At the port, the boats loomed bigger than Shana remembered, and she felt tiny weaving among the dock workers’ feet.
“Hey, watch where you’re going!” one bellowed.
“Shooh, get out of here,” shouted another.
“Sorry, sorry, excuse me.” She dashed around them. “I’m looking for the boat to Florida. Do you know where it is?” But the workers ignored her.
“¡Hola, hola! ¿Dónde está el barco a Florida?” She tried her luck in Spanish. But nothing. As dusk fell, she looked at all the boats in the harbor, each looking exactly like the next. She whimpered and pulled her ears back.
“You again?” a man hollered, “I told you to stay away from our hazelnuts.” A gigantic hand reached out to grab her.
Shana dodged. The man chased, calling for help. Desperate, she launched herself onto the nearest boat’s tow rope.
“Phew!” she exhaled as she climbed on board and the man disappeared from view.
Soon after midnight, the boat’s horn sounded. Shana curled up a quiet corner and drifted off to sweet dreams of hazelnut cupcakes.
* * *
“Aaah!” a man yelled. Shana snapped awake.
“Aaah!” she yelled back.
“Rat! There’s a rat!”
“Where? Where? Where? I don’t like rats.” Shana jumped up and looked around frantically.
The crewmate lunged at her. “¿Dónde? ¿Dónde? ¿Dónde?” she screeched in case he didn’t understand. “Where is it? Behind me? Speak, hombre, speak.” Her coat bristled.
“Rat, rat, there’s a rat!” Shana turned and bolted. She popped above board, momentarily blinded by the sun.
“Aha, Rat, found you! Your time is up!” said the familiar voice of the man from the night before. Shana cowered towards the side of the boat, ears and tail tucked.
The crew crept towards her, pointing and yelling, “Rat! Rat! Rat!”
“Wait, what, me?” Shana realized they were pointing at her. Her foot slipped and she tumbled over the edge of the boat toward the sea.
“But, I’m not a raaaat!”
She wanted to explain that there had been a terrible mistake — “I’m a squirrel, not a rat!”
As she plunged towards the sea, she saw the man above her, an enormous grin across his face. “Bye-bye, Rat!”
Shana closed her eyes and waited to hit the water.
“Ack!” she shrieked, as she bounced off a big yellow balloon.
“What just happened? Who just caught me?”
“Squeak,” a tiny voice tweeted.
“Who are you?” Shana searched for the voice and saw the warm smile of a rubber ducky. “Hi, Ducky,” she sighed. “Are you heading to Florida, like I am? Can I go with you?”
“Squeak!”
Frazzled but relieved, Shana settled onto Ducky’s back. Her stomach growled. The nut in her sack paled in comparison to the hazelnut cupcakes she imagined in New York City.
The next morning, the bright sun woke Shana up. She squinted as a sign came into focus: “Welcome to Florida!”
“Ducky, look, we made it to Florida!”
“Boat, Check, Bus, New York, Cupcakes!” Shana chanted. “We’ve got this, Ducky! Let’s find that bus!”
But all the bus drivers chased them away. “Shoo, rat!”
“I’m not a rat!” she squeaked pitifully, but the bus drivers didn’t care. Eventually, they found refuge in an empty train car headed north. The trip was long, but Shana curled up with her new friend.
“Ducky, I like you. I’m gonna call you, Elisa.”