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Jim had a lot of things he needed to take care of today.
It was about 7:15 am, time for him to go out. He took an unshelled walnut out of the full burlap sack he kept in the corner of the kitchen, and stepped out the door. It was a clear cold morning, and the crisp breeze made him shiver in his T-shirt. He walked down the sidewalk to the parking area, and toward a large dogwood tree, when he heard the sound of a nearby door shutting.
A little girl of about five, dressed in her blue pea coat, came skipping down the sidewalk. She was followed by her father in his suit and overcoat, carrying a black briefcase and a Cinderella backpack.
“Mr. Jim, Mr. Jim, it’s my turn!” the child insisted as she neared him.
“Right you are, Miss Emily,” Jim smiled. He placed the walnut in her eager open palm as she stood waiting, her eyes shining as only an excited child’s can.
“Morning Jim, “the father greeted him, smiling as well. “Aren’t you freezing? Is it casual Friday?” he commented on Jim’s T shirt and jeans. This daily event was usually accomplished as Jim left for work, and as the father took his daughter to day care on the way to his office.
“Oh, I’m..uh..staying home today, crummy old cold,” he coughed to illustrate.
Their morning ritual started way back in July. Jim had taken Karen to a baseball game one Sunday, and there were some unshelled peanuts left in Jim’s car. As he approached his car on Monday morning to head to work, a squirrel was chattering loudly in this nearby dogwood tree. He’d reached in the car and grabbed a peanut, placing it in the fork of the tree. Then he sat in his car and watched as the squirrel snatched the peanut and made short satisfied work of it. He repeated this the next morning and the morning after that, and squirrel was quick to learn. It wasn’t long before the fuzzy little guy sat waiting for him in the tree every morning just like clockwork. Jim found himself buying a sack of unshelled nuts when the peanuts ran out.
The man and his daughter who lived in a couple of doors down always left at about the same time as Jim in the morning. A couple of weeks after he’d started feeding the squirrel, the little girl noticed and was fascinated, asking her daddy to wait until she saw the squirrel eat the nut.
One morning the girl approached Jim, shy and timid. “Excuse me sir,” she’d looked back to her dad for encouragement. He nodded yes.
Jim squinted and folded his tall frame down so he would be at her eye level. “Well good morning, princess.”
She blushed a little. “Sir, could I help you…feed…the squirrel?” she managed.
“The squirrel?” Jim had feigned confusion. “Oh, oh, wait, you must mean Dwight, “Jim said, still squatting as he pointed up toward the chattering rodent.
She nodded “yes”. “Can I help you feed Dwight? Please?”
Jim pretended to consider carefully, and then answered. “Well, sure. If it’s ok with your dad.” He looked over at the father who smiled his consent. “And, of course, if it’s ok with Dwight.”
Her big green eyes begged. “Would you ask Dwight for me please?”
“Okay. But you know, we really should introduce ourselves, don’t you think? Hi, I’m Jim.” He held out his hand to shake hers.
“I’m Emily.” She smiled, placed her small hand in his, and shook it vigorously.
“And I’m Steve, Emily’s dad.” Jim stood and shook hands with Steve as well.
The squirrel was now chattering loudly, not used to waiting this long for his breakfast. Jim looked up at him. “What’s that?” He cupped his hand to his ear. “Yes?” Jim turned back to the child and said matter-of-factly. “Emily, Dwight says he’d love for a princess to feed him. How about if I lift you up, and you put the peanut right there in the fork of the tree, ok?”
She shook her head yes, “But I’m not really a princess.”
She was so small and light in Jim’s hands as he lifted her by the waist up high enough to do the job. By the time he’d nestled her back down on the ground, the squirrel had already come down to retrieve the nut, and was removing the shell with busy teeth, raining little pieces down on them.
Emily squealed with delight, “He’s raining it on me.”
Jim totally, absolutely melted.
So that’s how the ritual had started. Soon after, Jim went out and bought a small open feeder which he hung on the tree at a level where Emily could reach it without help. It became their weekday morning ritual, they took turns feeding Dwight, and they even repeated it on the weekends if they were both in town.
Today, as Emily had gone to place the nut on the feeder, Jim turned to talk to Steve out of her earshot.
“Hey Steve, I need to talk to you about something. I’m leaving…on a trip…tomorrow, and I may be gone for….some time. I was wondering if it would be ok if I gave Em the bag of nuts so she could keep feeding the squirrel every morning? I didn’t want to say anything without, you know, asking you first. “
“Wow,” said Steve. “Fun or business?”
“Mostly business,” he replied noncommittally.
“Well, she’s gonna miss you Jim….we’ll both miss you. But yeah, sure, that would be ok. She really enjoys this. I’ve felt bad that we can’t have a pet for her, and this has been a good substitute. We’re running kind of late though, to get the bag right now.”
“Will you be home tonight?”
“Yeah, we should be home for a hour or so about 5, then we’re headed to a friends house for a movie night.”
“I’ll drop them by before you go and explain it to Emily, then, if it’s ok.”
“Sure.” Steve looked at his watch and called to Emily, who was still watching Dwight eat the nut. “Come on honey, it’s time to go.”
He turned to Jim. “See you tonight. You’d better get inside, you’re going to freeze out here.”
The wind made Jim’s eyes water as he watched them leave, but he smiled as he walked inside. Now that he had decided, he actually felt better. This was as close to happy as he’d been in a long time. And there were still things he had to do today.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Jim has a friend.
Suggested listening: (A Child is Born)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tRudAqdyc8
Suggested listening: (A Child is Born)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tRudAqdyc8
Chapter End Notes:
The next chapter is from Pam's POV. Thanks for reading.
