Chippy Helps Chi-Chi Escape by Bob Johnson

Chippy the Squirrel was a happy little guy. He had a nice home in an old pine tree. His nest was always full of seeds and berries and nuts. He had a small family and kept them fed and safe.

Chippy had lived in the Oak Tree woods for quite a long time.  He had many friends and shared adventures with them. One day Chippy decided to see if his favorite feeder had been filled with peanuts. The humans at that house loved birds, butterflies, and flowers. They must have liked squirrels too because they fed Chippy all the time. He would sit on the feeder and shell the peanuts then stuff them in his mouth until his cheeks were fat, then would carry the load back to his nest. The humans would sit out and watch him. They never yelled or tried to catch him. Those humans were nice.

Not all humans liked squirrels, so he stayed away from them and their houses. They would shake a stick or a broom or just yell when he bounded around their yard. Chippy didn’t understand why they did that, but he would just ran away and never venture into that area again.

Chippy was watching his friend Chesley the crow and several other big black birds fly high in the sky. They made a terrible racket as they flew through the air. Sometimes they just spread their wings into the wind and floated. Chippy wished he could fly too.

Suddenly Chippy heard a loud noise that was not really a dog bark, or a human voice. It continued to get louder and louder. Chippy ran up a fence and looked into the back yard of a human’s house. The noise was coming from a small animal on the porch. It was all wrapped up in a kind of rope and was struggling to move. The animal was crying out for help. Chippy jumped up and stood beside the poor creature.

“Do you need help?” Chippy asked.

The little animal with great big eyes looked at Chippy and cried.

“My humans tied me up this morning and I got tangled up in this leash. It would be muy bien if you could help.” It spoke.

“I will try. My name is Chippy, and I am a squirrel.” Chippy said.

“My name is Chi-Chi. I am a dog, but my humans call me a Chihuahua. That means what kind of dog I am. I would appreciate much if you can help me. I can’t get to my water dish or food dish since I am all tangled up.” The dog explained.

“Do you like acorns?” Chippy said and slipped one out of his fat cheeks.

“You can have one until we get you free.” He continued.

The little Chihuahua looked at the soggy nut for a moment and curled up his lip. He thanked Chippy for the offer but decided not to try it.

Chippy walked around the dog, looked at the leash with all of its knots and began to chomp through the material.

“I have strong teeth so I will try to chew up this thing that has you all tied up.” Chippy said.

“Muchas Gracias, Cheepy.” Chi-Chi said.

Chippy didn’t know what that meant but went to work chewing on the leather materials.  It didn’t take long before everything was loose, and Chi-Chi was prancing around his yard.

“That was a very nice thing for you to help me, do you want to be my friend?” Chi-Chi said in between gulps of water and mouthfuls of his food.

“I would be very happy to have a dog as a friend, but how come you don’t bark at me like all the other dogs do?” Chippy asked.

“Oh, they are bored and just look for something to do while their humans slowly move around the trails and pathways. They are mostly pretty nice guys.” The little chihuahua explained.

“I have many friends in the woods, would you like to come with me and find some of them?” the little squirrel asked.

The dog bounced up and down on his front legs.

“I would like that very much Senor Cheepy. My humans hardly ever let me out of the yard and keep me tied up almost all day long.” Chi-Chi yelped.

“I don’t think you can climb the fence like Rupert the cat and I can, so let’s find another way to get out.” Chippy said working up a plan.

Chi-Chi tried to climb anyway. His new friend was right, he could not climb or jump high enough to get over the fence.

“Come on, I found a way out of here.” Chippy said cheerfully.

Soon the two friends had scooted on their belly underneath the swinging gate. They took off across the fields laughing and squealing.

“This is so much fun, amigo, I have never got to run wherever I wanted to go.” the happy dog said.

Chippy showed the little dog his family nest, the trails that ran through the woods, the flowers that humans had planted in places, and where his friends the deer rest and feed.

“This is wonderful, Cheepy, I never knew any of these things were here.” Chi-Chi said in glee.

“Let’s go visit the neighbors farm. They have animals that you have never seen either. They are called cows. They look like deer but are big and fat. All they do is eat grass and yell something that sounds like Moo.” the squirrel suggested.

Chippy squeezed a fence link and Chi-Chi followed behind.

