Most good stories start with a fundamental list of ingredients: the initial situation, conflict, complication, climax, suspense, denouement, and conclusion. Great writers sometimes shake up the recipe and add some spice.
Exposition
Vacuuming Villainy
When Flora catches Mrs. Tootie Tickham vacuuming her lawn, she notices that the vacuum cleaner sucks up a squirrel in the yard. Uh-oh. Tootie feels awful, but Flora knows what to do—she's read enough to know CPR should be given in a situation like this. Now if only she knew how to give it to a squirrel… This scary episode is most definitely our initial situation, because without this, there would be no story to tell. Even though it's gut wrenching at the time, the squirrel getting vacuumed up leads him down a path he never could have even imagined.
Rising Action
Superhero Squirrel
Flora saves the little squirrel's life and immediately thinks he must be a superhero. Think about it: An unlikely accident is how most superheroes first get their powers. She thinks she's on to something when the squirrel—whom she's named Ulysses—lifts the vacuum cleaner over his head and starts typing poetry. Tootie's not sure what to make of the whole thing, but her great-nephew, William, and Flora's mom don't like it one bit. This brings us to our conflict, because having a superhero squirrel starts to create some serious problems for Flora.
Climax
What to Do if Your Mom's an Arch-nemesis
From the time Ulysses becomes a superhero, Flora knows he'll have an arch-nemesis—after all, superheroes have to fight someone. Ulysses's just happens to be Flora's mom. She's really upset when her mom tries to kill off her squirrel friend—not once, but twice—plus Flora feels like her mom loves her stupid lamp more than Flora, and she doesn't get why having a squirrel friend is so weird. Tensions rise in the family, especially when Ulysses goes missing one night in the middle of the night. Flora just knows her mom is behind it.
Falling Action
Squirrel to the rescue
We've seen Ulysses fly in the air, fight off a mean cat, and even write poetry on a typewriter, but now he faces his biggest challenge when Flora's mom takes him out to the woods with a shovel. She insists it's nothing personal, though, and that she just wants her kid to be normal.
Ulysses remembers that he's a superhero, so he throws the shovel away and makes a break for it, flying through the air, over the town, and heading to Flora's dad's apartment building. It's a good thing, too, because that's where Flora is. After Ulysses breaks free, we know we're coming to our resolution soon. He's no longer in danger, and we can officially stop holding our breath.
Resolution
Couch Debrief
Flora's mom has a lot of explaining to do since, you know, she kidnapped her kid's squirrel and planned to kill him. She makes her way over to the apartment building and apologizes to Flora, explaining that she was just trying to get her daughter to be normal for once. Flora finally feels like her mom cares about her more than a lamp or anything else, and the two of them cry and hug it out on the couch.
Meanwhile, Flora's made a friend in William, and since it looks like everything is back to normal for our gal, it's time to hear some squirrel poetry. The gang decides to read Ulysses's poem to Flora aloud.