looking at each other and freezing on the spot.
The
other animals froze in place thinking that, perhaps from their vantage points,
the squirrel and the chipmunk saw something they did not. The pigeons flew,
ungainly as pigeons are apt to be, just far enough away to be safe, but not so
far as to lose sight of the tasty morsels.
But the squirrel and the chipmunk
did not freeze out of fear. Or, at least, not fear of a predator, but fear of
scaring the other.
The
squirrel looked at the chipmunk, saw its refined coloring, whip fast reflexes
and soulful eyes. The chipmunk saw the squirrel’s busy tail, which swished in
excitement despite the squirrel’s best efforts to control it, and the bright energetic
face. And, without saying a word, they both turned together and ran into the
underbrush.
And
there, the squirrel and the chipmunk played and laughed and fell in love.
Now,
Central Park is a pretty easy place to find food; humans are messy spoiled
creatures who leave extra bits around all the time. Plenty of food for a
squirrel and a chipmunk, in love, to forage without having to commit to tree or
burrow. And they had a wonderful full life. They visited the zoo after it was
closed and watched the animals from far away – grizzly bears from Montana,
penguins from South Africa, cheetahs from the Himalayas. They even made a quick
trip or two to the hot baths on monkey island.
Sometimes
they slept in the trees, towering far above the park, looking out at the
sparkling lights of the city just beyond. And sometimes they slept in a burrow,
listening to the quiet of the park and the smells and sounds that come out if
you just wait long enough.
They
were happy. Until.
One
day, one fateful day – as it turned out, the squirrel and the chipmunk were
running through the park when they came upon a Volkswagen display of the new
Tourag. Squirrels in the trees called down to the pair and said, “Imagine how
many nuts you could store in that for the winter.”
Chipmunks
called out from the hiding places and holes called out to the pair, “Think how
safe we would be in that, safe and watching the world!”
And
the squirrel and the chipmunk stopped for a moment and thought how happy they
could be together in the Tourag, full of nuts and safe from the monsters
outside. And they lingered holding little paws. But they lingered too long. And
in a swipe before they even noticed, a dog (unleashed!) came barreling out and
grabbed the squirrel. The poor chipmunk let out a yell, which brought it to the
attention of a hawk, circling far above which swooped down and grabbed the
chipmunk.
And
the squirrel mother said to the young squirrels, “That is why we stay here,
safe in the trees.”
And
the chipmunk mother said to the young chipmunks, “That is why we stay here,
safe in hiding.”
And
the pigeon said (hard to believe - but this pigeon was quite an ethicist), “This
is all the fault of the engineers at Volkswagen who cheated on the emissions
test, so that in order to sell new cars they have to take a non-traditional
sales route. Without that shiny nut holder here, these two would still be
happy.”
But
I say that the moral of the story is that for a moment, for a day, or a month,
or a lifetime, two souls fell in love and enjoyed a world neither had ever
known before. Enjoy every day you have together. Be careful, but not too cautious.
The world is wider and more beautiful that you can imagine alone. You need
someone to imagine it with.
 |
| I imagine my world with this guy. |
