One day, Spike the cat was running around in the backyard of his house. He suddenly spotted a fox, perched in one of the surrounding trees. He ran back to his home in fear. It was Spike’s first time seeing a fox, and he did not know what to expect. Spike’s mom had always told him not to judge a person by their looks, so Spike decided to go back outside and take a second glance at the fox. He tiptoed out the front door and faced the tree in which the fox sat. He spoke to the fox.

“Hi fox, how is your day going? I’m Spike the cat.”

The fox responded with excitement. “Hi, my name is Max the fox. My day was going well until I got stuck in this tree, but now it is good again because you have found me!”

Spike, overjoyed by Max’s friendliness, asked him, “Would you like to run around with me?”

Max replied, “I would love to, but I’m stuck in this tree! I was running around, and I accidentally got stuck in this tree.”

Spike exclaimed, “How can I help?”

Max said, “Please find something to get me down! I am afraid that if I stay up here too long, a bear will come and eat me!”

Spike frantically started looking around the forest to find something sharp. He found the top of a knife and a stick. He broke the stick in half and attached the top of the knife to one end. He went back to Max, still stuck in the tree. Spike took his handmade saw and struck the tree once. Nothing happened. Without losing hope, Spike struck the tree twice (this time with more force.) Still, nothing happened.

Max yelled out encouraging words, “You can do it, Spike! I know you can!”

Spike got a sudden boost of confidence and struck the tree three times. There was a loud creak, and Max came flying down out of the tree! Luckily, Max landed on a soft patch of grass and immediately got up and hugged Spike.

“Thank you so much, Spike! You are the best friend a fox could have.”

Spike asked Max again, “Of course! Now would you like to run around with me?”

Max proudly declared, “Yes!”

And so they started running around together and became friends. Both Spike and Max were very smart. As friends, they would play puzzles, board games, and solve riddles.

One day, while playing in the woods, they heard a rustle and saw a hunter stomping through Spike’s backyard with a gun in hand. The hunter was an old man who did not wear pretty clothes at all. In fact, he wore rags and chunky metal boots that clanged together every time he moved. Spike and Max started to run faster to escape the hunter. The hunter kept trying to get them by shooting his gun. Then the hunter stopped because he ran out of bullets. Spike and Max both looked towards each other at the same time.

“Let’s get him,” they said in unison.

Spike and Max started chasing after the hunter, wanting to capture him because he was trying to kill them. They chased and chased the hunter all throughout the woods until they reached the Upper West Side of Manhattan. They soon reached the hunter’s house — a disheveled cabin located near Sheep’s Meadow — where the hunter put more bullets in his gun, and chased Spike and Max throughout Central Park. In the park, Spike and Max chased behind the hunter, who was unaware of the two behind him. Soon they all ran into the police. The police arrested the hunter because, even though he had more than enough food in his house, he was being greedy and still wanted to hunt down and eat Spike and Max.

Spike and Max were so happy that the Hunter was gone, they went to get ice cream. The people working at the ice cream shop were actually Spike and Max’s family. They were overjoyed! Spike and Max had not seen their parents in a whole year and missed them dearly. Spike and Max asked for their ice cream (creamy cotton candy and colorful birthday cake) and decided to stay at the ice cream shop and work with their families. Spike and Max were not only excited that they were able to be reunited with their parents, but they also were overjoyed that they each would be working with their best friend!

The End!