PeeWee's Tale Read Free Page B

slightly damp under my paws. Without thinking, I began digging into it. Soon, I found myself deep inside a hole that I had made. I didn’t even know that I could do such a thing.
    â€œWhat do you think of this?” I called up to Lexi.
    â€œPersonally, I’d hate to be inside a dirty hole in the ground,” he said. “A hole is a fine place for hiding nuts, but I wouldn’t want to live there”
    For a moment, I was sorry about Lexi’s disapproval. But suddenly, I knew that if I could dig a hole, I’d always be safe—safe inside the burrow of Manhattan.

CHAPTER FIVE
A Picnic in the Park

    I must have dozed off in my burrow. I woke up feeling both thirsty and hungry. I poked my head out of the hole and saw many humans of all sizes walking nearby. I knew it would be dangerous for a guinea pig to go exploring among all those people. But the noise and activity filled me with excitement rather than fright. If only Robbie were with me, everything would have been perfect.
    Cautiously, I climbed out of my hole and found my old puddle. It had become much smaller while I was asleep, but I was able to get a drink. Then I looked about for something to eat. I spotted a round object that had been chewed a bit already by some creature or other. The smell was sweet, so I took a nibble. It filled my mouth with a delicious juice, so I didn’t get thirsty as I always did when I ate the pellets that Robbie fed me. There was no question—the park food was much more interesting than cage food.
    Something whizzed by me that reminded me at once that I had to be careful. I dragged the food toward my burrow, where there seemed to be less activity.
    â€œI see you woke up,” a voice called out to me. It was my friend Lexi high above. Iwatched nervously as he jumped from branch to branch of his tree until he made it down to the ground beside me. It did make me dizzy to watch him.
    â€œHave a bite of this,” I offered when he reached me.
    â€œApples aren’t bad,” he said as he gnawed off a large chunk. “And this is a sweet one. Sometimes they are sour. I don’t like sour. Do you know the old saying?
An apple a day keeps the aches away
. But if truth be told, nothing beats a good nut.”
    He chewed a bit more and then looked at me. “I wish human beings were as fond of nuts as I am. Wherever there are people, you can always find a good meal, because they leave so much garbage. They love to sit on the grass and have picnic meals. Then they drop bits ofsandwiches, ice-cream sticks, paper cups, candy wrappers, newspapers, and whatever other junk they brought with them. I once overheard a park worker say that visitors to the park create fifteen thousand tons of garbage each day. I just wish it were fifteen thousand tons of nuts instead.”
    I took in this information and all the new words that Lexi kept using: apple, sandwich, garbage. There was so much for me to learn about here in the park. These were things I never even knew existed when I was with Robbie.
    And that made me think of my owner. “Listen,” I asked Lexi. “You haven’t seen Robbie Fischler yet, have you?” I knew Robbie would be worried about me when he discovered that my cage was empty.
    Lexi scratched himself and shook his head. “I did see a group of boys playing ball when I was up in the tree. But to tell you the truth, all the boys who come to this park look alike to me. I can’t tell one from another.”
    I wished I could climb to the top of Lexi’s tree and have a good look around. I would know Robbie the minute I saw him. Then I suddenly had a new thought. Perhaps if I ate nuts, the way Lexi did, I would grow a tail too. And with a tail, I could balance myself and climb up a tree. Then I could watch for Robbie. On the other paw, it might take too long waiting for my tail to grow.
    â€œI’m going to have to travel about the park searching for Robbie,” I