“Oh, oh, I think I am stuck.” Came a panicked voice from behind Chippy.

Chippy turned and saw that his adventuresome pal was definitely wedged in the fence.  Chippy tried to push and pull with his arms, but they were too small and weak to do much good.

“What am I going to do. My humans will miss me, and they will be mad that I am not at home. I am sure they will get another dog and not want me anymore!” rattled the scared little dog.

Chi-Chi started to howl and cry out.

“Just be calm, we will find a way to get you free. Don’t worry. I will ask my friends to help.” Chippy said and took off running.

“Please hurry, I am afraid and don’t want to be left alone.” Chi-Chi whimpered.

Chippy looked for Sammy, a big deer who he first met when he came to the woods, but he was nowhere to be found. He kept on running through the woods. Suddenly he saw a group of crows eating bugs in the grass.

“Chesley, barked Chippy, can you help me.”

Chesley, a big black crow, who Chippy had become friends with, looked up. He hopped and walked to the gray squirrel.

“I will if I can, what has happened.” Chesley cawed.

“I have a new friend named Chi-Chi. He is a Chihuahua dog and is stuck in a fence. I can’t push or pull him out.” Chippy explained.

Chesley thought for a few minutes.

“I don’t think I can help because I can’t grab anything with my wings, and my feet wouldn’t be much help either.” He admitted.

Chippy stared at the bird for a few seconds then started to move away.

“I think you are right, to I will keep looking for help. Have a nice day in the woods.” Chippy added.

Chippy was getting concerned because it was starting to get dark, and his poor little friend must be anxious. He should never had tried to climb through the fence, but it was too late to think like that.

Three minutes later a familiar brown and white body appeared on top of the fence line right behind a house. Rupert, the cat, was walking and purring some tune when he saw Chippy.

“Hi Chippy. How are you today.” The cat asked.

Chippy told Rupert about the trapped dog and that he could not find any way to help Chi-Chi get free.

“Oh, another dumb dog. They are always getting into trouble one way or the other. I will come with you and see if I can help.” The cat said.

Thank you, Rupert, I hope you can.” Chippy cried.

Soon the two were standing in front of Chi-Chi. He was shivering and crying. He was afraid. Chippy introduced the two to each other. Rupert walked around the little dog then leaped over the top of the wire fence. The cat sat down for a moment as he thought, then he just as quickly jumped back over and stood behind the dog.

Suddenly Chi-Chi gave out a squeal, his little thin legs were pumping, the back side of his body was wiggling, and he slipped through the fence.

Chippy heard the little dog yelp, “Ouch”

“Hombre, you bit me!” the Chihuahua barked.

“Yes, I did, and you are now no longer trapped, either.” Rupert announced.

The realization of freedom finally hit Chi-Chi.

“I thought you just need a little bit of encouragement.” Said the cat.

The dog jumped up and down with excitement that he was free. Chippy thanked Rupert and offered him an acorn as a token of his appreciated. The cat declined.

“But I have to get on the other side of this fence if I am going to get back home. Aye, Yi, Yi, what will I do?” Chi-Chi wailed.

“Dogs.” Said Rupert with disgust as he flipped his tail in the air.

“Walk down to that open gate and go through it.” Rupert said as he looked down his nose at the freed dog.

Chippy and Chi-Chi turned their head to look down fence line.  Ten yards away they saw an opening. The dog ran madly to and through the gate.

“I have better things to do, now. Stay out of trouble, okay.” Rupert ordered as he walked away.

“I should get back, my humans should be home soon.” Chi-Chi said.

The two explorers raced each other back to his familiar house. There was no light on, and it was quiet.

“I guess I will climb back under the gate and wait for my humans, but it has been more fun today that I have every had.” Chi-Chi admitted.

“I am glad for that. Maybe I will come over during the day and play while you are on your patio, that way you don’t have to be alone.” Chippy said.

“Thanks, amigo. That means friend.” The little dog explained.

“Thank you and now I’ve learned a new word too. I guess friends teach each other different things to learn.” Chippy said.

“But I don’t think I taught you anything today, did I.” the squirrel asked.

“Si, senor, I learned that I must never try to squeeze through a fence ever again.” Chi-Chi said.

The two little animals laughed, and Chippy headed back to his nice warm nest.

It had been a wonderful day.