Chapter 1: The Rescue

He's late. He's got to finish the dishes on time, otherwise no breakfast; and since he didn't have dinner last night, he has to make sure he gets something to eat. Mother's running around yelling at his brother and sister. He can hear her stomping down the hallway towards the kitchen. The hoglet dips his hands back into the scalding rinse water. It's too late. She catches him with his hands out of the water.

SMACK!

Mother hits the ten year old child in the face, and he topples to the floor. He knows better than to stand there and take the hit. He learned the hard way that she takes that as an act of defiance, which means more hits, or worst of all, no food. He regains his posture and dodges her looks, as she screams into his ears.

He acts timid, ears and quills pressed against his head, nodding to her threats.

"Please," He says to himself, "just let me eat. Hit me again, but I have to have food." Another blow pushed his head against the tile countertop.

He let the tears of mock defeat stream down his face as she storms out of the kitchen, seemingly satisfied with herself. After counting her steps, making sure she's gone, the child breathes a sigh of relief. The act worked. Mother can beat him all she wants, but he hasn't let her take away his will to somehow survive.

He finishes the dishes, then his other chores. For his reward he receives breakfast – leftovers from one of his siblings' cereal bowls. Today it's Lucky Charms. There are only a few bits of cereal left in a half of a bowl of milk, but as quickly as he can, he swallows it before Mother changes her mind. She has done that before. Mother enjoys using food as her weapon. She knows better than to throw leftovers in the garbage can. She knows the young hoglet will dig it out later. Mother knows most of his tricks.

Minutes later he's in the old family station wagon. Because he's so late with his chores, he has to be driven to school. Usually he runs to school, arriving just as class begins, with no time to steal any food from other kids' lunch boxes.

Mother drops his sister off, but keeps him for a lecture about her plans for him tomorrow. She is going to take him to her brother's house. She says Uncle Chuck will "take care of him." She makes it a threat. The child gives her a frightened look as if he is truly afraid. But he knows that even though his uncle is a hard-nosed man, he surely won't treat him like Mother does.

Before the station wagon comes to a complete stop, he dashes out of the car. Mother yells for him to return. He has forgotten his crumpled lunch bag, which has always had the same menu for the last three years – two peanut butter sandwiches and a few carrot sticks.

Before he bolts out of the car again, she says, "Tell 'em … Tell 'em you ran into the door." Then in a voice she rarely uses with him, she states, "Have a nice day."

The child looks into her swollen red eyes. She still has a hangover from last night's stupor. Her once beautiful, shiny purple quills are now frazzled clumps. As usual, she wears no makeup. She is overweight, and she knows it. In all, this has become Mother's typical look.

Because he is so late, he has to report to the administrative office. The gray-haired secretary greets him with a smile. Moments later, the school nurse comes out and leads him into her office, where they go through the normal routine. First, she examines his face and arms.

"What's that above your eye?" she asks.

He nods sheepishly, "Oh, I ran into the hall door … by accident."

Again she smiles and takes a clipboard from the top of a cabinet. She flips through a page or two, then bends down to show the child. "Here," she points to the paper, "You said that last Monday. Remember?"

He quickly changes his story, "I was playing baseball and got hit by the bat. It was an accident."

Accident.

He is always supposed to say that. But the nurse knows better. She scolds him so he'll tell the truth. He always breaks down in the end and confesses, even though he feels he should protect his mother.

The nurse tells him that he'll be fine and asks him to take off his clothes. Normally, he wouldn't wear clothes, but since the abuse, he has been forced to wear them to hide the scars and bruises.

They have been doing this since last year, so the child immediately obeys. His long-sleeve shirt has more holes than Swiss cheese. It's the same shirt he's worn for about two years. Mother has him wear it every day as her way to humiliate him. His pants are just as bad, and his shoes have holes in the toes. He can wiggle his big toe out of one of them.

While he stands clothed only in his underwear, the nurse records his various marks and bruises on the clipboard. She counts the slash-like marks on his face, looking for any she might have missed in the past. She is very thorough. Next, the nurse opens his mouth to look at his teeth that are chipped from having been slammed against the kitchen tile countertop.

