A Vacation for Phil

by Kitty the Great

"Oh Asperilla! I can't talk right now dear! I'm on my way to visit cousin Phil, up north. Yes child, I'll call you the very minute I get home! Okay... you too dear. Bye bye!" Lavender hung up the ground-line, pulled on her prettiest hat - the one with the purple and yellow flowers, grabbed her overnight bag and scurried out the hole! Phil is going to be SO surprised to see me, she thought, as she waddled out to the bus stop. Hiding carefully in a nearby bush, she waited for the A-13. When the bus pulled up she waited for the fat lady with the umbrella to board, and the for the elderly gentleman with the long beard and the cane to enter. When he got to the 2nd step Lavendar made her move! She scrambled onto the first step, crouching low so no one would see her. When the old man moved back and the doors closed she waited for the bus to start moving. Knowing the driver was busy gave her the opportunity to scoot up behind his seat without getting caught! While she waited for her stop she nibbled on a piece of donut left behind by some awfully nice passenger. Probably one of those very short ones -- they were always dropping food for her. "Punxsutawney! Albion! Bells Mills annnnnnnnnd RIKER!", the driver bellowed as the bus slowed. Lavender grabbed her bag and darted for the bottom step! Best to be the first one out. Much less chance of being noticed. Oh my, she thought. The park is so barren this time of year. So much prettier in summer with all the marigolds and geraniums. Hmphf... right now I can hardly find a blade of grass! How very depressing. I'm so glad I brought along my stash of sunflower seeds along. That should cheer old Phil up. As Lavender crossed the park, Mr. Woodell, the gardener, caught a glimpse of her purple hat moving across the soil. "What in TARNATION?" He ran into his office to get a camera and gave chase to catch up with that hat! He'd never seen a groundhog with a pretty little hat before, that was for sure! He thought a picture of that would make a great human interest story. Wouldn't the Punxatawney Press be delighted with something like that! He hurried as quickly and quietly as he could trying not to scare the little groundhog! But right as he came nearly in reach... Well then. That looks like Phil's hole right there! Yes, it is... 3rd hold to the left past the juniper bushes! I remember it well! She pushed her suitcase in ahead and disappeared into the tunnel! Straight down, past the first big root, to the next tunnel on the right. There it is! Lavendar gave a little ping ping tap with her tiny claws on tin lid Phil called a front door. As the lid slid away Lavender struck a pose and smiled! Phil could hardly believe his eyes! "Well aren't you a sight Lavender Q. Groundhog! I haven't seen you in ... well, golly, it must have been at least 2 years now! What brings you to Punxsutawney? And in this weather too!?" "Oh give me a hug you big old prairie dog!" Lavender through her arms around her cousin. "I just came up to visit you", she said. "It has been forever and I know you always get a little down this time of year." "I do Lavendar, yes I certainly do that. The pressure is just so hard on me! Will it be 6 more weeks of winter? Or only 6 weeks until Spring? And the darn humans leave it all up to ME! Their weathermen can make mistakes every night of the week -- but can I? Ohhhhhh NO! Not Punxsutawney Phil! I'll tell you Lavender, sometimes I'm of a mind to just stay in my hole! What would they do then? Who would MAKE that decision? Who would KNOW if it was to be winter or spring? I ask you!" "Oh there, there now Phil, do calm down... you're really getting yourself in a dither. Why don't you put your feet up and I'll go fix us a little nibble and some tea. That will help calm you." Phil kicked back in his recliner ( a wonderful half flat ball some child had left in the park ) and listened to the hum of the sprinkler pipes. Mr. Woodsell must be watering today, he thought. He must think spring is coming! Lavender brought out the sunflower seeds and some camomille tea, only to find Phil asleep in his chair. Poor old dear, she thought. I'll just let him rest! She tidied up the nest and then weary from her travels, she laid down to take a rest too. When she awoke, Phil was still sleeping and she thought she would run out and get some nuts and berries and prepare a real feast for him! She put on her pretty purple hat and slid the door lid aside. I do hope I can find just few winter berries and maybe some chestnuts or black walnuts... mmm... So lost in her thoughts she was, that as she poked her head up out of the hole, she was taken by complete surprise to find thousands of people standing around and photographers flashing lights in her eyes! "My gracious! What in thundering river beds is going on here?" "Mommy! Mommy! It's a GIRL! Punxsutawney Phil is a GIRL! Look! She's wearing a hat!", she heard a little boy exclaim proudly. "That must be Mrs. Phil!", he said. The crowd roared with laughter and Lavendar was just sO startled that she pulled her hat down over her face and ran back into the hole! "Phil! Phil! Wake up!" she shouted, running into the nest! "Phil, you MUST wake up! It's HORRIBLE! Just horrible!" Phil, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, yawned and stretched and said "Nutshells Lavendar! What IS it, darlin'?" "Oh Phil! We overslept! It's TOMORROW! You were so tired I wanted to just let you sleep and I went to find some berries and nuts but when I got out there, the sun was out, and the CROWD, and those cameras and screaming and shouting and oh my goodness it was just horrible! I have never been so humiliated! And the worst is, I didn't know what to DO, so I just ran back inside!" Phil just smiled. He said, "It's okay Lavender. Don't worry. I'll go on up there and I'll straighten it all out!" And with that, Phil went out to meet his crowd. But when he got to the top of his tunnel and poked his head out, the crowd had dispursed. There were no people waiting. No photographers flashing lights. No children pointing and tossing "things" to him. No one waiting to see if he saw his shadow! No one. "Imagine that," Phil thought. "February 2nd, and no one saw me come out of my hole! WOW! He looked around, and found the sun was shining brightly. "I wonder who will tell them we have 6 more weeks of winter? Ahhhh well... I guess they'll figure it out!" "Lavender," he said, strolling back into his nest, "the crowd has dispersed and no one is going to bother us! Let's go get some of those nuts and berries!" The weather was rather nice, so they stayed out for quite some time hunting and gathering treats for their feast. On a bench by the water fountain they found a morning edition of the newspaper, with Lavender's picture on the front page! The headline read "PUNXSUTAWNEY PHILICIA SEES HER SHADOW! She forecasts 6 more weeks of winter!" "Ugh! The nerve! They got my NAME wrong! How do they know if I saw my shadow? I didn't see my shadow! I only saw the inside of my hat! WHAT do I know about forecasting the weather? And look at that picture! My jowls look fat! How could they use THAT picture when my jowls look fat! Don't they look fat to ... ... ..." Phil just smiled! "Lavender, girl! You came up here to cheer me up and you have DONE that! You have definately DONE that! You saved me from one year of forcasting and gave me a better night's sleep then I've had all year! Annnnnnd you've shown me that I'm completely and totally dispensible! I don't have to worry about February 2nd ever again! If I'm not here, someone else can do the job for me! The humans will NEVER know the difference!" Phil and Lavender took their berries and their nuts and went happily back to the nest. Lavender dragged the paper along. She wanted to show it to Asperilla when she got back home.