Ambisinister Burrow and the Occupations He Tried

This idea originated a few years ago when I was working on animal characters for an assignment that I had due for a Bravewriter course. I was supposed choose an animal and then write a scene about him or her. I decided on a meerkat. As I developed the scene, I discovered that the meerkat was clumsy. Thus, the name Ambisinister came to mind (I had just learned that the name meant clumsy). Burrow seemed a fitting last name since that's what meerkats do; they burrow. Now, I have the first draft of the book done. It's for toddlers aroudn Brielle's age, so if the writing seems way too young for all of you, it was intended to be that way. So, here it is- Ambisinister Burrow and the Occupations He Tried (Please note that this is only a first draft and might need some work. Feel free to critique it. Those of you with little ones may also copy it if you'd like)!

Ambisinister was a little meerkat. He lived in a burrow with the rest of his family. But, other than that, he wasn’t like the rest of the meerkats at all, because he was clumsy. He always seemed to be tripping over his own two feet.

His friends were always teasing him. “Hey, stumbler! Come and try to catch me!” “Bet I can dive into the hole faster than you can, pokey!”

All of these taunts hurt Ambisinister. He wanted to cry. And now, the teasing had just gotten worse; for it was time to pursue a job.

Ambisinister did his best, but his clumsy habits always seemed to get in his way. While trying to dig tunnels, he would accidentally stand on the wrong pile of dirt, and it would all fall into the hole- covering the entrance. He tried to hunt, but he would trip over a rock and cry out, “Ow!” scaring all of the prey away. He tried to carefully watch his friends, but they got annoyed.

“Oh, just leave us alone, useless one! You’ll never become anything!”

Ambisinister told himself that what they said was not true. “I will become something someday. I will!”

One day, he had an idea. Just as soon as everyone was awake, he dashed out of the tunnel and took up his post upon a rock. Scanning the horizon, he sniffed the air. The sun shone brightly in his eyes.

After a while, he began to dream. He dreamt of being a guard-all of the dangers he would warn his community of, all of the meerkats he would save.

Suddenly, a deep growl snapped him out of his dream. He stood frozen- directly over him stood a great lion.

He opened his mouth to warn the rest of the meerkats, but all that came out was a high pitched screech. “Eeeeeeeee!”

Ambisinister leapt in the air, diving for the hole. Bump! That would leave a mark!

He stood up, rubbing his injured head. He looked behind him- the lion was getting closer. He dove for the hole again; this time making it.

That night, the elders of the meerkat community talked to him. “You should not have tried to guard us. You put everyone in danger.”

Ambisinister dropped his head in shame. Walking back to his home, he slumped down on the floor to sleep.

A few weeks later, the community was beginning to run out of food. The elders held a meeting.

“We need to go hunting,” they agreed.

When everyone heard of the decision, they were very excited. Everyone decided to take a day off of work to get ready to go. Only the babies and their babysitters knew they must stay behind.

Ambisinister tried to get ready, too, but the meerkats were telling him, “You can’t come. You’ll scare everything away.”

Ambisinister was very sad. The other meerkats would get to participate in the hunt, but he would have to stay behind. As he and the babies and their babysitters watched the other meerkats leave, one little baby tugged on his paw.

“Yes?” he said.

“Why aren’t you going with them?” she asked.

A smile suddenly pulled on his lips. He began to tell her a story about a very clumsy meerkat who couldn’t find a job. Gradually, more and more babies abandoned their babysitters to listen to his story. When he was done, they asked for another. And another. He kept telling stories until the parents came home. Everyone was happy with how the were kept occupied. They gave him the job of babysitter. As he grew older, they began to say that he was the best one they ever had. And there was never again another meerkat as clumsy as he.


The End