Hello, everyone! This is Umbra the Hedgehog signing in! Alright, after getting another request, I now try my hand at writing a small story. And what better way to do so than making it about a cartoon that you probably never heard of? No, wait... Uh, anyway, here goes! This one is based on Nelvana's cartoon show, Spliced.

Description: When the inhabitants of Keep Away Island discover a celebration, they decide to give it a go. What's going to happen?

NOTE:

-I do not own any of the characters or scenarios presented in this story.


The Missing Holiday

Chapter 1: Finding the holiday.

Dawn broke over the little landmass known as Keep Away Island, and an alarm clock could be heard from inside what looked like a wrecked plane.

The owner of the alarm clock switched it off, and got out of bed. He was an orange animal, who could only be described as a squirrel with tentacles instead of legs. The mad scientist who created him named him "Failed Experiment #13", but his friends just called him Peri.

He let out a yawn, and stretched his arms. "Ah, that was a good night. Time for some breakfast."

After heading towards the kitchen, he made himself a sandwich. He had only just finished putting it together, when his best friend came through the door. He was another mutant: a cross between a chicken, a cow, a pig, and a shrimp.

"Hey, Peri!"

"Oh, hi, Entrèe!" Peri took a bite out of his sandwich. "What are you doing here?"

"Come on!" He took out a bucket. "We have a game of bucket-stick-fruit-ball to finish!" And then he went outside.

"Oh, right! I'm coming!"

He began to head towards the door, when he slipped and fell to the ground. Upon getting back up, he noticed the thing that made him slip: a tri-fold brochure.

"Hey, what's this?"

He opened it and started to read it.

"Flight to Canada...falls...wonders of the world...huh?" Something caught Peri's eye. "What's this?"

"Peri! Come on!"

"I'm going, I'm going!" He headed outside, the brochure still on his hand.

Entrèe had a stick on one hand, and a pineapple with a pig nose on the other. The bucket was on the floor, along with a cowboy hat.

"About time! Now, let's see if you can-"

He was cut off by Peri. "Hey, Entrèe. You know what this is?" He showed him the brochure.

"Well, yeah." He took it, and pointed at it. "It's paper! Couldn't you tell?"

Peri pointed at the contents. "No, I'm talking about what it says!"

"Let's see..." He began to read it. "Flight to Canada...boring. Neegarah Falls...boring. Wonders, world...boring."

"No, no." He pointed at the last words. "This thing."

"Oh." His friend looked at these words. "What's a 'Valentine's Day'?"

Peri took back the brochure. "So, you don't know?"

"Hmm..." Entrèe suddenly took his brain out of his head. "Hey, do I know?"

Surprisingly, the brain answered. "Nope, I don't. I have no idea, which logically means that you have no idea as well. Hence, the answer is 'no'."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." And then, he put it back inside his head. "Apparently, I don't."

The brain's voice was heard from inside Entrèe's head. "Seriously, why don't you ever use me?"

Entrèe just hit himself in the head with the stick.

"...Ow."

Peri then had an idea. "Wait, I know! Let's ask someone else!" With this, he began to run towards the city.

"Wait! What about our game?"

His voice was heard from inside the jungle. "We can finish it later!"

"Good point." And then he decided to follow his best friend.

At the city...

"OK, who should we talk to first?"

"I don't know."

After some thinking, Peri came to a decision. "I know! Let's ask Joe!"

"Uh...yeah." Entrèe took a step back. "Do that by yourself, Peri."

"Right. I forgot that Joe hates you." He then began to approach the mayor's office. "I'll be back in a moment."

He entered the office, and there he was. City mayor Two-Legs Joe, the bipedal rhinoceros with a bird on his backside, taking care of some paperwork.

"Hi, Joe."

He then took his eyes away from his paperwork. "Oh. It's you, Peri." He approached his visitor. "You haven't destroyed anything yet, right?"

"Not really. I was just getting ready to play a game of bucket-stick-fruit-ball with Entrèe-"

"Where is he?" He suddenly got really angry. "I owe him an unhealthy dose of stomping!"

"I don't know." Peri wanted to avoid the sight of a painful stomping against his friend.

"Oh, sorry." Joe cleared his throat. "Keep going."

"Well, I was getting ready, and then I found this." Peri showed him the brochure. "Do you know what this is?"

"Hmm..." The mayor began to read. "Valentine's Day...what day is that?"

"I guess you don't know." And then, another idea came to mind. "Hey, does he know?" Peri pointed to the bird.

"I don't know. He's been really quiet recently."

"Oh, OK." Peri began to head for the exit. "Thanks, Joe."

"You're welcome...as long as you don't cause any damage."

And so, he left.

"So?"

"He doesn't know."

"Figures." Entrèe took out a sheet of paper, and crossed Joe's name out.

Peri began to think again. "So, who's next?"

"Oh, I know! I know!" Entrèe raised his hand. "Let's go ask Patricia!"

"Good idea! Maybe she knows!"

"And maybe she has some swineapple pie!"

