The Adventures of Velma and Vivian
Velma and Vivian Find a Sweater
Copyright 2014
Velma and Vivian were the best of friends. They did everything together. Where one was, the other was right there. They had many adventures together as they lived in the little wood by a humble little house that had a garage and a small barn. There were so many things to see and do around the house and often they could find food. If you haven’t guessed by now, Velma and Vivian are two raccoons. And as raccoons often do, they get into things. Sometimes they even get into trouble. But that is another story for another time. This adventure brings them to look for a way to stay warm because it was being a very cold winter. They tried to get into the barn but the doors were pressed closed and locked by a board. They knew that the garage was out of the question, even though they could feel warmth from the very small opening in the big door. As they searched, Vivian became hungry as she usually did when they were looking for things around the house.
I feel this is a very good time to tell you about Velma and Vivian. These two are about as opposite in character as an owl and a coyote. Now you may think that owls are very smart as they look wise and thoughtful, but don’t let that fool you. They are only as smart as their next meal. Coyotes are smart, they have to sneak into places to get their food. Well, Velma is quiet and very thoughtful, she thinks carefully about what she is going to do in a situation and is always looking for a way to escape if she needs to. This has kept her alive for a long time. Vivian is quite the girl, she is very quick to make a decision and never thinks if it is the right thing to do. Sometimes this gets her into some very bad trouble. She is also very vain about how she looks. She tries to keep her appearence just right.
Vivian had knocked over a rubbish bin and had sorted through finding little bits of meat and veggies. Then she found it, it felt warm to the touch. She used her claws to pull it out of the bin and pulled it over and over trying to figure out what it was. She found an opening, a large opening and pushed her way inside. There was another hole in the opposite end that was much smaller and two more holes that were like tubes on each side!
“Velma, come and look what I found! It’s warm and cozy in here.” she said. Velma lumbered over to look for Vivian. She was hidden inside some kind of bag that was soft. She looked it over and then crawled inside with her friend.
“My, it is warm inside here. Can we take it back to our den?” She asked.
“I want to wrap myself up in it right here!” She began to roll and roll until she noticed something wrong. “Velma, something is tying me up!” she began to panic rolling and fighting more.
“Vivian, calm down!” She said as she too was getting caught up in the sweater as well. Vivian fought the sweater as it tied her up even more. The more she fought, the more things began to get tighter. Soon, both were tightly bound in the sweater, well what was left of it anyway. In their plight to escape from the sweater, it had begun to unravel and Vivian got caught up in the loose yarn that the sweater was knitted from and it wrapped around her and became tighter the more she rolled and tried to escape. Now there was nothing left of the sweater than part of the top where Velma’s head was stuck through and so much yarn wrapped around both of them that they could not move. Vivian continued to thrash until she was just too tired to move. Velma tried to get out but Vivian’s actions stopped any progress. Now both lay quietly on the ground next to the rubbish bin bound tightly by the yarn from the sweater.
“Do you know what the man is going to do if he catches us don’t you?” Velma asked.
Both were so bound up that Vivian could barely speak. “UMPH! No, what is that?”
“He will probably take us on a ride that we will not come back from. Like that mean raccoon a while back.”
“OH NO!” Vivian cried and fought all the more to get free.
“Vivian STOP, this isn’t helping. We have to think to get out of this. Maybe we can get back home before they come out.
They tried to move, but they were so was so tied up that they could barely move. It took them a long time to get just to the edge of the garage when they heard a sound that made their hearts drop, it was the door to the house. The woman coming out to throw something away. “Hun, something got into the trash again.”
“AUGH, I forgot to close it again do I have a huge mess?”
“No, but ” she stopped as she looked around and saw a pile of yarn and what was left of the sweater moving a little at a time toward the back of the garage. “You’re really not going to believe this. Put your shoes on and come out. I think something may need help.” The woman kept her distance but noticed a small movement from one of the lumps. The man soon came out and took a close look then moved in closer.
“Hun, come here.” he said beginning to laugh. Recognize them? The one is actually waving at me.” Velma sat and waved with what she could move of her fingers. “Babe, I am going to need some gloves that I have in the garage if you will get me my knife and a pair of scissors.” He said and began laughing even more.
Equipped with the tools he needed he began the intricate process of cutting the sweater strands loose from Velma first “Well young lady, we sure got into a tangle this time didn’t we?” The man was speaking softly and kindly as he gently cut the strands from her. Soon she was free and move away enough to watch him begin to cut Vivian loose. “You know, I remember you two, you were the ones that got stuck in my Bar-b-que and scared me half to death.” He had to stop as he laughed at the memory. “Babe, do we have anything they could snack on after I get her friend loose? I think they may be hungry.” The woman sent inside and came out with a small plate and sat it down beside the man. He took the plate and sat it down in front of Velma where she backed away a few steps then began to smell the warm food on the plate. She approached and tasted and then ate as the man continued to cut Vivian free. She started to thrash around until Velma shushed her then she lay still and let the man cut. “My, I’m glad I did your friend first, your are in quite the mess. Soon both were free and eating from the plate the woman brought out. When they had eaten their fill, they began to walk away back to the forest. Velma stopped, turned and stood up and noticed that the man was already waving like she was. Vivian turned and looked at the two then went back into the forest. Velma turned and caught up to her friend where they lumbered back into the forest together.
The woman turned and looked at her husband. “How did you know that you were not going to be bitten?”
“These were the same two that were caught in the grill, the same two that I caught on camera with the makeup. I don’t mind these two. They don’t really do any harm just a little mess now and then when I forget to close the rubbish bin door.”
“But how can you tell them from the others?” She asked.
“I can tell, plus the one waves at me.”
“She WHAT? Common now, how can you expect me to believe that?”
“Oh never mind, it’s cold and I’m going inside.” he said as he watched the two disappear into the woods.
END
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