She jots a few more notes on the paper. As she continues to look him over, she stops at the old scar on his stomach. "And that," she says as she takes a deep swallow, "is where she stabbed you?"

"Yes, ma'am," He replies.

"Oh no!" He tells himself, "I've done something wrong … again."

The nurse must have seen the concern in his eyes. She puts the clipboard down and hugs him.

"Dear Chaos," He tells himself, "She is so warm." He doesn't want to let go. He wants to stay in her arms forever.

He holds his eyes tightly shut, and for a few moments nothing else exists. She pats his head. He flinches from the swollen bruise Mother gave him this morning. The nurse then breaks the embrace and leaves the room. The child rushes to put his clothes back on. She doesn't know it, but he does everything as fast as possible.

The nurse returns in a few minutes with Mr. Hansen the principal, and two of the hoglet's teachers, Miss Woods and Mr. Ziegler. Mr. Hansen knows him very well. He's been in his office more than any other kid in school. He looks at the paper, as the nurse reports her findings. He lifts the child's chin. He's afraid to look into his eyes, which is mostly a habit from trying to deal with his mother. But it's also because he doesn't want to tell him anything.

Once, about a year ago, he called Mother to ask about the child's bruises. At that time, he had no idea what was really going on. He just knew he was a troubled kid who was stealing food. When he came to school the next day, he saw the results of Mother's beatings. He never called her again.

Mr. Hansen barks he's had enough of this. The child almost leaps out of his skin with fear.

"He's going to call Mother again!" His brain screams.

He breaks down and cries. His body shakes like jello and he mumbles like a baby, begging Mr. Hansen not to phone Mother.

"Please!" He whines, "Not today! Don't you understand, it's Friday?"

Mr. Hansen assures him he's not going to call Mother, and sends him off to class. Since it's too late for homeroom class, he sprints directly to Mrs. Woodworth's English class. Today's a spelling test on all the states and their capitals. He's not prepared. Usually he's a very good student, but for the past few months he gave up on everything in his life, including escaping his misery through his schoolwork.

Upon entering the room, all the students plug their noses and hiss at him. The substitute teacher, a younger fox woman, waves her hands in front of her face. She's not used to his smell. At arms length she hands his test to him, but before he can take his seat in the back of the class by an open window, he's summoned back to the principal's office. The entire room lets out a howl at him – the reject of the fifth grade.

He runs to the administration office, and he's there in a flash. His throat is raw and still burns from yesterday's "game" Mother played against him. The secretary leads him into the teachers' lounge. After she opens the door, it takes a moment for his eyes to adjust. In front of him, sitting around a table, are his homeroom teacher Mr. Ziegler, his math teacher Miss Woods, the school nurse, Mr. Hansen and a police officer.

His feet become frozen. He doesn't know whether to run away or wait for the roof to cave in. Mr. Hansen waves him in, as the secretary closes the door behind him. The child takes a seat at the head of the table, explaining he didn't steal anything … today. Smiles break everyone's depressed frowns. He has no idea that they are about to risk their jobs to save him.

The police officer explains why Mr. Hansen called him. The hoglet can feel himself shrink into the chair. The officer asks that he tells him about Mother. He shakes his head no. Too many people already know the secret, and he knows she'll find out.

A soft voice calms him. He thinks it's Miss Woods. She tells him it's all right. He takes a deep breath, wrings his hands and reluctantly tells them about him and Mother. Then the nurse has him stand up and show the policeman the scar on his chest. Without hesitation, he tells them it was an accident; which it was – Mother never meant to stab him.

He cries as he spills his guts, telling them Mother punishes him because he is bad. He wishes they would leave him alone. He feels so slimy inside. He knows after all these years there is nothing anyone can do.

A few minutes later, he is excused to sit in the outer office. As he closes the door, all the adults look at him and shake their heads in an approving way. He fidgets in his chair, watching the secretary type papers. It seems forever before Mr. Hansen calls him back into the room. Miss Woods and Mr. Ziegler leave the lounge. They seem happy, but at the same time worried. Miss Woods kneels down and wraps him in her arms. He doesn't think he will ever forget the smell of the perfume in her hair.

