Uninvited Guests

The day Jason met Chrissy McWiggins started out like any other day. It was a beautiful, cold, blustery morning and Jason had slept in. Since there was no school this week, Jason planned to sleep as long as possible. After breakfast, Jason went down to the basement and began looking for his ice skates and hockey stick. He and his friends had agreed to meet in the park to play ice hockey, and Jason had forgotten all about it until this morning. “I sure wish Mom and Dad would clean out this basement. There’s stuff everywhere. Now, where are… Oh there they are.”

Jason spied his ice skates hanging on the nail over the newspaper stacks right where mom said they would be. Grabbing his stick, he reached up to grab the skates when one of them slipped out of his hand and fell behind the newspapers and other junk that littered the basement. “Oh, come on! I’m late already,” Jason growled. There were a lot of boxes and other old junk to move, but soon the mess was cleared away. Finally, Jason was on his way to the game.

Several hours later, Jason returned home. He was cold and tired, but he’d had so much fun. He found a note on the kitchen table from mom telling him that she had been called into work, lunch was in the microwave and Dad would be home at three. After getting into some warm, dry clothes, Jason took his stuff down to the basement. Near the bottom of the stairs, his eyes fell on something that hadn’t been there previously. The wall that the boxes had lain against now had a door in it. Jason shook his head and rubbed his eyes, thinking he had to be dreaming. He watched the door for a moment. Suddenly, his heart began racing! He was sure he had seen the doorknob turn!

He watched the doorknob turn a second time and, this time, knew he hadn’t imagined it. Running down the last few steps, he dove behind the boxes, waiting for what might happen next. The door open! Jason waited, peering over the boxes. At first, nothing happened. Then suddenly, a black squirrel scampered through the door. Jason shook his head, hardly believing what he was seeing. ‘I’ve got to be seeing things,’ he thought. ‘Things like this don’t happen in real life! Or do they?’ The fuzzy little creature looked around and sniffed the air. Jason watched him, amazed as the little squirrel walked around just like a human.

Suddenly, the animal’s eyes darted left then right, landing right on Jason! He ran toward where Jason was hiding and jumped on top of one of the boxes. Jason lurched back, hitting some metal watering cans as he fell. The racket was deafening! “Oh, boy-o. You’re gonna give me a heart attack with all that noise. Ain’t you ever seen a squirrel in your life?” Jason’s eyes had grown as big as dinner plates. The squirrel had spoken to him. “Now I know I must be crazy. A chipmunk is talking to me.”

“Oh, now. Wait just a cotton-picking minute,” the squirrel said, jumping down and scampering over until he set on Jason’s chest and looked him right in the eye. “I am a squirrel. S-Q-U-I-R-R-E-L! Squirrel. A black squirrel, for your information. The handsomest of the lot if I do say so meself! Dunna be calling me one those tiny tailed, bucktoothed nut brains.” Jason looked startled, but then did the only thing that he could think of. He laughed and laughed until tears were rolling down his cheeks and his stomach hurt. Even the squirrel was smiling. “I’m sorry. I have just never heard a chipmunk referred to like that.” “You would if you came from my homeland. Chipmunks are nothing but trouble.”

Jason considered the little creature. “Where are you from? And, if we’re going to be friends, I guess I better know your name.” The squirrel eyed the young boy then nodded. “Aye, we will be friends. I like you, boy. My name is Charles Finnegan McWiggins III. But me friends call me Chrissy.” He held out his paw and Jason shook it with two fingers. “I’m Jason.” “Nice to meet you, Jason. I hail from the land of crystal blue rivers, purple mountains, and pink evening skies. The land is called Teracia.” “How did you get here?” “I was being chased by a dog who would have liked to have had me for a wee snack. I followed a magic path until I came to a doorway. When I walked through it, I found myself here. The only way back is through the door that I came thro…” Chrissy’s voice trailed off when he looked back at the wall. The door was gone. “It’s gone. My only way back home is gone.”

