Memories of Friends and Famil
By Jesse Shearer
Sonic the Hedgehog characters and locations copyright SEGA, Inc., Archie Comics and DIC Entertainment.
Shamus O'Reiley created by Jesse Shearer.
Saphire "Speed" McSpike created by Emily Smith.
All other characters belong to their respective creators.
The folk song "Spancil Hill" can be found on the CD "Celtic Myst," copyright World Disc Productions.
It had been a bright and sunny day around Knothole. Some of the residents had gone swimming in a nearby lake to avoid the heat since Robotnik had been staying quiet for the past week, and Captain Shamus O'Reiley had joined them, having taken a break from working on his nearly-completed flying craft project.
"I don't think I've had that much fun in five years," Shamus said, with a grin.
"Glad to hear it, sugah," said Bunnie, who was just ahead and to the right of him.
"I'm just glad Buttnik's not tryint to mess up such a nice day," Sonic told the group.
"Me, too," said Sally, as she walked beside Sonic and held his hand.
"That makes five of us," Shamus responded, refering to himself, Bunnie, and Tails, who was laging slightly behind the others. He was feeling down and wasn't really talking, and noone knew quite why.
When they got back to Knothole, all five went to their individual dwellings and started going about other activities in their daily routines. Once Shamus had gotten his normal clothes back on, he began reviewing some of his designs over a mug of green tea. He hadn't been at it long when Bunnie and Tails showed up at his hut just outside Knothole.
"Oh, hey guys, what's up?" Shamus asked when he saw them in the window.
"Not much," said Bunnie. "Mind if we come in?"
"Sure, come on in," the human said. "What can I do for you?"
"Well, I sorta need to have a word with you in private first," said Bunnie.
"OK. Have a seat at the table there, little buddy," Shamus said to Tails as he motioned to the dining table in the center of the hut. "What can I do for you?"
"Tails says he misses his parents," said Bunnie. "They were captured by Robotnik when he was four years old. That trip to the beach musta brought up some memories of them. I thought maybe talking to you might help him some."
"I'll see what I can do," said Shamus, as they headed over to the table and sat down, Shamus across from Tails and Bunnie at Tails' side.
"So, you're feeling a bit down?" asked Shamus. "Is there anything I can do to help? Would you like to talk about it?"
"I miss my mom and dad," said Tails. "I miss them a whole lot."
"You know, sometimes I miss my parents, too," Shamus told him. "When I do, I also think about all the fun we used to have when we were together."
"But Robotnik went and turned mine into slaves!" Tails wailed, on the edge of tears. "Yours are still alive and back on Earth!"
"That's half true, anyway," said Shamus. "Let me tell you a little story. I think it'll help prove how you and I are actually a little bit alike."
"How can that be?" asked Tails.
"Well," said Shamus, "when I was about twenty five years old, my parents were killed in a shuttle accident. The pilot of the other shuttle was on some sort of halucinagin when it happened. He lived. All I could think think about doing for a long time after was find a way to do to him what he had done to me and my brother. About a year later I calmed down and realized that the man's shuttle licence had been permanently revoked and he would spend the rest of his life in rehabilitation. So, my brother Pat and I took it to court. The judge that heard our case agreed with our argument and recomended a law to Earth's government. Now, not even the tiniest amounts of any of the ingredients for that class of drug can get into my home solar system without a special permit and at least three armed guards on the ship."
"But Robotnik took my parents! It was the day after my birthday and we had gone to the beach..." said Tails before he began crying.
"And we're all working very hard to stop Robotnik and bring back not only your parents, but *all* the people he's enslaved," Shamus explained as he reached out and took one of the young fox's hand in his own.
"We're all here for you, sugha," Bunnie told Tails, taking his other hand. Having both Bunnie and Shamus around seemed to calm him, and he had nearly stopped crying within a few minutes.
"What did your parents look like?" he asked a few minutes later, when he could speak again.
"I keep a family picure in one of my drawers. Let me get it for you," Shamus said. After rifling through the top drawer in the chest by his bed for a few seconds, he returned, put a picture frame on the table and turned it's lumination on to reveal a picure of himself and his brother standing behind two gray haired but distinguished looking humands, one a slightly balding man who had a beard something like the one Shamus had, the other a woman with neck-length hair. In the background was a tree decorated with lights and festive-looking ornaments.
