Friday, December 19, 2008

THIRTEEN

As dawn turned into morning the other opossums had given up, no longer able to fight the pull of slumber. Daisy and Curly had fallen asleep on opposite sides of the Cozy Room, while Silas slept in his private room, deep within the warren, as he did every morning. Henry chose to sleep in a smaller cubby that had easy access to the outside so that he would be the first to see the children should they return. He wouldn’t rule out the possibility that they had set off for their own digs, but he refused to believe that any harm had befallen them. Cocoa managed to awaken from his bug-induced stupor and was sleeping against the winter pantry door, whimpering and kicking his chubby legs as he dreamed, while Beatrice remained under the apple tree at the edge of the garden. Petula paced from one end of the warren to the other, convinced that she’d never sleep again so she busied herself in the kitchen creating all sorts of delicious treats. The sun was climbing over the treetops when she finally slumped over from nervous exhaustion, snoozing in the dining parlor, her cheek plastered to a pumpkin-apple tart.

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