Squirrel World Read Online Free

any wet animal would do: We went into the hole, too. There was a steep flight of steps to help the humans make their way down. Luckily, there are steps in some areas of the park, so both Lenox and I knew how to use them.

    Midway down, I heard the most horrible roar. The ground vibrated, and I put mypaws over my ears to shut out the intense noise and ran to a corner of the stairwell. Some birds who had returned from a winter in South America once told me about an earthquake. I was sure an earthquake had come to New York now. But just as I was about to resign myself to a certain end, the roar stopped with a terrible screeching sound. Then it was quiet.
    “What was that?” asked Lenox, shaking with fright.
    “I think it was an earthquake,” I told him. “But look how brave the humans are. They don’t seem to be afraid of it at all.”
    We watched as the figures on the steps kept moving. Many went downward. But now there was an equal number moving upward. Can’t they make up their minds? I wondered.I was just about to move downward again too when the sound returned. Lenox and I cowered with fear on the steps for many minutes. Eventually I began to see a pattern: the loud sounds, the screeching, the quieter times, and then the loud sounds again—and through it all, humans walking in both directions.
    “Those noises don’t mean a thing,” said Lenox. “Look how the people keep moving toward them.”
    “Yes. But see how there are other people going in the other direction,” I pointed out.
    “But they don’t look as if they’ve been injured in any way. It’s obviously perfectly safe. The noise must just be meant to keep bad creatures away.”
    There seemed to be some logic to Lenox’s statement. So I bravely followed him, and wecontinued to the end of the flight of stairs. The area was dark as night but lit by small man-made moons. We looked around us and saw a large dark tunnel. There are tunnels in the park, too. I wondered where this one led and whether we should run into it.
    “Look, there are squirrels down here!” called out a human voice.
    “They must be lost,” someone said.
    “We’re not lost at all,” chattered Lenox indignantly. “We know exactly where we’re going.”
    But of course humans can’t understand us the way we can understand them.
    Suddenly the vibrations and racket began again. We watched in horror as first lights and then a huge silver object came out of a tunnel toward us. I shuddered to thinkwhat would have become of us had we been inside the tunnel.

    Because we were closer than ever, the sound was louder than ever. But again it screeched to a halt. Doors on the silver object opened, and people got out. Others went in. I guessed it was a type of very noisy bus.
    “Are the squirrels going to take the subway?” a human called out as he entered the vehicle.
    The people standing around began to laugh.
    “Did they pay for a ride?” someone called out.
    The doors closed while Lenox and I watched, mesmerized.
    Then the huge object began moving, accompanied by the horrific noise, with that poor, helpless person inside.
    “Humans are insane,” I told Lenox. “Why would they voluntarily enter such an object when they can be above ground, where it is quieter and prettier?”
    “And wetter,” he reminded me.
    “I’d much rather be wet than have my eardrums assaulted,” I said.
    “Are you afraid?” asked Lenox.
    “No,” I said. I thought a moment. What was wrong with admitting fear? “Well, maybe I am. But whatever—there must be a better way to keep dry. And a better way to get to Lexington Avenue.”
    I turned in the direction from which we had come and ran back up the stairway.
    “Don’t leave me!” shrieked Lenox. And he followed after me. He might not have wanted to admit it, but he was afraid, too.

CHAPTER SIX
Lexington Avenue

    You might be wondering how Lenox and I would know Lexington Avenue when we reached it. The answer is simple: When I was an infant, my