She lets go, turning away so he won't see her cry. Now he is really worried. Mr. Hansen gives him a lunch tray from the cafeteria.

"Dear Chaos! Is it lunch time already?" He asks himself.

He gobbles down the food so fast he can hardly taste it. He finishes the tray in record time. Soon the principal returns with a box of cookies, warning him not to eat so fast. He has no idea what's going on. One of his guesses is that his father, who is separated from his mother, has come to get him. But he knows it's a fantasy.

The policeman asks for his address and telephone number. "That's it!" He tells himself. "It's back to hell! I'm going to get it from her again!"

The officer writes down more notes as Mr. Hansen and the school nurse look on. Soon he closes his notepad and tells Mr. Hansen that he has enough information. The child looks up at the principal. His face is covered with sweat. He can feel his stomach start to coil. He wants to go to the bathroom and throw up.

Mr. Hansen opens the door, and the hoglet can see all the teachers on their lunch break staring at him. He is so ashamed.

"They know," He tells himself. "They know the truth about my mother; the real truth."

It is so important for them to know that he's not a bad boy. He wants so much to be liked, to be loved. He turns down the hall. Mr. Ziegler is holding Miss Woods. She is crying. He can hear her sniffle. She gives him another hug and quickly turns away. Mr. Ziegler shakes his hand.

"Be a good boy, Sonic." he says.

"Yes, sir. I'll try," is all the little blue hedgehoglet can say as he lowers his ears against his head.

The school nurse stands in silence beside Mr. Hansen. They all tell Sonic goodbye. Now he knows he is going to jail.

"Good," He tells himself. "At least she won't be able to beat me if I'm in jail."

The police officer and the child walk outside, past the cafeteria. He can see some of the kids from his class playing dodgeball. A few of them stop playing.

They yell, "Sonic's busted! Sonic's busted!"

The policeman touches his shoulder, telling him everything is okay. As he drives him up the street, away from Green Hill Elementary School, Sonic can see some kids who seem to be fazed by his departure.

Before he left, Mr. Ziegler told him he would tell the other kids the truth – the real truth. He would give anything to have been there in class when they found out he's not so bad.

In a few minutes, they arrive at the Green Hill Police Station. The child sort of expects Mother to be there. He doesn't want to get out of the car. The officer opens the door and gently takes Sonic by the elbow, into a big office. No other person is in the room. The policeman sits in a chair, in the corner, where he types several sheets of paper.

Sonic watches the officer closely as he slowly eats his cookies. He savors them for as long as he can. He doesn't know when he will be eating again.

It's past 1:00 p.m. when the policeman finishes his paperwork. He asks for the child's telephone number again.

"Why?" The young hoglet whines.

"I have to call her, Sonic," he says gently.

"No!" He commands. "Send me back to school. Don't you get it? She mustn't find out I told!"

He calms the blue blur down with another cookie, as he slowly dials 7-5-6-2-4-6-0. He watches the black dial turn as he gets up and walk towards him, straining his whole body while trying to hear the phone ringing on the other end.

Mother answers. Her voice scares him. The policeman waves him away, and takes a deep breath before saying, "Mrs. Hedgehog, this is Officer Smith from the Green Hill Police Department. Your son Sonic will not be coming home today. He will be in the custody of the Green Hill Juvenile Department. If you have any questions, you can call them." He hangs up the phone and smiles. "Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" he asks Sonic. But the look on his face tells him he is assuring himself, more than he is the child.

A few miles later, they are on highway 280, heading towards the outskirts of Green Hill. Sonic looks to his right and sees a sign that reads, "THE MOST BEAUTIFUL HIGHWAY IN THE WORLD."

The officer smiles with relief, as they leave the zone limits.

"Sonic the Hedgehog," he says, "you're free."

"What?" The young azure hedgehoglet asks, clutching his only source of food. "I don't understand. Aren't you taking me to some kind of jail?"

Again he smiles, and gently squeezes his shoulder. "No, Sonic. You have nothing to worry about, honest. Your mother is never going to hurt you again."

Sonic leans back against the seat. A reflection from the sun hits his eyes. He turns away from the rays as a single tear runs down his cheek.

"I'm free?"