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Beasts of New York
a children's book for adults
by Jon Evans
This is the bare-bones, single-file, downloadable version of Beasts of New York, a novel by Jon Evans that has been released under the Creative Commons license viewable at this URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/.
To learn more, see www.beastsofnewyork.com or Jon's web site www.rezendi.com.
Please do not change or remove this introductory text.
BEASTS OF NEW YORK
a children's book for adults
by Jon Evans
I. The Center Kingdom
The Missing Acorns
A long time ago, when humans still lived in cities, on a cold morning near the end of a long, cruel winter, in magnificent Central Park in the middle of magnificent New York City, a young squirrel named Patch was awakened very early by the growls of his empty stomach.
A squirrel's home is called a drey. Patch's drey was very comfortable. He lived high up an old oak tree, in a hollowed-out stump of a big branch that had long ago been cut off by humans. The entrance was only just big enough for Patch to squeeze in and out, but the drey itself was spacious, for a squirrel. Patch had lined his drey with dry leaves, grasses and bits of newspaper. It was warm and dry, and on that cold morning he would have liked nothing better than to stay home all day and sleep.
But he was so hungry. Hunger filled him like water fills a glass. The cherry and maple trees had not yet started to bud; flowers had not yet begun to grow; the juicy grubs and bugs of spring had not yet emerged; and it had been two days since Patch had found a nut. Imagine how hungry