Mina was a young Mongoose girl of 14. She was prowling around the fields of her middle school, hunting a butterfly. She jumped out to pounce but missed it. Nearby, Ash Mongoose was watching her. One of his friends walked up to him.
BUTCH RHINO Dude, just forget it. She's trash.
Ash glared at him. His other friends came as well.
GEORGE CAT She'll never go out with you.
ASH Oh yes, she will. Just watch.
He walked towards her. Mina caught the butterfly and started munching on it.
MINA Om nom nom nom nom...
ASH Um, hey Mina?
MINA Oh. Hi Ash.
ASH Hey um... I was... wondering... if you wanted to, you know... if you wanted to... be my... well you know...
MINA Are you asking me out?
ASH Well, uh...
Mina smiled and hugged him.
MINA I'd love to. I think we'd make a great couple.
Ash smiled and hugged her back.
ASH Then I guess it's official.
He turned around and stuck his tongue at his friends.
MINA What do they want?
ASH Oh, don't mind them, Mina. Let's walk together.
They walked side by side, holding hands. His friends watched them in disbelief.
7 Years Later...
CASHIER That'll be twenty bucks.
ASH I told you, it's coming.
Ash was at Papa Murphy's ordering to large pies and a Sierra Mist. He didn't have the money, someone else did.
ASH Where is she?
Mina was running through town as fast as she could, bumping into people.
MINA S'cuse me.
One man (an elephant) was carrying two boxes to his car. He couldn't see where he was going but he managed to put them on top of his car. He wiped his forehead. Mina bumped into him, causing him to hit his car and the boxes fell on him.
MINA Sorry.
She bursted into the restaurant and pulled out her wallet.
MINA Twenty dollars right here!
Everyone in the building stared at her.
MINA Sorry uh... been running a lot... felt like I needed a... big finale.
After paying for their food, they headed for their car. (Well Ash's car)
ASH I told you get your claws done tomorrow.
MINA I'm sorry, but the coupon expires then and it closes in five minutes.
That night at Ash's house, they finished their pizzas and sat down on the couch.
MINA You know we could have eaten at my place. I wouldn't have minded.
ASH Ha. No, no it's alright. You provided the money, so it's the least I could do. So is everything okay? You've been pretty quiet.
MINA Nah. Usually its just idol thoughts. Well, now that I think about it... how long have we been dating?
ASH Seven long years. Unless you want to count that breakup.
MINA What, that lasted for a day? Well I just wanted to ask, what do you think is in store for us.
ASH I'm not sure. But as long as you're mine, that's all that matters.
MINA I agree.
She began scarfing down her slice like an animal and Ash was doing the same.
MINA If we were doing this in a human restaurant they'd kick us out.
ASH Who cares about them? We're far away from them. We can do anything we want and they won't punish us for it.
MINA Well, I was thinking we could go out and-
ASH We can't. I have some errands I have to run tomorrow.
MINA Well, I can help you.
ASH No! Eh heh... I mean no. I need to do this myself.
MINA Oh okay.
ASH Well, you should get home. I assume the rest of these pizzas are mine?
Mina watched as Ash took all the pizza for himself.
MINA Of... of course. Well, good night Ash.
ASH Good night Mina.
Mina walked out the door and went to her car. She started it up and drove off. Ash watched her leave from the window.
ASH I suppose I should have offered her a piece.
MINA He could have at least offered to walk me to my car.
The next day, finished his errands by dropping off something at the post office. Mina walked in.
MINA Hey Ash.
ASH Mina. Good news, I finished those errands so now we can go out and do whatever it is you wanted.
MINA Oh, that can wait some other time. Guess what? A human is moving into this city.
ASH What? A human? Move here?
MINA That's what I've heard. And I want to meet him.
ASH Wait. A him? It's a guy? And you want to meet this person?
MINA Of course. He probably doesn't have any Mobian friends so he'll feel out of place. I wanna help him find his place.
ASH I don't think you should do this.
MINA Awe, what's wrong? Don't you trust me?
ASH I trust you, Mina. But it's that human I don't trust.
MINA Oh, relax. I'll make sure he doesn't make any moves.
ASH Okay. Be safe.
MINA I will.
Mina walked out of the building. She wondered the streets. Then she stopped as she noticed a human sitting on a bench. A young man closer to Mina's age than Ash was. She smiled.
MINA That's him.
She noticed he looked upset.
MINA Aww, why does he look so sad? He just needs someone to cheer him up.
She looked in a store window and checked her hair.
MINA Wait. What am I doing? I'm just making a new friend.
She sat down next to him and looked at him.
MINA Hello.
He didn't respond. She tapped on his shoulder.
MINA I said hello.
This time he looked at her. On the left side of his face there was a scar running down from his eyebrow to the middle of his cheek. Mina was speechless.
BRIAN I don't have to be a genius to figure out what that look is for. It was a mistake I'll never make again.
MINA Oh no, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that. Wow. I'm not making a very good impression, huh? Sorry.
BRIAN It's okay. I'll start over, too. Hi, I'm Brian.
MINA Mina Mongoose.
They shook hands.
MINA Why were you looking so sad? Are you okay?
BRIAN Oh, don't worry about it. I'll be fine.
MINA Okay. Well, I hope we Mobians can make a good impression for you here in Knothole.
BRIAN Me too.
MINA So what brings a human here anyway?
BRIAN A job opening. There was one at your guys' Wal Mart and I took it. You'd think the locals would get it instead.
MINA I see. So have you moved in yet?
BRIAN Well, not yet. I mean I bought the house and everything but the packing truck hasn't arrived yet.
MINA Well, would you like help bringing the stuff in when it arrives? Me and my boyfriend can help in any way you'd like.
BRIAN Oh well, I appreciate that, but I've got a team whose going to be doing that, so you don't have to worry about-
MINA No worries at all. We'd be giving a friend a hand.
BRIAN Friend? Well actually...
MINA We can talk about that later if you want. But we're going to help you move in. Four extra hands are better than no extra hands.
BRIAN Well, true. Thanks, I'd appreciate it.
MINA Great! Well, see ya.
She started to walk away but came back.
MINA I almost forgot. Where do you live now?
BRIAN Oh, where is it?
He checked his pockets.
BRIAN I had it in here somewhere. Nope, not there. Um... ah, here it is. You can have it. I already know where it is now.
He gave her a piece of paper with the address written on it.
MINA Hey, I know where that is. I only live two blocks away from there.
BRIAN Really?
MINA Yeah. Well, see ya there. Let me know when the truck comes.
She takes off.
BRIAN She's nice. Maybe living here won't be so bad after all.