Are you ready to meditate with Corrie?
Make sure that you're laying down in your bed and the light is just right.
You've been to the bathroom,
You've brushed your teeth,
You're all snuggly and warm in your bed so that you can relax and listen to the story.
Hopefully you'll fall asleep and completely let go of your busy day.
Heidi,
Cherry and Vair were hanging out at River's house.
Their friends Benjamin and Angel were there and River's friend Simone was there.
River and Simone had built a fort on the back garden and Benjamin and Angel,
The boys and the cats were all there in the fort.
Luckily it was the perfect weather.
It was really windy and kind of cloudy outside and it looked like it was going to rain.
So a fort that they could hide in and get away from the weather was perfect.
Cherry had got a torch,
Even though it wasn't dark.
It was always fun to have a torch inside a cave or a fort or a tent.
She was putting it under her chin and pretending that she was a monster.
Vair said,
I don't think I like that Cherry,
It's a bit spooky.
Cherry said,
Don't worry Vair,
I'm only playing.
I'm not spooky really,
It's just a game.
It's okay,
Nothing to be worried about,
Nothing too scary.
I'm not going to tell any ghost stories.
Even though forts are absolutely perfect for ghost stories,
They're like the bestest place.
Well,
Not the bestest place because a campfire is really good for a ghost story,
Ain't it?
Outside,
Underneath the stars at night.
And I mean it's not really night time and it's only windy outside and we are in a fort and I don't think a campfire would be good in the wind.
We might end up blowing the whole house down,
Burning it down,
You know,
That wouldn't be very good,
Would it?
Heidi said,
We should play a game though,
What should we do?
Just when Heidi said that,
She heard scratching.
Scratching coming from one of the sides of the blankets on the outside of the fort.
Heidi said,
Shh,
What's that?
Did anybody else hear that?
Everybody went quiet for a second,
But nobody really heard anything.
River said,
It might have been like a branch on the side of the blanket or something,
You know,
Like scraping.
Heidi said,
Oh,
I don't know.
It definitely sounded like some kind of animal scratching.
Vea said,
Oh,
Do you think it was like a bear or something?
Benjamin and Angel started laughing because there isn't any bears where River lives.
There isn't any bears around here,
Said Angel.
Silly Vea!
Vea started laughing.
Oh,
Sorry,
I wasn't sure.
I never know,
You know,
When it comes to that.
I'm not sure where rattlesnakes live.
I'm not sure where bears are.
I'm not sure which state has like elks or moose.
I always get them all mixed up.
I think you have to know geography,
Don't you,
To know all that stuff?
Heidi said,
Yeah,
Actually,
That's true,
You do.
Because different states have different kind of animals that are native to that area,
Right?
Yeah,
Said Vea.
Exactly.
Cherry said,
Maybe it was some kind of polar bear.
Benjamin and Angel started laughing again.
Benjamin said,
There are definitely no polar bears that are native in the United States,
Cherry.
Cherry started laughing.
Well,
I think I must be like Vea then,
Right?
I don't know.
I have absolutely no clue either.
Anyway,
And then they heard it again.
Scratch,
Scratch,
Scratch,
Scratch,
Scratch,
Scratch,
Scratch.
Heidi quickly said,
Shhh,
And everybody went quiet again.
Angel said,
I'm going to go take a look outside.
He made his way past everyone in the fort,
And he went outside and took a look around.
He seemed to be gone for ages,
And his brother Benjamin started worrying about him.
So he got up and went outside to go and look around the fort.
And then he was gone for ages.
And then Simone said,
Why aren't they coming back?
And then Heidi said,
I'm going to go take a look.
So Heidi went outside to take a look around the fort.
And then Heidi,
Benjamin and Angel all came inside.
Benjamin was holding the cutest,
Tiniest,
Fluffiest little possum,
A baby possum.
And it had little tiny claws that had been scratching on the blanket.
It was trying to get inside from the wind and the cloudy day.
Heidi said,
It must be lost.
Cherry said,
OMG!
