After another 15 ceklicks, Aldin asked the elder female, “Grandpup and mate forget we here?”

She (gigglechittered) quietly. “They rest. They chase again.” She paused a moment. “And again.” She looked sideways at him. “Small biggens different?”

Aldin drooped his tail. “In that way, my people like you, Elder. Female choose mate. I know little more. No female small biggen choose me before I come here.”

“How far you territory?”

“Small biggens different. We live in colony, shared territory. All help all. I no know how far to home colony. Not here.” He waived his tail around trying to encompass all around him.

She looked at him strangely.

“You no understand.”

She continued to look at him.

“At night you ever look at tiny white points in sky?”

(affirmativeflick)

“You know what white points are?”

“I pup, Elder tell story. We die, change tiny white point. Live in sky.”

“That good story,” Aldin replied. “Tiny white points suns far, far away. My colony on world like this near one of those tiny white points. No know which one. I lost. Alone. Find here. I injured. Break arm,” he held up his left arm. Biggens find me. Biggens heal me. I help biggens in thanks. We now friends.”

The elder wild squirrel stared long and hard at him. He did not fidget under her stare. Finally, she spoke, “Small biggen strange. Strange story. You right. I no understand.” She held up her tail to stop him from replying. “You speak truth. I no understand.” She fell silent a moment and then requested, “Speak your home.”

“Trees less tall. Colony near lake. Hills surround lake. Colony territory cover forest as far as you climb in day and more. Plenty food. Different biggens. Bad, mean predators. Little fur. Greedy. Hunt each other. Some try hunt us. Others friends. Hard explain.”

“You pine home?”

“A little, Elder. I alone here. But here better. Biggens here not bad like home biggens. I no know how find colony now. If I knew, I tell other small biggens about here. Tell them move here.” Again he waved his tail about to try and imply the world in general and not this particular territory in the forest preserve. “Start new colony here.”

The elder wild squirrel simply nodded. “Speak biggens’ home.”

“Hard explain. Like my people’s Colony and not. Nothing to compare to that you understand, Elder.”

She nodded again as her grandson followed by the female descended a nearby tree.

“You leave.” The female said pointing to Aldin.

She turned to her mate’s grandmother. “I share food. Hope spring early.”

“No worry,” Aldin cut in. The female glared at him. “I give food. Then I leave.” He dragged out another backpack like the one he had opened earlier. “Biggen thing full of seed. I put in hollow two trees over. Then do again. Then leave.”

“I eat seed,” the elder added. “Good seed.”

“Why?” the younger female demanded.

“I took food from your territory at fall harvest. Not know you claim territory. Not right I take your food. I replace.”

“Small biggen strange. You leave food. You leave!” she chattered a warning at the end of the sentence.

“Yes. I leave after I leave food.” He wiggled into the backpack and quickly climbed the tree in question and emptied it in the hollow. He returned with the empty pack. Leapt back in the hovercraft, scooped-up the loose seed into the other pack, wiggled it on and did likewise.

While he was doing this, the elder turned to her granddaughter-in-law. “You mean. Small biggen help you. He alone. No other small biggens. He tell me.”

Once he was back down from his second trip, he saw the mated couple were up on a branch in a nearby tree.

“I leave now,” he said.

“I go with small biggen,” the elder announced.

“Why, Elder?” her grandpup asked.

“I see biggen territory. I leave, food last. When pups come, small biggen bring me back,” she looked at Aldin. It was obvious she wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

Aldin now stared at the elder and twitched his tail nervously. “Elder, not all biggens safe. Some are predators. Fox, wolf, bear.”

“They no hunt you?”

(affirmativeflick) “They no hunt me.”

“I stay with you, they no hunt me. Biggen hunt me, I bite biggen.” She chittergrowled, which sounded no more threatening than when her granddaughter-in-law had done likewise protecting Aldin the day before.

Aldin sighed. He resolved one issue only to get a new one. “Very well, Elder. Come. I no argue. You be scared.”

Aldin jumped up into the hovercraft and the elder followed him in. He pulled up its controls on his flatpanel. The door closed, it rose, and began the trek back to “biggen” territory.