By Bill Conley
Moral to the Story:
Change can feel scary at first, but it can also bring new friends, fresh
adventures, and exciting opportunities. It’s okay to feel sad about saying
goodbye, but every goodbye makes room for a new hello. No matter where you go,
home is where your family is. And with love, every place can become the right
place.
In the middle of Maplewood Forest,
where the trees stretched tall and the acorns were always plenty, lived a
cheerful little squirrel named Sammy.
Sammy loved his treehouse.
He loved the twisty slide that spiraled from his top branch to the ground.
He loved the trail to school where he walked every morning with his friends.
He even loved his favorite climbing rock near the pond where he could see the
whole forest.
One afternoon, Sammy was building a
puzzle with his mom and dad when Dad cleared his throat.
“Sammy,” Dad said with a soft smile,
“we have something very important to talk to you about.”
Sammy looked up. “Are we going on
vacation?”
“Not quite,” Mom said gently,
setting down a puzzle piece. “Dad got a new job. It’s a good one, and it’s in a
new forest.”
“A new forest?” Sammy asked. “Like…
not this one?”
Dad nodded. “We’ll be moving to Oak
Hollow next month.”
Sammy dropped the piece in his paw.
“We’re moving?”
Mom reached for his paw. “We know
it’s big news. And we know it might feel strange right now.”
“But what about my school?” Sammy
asked. “And Benny and Chloe? What about the twisty slide?”
“We’re going to talk about
everything,” Dad said. “And we’re going to get through it together. We’ll bring
all your favorite things. And you’ll make new friends, too.”
Sammy blinked fast, trying not to
cry.
Feeling
All the Feelings
That night, Sammy curled up in bed
with his blanket wrapped tight.
He didn’t feel excited. He felt
confused.
He didn’t want a new school. He didn’t want new trees.
He wanted things to stay the same.
“I don’t want to leave,” he
whispered into his pillow.
The next day, he talked to his best
friend Benny the Beaver.
“My family is moving,” Sammy said
quietly.
“Oh no!” Benny gasped. “But who will
sit next to me in art class?”
“I don’t know,” Sammy said. “I wish
I could stay forever.”
“Maybe you could write me letters?”
Benny offered.
Sammy smiled just a little. “I’d
like that.”
Getting
Ready
As the days went by, Sammy’s parents
helped him pack his room.
They let him choose which toys went
in which box.
They made a scrapbook of pictures from Maplewood.
They even helped him write goodbye notes to his classmates.
“Can I take my twisty slide?” Sammy
asked.
“We’ll build a new one,” Dad
promised.
“Maybe even twistier,” Mom added.
They visited Oak Hollow together
before the move.
Sammy saw the new house—it had three
big windows and a tree just right for swinging.
He met a neighbor named Nora who liked to collect pinecones.
And the park had a climbing net that reached all the way up to the clouds.
“It’s different,” Sammy said. “But
maybe not bad.”
Saying
Goodbye
On the last day in Maplewood, Sammy
had a picnic with all his friends.
They made daisy crowns and played
tag and shared favorite memories.
“Remember when you fell in the mud
and said it felt like pudding?” Chloe giggled.
“Or the time we made a leaf fort and
it blew away?” Benny laughed.
Sammy smiled. “I’ll never forget any
of you.”
Everyone gave Sammy one small gift
to take with him.
A drawing.
A button.
A feather.
A rock shaped like a heart.
And a group hug so tight, it nearly
knocked him over.
A
New Start
Moving day came. Sammy climbed into
the moving wagon and waved goodbye as the trees of Maplewood grew smaller in
the distance.
He held his rock heart in one paw
and his mom’s hand in the other.
“I’m a little nervous,” he said.
“That’s okay,” Mom said. “We’re all
a little nervous too.”
When they got to their new home,
Sammy helped unpack his books and toys.
Dad built the twisty slide—just like
he promised.
Mom painted stars on his bedroom wall.
And the next morning, they walked him to his new school.
Sammy stood at the gate and took a
deep breath.
“Hey!” called a voice. It was Nora
from next door.
“Wanna sit together at lunch?”
Sammy nodded, smiling. “Yes,
please.”
That afternoon, he wrote his first
letter to Benny.
Moral to the Story Poem:
When your world feels turned around,
And your feet don’t touch the ground,
Remember this: with those you love—
You’re always home, wherever you move.
No comments:
Post a Comment