THE BREAKING POINT
This is gonna be a sequel to Forbidden Fruit, but don't expect too much of a romantic aspect in this one. I wanted to do something a bit different. ;) If you haven't read the first, get over to my profile and do so or this will not make any sense. This one is in third person as opposed to first person - it's less about just Sandy and more about those around her.
A tiny yellow dot scurried between blades of grass much taller than itself. It darted in between trees and rocks, seemingly with a clear goal in mind, moving like a predator. The small shape stopped briefly at random intervals, sniffed the air, and continued. Whatever it was looking for, it was close. Finally, it reached the edge of a small bush. The creature reared back, preparing to pounce.
"Ookyoo!" it screeched, jumping towards its supposed prey.
"Penelope! You found me!" said the intended target, catching its assailant in its arms. It was only Pashmina, one of the female ham-hams, playing a friendly game of hide and seek with her best friend and partner, Penelope. The motherly hamster, brushing her scarf out of the way, praised her companion for being such a good seeker.
It was a gorgeous summer day outside and the ham-hams were taking full advantage of it. It was late May, the trees had finally gained their full sets of leaves and the sun was out at full force. The gang had gone outside to enjoy a game of hide and seek coupled with a nice picnic, with everyone bringing their own specialty. Penelope, being the last seeker, only cared about finding her buddy and gave up with the rest. Pashmina called everyone out of hiding as she knew from experience the round was over.
"Aww man, I had the best hidin' spot, too!" said Howdy, climbing out from the cracks between the rocks at the clubhouse's entrance. The ham-hams slowly gathered back together near the front door of their tree. It was a rare day where every hamster was able to come and hang out, with each of their humans being out and about.
"I think we've played enough rounds for now, and it's practically noon already," Boss said. "We should start bringing out the food for lunch." Everyone happily agreed.
Each ham-ham got out their supplies and started setting up - laying out the blanket, placing out the food, and so on. There was enough food there to feed a hamster army.
"Wow, Bijou, these h'orderves look fantastic!" Stan commented, clearly trying to impress the white French ham. "Save some for me!"
"Oh, thank you Stan! Zey do look magnifique, no?" she replied, mostly to please him.
"What are we waiting for? Let's dig in!" cried Cappy.
Bijou nodded. "Oui! Bon appetit!"
"Or as Curtis taught me in Italian, buon appetito!" Dexter added.
Howdy followed up. "How about Japanese, like Goldie told me? Itadekimasu!"
"I think we get the point!" Boss butted in. "Dig in!" The feast went on without interruption, with the ham-hams mostly chatting amongst themselves. It was often surprising that despite how different each of the ham-hams were, with such varied backgrounds, that they could all get along so well. Most of the time, anyway. There were only a few exceptions, notably Howdy and Dexter, but it was all in good humor. Boss and Stan also quarreled from time to time but almost always ending in Stan scampering away to hide before Boss broke him in half. He and his sister, Sandy, also bickered like normal siblings, with the degree of how well they got along oscillating between never letting each other go and wanting to kill one another. Speaking of Sandy …
Since her brief escapade with the human boy, things had gone back to normal between Sandy and Maxwell. Maybe they weren't an "official" couple - they never really outright made things clear in the first place - but they definitely were more than friends. They ate by each others' sides today, always finding something to talk about. The two were like the opposite poles of a magnet. Stan made a grimace at the two lovebirds as they shared their lunch.
Sandy's ties with the human, Ryan, had not been completely broken, however. Every once in a while after his classes got out, anytime he decided to walk rather than drive, she would meet him by the edge of the sidewalk near a row of hedges. He recognized her as the hamster he once knew and kept a bag of treats in his backpack just for her. He figured that as long as he gave her food she would return regularly, as in his eyes she was just a homeless field hamster somehow scraping by on her own. He also knew a little of the rest of the ham-hams, remembering them from earlier, though he never saw them anymore. Maxwell did not even mind, as after the events that took place in the fall Maxwell was far more lenient in letting Sandy do as she pleased. Besides, he knew it was only logical that any affection between the two were just as friends, as the two were different species, and Sandy was well aware of that now that she came to her senses. To her, Ryan was kind of just like anyone else in the clubhouse, except, you know, the communication barrier and the whole height difference thing. But he was as friendly as any. Plus there was no harm in it, especially since the human could possibly come to their aid someday, like Herbert or Brandy. Besides, Maxwell had taken an interest in him after learning he was avid about science.
An hour after lunch, with everything put away, Sandy noticed that it was time. Ryan's classes got out earlier this semester, and he had to be finishing up soon so she might not see him for a long time. "Be right back, Maxy!" Sandy said as she made her way in the direction of the hedges. He knew exactly where she was headed.
