Science is always my favorite subject at school.
Shadow belongs to (c) SEGA.
Nebula and Midnight belongs to me.
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It had been a month since Shadow the half-alien hedgehog came to Earth and learned new things on this planet that he never had in his life back on his old alien planet. He made new friends and found true love in his heart.
"So, here on Earth the weather usually changes once a year?" Shadow asked his true love that is now his girlfriend.
"Mostly but some continents remain the same sometimes. It's called seasons, Shadow. On Earth it has four seasons. Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn" Nebula said.
"Seasons? I never heard of that" Shadow said.
"Here, let me show you. Since Earth is your new home, you'll see some changes of what we get every once a year" Nebula said, typing on her laptop to search on Youtube to find the video of the Earth's seasons.
"Ah, so north has shorter and colder days and south has longer days" Shadow said after watching the video.
"Yup. Right now its summer today. The next season will be autumn. The leaves will change colors and falls off from the trees" Nebula said, "Say, does your old planet have date of births?"
"Uhh….no. We don't and I don't know my date of birth or how old I am. I'm ageless" Shadow said.
"Oh" Nebula's ears went down but went back up when she got an idea, "Hey, maybe you do have one now?"
"What?" Shadow raised a brow.
"Let's say you came to Earth which is like you're born on that planet but not physically. The day you came down to Earth was June 19th. So that date can be your date of birth on Earth" Nebula said.
"It could be. I am like 20 years old" Shadow said.
"Maybe or do your species age like we do?" Nebula asked.
"I don't know. But our alien blood makes us immortal. Same thing I did to you when I revived you with my alien blood" Shadow said.
"Okay. But now let's get clear about seasons. At winter we get snow only for three months" Nebula said.
"Not as permanent in Antarctica and North pole" Shadow guessed.
"Nope. North and South Pole are always the same. Because North is on top and south is on the bottom" Nebula said.
Shadow nodded and continues watching the video of the Earth circling around the Sun.
"I see that Earth is always on its side while rotating. Is it that how day and night works?" Shadow wondered.
"Yup. Also, even when it comes to seasons, there's always holidays" Nebula said.
"What's a holiday?" Shadow asked.
"It's a day of festivity or recreation when no work is done. Remember that day on the 4th of July? It was the celebration of the Independence Day. Kind a like America's birthday" Nebula said.
"Nice. And I wonder how a birthday is like. I have never been celebrating my own. Man, I had such a tough life" Shadow sighs, sitting down on the ground.
"Shadow you got the chance now" Nebula kneels down and rubs his cheek. Shadow smiled and purred like a cute kitten.
SUMMER
"Summer is like a hot day where some family or people go on vacations. Same thing we did when we went to find the chaos emeralds around the world" Nebula said.
"I've noticed. And I already got tanned skin on my muzzle. But I better hope I don't get sun-bleached streaks on me" Shadow said.
"That would be funny to see. But I love your crimson streaks anyway" Nebula said.
"Thanks. There's something I don't understand. Is it normal for humans to get tanned in sunlight?" Shadow asked.
"Yes, but only if they put on sunscreen to prevent our skin from getting sunburn. Spending some time in the sun helps your skin make vitamin D. While the sun does not provide vitamin D directly, standing in the sun for a couple of minutes every day helps your body meet some of its needs for the vitamin" Nebula said.
"Incredible. Well we had a lot fun bathing in the hot springs in Italy together with our friends" Shadow said.
"One day we could bath in the beach together and surf with Sonic, he's one of the best surfers here" Nebula said, "But waterskiing is way awesome! It goes very fast!"
"That I could try" Shadow smiled.
At the beach, Nebula and Shadow was now trying waterskiing. Nebula was driving the boat and Shadow held onto the rope while having his feet tied on the board-ski on the water, leaving a large trail behind him.
"WHHHHOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" he shouted and Nebula turns the boat sideways and Shadow made a bow-trail in the water then side to side.
"IS IT TOO FAST, SHADS?!" Nebula called out.
"NO! KEEP GOING!" Shadow shouted and held the rope tight during the ride. Then he glides up a wave in a badass style.
"YAAAHHHOOOOO! YEAAAAHHH!"
He glides the wave and backflips in the air, but accidently falls into the water. Nebula gasped and turns the boat to get to Shadow.
"Shadow, are you alright?" Nebula sees him in the water.
