Sitting on his hind legs with beady eyes, glancing.
Glancing at our picnic table. Gnawing. Sharpening his teeth on a bone resting between his front paws. Shiny claws reflecting in the sun.
Chipmunks: typically herbivores. Not here. These Diamond Lake chipmunks are different. Carnivorous and vicious.
One step away from the table? One mushroom stolen. Turn your back? Our 12 ounce steak disappears through the branches. Bushy tail wagging, as he squishes that T-bone down the hole of his burrow. Juice squirting straight to the sky.
Dinner gone. Feeling defeated, we munch on peanuts.
All is quiet. We crawl into the tent and the fresh mountain air drifts us off to sleep.
As the sun rises, we shiver to the breeze blowing through the poles of our tent.
Our tent!
Nothing left but the poles and two chipmunks. Resting; one on each chest. Thread dangling from their front teeth.
With a wink and a smile, they hop onto the table. Waiting for breakfast to be served.
Such a cute post! And it’s not a poem! 😉
Actually I first wrote without punctuation and then put it back together. A little Dan Fiegelson suggestion of punctuation with a purpose. Hence the incomplete sentences.
Love that! I’ve been mulling over things I learned that weekend, too!
What a fun post! I love to go camping, but not if there were carnivorous chipmunks like these!
Thanks! Our camping adventures were really fun. I don’t get to do it often enough.
I can see those black shiny eyes just waiting for more! When we were in South Dakota we had daily visits from Chippy- the chipmunk who lived under the deck (we think). He was content with his ration of sunflower seeds! Love how you created this more mischievous version of his cousin.
I enjoyed your writing. It contained an element of surprise, which was very enjoyable. I have to admit, I love your website too – I kept playing with the worm on the hook over here on the left hand side.
Thanks Aileen! I am glad you like the little worm too. I often find myself playing with it as well.
Love the imagined scenario here. We need to do more imagining in our writing! Well done!
Funny. Believe it or not, I had to stop to reflect on carnivorous chipmunks to be sure they didn’t exist. 🙂 I used to always imagine how other animals would treat a dead raccoon or skunk on the side of the road. Would it be in the Animal News?
Thanks Kimberley. I did some research myself just to check that they are typically herbivores. They have been known to be omnivores at times though. Who knew?