Chirp, chirp, chirp! I painstakingly woke up to a bright new day. The sun blossomed like a yellow dandelion awaking from winter’s plight. I slowly got out of my dear bed and changed into a red hot shirt, same colored shorts, and slipped on my blue glasses. Quietly opening the door, I slipped into dad’s room like a phantom. While heading to the restroom to brush my teeth, I noticed that Dad wasn’t in his bed.

“Aw, man! I mean really!” I moaned. Dad usually wakes up before me and last night I made a mental plan to wake up earlier than him.

“Ray, are you awake?” Dad hollered.

“Oh yeah, big time,” I grumbled. Quick as a flash, I grabbed my toothbrush, brushed my teeth and hopped downstairs. The kitchen was full of the aroma of chicken-noodle. I took my seat as Mom set the food down. Without a thought, I gulped my milk down and started eating the delicious food. Within minutes, I was done.

“Mom, I’m going outside,” I announced.

“Okay,” Mom replied. I bounded towards the door to the backyard. I was greeted by nature’s warmth and comfort. Waves of golden light filtered through green lusty leaves. A cool breeze rippled through the air. Suddenly, a sad quivering heap caught my eye. Slowly walking over to it, I realized what it was - an injured squirrel. By then I was over the poor creature. It had a brown coat and a long fluffy tail, like a deflated balloon that plummeted from the blue sky. Even though the squirrel’s eyes told me its pain and grief, it still held some dignity and a bit of curiosity. I smiled at the sight of his eyes. Its marble-like eyes looked like a child’s eyes when his mom got upset. I looked all over it to find what caused its pain. Then I noticed a deep red gash on its hind leg. There was no more blood flow so I concluded that the little creature had suffered for enough time to freeze the blood.

“Ouch,” I commented, “No worries, I’ll be right back.” I turned around and made a beeline for the house. I ripped my shoes off and ran upstairs.

“Ray, there’s no running in the house!” Mom warned. I smiled and hopped the rest of the way. I quickly looked for medical supplies. At first, I found a few bandages, but then I hit the jackpot. I found more bandages, antiseptic swabs, cotton balls, and several bottles of vitamin-E oil. I grabbed some of the supplies and bounced downstairs. Mom was in the bathroom which gave me a great chance. I shoved on my shoes and hurried out. Not surprisingly, the squirrel was still there. I gingerly used a board to move the crippled squirrel into our bird house.

“First things first, I’ve got to give you a name,” I thought out loud, “How is…Tiny?” The squirrel’s eyes sparkled. I knew Tiny would be his name from now on. Suddenly, remembering why I was here, I grabbed the antiseptic and applied it over the wound. Then I took the vitamin-E and rubbed it on the gash. After waiting for several seconds, I gingerly placed the bandage on my handiwork.

“Yahoo!” I thought.

“Ray!” Mom called.

“Coming, Mom!” I hollered right back. Returning my attention to Tiny, I was about to say something to him but, he was sleeping. I bounded into the house.

“Ray, please do the homework on the table,” Mom said.

“Yikes!” I yelped.

? ? ? ? ?

“Hey, really, slow down Tiny!” I hooted as Tiny ate the peanuts I gave him. Tiny looked inquiringly at me, and then started eating again. I had finally finished all of the homework Mom gave me and now I was feeding Tiny. For obvious purposes, I had decided to sneak Tiny peanuts for his food. He really had a humongous appetite for his size. In the first four hours of having Tiny to take care of, I realized that being the host of an injured squirrel was even harder than baking a pie. After all, being a kid trying to sneak an injured squirrel medicines and food is not an easy task. Finally, Tiny trudged over to the water bottle built into the bird house and drank for a while. He turned around and burped. That was the last straw. I fell over and broke into peals of laughter. Tiny looked at me curiously and seemed to say, “What’s so funny?”

“Ray…” Mom called again.

“Got to go, little guy!” I whispered to Tiny. “No way am I going to give up saving you,” I whispered and dashed into the house.

? ? ? ? ?

It had been more than a week since I found Tiny. His leg had healed quickly and there wasn’t a trace of the wound left due to the medication I gave him every day. I reflected how I always had to sneak out fresh bandages and vitamin-E oil. Also, I remembered how much fun I had sneaking peanuts out for him. Remembering how Tiny always stayed in the bird house, but sometimes jumped onto the roof of it to exercise made me smile. I knew this would be the last time I would talk to Tiny. Tiny stared at me, looking deflated.

“No worries boy, you will be happy!” I assured though I also felt sad. I cautiously took Tiny out and set him on the ground. He turned around and his black button eyes told me, “Bye!”

“Bye!” I breathed. With that, he turned around and left. I smiled, realizing what I had done. I granted Tiny the greatest thing a child could give - kindness.