Honey Paws The Bear Meets Skippy The Squirrel

Honey Paws was out for a stroll one evening when he stopped to sniff the air. He could smell bread baking. "Mmmm...." He patted his tummy. Just then a walnut fell out of a tree and hit him on the head.

"Uh-oh.." A squirrel ran down the tree, "I'm so very sorry." Honey Paws rubbed his head as the squirrel picked up the walnut that was laying next to him. "Oh how embarrassing. Well I guess I should introduce myself now, my name is Skippy. What's your's?"

"I'm Honey Paws," he replied as the squirrel looked up at him from below.

"Oh is that what they call you? Is it because your paws are covered in honey?" Honey Paws looked at his paws and sure enough they were covered in sticky honey. He could never quite lick it all off.

"Yes, as you can see, honey is my favorite food." Honey Paws licked his paw.

"Well, that's fantastic! My favorite food is walnuts, as you can see." Skippy smiled.

"I've never really tried walnuts.." Honey Paws was curious now, "Are they sweet like honey?"

Skippy laughed, "Oh no, they're much different than honey. You'll just have to try them for yourself." He then ran back up the tree carrying the walnut in his mouth. "Can you climb up?"

Honey Paws was a skilled tree climber, he always climbed up trees to get to beehives. "Oh, of course I can." He followed up behind him. When they were both sitting on a tree branch, Skippy cracked open the walnut. "Here, try some!" Honey Paws grabbed a piece and chewed on it as Skippy watched in suspense.

"Well...," Honey Paws waited for the aftertaste, "It doesn't really taste like much of anything..."

"Oh yes, walnuts are pretty bland.." Skippy threw down the empty walnut shell. "But I like 'em!"

"Ow!" a little voice yelled from below, followed by angry mumbles.

"Oh whoops, I guess I shouldn't just drop those willy nilly..." Skippy looked a bit concerned as he watched a snail angrily slide by the tree.

"You're lucky you didn't crack the shell!" The snail stopped to yell up the tree.

"Sorry about that, old chap!" Skippy shouted and then turned and whispered to Honey Paws, "He's a grumpy one..."

"That's Mr. Slider to you!" He huffed as he continued sliding away, ever so slowly.

"It doesn't look like he'll be sliding anywhere soon," Skippy chuckled. "Anywho, would you like to come inside for a real dinner?"

Now Honey Paws loved honey, but he also loved eating and that included all foods. "Oh yes, I would love to!" He said just as his tummy grumbled.

"Great," Skippy ran up to a little wooden door on the tree and opened it, "Come on in, it might be a tight fit for you." Honey Paws crawled in behind him and followed him down the spiral of stairs. Once they were at the bottom, Skippy pulled out a little wooden chair for him but quickly stopped. "Hmm, this might be a bit too small for you..."

"Oh, it's fine." Honey Paws sat down on it and before Skippy could say another word it broke. "Whoops... I guess you were right..."

"Oh dear," Skippy gathered all the pieces, "No worries. I can fix this up in no time, I'm quite the craftsman. I built all this furniture myself, you know." Honey Paws looked around amazed as he admired all of the furniture made from wood. Everything was wooden, except for a little vase with flowers on the table.

"I hope you don't mind sitting on the ground." He brought out a loaf of bread, "This is fresh out of the oven."

"Oh that must be the bread I smelled baking earlier!" Honey Paws exclaimed.

"Oh yes, banana nut bread is my specialty!" He placed it on the table and cut off two slices, "One for me and one for you and plenty more where that came from!" Honey Paws ate the whole slice in one bite like the hungry bear he was.

"Oh my, well I guess one serving for me is one bite for you," he chuckled, "Help yourself to another."

After they were done eating and talking and laughing while trying not to choke on their bread, Honey Paws heard the orchestra of crickets outside and quickly realized it was night time.

"Oh I should be heading home now," Honey Paws started getting up, "My friend Sunny will be worried about me."

"Of course, I won't keep you any longer," Skippy led the way up the stairs.

"Hey, you know, walnuts are pretty good when they're mixed with other food," Honey Paws said as he crawled out of the little wooden door.

"Oh I knew you would love them!" Skippy looked pleased, "Well it was nice meeting you, I hope to see you around!" He waved as Honey Paws climbed down the tree.

"Good bye! Dinner was delicious, thank you!" Honey Paws waved and ran down the hill to his little cottage where him and his friend Sunny The Honeybee lived.