A Doorway of Acorns, a Map of Worries

The headings of these two fables point to what each squirrel keeps filling. Vessa fills a doorway with acorns; Orin fills a map with marks.

Fable One: A Doorway Full

Vessa believed the largest winter store would make her the most admired squirrel in the oak grove. She packed her hollow from the back wall to the entrance, then balanced another mound of acorns across the doorway. When her neighbor Daro suggested leaving room for visitors, she flicked her tail. "They can admire my collection from outside."

That evening, Daro brought two other squirrels to invite Vessa to a leaf boat race. She tried to step out, but her carefully balanced mound tumbled into the opening. By the time she cleared a narrow passage, the visitors had gone to the stream.

Vessa sat among her treasures, listening to distant cheers. Her enormous supply could feed her through winter with plenty left over, but it could not clap for her boat. The next morning, Daro returned. "I wanted your company yesterday," he said, "not a look at your acorns."

Vessa considered building a wider doorway. Then she realized that would give her collection more space without giving her friends a welcome. Instead, she kept a sensible winter supply and divided the surplus among neighbors. Where the mound had stood, she placed a flat stone for visitors to sit on. Soon, the hollow held fewer acorns and more conversation.

"A store becomes a treasure when it helps someone," Vessa said.

Fable Two: A Map Full

Across the meadow, Orin stored acorns because he worried about running short. He buried them in scattered patches and marked each patch on a bark map. Yet whenever he finished, he imagined one more hungry afternoon. He added another hiding place, then another, until the map looked like a night sky crowded with stars.

One bright morning, Ilex the jay invited him to watch leaves spin across the meadow. Orin declined. He needed to add new marks and search for old hiding places whose marks overlapped. "How many more will be enough?" Ilex asked. "Enough that I stop worrying," Orin replied. But even another full pouch did not quiet his worry.

Ilex offered to help him make an inventory, a count of what he already had. Together they checked the patches and sorted the crowded marks into clear rows. Orin discovered that his supply was much larger than he had thought. He had spent entire afternoons adding to it without checking whether he needed more.

"What if I feel worried tomorrow?" he asked. "Then read your count before you pick up your pouch," said Ilex. Orin worked out a reasonable amount for winter, including some extra for unexpected needs. He wrote that goal at the top of his map and circled the patches he would use first.

On the next sunny afternoon, Orin reached for his pouch out of habit. Then he checked the map and set the pouch down. He joined Ilex beneath a maple, where the turning leaves made bright spirals. He still valued his stores, but collecting no longer swallowed every hour of his day.

"Enough is easier to find when you know what you need," Orin said.