"Wow! You really take after your dad!" Tails said, sounding happier.
"When was this picture taken?" asked Bunnie.
"Christmas Day, 3203," Shamus told her. "It was at our home in Macroom, Ireland, about a year and a half before my parents died."
"That's really sad that you remember it that way," said Tails.
"Unfortunately," Shamus said. "But I've got lots of other happier ones, too, if you'd like to see them."
"We'd betta get off ta training, sugha," Bunnie said in response to the offer.
"Feel free to come back any time," Shamus told them as they got up and headed for the door. "My door is always open."
After Bunnie and Tails had gone, Shamus went back to his picure drawer and got out a handful of other pictures and began looking at them. For each one, he had a memory. One of the ones that was the strongest for him was of himself, his brother, and their friends James Keating and Marcus Kelley. They were standing on an ocean beach on a planet called Zandor Three, after having just missed the final round of a beach volleyball tournament by one point. Even though the four-person Zandorian team had beaten them, it had still been fun, and the thought had made him happy. But it also made him sad because he knew that both his brother and Marcus were dead, and he hadn't heard from Keating for a few months before Shamus had crashed. As far as Shamus knew, he was the only person in that particular picture that was still alive. Time slipped away as Shamus looked at his photo collection, and before long one of the friends he had made since coming to Mobius, Saphire "Speed" McSpike, had come to his window to tell him that the weekly village dinner was ready, and almost everyone else was already there.
"Oh, yes," Shamus said when he heard Speed tell him that they were waiting for him and a few others. "I'll be right there."
As the pair headed for the village, Speed asked him why he had almost missed the gathering enven though he had known about it since the previous week.
"Oh, just remembering old friends," Shamus explained.
"Tell me about them," Speed said, excitedly.
"Well, there were my friends Marcus Kelley and James Keating," Shamus began. "The last time my brother and I were toghether with both of them at once, we entered a beach volleyball tournament on Zandor Three. We missed the final round by one point to an all Zandorian team, but it was still great fun."
"Why haven't you seen both of them at the same time since?" asked Speed.
"A few months later, Marcus was killed in a fight with some relatively new interstellar empire," Shamus explained. "They hadn't been heard of much before, and I don't think they've been to active since, either. And I haven't heard from Jim in a long time, either. Now that Pat's dead, I may well be alone once I leave here..."
"I'm sure Sonic and Sally will let you stay as long as you like once we beat Robotnik," Speed reassured him.
"That's good to know," Shamus replied.
A few minutes later, they entered the village and smelled the food in the air. The odor brought a smile to the captain's face.
"You know," he said, "if we were anywhere else, I'd swear we were having game hens and baked potatoes."
"You're part right," Speed said. "But then, we usually have baked potatoes when Dulcy helps cook. You know as well as I do it's one of the few foods she can get right."
"True, true," Shamus responded. "But I can't place what could smell like my mom's game hen recipe around here."
"It must be Bunnette's secret stuffed vegitable recipe. She only does it once or twice a year, and I think this is the first time she's done it since you've been here," Speed suggested. When they arrived at the tables in the village square, there were three open seats at Sally's table left, and they took two of them.
"Well, look who's here!" exclaimed Sally. "Now we're only waiting on Sonic."
"He's not here yet?" asked Shamus.
"Did I hear someone say my name?" asked Sonic, after racing in barely a minute before the salad course was to be served. At the table with the two couples were Bunnie, Rotor, and Tails. As they ate their salads, the group discussed how Shamus had helped Tails out of his depression and the possibility of Shamus becoming Knothole's guidance counselor.
"And don't say you're not that good," Sally told Shamus, "because you are."
"I still have to be modest, Sally," Shamus said. "It's just that Tails and I happen to have a lot in common. The fact that we're both the last living members of our families, for instance."
"How much longer untill zee main course es completed?" Antoine asked from a nearby table, having finished his salad and noticed that many others were almost at the same point.
"About five more minutes," Bunnette called from the cookhouse near the back of the square.
"Enough time for one song," Sally commented. "You haven't sung for us in awhile, Shamus. Why not sing us a song?"
