Fred's younger brother, Carl, was flying a kite in the park, while Fred looked on. It was a warm, yet windy fall day, with just a bit of chill in the air from the oncoming winter.

Fred was bored, he'd rather be doing something more active than sitting there, watching his little brother, but his mother had made herself clear: Carl was much too young to be by himself, and Fred had to watch over him. Fred caught himself napping, but figured it couldn't do any harm--the part was safe, after all.

Suddenly, Fred heard his young brother cry out! The badger's kite had gotten stuck in a tree. Carl was tugging on the string, in a fruitless attempt to jerk the kite to the ground, when suddenly the string snapped. Annoyed with the whole situation, laughed, "You're in for it now! That's the second kite you've lost in a week! Mom's gonna be sooooooo mad."

At his brother's taunting, Carl began to cry. Fred, partly feeling bad for teasing his young brother, but mostly out of obligation as a big brother, told Carl not to worry, that he'd get the kite down for him.

Fred wheeled himself over to the tree, and digging his claws into the bark, pulled himself up to the first branch. After that, scaling the tree was relatively easy, and Fred soon reached the kite. Freeing it from the tree, he dropped it, and watched the kite as it drifted down into Carl's waiting arms.

Fred descended the tree as easily as he went up, and climbing back into his chair, he couldn't help but smile as Carl declared him to be the "best big brother ever."

Art by  Brock-OMeles
Fred and story © me