How the Hedgehog got its spikes

In the High and Far Off times, O Best Beloved, the hedgehog had no spikes. She had only a short, brown coat and smooth as silk, that she could keep warm with; but she couldn't defend herself with .But there was one Hedgehog---a new Hedgehog--who was full of fear, and that meant that she ran away from everything and everyone she encounter. And she lived in New Zealand, and she filled all of New Zealand with her fear.

She ran away from her Uncle the Sloppy Seal and he slapped her with his strong ,strong tail .She ran away from her Aunt the Gullible Gecko and she slapped her with her sticky, sticky feet. She ran away from her sister the funny frog and she slapped her with her long, long legs. She ran away from her dad the Bashful Bat and he slapped her with his wide, wide wing. She ran away from her brother the curious Kiwi bird and he slapped her with his sharp, sharp claw. She ran away from her other Aunt the Skinny Skink and she slapped her with her whippy, whippy tail.

Then she encountered her mum the heroic hedgehog and she ran but her mum the heroic hedgehog stopped her and asked her we she ran away all the time " I run away because I'm always scared that I'm going to get eaten and I am always getting slapped" replied hedgehog in a squeaky fearful whisper.

"Well defend yourself!!" Said her mother the heroic hedgehog.

"But how-I have nothing….how do other animals manage to defend themselves though? "Asked hedgehog in a curious voice .Now the hedgehog had asked a question which had never been asked before and so her mother replied "Why don't you go and find out??"

"O.K I will go and find out" answered hedgehog in a very fearful voice.

And so hedgehog left her mother still full of fear to go and find some animals which could defend themselves if they had to.

On her way to her friends to ask if she thought it was a good idea she met a Kolokolo so she started to run away but the bird caught up with her and slapped her with its feathery, feathery wing. Then asked what she was doing " I am going to find out how animals defend themselves" replied hedgehog bravely .

Would you by any chance know where to find some animals which can defend themselves??" asked hedgehog very politely.

"Well you could go to the Great Silver, Slimy, Sloppy, and Squirmy Limpopo River all set about with pine trees" said the Kolokolo bird in a very interested voice.

"Well thank you ever so much …I must go now" said hedgehog leaving the Kolokolo bird on its own. So hedgehog started walking her way to the Great Silver ,Slimy, Sloppy and Squirmy Limpopo river al set about with pine trees to find animals who could defend themselves .

But before anything hedgehog suddenly realised that she had no food so she went to her tiny ,twiny, twig home to fetch some food ,she packed six litres of milk (the purple ,runny type),sixteen loafs of bread ( the hard, orange type ), fifty strawberries ( the blue, seedless type ) .On her way past the great green house of her Aunt and Uncle she saw her family so she ran as fast as she could past them saying " Goodbye dear family I am of to the Great Silver, Slimy, Sloppy, Squirmy Limpopo river al set about with pine trees to find animals who could defend themselves !" but they soon all caught up with her and they all gave her a slap for luck !

So she started her journey across great country side of New Zealand walking up mountains and down valleys eating bread and drinking milk as night fell she started getting scared so she started running to get to the Great Silver, Slimy, Sloppy, Squirmy Limpopo river al set about with pine trees. It was soon so dark that hedgehog could not see anything so she lay down to get some rest. Soon after she felt a tap on her shoulder so she jumped up and started running along with all of her supplies on her back but they kept on slipping off because her coat was so soft and smooth so she had to carry it !!

Still she kept running to make sure she had got rid of whatever was tapping her she suddenly stopped with a jolt in time not to bump into a great beautiful blackbird. "My father has slapped me, so has my uncle, sister and brothers so please don't slap me for running away" said hedgehog in a worried voice.

"I may not slap you hedgehog if you just answer my simple question……why is such a small young hedgehog of your kind wondering round in the wild like this ???" asked the beautiful blackbird in a great and powerful voice." Well I am travelling to the Great Silver ,Slimy, Sloppy and Squirmy Limpopo river al set about with pine trees to find out how animals defend themselves" replied hedgehog in a small voice.

"Ahh…..Well you may wish to know that I defend myself with this splendid yellow beak and these long powerful claws" said the beautiful blackbird very proudly.

"Well thank you very much for that great blackbird" said hedgehog scurrying off to get to the Great Silver, Slimy, Sloppy and Squirmy Limpopo river al set about with pine trees to find more animals which can defend themselves .Hedgehog started to get very tired of walking after a while because every step that she took one of the items of her supplies on her back would fall of and she would have to pick it back up.

Luckily not long after, she had reached the Great Silver, Slimy, Sloppy and Squirmy Limpopo river all set about with pine trees. Firstly she met a Gigantic Gecko a bit like her Aunt even though having the habit of running away from everything hedgehog promised herself she wouldn't run away from the animals she met to ask about how they defend themselves .So she greeted the Gecko and asked it in a very friendly voice "Hello, Gecko may I ask you how you defend yourself from other animals??" said hedgehog.

"Well hello there hedgehog, what a peculiar question you may ask, well I "defend myself" by camouflaging myself against leafs and trees" answered gecko.

"Well how do you camouflage yourself ….I cant do that!! Said hedgehog in a worried voice.