"Sure, why not?" Shamus responded. At that, Sally stood up and announced what was going on.
"Attention! Captain O'Reiley has a song for us," Sally shouted. "Shamus, if you please."
"This song's called `Spancil Hill'," Shamus said as he stood up. "It's a folk song in the region of Earth I'm from, Ireland. I've altered it a touch for the situation, but it's basically the same. It's also a touch sad, but here goes."
As he sang, Shamus noticed a few people beginning to tear up at the end of each verse:
Last night as I lay dreaming of pleasant days gone by
Me mind been bent on rambling, to Ireland I did fly
I stepped on board a vision and followed with a will
Till next I came to anchor at the cross near Spancil Hill
Delighted by the novelty, enchanted with the scene
Where in my early childhood so often I had been
I thought I heard a murmur, I think I hear it still
It's the little stream of water that flows down Spancil Hill
I paid a flying visit to my first and only love
As fair as any lilly, as gentle as a dove
She threw her arms around me, crying Shamus, I love you still
She was my only love, she was the pride of Spancil Hill
When Shamus finished the song, almost everyone was looking at or touching that one person they considered most special. Shamus noticed that Tails was right near him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Will you be my family untill we get my parents back?" Tails asked.
"I'll do the best I can," Shamus told him. "I promise I will."
From then on, Tails and Shamus became good friends through regular visits. From time to time, other villagers would also come to talk to Shamus when they had problems to work out, and in time, he became a valued member of the community.
The End
Author's End Note:
OK, OK, I said "A Time of Positives" would be my last SatAM Sonic story. Well, when Alex Weitzman wrote his story based on the AOL Chat "Bleeding Flame," in which Robotnik was killed, I felt a need to write a story like this, and "Memories" is what came out of it. So I've decided to stop saying that any particular one will be the last. I'm not planning on writing any more like this. If I do, I guess I just do. If not, that'll be unfortunate, but I guess all good things must come to an end eventually, right? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the story. See you online!
--Jesse Shearer
email: ambasosor_lardo@hotmail.com or JMShearer@aol.com
By Jesse Shearer
Sonic the Hedgehog characters and locations copyright SEGA, Inc., Archie Comics and DIC Entertainment.
Shamus O'Reiley created by Jesse Shearer.
Saphire "Speed" McSpike created by Emily Smith.
All other characters belong to their respective creators.
The folk song "Spancil Hill" can be found on the CD "Celtic Myst," copyright World Disc Productions.
It had been a bright and sunny day around Knothole. Some of the residents had gone swimming in a nearby lake to avoid the heat since Robotnik had been staying quiet for the past week, and Captain Shamus O'Reiley had joined them, having taken a break from working on his nearly-completed flying craft project.
"I don't think I've had that much fun in five years," Shamus said, with a grin.
"Glad to hear it, sugah," said Bunnie, who was just ahead and to the right of him.
"I'm just glad Buttnik's not tryint to mess up such a nice day," Sonic told the group.
"Me, too," said Sally, as she walked beside Sonic and held his hand.
"That makes five of us," Shamus responded, refering to himself, Bunnie, and Tails, who was laging slightly behind the others. He was feeling down and wasn't really talking, and noone knew quite why.
When they got back to Knothole, all five went to their individual dwellings and started going about other activities in their daily routines. Once Shamus had gotten his normal clothes back on, he began reviewing some of his designs over a mug of green tea. He hadn't been at it long when Bunnie and Tails showed up at his hut just outside Knothole.
"Oh, hey guys, what's up?" Shamus asked when he saw them in the window.
"Not much," said Bunnie. "Mind if we come in?"
"Sure, come on in," the human said. "What can I do for you?"
"Well, I sorta need to have a word with you in private first," said Bunnie.
"OK. Have a seat at the table there, little buddy," Shamus said to Tails as he motioned to the dining table in the center of the hut. "What can I do for you?"
"Tails says he misses his parents," said Bunnie. "They were captured by Robotnik when he was four years old. That trip to the beach musta brought up some memories of them. I thought maybe talking to you might help him some."
"I'll see what I can do," said Shamus, as they headed over to the table and sat down, Shamus across from Tails and Bunnie at Tails' side.
