Once upon a time there was a smallish possum called Pocket.  No one knew how he’d wound up living in the garage, but he was glad that it was warm and dry, and there was plenty of food that Furble the cat was willing to share.

One day the big human named Paul found Pocket hanging onto the back of the fridge and tried to chase him away.  It frightened Pocket and he spent the next month hiding in the relative safety of Under-the-Auto-Lift.

Every day Pocket could hear the goings-on of the humans.  They spent a lot of time stacking boxes of sweet-smelling wool and moving around bins of delicious feeds of various types.  It was scary, but Pocket was afraid to venture out of his hiding spot into the great, wide, open world.

Then one day, a large group of the humans was making quite a racket above him.  Pocket became very worried; the noises were very loud and right above his head!  Were the humans aware of his presence?

Very, very timidly, Pocket poked his nose out to sniff at the air.  Before he knew it, the commotion had increased all around him.  The humans had found him!

They gathered around Pocket, blocking him in and poking around him with a stick.  It was very scary!

They were trying to make Pocket leave his hole.  But Pocket didn’t want to leave!

“Get me something to smack it with!” yelled one human.

“Don’t you dare!” yelled another.

Pocket was very confused.

Pocket kept turning in circles, trying to avoid the little stick they were poking him with, and trying to get a better look at what was going on above him.  Perhaps he could find an escape route!

Perhaps his friend Furble could create a distraction while Pocket escaped!

But Furble was taking a snooze.  She said “I ain’t bovvered”.

There was a small colorful human that kept squealing.  Pocket was starting to think he should try to escape.

All around him and above him were boxes and faces.  On one end, there was a net!

Pocket thought he could aim for one corner and climb over the weakest box wall.

He went for it!

But then suddenly there was a giant hand around him!  And that hand pushed him into the scary net!

What was going to happen to Pocket?  He squirmed and twisted, trying to break free from the net!

The humans were standing all around Pocket.  He was very frightened, but he tried to be calm.

Some of the humans were gathered close, smiling at him.  Pocket wasn’t sure what to make of it.

He held tight to one end of the net with his tail, hoping he could squeeze out through one of the holes in the net.  As he sat there with the humans all around him, he saw trees coming into view.

Trees!  Something deep inside him stirred.  The trees made him feel happy!

Then the human with the net set him onto the ground!

Pocket felt so happy as he sniffed the air and moved cautiously from the net.  He was free!

The lovely green, wet smell of the woods smelt delicious.  Pocket was a free Possum, and he was on his way into the woods, many grand adventures ahead of him!

Pocket felt so happy as he ran into the woods, the sounds of cheering humans behind him.