Chocolate Bunny, guys! I got a chocolate bunny! Aka, imagination candy, or ya know, story idea. How about you guess where I got the inspiration from? ;)
Fell That Tree
"You've been real good to us, old man." The cobalt eyes of a man locked on the similar ones behind the glass. "Hope you're fine up there. I know it's been a year since...since that day," his fingers curled over the rim of the hat he was holding to his chest, "but I, we, still can't forget you. For all you did. We really wish you the best, dad."
"How's dad doing, Skippah?" The man placed his hat on his head and looked back at the baby blue eyed boy smiling behind him. Despite the fact that they were step brothers, the boy still respected the man who raised the two of them.
The two weren't close at first, despite having only each other to cling on, but he learned to take the boy into his own care. And that was all thanks to the man before him. The very same man who lived his life protecting the wildlife. Aka, the forest ranger. He passed the title of head to Skipper just weeks before a huge wildfire cost his life.
"Still watching over us, Private." Private turned his attention from the picture to his brother.
"Right now?"
Skipper grinned down at him and ruffled his hair, much to the other's displeasure. "Right now."
"Skippah!" He swatted the man's hand off and proceeded to 'right' his hair, which pretty much looked the same. Skipper chuckled at this and shook his head.
"Skipper?" Skipper didn't have to look back to know that the new voice belonged to Marlene, the volunteer camp counselor in the camp nearby. The same camp Private was currently going to.
"Good morning, Marlene." Private greeted to which he was returned with a curtsy from the female.
"Morning, Private." The two looked at each other, giggling the next second. "You ready, Skipper?" The brunette asked the man, who turned to her.
"Give me a sec. I'll be right out."
"Alright. I have to tell you though, the kids are going crazy! They just can't wait to meet the guy behind all this." She gestured around with a grin.
"Behind what exactly, Marlene?"
"Oh," she crossed her arms with a knowing smirk, "so we're being modest now, are we?"
"Why not?" He shrugged casually, though the grin was pulling at his mouth. "It's a new day." She rolled her eyes and turned to Private.
"Come on, Private. We'll wait for him outside." The boy nodded and walked outside. Marlene looked back at Skipper, then at the picture on the wall. A warm smile caressed her face as she remembered the man who introduced her about on her first day. She closed her eyes, the smile never leaving her face, and when she opened her eyes, she gave Skipper a nod. He nodded back in understanding and watched her close the door before turning back to the picture.
"I can never live up to you, but I hope you're still proud of me. I'm doing my best to keep this place intact. I really wish you were still here to guide me, but I'll keep doing my best. For the forest, the animals, Private, Marlene, Kowalski, Rico and the others. Oh Skipper." He shook his head with a chuckle. "You're just going to show a few kids about, not meet the superintendent." He chuckled again and stared at the picture. "Alright then. Happy anniversary, dad." He took out the fresh flowers that Marlene and Private picked from a hidden meadow they found months ago and stuck them into the frame. Skipper took one last look at the picture before following the two out.
"...and remember," Marlene was lecturing the group before her, "no wandering off, alright? We all need to stick to the group." She ended with a smile at the group when they replied with a chorus of 'yes, Marlene'. "Awesome." She clapped her hands and placed a hand on Skipper's shoulder. "Guys, this is Skipper McGrath." The man nodded to them, noticing Private standing near the back of the group with his new friend, Hunter. "He's the head ranger around here."
A man stopped directly behind Skipper, speaking to the shorter man in a low tone as his eyes scanned the crowd. "You sure you want to do this?" Kowalski, a fellow forest ranger and the resident scientist, was dressed in the same garb as Skipper, without the hat.
"Hey," Skipper whispered back to him as he watched Marlene introduce the two of them, "I'm just here to show them around. You can do whatever you want."
A glint flashed through the other's eyes as he rubbed his hands.
"This is going to be worth it, Skipper. Just watch them come to us, asking to be a part of this. The superintendent will have to let us keep the place."
"Great. Just, don't bore them to death with your jibber jabber."
"I don't," Skipper raised a brow at him, "fine. I'll keep it simple."
"You'll do fine."
"I should be telling you that..."
"Alright," Skipper grinned at the younger generation and gestured forward once Marlene was done, "let's start. First off," he looked over at Kowalski, who stared back at him before speaking, in a not too excited voice.
"The stables. Where we keep the horses."
The ranger kept from slapping himself, or Kowalski, and kept on forward, though he heard someone talk.
"This is going to take a while..." A girl murmured to her friends, who murmured in agreement. Skipper held back a sigh and marched forward. He was NOT going to let a few kids get to him.
They are impossible. Skipper rubbed his face with a hand and glanced back at the group listening to Kowalski mumble about white moss, or as he called them, lichens just a few meters away. What does it takes to impress them? "What does it takes to impress them?" He directed the question to Marlene, who looked away from her wards and to him.
"Skipper, I really don't think-"
He held up a hand impatiently. "What does it take to impress them, Marlene? That's all I need to know."
"Maybe you could start by keeping them away from Kowalski?"
"It's not my fault the man wants to blurt out useless information."
"How about you tell him to just talk about things they should know. Like, what not to eat, or what plant has poison."
"Why didn't I think of that?" He snarled quietly at the woman, who sighed and crossed her arms.
"He wasn't listening, was he?"
"This is Kowalski we're talking about here. He gets excited over the craziest of things. Just last week, he almost fainted when he saw a mushroom. A mushroom, Marlene, mushroom! And you know I can't bring Rico. He'll scare them. You know that."
