Where You Are

May skidded to a stop, spilling her nuts. Her mouth dropped open. Her beautiful hollow oak home was burnt. The place she had grown up in, gone. She stifled a sob. She wouldn’t be able to bring it back. May startled at a touch on her shoulder. She looked up into the kindly face of a chipmunk. “Hello,” he said, “this your place?” May nodded. “I am Chip, volunteer from the neighbouring forest to help find new housing for those who lost theirs in this fire. Come with me.” May nodded, wiped her eyes, and cast one last longing glance at her old home. As May followed after Chip, her mind filled with pictures of her family. She feared the worst. “Hey! Stop! Watch out!” May had not been looking around and had fallen into the river! She tried to swim, to move, to see. But she sank. Down, down, down… Then she saw a form swimming through the haze. The otter helped May out of the water and onto the opposite bank. He smiled and left. May shivered. She would have stayed there forever had Chip not pulled her to her feet. “We’re here.” he smiled. The forest was lush, green, and thriving. An elderly mouse led May to a small cottage. She knocked loudly and was shown into a large room. Full of squirrels. “May!” Her mother wrapped her in a comforting embrace. “Aren’t these animals nice? May, we belong here now. This is our home. Chip and his team are making us our own house. We will get new jobs and plant new rosebushes. Oh May, this is our new home!” “But it wouldn’t be a home without you.” May grinned from ear to ear.