Danny, Who Fell in a Hole

by Cary Fagan

  He touched his toes.

  He did a hundred jumping jacks.

  He sat down, exhausted.

  Not only exhausted, but hungry.

  He only had one granola bar left. Once it was gone, he would have nothing.

  Was it possible that he had missed something in his backpack? He hurried over to check every pocket again, feeling in all the little folds and corners.

  In the bottom corner of the main compartment he found seven dried-up, lint-covered raisins. They must have fallen out of one of those little snack boxes his mother put in his lunch sometimes.

  In a hidden pocket inside a side pocket he found two packets of dairy creamer. He remembered that one day at his dad’s office he had gone to fetch a coffee for his father. He had brought back the two packets but his dad didn’t want them, so he put them in his backpack.

  His dad didn’t like his job very much. It had something to do with making sure that shipments of heating oil didn’t go to the wrong place by mistake. He’d been doing the same job for, like, fifteen years. His office was pretty drab, and his window looked out onto a tar roof. Worse, his boss was always yelling at him.

  Danny had never really thought about how his dad had to spend eight hours a day in that place.

  Danny found his thermos and took off the top. Upside down, the top became a small bowl. He ripped open a packet of dairy creamer and poured the powder into the bowl. He added water and used his pencil to mix them together into something that looked like milk. He broke off half the granola bar and crushed it into the bowl. He picked the lint off four raisins and laid them gently on top.

  Cereal!

  Without a spoon, Danny had to put the bowl to his lips and use his finger to shovel some of the cereal into his mouth.

  Wow, was it good! Especially when he got one of the dry, sweet, chewy raisins along with the soggy granola.

  When it was gone he did it all over again, using the second packet of dairy creamer, more water, the last half of the granola bar, and the three remaining raisins.

  He remembered an expression he had once heard. Comfort food. Cereal and milk was definitely comfort food.

  At home, back in his old life, he always read the cereal box while he ate breakfast. He didn’t have a cereal box but he did have the granola-bar wrapper, so he read that.

  Used by mountain climbers, desert trekkers and world travelers.

  Now they could add hole dwellers.

  10

  Lost Wool and Testy Mouse

  EATING THE CEREAL made Danny sleepy. He leaned against the wall beside his garbage-bag shelter and closed his eyes. He dozed on and off as the afternoon waned and the light from above grew softer.

  A voice woke him up.

  “So, how’d you sleep? Me, like a top. Mind you, moles always sleep well.”

  “Mole?” Danny said, yawning. He looked up at the dimming light. It was getting late. At home, he would probably be watching TV. His dad might be making popcorn. His mom would ask him how his day went.

  He did not want to spend another night in this hole.

  “Sure it’s me. You think a rat would be down here visiting? Some people mistake us for rats, but we’re not anything like ’em,” said the mole. “For one thing, rats will eat any old garbage. Disgusting! Moles are much pickier. We insist on organic. All right, rats are clever, but if you ask me that’s what gets them into trouble. Scheming all the time. How can I steal this apple? How can I sneak into that basement? No wonder people don’t like them. People don’t have negative feelings about moles. I mean, have you ever called anyone a molefink?”

  “No, I guess not.”

  “Meanwhile, I never met a rat who didn’t think it was fun to insult a mole. Hey, squint eyes! Left your ears in another tunnel? Is that your snout or did you swallow a turnip? Let me tell you, I’ve heard them all. But as my mudder taught me just before she booted me out, be a mole and proud of it. And if those rats won’t shut up, just put some dirt in your ear holes.”

  “I’m glad you’re here,” Danny said.

  “Of course I’m here. Here is where I always am. Is it any different for humans?”

  “No, I guess not.”

  “I may not be such a good judge of your species, but you’re looking pretty mopey-dopey again.”

  “It’s just that in a few hours it will be night again. I bet new people are already living in our house. What if my parents didn’t leave me a note? What if I never even get out of here?”

  “Now, now, my young friend,” said the mole, tapping Danny’s knee with his claws. “Is that any way to talk? Would you like me to cheer you up with some impressions? I’m quite good at them. I can do Angry Mole. Or Mole in Love. Or Mole Smacking His Snout into a Rock, or — ”

  “I don’t think so. I’m just not in the mood,” Danny said. “But maybe you could help me with something.”

  “Name it.”

  “Help me write my Last Will and Testament.”

  “Sure. But what is a Lost Wool and Testy Mouse? Sounds to me like a mouse dressed up as a sheep. No wonder he’s in a bad mood.”

  Danny looked in his backpack for a pencil and a workbook.

  “It’s what a human writes before he dies. It says where he wants all his stuff to go. Who should own it.”

  “Very interesting. Maybe we moles should have a Lost Wool and Testy Mouse, too. Except we don’t have any stuff.”

  Danny started to write in the workbook, and as he wrote he spoke the words out loud.

  “The last will...and testament of...Daniel Ronald Diamond.”

  “Who’s that?”

  “That’s my full name. Do you know how to spell bequeath?”

  “I don’t even know how to spell ‘spell’.”

  “I don’t suppose spelling matters.” He began to write again.

