Free Lexi's Tale by Johanna Hurwitz Page B

large population. I climbed part-way up the maple tree and watched.
    The man walked past. He wasn’t talking now, but his head was down and he seemed to be looking for something. To my amazement, he reached down and picked up the apple that PeeWee had dropped. He brushed off some dirt and took out a small pocket knife. He trimmed the chewed section of the fruit away and then he took a large bite.
    The man walked away munching on my and PeeWee’s meal. I shouted angrily at him in my squirrel tongue, but of course he couldn’t understand. What did he think he was doing? How awful humans can be, I thought as I began digging for something to take the place of our missing apple. How dare that man steal our breakfast!

CHAPTER TWO
Rehearsal Time

    Squirrels may be very independent creatures, keeping to themselves most of the time, but there is one big exception: Once a year we squirrels hold a huge gathering in the park. It’s not only my brothers and sisters living nearby who attend; cousins and relatives all journey from the far edges of the park to the affair. They travel from other parks in the city too. On this night we hold our famous SquirrelCircus so we can all show off our talents at jumping, climbing, balancing, and running. The big event was going to take place just six nights from now.
    â€œHow do you know exactly when the circus will be?” PeeWee asked me. He was very curious about it and eager to watch our acrobatics. He reminded me of myself when I was a newborn squirrel, looking forward to my first Squirrel Circus.
    â€œIt takes place on the night of the full strawberry moon, even if it rains and the moon can’t be seen. We’ll gather when the clock strikes ten,” I added. I was referring to the hour on the mechanical clock that is a famous park landmark, not my young cousin Ten.
    â€œIt’s strange to be ruled by human time,” PeeWee commented.
    He was right about that. Every other day squirrels rise and sleep by the angle of the sun. The weather affects our actions too. But on the day for the Squirrel Circus, we rely on the mechanical clock because its chimes can be heard from a great distance and it will not be silenced by a cloud.
    There were two things I had to do before the night of the Squirrel Circus. I had to rehearse my own special act, and equally important, I had to deliver the foods that I was contributing to the feast that would follow the gymnastics.
    For the past couple of days more squirrels than usual had been rushing about carrying nuts or seeds in their mouths. The food was being stored up for the banquet in three centrally located tree holes. I wondered how somany squirrels could be in one area of the park without any humans noticing.
    Then PeeWee reminded me that I had once told him that all humans looked more or less alike to me. He’d said, “Did you ever think that humans may feel that way about squirrels?” PeeWee was right. The people who were nearby would never know if they’d seen three squirrels or thirty.
    Up in my tree hole I had put a half-full box of Cracker Jack that some child had left on a park bench. I don’t know which was harder: resisting the temptation to eat the candied popcorn myself, or dragging the box to my hole. Now I reversed my steps and brought the box to the storage sites where the food had been accumulating. Uncle Ninety-nine always put himself in charge of watching over thefood supplies. I know I’m not the only squirrel who suspects that he samples the goodies before the circus. I even think he hides some of it away for himself.
    After I added to the food stored in the tree holes, it was time for me to rehearse my tricks. I raced up my maple tree and jumped across to a neighboring one. The average squirrel can leap between trees that are eight feet apart. But I’m not your average squirrel. I’d been working on my leaps and was now confident that I could perform a ten-foot jump. I looked