She stopped by the edge of the row and waited for a few minutes. Right on schedule, he appeared down the sidewalk. Sandy didn't even need to get his attention as he stopped right away.
"Hey, Hammy! I brought you a treat again," he said, carefully handing it to her, and using the nickname he had previously given her. She grabbed it from between his fingers and stuffed it right in her cheek. Sandy craned her neck up to make eye contact with the tall human, who was leaning down with his hands on his knees. "That might be the last one for a while, though."
"What? Why? School isn't over for a few more days!" Sandy thought to herself.
The human pushed his rust-colored hair out of his eyes, which had been recently cut shorter (relatively, anyways) a few inches for summer. "My biology class is heading to that 'Flower Ranch' place on a bus tomorrow morning to go do some field work, and ehh, why am I telling you that? You don't even know what I'm talking about," he said. "But then school is over pretty much, and I graduate."
"Wait! Like, don't stop! I can understand you fine!" she thought with a hint of disdain. She immediately grew excited at the notion of the field trip - Flower Ranch was where Pepper the farm-ham lived. Oxnard would jump at the chance to visit, as she was his object of much interest. But then - graduating? That would mean she would never see him on the sidewalk near the park again.
"Nice, right? Here, have the rest of these," Ryan said, pouring the remainder of the treats in his hand and placing them by the edge of the foliage. He was clearly intending this to be their last meeting. Sandy wasn't prepared to give up a friend this suddenly. The human extended his hand out carefully to stroke her cheek, then hitched up his backpack to head out. His shadow passed over Sandy as she watched him go.
Without hesitation, she picked up her things - including the treats - and made her way back to the clubhouse. She was going to make a proposal to the ham-hams, and she was going to keep it as nonchalant as possible.
She pushed her way through the bright green door with a handful of treats, immediately getting the attention of the rest of the gang. "Surprise!"
"Whoa! Look at all of them!" Hamtaro exclaimed. "Where'd you get them all?"
"Ryan gave them to me! I can't eat them all, so like, I was gonna share them with you all," Sandy replied. Oxnard looked on from behind the crowd with a sparkle in his eye.
"How cool!"
"These weren't in your cheeks, were they?" Stan asked.
"No, I carried them with my actual arms, bro…" Sandy said. As the ham-hams snacked on the treats, she decided it would be a good time to bring up going with on the field trip. "Say, I found out there's a bus going to Flower Ranch tomorrow. We haven't been there in a while…" she said casually.
"Ooh! I've been wanting to see Pepper all winter! I can't wait any longer!" Oxnard said. "You're saying there's a bus leaving for the ranch? Tomorrow?"
"Oh yeah. Tomorrow at the high school, in the morning, probably."
Oxnard's face was flushed with excitement as he turned to Boss. "Boss! Can we please go? I don't know if Kana has any trips planned to see her cousin Dylan or anything, and Pepper will really miss me! Please, Boss?"
It didn't take much to convince the gruff hamster. "Well, twist my arm. We didn't have anything planned for tomorrow, and that'd be pretty fun. How 'bout it?" Everyone agreed, since Pepper's ranch was always a neat place to visit. Sandy was proud of her own convincing skills. She had won over the ham-hams, and now she got to spend one last day in the company of her human friend.
When the commotion was over, Sandy approached Maxwell. "Hey! Are you excited to go to Flower Ranch tomorrow?"
"Of course!" he answered. "I've been reading up on some gardening and botany over the winter and I've been excited to go do some field work myself. I've got a journal at home I can use to track my finds, and a guide to the native species. Fascinating, isn't it?"
"Like, whatever spins you wheels! You are such a geek."
"I am not a geek! I am a nerd."
"I think you're both!" they bickered playfully. "Anyway, Ryan will totally be on that field trip tomorrow and as long as we stick near that guy we should be able to catch the bus there and back. We'd hate to get stuck there."
"True, but Oxnard would be the happiest hamster on this side of the Mississippi." Sandy giggled at the notion. "…not to mention his libido would go through the roof. Expect a litter if we get stuck there for any period of time."
"Maxwell!" Sandy laughed, punching him in the arm. "Don't even make me think about that!"
It was nearly time for the ham-hams to go their separate ways for the evening. The plan was to meet at the clubhouse tomorrow and walk to the school in time to catch the bus. With that in mind, Sandy headed home for the night.
As it usually went, Hillary gladly greeted Sandy in her cage and filled up her bowl after she got home from her job at the gym. She lightly rubbed the hamster on the top of her head. Sandy wouldn't replace her human for the world. Sure, Ryan was friendly, but Hillary was her caretaker right from the beginning and no one could replace that. Sandy could slap herself for how foolish and selfish she had been earlier in the year. It was all "forgive and forget", though.
The striped hamster closed her eyes and ruffled up the bedding around her. She couldn't wait for tomorrow.