text: Sean the Squirrel looked down into his small paws at the big ripe chestnut clasped between them, a proud cheeky grin spreading across his face pushing his cheeks up and making his eyes crescent moons. Placing the nut on the pile of other nuts stacked in a corner of his home Sean felt satisfaction spread through him. Winter could come now. As if hearing this a pattering started outside, thick drops of rain falling to the ground in a heightening tempo. The Squirrel walked over to the opening of his cave and pushed one of the big leaves away with his front paw looking out, he shivered as a cold wind blew, through raindrops blasting in his face making him drop his ears and scowl before promptly putting the leaf back in place and with harrumph shaking himself to be rid of the wetness covering his fur . He then preceded to illuminate the cave by giving the in a wood container held fireflies a deceased snake as incentive. Thus, casting the small cave almost completely filled with chestnuts in a greenish warm light and causing a soft humming noise to appear in the background. Sean was about begin his winter rest feeling sated. Laying down Infront of his pile of chestnuts he rolled up in a baseball like form, folding his fluffy tail around himself. Just as his eyes began to flutter close ha let out a mighty yawn showing his big front teeth. Just as he was slipping from a soft daze into a deep slumber, he heard a loud knock on his front leaves. A loud voice muffled by the winding weather outside was heard, “Heloooooouuu anyouuune at houuuumeeeee?”. Sean’s eye popped open at this before he indignantly turned around, so that his back was facing his leaf door and whichever rude visitor which did not know to leave a squirrel to its winter slumber. Once more a knock appeared shortly followed by the voice calling “Helllooouuuu , I said, I said Hellllooouuuuuu?”. Once more Sean purposely ignored the intruder and with his paws pulled his small ears down as to muffle the penetrating shrill voice of however desired entrance to his abode. The next time the voice called and his ears did not survey as ear muffler he also put his feet over his hand holding his ears, by the fourth time he had buried himself into his chestnuts and wished upon sleep so that he might ignore whoever was rapping so rudely at his leaf. Here there was a prolonged silence in which Sean made himself confutable amidst the chestnuts and once more closed his eyes in order for slumber to endow itself upon him. When suddenly once more the loud shrill voice calls out “Helloouuuuuuuuu, its couuulllld ́, I said, yes I said Its couuuulllllddddd” The startled squirrel shot upright forgetting that he was borrowed in a pile of chestnuts, making resounding Bonks ring out in the small cave as chestnut after chestnut fell upon his head. Sean’s before widened eyes promptly narrowed to slits, a small crease forming between his eyebrows, a livid frown contouring his face into a grim countenance. Puffing out his chest and clenching his small paws into round fists he stalked towards the Leaf being knocked against. Opening the door wide he bellowed “Whaaat?” Sean yelled in a mocking tone “What, What What?” he continued. The squirrel standing outside his cave drenched in rain, left paw still raised to once more knock looked at him in surprise before catching himself and asking in a rather timid voice “IT ́s cold, I said, yes I said It ́s cold...? Can I not come, yes, I asked Can’t I come in? Just till the rain stoops I said just till the rain stops?”. Sean, taking in the lanky big squirrel Infront of him, figured he didn’t look ice he would die so he plainly stated “no” before swiftly slamming the leaf back in place pivoting around on his feet made his way back to his former resting place. When he once more looked back at the front leaf, he saw the dark silhouette of the squirrel curled together from the cold now shivering, the rain must have seeped through his coat thought Sean, he felt a pang of sympathy before hastily pushing it to the side, thinking the godamn squirrel should have just built a lair in the summer, then he would not have to annoy innocent, hardworking tree civilians such as himself, he certainly did not malnourished or sick, as such he could take care of himself. With these thoughts in mind, he made to go back to sleep in his comfy tree cave. Shortly, once more before his mind could drift into slumber, there was a sneeze, snapping both eyes, a vein could be seen pulsing above his eyebrow’s, he shot up stalked over to the leaf ripped it open and yelled “come in come in make yourself at fucking home”. The drenched squirrel outside walked in with a happy, “Why thank you kind sir- I say kind sir” and quickly stomped over on its small paws to the fire burning in a corner chimney. Now that the stranger of a squirrel was illuminated, Sean could see him more clearly. Full cheeks and wrinkle free squished doe like eyes made for a round youthful face sitting on a rather scrawny body, with too big, clumsy looking paws connected to stick like arms