Christian and Corinne in the Country of the Beaver

Christian opened his eyes and yawned. Already warm from the bright sun entering his bedroom through the big window, he got out of bed and started approaching the pane slowly, hoping to be able to touch the most beautiful robin he had ever seen. But it didn’t take very long for the bird to spot him and fly away.

Christian smiled, stretched, and told himself that it was going to be another wonderful day.

TOC TOC, he heard at his door. Thinking it was his mother, he said, “ Come in Maman.”

“ Christian, it’s not Maman, it’s me , your sister Corinne.”

“ O.K. You can come in Corinne.”

Corinne entered and said,” Quick Christian dress up. It’s really nice outside. Let’s go eat breakfast and go for a ride in the Magic Television.”

“ Good idea, Corinne.”

Five minutes later found them both at the kitchen table, eating their cereal. Once finished, they rushed their dishes to the dishwasher and ran to the big maple in the backyard. Sure enough- the Television was still there… Still somewhat scared, they approached it slowly. And, like the first time, when they were about a meter away, it started speaking to them.

“Good morning children. And how are you this fine spring day? Can I interest you in another adventure?”

In a timid voice, Christian stuttered,” Yes… but not too far… not too… long. Maman Renée expects us back for lunch.”

“That’s fine. Let me open up. And, don’t forget, the Magic Television is in your hands, under your control.”

Christian and Corinne entered the Television and, like the first time, the picture screen closed behind them. With hearts beating loudly in their little chests, they looked at each other, sat down, and stared at the control panel.

“Where are we going to go today Christian?”

“Do you remember, Corinne, our visit to Gatineau Park? Papa Steve and Maman Renée took us there last Fall to look at the leaves when they were all kinds of colors- red, green, yellow, orange. It was so beautiful there. Let’s return!”

“Oh yes Christian! Let’s go back to see if all the colors are still there.”

Remembering the lesson on how to use the control instruments, Christian pushed the buttons to take off and to start climbing. In a few minutes they were high, high in the sky. Then, with a little touch of the steering wheel left and they were heading North.

They quickly passed over the fabled Ottawa River and Gatineau, twin city of Ottawa, the nation’s capitol.

“Look Christian!”exclaimed Corinne. “Look at the mountains, look at the huge forest. A gray line seems to be cutting across the woods just below us. It looks like a road- perhaps the road we drove on with Maman and Papa.

“Yes! Yes! Corinne. I can also see a big lake on the right. Let’s go explore! Corinne, here, it’s your turn at the controls.”

Smiling, Corinne turned the wheel right and the Television headed towards the lake. As they approached, they spotted a long stream running into the lake. Corinne pressed the Down button and they quickly found themselves hovering over the stream.

But, to their astonishment, what should have been a whole lot of water rushing headlong into the lake was no more than a trickle. Upstream, there seemed to be a small road traversing the water somehow preventing it from rushing onward.

“Who could have built a road in such a place?” asked Corinne?

“It’s not a road,” replied Christian. “It’s a beaver dam. We learned about those in school last year.”

“Let’s go see-let’s go see up close Christian” implored Corinne, her voice full of enthusiasm.

“All right little sister. Let me take back the controls. That way you’ll be able to have a better look.”

Without another word, Christian piloted the Magic Television towards the dam in the deep wood. When they arrived he landed it on the dam. When they were both satisfied their craft would not sink through, Corinne activated the Exit button and the television screen opened.

The children stepped out and started their awkward walk on the hundreds of branches forming the beaver dam.

“Let’s be careful and walk with prudence Corinne.”

“O.K. Christian. I’ll follow.”

On one side of the dam the children could see a small pool of black water resembling a small lake. On the other side they saw thousands of branches pointing in every direction imaginable. They also noticed that here, on the downward side of the dam, there were many small threads of water coming out of the dam, falling into the stream below and heading towards the lake.











“Isn’t it beautiful and calm here? I can hear the music of the running water.”

“Yes, but it’s also a bit frightening”, added Christian, who was looking at the somber forest surrounding them.

“Christian! Look! Over there! Next to the shore- there’s a big bunch of branches in the shape of a big ball… Is it a treasure?”

“I don’t think so Corinne. It’s probably the house of the engineers who built this dam though. Let’s approach it- to get a better look.”













Suddenly, as they were making a slow approach to the shore, what sounded like a giant hand slapped the water next to them. They jumped, almost losing their balance and falling into the water.

“Over there—it’s a beaver!” yelled Christian. “He slapped the water with his tail to scare us. He doesn’t want us to get to close to his house.”

“Let’s listen then- maybe it’s best not to bother them- maybe it’s a mother who doesn’t want us to wake up her babies” said Corinne, her voice shaking.

Slowly, the children made their way back to the safety of the Magic Television, which brought them home in time for lunch.

That night at supper they related their newest adventure to their parents, who looked at each other, shook their heads and said again,” Our children have quite an imagination!”