"We can't spend the night out here, Remus! I didn't bring any of
my gear!"

   "You're a trainee, you're supposed to be ready for everything.  I
brought *my* camping gear."

   Chit glowered at Dr. Shepherd in the darkness, propping up the 
human's pen-sized flashlight so that the man could stack some twigs
for a campfire. It was too damn heavy, too dim to be much use, and
*completely* ruined his night vision. "We can get out of the woods
in the dark.  If you're careful. [flick]"

   "It's supposed to snow tonight...we'd never have been able to track the
microbunnies this far.  Don't worry about it, Chit, we'll be fine.  I know
a little bit about survivalism...all people of my generation do."  Holding
his lighter under a strip of bark, Remus smiled down at the squirrel.  "I
mean, my generation of human beings, of course."

   "Your generation of squirrels all got eaten by foxes while the
great great grandparents of the bunny mentats that designed us were in
warren school, Remus."

   "Hmph.  Thanks.  People are different today, though.  Today, the way
technology advances, it's almost plausible for kids to believe that they'll
live forever.  Some of them expect to wipe poverty and famine off the face
of the earth."

   "They're called 'symps', Remus. [flick] But at least they're warm,
tonight."

   "...But when I was young," the scientist continued, "all we could do is
laugh at god and spit in the devil's eye.  Ah, hah, it's catching!"

   "So you learned how to make a campfire, just in case you might need it
someday."

   "And a little bit about firearms, and a little agriculture, and a little
animal husbandry...", Remus sighed, as the wet bark smoldered out.  "Yep,
I'm inadequate at a whole lot of things."

   "Great. We're going to freeze. [chitter]"

   "Nah, if I keep trying it'll dry out. Yeah, there it goes.  Okay...let's
let this get nice and warm, and I'll break out dinner."

   "You brought food? You *knew* we were going to be trapped out here,
didn't you."

   "Just MREs."  Remus pulled a metal box from his backpack.  "NoCo bought
some Desert Storm surplus, I think."

   Chit sighed, and looked into the woods.  "I'll forage for something, I
guess. Dead leaves. Dry twigs..."

   "Hey, there's Cracker Jack in here.  Want that?  It's got nuts..."

   "Well..." Chit dropped the flashlight and leapt over to snatch the packet.
"I'll still have to look for a place to sleep, though."

   "Well...I have this all-weather sleeping bag, and I'm sure you won't
take much room..."

   "I'd rather sleep in a tree, thanks."

   "My dog sleeps with me, and I've never rolled over on him..."

   "*Tree*, Remus," the squirrel said, flicking his tail.

***

   Chit, being used to sleeping lightly, peeked out of the blanket --
Remus's towel, actually -- he had balled around him in the crook of a
tree. He wondered if 'squirrels' nest' was in the Hitchhiker's 
Guide. Probably. 

   By twisting a little, he angled his peephole downward, looking for the
beeping sound that had woken him up. It figured that Remus had brought
an alarm clock as well...

   Dawn was just past, and stripes of sunlight filtered into the campsite
through the trees.  On the ground below, covered by a thin layer of snow,
a cuton geometer beeped a muffled proximity alarm...and at the foot of
Remus's enclosed sleeping bag, some tiny shapes circled in the snow.

   "Remus!  Wake up!"

...                                                                ...
Remus Shepherd   (remus@netcom.com) and Chit.