Finding New Friends

Finding New Friends

Summer passed quickly. The leaves started to fall from the trees. Thumbelina was tired and her clothes were torn. Thumbelina noticed some nuts on the ground. She picked up a small one. “ Hey, that’s mine! ” yelled a squirrel. “ I found it first, ” she said stubbornly. “ Okay, I guess you’re getting ready for the winter too, ” replied the squirrel.

“ Winter?” said Thumbelina. “ What’s that?” Surprised, the squirrel shook her tail. “ Winter is when it gets cold, silly, ” said the squirrel. “ Food is hard to find. You have to gather and store food. That’s what I’m doing. ”

The squirrel grabbed another nut and quickly ran up a tree. The days did get colder. And food was hard to find. One day, hungry and tired, Thumbelina fell asleep. She had a dream she was in a warm bed. Beautiful voices were singing. Thumbelina woke up. She wasn’t dreaming.

“ Where am I?” she “ asked, rubbing her eyes. “ You’re safe, dear, ” said a bird. Thumbelina sat up. She was inside a bird’s nest. “ We thought you needed help. So we brought you to our house, ” said the bird. “ I’m Maggie. ”

“ I heard something lovely, ” Thumbelina said after introducing herself. “ We were singing, ” said the other bird. “ My name is Kris. ” “ I haven’t sung in a long time, ” said Thumbelina. “ I used to sing when I was happy. ” “ Well, not all songs are happy ones, ” said Maggie.