Chakik – A Whale of a Squirrel Tale

Series: The Black Dragon

An early Chakik story.

  • The Beginning

    This entry is part 1 of 8 in the series The Black Dragon

    In the early spring of one year, a little squirrel was born in a tall, tall oak tree in the Smokey Mountains. The little squirrel had two brothers and two sisters and spent most of his days chasing them about in the forest.

    The little squirrel’s life was good in the forest on the mountain side. Water was plentiful, there were more wonderful trees than a squirrel could ever run on, and the sun shown down brightly on the canopy of leaves overhead. Often, when his brothers and sisters were out helping to gather food for the family, the little squirrel would spirit away, run up his favorite pine tree, and find a quiet place to snuggle among the soft needles in the sun.

    When his mother found out, she would get angry and scold the little squirrel.

    “You know how important it is for us to gather food, Chakik.” his Mother would chirp at him. “Things won’t always be as plentiful like they are now.”

    Chakik knew his mother to be wise and she had taught him many, many things, but there were acorns, berries and other delicious things all over the forest. His brothers and sisters seemed to gather plenty of food for them all, and Chakik was embarrassed.

    His sisters laughed at him when he tried to help carry food. “Your cheeks are so small, you might as well just eat the acorns! We won’t stay fed with that!” they would giggle. He was the smallest of all his family, even his sisters were bigger. When they went out gathering food together his cheeks could only fit half the amount of his siblings.

    “What difference will my 3 acorns make?” He thought. “I’m not helping so why should I even try? My family gathers enough food without my help.”

    To make matters worse for the little squirrel, his tail was much too long for his small body. Once he heard one of the older squirrels call him a “monkey”, he had no idea what that was, but he knew they didn’t mean it as a kindness.

    On one particularly beautiful day the little squirrel skipped out gathering food again, and ventured out further into the forest than he ever had before, finding a new pine grove to explore. He climbed the thickest tree and sat lazily daydreaming in the pine branches. The sun warmed his body as he stretched out, making his tail as long as he could, something he only did when he was alone.

    Some of the other squirrels called him “little cheeks long tail” and he hated it.

    As he sat warming in the sun, while the rest of his family scurried about the forest floor searching for food and carrying it home in their cheeks, his mind wandered to the clouds in the blue sky above.
    “I bet they don’t have to gather food,” he thought, as a fluffy cloud passed overhead, “even if they did, I bet they can carry as much as needed. I bet they always make their families proud.” Chakik wasn’t sure what kind of food clouds ate, nor where they stored it, but he was sure of one thing; they could carry as much of it as they wanted.

    He stretched himself out as long as he could on the branch, reaching his paws in front of himself. “If I could carry as much food as I wanted in my cheeks,” he thought, the sun baking down on him, “my family would never go hungry. I could carry a hundred berries in my cheeks! Maybe even more! Then I’d be useful. They would see how much I can help.”

    The little squirrel dozed off.

  • The Black Dragon

    This entry is part 2 of 8 in the series The Black Dragon

    The Black Dragon! It’s flat body wound through the hills like a frozen river. It had two yellow stripes running down the center of it’s curving back, leading in both directions as far as the little squirrel could see. Chakik sat near it’s edge, safely hidden among the grass and stared breathlessly.

    The sounds of it’s roar had disappeared and now that he saw the Black Dragon’s body, he had no idea which way to go. He waited five minutes, the Black Dragon’s head did not appear. He waited five more minutes, laying low in the grass. Nothing. He waited five more minutes. More nothing. Cautiously he sat up in the grass and waited five more minutes. Still more nothing.

    “Maybe the Black Dragon isn’t that scary after all.” thought the little squirrel. “I bet I could even touch it.” He hopped closer to the edge of it’s dark body. He could see the texture of it’s skin, it was covered with strange bumpy, rock like scales. He took a slow step forward, right to the edge of it’s back. It sat unmoving as it had since he first saw it. Carefully he reached out a paw and touched the Black Dragon.

    Nothing happened to the little squirrel.

    The Black Dragon did not move. It’s skin was as hard as stone but warm to his touch.

    Chakik’s tail puffed with pride as he thought how brave he was.

    No one else in his family would dare to touch the Black Dragon, and here he was standing on it’s back! He was standing on it’s back. He now realized he had moved from the edge of the Dragon’s body right to it’s center. He had not planned on being this bold and he froze in place.

