Days in Autumnwood were always pleasurable and sunny. The breeze was always gentle. It was beautiful and quiet. One could always smell the flowers or hear the running of rivers. The terrain was marvelous. The green grass was soft to touch and breathtaking to see. There was a big yellow sun and numerous white clouds in the blue sky. Some folk in Autumnwood believed that the sun and also the moon were gods that looked upon the world with either smiles or frowns. Smiles supposedly meant good luck and a bright future. Frowns meant bad luck and often plague. The inhabitants of Autumnwood always asked for smiles from these gods. But when someone passed on or thunderstorms came, this meant that gods were frowning upon Autumnwood. The worst things that ever happened in this place were the deaths of the old or sick and mild thunderstorms. Throughout its known history, there was actually only one day when such a tranquil place suffered tragedy. This took place around 500 years ago. That event is merely a children's story now. Many believed that this awful time was the one and only bad happening, and that nothing like it would occur again. Alas, this was wrong.

The inhabitants of Autumnwood were not humans, fairies, or any other creature resembling that of the human form. They were squirrels. Flying squirrels, red squirrels, gray squirrels, tree squirrels, ground squirrels, and even marmots populated Autumnwood. Not a vast population, nor a tiny group, but a perfect number of about 700 squirrels spent their lives in a forested, grassy land. As anyone should guess, autumn happened to be the greatest and most loved season of Autumnwood. These squirrels were intelligent, adaptive, and unique. They had developed a writing and learning system that they used to teach young. The squirrels of Autumnwood, which part of the population was beavers, were able to adapt to making homes. These special rodents also created their own myths, languages, and culture. They had their own holidays, and even carved statues representing lost family members and certain gods. The squirrels developed yearly calendars and maps. And most of all, they had a government. Their democracy was simple yet good. Instead of a president or King, they had a Chief. The current Chief was an excellent leader and decision maker.

It was Saturday. Three young, female gray squirrels were playing in a flower bed nearby their homes. The oldest, Daisy, was the biggest of two sisters. Her younger sister, Rose, was the littler of the two. The youngest squirrel, Blossom, was a friend of Rose. They were having fun.

Daisy could have been accepted as a teenager. She was shy, graceful, and smart. She was a brilliant student and sculptor. As a bigger sister, she was often kept responsible for watching her sibling. Rose was cheerful, quick, and talented. She was always making up interesting but not true stories, and always was happy. Blossom was sweet, attractive, and somewhat stealthy. On the side of being cute and popular, she could've earned the nickname " Sneaky", as she had the unusual talent of being unnoticed and had more guile then a thief.

Watching from a nearby oak tree, the Chief squirrel himself called upon a young adult male from a nearby branch. The Chief was a wise old gray squirrel who had a raspy voice and pale blue eyes. He was not the largest of all squirrels, and usually the Chief was supposed to be big. But this old chief was kind of small. He was so old in fact that he needed a tiny wooden cane to help him walk. At the top of the cane, there was a small acorn attached as a place for the Chief to grasp upon. The Chief's real name was Tom, but was referred to as Chief. The young adult male that Chief called upon was named Jorge. This male squirrel was a red squirrel. Jorge was a tough and responsible squirrel with a good personality. The reason Chief wanted Jorge was for him to watch the three young squirrels. The Chief was a good and alert leader, and cared for the safety of the three young squirrels. The reason he wanted someone as quick and strong as Jorge was because there was a dark rumor spreading of bloodthirsty, winged beasts roaming the area outside of Autumnwood. The Chief was growing old and needed a tougher and younger individual to guard the young squirrels from hawks. It seemed as though these squirrel eating birds were in search of food. The Chief was aware of this and decided to post guard anywhere he could.

Jorge asked curiously, "Chief? What have you called me?"

Chief replied, "For the same reason I put Jacob over by the river. And for the same reason I posted Rachel by the North Side. Jorge, I have a job for you. I want you to go down there and watch the young ones," the Chief pointed his cane where the female squirrels were playing, "Just in case the possibility of hawks."

Jorge suddenly gasped, "Hawks!?"

Chief calmly said, "Yes, yes. It is quite unfortunate to hear of such rumors. But I can't take any chances. The village of mice northwest of us has already suffered the loss of two male guards. No one knows exactly how they disappeared, but, I recall hearing that this village has had a witness see a great bird carry off a rat. That same rat the witness saw has been identified with an old retired guard from the same village. The bird can only be depicted as a hawk. But enough about that. Could you go down there to watch those children?"

Jorge said, “Yes sir!"

Then the male squirrel ran down the tree and stopped running just as he was in the flower bed. All three female squirrels stopped playing immediately and observed Jorge carefully.

Rose said, "Um, hello, sir."

Daisy carefully asked, "Who are you?"

Jorge said, "I'm Jorge. If you ladies don't mind, I've got to watch you all."

Rose said, "No, we don't mind. Why must you watch us?"

Jorge stated, "Never you mind, I've been entrusted with a job by the Chief. Let's just put it this way; I'm making sure you all are safe."

Daisy sighed, “Oh okay."

After about five minutes, the female squirrels were playing tag. Eventually, they were a few feet from the flower bed and further out into the wilderness. Jorge still had a sharp eye on them. Still watching from the oak tree, Chief noticed the four squirrels were slowly moving further from civilization. Chief knew that Jorge was doing his job, but decided to go down there himself to inform the three young girls that they were playing too far. The Chief swiftly tried to get to Jorge and the girls, and once he was able to reach them, he got Jorge's attention.

Chief informed, "Jorge, why don't we go back into town, it is getting late." The day was growing into night.

Jorge said confidently, "Don’t worry, I've got handled. We'll go back in a few minutes. It's not like some hawk is going to swoop down and carry off one of the girls, right?"

The next moment, Jorge was trapped in large talons and was being carried off by the biggest hawk any rodent had seen for years. A moment later, Jorge the squirrel was gone. Blossom screamed and nearly fainted. The Chief himself actually did faint. The next minute the Chief was up again and quickly told female squirrels, “Run!"

The four of them darted as quick as lightning towards the oak tree. As no one was a witness to the hawk carrying off Jorge besides Daisy, Rose, Blossom, and Chief, the word was not spread immediately.

Daisy said, "We’ve got to save him!"

Chief said, “Are you joking me? We can't do that, or more lives will be cost."

Daisy complained, "Or maybe no lives, if we could just rescue him!"

Blossom said, "Daisy and Rose, you two go first! I'll go back and get help for you two. Go!"

Chief protested, "No, or all three of you will die as well!" And with that, Daisy and Rose dashed in the direction of where the hawk took Jorge, and Blossom raced back into town. Chief moaned in sadness for Jorge, and as fast as he could, followed Blossom back into town.

Daisy and Rose had only got up to a high hill where they could see a giant nest. It was evening, and the two sisters decided that the nest belonged to the hawk. As they started to climb, Daisy and Rose had the fright of their life. A big bird head with a long beak and scary yellow eyes popped up from the nest. It was a hawk.

TO BE CONTINUED... maybe...