Ellie and Harold
Love, divorce, birth, death, and getting even with the horrible Dang Cat makes up the world of a loving six year old, Ellie and her best squirrel friend, Harold. Come join the tears and laughter as they try to figure out life.
Chapter One
Yeah, Right!!
Everything will be alright. That's what Mama and Daddy told her as they were leaving the court room. Daddy hugged her and walked away saying he would see her next weekend. He didn't hug Mama.
Ellie couldn’t help feeling hurt and doubting their words. The judge had just told them to sell their home - her home - the only home she had ever known. Where would they live? What about her friends? What about school? What’s this thing called divorce?
She didn’t understand why he said she would have to live with Mama. What about Daddy? Who would look after him? How would he survive without her? Ellie’s mind whirled as she walked beside Mama to the car.
"Mama, why do we have to move? Why can’t we live with Daddy?"
"Sweet Pea, Daddy wants to live in his new apartment. We'll move to another house. Don't worry about it. We’ll talk about it later. Okay?" Penny was too upset to talk about it right now.
Besides, she didn't know what to tell her. She didn't understand either. First, Dennis started fussing about everything. Next, he moved his office from their home. Then, they were getting on his nerves so he moved out. Demanding a divorce and that they sell their home were the last steps before being in front of the judge. That was all she knew.
The only thing Penny could do was to keep holding on to the thought that everything will be alright. She didn't know how but it had to be.
Mama buckled her in and got under the steering wheel. Mama was quiet and Ellie could see her wiping her eyes every now and then. Mama was crying - you know those silent tears. Ellie started crying being careful not to make a sound or let Mama see her wipe her tears.
Seeing their home and the thought of Harold made Ellie feel better. She knew he would be in his tree waiting on her. Harold would never think about leaving her.
"Sweet Pea, go change your clothes so you can play with Harold while I fix us something to eat. Please, stay out of trouble and don’t get hurt." Penny gave her a smile as she opened the car door for her.
Ellie burst through her bedroom door and changed at record speed. She loved playing in the yard with Harold better than anything.
Harold was a beautiful gray squirrel who loved Ellie as much as Ellie loved him. He was very smart and always helped her with her problems. She knew he could help her figure out this thing called divorce.
Last summer, Harold had taught Ellie how to climb his tree. Well, yes, she did break her arm but she had made it all the way to the third limb before she fell. After that, Mama and Daddy wouldn't let her climb with him any more.
Harold had decided she fell because she didn't have a tail like his. They couldn't figure out how to make her one that would swoosh back and forth. They had tried a rope, belt, and string but Ellie just couldn't get them to swoosh. They were still working on that one because Ellie wanted to run through the trees with Harold more than anything. Harold said it was the best place in the world to live.
Ellie hurried out of her room on the second floor of their home. When she reached the stairs, she jumped on the banister and slid down. She slowed down when she reached the kitchen just long enough to grab some bread from Harold's bread box.
"Slow down Ellie." Mama was busy in the kitchen. She looked like she felt better now.
"Yes Mama," said Ellie, as she ran across the patio and through the screen door. The banging as it slammed shut brought Harold out of his tree and down to the ground.
Harold had spent his day sitting in his tree keeping an eye on the neighborhood. From his lofty perch, he could keep a good eye on the mean, sneaky, evil, low-down, horrible Dang Cat.
Dang Cat's real name was Fluffy but Ellie had called him Dang Cat so much it kind of stuck. There wasn't anything fluffy about that cat except his fur. Nothing was safe around him. He thought Harold looked like a big fat rat and was forever chasing him. Ellie, along with the rest of the kids in the neighborhood, hated that cat.
Harold was delighted that Ellie was finally home. He thought she was the smartest human he had ever known. Of course, he only knew Ellie's friends that came by to play but none of them could do all the great things like his Ellie.
To him, she was the prettiest too. He loved her brown hair that bounced when she ran and her freckled nose that turned up when she giggled. He loved to hear her giggle. He had tried to make that sound but just couldn't. She was all any squirrel could ever want in a human friend.
He couldn’t figure out why she had lost her two front teeth. His hadn't fallen out. They had decided that maybe he wasn't old enough yet. After all, Ellie was six. She had to leave him everyday to go to something called school. He didn't like this school thing very much but he was hoping he could go with her when he turned six.
As soon as Ellie reached Harold, he went scurrying up her leg and to his favorite sitting spot on her shoulder. Ellie walked over and sat down on the grass under his tree. This is where you could find them if they weren't climbing on the swings or running around the yard chasing the big fat ball. Harold liked trying to ride it.
