Zora's Less-than-Marvelous Misadventure

When Zora was five years old she got stuck in a tree. Wait, that's not entirely accurate. I should start over.

When Zora was five years old her sister Lulu took her to the park. Now Lulu was the kind of sister we all love—one who buys you pink cotton candy without being asked and lets you ride the merry-go-round until you're too dizzy to move. Unfortunately, Lulu was also the kind of sister who called her boyfriend while she bought you that cotton candy—and didn't think to notice you eying a certain oak tree and the squirrel that lived inside it.

Even at five years old Zora could recognize that this squirrel was taunting her. 'Ha ha, look at me,' he said, his tail erect and puffy. 'I live in a tree and you don't. Ha!'

That did not go over well. How could it?

Zora made a huffy face and stomped straight over to that tree. She was tall for her age, and quite nimble, so it wasn't too hard to get her footing on the first couple of notches. Mr. Ugly (Zora's new name for said squirrel) just looked at her cautiously. I don't think he believed she could make it. But, with some effort, she did—climbing right up to the thick branches in the tree's center.

She crossed her arms, sending a smug look of five-year-old-satisfaction to Mr. Ugly.

He blinked a few times, shrugged, and scampered off.

It wasn't quite the moment of triumph Zora was hoping for.

Looking down, she realized just how high up oak trees are. They don't seem that high from the ground. Maybe she shouldn't look down. But look at those people pointing and staring. They look so nervous. Was there a jungle cat up in the tree somewhere? Or maybe a Wiggle?* Those guys were scary.

Zora looked around. Branches, leaves, a bird's nest. Nothing particularly threatening.

"Zora!" Her sister screeched. Everything else out of Lulu's mouth came out an indiscernible jumble of hisses and moans, kind of like the teacher on Charlie Brown.

Zora waved at Lulu, but moving made her slip so she promptly latched onto the tree trunk with both hands.

There was an audible gasp from the small-but growing-crowd below.

Lulu dialed her phone and started crying into it. Hopefully she wasn't breaking up with Jordan again. Zora liked him. He brought her skittles and gave her piggy back rides and didn't mind if she tagged along him and Lulu. He even brought his little brother with him sometimes.

A man started to climb up the oak tree but lost his footing and fell backwards. The movement made the whole tree shake and Zora was glad she had a firm grip on it. She sent the man a look that told him not to try that again. What a weirdo. Doesn't he know grown-ups are too old to climb trees?

This whole thing was tiring and now that she thought about it, she hadn't had her afternoon nap yet. That cotton candy would've made her feel good but she hadn't gotten any yet. Stupid Mr. Ugly-face! It was all his fault. But she refused to cry. He was probably watching her from the next tree over and there was no way she was going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her upset.

Curving around, she noticed a kind of opening in the center tree-trunk. A cubby whole? A door to a secret hideout, like in Peter Pan? That'd be cool. But –eh- it wasn't anything quite so exciting. Just a small whole in the tree. But the pile of nuts in the back suggested maybe Mr. Ugly used it to store food in the winter. "Ha! Well who's got 'em now?"

Zora felt her eyelids weighing down. She curled into a ball and made herself comfortable in the little tree-hole. And closed her eyes. Just for a minute, you know. A cat nap, really.

.

The next thing Zora knew, dark hands were reaching into her sleeping-space. She simpered a little. The boy's hands were gentle though, scooping her up and putting her onto his back.

Zora yawned.

"Catchin' some zzz's, crazy girl?"

"Hi Jordan," she said, her eyes blinking, adjusting to the light. "Mr. Ugly's fault, just so you know."

People clapped when Jordan made the last step from the tree onto the ground, Zora riding piggy back. But the crowd dissipated soon after, allowing room for Lulu to come in and hug her sister tightly—and then scream a little about how ridiculous it was to run away from her like that and climb a *insert word-that-five-year-olds-should-not-be-hearing* tree.

But Lulu calmed down eventually. And when she did Zora asked about that cotton candy.

"Sorry kid," she said, but didn't look sorry. "I gave it to Nico."

And there he was, Jordan's little brother, munching on the last of her snack. He was about ten or so—an age where boys should be aware of avoiding girly colors and such—but had no apparent shame that he was eating a little girl's bright pink cotton candy. Nico smiled at her, a smug little grin.

But all Zora could do was grumble.

She'd get him back one day. It might take a while—some time for her plotting skills to develop. But just you wait, Nico. Just you wait.

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footnote:

*Zora's opinion on the Wiggles is entirely her own. The authoress hasn't seen their show, but she suspects she would be a fan.

Note: Hi everyone. I'm glad to see the site has made search options for characters other than Chad, Sonny and Tawni (though I do love those three). It seemed only fair to devote some time to the other fun characters too. Here's my first stab at it.

I walked yesterday for graduation and had such a blast. Even though I was dreading it. Anyway, my cold is definitely on the mend and I've been writing away (the third chapter for Red is almost ready, yay!). Hope you're well!