Chapter 8

Chapter 8 BOINK! BOINK! SPLAT! CLUNK! Plastic furniture, wood scraps, toys, and even a Big Wheel clattered across the yard, slamming into the chicken coop. All the animals huddled together for safety. Then the chicken coop itself was wrapped in darkness. "Is it a tornado?" asked one of the chipmunks. "It can get very dark before and during a tornado," said Sweetie. "But I'm not seeing the telltale cylinder."

"I think it's a hurricane!" said one of the squirrels. "The wind is so strong!" "A hurricane can have winds up to two hundred miles per hour," said Sweetie, "but torrential rain is more typical." "It must be a meteor!" said Poppy, his face feathers still perfectly in place. "I saw something big and dark coming toward the door!" "Unlikely," said Sweetie. "We would have felt the impact. But... it could be a derecho." They all stared at her.

"It's a wind shear accompanying a strong line or wall of thunderstorms. Some say it comes from the Spanish word for straight," Sweetie explained. They all stared at her. "A girl can study Sugarology, astronomy, and meteorology at the same time, you know!" answered Sweetie. Suddenly, just as quickly as it had begun, the roaring and the wind stopped. Dirt and Sugar told everyone to stay put and slowly opened the door to the chicken coop, pulling aside a familiar dark-blue tarp that had blown onto the chicken coop door. "It wasn't a tornado, a hurricane, a hailstorm, a meteor, or a derecho!" announced Sugar. "What was it???" asked Sweetie. "It was the Connolly kids with a leaf blower and a crate full of Ping-Pong balls," Dirt explained. "I'm not gonna lie," said Sugar. "That wasn't

on my list." "I have a question," said Poppy. "Yes?" asked Sugar. "Who is that?" Sticking out of the entrance to the emergency tunnel was that same adorable fuzzy face that had led them through the tunnel. "I believe that is a bog lemming," said Dirt. "Wow. I didn't think they actually existed," said Poppy. "Bog lemmings are small rodents who dig underground burrows," said Dirt. "My guess is that all the digging in the yard might have been interfering with her home." "If I'm not mistaken," said Sugar, "she's the one who widened the tunnel so it would be big enough for all of us to make it to the coop." The bog lemming winked and disappeared back into the tunnel without another word.

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