Woodland Girl

As a kid, my paternal grandfather used to tell me these elaborate stories about how I was found in the woods on a log and had been raised by woodchucks. There was no stork that dropped me off, it was the woodchuck that could chuck wood that gave me a bottle. I don't really remember all the details on how I was placed in my parents care after being some magical kind of baby in the forest.

Anyways, my fascination with woodland creatures grew stronger when these human parents of mine gave me Woodsey's Log House to play with.

I felt some kind of connection to these squeaking squirrels in overalls, like they were distant cousins of the woodchuck family that I once belonged to. I know this was all make believe and that I wasn't really brought up by furry animals that live in the woods, but today the strangest thing happened.

I had a running date with a friend that recently moved to Wilmington with her family. We had never run together before and I was excited to explore the side areas of town. Jen and I checked out one of the campgrounds and found ourselves on Woodland Circle.

It was here that we went up a small hill and saw a young girl walking by herself.

We kept running on this trail and eventually it looped around. We kept on chatting away and didn't think anything of the child we just saw because it seemed like she was just going back to her family's cabin or something.

When we came back to the fork in the trail the girl was sitting on a log crying. Jen, being the mother was very calm and asked the girl where her parents were. She didn't say anything, and it was here we noticed she was petting a woodchuck! There was absolutely no one around to witness this other than Jen and I. No tents, no RVs, nothing. The campground was deserted and all I could think about was my grandfather's tall tale.

Jen stayed with the girl and I ran off towards the road as fast as I could to get some help for this girl all alone in the woods, but when I got back to the campground office there was nothing but a big old sign that said,

APRIL FOOLS!