Derek's mother was quiet for a minute, then she answered him. "Derek, when you were very little, your daddy went into the deep woods one day. He was looking for some special wood to make a chair for you. He never came back. Everyone thinks that the evil sorcerer that lives in the deep woods got him. A sorcerer is like a very evil magician."

"There is an evil sorcerer in the woods?" Derek asked.

"Yes, Derek." his mother answered. "The village people don't like to talk about him because they are afraid that he might hear them and get angry at them, and they are afraid of him."

"Then I shall simply have to go rescue Daddy from the evil sorcerer!" Derek said.

"Oh, Derek, you must not try!" his mother said. "Your father was a big man, and a very strong man. Still, as big and strong as your father was, the sorcerer got him."

"Mother," Derek said feeling very brave, "I may not be very big, but I am getting big and I am strong for my size and I am also very smart."

"Yes, Derek. You are very strong and very smart. But the sorcerer is also strong and smart, and he is very bad. Please don't try to go into the deep woods."

"All right, Mommy," Derek said. Mommy sighed a big sigh of relief and smiled at Derek.

But Derek couldn't help thinking about what his mother had said and finally decided that he had to try to rescue his daddy from the sorcerer. So he waited until his mother was sleeping one night and he got ready to leave in search of the sorcerer. He got his back pack and put some bread and jelly and ketchup in the backpack. Just in case he got hungry. He made sure that he had lots of ketchup because he liked ketchup.

Then he got his magic stick and set out. His stick was a very magical thing. He had found it at the edge of the deep woods one day and it could be anything that he could think of, a fishing pole, or a sword, or a helicopter or a race car or anything else that he wanted it to be. Sometimes it was just a stick. His mommy said that he had a good imagination, whatever that was.

Derek had hardly set foot into the deep woods when the moonlight which had been so bright outside was all sucked up by the trees and it was so dark that he couldn't see at all. It was really kinda scary so he decided to go to sleep and continue on in the morning when he could see.

Derek laid down and tried to go to sleep, but the noises in the woods were scary, too. He would have gotten up and gone back home, but he wasn't sure which way home was. There were all kinds of noises around him. There was one that went, "Whoo, whoo," and another that went, "Chirrup, chirrup," and another that went, "Ribbit, ribbit," and one that went "Whip whip poor Will," and lots more. But he finally fell asleep.

Derek woke up in the morning with a friendly bird singing to him and things weren't scary at all now that it was light and he could see. He was hungry so he got a piece of bread out of his backpack and put some ketchup on it. Did I tell you that Derek liked ketchup? The bread was a little squashed because Derek had used his backpack for a pillow, but it still tasted good.

Derek set out in search of the sorcerer. All day he walked. Every so often he would stop and eat some bread and jelly or bread and ketchup. He had not known that the deep woods was so big and he walked all day, searching. When it started to get dark, he remembered last night and found a sheltered place under a fallen tree to spend the night. He ate some more of his bread and laid down to sleep.

It still wasn't completely dark when Derek said, "It is getting cold, I wish that I had my blankie."

That was when he heard a woman's voice ask him, "Are you cold, little boy?"

Derek sat up and looked around, but he couldn't see anyone, only a cute bunny that sat looking at him. "Who said that?" he asked.

"I did, Silly," the bunny said and hopped closer.

"You can talk?" Derek asked.

"Of course I can, Silly. I am really a woman. I was in the deep woods one day looking for some special herbs when the evil sorcerer found me and turned me into a bunny."

"Why didn't you go back home?" Derek asked.

"I can't," the bunny answered him. "It is part of the sorcerer's spell. It amuses him to have me around. But why are you in the deep woods, you should be home."

"I have to find my daddy," Derek said. "The sorcerer got him and I am going to rescue him."

Derek laid back down and the bunny laid down next to him to keep him warm. The woodland noises that night were even scarier than last night, but with the bunny for company, he wasn't so frightened.

Derek was hungry when he woke up the next morning so he opened his backpack to get some bread, but there was only one small piece left. He put lots of ketchup on it and ate it then sat sadly looking at the backpack. He was still hungry, and thirsty too.

That was when he heard a voice say, "Hey! Kid! What's the matter?"

Derek looked around but he didn't see anyone. "Who said that?" he asked.

"I did. Up in the tree," the voice said.

Derek looked up in the tree and saw a squirrel looking at him.

