No Need to Cry Over Spilled Berries

“What’s wrong with him?” asked Shelby the tortoise, as she stared from a distance at Professor Whiskers the rat, sitting on a log all by himself. Professor Whiskers had his face in his hands, and he looked like he was deep in serious thought.

“I don’t know,” replied Mabel, Shelby’s mother. The two tortoises had been collecting pebbles along the stream–their favorite pastime–when they spotted the lonely professor. “All these years, I’ve never really known what goes on in that big brain of his. I’m sure it’s not always so easy being so brilliant. All those ideas bouncing around in his head.”

“Maybe I should bring Professor Whiskers some blueberries,” said Shelby. “That might cheer him up.”

“That’s a splendid idea, sweet one,” said Mabel. “You’re so very thoughtful, but are you sure you don’t want to keep collecting pebbles? There’s some really good ones right here.”

“I’d love to, Mom,” said Shelby, “but I think this is more important.”

Shelby ran off and got an empty basket. With her basket on her arm and a pep in her step, she went and picked blueberries from the bushes down the road from her house. When the basket was full, Shelby skipped off to bring the basket to Professor Whiskers, but tripped on a root sticking out of the ground, causing her to spill all the blueberries she had picked. Shelby, still on the ground, looked at all her hard work that had gone to waste and began to cry.

“Hey there, Shelby. What’s the matter?” Shelby heard a voice say. She felt someone help get her up from the ground, and saw it was Jasper the hare.

“Hi, Jasper,” sobbed Shelby. “I was going to bring those blueberries to Professor Whiskers, but I fell and dropped them.

“Oh, that’s no problem at all,” said Jasper. “I’ll help you pick new ones.”

“Really?” said Shelby.

“Yep,” said Jasper. “No need to cry over spilled berries.” Jasper winked and gave one of his signature smiles. The two went back to the blueberry patch and collected a new batch of berries in no time at all.

“Gee, thanks, Jasper,” said Shelby once they were finished.

“Wow, Jasper,” gushed Roxie the hare, whose sudden appearance startled Shelby. “You’re so considerate.”

“No problem at all,” said Jasper. “Hap-hap-happy to help! Now I gotta skadattle to help Roger the cat fix his rowboat.”

Jasper ran off to his next adventure, and Roxie disappeared as suddenly as she had appeared in the first place. Shelby, with her basket of blueberries in hand, walked carefully over to Professor Whiskers, who was still on his log, lost in thought.

“Hello, Professor Whiskers,” said Shelby, standing in front of him.

Professor Whiskers slowly looked up at Shelby. When he fully registered that another living creature was standing in front of him, he said, “Hello, child. How may I help you?”

“You were looking kind of down,” replied Shelby, presenting the basket to Professor Whiskers, “so I picked you these blueberries.” He looked down at it and then back up at her.

“That was very kind of you,” said Professor Whiskers. “But I won’t be needing them.”

Shelby was a little hurt by his words, but she decided not to let that deter her from her mission to cheer up the lonely rat. She asked, “What’s got you down, Professor Whiskers?”

“It is beyond your comprehension, child,” said Professor Whiskers.

Shelby was pretty sure that was a polite way of calling her stupid, but she was determined and decided to press forward. “I’m sure I’d understand if you explained it to me,” she said. “I get all the top grades in school. Miss Hootsworth says I’m the best student she’s ever had. Please, Professor Whiskers. I’m sure I could help you if you gave me a chance.”

Professor Whiskers rubbed his temple and said, “Sit down,” patting the empty space of log next to him. Shelby put the basket of blueberries on the ground and sat on the log next to Professor Whiskers. Professor Whiskers drew in a deep breath, let it out slowly, and said, “We’re not real, Shelby.”

Shelby thought that was an odd thing to say, and asked, “What do you mean we’re not real? I’m real. See,” and she patted his shoulder.

Professor Whiskers shook his head and said, “I know you think you’re real, but you’re not. None of us is. We’re all part of what is known as a cartoon, and soon it will be over, and we won’t exist anymore.”

“We’re a cartoon?” said Shelby. “What’s that?”

“It’s a motion of pictures using animation techniques to photograph a sequence of drawings rather than real people,” said Professor Whiskers. “Stories made for the amusement of children.” Professor Whiskers shook his head and continued, “We’re just for the amusement of children.”

“I’m the main character of a story?” asked Shelby, feeling somewhat honored, yet still confused.

“No,” said Professor Whiskers. “Jasper the hare is the main character. We’re just side characters, destined to fade into the background unnoticed. It’s why we’re allowed to have this conversation right now. It’s why I was able to stumble upon the truth. You and I having this information doesn’t break the storyline.”

Shelby thought about this for a moment and asked, “If Jasper is the main character, what would happen if he knew the truth?”

