The Giant Forest - COMPLETED - True to life adventures of preteens.

Doing Something is Better Than Doing Nothing

Sycamore scratched his head. Bob seemingly imitating Sycamore scratched his head as well. Sycamore leaned back with his two arms extended behind him and planted on the ground. Bob leaned back and allowed himself to be supported by his tail. His arms, or front limbs dangled to his sides because they wouldn't reach the ground. Sycamore pretended he was reaching above with both arms over his head in the hallelujah position. Bob did the same, though his little limbs only barely reached up to his ears. Sycamore thought this was funny and cocked his head back and gave a mock laugh. Bob's head leaned slightly back and he gave out a bark.

"Is you initiating me?" Sycamore asked. He meant to say imitating but he got his word wrong.

Bob looked at him strangely.

"Waits. Aminals can't understands people. What? Uh? Who'm I talking to? I hope nobodies are watching."

This time Bob moved first. Bob raised up on his hind legs, balanced himself with his tail momentarily, then lunged forward on all fours and took a few steps alongside the creek. He stopped, stood up, turned and looked at Sycamore. Sycamore scratched his head. Bob didn't imitate him this time.

Bob came back to Sycamore, stopped and stood up alongside his new jumbo friend. Bob repeated his previous motion. He stood up on his hind legs, balanced himself with his tail and lunged forward on all fours and walked a few steps. He stood, turned and looked again at Sycamore. Bob repeated this action several more times.

"Ahs gottit! You are wantin to go play with the younguns and you want me to leave you lone now."

Bob let his head droop down in front.

"Uh. That's not it. Lessee. You want to go to the bathroom and yous don't wan' me to watch."

Bob plopped down forward spread eagle all four paws going right and left.

"Garsh. I'm guessin' I can't figger it out."

Bob got up once again and repeated his previous actions up to the point where he turned and looked at Sycamore.

"I figgered it out. You want me to pretend I's have a tail, too. And, and ... you want me to crawl on my knees and hands."

Bob fell flat on his belly, then rolled over on his back with his four paws pointing to the sky in rigor mortis position.

Sycamore imitated Bob by falling flat on his belly, letting out a large grunt that left him nearly windless. Sycamore had failed to calculate just how hard he would hit the ground. He rolled over, threw up his hands so as to try to catch his breath.

Bob jumped, spun around and stood on all fours in one instance.

"Got it! Got it! Got it! You want me to imigrate you!" Sycamore still couldn't find the right word though he knew what he meant. "Watch! Watch!"

Sycamore, with all his might, rolled back over on his belly, arched his back quickly and made it look as if he were going to lay flat in the superman position again, but instead he sprung up and landed on all fours. Hands palm down, fingers facing forward and on his knees. All in smooth movement. Sycamore was slow of speech, but for his age he was strong as a ... as a ... beaver.

Bob leapt into the air. Beavers don't jump very often. If you ever get the chance to see it happen don't pass it up.

Imagine a large balloon filled with water. First pull on the top of the balloon until it looks like a large tear drop. Keep pulling till the whole balloon comes off the ground. Now, do this quickly such that the fat bottom of the tear drop comes off the ground quickly enough to join the top of the balloon where you have been pulling. Lastly, imagine this all happening without you pulling on it. That's what a beaver looks like when he jumps ... though, truth be told, the tail never leaves the ground.

Bob walked back to Sycamore, turned and yet once more repeated the previous steps. This time, however, when Bob turned Sycamore stood up and walked towards Bob. Bob went a few more steps up stream and Sycamore followed. More steps and more following till Bob and Sycamore were in sync. The two kits crawled out of the water to come up alongside Bob.

Slow as Sycamore was, "Why you ain't a Bob at all. You's a Barb!" But when Sycamore said the two names nobody listening could actually tell the difference.

"Ain't that the cooless thing ever I see. I loves how you guys loves each others. Kids love mama and mama loves kids. My folks don't care one way or t'other 'bout me. My mom calls me dumber than a tree. My dad sticks up for me though. I thinks. He says, 'I am not dumber than a tree. I am just dumb as a tree.' We don' talk much, my folks and me. That's not really true. We don' talk at all. They got no time to help me with anything. 'He'll figure it out,' they say. Most of the time I do figure somethin' out. It just takes me a while. And I don't always ... uh ... okay, or even usually gets it right. But I figures out how to do something. Doing something is always abetter than doin' nuttin, I says. Doin' nutting gets nuttin in return."

Barb stopped with one each of her two kits on either side. Sycamore stopped, too. Barb and the two kits approached Sycamore slowly until they were at his feet. Barb rubbed alongside one foot, now dry after having taken a dip in the creek previously. The two kits scampered alongside the other foot. One climbed up on his shoe and sat for a moment and looked straight up at Sycamore the way one might crane their necks when standing at the foot of a giant redwood to see up to the top. The other did the same. Sycamore might as well have been a giant to the kits though they showed no fear. The two jumped off and proceed to run circles around their new enormous friend as if they were in a race.

Sycamore stood there speechless, rubbed his left eye with the fore finger on his right hand. "I think I got some dirt in my eyes."

Barb and the two kits ran a few more steps upstream, paused and looked behind them. Sycamore knew what he wanted to do.

"I gots it. Follow you. What can possibly go wrong when a fellow follows along as a mother is loving on her kids? I dunno. I do knows, however, what life is like when folks do NOT show their kids love I feels love from you 'uns." Sycamore didn't mean to say the word 'NOT' so loudly. He got in step with his new friends.

"Wheres we goin'? I guess it dudn't matter to me just now. I am happy to be hanging out with this sweet family of yours. Where you go, I go" Sycamore began to hum the tune to the song - WHERE YOU GO I'LL FOLLOW. The three beavers stopped, turned and perhaps wondered what terrible animal it was behind them that was growling or moaning so awfully, but Sycamore just kept singing ... or trying to sing.

The kits might have danced along a bit to the tune, but we know beavers can't dance. And, Sycamore ... well, he can't carry a tune either.

Away the foursome went ... up stream ... until they heard a noise.