World’s End State Park
Pennsylvania
September 1998
A large tree fell some time ago. It lies here, moss growing profusely on its surface. A chipmunk speeds along the fallen, now horizontal trunk, running along on legs that move so fast I can’t see them, looking like a speeded up, bumpy version of a hover craft. Y’know, the ‘munks have those racing stripes painted on their sides, and that rudder of a tail sticking up in the back. Speed demons.
He reaches the end of the log and makes an impossible downward U-turn into the hollow of the tree. I pull out my flashlight and look deep within, maybe five feet back, and there he is, curled up, watching me, safe from his predators…
Shaking out his cape.