Carlos the Boogerhead was on his way to Alfonso Fonzio’s house, when all of the sudden he saw something move beside a tree. It was a slight movement, but enough to catch Carlos’ eye. Carlos looked around the trunk of the tree when all of the sudden he saw a tiny animal, barely the length of his palm. Carlos jumped back and ran to Alfonso’s house to see what they should do. When they got there, Carlos saw Alfonso Fonzio washing his car, like he does every Friday morning.
“Alfonso, I saw an animal by the tree. I think it may be hurt,” Carlos said.
“What type of animal, Carlos?” Alfonso asked as he put his towel down.
“I don’t know, but it’s a baby,” Carlos answered. Alfonso walked into the garage and got a box and a pair of gloves.
The two friends walked back to the tree and Carlos pointed it to his friend. “What is it? “
“Could be a mole,” Alfonso answered as he bent down to take a closer look.
“Moles live in the ground, not trees,” Carlos said as he watched Alfonso put on gloves. “What are you doing?”
“I don’t want to touch it. It could be sick. And some mothers won’t take babies back if they were touched by humans,” Alfonso answered.
“Are you sure?”
“I heard that somewhere,” Alfonso answered as he gently picked up the baby and put it in the box. “Let’s take him to the vet.”
The two friends walked up the block to Ms. Catswallow’s clinic. As they walked inside, the chirps of birds, mews of cats, barks of dogs and even a grunt of a pig echoed the waiting room. Ms. Catswallow’s nurse saw the two friends come in with a box and said, “Hello Alfonso. Hello Carlos. What do we have here?”
Alfonso handed Kate the box as Carlos said, “He fell out of a tree, I think.”
Kate looked in the box and led the two to a waiting room. Soon, Ms. Catswallow entered and took a look in the box. “Do you two know what it is? “
The friends shook their heads in unison and Carlos replied, “Alfonso thought it was a mole.”
Ms. Catswallow carefully lifted the animal out of the box and rubbed it on its head. “It’s not a mole. It’s a baby squirrel.”
Carlos looked at the animal closer. “Doesn’t look like any squirrel I have ever seen.”
“I guess that’s true,” Ms. Catswallow laughed and took out a bottle. “ Poor thing looks like it needs milk. Would you like to feed it?”
Carlos and Alfonso nodded and took turns feeding the squirrel. When they were finished, they watched Ms. Catswallow examine the baby. “I’ll keep him here until he gets big enough to go back into the wild. Did you want to name him?”
The two friends looked at each other until Carlos finally answered, “Climber.”
Ms. Catswallow smiled and nodded. The friends said goodbye to Climber before he went back to his temporary home, and then the two friends walked out of the clinic and back to Alfonso’s house.
“I hope Climber’ll be ok,” Carlos said as they reached Alfonso’s door.
“I’m sure he will, Ms. Catswallow is a good vet.”
“I’m going to check on him tomorrow,” Carlos replied. “Maybe she’ll let me feed him again.”
“I’m sure she will. I better go,” Alfonso replied.
“Ok, see you next week?” Carlos asked.
“See you Friday,” Alfonso replied before closing his front door.
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