Aww,
That is like the cutest little puppy thingy,
Baby thingy,
Kidney thingy,
Whatever thingy it is I have ever seen.
OMG,
It is so darn cute.
Hello,
Little possumy possum.
Hello,
Little,
What should we call it?
Pat the possum.
Hello,
Pat the possum.
You're so delicious and cute and snuggly.
I just want to hold you.
Can I hold it?
Can I hold it?
It was really tiny.
I mean,
A tiny,
Tiny baby possum.
A tiny enough possum for it to look so tiny in Cherry's arms.
And Cherry's arms weren't that long and her paws weren't that big.
And the possum looked so,
So,
So,
So tiny and so,
So,
So,
So cute.
The possum kept opening its mouth,
Showing its teeth.
Heidi said,
I read about this one time.
That's what possums do,
Just to kind of give you a warning.
Possums also.
And then as she looked over at the possum,
The possum had gone completely still.
Cherry said,
OMG,
There's something wrong with the possum.
I think,
I think it's dead.
Heidi said,
No,
It's not dead.
It's just plain dead.
That's what possums do.
They do that when they're trying to stay safe or when they're scared or they think they're in danger.
They open the mouth to give you like a warning that they might bite.
And then they also just go completely still as if they're dead.
OMG,
That is so darn smart.
I'm going to start doing that from now on.
Whenever I'm scared or if I'm in a conversation and I'm having a conversation and the conversation's really boring,
I'm just going to go.
And stay completely still and like,
Act like I've died.
Like a possum.
That'd be so funny.
Sorry,
You're boring me.
Completely still.
Guys,
If I do that to you in the future,
It's just because of Pat the possum.
Pat the possum does it so good.
And then all of a sudden,
Pat the possum started moving again as if to say,
Maybe it doesn't work with these guys.
River said,
Oh,
I wonder where its mummies or its daddies.
Maybe it got lost.
Maybe its parents live in the garden somewhere.
Maybe we should set the possum up outside.
Because if we take the possum inside,
Then it might be that its mum or its dad is looking for it.
And then if they can't find it,
They might just think the possum has gone somewhere and they've lost their baby.
And that could be so upsetting.
I think what we should do is set the possum up with the chickens.
Because the possums kind of hang out sometimes with the chickens.
My dad told me one time that he heard the chickens all making a noise.
River had chickens,
By the way.
She had eight of them.
My dad said that the chickens were all making a noise one night.
And when he went out there,
There was a possum in there.
But the possum looked like it was friends with the chicken.
It didn't look like it was going to try and hurt the chicken or anything.
So maybe this baby possum,
Pat the possum,
Needs to go hang out with the chickens.
We should set him up in some kind of really comfortable spot in the chicken coop.
And then at least we know he's safe.
And then the possums can get in there to save him.
Oh,
Gosh,
Yeah.
Yeah,
River.
That's such a good idea.
What if he's hungry?
What if possum,
Pat and Pat,
Pat possum,
Pat,
No.
Should we call him Possum Pat?
Or should we call him Pat Possum?
I like both of them.
I think I like Possum Pat best.
Possum Pat sounds good.
He sounds a bit like Possum and Pat.
But we're not talking about Possum and Pat.
We're talking about Possum Pat.
Possum Pat,
Possum Pat,
Possum Pat.
And he's black and white.
Cat!
Heidi started to talk over Cherry.
Cherry was completely distracted.
She'd gone off on talking about Possum and Pat.
And Possum and Pat was a cartoon that she watched a long time ago that was in England.
And yeah,
Anyway,
It was called Possum and Pat.
Besides all that,
Everyone decided to go over to the chicken coop to set Possum Pat up in the chicken coop.
So he was all nice and safe until his parents come to find him.
They set a bed of hay because there was lots of hay in the chicken coop.
They piled it all up in the corner and set a bed of hay.
And then River shared that possums like to eat dog food.
River said,
Luckily I have a dog.
She went and got a big scoop of dog food and put it down for the baby possum.
For Possum Pat.
Possum Pat loved the dog food.