    Then the Black Dragon began to roar again. Quietly at first and seemingly very far away. The little squirrel could not move. The roar slowly got louder and louder, he could hear it’s scream and rumble clearly now. And then he saw it’s head, it’s terrible, monstrous head, screaming and roaring, two bright yellow eyes shown with their own light, like the sun, it’s horrible black teeth gnashing and spinning against it’s body. He wanted to run to the left, or maybe he should go to the right? His mind and body were paralyzed by fear. The Dragon’s head was almost on top of him now, a new screaming noise came wildly from it’s teeth, it’s eyes burning right into him. Smoke was coming from the sides of it’s head as it’s teeth slide and gnashed horribly toward him.

    The fear and noise was too much for Chakik, and he passed out.

  • Speaking with the Dragon

    This entry is part 3 of 8 in the series The Black Dragon

    The Black Dragon spoke to Chakik. it’s voice rumbly and scratchy. “Little Squirrel. What makes you so bold as to stand upon my back?”

    Chakik was momentarily stunned. The last thing he remembered was the horrible sound of it’s round black teeth gnashing and snarling at him as it bore down on him. The Black Dragon was actually speaking to him. “I…I…meant no disrespect sir”, he managed to stammer. “I am the smallest in my family and thought if I touched you it might impress my brothers and sisters…”

    “Do you think I am magic?” growled the Dragon, its words like rocks tumbling against each other in a fast moving stream.

    “Yes”, stuttered the squirrel. Chakik was not sure why he answered this way, no story had ever mentioned the Black Dragon having powers beyond it’s crushing head.

    “If I were magic, small one, what would it be to you?” the Dragon spoke slowly and deliberately. The little squirrel sat motionless in front of the great beast, not knowing how to answer.

    The Black Dragon was growling slightly at him, but he did not feel afraid or threatened by it now. It seemed as if the Dragon wanted to help him somehow. Without futher thought Chakik blurted out “I wish my cheeks could carry as much food as the clouds!” The Black Dragon said nothing but continued it’s low growl. This went on for what seemed like ages. Finally it rumbled louder and it’s eyes glowed even brighter, staring straight through the little squirrel.

    “And why should one so small wish for something so grand?”

    “My family would not have to work so hard gathering food and they could be proud of me…” Chakik hoped it would stop him from being called ‘little cheeks’ as well, but he didn’t think the Black Dragon needed to know about that. He sat very still after answering, his head lowered before the great, strange creature.

    “You amuse me little one. A squirrel with cheeks as large as clouds…” The Black Dragon grinned as it spoke. “As you dream, so shall you see.” With these words the Black Dragon roared and screamed and lunged toward him. Chakik fell over backwards, hitting his head against the rocky scales of the Black Dragon’s back as its head passed over top of him.

    Everything went dark. Again.

  • Someone Else’s Tree

    This entry is part 4 of 8 in the series The Black Dragon

    The little squirrel was startled from his respite by the sounds of multiple footsteps approaching through the forest. He sat up with a start, his tail standing at alert. As he stood, his head wobbled a bit, from the weight of all the acorns he had stuffed into his now seemingly infinitly expandable cheeks.

    A dozen or so squirrels appeared from around the trees and scrub. Unfortunately for Chakik, they were from a different clan than his. Slowly they approached, sniffing the air, looking up at the tree then darting their dark eyes back at the little squirrel. They boldly covered the ground between themselves and the tree Chakik had stripped of acorns. Instinctively Chakik lowered his tail in a sign of submission, knowing he was well outnumbered. From the approaching mass, a mottled squirrel arrived first, his orange and black fur gleaming in the rays of the sun. The squirrel was mostly orange but his paws and tail were jet black. Chakik sat motionless.

    The mottled squirrel sat down in front of him as the rest of the group surrounded the tree and Chakik. When they completed the circle, the orange and black squirrel spoke.

    “This is our tree.” it hissed from behind clenched teeth. The squirrel paused. “What happened here?” Chakik noticed the squirrel glowered at his cheeks as it spoke, he sat motionless and unanswering. The circle of strange squirrels took a step closer to him in unison. Chakik tried to look unafraid, but he was scared from his whiskers to tail tip.

    The strange squirrel approached until he was almost nose to nose with Chakik, never taking his eyes from this bulging cheeks. “What happened here my friend?” it hissed again, standing to its full height, towering over the little squirrel.

