Two of a Kind: Squirrel Sibling Rivalry
Louie and Albi are two intensely competitive squirrel siblings whose non-stop races and challenges, from climbing trees to holding their breath, constantly disrupt the peace and upset nearly every animal in the forest. Their trail of mischief eventually catches up to them when a delegation of angry animals confronts their parents.
Our story, “Two of a Kind” by David A. Miller, begins with two baby squirrels, Louie and Albi. They were gray and fluffy, and they lived in a tree at the edge of the forest with their mom and dad. They loved nothing more than getting into trouble by constantly trying to be better than each other. This rivalry began at birth, sadly, as Albi often liked to remind Louie that he was born first. He would repeatedly ask, “Who’s the oldest?” over and over until Louie would grudgingly reply, “You are.”
The competition didn’t stop there. Whenever it was dinner time, they would try to see who could fit the biggest nut in their mouth. One by one, they would stretch their cheeks as far as they could go until Dad Squirrel would intervene and say, “Enough now before somebody chokes.”
As they got older, things didn’t change. Every animal in the forest knew to stay out of the way of these two speedsters. Whenever they went anywhere, they were racing. One day, on the way to the forest school, Albi challenged Louie, “I bet you that I can climb that tree faster than you.” Louie giggled and responded, “Doubt it.” Without a second’s delay, Louie shot up the tree. Albi shouted after her, “That’s cheating! You’re supposed to wait for 1, 2, 3, or at least ready, steady, go,” even as he leapt up the tree after his sister.
When Louie was halfway up, she bumped into a tree frog who was not impressed. As she paused to apologize, Albi dashed past her. “That’s not fair,” Louie exclaimed as she bounced up to the next branch. Albi, being so high up the tree, was pretty confident that he was going to win. He turned around to blow a raspberry at Louie just as he crashed into a passing woodpecker. This collision gave Louie the chance to reach the top of the tree first. Louie celebrated with a little boogie while Albi threw a tantrum. The animals they disturbed were certainly not as happy as Louie.
Albi’s attempt at a dramatic lake dive is ruined when he crashes straight into the bottom of an unsuspecting moose.
Later that day, the two squirrels zoomed through the forest, past the meadow, past the mountain in the middle of the forest, all the way to the lake at the other end. Along the way, they annoyed many animals, including a bear, a deer, two goats, and one flock of geese. As they reached the lake, Albi was well in front. He turned around, intending to jump backwards into the water for a dramatic finish. However, he didn’t see the moose standing behind him. Instead of diving into the lake, Albi crashed straight into the bottom of that unsuspecting moose. Louie fell over laughing, but the moose, understandably, was not impressed.
As they swam around the lake for a little while, they noticed a frog sitting on a lily pad while all the other frogs were swimming underneath the water. Albi initiated the next challenge: “I can hold my breath longer than you.” Louie laughed, replying, “Don’t be silly.” Both squirrels disappeared under the water. Seconds passed as Albi and Louie swam around until they spotted the long stem of the lily pad. They both grabbed it and held it tight. Albi kicked wildly at Louie, causing the lily pad—with the poor frog still on it—to swing violently from side to side. Suddenly, the stem of the lily pad ripped, and the pad began to float away. Meanwhile, Albi, having used up all his air during his wild kicking at Louie, opened his mouth and immediately filled it with water. Spluttering, he swam frantically to the surface, followed by Louie. Both were gasping for air, but Louie still managed to declare, “Told you.” That little frog was very upset. He gave them a sharp stare and hopped away. Both Albi and Louie hardly noticed him. They climbed out of the pond and dashed back through the forest all the way home.
When they arrived home, their mom and dad were serving dinner. They all sat down for tea when a voice called up from the bottom of the tree: “Mrs. Squirrel, Mr. Squirrel, can we have a word, please?”
The entire forest’s animal population forms an angry mob at the squirrel family tree to demand apologies for Albi and Louie’s chaos.
Gathered at the bottom of the tree were all the animals that Albi and Louie had upset: the tree frog and the woodpecker, not forgetting the floating frog, and also the bear, the deer, the two goats, the flock of geese, and last but not least, a moose. They were all very cross. Mr. Squirrel and Mrs. Squirrel had a long conversation with the crowd, offering loads of apologies.
When the parents finished talking, they came back up the tree to find Albi and Louie sitting on their beds. The siblings knew they were in trouble. Mrs. Squirrel looked cross and Mr. Squirrel looked furious. Then, Mr. Squirrel surprised them by saying, “I can’t believe you did that, Louie. You beat your brother up the tree.” Mrs. Squirrel smiled and added, “And how did you manage to hold your breath for so long?” Albi, recovering quickly, declared, “Next time she won’t be so lucky.” And they all laughed. The end.
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