The red squirrel
Nothing was moving
I went down to watch the herons
Nesting by the creek
Working my way out
Through the deep scrub, to the point
Silent by the tree
Camo-wrapped I watch
Enraptured as they squonk there
Movement brings me back
His bark is close, mad
Slowly I turn, face-to-face
Furry nemesis
Flicking his big tail
Acorn in paw, leaning out
Tensing to attack
I pull off my mask
He stops, cocks his head, confused
We wait, not moving
Nothing to see here
I turn back to my herons
And he to his lunch
He swings by his toes
Upside-down, crunching his food
Happily humming
Thonk! His prize falls, lost
We look at each other. “Awrrr”
I laugh, he runs away
The moment is gone
Both of us back to our lives
On a warm spring day
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Like this close encounter of the squirrel-kind.