Zippy Whizzle the chipmunk lived in the beautiful Gumdrop Forest, storing acorns, living a care-free life, and biting the legs of the occasional toxic-waste-dumping visitor.
One day, while Zippy Whizzle was eating a leaf (he was low on money, or he would have gone to McDonalds), his armadillo friend, Harold, told him that something unusual was happening in the northeast section of the forest. Concerned, Zippy Whizzle decided to investigate.
Zippy Whizzle (isn’t that a great name?) found a huge sign beside a road. Because of Hooked On Phonics, he could read the sign, which read:
| COMING SOON! THE LARGEST HOUSING DEVELOPMENT ON EARTH! ALSO! THE TERMINAL LEAKAGE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT! FIRST TEN PEOPLE TO BUY HOUSES HERE RECEIVE ROY ORBISON’S GREATEST HITS AS SUNG BY MR. CLARK! ALSO, MR. MORTIMER AND THE SACRED CART’S DEBUT ALBUM! |
Zippy Whizzle was shocked. He was even more surprised when a fleet of bulldozers plowed down a large section of forest before his very eyes. I’ll get them for that, thought Zippy Whizzle. I’ll get them for that if it’s the last thing I ever do.
However, a week passed and Zippy Whizzle didn’t do anything. What did you expect him to do? He’s a CHIPMUNK, for crying out loud!
During the week, most of the animals in the forest had moved out. Even Zippy Whizzle’s best friend, Harold the armadillo, moved out. "I can live with my cousin Tex," Harold said before he left.
Soon Zippy Whizzle was all alone in the forest. Even the ANTS had moved out. Finally, Zippy could take it no longer. He just had to do something.
One fine day he skittered down his tree and across the forest to the housing development. He noted that one of the nuclear power plant’s coolant towers had already been completed. He realized that he had to hurry.
He saw a small trailer with a sign above the door that read, "MANAGER OF CONSTRUCTION. NO CHIPMUNKS ALLOWED." He placed himself outside the door and listened. The television was saying, "GREEEEEEEEEN ACRES IS THE PLACE TO BE, FAAAAAAAAARM LIVIN’ IS THE LIFE FOR ME, LAAAAAAAAAND…" Zippy Whizzle could tolerate the irony no more. He jumped in the window and screamed as loud as he could, "chitter chitter chitter" That’s when he remembered… He was a CHIPMUNK! He couldn’t DO anything. Dejected, he went home.
That night, he came up with an idea.
The next morning, a construction worker started working construction-related stuff. He had been working for ten minutes when an arrow shot out of the forest and killed him. All the other workers gathered around their fallen comrade. However, after another worker was killed, they all ran for the armory.
Soon the construction workers were firing bullets into the forest. Unfortunately for them, Zippy Whizzle was a small target and almost impossible to hit. Frustrated, the Manager of Construction requested backup. Minutes later, airplanes were napalming the forest. They missed, too. The manager finally ordered everyone to hide.
As the manager knew would happen, Zippy Whizzle, being only a chipmunk, thought he had won. He stepped out of the forest and was immediately run over by a bulldozer driven by the manager.
Soon, the construction returned to schedule.