Good and so good for you.

In the Thicket

Skunk came running into the meadow. “There’s something wrong in the forest!” he cried. “There’s a wrong smell there!”

“What kind of smell is it?” asked Deer.

“I can’t really say, but it’s wrong,” replied Skunk.

“Where in the forest is it?” asked Rabbit.

“Come and see!” said Skunk. He ran back into the wood, looking over his shoulder, beckoning for Deer and Rabbit to follow him. After a little while Skunk pointed towards a large oak tree. “The smell is coming from over there somewhere,” he said.

“That’s where Bluebird lives,” said Deer. As the three of them approached the tree they noticed that on the ground there were twigs and pieces of straw scattered everywhere.

“Look up in the tree,” cried Rabbit. “Bluebird’s nest is gone! I think those things on the ground are all parts of it.” As Rabbit said this, she hopped all around the base of the tree, looking for signs of Bluebird.

“Bluebird!” shouted Deer, “Where are you? Bluebird, are you all right?”

“The smell’s coming from the thicket over there,” Skunk said, pointing to a thicket just beyond the oak tree. “And look, I think that’s Bluebird over in the thicket, too.”

As the three came close to the thicket, they saw Bluebird, and also two other birds, Robin and Jaybird, all huddling together in the bushes.

“Bluebird,” Deer called out. “Are you all right? What happened to your nest?”

“I didn’t need that nest anymore,” replied Bluebird. “We have a much better nest down here in the thicket.”

“But don’t birds of your kind build nests up in trees?” asked Rabbit.

“We always thought we had to,” Bluebird replied. “We just did it that way naturally, you know. But now we have found a better way to make a nest, haven’t we, girls?”

“We sure have,” chirped Robin and Jaybird.

Deer and Rabbit shrugged and turned to go, but Skunk was uneasy. “There’s a wrong smell in there,” he said, “I’m sure of it.”

. . . .

Back when the Visitor first arrived, she brought exotic ideas that Bluebird, Robin and Jaybird had never before imagined. “If you make your nest out of twigs and straw and other junk you find lying around, of course it’s going to look gunky and crude. There are finer materials available that I can help you get.”

“Would you really do that for us?” asked Bluebird.

“I would,” said the Visitor. “But even if you had the right materials, what would you do with them? Now, I know some very elegant plans for nests. They’re not that different in concept from the ones you make—you’d feel right at home—but they’re very intricate in design and the pattern is delightful and beautiful.”

“Oh, would you help us with that, too?” asked Robin.

“I would,” said the Visitor. “But the best thing is that the nest I help you make would be so much more useful to you than your nests are now. The way you live now, you must spend so much time out flying around looking for food. What a hard life! Such hard work, flying! Your nest could actually relieve this problem. You can have a nest with a real purpose--one that gives you food!”

“Would you really help us make a nest like that?” asked Jaybird.

“I would,” said the Visitor.

“Well, when can we start?” asked the three birds, excited.

“Well, how about right now?” said the Visitor. “But let’s not make it up in a tree, where you’re forced to fly around all the time. Let’s make it right down here in the thicket, a very good spot. And look, I have some fine thread right here with me now. Here, let me show you.” The Visitor was very quick and adept as she started weaving with all eight of her legs.

. . . . .

“The forest is so quiet these days,” said Deer.

“I know there’s something missing, but what is it?” said Rabbit.

“It’s Bluebird and Robin and Jaybird,” said Skunk. “They don’t sing anymore. And none of their little birdlings sing either. In fact, I don’t think there are any birdlings anymore.”

“How sad,” said Deer. And he and Rabbit ran off to play.

Skunk sat there looking towards the forest. “There’s something not right in that thicket,” he said to himself. “There’s a bad smell in there.”