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Village Squire, 1978-02, Page 11Percy fights bacic A short story for children BY DOUGLAS KELSO Pert: the groundhog lived in a burrow: on a hillside et -looking the Maitl:uul River. He was sunning himself for what could be the last time after a very pleasant summer. Because. as you know. Percy sleeps all winter. It is no ordinary sleep. it is called hibernation. His body heat goes down, and his heart. circulation and breathing become very slow. He is almost dead. and could be tossed around like a soft ball, and it would not even awaken him. He must go through the winter sleeping in the shelter of his snug burrow. or he would freeze and starve to death. Any other Autumn. Percy would be comfortable. lazy and happy. There would be nothing on his mind but sleep, but now there v. as something else on his mind, and he was unhappy and worried. Last year he had received some news over Nature's Grapevine that bothered him ever since. Life had been kind to Percy. When young he had missed the fate of so many baby groundhogs, of being caught by a fox or a haw: k. Later in life he was lucky and smart enough to avoid being killed by that most terrible of all enemies. a man with a rifle. He did not make a nuisance of himself by living in a farmer's. field. so had not been gassed with a tractor exhaust or gas pellets. He was fully prepared for winter. He'd been eating heartily on grass and clover for some time. and had a heavy layer of body fat stored for the long rest. There was a soft bed of leaves and grass in the room at the end of his burrow, where he would sleep until Nature told him to stir a bit and look around. This would be on the Second day of February. It is on this day that all groundhogs are given a heavy responsibility. They must come out of their %. arm safe homes and look around at the cold cruel %. orld. With the arrival of February groundhogs become the main topic of human conversation. and their uncanny ability to predict the weather is widely discussed. On the Second day of February, if the sun is shining and the groundhog sees his shadow. there be six more weeks of winter. If he does not see his shadow, an early spring is quite possible. People depend upon the groundhog for this reliable weather forecasting. It has been going along like this for a long time. and all groundhogs were very proud of being able to make such a useful prediction. but in the last few years they had noticed that fewer people were watching for them to appear. A sour note had crept into the groundhog weather forecasting. It had Percy annoyed and worried. It had all groundhogs annoyed and worried, for they too had heard the news over Nature's Grapevine. It is all because of a place called Punxsutawney, and a groundhog called Punxsutawney Phil. The people there claim that Phil is the Official Groundhog Weather Prophet for the whole countryside. It is not Phil's fault. It is the people, and they are taking all the credit. They keep Phil in a cage all winter. One hour before daylight on the Second day of February they take Phil out to a hill, and put him into a lighted and heated burrow. Soon after sunrise there is a big ceremony. A group of men gather on the hill. They are dressed in top hats and black suits. One of the men claims he can speak groundhog language. They bring with them an air of great importance, and a television camera. It is ridiculous. The men lift poor sleepy Phil out of the lighted and heated burrow. hold him up. and make the prediction themselves. They then go home happy and self-satisfied. The groundhogs know that the men have stolen their place in the sun. If this keeps up people will no longer consider groundhogs of any importance. People will read the papers, listen to their radios. and go by the predictions made by the men in Punxsutawney. It made the future look gloomy for all conscientious groundhogs. Now you know why Percy was unhappy. but he had a plan to save the groundhog population from the far-off fantasy of Punxsutawney Phil and the playmaking men. Before going to sleep for the winter, Percy sent a message along Nature's Grapevine; all groundhogs were to put on a good show on the Second day of February. They were to be prompt in making their appearance, stand erect and give a shrill piercing whistle. People would look and listen and no longer depend upon some weird characters in Punxsutawney. From now on, thanks to Percy, the human race will go back to the time-honored tradition of groundhog watching. VILLAGE SQUIRE/FEBRUARY 1978, 9.