RUNAWAY SQUIRREL

                              © 2005 by Maynard Smith

  Thanks to Kabir Singnh, for shooting many of the photos on this page.

After a morning filled with various dangers on the freeways of madness, Maynardio enjoys a civilized (British) lunch at the Tudor House Tearoom in Santa Monica (www.thetudor house.com).

Kabir and Heidi Singnh share a spot of tea with Maynardio (however, since the spot is split three ways, they are actually sharing multiple spots of tea).

Vegetable curry pie, scones & Twinings 'Darjeeling Tea' take a journey to Maynardio's gurgling tummy.

Tea is the nectar for British secret agents but Maynardio is just another American, who dresses like a British Secret Agent.

O.K. kids, what kind of candy makes you beautiful?

The Ginger Bread family likes Maynario, because he ate a Scone and Ginger Bread people don't get along with the Scones.

One big happy family.

After a tasty, civilized meal, Maynardio drives down to Santa Monica Pier and gets kicked in the shoulder by a very little man.

As Maynardio gets back into the car with his dinosaur friends, his cell phone vibrates. A furry friend who lives on a nearby cliff, has called for his assistance. She wants Maynardio to help her find her son!

Mrs. Squirrel found an upsetting note near the entrance of her stick house.

The note was written by her son, Egbert, and she fears that he might be in trouble.

Egbert had been watching back-to-back reruns of a popular cartoon, featuring a flying squirrel and a moose. The moose did not pose a problem, because he wasn't macho. However, the make-believe squirrel character was another matter. Egbert idolized the cartoon rodent.

Mrs. Squirrel poured her heart out to Maynardio, telling him that her son was addicted to acorn bread. Egbert used to be on the track team but because of his addiction, he was now too heavy to keep up with the other squirrels.

Trying to keep her composure, Mrs. Squirrel scampered into the house and fetched a piece of her home-made acorn bread. Maynardio inspected the morsel and took a whiff to smell it's tempting aroma.

He paused for a moment and Mrs. Squirrel could hear the wheels turning inside his head.

She then watched anxiously as Maynardio walked down the sidewalk toward the treacherous cliff.

On his way, he stopped for a moment and looked back. Mrs. Squirrel felt comforted, knowing that Maynardio was hot on the trail.

Two hours passed by as Maynardio searched but there was still no sign of Egbert. The summer heat was intense and Maynardio wondered if he would ever find the little squirrel. He then looked up and noticed three vultures flying overhead. The large birds were waiting for some poor animal to die, so that they could come down and eat its remains.

Maynardio then looked directly below the birds and there was little Egbert. He was stuck on the edge of a cliff, dazed from the hot sun, unable to pull himself up from the ledge.

It would be only a matter of time before he would faint from heat exhaustion and drop to his doom on to the highway below. Dirt started to crumble beneath Egbert's feet and there was no time to waste.

There was only one answer, Maynardio waved the piece of acorn bread toward the over-heated rodent and when Egbert saw it...

...he suddenly had the strength of ten squirrels!

Egbert was safe again and that gave Maynardio a happy feeling.

                                              The End

                              And the moral of the story is:

    Never under-estimate the power of home-made acorn bread!