Prickly sat by Brandi's bedside, watching her sleep, praying that she would pull through and be ok. He had a fifth of Jack Daniels in his paw, two empty ones on the floor, and half a case of full ones by his side.
Toby sat up in his bed and said, "Prickly, if a man drinks like that and don't eat or sleep, he ain't gonna last too long. Why not put the bottle down, grab a snack, then get some sleep?".
Prickly looked at Toby with bloodshot eyes and said, "You don't understand what I'm goin' through, Huh? Let me put it in perspective. My mom and dad are dead. My asshole father is in prison. I'm wanted for drug trafficing, a crime i didnt even know I was commiting. I'm in danger of possibly losing my job. My land lord is getting ready to evict us. My best friend lost an arm to a machine i have to work around. And to top it all off, Brandi, My baby sister, is fighting for her life. I need the booze to dull the pain, and I'm too worried to sleep".
Toby sighed, layed back down and said "Sorry for worrying about you", and went to sleep.
Two hours later...
Prickly was starring at the tv set, hoping the combination of booze and infomercials would allow him some peace. He watched an ad for "Girls Gone Wild", but strangly, he felt nothing stir. He finally dozed off during a Slap Chop ad and while he slept, he had several flashbacks...
21 years earlier...
Prickly was sitting on the front porch, playing with his favorite toy, His G.I. Joe, when he heard his mother, Elizabeth, inside yelling at his father, "I CANT BELIEVE YOU WOULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS! I'M LEAVING! AND IM TAKING MY SON WITH ME!".
His father, Spike, yelled back, "GOOD! GO! TAKE THAT LITTLE FREAK!".
She stormed out of the house, grabbed Prickly by the wrist and said, "C'mon Prickly, let's get out if here!".
They got into her car and tore off. Prickly hugged his G.I. Joe tightly and said, "Mommy, why am I a freak?".
She slammed on the brakes, whipped the car into a paraelle parking space, and looked down at him. She wrapped her arms around him and said, "you are not a freak. You are unique. God made you this way because he loves you. And so do I", and she kissed his cheek.
"I love you too, mommy", said Prickly.
2 years later...
Elizabeth came home one evening and called up the stairs, "Prickly! I've got somebody I'd like you to meet!".
Prickly groaned as he walked down the stairs, with his G.I. Joe in his arms. He knew that this meant his mother had yet another new boyfriend. And after the last one had tried to persuade him to let him touch his privates while his mother was out, he didn't like them.
Elizabeth then opened the door, revealing a black fruit bat. She them said, "Prickly, this is Bruce. Bruce, this is my son, Prickly".
Prickly was so shy, he tried to hide behind G.I. Joe.
Bruce smiled and said, "Hello there, Prickly".
Prickly was quaking in fear from the memories of the last guy, but he slowly looked up and said, "H-H-Hello B-B-Bruce".
"Wow", said Bruce, "that's quite a stutter you've got".
Elizabeth kissed Prickly's cheek and said, "He doesn't have a stutter, he's just very nervous".
Bruce nodded and said, "So Prickly, have you decided what you wanna be when you grow up?".
Prickly nodded and said, "Yes. I wanna be a soldier".
Elizabeth looked terrified at the thought. Bruce said, "You mean you wanna shoot up the bad guys and fight for our freedom?".
Prickly shook his head and said, "no. I don't wanna kill things. I wanna be a Medic and save lives. Not take them.".
2 years later...
Prickly was standing next to Bruce at the alter. He was so touched that Bruce had asked him to be his Best Man.
Elizabeth entered the chapel, and "Here comes the bride" began to play on the organ. Bruce whispered in Prickly's ear, "don't see look beautiful?". Prickly nodded.
The ceremony went without a hitch, and at the reception, Prickly made a toast to his Mom and new Dad. He said he felt like the second luckiest guy in the world. Second because Bruce said he must be the luckiest one.
Bruce had to brush away a tear when he heard Prickly call him "Dad".
6 more years later...
Elizabeth screamed in excitiment, "IT'S BLUE! IT'S BLUE!".
Bruce said, "that's great!" and hugged her tightly.
Prickly stuck his head out of his bedroom and said, "Whats wrong?".
Elizabeth held up what Prickly didn't know was a pregnancy test, and screamed, "PRICKLY! IT'S BLUE!".
"That's nice, mom", said Prickly, as he was about to shut his door.
"IT MEANS I'M GOING TO HAVE A BABY! YOU'RE GONNA BE A BIG BROTHER!".
Prickly gasped. He'd always wanted to be a big brother. "YAAAAAY!", he cried as he ran out into the hall and started dancing for joy.
9 months later...
Prickly smiled as he looked through the glass in the maturnity ward at the little pink fruit bat that was his sister. She was just so cute...
2 more years later...
Prickly was on his way to his father's house, to possibly carry another package across town for some more cash. He was only $50 away from being able to afford that new game system he wanted. He rounded the corner, and saw the street packed with Police cars. "that's strange", he thought. He noticed that most of the cars were all facing his father's house. He then noticed two cops dragging a porcupine in handcuffs down the walk. That was when it hit him, they had arrested his father. Prickly turned his bike around and rode off as quickly as he could.
9 more years later...
Prickly and Brandi couldn't believe what the doctor had just told them. Their parents were dead. They were killed when their car was struck broadside by an 18 wheeler. Elizabeth died on impact. Bruce barely survived and was brought to the E.R., but died on the operating table.
Brandi laid her head on Prickly's shoulder, and cried.
Prickly slowly stroked her head, and did his best to hold back his tears.
Present day...
Prickly woke up with tears running down his face. He looked at the clock. It said, 2:45 AM. He recapped his bottle, set it on the floor, flipped off the TV, and laid down on the couch. He went right to sleep and did not dream.
When he woke up, he heard sobbing. He opened his eyes and looked in the direction the sobbing came from and he saw Moska. She was standing at the side of Brandi's bed, crying. "Oh Brandi. I'm sorry. This is all my vault. I'm sorry", she said.
Prickly looked over at her and said, "Moska? Is that you?".
Moska looked up, ran to him, and buried her head in his shoulder, using it to muffle her wails of sorrow.
Prickly slowly stroked the back of her head, waiting for the wails to subside. Moska finally pulled away from his shoulder, looked him square in the eye and said, "Prickly, I have a convession to make", she took a deep breath and said "I'm the one who slashed Brandi's wings". She started crying again and said, "Its all my vault! And now, you hate me too!".
Prickly wrapped his arms around Moska and said, "Moska, I don't hate you. Im proud of you. I mean, I'm not proud that you hurt Brandi, but I'm proud that you came and confessed face to face. I wouldn't have had the balls to confess to that, and I've done some pretty ballsy stuff in my day".
Moska hugged Prickly tightly.
"C'mon now, no more cryin', k?", said Prickly. He then kissed her on the cheek. It was force of habit. When he comforted Brandi, he would always kiss her cheek. After realizing his mistake, Prickly turned bright red. Moska did the same.
Prickly noticed this and said, "Wait a minute, why are you blushing?".
Moska blushed more and blurted out, "I have a crush on you!".
(Wow! Didn't see that comin', huh? Thanks for reading this far. I'll update as soon as I can. As I said, work, sleep, my family, and my insane nympho mexican girlfriend keep me very busy. (Dont worry baby, I love you. *kiss kiss*) C y'all next time. Bye)