I cannot believe that this actually happened. But it did. Just this afternoon.

I was walking back to my office, snacking on my lunch-time whole-wheat bagel from Salisbury's and as I was walking past the key-only garden in the square near my work I heard a scritching scrabbling sounds and saw some movement in the bushes.
I looked over, thinking to myself Vagrant? Junkie? Murderer, as, you know, I am wont to do.

Instead I saw 3 squirrels playing chase around the trunk of a tree.
It was so cute it even thawed my cold black heart just a little bit.
Just a little.

I kept walking (after squealing just a little) and I heard a scritching, scrabbling sound on the pavement just behind me.
I paused, and turned.
The squirrel following me froze, splay-legged. It then, very very slowly (I hear humans can only see movement) squirrelled it's way over to the metal-post fence of the garden. And came a little bit closer to me.
I took two steps before turning to look back.
It froze again, having moved the squirrel-step equivalent of the steps I had just taken.
I stood there, torn shred of bagel forgotten halfway to my mouth as the squirrel rushed out of the garden, around my legs and back again, climbing up to the fence and stretching up to balance on a horizontal fence bar at about my knee height.

The squirrel stood there, looked at me, cocked his (her?) little head, wavered just a bit and reached his (her?) little hands (paws? claws? squirrel fingers?) out for the bagel in my hand.
Seriously.

And that is how I found myself talking to a squirrel in the square near my work.

What do you want? this is my bagel. Bagel, not nuts. Bay-Gel, Not nuts.