  “I, Daniel Ronald Diamond, being of sound mind and body, but possibly going to die from falling in a hole, bequeath the following possessions. My collection of model cars goes to...”

  Danny hesitated.

  “Who?” asked the mole.

  “To my father. Because he and I always played with them when I was little.”

  “Nice,” said the mole. “What’s next?”

  “The sunset painting on the fridge goes to my mother. Because she said that it made her feel happy and sad at the same time.”

  “Good.”

  “My bike, my music player and my comic books go to my brother, because he taught me how to ride and how to make a stink bomb.”

  “Valuable skills, I’m sure,” the mole said.

  Danny closed the workbook. “I guess that’s it. They can figure out what to do with my clothes and other junk.”

  Danny felt like crying.

  “If you don’t mind me asking,” said the mole. “What about your harmonica? I mean, that’s a pretty nice item. Any person — even any animal — would be glad to have it.”

  Danny looked at the mole. The little creature gazed at him with his head tilted to one side and his pink mouth open. He looked just like Thwack when he wanted to play Fetch. It made Danny want to laugh.

  He opened the workbook again.

  “My harmonica goes to the mole who kept me good company during my final hours.”

  The mole covered his face. “Aw, I’m blushing. On the inside, I mean.”

  “Now I’ll just sign it,” Danny said. “And you also have to sign it as the witness.”

  Danny held out the pencil.

  “Do I chew it or put it up my nose?”

  “Neither. Hold it like this. That’s good. Now just make an X on the paper.”

  “An X?”

  “Think of it as one tunnel crossing another.”

  “Got it.” The mole held the pencil between his paws with the end in his mouth. He managed to mak
e one squiggly line and then cross it with another.

  “Perfect,” Danny said. He took the pencil and notebook and put them in his backpack.

  It was a solemn moment. They remained quiet for some time after. The light dimmed a little more.

  Then Danny saw something that made him stare.

  His backpack was moving.

  It seemed to rise up an inch or so and then slide sideways before becoming still again.

  Had he imagined it? Quite a few unbelievable things had happened lately.

  The backpack moved again.

  “Uh, Mole…”

  “Yes, Darnit?”

  “I think my backpack just — ”

  And at that moment the thing under the backpack, the thing that had caused it to move, darted out so quickly that Danny froze in surprise.

  And then the mole was a whirling blur of dirt and fur.

  “Aaee!” screamed the mole.

  “What is it, what is it?” cried Danny, staring without understanding. And then the whirling stopped and Danny saw.

  It was a snake. A snake was coiled tightly around the mole.

  “I...can’t...breathe…”

  “You won’t need to in a minute,” hissed the snake. Its narrow head undulated back and forth over the mole. “Here I thought it was bad luck to have fallen into this hole last night. And look what I find! A nice fat mole for dinner. Why, I won’t need to eat for a week.”

  “Get...off!” Mole sputtered, trying to push his claws against the snake.

  “Very good.” The snake nodded its head. “Every time you breathe out, I tighten a little more. It won’t be long now.”

  Danny felt such horror that he still hadn’t moved. But now he took a step toward the snake in spite of his terror.

  “Let go of him! Stop hurting my friend.”

  “Come any closer and I’ll bite you!” trilled the snake. “And won’t I enjoy that!”

  Danny stepped back again.

  Mole gasped. “Don’t...get...near...”

  But he couldn’t say more.

  What to do? What to do? Mole was having the life squeezed out of him right in front of Danny. The little creature’s eyes were bulging. A spot of foam had gathered at the side of his mouth. His paws stopped twitching.

  This was terrible!

  Danny looked wildly around. He saw his backpack and grabbed it. He dumped everything out. Nothing seemed of use until he saw the end of his metal ruler. He pulled it out, held one end, and almost without thinking turned around and smacked the snake on the head with the other end.

  Wang!

  “Oooh,” moaned the snake, shaking its head. “That hurt. You’d better not try it again or — ”

  Wang!

  “Arrr! I said stop that.” The snake’s head wobbled up and down. Danny could see it loosen its coils just a little. Mole managed to suck in a breath before the snake tightened its grip again.

  “You want to play tough, do you?” The snake opened its jaws and showed its small but sharp white fangs. “I can strike pretty far, you know. And I can just about reach your — ”

  Wang!

  “Ahh! Don’t you dare — ”

  Wang! Wang! Wang!

  The snake’s head sank to the ground and its coils slackened enough for Mole to scramble his way out. The exhausted little creature, panting for air, crawled behind Danny and half buried himself in the ground.

  “Wang it again!” the mole cried.

  But Danny held back. He grasped the ruler at one end as if it were a sword, ready to swing if necessary.

  The snake was slowly moving, trying to regain its balance. It shakily raised its head, looking at Danny.

  “Now you get out of here,” Danny said. “I don’t know how, exactly, but you’d better. Or I really will smack you. I’m just giving you one last chance.”

  “All right, all right,” said the snake, coiling itself up. “There’s no need for more violence. After all, everyone needs to eat. It’s the chain of life. I’m just a link in the chain like everything else. No better or worse.”

