Randy Raccoon

A Childrens Story
by Robert Sproule
Randy Raccoon climbed up the tree and out on a branch that hung over the
bicycle path below. He waited for a human being to come riding down the path
on his bicycle there was one now no, he had no hat. Randy kept waiting.
Looking north, Randy could see far up the valley almost as far as Maple
Avenue. are tree trunks rose high into the air. At the top, they spread their
leafy branches, hiding the darkening sky. !his valley was Randy"s home.
Randy kept waiting above the path that ran along the small river that ran
south through the valley.
!here was a small creek that ran into the river. Randy could see it from his
spot on the branch. He had damned it up the night before changing its course.
Looking at it now, he thought, Now the water will flow where I want it to flow.
Randy saw another human being coming down the path on his bike. #t was
getting dark but Randy could see very well at night. !he man was wearing a
baseball cap.
Randy had practiced his plan many times before. He had picked a branch
that was $ust the right height above the path.
As the man on his bicycle went under the branch, Randy swung down by his
feet and grabbed the man"s hat with his front paws.
!he man stopped, got off his bike, and looked around for his hat.
Randy had no use for a baseball cap, but he did like having fun. !he man
looked up and saw a raccoon wearing his hat.
%ust then, Randy"s mom, dad, and older brother and sister came walking down
the path. &hen Randy"s dad saw what Randy had done, he burst out laughing.
'("mon son, give the hat back to the man,) Randy"s dad said.
Randy tossed the hat down to the man. !he man said, '!hanks) and got on
his bike and continued down the path.
Randy climbed down the tree and $oined his family on the path. !hey walked
south along the path towards a bridge that carried (hestnut Avenue over the river.
!hey climbed a small hill up to (hestnut Avenue and turned right on the sidewalk
that ran along the road. !hey walked along the sidewalk and began the long up*
hill climb out of the valley. !his would be Randy"s first time out of the valley.
About half way up out of the valley, Randy stopped. +n the sidewalk on the
other side of the road, he saw a cat heading down into the valley. Randy watched
the cat for a minute. !he cat was trotting along with his head held up high as if
he had things to do and places to go.
Randy started back up the hill following his family. At the top of the hill,
out of the valley, they turned right again onto a side street. !he side street had
nice homes all along both sides of the street. !hey walked up the street and into
some of the backyards. !hey found peas growing in vegetable gardens and ate
them. !hey pulled carrots out of the ground, turned on an outside tap to wash
them off, and ate them. #n some backyards, they found fruit trees and stuffed
themselves with plumbs and peaches.
Randy climbed up onto backyard decks and looked inside the homes. ,ome*
times he saw people looking back at him. At one house, the patio door was open.
Randy went in the house, down the stairs to the basement, and ate some pet
food it tasted like the fish he had eaten from the river.
All through the night, Randy and his family went into the backyards of the
nice homes.
An hour before it was time to head back to the valley, an hour before sunrise,
they went for a swim in a backyard pool.
Randy leaped into the water. He noticed right away that the water was much
warmer than the river in the valley. Randy liked the warm water. He liked
sliding down the slide, diving off the diving board, and leaping into the deep end
of the pool from a tree branch that hung twenty feet above the water. ut his
favourite thing was to swim under the water. He spent more time under the
water than he did on top. &hen his dad dove under the water, so did Randy.
His dad"s fur would float away from his body making a funny sight. And
Randy would burst out laughing. Randy"s dad did not know what was so funny,
and he was a little concerned- he didn"t know how anyone could laugh so hard
under water.
!he sun was coming up, and it was time to go back home to the valley.
As they walked up the side street towards Maple Avenue, Randy spotted a
cherry tree in someone"s backyard.
'#"m $ust going to get some cherries. +kay.) he said to his mom.
'+kay. %ust a few. /on"t be long,) said his mom.
'#"ll $ust be a minute,) said Randy.
Randy scampered up the cherry tree. Randy had a very good sense of touch,
and with his fingers, he could tell $ust by the feel of the skin whether a cherry
was ripe or not. Randy loved ripe cherries. He ate his fill. He was much longer
than a minute.
Randy climbed down the tree and ran out to the side street. He couldn"t see
his family anywhere. He ran up the side street to Maple Avenue and looked
both ways he still could not see his family. Randy was not concerned. He
knew that all he had to do was walk along Maple Avenue and that would lead
him back to his valley home.
&ith the sun at his back, Randy started walking along the sidewalk toward
the valley. He began to run. He thought he could catch his family and beat them
back to the valley.
He stopped for a minute to watch people getting on a big bus. &hen every*
body was on, the driver closed the door, and pulled away from the curb. Randy
liked to watch big buses and big trucks. &hen the bus had passed, Randy could
see a small dog on the other side of the road. He was on a leash and was being
walked by his master.
Randy turned and started running along the sidewalk again. He ran and ran.
After awhile, he started to think that something was wrong he should have
caught up to his family by now. #n fact, he thought that he should have been
back to the valley by now. He ran even faster.
,oon, he could see big buildings in the distance. Randy stopped. !hese
buildings were huge much taller than any tree he had ever seen in the valley.
He had never heard of buildings being this tall. His family had talked about cars,
buses and big trucks on (hestnut and Maple Avenue, and the side streets with
, all the houses with swimming pools and fruit trees, but they had never mentioned
huge buildings. 0ow, he knew something was wrong.
Randy was beginning to feel afraid he was lost and alone.
Randy started to imagine things what if the tall buildings are dangerous1
what if a big dog attacks1 what if # can never find my way home.
&ait a minute, Randy said to himself, #"m imagining things. &hat # have to
do is think.
Randy saw a big old maple tree by the side of the road. He climbed up the
tree and out onto a branch that hung over Maple Avenue. +kay, now # can think.
2irst, the tall buildings are not dangerous, dogs can"t climb trees and # can, and
# will find my way home even if # have to go all the way back the way # came.
0ow, how did # get here.
Randy looked up and down Maple Avenue. #n one direction he could see the
rising sun. #n the other direction he could see the tall buildings. Randy thought,
# should be back in the valley by now, but #"m not. ,omething is wrong. #3ve
lost my way. How did # get here.
+kay, Randy thought, let"s start from the beginning. &e walked down the
path to (hestnut Avenue heading south. &e turned right on (hestnut Avenue *
heading west. &e turned right onto the side street heading north. &hen # got
to Maple Avenue # turned left heading west again. West again! # should have
gone east to get back to the valley. &hy, when # turned left at Maple Avenue,
did # think # was headed east. # kept the sun at my back because # thought the
sun rose in the west. ut this can"t be true. &hat made me think the sun rose
in the west. My brother4 He knows #3ve never seen the sun before, never mind
a sunrise or sunset all of us sleep during the day in our den. He told me that
the sun rises in the west. &as he playing a $oke on me, or did # misunderstand
him.
Randy wasn"t angry at his brother because he might have played a trick on
him, or angry at himself because he might have misunderstood. #t didn"t matter.
He had figured it out. !he sun rises in the east.
Randy climbed down the tree and headed down the sidewalk toward the
rising sun back to his valley home.
Randy ran all the way back to the valley. He wanted to tell his family about
his adventure, how he got lost, how he figured it out, and about the tall buildings
which he knew none of them had ever seen before. He knew that his mom would
be angry and tell him to keep up with the family from now on. And his dad.
&ell, his dad would simply say, '&ell done, son.)
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