Ethan the Mohawk Bat and the First Snow

    When Ethan the Mohawk Bat was new to the Shady Forrest, he started to explore his backyard. He met the Chipmunk family and the Fluffynoggins, a family of weasels who lived by the clearing. Newtonious J. Fluffynoggin was the funniest weasel that he had ever seen. He talked to Old Grandma Tortoise and then his new best friend moved in Alicia Socket. She is a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker, but Ethan calls her Leaky Socket.

    After Leaky socket moved in, Ethan and she were always together. They loved to explore the Shady Forest, and even got in trouble with Angel Chipmunk & Ricky the Raccoon once.

    I guess they got along so well together because they could both fly, but today there was going to be a problem.

    Today was the first snowfall of the year. “Oh, it is so beautiful”, thought Ethan. He could not wait to go outside and play in the snow. Just as he got to the front door his mother said, “Where are you going?”  “I’m going to play in the snow mom”, Ethan said excitedly! His mom told him to be careful & do not stay out too long, and come in when you get cold.

    Leaky socket came over to play and asked Ethan if he wanted to go sledding. Ethan told his mom and they were off. Ethan was so excited, “Where are we going Leaky socket?”  “There’s a great big hill over by the weasel’s house, in the clearing, that’s where we always go”, said Alicia.

    When they got to the big hill, they saw all the kids from the Shady Forest. There was Angel chipmunk, Ricky the raccoon, Bucktooth Charlie, Newtonious J, Fluffynoggin, Mandy the muskrat, Babe the bluebird, Woodrow the woodchuck and Benjamin the old buzzard who sits at the top of the trees.

    The first one down the hill was Mandy the muskrat & Woodrow the woodchuck, “Weeeee!” Next were Newton & Bucktooth Charlie, followed closely by Angel the chipmunk & Ricky the raccoon, “Whoa! YEAH man that’s how it’s done!”  Babe the blue bird did not want to go down all alone. Alicia, can I go down with you and Ethan?” asked Babe. “Sure!” said Alicia, “You get on, then Ethan and I will hang on to you.” It looks like so much fun but Ethan is scared, he says, “I’ll go next time, I want to watch first.” “OK “, says Alicia, “we will see you when we get back, OOOOOHHH - WEEEEEEE!”

    They have all gone down the hill, and are making that long walk back up. “I wish I had gone down with everyone else, it looks like so much fun”, said Ethan. “Would you like me to go down with you?” asked Benjamin buzzard. “I will help you, so everyone can have fun.” “Yeah!” said Ethan. The old buzzard showed Ethan how to hang on and showed him how to turn. “You know all the basics, now let’s go,” said Benjamin.  

    Benjamin gave a big push, and they started down the hill. They hit a few bumps, swerved to the left, swerved to the right, then POW they flipped over. The old buzzard landed on Ethan, but that protected him. They skidded more than halfway down the hill before they could stop. They got up, to start back up the hill, and Bucktooth Charlie yelled out, “HE’S BLEEDING!” Newton said, “Who’s Bleeding?”  “Benjamin Buzzard is bleeding,” said Bucktooth Charlie.

    Alicia went right away to check on Ethan, but he was all right. Babe the bluebird said, “I’ll go get Dr. Owl.” Benjamin the buzzard said, “WOW!

That was fun!” Ethan said, “But you got hurt.” Benjamin said, “Yeah a little bit, but it was still fun.” Dr. Owl put a small bandage above Benjamin’s eye, and then he went down the hill again.

    After a few more times down the hill, they all headed home for some hot chocolate, a warm fire and a big hug from their mom, all except Benjamin the buzzard. Benjamin went to Old Grandma Tortoise’s house. They drank hot chocolate, sat in front of her big fireplace and laughed about the accident. Grandma and Benjamin have both had their share of injuries.

    Ethan had a wonderful story to tell his family back home, and all his new friends in the Shady Forest talked about it for weeks. All too soon the snow melted. The snow never stays very long. Nevertheless, Ethan can’t wait for the next big snowfall in the Shady Forest,