    Glancing warily around at the animals surrounding him Chakik finally answered, “I g…gathered some acorns.” He immediately flushed at his stammering.

    “This tree, and all she gives, is ours.” growled the mottled squirrel. “Return what belongs to us and you may go.” Chakik did not trust this squirrel nor it’s words, but knew he had no choice but to comply.

    One by one he spit out the acorns he held in his limitless cheeks.

    As the pile of nuts grew in front of him, so did the mottled squirrel’s dark eyes. Soon the pile was much larger than either squirrel but Chakik’s cheeks still held more. The pile grew and grew as Chakik emptied his mouth, all the while the orange and black squirrel watched in silent amazement. Finally the little squirrel spit out the last acorn from his mouth, it tumbled to the bottom of the giant pile, coming to rest at the mottled squirrel’s clawed feet. The other squirrels stood in shocked amazement, their tails twitching as they glanced at each other and the enormous pile of acorns the little squirrel had generated from his cheeks. Chakik heard them murmur things like “magic…evil…amazing…the dragon” as he stood in silence, waiting for the mottled squirrel to speak.

    “You are coming with us.” it said, finally breaking the long silence. With barely a glance from their leader, four strong squirrels quickly grabbed Chakik’s limbs and began carrying him off. Behind him he could see the other squirrels stuffing their cheeks with the acorns he had gathered, their cheeks were quickly filled, with barely a noticeable reduction in the pile at all.

    The little squirrel did not struggle as he was taken away.

  • Into Darkness

    This entry is part 5 of 8 in the series The Black Dragon

    Since adding Sunny the sheep to their ‘pack’ things had taken on a much more hectic pace. FastPile, as always, seemed unchanged by external things, the turtle did what he did, and that was all. Somehow it was always enough though. This impressed Chakik to no end. For Chakik, Sunny was a test of endurance and patience. She was too young to know much, so the squirrel was given the task of showing her. He now spent, what seemed like all his free time, gathering extra food for Sunny, or telling Sunny about people, or showing Sunny what not to do, or trying to tell Sunny what to do.

    Crossing the road with the young Sheep had been an ordeal. Chakik was still amazed that the three of them had all made it successfully across. His time with the turtle had exposed him to the perils of the human roads for animals, especially it seemed squirrels. All too often they came across the flat remains of squirrels when they crossed roads, and every time, to his horror, the turtle insisted they cross near the body. FastPile would always say something about “karma of the road” and “bad things had already passed”, but Chakik always felt sadness and uneasy when they would cross near a fallen friend. He would look up to the sky and say a little prayer he had made up for just these times. “May your spirit rest with the clouds.” Chakik imagined that on beautiful, clear blue days, the clouds must be resting somewhere even more beautiful and thought it would be a nice place to spend time. It was here that he sent the energies of the dead squirrels and other animals they saw.

    Some crossings were much worse than others.

    While Chakik’s first real introduction to “the Black Dragon”, now simply named “roads” had been an adventure in itself, the third crossing with FastPile would forever remain etched into his squirrel brain. Squirrel’s don’t give a lot of thought to what is inside of them, unless you are talking about nuts. As a species of animal they are not all that introspective, very few squirrels would be considered Great Thinkers among the animal community at large, fewer still give thought to what is physically inside of them. Squirrels just are, as far as they are concerned, and there is no need to delve deeper into what makes them up, either mentally or physically. On this unforgettable crossing day, Chakik saw first hand what squirrels were made of.

    The “karma crossing” point that FastPile had identified was near a freshly killed squirrel. It was a cloudy, overcast, and generally gray day already, the sun had been hiding somewhere beyond their vision since they had woken up. The morning had an unusual chill to it, and Chakik noticed that everything smelled more of itself than normal, as if things had decided to make themselves more of themselves during the night. They had a planned crossing ahead that was routine to the squirrel by now, a simple two lane road, calling the Black Dragon a road still seemed odd, but the turtle would have it no other way.

    Approaching the edge, the now familiar smell of death greeted the duo. The morning crispness amplified this scent as it had the other, more pleasant, smells that day. Cautiously the turtle and the squirrel crawled out onto the road, Chakik being very alert, and looking both up and down the road as FastPile had taught him. As they crossed, the source of the smell became all too apparent. Right in the center of the road, trapped between both sides, was the destroyed body of a squirrel. Unlike any they had crossed near before, this one had not flattened, but seemed to have burst and spread strangely shaped swirls and curving, overlapping tubes over the black surface. The totally alien nature of these things, which clearly originated from inside the body of the dead squirrel, stunned Chakik. He stopped. In the middle of the road. Something he had not done since the first time he had tried to cross one alone.

