Tails Doll © Sega and Sonic Team, although I have no clue whether or not they want to keep him.
CHAPTER 1
I was seventeen at the time.
My family was driving home from a road trip to visit some relatives in the state of Washington. My family lived in southern California. Needless to say, it was a long trip. With me in terms of carry-on luggage was my Compaq laptop, a large stuffed Tails toy with one eye missing (the dogs had chewed it off, although I still had what was left), a few DVDs and CDs to watch and listen to on my laptop, and a few of my favorite books for some light reading.
In the southern part of Oregon, we ended up getting lost in a large wood of evergreen trees, despite the fact that I was sure Interstates didn't have intersections. We drove around and wound up running out of gas in front of a small town in the middle of nowhere. It was a most curious town; everything in sight seemed to be a dedication to the Sonic the Hedgehog video games. The townsfolk were even dressed in garments that resembled the characters.
I particularly enjoyed the Sonic series myself. Especially Tails. Tails had been my favorite character since Sonic 3, and even after all I've been through he still is.
While my parents tried to find somewhere to ask for directions and my brother checked out the local shops (as he often did when we were on vacation), I decided to take a scroll. No one glanced my way as they passed by me, despite the fact I wasn't wearing their traditional garb. I didn't look too much in detail at them either. Until I saw her.
I was walking past a house when I saw a teenage girl dressed as Tikal the Echidna sitting on a bench. She possessed a stunning figure that made my mouth water. Her long tan hair, tied into dreadlocks flapping gently in the wind, drew me closer to the gate. I questioned to myself whether I was bewitched while I rapped gently on the white picket fence.
She looked up at me. One look into those deep blue eyes and I knew I was in love. She stood up and walked over to me. She introduced herself as Samantha, and after I stopped drooling, I told her my nickname was Yosie. We talked some and I knew learned more about her as a result. She was fifteen and was born shortly before the local oracle appeared to them. She wanted me to come inside and have a snack, but by local custom, I was unable to because I did not possess a costume. After some moments of thought, she told me to wait where I was, ran into her house, and emerged a short time later carrying a Tails costume. She said she was sorry if I wanted someone else, but this was the only outfit of my size that they had. I told her I didn't mind and that Tails was my favorite Sonic character.
She led me to an old tool shed in the back where I could change in private and gave me a plastic grocery bag to hold the clothes I was wearing. The Tails costume consisted of a pair of fake fox ears on one of those band thingies you wear on your head, some blue contact lenses (since my eyes were green), a white shirt underneath an orange-yellow vest, orange-yellow pants with zip-off legs and a pair of stuffed Tails tails sewn on the seat (long enough to be visible, short enough to not interfere with movement), and red and white sneakers. When I showed Samantha the costume on me, she said I looked sexy in it. I'm sure I blushed at the comment.
The inside of her house very nearly the same as the inside of any standard suburban house, except for the overload of Sonic merchandise. We sat at her kitchen table and nibbled on some cookies that were like Animal Crackers with Sonic character heads instead of circus critters while she told me about the oracle. It turns out it was a stuffed Sonic toy a lot like my Tails toy that fell out of the sky one day several years ago. It started the entire worship of the blue hedgehog, and the place quickly filled with Sonic-related items and games. I later learned on the Internet that the doll had fallen from a biplane belonging to a member of the Air Force that kept it as a good luck charm. It had fallen from the plane during a practice run.
After her story was over and the crackers were gone, we took a walk around the town. She showed me her friends and neighbors, the church where the Sonic doll was kept, and several of the local shops. Each one had some form of Sonic motif.
By the time the tour was over, I was so madly in love with this attractive young woman, I had trouble thinking straight (which actually wasn't outside the norm). I knew I couldn't leave without giving her a gift to show my appreciation. Telling her I probably should be heading back soon, I started my little plan. She took me back around to change back into my normal clothes and let me in the shed. Inside, I made some noise that sounded like I was getting out and then called out to her that I was having trouble, and she best come see what was wrong. I hid behind the door as it opened and she entered. When she was in the middle of the shed, I quietly closed the door so she wouldn't escape, tiptoed behind her, and tapped her gently on the shoulder. When she whipped around to see who it was, I wrapped my arms around her and planted a large wet kiss right on her lips. She resisted a little at first in surprise, but soon she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around me. We made out for a full three minutes, during which we worked ourselves down to the floor of the shed and rolled around a little. Sexual fantasies started spiraling through my head, the first time they ever included a real human being besides me. What comforted me most about the situation was that after I confessed my love to her, she did the same.
After we finished having our fun, she waited outside so I could change. Once I finished, we swapped e-mails and addresses so we could keep in touch. We were looking heavenly into each other's eyes when my younger brother interrupted, immune to the feeling of the moment, and told me to come back to the car, as my parents got enough gas to get us to the next service station. I was about to return the Tails costume when she told me to keep it as a souvenir and a reminder of her. I had just enough time to snap her picture with a digital camera before me and my brother left.
Soon, we were back on the road. My brother tried to grill me on Samantha, but I wasn't listening. I was too busy thinking of her. He then pulled something out of his backpack and told me that this would get my mind off her. It was an old, slightly scratched, but still playable Sonic R CD-ROM that he had got off the guy at the store for two bucks. He sure was in a hurry to get rid of it.
I took it. I heard the rumors about Sonic R and how it drove any player that completed it at 100% insane, but I figured I was safe. You see, I figured I was already insane. If you made out with a girl you only met a few hours earlier, along with reacting to things in my life in the way I did, you would think you were crazy too.
Little did I know how little I knew about being crazy.