Peri and Entrèe then headed to her house. Once again, Entrèe stayed behind while Peri knocked on the door. After a few seconds, he was greeted by the figure of Patricia, a platypus, and the only non-mutant resident of the city.

"Oh, hi, Peri."

"Hi, Patricia. I was wondering-" His question was cut off, this time by Entrèe.

"You have some pie? I want pie!"

"I haven't made any yet." She showed him her hands. "I don't even have my mitts."

"Give me pie!" After this request, he got hit in the head again, this time with a frying pan. This knocked him out, in true silly fashion.

Once again, Entrèe's brain could be heard. "Ow! Man, what a week!"

Patricia then put away the pan. "So, what were you saying?"

"Oh, right. I was wondering if you knew about Valentine's Day."

"Huh?"

Peri handed her the brochure. "I found this in my house." She read it as he explained. "It said something about vacation and waterfalls, and then it mentioned something called 'Valentine's Day'."

After she finished reading, she gave the brochure back to him. "Well, I'm not really sure."

"Oh." Peri put away the brochure.

As he began to approach his knocked-out friend, however, he heard Patricia's voice again.

"But hey, you could always ask Compuhorse."

Peri's eyes widened. "Oh, right! Compuhorse! Why didn't I think of that?" He then turned around. "Thanks, Patricia."

"No problem, Peri. Glad to be of assistance." With these words, she closed the door.

Peri then took out a jar of mayonnaise, seemingly out of nowhere (don't ask), and waved it in front of Entrèe's face. This was enough to wake him up.

"Mayo! Give me! Give me!" Entrèe took the jar from Peri's hand, and began to lick the contents.

"Well, Patricia didn't know, but she told me to go ask Compuhorse."

Entrèe was done with the jar, and threw it away. "Boring! Let's go ask Octocat!"

As he began to walk away, Peri stopped him with a simple comment. "Maybe he has mayo pie."

This made him stop dead in his tracks, followed by him quickly heading to meet Compuhorse, grabbing Peri. "Let's go!"

In a matter of minutes, the two were in Compuhorse's home. And there he was, standing still without even blinking, with a computer embedded in his guts.

"Hi, Compuhorse." Peri greeted him, while Entrèe just searched for mayo pies.

Compuhorse replied, in his usual computerized voice. "Hello, Peri. Hello, Entrèe. It's nice to see you."

"Excuse me, do you know anything about Valentine's Day?" Peri just showed him the brochure.

"Yes, I do. Please, come closer and watch my slideshow on the matter." And so he did.

Compuhorse's screen showed several pictures, while he began to explain.

"Saint Valentine's Day (commonly shortened to Valentine's Day) is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Valentine and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 500 AD. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). The day first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. Modern Valentine's Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have largely given way to mass-produced greeting cards."

Peri was surprised. "Wow. That's amazing!"

The slideshow continued. "In some Southamerican countries Valentine's Day is known as "Día del Amor y la Amistad" (Day of Love and Friendship). For example Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and El Salvador. Although it is similar to the United States' version in many ways, it is also common to see people do "acts of appreciation" for their friends."

This caught Peri's attention. "That sounds great!" He turned around. "Hey, Entrèe!"

And this, in turn, caught Entrèe's attention. "You found any mayo pies?"

"Even better; I just found a holiday!" Peri turned back around. "Thanks, Compuhorse!"

The presentation ended. "You are welcome, Peri."

"Let's go and tell everyone!"

Switch back to the city...

Peri and Entrèe had gathered every resident of the city together. Everyone was confused, with some of them wondering why they were doing that, and some others were asking their peers if they knew anything.

And then, the suspense finally ended.

"I wanted to inform you all about this new holiday I just discovered."

Fuzzy Snuggums, the island's resident explorer, raised his hand. "A new holiday?"

"Yes. I asked Compuhorse about it, and it turns out that there's a holiday that's all about showing love and affection to your friends and loved ones."

"And what day is that?"

Peri took out a calendar, out of nowhere (seriously, don't ask), and pointed at one of the days. "February 14, apparently."

"February 14?" Joe was the next to speak. "That's tomorrow!"

And then, someone else spoke as well. "Let's get ready to celebrate!"

This was followed by the rest of the people somehow speaking at the same time. "Setup time!"

As everyone began to run around, trying to help set up the celebration, while Peri and Entrèe stayed in the same place.

"This should be fun. Don't you think so, Entrèe?"

No reply.

Peri turned around to his friend, and noticed that he was licking another jar of mayonnaise.

"Uh..." He was at a loss for words. "Well, uh...see you tomorrow."

With this, he began to head back to the jungle, ready to call it a day and wait for tomorrow to finally come around.


Yeah, as you can tell by my extremely detailed descriptions, this story was made mostly for the uninitiated. And yes, that description for Valentine's Day was obviously borrowed from Wikipedia.

Anyway, hope you like this little piece of text, and that it creates enough interest for you to watch the actual cartoon. And this isn't the end; there's one more chapter on the way.

...How much do you want to bet that this isn't gonna catch on?

This is Umbra the Hedgehog signing off.