HEDGEROW CAPERS CHAPTER 8
We want to fly!
By Sandra Mitchell

Millie the Mole and Vicky the Vole
Were out in the farmyard taking a stroll,
They had finished the homework their teacher had set
Doing it first so they wouldn't forget.
Now they were free to do as they pleased
And were heading towards the old hazel nut tree.

Vicky was carrying a big haversack
And asked Millie to take it off her back,
They took out the rope they had rolled up inside,
To tie to a branch as a swing they could ride.
They looked up at the branch; it was ever so high,
'Oh dear!' Millie squeaked, 'It's as high as the sky!'

'I can't climb up there!' Vicky said with a cry
'I'm frightened of heights...If I fall, I might die!'
Millie looked up, she was scared too,
They looked at each other, not sure what to do.
Just at that moment they heard a strange sound
And things started falling, from above to the ground.

'It's Cyril the Squirrel; he's up in the tree,
It's the shells from his nuts that are falling on me.'
Vicky yelled loudly, 'Hey, Cyril, come down
And pick up these shells you have thrown on the ground.
'You do it!' he called, 'Can't you both see
I'm sitting up here and having my tea?'

When Cyril was finished he started to fly
From branch to branch like a bird in the sky.
Swinging away, it looked such good fun
Just like Miss Toad at the circus had done
On her trapeze she had swung to and fro,
Now Millie and Vicky both wanted a go.

Then Cyril was down and stood at their side
'We want to do that, will you help us?' They cried.
'Do you see that big branch, right up there at the top?
Could you tie this rope tight, and make sure it won't drop?
And then, like Miss Toad, at the circus, we'll be
Able to fly from the hazel nut tree.

Cyril the squirrel was such a nice boy
And did what they asked, so they could enjoy
The sun in their face and the cool of the breeze
And the thrill they would feel on their flying trapeze.
Then it was finished, they were raring to go,
They held on to the rope as it swung to and fro.

'Can we go higher? Can you push us?' they called,
'We're holding on tight, we're not going to fall.'
Well, Cyril the Squirrel, he pushed and pushed
And it wasn't too long before he felt bushed,
He puffed and he heaved to get the girls high,
And they squealed and they laughed as they flew through the sky.

'I can push you no more,' Cyril flopped to the ground,
His breathing was wheezing, 'twas a terrible sound.
Millie and Vicky jumped off their trapeze
And knelt down and gasped, 'Don't die, Cyril, please!
We are sorry we asked you to push us so high,'
Then Cyril said, panting, 'I'm not going to die!'

He sat up and grinned, 'Goodness me! I'm not fit,
I must stop the swinging...I'll start walking, a bit.'
'Is it swinging that made you feel poorly just now?'
Asked Millie, still worried and wandering, how?
'No, it's not really the swinging.'... He looked down at his feet
As he said to his friends, 'I had too much to eat!'

'Oh, Cyril,' said Vicky, 'we should not have asked
You to push us so much, it was quite a task.'
Then Millie the Mole said, 'It really was fun,
But next time we do it, we'll ask Reggie to come.'
'And I can ask Timmy and Tommy Mouse, too.'
Said, Cyril, now feeling quite tickity boo!