  “Maybe,” said Danny. “But today there’s no mole on the menu.”

  “Yes, yes. I know when I’ve lost. Let me just clear my head and then I’ll find a hole or some other way to crawl out of here.”

  “Darnit,” said the mole.

  “What?”

  “You know my eyesight isn’t too good. Is the snake all coiled up?”

  “Yup.”

  “Because that’s what a snake does just before it — ”

  The snake made a sudden lunge for Danny, its jaws wide. But Danny had not taken his eyes off it. Like a baseball player at bat, he was ready.

  Wang!

  “Owww!”

  The snake cried out but it did not give up. Quickly it coiled itself for another strike.

  Danny stepped forward. He grasped the ruler at the end with both hands and shoved it under the snake. Then he pulled his arms up with all his might.

  “Wha....?”

  Danny flung the snake into the air.

  High, high, higher it went, hissing and cursing all the way.

  “What’s happening, what’s happening?” the mole asked.

  Danny looked up. In the air above the hole, a large bird was circling.

  A hawk had spotted the commotion below. Now Danny saw it dive down at great speed and dip into the hole just as the snake rose from below.

  The hawk grasped hold of the snake with its talons. Flapping its wide wings, it pulled itself out of the hole and rose into the air again. A moment later it was out of sight.

  “Darnit?” said the mole. “Tell me what happened.”

  Danny looked up at the empty circle of sky.

  “The chain of life,” he said quietly. “That’s what happened.”

  11

  Big Questions

  DANNY AND THE MOLE were so rattled by the snake attack that it took them a long time to calm down. The mole groomed his ruffled fur and chattered away.

  “Snakes, I hate ’em,” he said. “They’re worse than rats. You can talk reason to a rat, if you ignore the sarcasm. Sometimes a rat will even give you a heads-up about a cat prowling nearby. But snakes? They’re cold-blooded, they are. Not an ounce of compassion...”

  Danny took a long swig of water, finishing the last drop in the thermos. He put back all the things that he had dumped out of his backpack. He sat down on the ground and leaned against the dirt wall.

  He felt as if most of the anger had leaked out of him.

  The sky was getting dark.

  “Darnit?”

  “I know what you’re going to say,” Danny sighed.

  “You do?”

  “You’re going to say that I should forgive my parents for messing everything up. That I shouldn’t give up on them.”

  “That’s not exactly — ”

  “You’re going to say that somebody’s got to be the sensible one in the family. That they need somebody around who doesn’t just make crazy decisions.”

  “Like deciding to fall in a hole, you mean?” asked Mole.

  “That was an accident.”

  “Oh.”

  “I guess when something scary happens it makes you think about your life. I mean, I just watched you almost get eaten by a snake.”

  “You’re telling me.”

  “Compared to that, living in New York City and Banff for a while doesn’t seem so bad. I mean, there are a million things to do in New York, right?”

  “At least a million,” Mole said.

  “And in Banff you can hike and ski and snowboard. There are mountains covered in snow. And cool animals like bears and wolves.”

  “Wolves?”

  “It isn’t forever. Maybe we can all have holidays togeth
er. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t approve of their behavior one bit. But they are my parents. It’s not like I can avoid them completely. And without me they’re going to mess things up even worse. Do you think that’s right, Mole? Mole?”

  Danny looked over at the mole. The animal had fallen asleep on his back, with his feet in the air. Danny watched his little round stomach rise and fall.

  Mole had such a simple life. Digging holes, eating worms, making up poems. Humans were too complicated.

  A sound made Danny look up.

  “Worllff.”

  “Thwack?”

  Sure enough, it was. Danny could see his outline against the darkening sky. The dog began to whimper and scratch at the edge of the hole.

  “Good dog, Thwack! You came back. Look, Mole, it’s Thwack!”

  “Huh, what?” Mole said, stirring.

  “My dog.”

  “Dog!” Once more the mole scurried behind Danny. “I hate dogs the most. After snakes, anyway.”

  “Thwack wouldn’t hurt a fly. He wants to go home, too. I want to get out of this hole. I want to go back to my family.”

  At that moment he saw a flashing light at the edge of the hole. Then he saw the silhouette of a figure — a human figure.

  “Hey, Henry, you sure this dog isn’t crazy? I don’t see anything. Wait a minute. Hello? This is the fire department. Is anyone down there?”

  Danny began to wave his arms and jump up and down.

  “Yes, somebody’s down here! I am! Danny Diamond! I’m down here!”

  The flash of light became a beam. Danny blinked as it formed a yellow circle around him.

  “Well, I’ll be,” said the firefighter. “It’s the missing kid. Are you all right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Be careful, there’s a rat right beside you.”

  The mole snorted. “I’ve never been so insulted in all my life.”

  “We’ve been looking all over for you,” the firefighter said. “Tell you what, Danny. We’re going to lower a ladder and then I’m going to climb down. And then we’ll climb back up together, all right?”

  “Okay.”

  Danny saw more figures surrounding the hole and a lot of people talking at once. Then a very long ladder was lowered.