and legs, wet fur hugging the squirrel’s thin frame. A nuisance Sean deduced in conclusion, as he stood rather hostile near his chestnuts, you never knew after all... After the foreign squirrel had warmed up a bit and his fur had begun to fritz, he turned to Sean with a gleeful smile Eyes squishing up even more before widening in apparent want at the stack of chestnuts behind Sean. “NO absolutely not” declared Sean, “I let you into my home, no more”. “Please I said Please kind sir just one it has been so awfully long day, so awfully long I said” begged the squirrel putting his hands together in mock prayer. Looking at the pitiful being before him even old Sean felt a semblance of empathy, after some back and forth between his conscience and his frugal self he compromised by giving the scrawny squirrel half a chestnut. He himself of course ate the other half. The strange Squirrel had of course taken the half of a chestnut with great gratitude, opting to sit down near the fire and start munching, Sean opted to once more sit Infront of his pile of chestnuts and after a few distrusting glances started slowly eating his piece of the chestnut in a much more dignified manner. After having eaten for some time the Stranger of a squirrel, who Sean had now dubbed balloon head, due to his gravely mismatched proportions, started talking... a lot. Sean being a squirrel of little words did his best to ignore this, in his opinion great annoyance, happily chatting away. After a while there was a penetrating question that kept popping up at the forefront of his mind, so interrupting the yapping balloon head he questioned, “why do you always repeat what you said?”. The strange squirrel looked at him in astound silence for a minute before cheerfully answering: “Ma Mama birthed a full litter you see, so I had a lot of siblings- a lot of siblings I said, as a middle child you got to say everything thrice- everything thrice I said. Just to be heard, yep, just to be heard”. Sean after hearing this in a more annoyed manner rather stated than said: “If you have so many siblings why could you not stay at one of their home ́s?” and get on their nerves he added in his mind. The question, as the older squirrel came to notice he would very much regret asking, as Balloon head now started into a whole, obviously over- exaggerated story about how he was chased by a fox, almost got eaten, then got lost, barely avoided becoming a living ice cubicle and lastly had found Sean’s house in an old tree. “Thought no one was home, I did-I said yes, I did, was about to give up till you opened the door, I said till you opened the door” the scrawny squirrel stated in-between munches of the chestnut. Great, thought Sean, had I just waited a tad bit longer, deciding he had conversed quite enough with this foreign squirrel he left to return to bed and resume his well-deserved sleep. As he was about to lay down, the younger squirrel still sitting next to the fire, empty half of a chestnut next to him carefully asked: “do you not have any Family sir, I as- Sean interrupted him with a sharp “no” breaching the topic no further he laid down, back to the stranger an closed his eyes, ready to sleep. “Sorry, I said I said I ́m sorry” came a sullen reply. Ignoring the stranger lying 3 meters away, Sean tried to desperately fall asleep. But in the wake of old repressed memories, he found sleep did not wish to grant him passage into the thick, dark, out of- reach oblivion of his dreams. Perhaps it was the warm enclave of his home lit by the comfortably crackling fire in correlation with the rough storm waging war on mother earth outside. Or maybe it was the fact that he for the first time in years had held a, if not very one sided, conversation with another living being for more than a few seconds. Perhaps it was none of the above an in a moment of forgotten rationality followed by intense emotions he, said very quietly “I do not have any living relatives”. The younger squirrels’ eyes popped open at the voice of his reluctant host. Happy that he was finally talking to him he sat upright looking at the back his companion he mindfully asked, “How? I asked How?”. “Winter” was all Sean said before once more trying to close his eyes, knowing that even a naïve squirrel such as balloon head, would understand the threat of a cold, cruel winter after all he himself had almost fallen victim to it. When the storm passed and the cold winter sun, shone on the white snowy forest ground, early in the muddy morning the scrawny, young squirrel left the home he had resided in for a night. Of course, not before leaving a note scribbled in the empty shell of half a chestnut announcing that he was to retrieve his stuff from his sibling home before coming back and moving in, haven chosen Sean as his new roommate. Sean none the wiser slept for tree day and nights having been deprived from his sleep on that stormy night, and when he woke up, he woke up to the sound of knocking on his door followed by a sing song voice yelling, “I ́m baaackkk, I said-I saiddddd, I ́m backkkkk”