"I know, Skipper."
He ran a hand through his hair, letting his hat fall back, hanging only by the string around his neck. "What am I going to do? This has been a failure so far."
"Well..."
"Don't believe me?" Before she could answer, Skipper whistled. The noise sounded more like a bird's call than the usual shrill sound. It served its purpose though, when Private sidled up to them, a hyper Hunter by his side.
"Skippah?"
"Am I boring? Is this whole thing boring?"
The boy's face turned red with embarrassment as he looked anywhere but his older brother. "Uh...you're not really-" Hunter rolled her eyes at him and turned to Skipper, bouncing on her toes.
"It's totally boring, Skipper." Private's eyes grew wide at the claim and he reached over to cover her mouth, but she held him back easily. "The kids are dying in boredom. For one, I seriously thought this was going to be really awesome, but it's lame."
Skipper had his eyes closed as he gave the younger female a sardonic smile. "Thank you, Hunter."
"You're welcome." The girl chirped and Skipper gestured to her, staring at Marlene. Marlene sighed and dropped her arms to her sides.
"How about you try a different approach?"
"How about I pretend we get lost, escape and leave them?"
"Skipper/Skippah!" Marlene hissed, smacking the man just as Private did the same. Skipper glared down at the younger boy, who cowered away and hid behind Hunter.
"Well? Do you have suggestions I could use? Because if not, I will-"
"How about you show them a cool landmark?" Hunter interrupted the man before he could finish his thought. "Like that geyser just further downstream?" Skipper narrowed his eyes at the girl, who remained unfazed, before turning to Private.
"How does she know about that? I thought we agreed not to let anyone know. Especially since it was in the restricted areas."
Private pulled at the collar of his shirt, his eyes darting about. "Well, uh, I..."
"Oh come on, Skip." The girl chirped with a grin. "Geyser's are cool."
Skipper's expression softened and he turned back to Hunter. "You think they would like that?"
Hunter nodded. "I know, they would. You got nothing to lose, right? Aside from your pride and dignity, that is. And maybe your job, if you don't do something to keep it."
Aside from Kowalski's distant gibberish, there was complete silence in the area.
"Ohkay!" Private started tugging Hunter away, watching Skipper's deadpanned face. "I think we're going to go back now. See ya!" The two ran back just in time for Kowalski to conclude about the purpose of sap in the mahogany tree he was leaning against.
Marlene was just still shock, not sure what to do, though she knew she had to watch Skipper. Just as she was about to tell him that he could torture his brother later, a scream filled the forest. Both adults ran toward the source, where the group of kids surrounded the boy on the ground, holding his thigh as tears fell from his eyes.
"What happened?" Skipper asked Kowalski, who was looking at something in his hands while Marlene soothed the sniffling boy and checked his leg.
"Snake bite." The man murmured, eyebrows furrowed in worry as he handed a little black snake. "Here's our culprit." Skipper looked down at the creature as Marlene tapped Kowalski.
"It's not poisonous, is it?" She asked and the scientist shook his head.
"It's a Heterodon platirhinos, or Eastern hog-nosed snake. An innocuous colubrid species endemic to North America."
"English, Kowalski. I speak English."
"It's a deaf adder. A harmless snake." Marlene nodded and turned to the boy, who was still pale.
"You're going to be alright, sweetheart."
"This is a disaster..." Skipper murmured under his breath, sighed and got to his feet, the snake curled gently around his hand. "We should be heading back."
"With you?" A voice stopped him in his tracks. "You want us to follow you?"
He was about to answer, when another voice called out in the same accusing tone as the first. "You told us there weren't any snakes here!" This was followed by a chorus.
"How are we going to trust you, mister?"
"Yeah! Look what happened to Barry!"
"I'm calling my lawyer!"
"When my daddy hears about this, you'll be jobless!"
"You're a liar!"
"How dare you call yourself a ranger! A ranger's supposed to be taking care of everyone!"
"Yeah!"
"Guys." Marlene glared at the group, arms over her chest. "Don't disrespect the man. It's not his fault."
The boy who had gotten bit got up and glared at Skipper. "It totally is! I thought he was the ranger. What happened?"
"Barry."
"I could've died!"
"You're fine, Barry. It's just a harmless snake."
"But he's supposed to be responsible for us! What if it wasn't just that thing? What if a bear came running and took one of us to eat for dinner later?" A few girls squirmed and squealed. "What if a swarm of bees came and gave us hives? What if-"
"Barry Langston. That is enough." The boy closed his mouth and looked away. "We're heading back," she ushered them away, "now." Marlene paused and looked back at the expressionless and still man with a sad expression. "Sorry, Skipper." She looked at Kowalski, who turned his attention to the ground. The female sighed heavily and followed the complains of the children, tugging both Hunter and Private with her.
"Skipper..." Kowalski placed a hand on the man's shoulder. "I," Skipper shook him off and walked away. "This was supposed to be an opportunity. Our last chance to save the station..." The man played with his shirt before sighing and walking in the opposite direction, after Marlene and the children. "Wait a minute. Wait just a minute." He slapped the side of his head as he shook his head. "Newton's knickers, Kowalski! Yes. Yes!" He snapped his fingers, his face now filled with determination and glee. "That's it. That has to be it! It's the only solution now. Science," he muttered under his breath, "don't fail me now." With that, he dashed back to the station.
*frowns at screen* What just happened? Another two-shot? Ooh...I need to work on my ONE-shots...Oh well. *shrugs*
