Many years ago, I wrote a story for my first grandchild, who happened to be too bright to fall for tales of animals that wore clothes and behaved like humans.
He’d heard about groundhogs and had actually seen one sunning himself in the grass on the far side of our pond. Being a child filled with curiosity about each new thing in his world, he asked questions that even a wise and educated grandma couldn’t answer, so I did some research.
The result was this story (slightly revised) and a day late for Pauxatawny Phil, but which can be read to any child at any time.
The grumpy groundhog
When Groundhog woke up in February, he was grumpy. He was very hungry after sleeping all winter, and being hungry made him grumpy. He didn’t like the chilly wind or the cold rain. He didn’t like the snowy day when the sun came out and he saw his shadow. He didn’t like anything, not even himself. He was so grumpy that even his shadow was grumpy. So, he went back to bed for about six weeks.
When Groundhog woke up again, it was a warm, sunny day. He went to the pond to look for crawdads and to wash his sleepy face. When he looked up, he saw a family of people having a picnic — right under his willow tree. There was a little girl sitting near the door to Groundhog’s burrow. She was playing with a toy rabbit and a pretty little box with a mirror inside. Two boys were swinging on the branches of his willow tree. It all made Groundhog grumpier than he’d been since last summer when a big dog had frightened him away from his burrow for three days.
Groundhog stood up on his hind legs and whistled to scare them away, but they didn’t seem to notice. He fluffed up his fur to look bigger and made a scary face. He showed them his sharp teeth and long claws, but they did not go away.
Groundhog sat under his favorite gooseberry bush and watched the family. He wanted to be sure that they didn’t go into his burrow for a nap, or nibble any of the tender twigs on his willow tree.
At last, they finished their picnic and packed everything into a basket. The little girl picked up her toy rabbit but forgot the little box. It lay open on the grass; the mirror sparkled in the sunshine.
When they were gone, Groundhog went back to his tree and looked around for bits of food, but the family had left him nothing. Then, he saw the little box and looked inside. There was another groundhog in the box.
Groundhog didn’t know about mirrors, but he did know about groundhogs and he knew that he liked to live all by himself. He tried to scare the strange groundhog away.
He whistled and fluffed up his fur. He made a scary face and showed his sharp teeth and long claws. The other groundhog did the same.
Groundhog guarded the door to his burrow all night long. In the morning, he went to the pond for a drink and some breakfast. He ate a crawdad and something else that didn’t taste very good, and that made him grumpy again. He rushed up the hill to see if the strange groundhog was still in the box. (You and I know that he was, don’t we?)
Groundhog looked in the box and made his scariest face. So did the stranger. Then he made a grumpy face and a silly face. The other groundhog made a silly face, too, and Groundhog couldn’t help giggling. So, he made a really outrageous, crazy, ridiculous face. When the other groundhog did too, Groundhog laughed so hard that his stomach hurt, so hard that his face hurt, so hard that he had to roll on the ground. When he rolled, he bumped the little box.
Snap, the lid went shut. Click, the lock went shut. Groundhog could not open the little box. The strange groundhog was gone.
“Just as well,” he said to himself. “Groundhogs prefer to live alone. And, we are usually grumpy.” But, for that one day, Groundhog smiled all the way to bedtime.
A former volunteer and substitute teacher in the Solon schools, Milli is an artist and poet who lives near Morse where she also creates unique greeting cards and handmade books.