by Margo Fallis
Ian & Mac Stories - Echo Canyon
Mac was busy playing with little Molly. The two raccoons had volunteered to baby-sit her for several hours. Ian went off to find some berries and nuts for them to have as a snack. "I'll be back in a little while," he called to the others. "I'm off to find some berries for Molly."
Mac nodded his head. Molly waved goodbye and Ian ran off into the woods. There weren't many berries around. Ian searched and searched but couldn't find any. "That's odd. Where are all the berries?" he wondered. He decided to go further up the glen. Maybe there were some there. He walked and walked and soon found himself in a canyon, with steep, sloping walls on three sides. "This is cool," he said, looking around. He noticed some bushes up ahead. "Wow, berries!" He started picking them, but instead of saving them for the others, he ate them all. His mouth, fingers and fur were covered with berry juice. "Ooops!" he said, realizing he'd finished the lot off.
As he was walking out of the canyon, he tripped on a rock and fell. "OUCH!" he shouted.
"OUCH! OUCH! OUCH! Ouch! ouch!" A string of ouch's came echoing back to him, getting softer and finally ending.
"Who was that?" he asked.
"Did someone else say ouch? Mac, is that you? Molly?" he questioned.
Nobody answered. "Hello!" he called.
"HELLO! HELLO! HELlo! Hello! hello!" came rolling back to him.
"What is going on here? Was that me?" He scratched his head with confusion. "Is this Ian?" he shouted.
"IS THIS IAN? IS THIS Ian? IS This Ian? Is this Ian?" was the answer.
"It's me! It's my echo! How fun!" he laughed. He spent the next hour shouting things, only to hear his echo over and over again.
He sat down on a rock to rest. It was rather warm. He remembered Mac and Molly back in the woods and how they were waiting for him to bring back some berries and nuts. "Just one more shout," he giggled.
But before he could open his mouth he heard, "IAN! WHERE ARE THE BERRIES? IAN! WHERE ARE THE berries? IAN! WHERE ARE the berries! IAN! Where are the berries?"
He started laughing. "Hey! I didn't even open my mouth that time!"
Just then someone tapped him on the shoulder. "Ian! Where are the berries?" It was Mac, with Molly holding his hand. "We sent you out to find food for the wee one here and all you can do is listen to your echo?" Mac looked at Ian's face and hands. "I see! You've eaten all the berries for yourself, have you?"
"Well, I….I…well…," was all Ian could mumble.
"WAAH! WAAH! WAAH! WAAH!" cried Molly. "I want berries! I'm hungry!"
"WAAH! WAAH! WAAH!" echoed back. This caught Molly by surprise. "What was that? Was that me?" she said, wiping her tears away.
"Yes, Molly. It is your echo, but it's very loud. Let's go back to the woods. Ian is going to go and find you some berries, aren't you Ian?" Mac said, sternly.
"Why, sure I am. I'll be there shortly," he said.
Mac took Molly and headed home. Ian, feeling bad, headed off to find some more berries. "GOODBYE!" he shouted, unable to resist one last time.
"GOODBYE! GOODBYE! GOODbye! Goodbye! Goodbye!" Soon he heard nothing. Shrugging his shoulders, he ran off to find the berries.
An hour later, Ian came walking back to the tree. "There he is," Mac said. Molly ran up to him and took the berries out of his hand. She popped them in her mouth, hungrily.
"I hope your happy, Ian. Poor wee thing's been starving for hours." He gave Ian a disappointed look.
"Sorry, Mac. Sorry, Molly. I was having too much fun in the canyon. It won't happen again," he apologized.
Shortly after that, Molly's mum came to collect her. "Thanks, lads, for watching wee Molly," she said and left with her baby.
Ian went up into the tree and fell asleep, feeling bad about what he'd done. Mac, seeing that Ian was snoring, ran quickly down the path. "I'M HERE! I'M HERE! I'M HERE!" his voice echoed. Mac snickered, hoping Ian would never find him there. Hee hee hee!
Return to Ian & Mac Index | Return to Children's Stories