When Louis Met Peaches

Not too long ago...

"WOOO-HOOO!"

Peaches the adolescent mammoth was flying through the forest, leaping from branch to branch like an acrobat. To the casual observer, it would seem like she was having fun. In reality, she was blowing off steam.

Recently, Peaches' herd had encountered other mammoths, which included mammoths that were Peaches' age. She had hoped to make some friends that were her own species. Unfortunately, her family tree had proven off-putting to her potential friends. If it wasn't the fact that two of her uncles were possums, it was her other uncles being a potentially dangerous sabre-toothed tiger and a smelly, slow-witted sloth. Peaches' attempts to make friends had been colored by this. She had been labelled a "freak" and a "weirdo" by the less tactful among the young mammoths, but Peaches knew they were all thinking the same thing.

In truth, Peaches had never thought of her family being abnormal. They were the only family she had ever known. As far as she knew, they were normal. Now she knew the truth: She came from a family of oddballs, the strangest herd in history.

Swinging from a branch by her trunk, Peaches descended to the ground. Hanging her head in sorrow, she suddenly beheld a curious sight: The ground was pushing itself upwards. Kneeling down for a closer look, Peaches observed the trail of raised dirt colliding with a rock, then heard a muffled "Ow!"

As she lowered her head even more, Peaches was surprised by a small creature popping out of the dirt mound. Rubbing his head, the little one soon realised he was being watched, and looked up, straight into Peaches' green eyes. He was completely transfixed by their beauty.

"Uh, hi." Peaches said awkwardly.

"Hi." The little creature said dreamily, before mentally shaking himself. "Hi, hello! Nice to meet you! You're a mammoth, right? I don't think I've ever seen one of youup close before."

"I don't think I've ever seen one of you before, up close or otherwise." Peaches said, scrutinising the newcomer. "What are you, exactly?"

"Oh, I'm a molehog." He replied. "I'm not surprised you don't know what I am. My kind spend most of their lives underground. I'm Louis, by the way."

"Peaches." The young mammoth replied.

"Peaches..." Louis repeated in a whisper. "What a pretty name..."

"Aw, thanks." Peaches smiled. "'Louis' is a pretty good name, too."

"You really think so?" Louis blushed, rubbing his arm.

"Sure, why not?" Peaches shrugged. "So, you... dig?"

"Pretty much." Louis shrugged. "Dig, dig, dig, all day, that's what we molehogs do."

"Sounds like a blast." Peaches said sarcastically.

"It has its moments." Louis replied. "What do mammoths like you do?"

"I don't know about other mammoths, but I do this." Peaches leapt into trees, swinging from branch to branch in a complete circle, before gracefully somersaulting back down to earth.

"Wow." Louis gaped. "You're amazing!"

"Thanks." Peaches blushed modestly.

"Where'd you learn how to do that, anyway?" Louis asked.

"Let's just say I get it from my mom's side of the family." Peaches smirked. "So, you wanna come down to the creek and get a drink with me?"

"Oh, only if it's not too much trouble..." Louis mumbled worriedly.

"It's no trouble." Peaches smiled. "We're friends now. You do wanna be friends, right?"

"Yes! Most definitely!" Louis practically yelled. Seeing Peaches' worried reaction, he added "Sorry. I don't really have many friends back home."

"Me neither." Peaches nodded. "Everyone thinks I'm weird."

"You're not weird." Louis dared to pat one of Peaches' feet. "You're... unique."

"And you're sweet." Peaches smiled. "Anybody who doesn't wanna be friends with you don't know what they're missing."

Louis started blushing and rubbing his arm again. Composing himself, he gestured in the direction of the creek.

"Um, ladies first..." He stuttered.

"What a gentleman." Peaches playfully ruffled the fur on top of Louis's head with her trunk. "Let's go."

As Peaches began walking to the creek, Louis briefly stood still, rubbing his head. He then started following the young mammoth, and fully intended to keep following her, for the rest of his life. That kind, beautiful angel with a trunk had stolen his heart.

The End.

(Ice Age and all associated characters are the property of 20th Century Fox and Bluesky Studios.)