“It would break the story,” said Professor Whiskers. “Which is why it can’t happen.”

Shelby stood up from the log and said, “Jasper is helping Roger fix his rowboat. Let’s just go and tell him.”

“Child, do as you wish,” said Professor Whiskers, “but I’m telling you there’s no point to it.”

Shelby left Professor Whiskers on his log and ran off to Hollowbranch River, where she knew Roger the cat kept his rowboat. When she arrived, Roger was just setting off into the water on his boat, while Jasper stood on the riverbank, watching proudly, with Roxie admiring him by his side.

“Oh, Jasper,” gushed Roxie. “You’re so resourceful.”

“Jasper, Jasper,” said Shelby, interrupting the moment. “I need to talk to you.”

“Oh, hey there, Shelby,” said Jasper. “Did you get those berries to Professor Whiskers?”

“Yes, I did,” replied Shelby, “But I need to talk to you about something important.”

“I need his assistance first, my dear,” Shelby heard someone say. She looked to her side and saw it was Newton the frog who had appeared.

“Hey there, Newton,” said Jasper. “What’s the matter?”

“No time for pleasantries,” said Newton. “Ziggy the dog is sick, and I need someone to fill in for him as the trumpet player at the public concert.”

“Your first thought was to come here and ask Jasper?” said Shelby.

Jasper and Newton stared at Shelby for a moment without a word, and Shelby began to feel a bit awkward in a way she never had before. Jasper looked at Newton and said, “Sure, I’d be hap-hap-happy to help!” Shelby followed Jasper and Newton, waiting for the concert to end. Once they were finished, Shelby was about to talk to Jasper about Professor Whiskers’s theory, but right before she could, Dolores the cow appeared and needed Jasper’s help exterminating ghosts from a haunted house, and once Jasper was done with that, Henrietta the chicken appeared and needed Jasper’s help to defeat a giant that had been terrorizing the area. 

“Jasper is so brave,” gushed Roxie, watching Jasper walk off with Henrietta. “He can do anything.” It was at this point that Shelby gave up on trying to talk to Jasper and went back to see Professor Whiskers, who was still hunched over on his log.

Shelby sat on the log next to Professor Whiskers, and he turned to her and said, “Don’t beat yourself up over it, child. You never stood a chance.”

“No, you don’t understand,” said Shelby. “Jasper was just really busy helping people. I’ll just go back later when he’s not so busy.”

“There will always be something to take his attention away from the truth,” said Professor Whiskers.

“How do you know?” asked Shelby.

Professor Whiskers stared at her for a moment, looking a bit angry. His face softened a bit as he looked to the ground, and he said, “Trust me. There’s no point to any of it. That’s why I don’t bother leaving this log.”

“Should I wait here with you?” asked Shelby.

“No, child,” said Professor Whiskers. “Live your life. Live it as much as you can before it’s all over.”

“Then why don’t you do the same?” said Shelby.

“I can’t,” said Professor Whiskers.

“Why not?” said Shelby.

“I know too much,” said Professor Whiskers.

“So what?” replied Shelby. “I know too much too.”

“But that’s different,” said Professor Whiskers.

“How?” said Shelby.

“You wouldn’t understand,” said Professor Whiskers. “Just leave me alone.”

Shelby stared at Professor Whiskers, unsure of how to respond. She thought to herself, “Professor Whiskers is the smartest person I know, and if he says that I won’t understand something, maybe he’s right. But nobody’s perfect, and Professor Whisker’s theory about us being cartoons is proof that even he can make mistakes. I can’t just leave him here, moping on this log.”

“I have an idea,” said Shelby to Professor Whiskers as she shot up from the log. He looked up at her, curious as to what she could possibly have to say. Shelby continued on to say, “ Let’s go collect pebbles by the stream.”

Professor Whiskers, confused, said, “Why would I do that?”

“Because it’s my favorite thing to do,” replied Shelby.

“But why–” started Professor Whiskers, but before he could finish, Shelby started tugging on his arm.

“Please, please, please, Professor Whiskers,” said Shelby. “If you don’t like it, I swear I’ll leave you alone.”

Professor Whiskers relented and rose from his log. He walked with Shelby over to the stream and watched her bend down, enthusiastically hunting for pebbles.

“Come on, Professor Whiskers,” said Shelby. “There’s some good ones right here.”

Professor Whiskers bent down with Shelby and began to sift through the stones. He thought this activity was utterly ridiculous until he found himself a nice smooth pebble. With a smile on his face, he admired his discovery and exclaimed, “Look at this fine specimen!” Shelby happily gazed at the rat, who was happier than she had ever seen him. Shelby and Professor Whiskers started sifting through the stones again, hunting for more pebbles they could claim as a prize, and they couldn’t be bothered to think about anything else.