The Sqirrel War (end)

This is the ending of a series. please begin reading "The squirrel war". You can click on the titles under "Recent posts" to the right.

I could tell that my mother was angry, as she explained to me that her friends would not be coming back. That the Gawkers were making the whole neighborhood angry and that the Reinholts would be bothered by all kinds of people and had decided to start over in another town. Besides, Mr. Reinholt had lost his job, due to taking care of the baby and Jelly.

I went to see Mr. Gramm, who explained to me how selling a house works. He explained that
nobody would buy the Reinholt's place because of the ruckus over the squirrels. When he
explained that he would like to move also, I got worried. He said that I didn't need to worry, that his house won't sell either and he and his wife had no choice but to stay. I was relieved, but also concerned, as he wasn't the same as before, like he was mad at me or something. I asked him if I had done something wrong. "No, no, boy, it's not you. I'm mostly angry that I caused the problem with my harebrained idea."

I thought about it for a long time. Years, actually. I saw big changes over the years, in my town. Eventually I too, moved away. The town had become all about squirrels. Even a big statue of a squirrel was bought by the town and there was a squirrel festival. Souvenir shops and Squirrel theme shops popped up and did a good business selling squirrel mementos and all sorts of junk. The Reinholt house never sold and the few people that tried living there, renting, didn't stay long. Meanwhile the squirrels had become the town mascots and running loose all over the place, fed peanuts and sunflower seeds and even dog food. It was funny, how an animal can cause such a controversy.

Basically, the town was divided. I thought it was way more than half of the people disliked those squirrels. There were lots of them, they were everywhere and were protected by a town ordinance. You couldn't shoot them, trap them or anything. I didn't feel strongly about it,the squirrel problem, but I knew that some people were doing real well and others were ruined. It changed the town, that is what I saw mostly. The place that was a delight for a boy, growing up, had become a nightmare, where the identity and cohesiveness of the community was sold in the name of "progress".