He was munching away on it as if he was starving.
Who'da thunk it,
Said Cherry.
Who'da thunk that possums like dog food to eat?
And who'da thunk that possums are friends with chickens?
And who'da thunk that possums could be so darn cute?
The possum,
Every time Cherry talked,
And of course Cherry talks quite loud,
Decided to play dead.
And it would just kind of roll over on its side and not move again.
Which Cherry thought was hilarious.
And she would laugh really loud and the possum would stay dead.
And then as Cherry would shut up and be quiet and start talking about something else in a more quiet voice,
The possum always seemed to come back alive.
I've decided,
Said Cherry.
I think the possum's allergic to me.
Oh,
And I love that little thing.
I love it,
It's so cute.
Possum Pat,
Don't be nervous around me.
I'm your Auntie Cherry.
I'll take good care of you.
Of course,
Possum Pat rolled over again and played dead.
As still as a statue.
Not one single movement.
Not a blink.
Not a twitch.
Not a tickle.
Nothing.
Completely still and quiet.
Until Cherry shut up.
And then when Cherry shut up,
The possum carried on munching away on the dog food.
Hilarious.
Funny.
So funny.
I love his little teeth.
So cute.
And then the possum got really tired.
Because it was still daytime and possums are nocturnal.
They normally only come out at night.
Benjamin and Angel decided that they were going to stay close by and keep a watch on Baby Possum.
A watch until it was nighttime,
That is.
Until the chickens probably put themselves to bed and hopefully the parent possums would come and save Baby Possum.
Possum Pat.
Or Pat the Possum.
Either way,
Benjamin and Angel were going to stand guard.
Simone and River had got really tired by now and they'd gone upstairs to do dress-up.
And do some dance videos.
That was the latest thing.
They like doing dance videos.
Vea had gone upstairs with the girls because she wanted to do dance videos.
Cherry was starving.
She was in the kitchen eating a vegan hot dog.
And Heidi was reading as much material as she possibly could about possums.
Because if Baby Possum's parents didn't turn up,
They needed to know how to take care of a possum for good.
Like,
For more than just a night.
The sun went down.
And the moon and the stars came out.
Benjamin and Angel were sat with the torches.
Just kind of hanging out on the back garden.
The chickens had put themselves away.
The boys decided to turn off the torches and come inside the house and watch from the kitchen.
Just in case the parent possums weren't coming anywhere near just because they were hanging out there.
And sure enough,
Within half an hour,
The parents of Possum Pat were in the chicken coop.
They found Pat.
It was like a reunion.
They all had a hug.
Talked to each other in possum language.
And then,
Just like that,
They disappeared off into the night.
River told the cats a few weeks later that sometimes she sees Possum Pat.
Just here and there.
Once in a while.
Possum Pat looks like he's growing.
And she makes a point of putting a scoop of dog food out there in the chicken coop just in case the possums are hungry.
When the cats got home that night,
They talked about what it would be like if they were like professional babysitters.
Because they felt like they were babysitting that day.
Babysitting a little baby possum that was so cute.
I think I'd be a really good babysitter.
And,
You know,
You get paid.
You get money.
I could really do with some money.
I've got lots of things I need to buy.
I've got all sorts I need to buy.
I have a full list in my journal of things I need to buy.
The sooner I start making money,
The better.
Because I know mum and dad's never going to buy me everything I need on this list.
Come to think of it,
I might make a babysitting advertisement and put it on all the mailbox around the area.
Just so people know they can call and say,
Hey,
Is Cherry the babysitter available?
And I'll be like,
Yeah,
I am.
For some reason,
Heidi thought this was really funny but she didn't say anything.
Just thinking about Cherry being professional enough to be a babysitter all on her own was quite a task.
But you never know,
One day she might be good enough and mature enough and smart enough to be a babysitter.
The cats brush their teeth.
They put their comfortable pyjamas on.
And they got settled down into bed.
They all snuggled up together on that big,
Soft,
Comfortable cat bed.
And fell fast asleep.
The end.
