Nutty treasures

In the hollow of an old oak tree lived a little red squirrel named Nut. All autumn she carefully gathered supplies: nuts, acorns, pine seeds. She dragged them into the hollow, stacked them in three rows. She prepared for winter just as her grandmother the squirrel had taught her.

And in November, disaster struck. Two large woodpeckers flew in - hungry, from the northern forest. They found her hollow. In a day, they scattered all the supplies, ate almost half, scattered the rest on the snow - where did they come from, since mice and jays ate them.

The nutcracker returned from a walk - and the hollow was empty. Only a few starlings remained in the crack and a single nut in the very corner.

Nut sat for a long time. She looked at the empty hollow. She understood: winter is just beginning. There will still be so much snow that you won't be able to get out. And she is hungry.

At first, Nutty tried to collect more. She ran through the bare forest, looking for them. But what was there - everything had already been hidden by others, frozen or eaten by birds. By Christmas Eve, she had only two nuts left. Her paws were shaking, her strength was leaving her.

On Christmas Eve, Nutcracker sat on a branch. She looked at the moon. And whispered softly, "Saint Nicholas. I know, I'm just a squirrel. But if you can hear me, I'm dying of hunger. And it's only autumn for me. I haven't made any money yet.".

At night, when Nutcracker was dozing off from hunger, someone knocked softly on her hollow. The squirrel looked out. Hedgehog was sitting near the oak tree. He was holding three nuts in his paws.

"This is for you, Nut. I heard it from the mice.".

Then Bunny came. He brought dried carrots. "I know you like nuts more, but still - food.".

Then the Fox came running with a wet nose. She brought a piece of dried viburnum berry. She said: "I know it's none of my business - squirrels are not food for me, but... hold on.".

Here even the old Woodpecker flew in - the same one. He held a healthy nut in his beak. He placed it near the hollow. "Sorry," he cawed. "We really did something wrong. This is my apology.".

Nut sat and cried squirrel tears. Not from sadness - from something else. From the fact that there is good in the world, even when you don't expect it.

And in the morning, when all the animals had dispersed, Nutcracker came out of the hollow. At the root of the oak tree stood a large sack. Untied. In it were nuts of various kinds. Forest, pine, hazelnut, almond. Enough for the whole winter, and there would be some left over until spring. And in the snow was the mark of a long, thin crutch. Fresh.

Nut brought her paws to her chest. She looked up at the sky. And whispered: «Thank you, Uncle Nicholas. I will never forget this. And now I will share twice as much as before.» And then she took the first nut, brought it to the Hedgehog - as a thank you. And so it began: every day someone came to visit her and went home with a gift. That winter seemed to be the friendliest for the whole forest.