A Kiss Goodbye (2 page)

“Will I have to go to a new school?” asked Chester.

“I suppose you will. But you never know who you might meet. Don't you want to make new friends?”

“I like the friends I already have. I don't need to make new ones.”

“I see. Well, I would certainly miss you if you stayed here,” said Mrs. Raccoon. “Aren't you afraid you'd miss us?”

“I'd miss you,” admitted Chester. “I'm not so sure about Ronny.”

Mrs. Raccoon chuckled. “I think you'd miss Ronny most of all. Who would be there to pull your tail or tickle your mask or follow you everywhere you went?”

Chester sat back and took a good, long look around the inside of his hollow. He memorized its round shape with its lookout hole just below the thick branches that housed bird nests and squirrels. Then he closed his eyes, pressed his palms to the wall, and felt the texture of the wood and bark—the smooth places and the rough places. When he opened his eyes, he reached up and broke off a small piece of bark from the wall and pushed it deep into his pocket.

He put his face up close to the wall and breathed in the sweet scent of white oak. Next, he gazed out the hollow. He wanted to always remember how it had looked: the way the stars and moon shone between the branches, and the way the afternoon sun hit the leaves, turning them a fiery red in the fall. When he ducked his head back into the tree, he placed a gentle kiss on his palm and pushed it against the wall. “Goodbye,” he told the hollow. “I'll miss you.”

When Chester climbed outside, he wrapped his little arms around the tree trunk and said goodbye again. This time, a tiny tear rolled down his cheek.

Mrs. Raccoon led Chester and Ronny down the path the other animals had taken to the far end of the distant woods where they would soon be living.

“You know,” Mrs. Raccoon told Chester. “You don't ever have to forget your tree. You can keep it in your head and heart forever, just like it is today.”

Chester stayed quiet all the way to the far end of the distant woods. When he arrived at his new tree in the morning, he folded his arms and pouted

Mrs. Raccoon nuzzled him on the ear. “Why don't we all go inside and see how we like it.”

Chester followed his mother and brother into the tree hollow and looked around. He reached into his pocket and fingered the small piece of bark he had brought with him. It felt good having a piece of his old home.

“What do you think?” asked Mrs. Raccoon.

“It's okay,” said Chester.

Ronny looked up at his big brother, saw that he was sad, and climbed onto his lap. Reaching up, he pulled Chester's whiskers and tickled him under his arm. Chester couldn't help but giggle.

“I miss my tree,” he told Ronny.

“I do, too,” came a sweet voice from outside.

Chester's ears perked up and he popped his head out of the hollow There, standing at the foot of the tree, was a young raccoon just about his age.

“Hi. I'm Cassy,” said the young raccoon. “Who are you?”

Chester ducked back down into the hollow and brushed back his ruffled black mask. When he popped his head back out, Cassy was still there. “I'm Chester,” he said shyly. “Do you live here?”

“I do now,” said Cassy.

Chester left Ronny with his mother, climbed out of the tree, and stood beside the pretty raccoon. His tiny pink cheeks plumbed into a wide smile.

Mrs. Raccoon peeked out of the tree and grinned. Placing a kiss in her palm, she showed it to Chester and told him to go play.

Chester kissed the center of his palm and turned it toward his mother. “All right,” he told her. “I'll stay.”