"Yeah, now I understand what you said about life jackets" Shadow said and gets pulled up by Nebula in the boat, untying the board-ski from his feet, "Man, that water tastes nasty. What water is this?"
"Salt water or sea water. And yeah, it does taste very nasty. We don't drink salt water" Nebula said.
"I see" Shadow said. They drove back to shore and gets back home.
AUTUMN
Shadow never realized how chilly it is in the season of Fall. For most male mobians with thick fur, they are able to get used to the chilly wind blowing in their bare furred body. But some tend to wear something warm.
Right now, he's with Nebula walking to the corn field. Nebula was wearing a black hoodie jacket, black leggings, and boots. Shadow on the other hand simply wore a red hoodie.
"So what holidays is there in the season of autumn?" he asked.
"Halloween and Thanksgiving. I'll tell you that later when we're done in the corn field and other stuff" Nebula said.
"Okay" Shadow nods. They go down in the cornfield among the corn-plants. All of sudden, a swarm of crows cawing loudly and flying away from whatever it was that spooked them.
"Same as usual with the crows" Nebula shook her head.
"What just happened?" Shadow asked.
"Follow me" Nebula said and he follows her to the spot that scared the crows away. A scarecrow was standing at the spot the crows flew away.
"Is that a scarecrow that you have been telling me for some week ago?" Shadow asked.
"Yup, a scarecrow. They are used to prevent birds from eating on the farmer's field" Nebula said.
"Cool. It's a better thing to use that than deadly traps" Shadow said.
"Definitely" Nebula nodded as she and Shadow walks out of the cornfield, "When it comes to autumn season, people gather food from farms and garden"
"How come?" Shadow asked.
"Because plants can't survive in autumn and winter" Nebula said.
"Let me guess. The water in their veins freezes?" Shadow said.
"Exactly. But not for conifers, they are active the whole year" Nebula said.
"Okay. Let's go and get us warm at the fireplace" Shadow said.
A while later at Nebula's apartment, she makes a fireplace and closed the fireplace glass doors to prevent the flames from escaping. Nebula's cat Midnight was on Shadow's quills and this made her laugh.
"Hahahahaha…. Shadow! Midnight is on your quills" Nebula laughed.
"Huh? Hey! Get off me!" Shadow looked up and grabs him, putting him down.
"I think he likes your soft quills" Nebula snickered, "Anyways. Let's get to the holidays. Halloween always begins on the 31st of October at night. It is commonly celebrated by children who dress in costume and solicit candy or other treats door-to-door"
"Wow. What do you dress up for Halloween as a kid?" Shadow asked her.
"I used to be dressed up as a witch or vampire. Halloween is about scary spooky monsters. No, they're not real monsters. Halloween is sometimes for children that like to go trick-or-treating to every neighbor's houses" Nebula said.
"Trick-or-treating?" Shadow asked.
"It's like a slogan for fun or to get candy, they have to say that to get candy" Nebula explained to him.
"Right. I wish I could have tried that" Shadow said.
"Yeah. Halloween can be for anyone. Kids, teenagers, and adults" Nebula said.
"Okay. I guess I could dress up like a vampire" Shadow said.
"Or maybe like a superhero like Batman" Nebula said.
"I think it's better being dressed up like something spooky" Shadow said.
"Yeah, you're right. We only got 30 days until Halloween" Nebula said.
"Yup. So what happens to the trees losing their leaves? Do they die?" Shadow asked.
"No, they are like sleeping. When the season of Spring comes, the plants and trees grow back to new ones." Nebula said.
"Nice. Plants are living like us. On Planet Doom it was just like a desert area with no plants around" Shadow said.
"My god. In some areas like in the Sahara desert or Gobi Desert is almost nothing living, only a few animals and plants can live there" Nebula said.
"I see" Shadow nodded.
WINTER
"Man, winter sure is cold like in Antarctica. But what are these strange shapes that look like stars falling from the sky?" Shadow asked. He was wearing a black thick jacket and red scarf wrapped around his neck.
"It's snowflakes" Nebula said, "Just like raindrops"
"I see. Huh?" Shadow glances at the humans playing snowball fight in the park.
"They are snowball fighting?" Shadow said.
"Yup, they are doing it for fun. We can do it...too!" Nebula threw a snowball at Shadow, causing him to fall back.
"Hey!" Shadow glared at her.
"HAHAHAHAHA-…..Ouff!" Nebula got a snowball on her, "Hey!"
"Have two!" Shadow smirked and threw two snowballs at Nebula, making her laugh madly.
