TIMID TOMMY'S
SPECIAL FRIEND


 






















Over her eight years of life, Susy Bell Ringer Racoon had many cubs. Although they lived in
the wild with their other forest friends, they 
all shared one special friend who didn't live in the forest with them.





Miss Eleanor lived in a quaint country home with a large yard near the forest's edge.  The forest animals liked it there.  It had many fruit trees for birds and squirels to nest in and to eat from.  A small pond near the forest's edge provided water and fish.  Sometimes winters were long.  Snow covered the ground and ice filled the pond.  Food was hard to find. But they all knew that Miss Eleanor would be sure they would have plenty to eat and fresh water to drink.





From her bay window, Miss Eleanor would sit and watch all her forest friends.  Birds pecked at the seeds that filled the many bird feeders hanging from the tree branches.  Squirles and chipmunks gathered the seeds that fell to the ground.  The rabbits and deer nibbled on the carrots and lettuce leaves she had grown in her garden. All but Timid Tommy.  





Timid Tommy's racoon friends liked to gather apples from under the large apple tree that grew in her yard. But not Timid Tommy!  He was to timid to leave the saftey of his forest home.  He just watched from behind a big hollow log at the edge of the forest. "My my!" Miss Eleanor said to herself.  "Isn't he the timid one!  I think he could use a little help!"





Miss Eleanor placed a plate of apple slices near his hollow log and went inside her house and waited for Timid Tommy to discover the tasty treat.
"SNIFF SNIFF" Tommy picked up the sent! Miss Eleanor found it quite amusing to watch Tommy poke his head out of the hollow log.
Yumm! the taste of the sweet moist apples made him want more!  





The next night Miss Eleanor left a trail of vegetable pealings leading right to the bowl of treats she left in the middle of her yard for her many forest friends. It took a lot of courage, but Tommy bravely followed the tasty trail.





When he discovered the bowl of apples, potato peals and grapes siting under the large tree, Miss Eleanor laughed as she watched Tommy snatch up an apple and skurry back to the hollow log as fast as his little feet would go.





It took a lot of courage, but Tommy enjoyed the apples so much that he bravely crept into the yard and ate right out of the bowl!  Miss Elenore was happy to see Tommy join his forest friends.







Before long, Tommy wasn't timid anymore and he would let Miss Eleanor sit beside him while he ate.  He loved it when she would scratch behind his ears.





Sometimes he would eat grapes right out of Miss Eleanor's hand!  Sometimes she brought out sponge cake and marshmallows as a special treat. "Why I do declare!" Miss Elenore said a tommy stroked her hand, "I do believe you are not the timid one any more, from now on I shall just call you Tommy!"





One night Tommy came for dinner before Miss Eleanor had the chance to fill the bowl with  treats. All he found was a bell hanging from a tree branch.  He had seen other racoons ring 
the bell to get Miss Eleanor's attention and he thought he'd give it a try.  He stood up on his hind legs and with his front paws he kept hitting the bell untill Miss Elenore came runnng out of the house with the bowl of treats."You are just as impatient as your mother used to be!" She said to him as she fed him marshmallows.





On a warm summers night Miss Eleanor waited for Tommy's nightly visit.  The evening came and went, but no Tommy. Summer ended and Fall began, but no Tommy!  Winter began and still, no Tommy.  Miss Eleanor feared that Tommy had fallen victim to the trappers that plagued the forest.  It was almost a year since she saw her friend.  She missed her Tommy. 





Early one summer's evening as Miss Eleanor was preparing dinner she heard the familiar "ding! ding! ding!" coming from her yard.  She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw her Tommy ringing the bell!  She grabed a handful of marshmallows and some apples and ran out to great her long lost friend!





As she got closer she noticed he was not alone!  Tommy had a family now and brought them to meet his old friend!
"Well, hello stranger!" Miss Eleanor said as she fed him. "How nice of you to bring your family.  This must be your wife!  May I name her after my grandaughter Gretchen?"She placed an apple near Gretchen, but as she approached the young coon, he ran and hid behind his momma. "My, my! You are just like your daddy used to be!  I will call you 'Timid Tommy Two'!





All too soon it was time for them to return to their forest home  As miss Eleanor stood waving good-bye to Tommy and his new family she thought how nice it was that Tommy had a family and he would never be Timid or alone again.  






Just as Miss Elenore returned to her house she heard: 'Ding! Ding! Ding!'  It was comming from the bell that hung near the abandoned home under the porch that Susy Bell Ringer used to call home. She was surprised to see her little kitten Preston ringing the bell!  "Well, hello there!  Aren't you the little coppy cat..... I suppose you want a treat too!  How'd you like a bowl of milk with your dinner?"  Miss Eleanor felt very lucky to have so many special friends.