Grouchy Badger

Badger was miserable.

He didn’t think that anybody liked him.

When Wolf smiled, Badger thought he was making fun of him!

When Deer ran past, Badger was sure she was trying to run him over.

When Bear went to sleep for the winter, Badger decided it was because Bear was mad at him.

When Badger was very young, he got SO tired of the other animals being mean, he decided he would run away. He used his long nose to burrow down in the ground, and he made a cave for himself. He spent his days thinking about how mean the other animals were, and in the night, he was so mad at the other animals that he would creep out of his cave and play tricks on them.

He would sneak over to the Ground Squirrel’s burrow, and shout, “Boo!” to the baby ground squirrels, while they settled for sleep. Mama ground squirrel could not understand why her babies were crying!

He would dig holes around the forest, so that when Deer ran though, she would trip and fall! Serves her right, he thought to himself.

And so he lived, underground by day, and awake at night, making a nuisance of himself, and being miserable.

One night, while Badger was getting ready to go out, Coyote came to the door.

“Hello?” Said Coyote, “Is anyone there?”

Badger snarled angrily. That miserable animal! Badger thought, He wants to steal my home and eat me for supper too! I’ll show him! He raced toward the front door. Teeth bared, snarling, Badger lunged for Coyote! But Coyote was quick and his eyesight was much better than Badger’s; he jumped out of the way in a flash!

“Badger, what’s the matter? I just came to say hello!”

“Get out of my house!” Badger snarled; “Or I will eat YOU for dinner!”

Coyote shook his head. “I only wanted to be friends. But, have it your way.” With that, he loped off into the night.

Badger stared after Coyote, panting. He had been so afraid! What if he really did want to be friends? he thought. Then he shook his head. He wanted to eat me. I was just tough meat!

That night, Badger roamed through the woods, smelling for yummy grubs to eat. He noticed a big pile of twigs and leaves and raced over, stomach growling. As he rummaged through the pile, he suddenly heard a SNAP! Before he knew it, he was falling down…and landed among the twigs in a big hole.

“Oh, no!” Badger cried, terrified, from the hole in the ground. “I must have fallen into a hunter’s trap, and now they will eat me for supper!”

"Are you all right?" asked a voice in the dark.

Badger almost jumped out of his skin! He circled around, terrified, in the dark of the hole. “Who’s out there?”

Suddenly, a head popped over the rim of the pit. A smiling face looked down of the helpless animal. “It’s me, Coyote. You seem to have gotten yourself into a bit of trouble!”

“Oh, it’s you,” Badger furrowed his thick black brows. “Come to have a bit of fun at my expense? Well, go away. The Hunters will eat me soon enough, there will be nothing left for you.”

“EAT you?” Laughed Coyote. “Why would I want to eat YOU? I just had a nice supper at Mrs. Bear’s house; I wanted to invite you, but you nearly ate ME!”

“Hmmph.” Badger was not convinced, but it did not matter anyway. He was down in a hole, and now he knew for sure that Coyote was not going to help him.“Leave me alone,” Badger grumbled, “Go laugh somewhere else.”

Coyote lay down, resting his head on the edge of the pit, and peered at the helpless Badger. “I am only talking to you. Why are you so mean to everyone?”

“I’m not mean,” Badger was offended. “I just don’t like being laughed at.”

“Well, I wasn’t laughing.” Coyote lay, silent, for some time, then loped away into the wood.

Badger sighed as Coyote left, then turned toward the wall and began trying to dig himself out of the pit. As he worked, he thought about what Coyote said. Could Coyote have been telling the truth? Did he want to be his friend? Badger didn’t think he was very mean to everyone, but then again…he remembered seeing Deer limp through the woods after she had twisted her hoof in his hole. He remembered overhearing Mrs. Squirrel complaining that someone had been frightening her children. He remembered smiles, and frowns, and had a startling thought –

What if they WEREN’T being mean to me?

The harder Badger thought, the harder he worked. And the harder Badger worked, the harder he thought. The sun was just rising when Badger stopped for a break. He looked at the path he was digging out of the pit, and realized that he was stuck. He was not going to get out of the pit before the hunters came. He lay down, and started to cry.

As he was laying there, Badger heard a soft scrratch from the tunnel behind him. Startled, Badger leaped around in time to see dirt and stones falling into the tunnel he had just created. Then suddenly, Pop! Coyote’s head came into view.

“Surprise!”

“Wh…Wh…What are you doing here?” Badger was very confused.

Coyote smiled. “Did you think I would leave you there? I suppose I could have, at that, but you seem pretty interesting. I couldn’t believe how hard you worked to tunnel yourself out of that pit! Anyway, I thought I would help.”

Badger shook his head, amazed, and grateful for Coyote’s help. Suddenly, they heard a crash, and Coyote and Badger looked at each other. “Hunters!” they shouted. Scrambling upward, Badger and Coyote raced to escape the pit. Just as they reached the tip, the hunters came into view. They heard a shout, and suddenly a bullet whistled past Badger. Panting, they both raced into the wood.

Badger and Coyote slowed to a stop outside Badger’s home. “Thanks again,” said Badger. “For your help. I never thought you would have come to help me, not after I attacked you.”

Coyote peered at Badger, and smiled. “Maybe,” he said, “Others are not what you expect.”

That night, Coyote and Badger began a friendship that lasted the rest of their days. And much to the other animal’s surprise, the mischief maker in the night disappeared.