Mr. Scruff wakes up

Mr. Scruff, the chipmunk, popped out of his hole. The sunlight seared his little black eyes, and the roar of the wind hurt his tiny little ears. He ducked back in and made himself a cracked acorn for breakfast.

"Kind of dry," he squeaked to himself, "I wish I had some dew."

But Mr. Scruff did not wake up early enough to gather the dew, owing to a rotten grape he found yesterday near the Picnic Site.

His mother, Ms. Munk-Scruff, had always told him to stay away from rotten fruit. "If you eat it, your belly will swell up like a walnut, and then one day ten tiny mewling aliens will pop out and suck you dry."

Mr. Scruff believed this for a long time before discovering that his mother was crazy -- after she slumped over in the corner and told him that he was one of the aliens that popped out of her belly. This was after eating an entire rotten apricot. An entire rotten apricot!

Up next: Mr. Scruff goes outside