    The parts spiraled and cascaded over themselves, shining with a bizarre color that Chakik had never seen before. It felt as if they were trying to tell him something important in their shapes, but his ears could not hear their voices and his eyes did not understand. He reached a paw down to his belly, touching it at the same spot the twisted and grotesque shapes emerged from the body that lay on the road. Crossing near bodies of fallen animals always saddened Chakik, but this time was different. It felt deeper. He could feel things inside himself, bits and pieces, that had previously just been of him, now they took on a life of their own. His breath seemed to slow as he felt the air crossing from his mouth to his insides. Thumpa-thumpa-thumpa. His heart beat inside his chest. Both breath and heart beat he was familiar with, but this, now, felt entirely different.

    A sharp pain and yank to his tail completed his journey across the road, FastPile dragging him quickly out of harms way. The turtle said nothing as the squirrel quickly regained his composure and scampered into the grass at the road’s edge. There they stayed, motionless, only breathing, for what seemed like ages. The turtle understood what the squirrel did not yet, and waited for Chakik to make the next move.

    “Is..is that what’s inside me?” the silence finally broken weakly by the squirrel.

    “We are all made of the same things.” replied the turtle in his usual unanswering fashion. There was a pause, as they looked at each other silently.
    “Similar things are inside of you, yes. They keep you alive.” sensing the squirrel’s uneasiness the wise turtle continued, “they are not what you are. They are just parts.”

    “If we put them back in would it…”

    “NO. That squirrel is gone. He was what you saw, but he was also more.” the turtle tried to explain. “Inside me, I look the same as you, like the squirrel on the road.” Chakik winced at the thought of such strange curved things inside of him. “They are WHAT you are,” continued FastPile, “but not WHO you are.”

    Chakik gave him a puzzled look as they continued through the low grass, seeking out a trail to help their journey along.

    “I don’t understand” said the squirrel.

    “When you need to you will.” was the turtles cryptic reply, and they continued on in silence.

  • Chakik’s Cheeks

    This entry is part 6 of 8 in the series The Black Dragon

    The sun was blazing in the sky when the little squirrel awoke. The skin of the Black Dragon was burning hot and Chakik scrambled off it’s back as fast as he could. His head hurt and he felt a little dizzy. He tripped over some tall grass as he leapt from the Black Dragon’s back and tumbled tail over whiskers into a rock, landing with a thump. His head spun even more, from the rock or the heat Chakik did not know. As quickly as he could manage he scrambled further from the edge of the Black Dragon, ducking behind the nearest tree.

    The little squirrel’s head felt heavy as he put the tree between himself and the Black Dragon. Standing wobbly on his hind legs, he pressed his fore paws to his cheeks. They felt normal but the heavy feeling in his head would not subside. The memory of his request to the Black Dragon screamed at him from the back of his mind. Paws pressed to cheeks again. This time he put a paw into his mouth and pushed against his left cheek. It stretched out, but did not push back. Before he realized it, most of his arm was inside his mouth. Withdrawing his paw quickly, Chakik looked around to see if he was still alone. He was. A thought came to him. A quick sniff to the tree tops gave him the direction he was looking for: Acorns!

    He scampered off until he reached the base of a great tree. The little squirrel sat still for a moment, smiling broadly as he surveyed the scene. An almost untouched oak tree stood before him, reaching up to the bright blue sky with its strong branches bristling with delicious acorns!

    Chakik ran up the trunk of the tree as fast as he could. His claws digging into the bark as he climbed higher and higher. Selecting a branch full of bright green leaves and literally sagging from the weight of it’s acorns, he flew to its end. Carefully and precisely he began biting the nuts from the branches. Five acorns, breaking his own record, he shifted them to one side. He gnashed his teeth together to check on capacity; it was like the nuts weren’t there at all.

    Picking up his pace now, he gathered acorns faster and faster. 10, 20, then 30. He lost count.

    His cheeks bulged with the volume in his mouth but they never got full.