"So, you're feeling a bit down?" asked Shamus. "Is there anything I can do to help? Would you like to talk about it?"
"I miss my mom and dad," said Tails. "I miss them a whole lot."
"You know, sometimes I miss my parents, too," Shamus told him. "When I do, I also think about all the fun we used to have when we were together."
"But Robotnik went and turned mine into slaves!" Tails wailed, on the edge of tears. "Yours are still alive and back on Earth!"
"That's half true, anyway," said Shamus. "Let me tell you a little story. I think it'll help prove how you and I are actually a little bit alike."
"How can that be?" asked Tails.
"Well," said Shamus, "when I was about twenty five years old, my parents were killed in a shuttle accident. The pilot of the other shuttle was on some sort of halucinagin when it happened. He lived. All I could think think about doing for a long time after was find a way to do to him what he had done to me and my brother. About a year later I calmed down and realized that the man's shuttle licence had been permanently revoked and he would spend the rest of his life in rehabilitation. So, my brother Pat and I took it to court. The judge that heard our case agreed with our argument and recomended a law to Earth's government. Now, not even the tiniest amounts of any of the ingredients for that class of drug can get into my home solar system without a special permit and at least three armed guards on the ship."
"But Robotnik took my parents! It was the day after my birthday and we had gone to the beach..." said Tails before he began crying.
"And we're all working very hard to stop Robotnik and bring back not only your parents, but *all* the people he's enslaved," Shamus explained as he reached out and took one of the young fox's hand in his own.
"We're all here for you, sugha," Bunnie told Tails, taking his other hand. Having both Bunnie and Shamus around seemed to calm him, and he had nearly stopped crying within a few minutes.
"What did your parents look like?" he asked a few minutes later, when he could speak again.
"I keep a family picure in one of my drawers. Let me get it for you," Shamus said. After rifling through the top drawer in the chest by his bed for a few seconds, he returned, put a picture frame on the table and turned it's lumination on to reveal a picure of himself and his brother standing behind two gray haired but distinguished looking humands, one a slightly balding man who had a beard something like the one Shamus had, the other a woman with neck-length hair. In the background was a tree decorated with lights and festive-looking ornaments.
"Wow! You really take after your dad!" Tails said, sounding happier.
"When was this picture taken?" asked Bunnie.
"Christmas Day, 3203," Shamus told her. "It was at our home in Macroom, Ireland, about a year and a half before my parents died."
"That's really sad that you remember it that way," said Tails.
"Unfortunately," Shamus said. "But I've got lots of other happier ones, too, if you'd like to see them."
"We'd betta get off ta training, sugha," Bunnie said in response to the offer.
"Feel free to come back any time," Shamus told them as they got up and headed for the door. "My door is always open."
After Bunnie and Tails had gone, Shamus went back to his picure drawer and got out a handful of other pictures and began looking at them. For each one, he had a memory. One of the ones that was the strongest for him was of himself, his brother, and their friends James Keating and Marcus Kelley. They were standing on an ocean beach on a planet called Zandor Three, after having just missed the final round of a beach volleyball tournament by one point. Even though the four-person Zandorian team had beaten them, it had still been fun, and the thought had made him happy. But it also made him sad because he knew that both his brother and Marcus were dead, and he hadn't heard from Keating for a few months before Shamus had crashed. As far as Shamus knew, he was the only person in that particular picture that was still alive. Time slipped away as Shamus looked at his photo collection, and before long one of the friends he had made since coming to Mobius, Saphire "Speed" McSpike, had come to his window to tell him that the weekly village dinner was ready, and almost everyone else was already there.
"Oh, yes," Shamus said when he heard Speed tell him that they were waiting for him and a few others. "I'll be right there."
As the pair headed for the village, Speed asked him why he had almost missed the gathering enven though he had known about it since the previous week.
"Oh, just remembering old friends," Shamus explained.
"Tell me about them," Speed said, excitedly.
"Well, there were my friends Marcus Kelley and James Keating," Shamus began. "The last time my brother and I were toghether with both of them at once, we entered a beach volleyball tournament on Zandor Three. We missed the final round by one point to an all Zandorian team, but it was still great fun."
