Soon Maurice, Ben and Pete arrived at the playground. The three friends left their bikes at the bike stand , just outside the entrance. Then the three of them entered the playground together.
'So what do you guys want to do first'?, asked Maurice.
'I don't mind'., answered Ben.
'Me either'., added Pete.
But just then they heard another voice coming from where the slide is.
'Hey is someone out there? Can you help me..please'?, said the voice, sounding a bit muffled.
The boys went over to the slide to investigate and there they saw the backside of a squirrel, along with it's bushy tail and legs sticking out from the bottom of the slide, wearing a pair of bright blue shorts.
'Erm are you OK'?, asked Ben.
'What happend to you'?, asked Pete.
'Well I wanted to see what would happen if I slid down the slide backwards and come out butt first, but when i did i got wedged inside this slide. Can you help me out here'?, asked the muffled voice.
'Well sure we'll help you out. By the way what's your name'?, asked Maurice.
'It's Gregory'., replied the squirrel.
'Ok, Gregory. No need to worry, we'll have you out of there in no time'., said Pete.
Maurice took a hold of Gregory's tail, while Ben took hold of Gregory's right left and Pete took hold of the left leg.
'OK, on three guys...one, two, three PUUULLL'!, cried Ben.
The three boys pulled and tugged and tugged and pulled on poor Gregory.
'OOOH OUCH'!, cried Gregory from inside the slide. It was no good, he was still stuck inside there.
'Should we try pushing him next'?, asked Pete.
Poor Gregory shook a little bit at the thought at first, as he was afraid it would hurt like when the boys tried to pull him free.
'Don't worry, we'll be gentle. OK, one, two, three PUSH'!, cried Pete.
All three boys gently placed their paws onto Gregory's soft butt and pushed.
'Push, push, push the butt! Push, push, push the butt'!, chanted the boys, emulating the chant they made when Maurice's bike was stuck in the mud.
Gregory giggled at the chant and felt OK as the boys weren't pushing too hard, but Gregory was still stuck inside the slide.
'I have an idea. I'm going to go down on the slide and see about helping Gregory out at the front'., said Maurice.
He climbed up the slide's ladder to the top.
'Good luck'., said Ben.
'And be carefull'., added Pete.
'Don't worry guys, I will'., said Maurice, before he slid down the slide and bumped into Gregory near the bottom, who was wearing a white t-shirt.
'Hi there. Who are you'?. asked Gregory.
'Oh my name is Maurice. My friends are Ben, he's a fox and Pete, he's a bear. Their my friends and their the ones who is trying to free you from the outside. They're going to push on you again, while I'm going to try and climb back up the slide and pull you along with me. I'm gonna need you to hand onto my waist as tightly as you can'., explainned Maurice.
Gregory laughed at seeing Maurice's backside as he turned around, but did what he asked. He held on tightly to Maurice's waist where the top of his pants are.
'OK, Ben, Pete can you guys hear me'?, cried Maurice.
'Yeah we can'., came their reply from outside.
'OK on three, you guys push and I'll pull Gregory by climbing back out of the slide. OK, one, two, three, HEEEAAVVE'!, cried Maurice.
'HOOOOO'!, cried Ben and Pete as they pushed on Gregory's butt.
Maurice tried climbing back up the slide, as Gregory was holding on tightily to Maurice's waist, however the slide was just too slippery and poor Maurice keapt falling onto his stomach.
'I don't think this is working'., said Gregory.
'Yeah, I keep slipping and falling down. The best thing we can do is to get you out of this slide, rather then slide you back up it'., said Maurice.
Outside Pete and Ben heard what was being said. Suddenly Ben said 'I have an idea' and he dashed off to a nearby puddle of mud and brought some of the wet mud back to the slide.
'What are you going to do with that'?, asked Pete.
'Watch this'., answered Ben.
He lathered the top of Gregory's shorts with the thick mud and Gregory giggled as Ben was doing this.
'Hey what's going on'?, asked Maurice.
'Ben is putting some mud around Gregory's middle'., replied Pete.
'That's a great idea. OK guys, when you're done, start pulling and I'll push on Gregory's shoulders'., said Maurice.
'OK. ONE, TWO, THREE HEEEAAVVEE'!, cried Ben and Pete together, pulling on Gregory's legs, after they finished putting mud onto him.
'HOOOOO'!, cried Maurice as he pushed on Gregory's shoulders.
'OOOOH AARRGGHH'!, groaned Gregory.
After a few good shoves and tugs, Gregory came out of the slide with a pop, landing right on top of Pete and Ben, while Maurice slid down the slide.
'Thanks you guys. I know now not to do that again'., said Gregory.
'Oh you're very welcome'., replied Maurice.
'It was a good thing we came when we did. You could have been stuck in there all day'., added Pete.
'Why don't you stay a while and play with us'?, suggested Ben.
'Oh I would like that very much. Though next time I'll go down the slide properily'., answered Gregory with a wink.
The boys all had a good laugh, before heading towards the set of swings. Where they each took turns on the swings, while they push on one another, so each could swing higher.
Afterwards the boys all had a nice cool drink by at the local drinking fountain and they looked at their beautifull surroundings all around them in the quiet woods, as they soon felt like having a nap, after all the excietment they had earlier. They all sat beside each other on a bench and it didn't take long for them to close their eyes and fall fast asleep.