The Story of My Life :P

The Mystery of the Canopy

My backyard has one of those canopies. Like the easy-ups you take camping or to the beach with you, but permanent, with netting all around the sides and the zipper in the middle of the netting. The canopy takes up most of my backyard, which is a small cement square with a tree in the back, right next to the street. It's nice to have back there--you can lounge outside in the summers and read a book and still get the nice breeze without the bugs or the sun beating down on you--but mine is...defective.

There were a couple small tears in the netting to begin with, because of high winds and people being stupid etc. etc., but two days ago, I noticed something strange. One entire side of the canopy had been torn to shreds. I knew it was fine that morning, because I'd been out to water my plants. Now the netting had gaping holes in it wide enough for six of me to fit through. This--might--have just been the wind, since the netting was known for its tears. The problem with that was that the middle part was torn, too. 

It would make sense for just the netting to be torn, but the fabric in the middle was, too, without the seams being torn. If it were the wind, the seams would have been torn too. Plus, it looked distinctly like some creature had done the damage. It had to have arms. It might have been a person, but my house is raised, and my backyard has a tall fence that the canopy leans on. Just past  the fence are some very tall bushes. If it were a person, they'd have to be nine feet tall or have a stepping stool, and who would go to that trouble to cut up a canopy? 

The question bugged me. What had torn up my canopy? My family thought it was the wind. They were satisfied with that conclusion and moved on with life, even though there'd been no wind at all. The next day, the canopy was even more torn. I tried to get my parents to care (even though it was just a canopy and not really all that important), but they would have none of it. 

Then, today, I figured out the mystery of the canopy. 

I had gone outside to see if my morning glory sprouts had perked up (they'd only gotten worse, but the rest of my plants were flourishing) and there I saw it. 

Standing on the fence, hacking away at the netting, was a very large squirrel. 

"It's a SQUIRREL!" I exclaimed. 

The squirrel froze, belatedly noticing my presence. After a moment's hesitation, something kicked it into action, and it sped off as fast as it could to I don't know where. 

"Oh!" My mother cried. "She's going to make a nest!" 

"The canopy was torn anyway, might as well put it to good use." My dad called from the computer I'm sitting at now. My brother sat at the other computer, playing Starcraft 2, uninterested. 

I then proceeded to tell my parents to listen to me better, and I was right, so ha-ha to them. 

Case closed.