Escape
View(s):Tin-Tin the squirrel stared at a piece of bread on the window-ledge of a house. He was very hungry but didn’t want to get too close to the house either. He thought for awhile and decided to give it a go. So he quickly scampered and grabbed the bread and ran back. The bread was fresh and nice. He was glad he went and got it. The next day too he noticed a piece of bread.
This time it was very close to the centre of the window.
Tin-Tin ran and jumped on to the window-ledge and grabbed the piece of bread, but that was all he could do. ‘Clank!’ fell a mesh cage trapping him. He dropped the piece of bread and ran around the cage trying to escape. ‘Click!’ closed the cage from below and a boy lifted it up staring at Tin-Tin, full of smiles. Tin-Tin shouted as loud as he could, his heart beating like a drum.
The cage Tin-Tin was trapped in was hung by a wire from the roof. The squirrel ran around trying to find a spot to get away. He bit the mesh but it was very strong.
The door was closed from under with a lock. This was not good! Poor Tin-Tin cried in agony.
“Look at him!” the boy pointed the squirrel to a friend, “would you believe it? I caught him myself!” He then managed to push a cup full of fruit pieces in, without leaving space for the squirrel to escape. But the squirrel didn’t even bother to look at the food. He just ran up and down and in circles. “He’ll eat when he’s hungry,” said the friend.
After the boys left,
Tin-Tin looked at the cup. He was annoyed to see food. What he needed was not food but to get away. “What will they do with me?” he thought feeling very scared about his life. Then when he looked down, his heart stopped for a moment. There was a cat in the house and he walked under the cage looking up with hungry eyes. The cat didn’t have any access to the cage or any chance to get near. But the sight of the cat made poor Tin-Tin dizzy.
“He hasn’t eaten a tiny piece!” the boy complained to his friend about the squirrel, “He just keeps on running around like mad!” “He must be playing,” replied the friend, “I’m sure he’ll eat soon. He can’t starve forever!”
“You’re right! When my father comes home for the weekend from his work place, I can get some advice from him on what to do to get the squirrel to eat something!” “Yes, he should know!” agreed his friend.
Tin-Tin didn’t have any appetite. “Why are they punishing me this way?” he cried, “I didn’t do them any wrong. I want to go back home to the tree where I live. I want to run about, climb trees. I don’t want to be a prisoner and to stay trapped this way!” He sadly curled on his cage hugging his bushy tail, feeling very worried and lonely. “I don’t want to die this way someday,” he wept.
The next day the boy came with his father near the cage. “He hasn’t eaten anything properly for nearly two days, except for a few tiny bites here and there! How do we get him to eat anything?” he asked his father. The boy’s father stared at the cage for a while and said, “I think he’s depressed. Why don’t you just let him go? You already have ‘Kitty’ for a pet!”
“But I like to own him too!” the boy insisted.
“Putha, by owning him all you gain is just the satisfaction of having a squirrel, but think from his side. He loses his entire freedom and the chance of living a normal life. It’s not fair! I really think you should let him go.” The boy sulked and his father said, “If you let him go, I promise to get you another pet. The type of pet that can be domesticated. Maybe a puppy…”
Tin-Tin watched the two humans talking, though he didn’t understand a word. Then the boy removed the cage from the hook it was hanging by and they took
the cage out to the garden. Tin-Tin sensed that something was happening. They placed the cage on the ground and opened the flap. Tin-Tin ran out like the wind and climbed the first tree he found and went right to the top. Then he started shouting as loud as he could, banging his tail against the branch, “Kidnappers! Get away! They are here to catch squirrels!”
A couple of squirrels around too started shouting as loud as they could, in excitement. “What happened?” they asked him, “where were you all these days?” “Those two kidnapped me. I’m glad I managed to get away!” panted Tin-Tin. “How?” the others wanted to know.
Tin-Tin thought a little and said “I kicked open the cage, bit them all over, slapped the boy one and escaped!”
The other squirrels looked at Tin-Tin doubtfully but they were glad he was free and alright. “And you two,” shouted back Tin-Tin at the boy and his father, “the next time you try doing something like this, I won’t let you get away so easily!”
“Look Thaththa,” the boy smiled pointing at Tin-Tin, “I think he’s saying ‘thank you’ to us for letting him go!” His father didn’t look too convinced but patted him and said “you did the right thing!”
Tin-Tin climbed to the very top of the tree and lay down on a branch. The smell of the tree, the sound of the leaves rustling in the wind, the light blue sky above and the endless space around him, calmed him down.
“I am so glad to be back home!” he thought, “This is the life I want to live and this is where I belong!”