~18,000 BC

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The Ice Age winter had begun, what was already cold was soon to be frigid. Blistering winds carried snow drifts across the frozen tundras, scattered patches of grass managed to stand above the snow to try and get a tinge of light.

Trees were rare here, most of them being cold resistant evergreens, but a few broadleaf trees could hold on.

A large, bare oak tree was sheltered from the wind by a rocky overpass, its fallen leaves and acorns having been buried under the hardened snow.

Soon the quiet sound of scampering accompanied the winds, a small rodent, adorned with a long snout and elongated saber-teeth had scurried near the oak.

The male rodent, seemingly a combination of a Squirrel and a Rat, with the added bonus of saber-teeth, or a Scrat huddled at the back of the tree were the snow was thin and soft.

Scrat scratched some snow off his cheek and looked around, ensuring that he truly was safe. Cold and tired from his search for shelter through the wasteland he noticed several cupules of acorns lying in the snow.

Scrat hopped to them, luckily he was able to claw his way into the softer snow to attain the half buried prize.

However, his disappointment showed as the nut was now just the inedible cuplue.

But were acorns fall, there must be a tree nearby, perhaps there could be more of his favorite meals.

Scrat noticed the tree again, he lightly sneezed and shook his tail to rid of snow that got stuck in it. He tried to smell the presence of food, but was merely met with the blank smell of dry, cold air blocking his senses. So now, he examined every branch with his large, brown eyes, wondering if there was any acorns left upon the towering oak.

Then, he saw it. A single, large, pristine acorn hanging high upon the tree.

Scrat was overjoyed at seeing the nut that seemed to glisten in the frozen air. Scrat leaped and clung to the wood and began to ascend towards his goal.

Upon reaching the highest brach that held the large nut, Scrat carefully navigated the ever thinning wood. Grasping it on each side with his four fingered hands he pulled downwards and plucked the nut from it host. He practically hugged his new prize, almost imminently beloving it.

With his wok finished, he carefully descended, making sure the acorn would stay within his grasp. He didn't want to risk it falling, and potentially being damaged against the hard, compacted snow many meters down.

After finally landing on the ground, Scrat scanned his surrounding for any threats once again. With him and his acorn safe, he breathed a sigh of both relieve and joy. The blizzard had died down at this point, only lightly snowing at this point and the wind was still cold, but not at the hair freezing levels it was.

But the cold, unforgiving Ice Age winter was coming, the herds were moving south as the snow and ice creeped further as the temperature dropped and the days got shorter.

To conserve energy for after winter, Scrat knew he had to bury the acorn instead of eating it now, there was certainly food south, but not enough to last winter.

If he had food stored here, he could survive the initial hunger of spring.

Scrat then bounded into the vast, barren white to try and find another, thick, but soft mound of snow to bury his newfound quarry, for the Ice Age was soon to truly begin.

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Hello readers, as many of you probably know, Blue Sky was shutdown by Disney about a year ago. However, recently a few former animators released a thirty second short as a swan song for Blue Sky featuring Scrat, who finally decides to eat the acorn instead of bury it.

This story was made in response, but it takes place right before the beginning of the first movie, a short story showing how Scrat found his beloved acorn.

Thanks for reading.