By Morgan Greene
It was the start of another crisp winter morning in Alabama when little Gwennie Groundhog awoke from her long slumber. She yawned and rubbed her eyes, quick to perk up and realize just what day she had woken up to. It was her birthday! Gwennie was five years old that very day! What a coincidence!
“Mama! Papa! It’s my birthday!” She seemed to be bouncing off of the walls of the small hobbit-hole of a home they lived in, even before a sugary breakfast was on the table - a large mushroom.
“Yes!” replied Mama Groundhog in an almost mirrored eagerness. “You hear that, dear? Our daughter is five!”
“Yes, yes, I heard! I’m so proud, Gwennie!” Papa Groundhog concurred, a weary smile on his face. After three months of deep sleep, however, this was no surprise.
After a quick and eager grin shot back at her dad, Gwennie glanced around suspiciously for the fourth member of the Groundhog family…
“Boo!”
“Ahh!” Gwennie squealed in response, causing Georgie Groundhog, who had ‘booed’ her from out of nowhere, to be beside himself laughing. He was about two and a half years old.
“Gotcha, I gotcha!” He howled in triumph. Gwennie did not look nearly as pleased, on the other hand. Still, being her congenial self, Gwennie tried talking to her little brother in a calm and rational manner.
“Georgie… it isn’t nice to scare people. Besides, it’s my birthday, you know. I’m turning five!”
“Really?” Georgie inquired, clearly awed by his sister’s ‘old age.’
“Yep,” Mama piped in, nodding on cue to her husband, who now sat at the mushroom kitchen table, sipping coffee. “And today is going to be an especially special birthday for her.”
“It is?” This time, it was Gwennie who questioned the older family member. She knew that any old birthday would be made special for her, but this was the first time she had heard of this interesting news. Now she just wondered what her parents meant…
“Yes,” Her dad agreed. “After all, the year I was five was the first one that I ever emerged from my family’s hole. Now it’s your turn.”
Gwennie was puzzled for some time. “Wait, what?”
“I was five, too, when I met the outside world for the first time. How do you feel about that, honey?” Mama smiled warmly.
Gwennie glanced between her parents, her eyebrows raised in some suspicion. “Wait… are you guys expecting me to be the determining factor of whether or not winter goes on for another six weeks?!”
Her mother sucked in a breath, eyeing Papa again, this time with a nervous look on her face. “Well, yes, honey… dare I ask how you feel about that?”
Gwennie’s shoulders slumped as she stared past her mother and out the window of their hole. The still snowy ground met her worried eyes. How would she ever tell her parents that she had stage fright? That she didn’t want the Alabama citizens to be let down because of her? And what about Georgie? He admired her so much…
“Um… okay,” was all that Gwennie said in reply. “When do I go outside?”
This time, her dad piped in with, “The reporters and cameraman will be here soon. We’ll just have to wait until then.”
*15 minutes later *
An overwhelming bunch of people crowded the Groundhog family’s hole. This was it. This was Gwennie’s big moment!
“Good luck, Gwennie!” Georgie squeaked, wary of all the commotion outside.
“Thanks, Georgie… I’m gonna need it.”
Slowly and steadily, the little groundhog emerged from her home, and was met with a variety of “Oohs,” and Ahhhs.” She was still frightened, but the people looked so harmless. Camera shutters clicked and flashed, catching her off guard. Still, she wiggled the rest of her way out of the hole and it wasn’t long before people were squinting against the white of the snow to find a shadow. Just then, much to Gwennie’s dismay, the sun began to peek out from behind to gray clouds, leading her to panic.
“Oh no!” She thought frantically. “If the sun comes out, I will definitely cast a shadow! I need to think!”
Luckily, she didn’t have to think long before a clever idea popped into the clever girl’s head. She casually began walking under a nearby tree. The citizens followed in curiosity. When the sun came out, the mayor himself, who wasn’t very smart for a mayor, looked up at the blinding sun, and then down again at the little groundhog, who cast no shadow under the tree. He chuckled heartily and announced the coming of spring! The crowd erupted into cheers, and Gwennie glowed in triumph. She glanced over to her home, where the rest of her family was peeking out and celebrating along with the people! It didn’t take long for the mayor to lift Gwennie up victoriously. Spring was coming… and it was all because of a five-year-old groundhog named Gwennie.