"You might be able to find some more animals closer to the river. Sorry I couldn't help" said the Gecko." Thank You anyway, Hope to meet you again Mister Gecko." said hedgehog gratefully.

"It was my pleasure" said the Gigantic Gecko leaving.

So hedgehog carried on closer to the Great Silver, Slimy, Sloppy and Squirmy Limpopo river all set about with pine trees to find some more animals which could help her. As hedgehog walked along she encountered a silver sand snake even though she was very scared of it she still didn't run away knowing it would probably help her. So she asked it in a very polite manner.

"Hello there mister silver sand snake. Would you mind helping me?"

"Well yes I would mind helping you young lady now go away!!" he snapped at hedgehog.

"Gosh you are the rudest snake I have ever met" said hedgehog in a very strict voice.

"Have you got a problem with that missy because if you have I will bite you and poison you" said the silver sand snake aggressively.

"Actually I won't bother you since you have just answered my question. But how do I get poison???" Hedgehog asked cautiously.

"How am I meant to know??? Now would you mind going away I'm trying to eat these great green greasy grapes" said the silver sand snake snarling.

"Thank for all of your help" said hedgehog annoyed at the silver sand snakes attitude. So she decided that she would find just one more animal to ask it how it defends it self and the go home and see if it can have or do any of those things .So she skipped of and she finally reached the great banks of the Great Silver, Slimy, Sloppy and Squirmy Limpopo river all set about with pine trees.

The river was gurgling with anger but she still stood close to the edge and peered over the edge with her little curious eyes and suddenly a great electric, eagle eyed, eager eel furiously jumped out at her and rapped its tough ,tanned tail around hedgehog and pulled poor hedgehog in causing her to drop her supplies on the bank .Hedgehog finally struggled out of the eagle eyed, eager eel's grip and frantically pulled herself out off the Great Silver ,Slimy, Sloppy and Squirmy Limpopo river all set about with pine trees with the help of the friend she had met before the Beautiful Blackbird .She thanked the black bird and he flew off with a great swoop. She had come out all sticky from the so called water of the river.

Nearby stood a pine tree so she thought hard and finally came up with a grand idea. She started a great climb up the great pine tree hoping it would mind her climbing up. As she climbed up she started to notice that the water of the Limpopo river was starting to go all sticky and her back was starting to collect pine needles some even poking through her skin !!!!! She suddenly realised with a jump that the tree was starting to move! As it moved it picked up speed causing hedgehog to start sliding down the rough bark of the pine tree. She eventually fell down all the way picking up lots and lots pine needles along the way and practically diving head first in a big pile of pine needles and thorns at the at the bottom of the pine tree. As she slowly levered herself up she realised that now had a sheet on pine needles and thorns on her back all sticking upwards.

She didn't really think much of them until a Dangerous dandelion dragon pounced on her back and jumped right off screaming "OUCH !,OUCH!OUCH!" in a squeamish high pitched voice and now it was the other animals running away from hedgehog instead of her running away from other animals and hedgehog wasn't half happy about this. She started to walk past the location of the bank where the eagle eyed ,eager eel had pulled her in a hedgehog noticed a pack of fruit and drink and remembered when the eel had pulled her in she must have dropped it so she went picked it up and tried to put it on her back expecting it to fall off straight away…..but it didn't because her spikes where holding it in place !!!!!So all the way home hedgehog was ecstatic and wouldn't stop smiling. She soon met her friend once again.

"Oh hello again Beautiful Blackbird !Oh thank You so much for saving me from that awful eel. I couldn't have done it without you !!!" said hedgehog still very happy.

"I see you have got something you could have used when that eel got you. I now see you have got some wonderfully sharp spikes on your back I suppose you wont have to go looking for others which can defend themselves !!!"said the Beautiful Blackbird sarcastically .

"I must go now beautiful blackbird ,back to my family to tell them all about my adventures !You have been a wonderful friend of mine .Thank You" said hedgehog sad to be leaving a dear friend.

"I hope you have a good journey home hedgehog. Good Luck and Good Bye !!"replied the Beautiful Blackbird.

So hedgehog set off once again to reunite with her family. She started eating some of her strawberries ( the blue seedless type ) and bread ( the hard orange type ). Hedgehog was getting very annoyed due to the fact that the strawberry and bread pieces where getting stuck between her teeth !!!She had a genius idea so pulled out one of her spikes…I was very painful since the water had dried like glue leaving them stuck on her back. She finally got a spike out and started using it as a tooth pick !!!!The journey continued seeming non-ending .he had never thought of something being so useful in her life!!!

She finally bumped into a group of animal ..turned out it was her family. So they all gave her a great slap …..not a good idea because hedgehogs spikes had now pierced; a strong tail ,some sticky feet, some long legs, a wide wing and a pair of sharp claws !!! All her family stared at her in disbelief except her mother. Hedgehog finally announced

" I am back wonderful family I had a great adventure out there".

"Welcome back hedgehog "they all said a bit angrily because of the spikes piercing them !!!

Hedgehog told all her dear family about how she could hold things on her back now since she had some grip, and how it defends her and also how she uses the spikes as tooth picks !!!They were all very impressed. Since her mother the heroic hedgehog was the only other animal in the family that could get the spikes she told al her friends and so did hedgehog.

And that is how the hedgehog got its spikes !!!

THE END