"The squirrel?" he asked.

"Yeah, yeah. I know," the squirrel said. "You never saw a talking squirrel before."

"Did the sorcerer get you, too?" Derek asked.

"Yeah. I was in the deep woods one day looking for nuts and the evil sorcerer decided that I should stay and eat acorns because they are bitter." The squirrel chuckled. "He didn't know that not all acorns are bitter. Anyway, what is your problem?"

"I'm hungry. And very thirsty, too." Derek answered.

"I can take care of that. Follow me," the squirrel said. He ran down the tree and across the ground.

Derek and the bunny followed him just a little way. They came to a place where a spring of water bubbled out of the ground and ran down a short stream to a pond.

"The water in the stream is clean and good to drink," the squirrel said.

Derek drank some of the water then said, "I am still hungry."

"Wait here," the squirrel said and ran up a tree. He soon returned carrying a large acorn in his mouth. He gave the acorn to Derek.

"Thank you," said Derek. He laid the acorn on a log. His magic stick became a hammer and Derek gave the acorn a whack with the hammer. The acorn shell broke open and Derek ate the acorn.

"How was it?" the squirrel asked.

"It was good, but it wasn't very big," Derek said.

"That is right. You are a lot bigger than I am, you will need more. I will be right back." He ran up the tree again. One at a time, he brought Derek several acorns until Derek had had enough.

Now that Derek was no longer hungry or thirsty, he felt a lot better. So when he heard a "Rat-a-tat-tat-tat! Rat-a-tat-tat!" he laughed and said, "Look at that silly woodpecker in the tree."

The woodpecker flew down to a low branch and said, "I am not being silly. Rat-a-tatting is what woodpeckers do."

"Oh," said Derek. "Did the sorcerer get you. too?"

"Yes, I was looking for some wood, so he turned me into a woodpecker."

"My daddy was looking for some special wood to make me a chair and the sorcerer got him," Derek said.

The woodpecker cocked his head to one side and gave Derek a long look. "Is your name Derek?" the woodpecker asked.

"How did you know?" Derek asked. He hadn't told anybody his name.

"Because I'm your Daddy," the woodpecker said.

"Well, I've come to rescue you and take you home, Daddy."

"I'm sorry, Derek. But I can't go home with you. As long as the evil sorcerer is alive, none of us can ever leave the deep woods. And evil sorcerers live a very long time," the woodpecker said.

"Then I shall just have to make the evil sorcerer turn you all back into human and let you go!" Derek said.

All three of them tried to convince Derek not to try, but Derek's mind was made up and he set off in search of the sorcerer.

The only problem was that he didn't know which way to go to find the sorcerer.

Derek walked in one direction for a while and then changed directions. All of the while, the woodpecker, the bunny and the squirrel followed him and tried to convince him to go back home.

When all three of them suddenly tried very hard to convince him to go home, he knew that he was heading in the right direction at last.

He soon came to the sorcerer's cottage and found the sorcerer outside by his well.

"What have we here?" the sorcerer asked.

"I'm Derek! And I want you to turn my Daddy and my friends back into human and let them go!" Derek said.

"I don't think so," the sorcerer said.

"Then I shall have to make you!" Derek said. His magic stick turned into a shinning sword and he marched up to the sorcerer and gave him a mighty whack in the shin with his sword.

The sorcerer yanked his leg up and grabbed it where Derek had hit him and was hopping around.

The woodpecker yelled, "Run, Derek!" and flew to the top of the sorcerer's head and went "Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!" on the top of the sorcerer's head. The squirrel ran up the sorcerer's leg, across his face and back down again. It almost looked funny with the evil sorcerer hopping around on one foot, holding his other leg with one hand and trying to slap at the woodpecker and the squirrel with the other hand.

The bunny waited until just the right time and gave a mighty leap and landed right on the sorcerer's chest! That made him fall over backwards and into his well.

"Yaaaaggghhhh!" they could hear him yell as he fell down the well. Then they heard a splash as he hit the water.

Everything became very still in the deep woods and a strange feeling came over everything. Then there was a shimmer that made everything blurry for a minute and Derek really couldn't see anything.

When it cleared up, the woodpecker, the bunny and the squirrel were gone. In their place was Derek's Daddy, a young woman and a young man. All of the sorcerer's evil spells had been broken and they had returned to human. So they all went back home to the village where Derek had many more adventures.