Page 42 - Fables volume 2

Beaver’s Damn

Satch the muskrat shook himself dry in the lodge’s lower chamber
and rambled up to Eager and Busy’s private quarters. He found them
stretched out, exhausted.
“Hey, you two: no time to be sleeping. Big doings out there.”
Eager fixed a beady eye on the visitor. “Can’t you see we’re
bushed?” he groaned. “We’ve been out all night cutting a deeper
spillway in our dam. The water just keeps rising.”
“I told you this was going to happen. You can’t keep up with it.
Even if you knocked down your dam completely, the river’s going to
back up and wash you away.” The muskrat was adamant. “It’s time to
leave.”
“Leave?” Now Busy was fully awake. “What do you mean, leave?”
She glared at Satch indignantly. “This is our home, and we are the
only ones who can preserve or rebuild this whole wetland ecosystem
after a nasty rainy season.”
“Oh, I know all that self-righteous justification: keystone species,
nature’s gift to the wilderness, et cetera. Don’t get me wrong—I’m
glad you’re my friends and give me shelter in a storm. But I’ve got to
return the favor. Get out while there’s still time. Disaster looms.”
Eager twitched his nose. “Nonsense. We can ride this out. The
lodge is plenty tough. The flooding can’t go on much longer.”
“Listen to me, you bucktoothed beavers! This is no ordinary rainy
season, and the river is already way higher than it used to be. It’s a
crisis in climate change, nothing any of us has ever seen before. Man
is out of control—he’s broken the system. Everything you and your
clan have ever built is about to be demolished. Come on!”
“But we are the stewards of the river.” Busy cleaned herself
nervously. “This is where we belong. Where can we go?”
The muskrat sat up on his hind legs. “A boat is coming to carry us
all to safety. They’re taking one couple of each type of animal. You
can be the representatives of all the beavers—it’s an honor. I’m
getting my honey and heading for the levee. It just might be on
time.”

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