"Haha!" Nebula threw one at him.
Shadow fell back on his butt and gets up again, "You sneaky girl!" he chuckled and pushed her down on the snow. He then lay next to her and Nebula made a snow angel, laughing and having so much fun with each other.
"Got ya!" Nebula pounced on Shadow.
Shadow tried to push her off but she then pulled him close and kissed on the lips of his. They then pulled apart for air.
"That was so much fun" Shadow said.
A while later, they were back at Nebula's apartment. Making fire in the fireplace to warm themselves up.
"So, what's Christmas?" Shadow asked.
"Christmas is the annual Christian festival celebrating Christ's birth" Nebula said.
"I see. Well I see forward to celebrate that" Shadow said.
"Also, when it comes to Christmas, children are asleep at night when Santa Claus comes down the chimney to deliver gifts and presents underneath the Christmas Tree. That's only in children when they believe" Nebula said.
"So Santa does not exist?" Shadow guessed.
"Yup. It's a guy or a girl in disguise actually. But I believed in Santa when I was 10" Nebula said.
"Cool. By the way, that was actually fun when we snowboard at the mountains yesterday. I didn't know there could be winter sports" Shadow said.
"There is also skiing besides snowboarding and ice-rink can be at the lakes at winters too besides in halls" Nebula said.
"Wow. Well you are amazing at snowboarding like me. It is like using a space-board on my planet" Shadow said.
"Thanks. You were also amazing too" Nebula said.
"Thanks Nebs. I love you" Shadow hugs her.
"I love you too my alien hedgehog" Nebula hugged him back.
SPRING
All the snow in the city has already melted for 2 months and today was now the month of May.
Shadow and Nebula was looking at a lake near the city and it had crystal clear water. The ducks and swans were swimming around peacefully.
"I get it. The snow melts into water for the ground to grow back. Is that why?" Shadow asked.
"Yes, it's a circle of that Shadow" Nebula said.
"Okay. You remember when we were at the hot springs in Italy? It was awesome to bath in those" Shadow said.
"Yup. Too bad here in Station Square there are only artificial ones" Nebula said.
"What do you mean?" Shadow asked.
"There is some hot springs here in Station Square but they are not natural. They are driven by machines" Nebula said.
"Right of course. But they are okay right" Shadow said.
"Yes. But not as comfortable like the ones in Italy" Nebula said.
"Oh okay" Shadow said. Then Nebula held Shadow's hand and leads him to somewhere.
"Where are we going Nebula?"
"To somewhere you might like to see" Nebula answered. They walked down the gravel way and comes to a field full of flowers in different colors.
"Wow. It's beautiful" Shadow was surprised to see this.
"You like it?" Nebula asked.
"Yes, I like it. Some of those flowers got the same colors as my streaks" Shadow said, "Huh? What are those flying things?"
"Butterflies. Don't worry, they're harmless. They don't have a mouth" Nebula said. One butterfly lands on Shadow's nose.
"Well they do have one I see. But it's long" Shadow said.
"Yes I forgot, their mouths are often formed like a trunk" Nebula said.
"What's it doing now?" Shadow's nose twitched from the butterfly still on his nose.
"About to fly away" Nebula shrugs. The butterfly flew off Shadow's nose and flies into the sky.
He then picks up one flower, "Hmmmm" Shadow hummed while sniffing it.
Nebula picked up a violet colored flower and sniffs it, "Yup. Flowers are always the sign of the season Spring. Oh, there's my favorite type of flower" she carefully picks up the rose flower.
Shadow went over to her to see it. Nebula sniffed on the flower and then lets Shadow sniff it as well.
"It smells like the best perfume I've ever had" Nebula said with a smile.
"I can't tell which one but it smells good" Shadow said, "This flower really shows its beauty. What flower is this?" he asked.
"Pink rose" Nebula answered.
"It's ironic that Amy is just as pink as it, hence her last name is Rose" Shadow said.
"Yeah, it's kinda fitting her name. Her dress, headband and boots are the colors of the red rose" Nebula said.
"Indeed. Now, what happens next?" Shadow asked.
"Now? Hehehe…. Let's go and have some ice cream" Nebula said.
"Very well Nebula. It was fun smelling the flowers anyway. Say What type of Ice Cream do you want? I'm gonna have strawberry" Shadow said.
"I'm having vanilla" Nebula smiled at him, holding his hand.
The End.