Young squirrel Hazel skips spring-cleaning to visit her favorite place, the marsh. "A world where squirrels cannot go," she sighs and promptly falls into the water. Malcolm, a young muskrat, rescues her. She discovers he is on his own in the world, torn from his home by a tornado. "But I'm not an orphan," he says, "I've just lost my family." Later, she tells her family that Malcolm "is the saddest person I've ever met. His eyes are sad. His home is sad. Sad, sad, sad." What can be done to help Malcolm? Will he ever find his family? The answer comes from an unlikely friend.