Jason walked over to the wall. It was as if the door had never been there. But Chrissy was proof that there had been a doorway there at one point. “Well, you could stay with me until you figure out what to do.” Chrissy nodded. “Aye, Thank-you, my friend.” “There is one problem. My parents don’t want me to have any pets. I don’t know how I would explain you otherwise.” “How about we hide me in your room and worry about explanations when we need to.” Jason smiled. He liked this little creature. “Sounds good to me. How about you ride on my shoulder, and we’ll go up to my room?” He held out his arm and Chrissy scurried up and perched on his shoulder. “How about a wee stop at the kitchen? This little squirrel could use a snack.” Jason chuckled as he climbed the stairs to the main floor of the house and headed for the kitchen. After grabbing a can of mixed nuts Dad had in the cupboard and some cookies for himself, Jason headed to his room.

Chrissy chirped his delight when they entered Jason’s room and took a flying leap from his shoulder to the bed. “I like your bed, Jason. It’s bouncy.” Jason smiled. “Yeah, it’s fun to jump on,” Jason said, and then snapped his fingers. “I forgot a drink. Do you want one, Chrissy?” “Aye that would be nice.” Jason got up and walked back downstairs, leaving Chrissy to explore. Chrissy began to explore all the interesting things in Jason’s room. He jumped over to the desk and began opening drawers, playing with whatever he thought was interesting and odd. He looked around the room at all the strange things when something caught his eye. A small car, just about the right size for him, sat on the floor, with a small black box lying beside it.

Chrissy’s curiosity got the best of him. He jumped from the desk to the chair, and then to the floor. From there, he scampered over to the small car and began to sniff around. He looked at this strange thing and wondered what it was. Walking over to the black box, he began to sniff around it and climbed on top. His foot hit one of the control sticks and the black object moved. Chrissy jumped. “What is this?” He pushed the stick again and the black thing moved again. He tried the other stick and saw the wheels move. Then he had an idea!

As Jason walked back into his room, his black remote-control car crashed into his foot. He jumped, startled by the car and almost spilled the drinks he had brought. “What are you doing?” Jason asked after regaining his balance back and setting the drinks down on his desk. “I was working that strange black thing and it got a little out of control. Sorry about that Jason. I won’t do it again.” Chrissy hung his head and his ears lay flat against his head. Jason smiled and picked up the car. “It’s ok, Chrissy. Just be careful. This strange black thing is a remote-control car.” “Oh. Your world is so much more different from mine.” Jason set the car back on the floor and brought a small dish over to the bed. Chrissy jumped up on the desk chair then to the bed from there. He looked in the dish and squeaked his delight. “Milk, my favorite!” Jason smiled as he opened the can of nuts for Chrissy and then looked for his cookies. “Where are they? I laid them down on the desk and now they’re gone. Chrissy, did you take my cookies?”

Chrissy’s head flew up from the milk he was drinking. A bright white mustache decorated the fur under his nose. “I dunna where your cookies went, but I didn’t take. I promise that I took your cookies as much as I want eaten by a hound, which would not be a pleasant experience I can tell you that.” Jason couldn’t help laughing. He believed Chrissy. After getting more cookies, he asked Chrissy to tell him about his home. And that’s just what Chrissy did, between bits of nuts and drinks of milk. From then until supper and bedtime, Chrissy talked about his beloved Teracia. That night, Jason even dreamed of Teracia, and Chrissy slept right on his pillow. He had taken a liking to this boy. He decided to stay and keep him safe.

The next afternoon, Jason brought up a bag of corn chips for them to share. He dropped them on the bed, but, before he had a chance to open them, he heard his mother calling. While he was gone, Chrissy decided to play with that remote control car again. He like how he could make it zoom around the room. He was still playing with the car when Jason returned. “Where’d the chips go? I know I set them on my bed and a bag of corn chips just can’t grow legs and walk off. Chrissy, where are the chips?”

“How am I supposed to know? Just because I like corn chips doesn’t mean I snatched them. Look there’s a trail of chips on the floor. You probably took them with you and forgot.” Jason shook his head. “I know I didn’t. If you didn’t take them, and mom, dad, and I don’t have them, then where…?” Jason stopped short. He looked as if he was considering something. “What’s going on in that head of yours boy-o?” Chrissy asked. “I’ll be right back.” Jason left the room and followed the trail of chips to the guest room, where he confirmed his suspicions.