    Continuing down the tree he all but cleaned it out of it’s acorns. Standing at the base of the tree, he felt his cheeks again, they were huge! But not nearly as large as they should be. He had lost count at 30 times 30 acorns, as he stripped the tree. Chakik had no idea how many that was, but knew it could feed his entire family for many, many months.

    Smiling at his great fortune, he leaned against the trunk of the tree and wrapped his long tail around his head. The little squirrel closed his eyes and let out a scream for joy. The Black Dragon has granted his wish! He ran his tongue over the bounty in his cheeks. Piles and piles of acorns were safely tucked away in them.

    The sun shone warmly down on the little squirrel as he lay at the base of the tree, tail still wrapped around his head, when he heard footsteps approaching. A lot of footsteps.

  • Strange Sounds in the Distance

    This entry is part 7 of 8 in the series The Black Dragon

    The hot sun shone down, warming the little squirrel nestled among the pines. The fresh scent of pine needles filled his nostrils as he relaxed in the branches. He stretched lazily in the heat, enjoying the quiet.

    He was startled awake by the sound of another squirrel’s scream and a strange, other worldly sound that sent chills down his back. It was a frightening sound, but one he had heard before. The sound of the Black Dragon!

    Just the thought of it’s scream and howls was enough to make a squirrel’s fur stand straight up. He had heard many stories of the Black Dragon, how it flattened squirrels with it’s roar! It seemed everyone knew someone that had been lost to the Black Dragon’s angry hunger.

    Only now did he realize how far he had wandered. He must be closer to the Black Dragon than he had ever been before! Thoughts whizzed and darted like fireflies in his mind. “Maybe that squirrel needs help? What does the Black Dragon look like? Maybe I’m fast enough to beat its roar…”

    The little squirrel pricked up his ears and listened as best he could. He could still hear the echos of the scream and the rumble of the Black Dragon as it sped away. His curiosity got the best of him and he leapt down the tree and ran like a flash across the forest floor, springing over branches and twigs without a thought. The roar of the Black Dragon was fading quickly, just as the stories had told, but he could still hear it, and that was the direction he charged.

    • There were many squirrel legends about the Black Dragon, no one knew how true they were, as only very few had seen it and survived. And their stories of round teeth and different sounding growls from the front and back of the head made little sense to the squirrels.

      What the legends did tell was just as incredible. The Black Dragon lays in wait, never moving, indifferent to the heat of summer or the cold of winter. The Black Dragon has many heads, all look different, yet they are all the same, with glowing eyes of fire, sometimes 2, sometimes many, some shine so bright its as if the sun is inside them. It’s four teeth are black and round, although some tales say 6, some even say 2, but all agree, it doesn’t need any more.

      The worst thing of all, it doesn’t eat you for food. The squirrels know well of the circle of life and death and the need for some to kill to survive. This is the way of the world and is accepted by the animals. But the Black Dragon’s head just bites you down to it’s body, it kills, but not to eat or survive. It just bites you to death and then moves on.

      These and other tales of the Black Dragon have entertained and horrified squirrel pups for countless generations.

    Here was the opportunity to show he was as good and brave as any other squirrel, thought Chakik. If he could help the squirrel he heard screaming, and bring back a true tale of the Black Dragon, his family might never ask him to gather food again. That seemed more likely than growing cheeks as big as the clouds. All of this he contemplated as he leapt and jumped through the leaves, branches and scrub on the forest floor.

    Faster and faster he ran as the sound of the Black Dragon faded into the distance. “I just need to find it’s body…I just need to find it’s body…” his brain echoed to the thumping of his heart in his chest. Faster. The roar grew fainter. Higher. He cleared a bush with a single bound. “Almost there, almost there.” His heart was beating in his chest so hard it made his ears ring. He quickly cleared a hill and saw it. There it was!

    The Black Dragon.

  • Entering into the Next

    This entry is part 8 of 8 in the series The Black Dragon

    Chakik felt a twinge of compunction as they left the sheep outside, as he had begrudgingly agreed to keep an eye on her. The turtle didn’t look back as he silently moved across the opening and into the darkened room, Chakik bound quickly behind, it had been the turtle who had asked him to look after Sunny in the first place. Sunny let out a final bleat of protest as the tip of the squirrels tail disappeared into the darkness. “How did we end up here” Chakik puzzled silently to himself as his eyes slowly adjusted to the dark. It smelled of rotten things and other unpleasant odors the squirrel could not discern. “All this to see a whale?”

    [to be continued]