Hello guest, you're lookin' mighty squirrel.
The monsters came early that day, metal teeth gnawing through their home. Later, they flee in the downpour; scurrying past the moonlit oriel of the confused titian and her lamb. In their terror, they forget one of their own. At first he revels in his new found freedom, sliding down the basement stairs on a dinner tray, rustling through his brother's Nuts collection and even trying a shave on his soft downy fur. But it is cold and late. He is young and now he is scared. The titian opens the door to find our shivering friend. She beds him down for the night, warm in her scarf. The child woman whispers some vespers and tucks him into her towel. Midnight snacks are left in easy reach. By the morning he has gone.