“What’s a Christmas squirrel, Mommy?” Sara asked, her eyes wide with curiosity.
“What? You’ve never heard of the famous Christmas squirrels?” Her mother gasped, acting surprised.
“Uh, uh,” her twin brother, Reid, chimed in.
“Well,” their mother exhaled, “you two are in for a real treat.” She smiled and bonked her daughter on her nose. “Hop on up!” The twins scrambled onto the sofa and pulled a soft white blanket to their chins.
As festive music filled the room, a gray squirrel in a Santa suit flew across their TV in a red sleigh — “Ho! Ho! Ho!”
“Did you see him?” Their mother clasped her hands under her chin, remembering the first time she saw the Christmas squirrel. “Did you see the Christmas squirrel?” She gave her twins a squeeze.
“Yes! We did!” they chanted in unison, jumping up and down on the sofa. Their mother chuckled.
Meanwhile, outside, Shana sniffed a nut. “Hmm…” She picked it up. “Maybe I’ll take this one.” Then, she heard a little girl say, “what’s a Christmas squirrel, Mommy?”
Shana's ears perked up. “Wait—what? A squirrel? ME? I’m a squirrel! ME! ME! ME!” She pressed her nose against the windowpane, staring at the family inside. “Are they calling ME?”
Behind the family, Shana spotted freshly baked hazelnut Christmas cupcakes decorated with red and green frosting. “Mmm, hazelnuts,” Shana inhaled, her mouth watering in anticipation. “They smell sooo delicious. Maybe, this year, I’ll get one.” She spun around in a circle, imagining the tasty treat.
“I bet you get all the cupcakes you want, Christmas squirrel,” she whispered, her tummy rumbling. She bit into her nut and walked away.
Inside, the mother continued, “this Christmas squirrel is from the Big Apple. Do you know where the Big Apple is?” Her kids shook their heads. “It’s in New York City, way up on the mainland.”
“Ooo! Are there big apples there?” Sara asked.
“No, my dear, but that would be so yummy, huh?” her mother laughed, loving her daughter’s inquisitive mind.
“Why does the Christmas squirrel live there if there aren’t any apples?” Reid asked.
“As the story goes, New York City is where these hazelnut cupcakes were created. The stores throughout the city hand them out at Christmas, and squirrels love hazelnut cupcakes!”
“Wait, what? Christmas squirrels? With hazelnut cupcakes?” Shana froze and turned her gaze back to the trio. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head as she imagined devouring a sea of hazelnut cupcakes.
“Can we go, Mommy?” Reid jumped up again.
“Can we please?" Sara turned her cherub face toward her mother’s.
“Yes, Mommy, can WE go?” Shana screamed inside her head, smushing her face against the windowpane.
“Maybe someday,” their mother replied, “but it's very, very far away. We live down here in Puerto Rico, and New York City is all the way up here.” She used her hands to show the immense distance.
“I still wanna go.” Sara pouted.
“Me too! Take ME!” Shana implored. ”I wanna go to New York City for hazelnut cupcakes.”
“To get to New York City, we have to take a boat to Florida, and from there, a bus to New York.” Their mother yawned. “It’s quite a long and tiring trip.”
Then, as if on cue, “look, here comes the squirrel again.” Easily distracted, the twins turned back to the movie.
The squirrel perched outside was not so easily distracted, however. She already hatched a plan.
“Boat, Bus, New York, Cupcakes! Boat, Bus, New York, Cupcakes! I can do this!” Shana could almost taste the cupcakes’ smooth hazelnutty goodness. She gathered the remaining nuts on the ledge, took one last, longing look at the cupcakes inside, and scampered off.