"Ellie, the blue bird’s babies tried to fly today but they didn’t make it out of the nest. Their mom was pretty mad. She fussed something terrible. Kind a like when Mama fussed when we broke that window with that rock or when we tied the doll to Dang Cat's tail or when we got mud all over her new dress while we were playing dress up or well, you know. She told them they weren't old enough to fly and to behave themselves. The babies have been fussing about it all day."
"Okay." Ellie’s head never looked up and the bubble wasn't in her voice. All these memories didn’t make her feel any better. She kept breaking off pieces of bread. Harold really liked bread that was a little on the hard side.
Ellie and Harold were famous for getting into trouble. They sure could make Mama and Daddy's faces turn red.
"Okay? Is that all you have to say. We have been waiting for weeks for those kids to get the nerve to fly." Harold nudged Ellie's neck to get a giggle. That was Ellie's most ticklish spot. Ellie didn't even move like she usually did tucking her neck under her chin.
"I didn't go to school today, Harold."
"Are you sick, Ellie? Did you go to that doctor and have to get a shot? Did it hurt?" Harold looked down to check her arm.
"No, I had to go with Mama to meet Daddy at a big building. There was this mean old man sitting behind this huge desk thing. All you could see was his head. They called him Judge. He must be like God or something. Mama said we had to do what he said. He didn’t let us sit together. I wanted to sit in Daddy’s lap like I always do but he said, 'No'. I had to sit by myself. He made Mama sit with a man on one side of the room and Daddy had to sit with a man on the other side. These men kept whispering to Mama and Daddy until Mama and Daddy stopped smiling.
"I didn't understand a lot of the stuff that judge man said but he said Mama and Daddy couldn’t live together anymore. He said I had to live with Mama and they had to sell our house. He called them divorced. What's divorce?" Ellie sounded so sad.
"Gosh, I don't know. I’ve never heard that word. What does sell our house mean?" Harold had moved to the ground while Ellie was talking so he could see her face. She had tears flowing down her cheeks.
"That's like what Jamie did. Somebody else lives in your house and you go live in another house. Mama said we would move to another house. I don’t want another house. This one has my favorite places and it's close to your tree." Ellie wiped the tears away with the back of her hand.
"I don't think Mama and Daddy want to live together any more. That’s the way it sounded. I don’t know why. Daddy just said he would see me next weekend and left. He hugged me and forgot to hug Mama." Ellie’s head seemed to drop even lower and a huge tear splattered on the grass as she wiped her face again.
Harold's heart was about to burst for his friend. She hadn't shed this many tears when she broke her arm or when they fell while riding the bike and her knee got all skinned and it turned all red and it looked all yucky.
“Do you think maybe it’s my fault Daddy doesn’t want to live with us anymore?” asked Ellie.
“Your fault?” Harold had found a crayon to chew on but it didn’t taste too good so he dropped it pretty fast.
“Yeah, sometimes they talk loud to each other. I can’t understand what they’re talking about. Daddy always sounds mad. He only gets mad at me. Guess he doesn’t want to live with me because I did something? Guess he knows about us hiding his shoes in the dirt?” Ellie had picked up a stick and was peeling the bark off of it. Harold thought this might be good to chew on so he was testing each piece as she dropped it.
“No, the shoes are still in the dirt. Sorry I chewed on them. Do you think he found out about me sneaking into your room at night?” Harold was hoping it wasn’t his fault. He would never do anything to hurt his Ellie.
“I don’t know. They didn’t say anything to me.” Ellie had stopped crying. She looked like she was thinking real hard.
Daddy had made it very plain that Harold wasn’t allowed in the house any more. The incident of the broken lamp and the pictures being knocked off the wall and Mama’s shoes being chewed to pieces had put an end to them playing inside. They had decided to hide Daddy’s shoes in the sand pile after Harold’s last shoe attack.
Harold slept in his nest most of the time except when it rained or when it was to cold or when he missed her. On those special occasions, Ellie would leave her window opened just enough for him to slip through. He liked curling up on her pillow real close to her hair. He thought her hair smelt so good even better than pecans. Her pillow was almost as good as his nest.
“Ellie, it’s time to eat.” Ellie hadn’t noticed that it had gotten dark. Mama was standing in the doorway with the light of the room shining all around her petite frame.
“I’m coming Mama.” Ellie picked Harold up as she stood up and gave him a hug before placing him in his tree.
“The window will be open,” she whispered, over her shoulder as she trotted off toward the house.
ISBN: 1-4241-3963-5
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