July 2009 Chester's 4th of July

It’s the Fourth of July Chester!



“Chester, Wake up! It’s July 4th!” Boomer squeaked into Chester’s ear.
“What?” Chester asked, wiping the sleep from his eyes.
“Remember last year? We had a picnic, we played games, and then when it was dark there was a big noise, and then the pretty colors! Do you remember?” said Boomer excitedly bouncing around Chester’s bedroom.
“I remember…” mumbled Chester rolling over and hiding his head under a leaf.
“Chester, Chesssster, Cheeeeeeeeeesssstttterrrr!” Boomer yelled.
“I’m up!” Chester barked.
“Knock, Knock!” said a voice from the other outside of Chester’s front door.
”SIGH, why can’t I ever sleep in, even just a little?” Chester muttered while walking toward the door.
As Chester opened the door, Lily buzzed around the corner and into his front room.
“Good Morning Chester!” she said. “Your Mom told me to tell you she is making a picnic lunch for us, and your dad has sparklers, and…”
“OOOH!” interrupted Boomer. “What is a sparkler?”
Chester yawned. ‘Why was everyone in his house so early in the morning?’
“It’s a stick that sparkles when you light it with fire.” Dart replied as he flew in the front door; landing in front of the group. Dart explained how all fireworks need a spark of fire, that’s what makes them explode and have all the colors.
“Then I don’t think that is a good idea.” Chester said shaking his head.
“What; why not?” Lily asked.
“If it has to do with fire, I don’t want anything to do with it. Fire scares me.” Chester said folding his arms across his chest.
“First off, your dad doesn’t HAVE sparklers; he said he knew there would be lots of sparklers tonight.” Dart corrected Lily.
“Can’t we just watch? We don’t have to touch them do we?” Lily asked.
“No, we don’t, we are only going to watch the skies, just like last year.” Dart replied.
“Can we talk about what we are going to do today?” Chester asked his friends.
Once everyone settled down it was decided they would go on a scavenger hunt for supplies they could use while watching the fireworks. The group split up and agreed to meet at Chester’s parents’ tree for dinner. Boomer and Lily went to look for some soft leaves to lie on, while Dart and Chester went to hunt some snacks for them to eat.
“I know where to find some good fuzzy ones!” Lily said.
“I’m right behind you!” said Boomer as he followed Lily down into the woods.
Meanwhile, Chester and Dart were gathering berries off some bushes when they heard some whispering. Dart motioned for Chester to join him under the bush so they could watch and listen.
“Do you think anyone saw us?” a voice said.
“No, did you get some firecrackers?” said another.
“I sure did!”
“I watched my brother light some like these last year.”
“Let me see!”

Chester could see three boys scrunched down under some trees. Dart motioned to Chester he was going to get a closer look. Dart backed out from under the bush and flew up into a nearby tree. He then waved to Chester to come join him.
Once Chester was high up in the tree with Dart, he could see a little better. The boys now had some smoke around them and little sparks of fire could be seen as they threw little white papers down on a rock.
“That’s fire they are playing with, isn’t it?” Chester whispered to Dart.
“Yes, they are using it to light the fireworks.” Dart said shaking his head back and forth.
“I thought humans were smarter than us. What can we do to stop this before the woods catch on fire?” Chester asked.
“I’m going to go find the Ranger.” Dart said.
“How will he know to follow you?”
“I will bug him until he understands.” Dart said as he flew up into the sky.
Chester sat in the tree hidden by leaves as he watched and listened to the boys’ pop fireworks. He wondered how no one could hear them as there were people on the trails and the golf course today.
Soon the boys grew tired of the popping and started pulling out what looked like sticks and lighting them. The thing on the end of the stick would shoot up into the air, followed by a little trail of smoke. Then a few minutes later a little parachute would float down to the ground. This was scary for Chester as sometimes they would shoot right up into the tree where Chester was hiding.
Chester climbed down the tree a ways so he could see when Dart was coming. It wasn’t long before Chester saw Dart and then the Ranger climbing up through the underbrush. Dart flew to Chester, and waited to see what would happen next. The boys were laughing and talking so much that they didn’t hear the Ranger until he was right behind them.
“BOYS!” the Ranger thundered.
All three jumped back, desperately trying to hide the fireworks behind them.
“We aren’t doing anything officer.” One of them stammered.
“Seems to me you were shooting off fireworks. That is illegal here in the park. Let’s gather all this up and walk it back down to my office. Then I have some phone calls to make to your parents.”
The boys obeyed the officer and gathered up all the trash and the rest of the fireworks and sheepishly started to make their way down the trail to the Ranger station. As the Ranger passed by he looked up to see Dart and Chester. With a smile and a wave he mouthed a “thank you” to them. Chester was thrilled. He had never had a human talk to him before.

“Dart you are a hero today.” Chester said giving Dart a high five.
“We both helped save the park today, Chester.” Dart said. “Now let’s finish gathering so we can go eat, I’m hungry!”

Boomer and Lily were helping Mom chipmunk get dinner together when Dart and Chester arrived. They were putting the finishing touches on a strawberry cake.

“Yummy!” Dart said cocking his head from left to right.
“I helped with the frosting!” Boomer said.
“What did you guys find?” Lily asked.
“We found some marshmallows and graham crackers that someone left behind at a campsite.” Dart said as he and Chester set the supplies next to the tree.
“I found lots of nuts and berries”. Chester said.
As the friends and family sat down to eat, Chester sniffed the air.
“Everything smells so good!” he said, whiskers twitching.
“There is something here for everyone!” Dad chipmunk said as he placed a juice pitcher on the table.
As the sun started to fade, the group was still sitting around the table laughing and joking with each other.
“Mom, this was so good!” Chester said giving her a big hug.
“Glad you liked it, does anyone want cake?” she replied.
Everyone agreed that cake was a great idea. Once the cake had been eaten, and clean up was finished, the friends were ready to lie back and watch some color fill the night sky.
The leaves that Boomer and Lily found were so very comfortable, and smelled so good, Chester was afraid he might go to sleep before all the fun started.
“Dart, do you think we should say anything to everyone about what happened while we were out today?” Chester asked as he sat down next to his friend.
“No, let’s just have fun tonight.”
“What are you two talking about?” Chester’s dad asked.
“Oh, just the adventure Dart and I had today! We got to see the Ranger in action!” Chester gushed.
“That’s nice.” Dad chipmunk said as he stretched out on some leaves.
“OH! I see one!” Boomer shouted. “Look!”
Crackle!
Pop!
Fizz! Pffffft!
Pow! Bang! BOOM!

As the sky exploded with color the group sat together beside the lake and pointed out their favorite fireworks to each other. It was a great ending to another fun holiday.