Story: The Mystery of the Missing Acorns

“Ooooh! I love the chill in the air on an autumn morning, and look at all the colors of the trees! There is green, yellow, red, brown, and every shade in between,” gasps Pip, a furry, bug-eyed deer mouse who recently moved into the hollow of a giant bald cypress tree in The Watercolor Woods. “Autumn is my favorite season of the year.”

“This time of year, the woodland floor is normally covered with leaves, acorns, sweet gum seed pods, and pinecones. The signs of Winter arriving soon.,” squawks Mia, the bluejay. Mia is Pip’s closest friend and neighbor. She lives on an outer branch of the Bald Cypress.

Flittering from branch to branch, Mia chirps, “Pip, do you see what I see? Uh… or do not see?”

Pip scans the woodland floor. Her whiskers twitching she nods, “Yes. I wonder where they are?”

Oliver, the bullfrog of Canvas Creek, croaks loudly from a rock at the creek’s edge, “Hmmmmm. Maybe a squirrel ate them? Or a deer? Oh! Maybe Henry, the groundhog ate them all.”

“This is a mystery,” observes Pip, glancing around and scratching her head in wonder.

“What’s that?” she whispers nervously. She hears the leaves rustle nearby.

Mia swoops down, “There is a deer in the bushes.”

Flying over, she asks the deer, “Do you know where all of the acorns have gone?”

“No. I do not. I ate a few, but prefer the taste of plants, grass, mushrooms, and lichen,” the deer explains.

“Sorry to bother you,” Mia calls out as she returns to Pip and Oliver.

“Let’s take the trail, the Underpainting Trail, through the Watercolor Woods. Perhaps we can uncover the mystery of the missing acorns,” suggests Oliver.

“Hello.” “Hello,” hollers each of the twins, Walter and Josie. The twin pond sliders are basking in the sun on a moss-covered log in the Stippling River. “How are you today?”

“We have a mystery. Do you know where all the acorns have gone?” Pip asks.

“No. Henry did stop by for a visit this morning. He could have seen something.” Walter responds.

“Thank you, Walter,” Pip waves. Turning to Mia and Oliver, she announces, “Looks like are going to Graphite Glades.”

“Who is this?” Henry says to himself, peering over the grasses and standing upright on his hind legs to see who is coming down the trail.

“Well, hello there! What brings you here today?” Henry bellows.

Oliver jumps over the grass, and greets Henry, “Do you know where all the acorns have gone?”

“I ate a few this morning while visiting the twins, but I find the clover and grass here in the glades much tastier, and easier on the stomach,” Henry shares.

“Thank you,” Oliver says. “my apologies for interrupting your day.”

“I am stumped,” Pip expresses. Confused, but still curious, they continue down the Underpainting Trail determined to discover the answer to the mystery of the missing acorns.

“Moonbeam!” Pip shouts in excitement. “Moonbeam, the skunk, might know. She lives in the Palette Place Meadow up ahead.”

“She’s home!” Mia squawks, flying over the meadow.

“Hello,” Moonbeam says. She waddles over to the trail sniffing the air to navigate her way to her friends. “Nice to see you! What can I do for you today?” she smiles.

“Do you know where all the acorns have gone?”, inquires Pip, really hoping she does know.

With a giggle, Moonbeam points to the base of a large oak tree at the meadow’s edge.

“There is a burrow,” observes Pip out loud.

“Ummm…. Hello?” asks Pip as they near the burrow. She bends over and peers into the opening. Out pops a chipmunk with a mouthful of acorns. Her cheeks stuffed full.

“Hi”, the chipmunk cheerfully says. “I am Juniper. Can I help you?”

Laughing, almost too hard to speak, they answered all at once, “Do you know where all the acorns have gone?”

“I store them in my burrow for winter. I do not take them all because there are many of us who need them for the winter,” Juniper shares while stuffing one more acorn in her bulging cheeks.

“We have the answer to our mystery of the missing acorns!” Pip exclaims.

Heading home, Pip, Mia, and Oliver discuss the many animals who eat the acorns. Arriving back at her hollow, Pip giggles, “What a fun morning with friends.”