The sun was riding

high in the sky

by the time Patches and Gus

heard the squirrel

returning.

But it wasn’t only

their own squirrel

they heard.

They heard the chatter

of dozens of squirrels,

the soft hop-hop-hopping

of herds of rabbits,

the twittering

of flocks of birds.

And trailing after them all

with its silent,

zigzagging flight,

was even one

very sleepy bat.

(Bats,

as I’m sure you know,

are night creatures.

They fly

through the dark,

then snug in someplace safe

to sleep

through the day.

But this one had heard the call

and had come

anyway.)

All the creatures

gathered around.

“Everyone

has come to h-h-help,”

the squirrel said.

“T-t-tell us

about the girl you have lost.”

And so Patches did.

She told them

about her girl,

about the way her girl

petted her

and played with her.

She told them about the sweet scent

of her girl’s breath

on the pillow at night.

She even told them

about the chipped

blue bowl

that her girl

filled with delicious kibble

and sometimes even

a touch

of tuna.

“Hmmmm!” said one of the rabbits.

“I’ve seen lots of girls.

And they live

in lots of different houses.

How will we ever

find a house

by looking

for a girl?”

“Oh!” Patches said.

She hadn’t thought

about that.

So then she told them

about

the watching window

and the golden tree

and the leaf

that

had

wafted

this

way

and

that,

the leaf that had called her

from home.

“A golden tree!”

the birds all sang.

“S-s-surely,”

the squirrels chattered,

“we can f-f-find

a golden tree

in front of a h-h-house

with a wa-wa-watching window.”

“Yes,”

said the rabbits,

“surely we can.”

And so off they flew

and leaped

and hopped

in search of Patches’s house.

(The bat

went home

to sleep.

But don’t blame him.

If you were a bat

and had been

gobbling mosquitoes

all night long,

you’d surely be sleepy

too.)

Patches helped herself to several bites

of Gus’s kibble,

took a long drink of water,

and then,

warmed to the tip of her tail

at having so many good friends,

went back

to caring for her babies . . .

and waiting.

All would soon be well.

She was certain of it.