Lanessa and the Fox

Lanessa. a twelve year old girl lived with her grandparents on a farm in Indiana. She loved playing with the kittens, feeding the sheep and cows on her grandparents farm. Her parents were on a trip to Europe and as usual, didn't have time for Lanessa. She had lived with her grandparents for eight years and she would get postcards, letters and gifts from her parents and she would see them on holidays. She didn't mind. She loved her grandparents the Howards. They were good to her and she was their only grandchild and her mother, Leticia was their only daughter. Lanessa loved her parents and they loved her but her parents were journalists and photographers and they traveled all over the world. Their careers were important and they left Lanessa with Leticia's parents. The Howards were happy to have Lanessa and Lanessa was happy to live with her grandparents.

Lanessa loved helping Grandma Howard bake pies, cakes and cookies. Lanessa was in a tree picking apples so she and her grandmother could bake pies next week. Lanessa would drop apples in the red wagon and baskets by the trees. She didn't see Roscoe, the sneaky red fox stealing apples. He was putting them in a burlap bag. He would use his mouth to pick up the apples. Lanessa looked down at her wagon and baskets and wondered why it was taking her so long to fill up the baskets and wagon. Roscoe was good at stealing. He would steal eggs from the chickens. He stoled pies and cakes that were cooling in the window. He would steal meat off the grill that the Howards were cooking. He would also steal cartons of milk when they were left out for cooking and when Mrs. Howard's back was turned, Roscoe would steal the milk and bananas off the kitchen counter. Poor Mrs. Howard thought she was losing her mind.

Roscoe had his burlap bag full of apples and he was walking off with them. He had the bag between his teeth and the bag was loaded. He couldn't go too fast. Lanessa picked a few more apples and decided that she and grandma had plenty of apples for baking pies and freezing them for the winter. She climbed out of the tree and saw Roscoe several feet ahead dragging the burlap bag. She was puzzled. She ran after the fox and yelled at him. Roscoe was in trouble now. No one had ever caught him before. He tried to run with the burlap bag full of apples. The bag of apples was slowing him down. Lanessa caught up with him.

"Hey! Those apples aren't yours, Mr. Fox. Why on earth would you want apples?"

"Look, little girl. I have a wife and family to feed. I can't climb trees or go to the grocery store to get food. I am a fox. I have had to learn how to survive. Please don't judge me."

Lanessa was shocked. "You can talk? Animals don't talk. I must be imagining this." Lanessa sat on the grass and looked at the red fox. He was a beautiful animal and she had never seen a fox up close.

"No, it isn't your imagination. My name is Roscoe. I was once a human two hundred years ago. I was a pirate at one time and I met up with some gypsies and I swindled some gypsies at cards. I also stoled from them and a gypsy woman, Lavondie, put a curse on me. She said I behaved like a sneaky fox so she turned me into a fox. I will be a fox forever. Since I was a pirate, I am good at stealing food."

"You were a human and a pirate? Now, you're a fox. Can I meet your family? I promise I won't hurt them."

"Yes, you can meet my family. Can you help me carry these apples to my den?"

Lanessa smiled. "Of course." She picked up the burlap bag of apples and followed Roscoe into the woods into his den.

It was a nice sunny day and when they arrived at his den, she saw four cute red and white fox babies looking out at her from the den. She got down on her knees and cuddled each one of them. Roscoe's wife Felicia came out of the den but Roscoe told her that it was alright. Lanessa petted her and bowed to her.

Lanessa stayed a little longer with the foxes but she knew that she had better get those apples home to her grandmother before it got dark. She told the foxes good bye. Roscoe walked with her out of the woods.

"Roscoe, promise me you won't steal food from us anymore. I will bring you milk, apples, pies and food. I will come to your den every few days."

Roscoe smiled. "I promise. Thanks for being so nice."

Lanessa smiled. "I love your baby foxes and wife. I love you, too."

Roscoe rubbed his head against Lanessa's leg. Lanessa petted him and she took her apples home. She didn't tell her grandparents about Roscoe and his family. They wouldn't understand.

Lanessa bought the fox family food until they were old enough to go out on their own. Roscoe and his wife stayed at the den. Lanessa would still visit them. Lanessa grew up and went to college and became a Veterinarian. She always came back to see Roscoe over the years. She never told anyone about Roscoe. Who would believe in a talking fox that was over two hundred years old?

931 Words