"Why haven't you seen both of them at the same time since?" asked Speed.
"A few months later, Marcus was killed in a fight with some relatively new interstellar empire," Shamus explained. "They hadn't been heard of much before, and I don't think they've been to active since, either. And I haven't heard from Jim in a long time, either. Now that Pat's dead, I may well be alone once I leave here..."
"I'm sure Sonic and Sally will let you stay as long as you like once we beat Robotnik," Speed reassured him.
"That's good to know," Shamus replied.
A few minutes later, they entered the village and smelled the food in the air. The odor brought a smile to the captain's face.
"You know," he said, "if we were anywhere else, I'd swear we were having game hens and baked potatoes."
"You're part right," Speed said. "But then, we usually have baked potatoes when Dulcy helps cook. You know as well as I do it's one of the few foods she can get right."
"True, true," Shamus responded. "But I can't place what could smell like my mom's game hen recipe around here."
"It must be Bunnette's secret stuffed vegitable recipe. She only does it once or twice a year, and I think this is the first time she's done it since you've been here," Speed suggested. When they arrived at the tables in the village square, there were three open seats at Sally's table left, and they took two of them.
"Well, look who's here!" exclaimed Sally. "Now we're only waiting on Sonic."
"He's not here yet?" asked Shamus.
"Did I hear someone say my name?" asked Sonic, after racing in barely a minute before the salad course was to be served. At the table with the two couples were Bunnie, Rotor, and Tails. As they ate their salads, the group discussed how Shamus had helped Tails out of his depression and the possibility of Shamus becoming Knothole's guidance counselor.
"And don't say you're not that good," Sally told Shamus, "because you are."
"I still have to be modest, Sally," Shamus said. "It's just that Tails and I happen to have a lot in common. The fact that we're both the last living members of our families, for instance."
"How much longer untill zee main course es completed?" Antoine asked from a nearby table, having finished his salad and noticed that many others were almost at the same point.
"About five more minutes," Bunnette called from the cookhouse near the back of the square.
"Enough time for one song," Sally commented. "You haven't sung for us in awhile, Shamus. Why not sing us a song?"
"Sure, why not?" Shamus responded. At that, Sally stood up and announced what was going on.
"Attention! Captain O'Reiley has a song for us," Sally shouted. "Shamus, if you please."
"This song's called `Spancil Hill'," Shamus said as he stood up. "It's a folk song in the region of Earth I'm from, Ireland. I've altered it a touch for the situation, but it's basically the same. It's also a touch sad, but here goes."
As he sang, Shamus noticed a few people beginning to tear up at the end of each verse:
Last night as I lay dreaming of pleasant days gone by
Me mind been bent on rambling, to Ireland I did fly
I stepped on board a vision and followed with a will
Till next I came to anchor at the cross near Spancil Hill
Delighted by the novelty, enchanted with the scene
Where in my early childhood so often I had been
I thought I heard a murmur, I think I hear it still
It's the little stream of water that flows down Spancil Hill
I paid a flying visit to my first and only love
As fair as any lilly, as gentle as a dove
She threw her arms around me, crying Shamus, I love you still
She was my only love, she was the pride of Spancil Hill
When Shamus finished the song, almost everyone was looking at or touching that one person they considered most special. Shamus noticed that Tails was right near him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Will you be my family untill we get my parents back?" Tails asked.
"I'll do the best I can," Shamus told him. "I promise I will."
From then on, Tails and Shamus became good friends through regular visits. From time to time, other villagers would also come to talk to Shamus when they had problems to work out, and in time, he became a valued member of the community.
The End
Author's End Note:
OK, OK, I said "A Time of Positives" would be my last SatAM Sonic story. Well, when Alex Weitzman wrote his story based on the AOL Chat "Bleeding Flame," in which Robotnik was killed, I felt a need to write a story like this, and "Memories" is what came out of it. So I've decided to stop saying that any particular one will be the last. I'm not planning on writing any more like this. If I do, I guess I just do. If not, that'll be unfortunate, but I guess all good things must come to an end eventually, right? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the story. See you online!
--Jesse Shearer
email: ambasosor_lardo@hotmail.com or JMShearer@aol.com