When Jason had left the room, he had left the door open, and Chrissy had gone back to playing with the car. Jason’s dad happened to walk by the room and stopped, frozen in place. He shook his head and looked again. There was a squirrel on the floor by his son’s bed, and it looked like he was working the remote-control car that Jason had. He propped an elbow against the door and watched the little creature for a while. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he was controlling that little car,” Dad said. Then a voice answered him and said, “I am.”

Dad jumped back a bit and saw that the squirrel was watching him. “Now I know I’m going crazy. I thought that squirrel spoke to me.” That same little voice answered and said, “Are you daft, man? Of course, I spoke to you.” Jason’s dad looked like he was ready to either high tail it out of there or faint, which wouldn’t have been easy since he was a big man. “JASON!”

Jason came running when he heard his dad holler. He saw dad outside his room, and knew that he had seen Chrissy, and, by the way he was carrying on, Chrissy had spoken to him. Standing beside dad, Jason asked, “Are you okay, dad?” Dad shook his head vigorously. “I… well I… he… Oh but that’s ridiculous! I think that squirrel spoke to me!” Jason out his hand over his eyes and shook his head. “That’s because he did speak to you. His name is Chrissy.”

Entering his room, Jason picked up Chrissy and set him on his shoulder. Returning to his father’s side, Jason said to Chrissy, “Introduce yourself to dad.” The squirrel nodded and stood to his full height; paw extended. “Hello, my name is Charles Finnegan McWiggins III. But me friends call me Chrissy.” Dad stared dumb founded at the little creature on his son’s shoulder. “How does he do that?” Dad finally wondered aloud. “What is it with you people? You act like you’ve never seen a talking squirrel in your life.” At this, Dad and Jason laughed. “Thank goodness that he’s the only one. Your mother would have a fit if she found out.” Jason chuckled uncomfortably. “Well, he’s not exactly the only one.” “I’m not?” “He’s not?” “Nope, follow me.” With Chrissy on his shoulder and Dad trailing behind, Jason explained all that he had suspected on the way to the guest room.

When he opened the guest room door, the bed was a mess. Food and wrappers were everywhere. However, it was what lay in the center of one of the pillows that caught their attention. It was another little black squirrel, curled up in a little ball and sound asleep. Chrissy jumped from Jason’s shoulder to the bed and the slight movement woke the little creature. She squeaked in fright, diving under the next pillow. “It’s all right, lass. We won’t hurt you. I’m Chrissy. This is Jason and Dad. Please don’t be afraid.” For several second, Chrissy tried coaxing the little creature out. When it seemed like she would never listen, a furry, little, black head stuck out from under the pillow.

After sniffing at the group for a minute, she scampered the rest of the way out. “Hello. My name is Lisa Maria Dunnigan, but all me friends called me Lacey.” Chrissy’s eyes went wide. She was the prettiest little black squirrel he had ever seen. Her tail was so bushy, and her fur was sleek and shiny. Jason cleared his throat, scaring Chrissy out of his daydream. “It’s nice to meet you, Lacey. Where are you from?” Chrissy asked, a bit embarrassed to be caught staring. Lacey giggled, her little black eyes sparkling. “Judging by your accent, I would say the same place as you. My home is called Terracia.”

Chrissy’s eyes widened. “I thought I recognized that accent. How did you get here?” Just as Lacey was about to tell her story, from downstairs, mom yelled, “Jason, John, can you come help me?” “We’ll be right down, mom.” Dad motioned to the two little creatures. “What are we gonna do with them?” “You two go to my room. We’ll talk later,” Jason said, quickly cleaning up the wrappers and making the bed presentable before going to help mom. As Dad and Jason descended the stairs, Jason turned and watched as Chrissy and Lacey scamper to his room, chattering all way about their homeland. “Why do I get the feeling life will never be the same?”