GUPPY'S WINTER TRIP

Guppy squirrel had worked very -hard to gather nuts for the winter. She was storing them in packets when Coco, her childhood friend from Chennai, called.

- Vandana Gupta

"How are you, Guppy? What are you doing?" asked Coco.

"Coco, I am very happy today. I have collected a lot of nuts for the winter.

Now however bad the weather is, however cold it gets, I can sit comfortably at home and eat them," said Guppy, smiling.

"That means you are not visiting me this winter too. How many times have I told you not to stay in Delhi when it is bitterly cold?" said Coco crossly. "Come to Chennai. The weather is very pleasant. It's been a long time since I have seen you. If you don't come this time, I will not talk to you," she threatened.

"Okay, don't get annoyed. Let me make a plan to visit you this winter," said Guppy.

"Hurray!" Coco exclaimed joyfully.

Guppy started preparing for the Chennai trip. As soon as winter set in, she packed her luggage and was ready for her holiday.

The day arrived. The station was quite far from her house. As she came close to the station, she thought, "It is of no use carrying the packet of nuts because it won't be cold in Chennai, and I won't need to eat them. If I go back home now, I'll miss the train. I will hide them somewhere here and collect them when I come back." She looked all around. She saw four leafless trees.

"These trees will be easy to spot," she thought. She dug the ground near one of the trees and hid the nuts. She tied her blue ribbon to one of the branches to enable her to recognise the tree.

As she was getting ready to leave, she saw some rats scraping the trunk of a tree.

"Children, why are you scraping the trunk?" Guppy asked.

"We are writing our names. It's a challenge. The one who finishes first will be the winner," they told her.

"Have you thought about the pain you are causing to the tree?" Guppy asked them.

"Plants and trees are living creatures too.

You should not harm any part of the tree," she explained to the rats and they ran away from there.