MISSION WALNUT FUDGE

With the arrival of spring, Bluehill Forest was buzzing with activity. The animals and birds were busy preparing for their annual spring fair.

- Shikha Gola Prajapati

Some of them had decided to sell fruits, vegetables, jams and jellies, while others like Betty bee and Goldy butterfly were preparing to put up a florist stall to display colourful and fragrant spring flowers.

Hazel squirrel and her parents put up a choco walnut fudge stall at the fair each year. They used special walnuts, and their fudge was popular for its great quality. However, this year, they had not yet started preparing for the fair. Hazel herself was not to be seen much, and when her friend Momo mouse asked her to come out and play, she declined.

“I have some work to do. You go ahead and play,” she said in a low voice.

“It doesn’t look like you are making fudge. Then what are you busy with?” Momo enquired further.

Hazel took a deep breath and decided to share her problem.

“Momo, you know we set up our walnut fudge stall at the spring fair every year. The tree from which our special walnuts are gathered is only known to my grandmother,” she said.

“So, what’s the problem with that?” Momo mouse asked.

“My grandmother Dora is in the hospital. When we asked her about the tree, she could only say ‘Coco, Coco’. Her condition is serious and the doctors have advised us not to stress her by asking repeatedly,” Hazel squirrel replied.

“Don’t worry, together we'll figure out what ‘Coco’ means,” Momo comforted her.

“And I'll help too,” their friend Harry parrot, who had been listening from atop a tree brach, chimed in.