Read The Second Wave for Free Online Page A

turned to Rusty and whispered, ‘This is all nonsense, Sequoia trees don’t grow on Portland!’
    Rusty and Chip, however, were listening intently to Dandelion, who continued,  ‘After a few days, when it had never stopped raining, lots of animals waded or swam across from the Mainland to Portland, as they could see it was soon going to be the only part of the world above the water.
    ‘Below where he sat in the sequoia, Acorn could see that some humans were building a boat, big enough to take them and lots of animals as well.  By the time it was finished the sea was right up to the top of Portland and washing around the roots of Acorn and Primrose’s home-tree.
    ‘The man was asking all the animals and birds if they would like to come into his boat, and they were all going in and taking their mates with them.  This was right at the beginning of the world, before any creatures had had any youngsters, so there were only two of each animal.
    ‘The man called up to Acorn and Primrose and told them to hurry, but Primrose said to Acorn, ‘I think that man eats animals.  I’m staying here.’  So the two squirrels stayed in their tree as the boat floated away on the flood.
    ‘It rained and rained and rained, and the water came higher and higher up the tree, until Acorn and Primrose’s drey was washed away.  The two wet squirrels huddled together against the trunk, higher up, trying to keep dry, and then scratched out a little den in the deep, soft bark to shelter in.
    ‘But the next day the water was up to that level, and they had to make another den-hole even higher.  Each day the flood rose and rose, until the only bit of the tree above the water was the very tip-top twig.  Acorn and Primrose clung to it, wondering what to do next.
    ‘Acorn said the Needing Kernel –
     
    Oh Great Loving Sun
    What I need most at this time –
    Is for the rain to stop.
     
    But as this had six word-sounds instead of five, it kept on raining. Then Acorn tried again –
     
    Oh Great Loving Sun
    What I need most at this time –
    Is for no more rain.
     
    Since he had got the word-sounds right, the Sun drove away the clouds and with them the rain, and soon the water started to go down and down.
    ‘Primrose joined Acorn in saying the Thank You Kernel –
     
    Oh Great Loving Sun
    We, your grateful squirrels, now –
    Thank you sincerely.
     
    ‘Then, as the Sun shone to dry the wet squirrels, a great rainbow formed in the sky and, right in the middle of the arch, they could see the man’s boat coming back towards them.  Finally it grounded on the top of Portland where it was rising out of the water.
    ‘Soon the animals were coming off the boat, two by two.  First came two horses, then a cow and a bull, then two dogs, then two foxes, and two cats and all the other animals in pairs, except  … there was only one unicorn, and that was looking sorrowfully and accusingly at the man as it came down the gangplank onto the soggy ground.
    ‘The man shrugged his shoulders and held out his hands palms upwards.  Primrose turned to Acorn and said, I told you so!'’
    ‘Now, you would think that all the creatures would have learned a lesson and buried their droppings after such an event, but they had soon forgotten what had happened, and behaved just as they had done before.  So the Sun still has to send lots of rain to clean up the world.
    ‘Today, only the cats and humans hide their droppings, and that is why cats hate the rain and humans are always grumbling about the weather.’
    Dandelion signalled that this was the end of the story and her audience thanked her.  After brushing whiskers with their friends, they all set out for their own dreys in the near-darkness, the Sun-day over.
    Crag whispered to Rusty and Chip to follow him, and the three slipped unnoticed away through the branches, Crag mumbling, ‘Blasphemy, blasphemy! It can’t be true.  We know that there are no sequoia trees on Portland.  Blasphemy! Heathens,