Once upon a time, a chipmunk named Charlie lived in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. His burrow is located in the ground beside a big tree near the woods. He is the "king" of this area and no other chipmunk is allowed in his territory. He knows that a house is close by, and that the owner's name is Pete. Every day Pete would place some peanuts or seeds on Charlie's favorite rock. Charlie noticed that Pete was watching him as he searched for food, took a sunbath, or just relaxed in the grass.
One day, when Charlie was enjoying a sunbath, he noticed Pete working very hard at the front of his house. He seemed to be busy all morning! It was quite a distance to see clearly, but Charlie was curious.
"What is that man doing? The noise is so annoying!", Charlie said to himself.
When Pete went back into the house, Charlie thought he should investigate what all the noise was about.
"No, I shouldn't be so nosy or curious", Charlie said to himself. So he went back into his burrow.
The next day, when Charlie came out to search for more food, he smelled the peanuts.
"Oh!, peanuts! My favorite food! Where are they?" he shouted.
He looked and looked, and finally saw them!
"Chipppp … over there! Many peanuts!", he chirped with delight!
Pete had placed them on Charlie's favorite rock. Charlie started to run to get them, but suddenly stopped!
"What is that thing on my breakfast platform? It looks so strange!"
Charlie knew something was different. It was where Pete was working yesterday.
"Would it be dangerous if I went over to it and looked?", Charlie thought.
Charlie hesitated and a strange feeling came over him. He thought someone was watching him, but the peanuts were attracting him.
"I think I'll take a chance, grab one peanut, then run back to my burrow", he said to himself. "It will be safer there!".
The next day and the days after, Charlie found seeds and peanuts placed on his favorite rock, but that strange thing was still there! Charlie decided to explore it and found there was nothing to be afraid of, because nothing moved! Suddenly, Charlie had a naughty idea!
"I think I'll take a bite out of this strange thing!", he said. "Oh! What a terrible taste!", he cried. "I won't bite this funny thing anymore!".
In the distance, he heard someone laughing.
"Someone seems to be enjoying watching me", he thought.
But he quickly filled his cheek pouches with peanuts and ran back to his burrow for a nap. That was enough excitement for one day!
- Story by Annie Cheung
