A Kiss Goodbye Read Online Free

C hester Raccoon sat in the corner of his tree hollow and frowned. “I’m not moving,” he announced stubbornly. “I’m staying here. I want to stay with my tree, and stay with my friends, and stay where I’ve always lived.”
    Mrs. Raccoon patted Chester’s worried, furrowed forehead. “I understand how you feel,” she told him in an understanding, motherly voice, “but I’m afraid we all have to move.”
    â€œBut I like it here,” whined Chester. “It’s my home.”
    â€œIt’s my home, too,” said Mrs. Raccoon. “And Ronny’s. And I know how scary it is to move to a new place. But sometimes, like when you started school and changed classes, you have to do things that are scary and hard at first. I know—maybe you could think of moving as an adventure.”

    Chester scrunched up his face and grumbled. “I don’t like adventures. I had an adventure down at the pond and fell in chasing a frog.”

    â€œI had an adventure up a pine tree and got prickly pinecones in my tail!”

    â€œI had an adventure in Red Rock Cave and got smacked by a bat!”

    Mrs. Raccoon laughed. “Well, this will be a different kind of adventure. This time we’ll all be together. You and me and Ronny.”
    Chester didn’t budge. He just sat there with his arms folded and a stubborn expression on his face. “Why do we have to leave our tree, anyway?” he wanted to know. “I like this tree. I’m used to it.”

    â€œA line has been drawn around the trunk,” explained Mrs. Raccoon. “Soon the tree cutters will come and cut it down for wood.”
    Chester poked his head out of the hollow and looked around. “There are lots of other trees,” he pointed out. “Why don’t they cut down some of the other trees instead?”
    â€œThey’re cutting down all of the trees in this part of the woods,” explained his mother. “But I’ve picked out a new tree to live in that’s big and comfortable and has lots of holes to look out of.”

    Chester sat back down and looked thoughtful. “What if I don’t leave? What if I just sit here and never leave this tree again as long as I live? Will they still cut it down?”
    â€œI’m afraid they would,” said Mrs. Raccoon. “But you know, moving isn’t so bad. I’ve moved lots of times. It’s hard at first, but you make new friends and fix up your new tree just the way you like it. Besides, don’t you think you’ll get a little lonely if you stay here? The deer are moving, and the squirrels, and so are the skunks and foxes. Don’t you want to stay with your family?”

    â€œWill I have to go to a new school?” asked Chester.
    â€œI suppose you will. But you never know who you might meet. Don’t you want to make new friends?”
    â€œI like the friends I already have. I don’t need to make new ones.”
    â€œI see. Well, I would certainly miss you if you stayed here,” said Mrs. Raccoon. “Aren’t you afraid you’d miss us?”
    â€œI’d miss you,” admitted Chester. “I’m not so sure about Ronny.”
    Mrs. Raccoon chuckled. “I think you’d miss Ronny most of all. Who would be there to pull your tail or tickle your mask or follow you everywhere you went?”

    Chester sat back and took a good, long look around the inside of his hollow. He memorized its round shape with its lookout hole just below the thick branches that housed bird nests and squirrels. Then he closed his eyes, pressed his palms to the wall, and felt the texture of the wood and bark—the smooth places and the rough places. When he opened his eyes, he reached up and broke off a small piece of bark from the wall and pushed it deep into his pocket.
    He put his face up close to the wall and breathed in the sweet scent of white oak. Next, he gazed