A Short Story of Kindness
Shadowpaw flicked her gaze to the calendar. It was Monday. She looked at her To Do List for Mondays.
Be nicer to people for today.
She groaned. "I hate Mondays…" She walked over to her calendar on her white paws, and scribbled something on Monday. She slunk over to her door and walked out. When she shut the door behind her, Tails popped up in front of her. "Hey, Shadowpaw!" He said in his almost always enthusiastic voice. "What's up?" She was about to snap at him when she remembered her list, and she sighed and replied, "Nothing, Tails; it's Monday, remember?" He thought for a moment, before he said, "Oh, right! That's why Sonic ran to the store; he always shops on Mondays." He leaned and whispered in her ear, "I think he does it to get away from Amy!"
Shadowpaw smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I agree with ya, he does seem happy when he walks out the door." Tails nodded, and he walked down the hall to his room. Shadowpaw sighed. "That was close…who else is gonna pop up in front of me?" Then she covered her mouth, but it was too late; Kussia and Shadow had already heard her and were sneaking around. She looked around, and carefully edged around the corner, back against the wall. She looked down the hall, and leapt into the study.
She quickly closed the door and locked it. When she wiped her forehead and turned around, she gasped. Kussia and Shadow were standing there, smirking evilly. They knew what day it was, and they also knew what her To Do List said for Mondays. Shadowpaw backed up, but she was trapped. Kussia smiled (trying to act innocent) and said, "Oh, hi, Shadowpaw! What are you doing here?"
Shadow nodded. "Yeah, what are you doing here?"
Shadowpaw looked at them both, and laughed nervously. "I'm just, uh…coming to get another book to read! Yeah, I, umm, already finished my, uhh, other book, and I'm so bored I need another one!" Kussia looked at Shadow, and said, "But, if you were so bored, why didn't you come over to my room and played video games?" She glanced at Shadow looking around and whistling, and looked back at Kussia, still wondering what he was trying to pull. She tried to smile, and said evasively, "Nice weather we're having, huh? Eh heh heh…"
Kussia pretended like he didn't hear her, and smirked. "I have a lot of games, right, Shadow?" Shadow nodded, still smirking. "Yeah, we have a lot of fun games. Do you wanna see some?" Shadowpaw shook her head, but they both grabbed her arms and dragged her out of the study. She grabbed the door frame with her claws, but they pried her off and continued dragging her. She finally gave up and crossed her arms as they dragged her into Kussia's room. "Why me?"
They threw her in a cage, and Kussia pressed a few buttons on a remote. The cage lifted up, and a pool of water came out of the wall. Shadowpaw gulped. They were taking advantage of her To Do List! I need to rewrite my list… The pool moved under her cage, and she saw little fish swimming in it. She smiled. "Food!" The fish looked up at her, and smiled back at her. She whimpered. The fish had sharp, pointy teeth, and looked hungry.
(Shadowpaw looks up at readers) "This is what I get for trying to be nice for one day…the world is so cruel!"
Kussia rolled his eyes, and pulled down a lever. The cage slowly began to lower into the water. Shadowpaw grabbed the bars and tried to break them. When that proved unsuccessful, she climbed up the bars and held on, eyes closed. When the water touched her tail, she grabbed her tail and inched higher. When the cage was fully underwater, it broke open and left her to the mercy of the piranhas.
She yelped (underwater) and started to swim up. The fish shot in front of her, and she kicked them off of her. One of them bit her tail, and she shot up out of the water, yelling, "OOOOOOOOOOWWWW!" She landed on the ground, soaking wet, and she glared at Kussia and Shadow. They were laughing and rolling on the ground. She got up, and, ignoring their laughter, walked out of the room. She tripped, and they laughed even louder.
She growled, and stomped into her room. She kicked her dresser, and flopped onto her bed. She glared at the ceiling. Someone knocked on the door. She didn't say anything, and the person knocked again. She sighed and said, "Who is it?" She heard a small voice say, "It's me, Miss Shadowpaw; Cream." She sighed. "What is it? And call me Shadowpaw, please." Cream poked her head in, and she said, "But, Miss Shadowpaw, I want to know why you looked so mad when you came in here. What's wrong?"
Shadowpaw looked at her and said, "It's just Kussia and Shadow up to their old tricks again." Cream frowned and sat down next to her. "Tricks? What happened?" When Shadowpaw was done explaining, Cream crossed her arms and shook her head. "Why are they so mean to you? You didn't do anything to them, did you, Miss Shadowpaw?" Shadowpaw shook her head and pointed to her calendar. "It's Monday, and they know it. Every Monday, they try to get me to blow. But, I have a To Do List, and on Mondays it says for me to be 'nicer' to people."
Cream tilted her head at her. "Why do you think they get you on the day you're trying to be nice? That's not…well, nice!" Shadowpaw sighed. "They take advantage of me being nice and use it for their humor sources. I don't really get it either, but that's boys for ya." Cream looked over at the calendar. "I don't get it. I'm nice to people, and nobody pranks me!" Shadowpaw sat up. "Yeah, you are nice to basically everybody on the planet. Particularly, you would usually be easy prey. Why do they attack me instead?"
Cream shrugged. "I don't know, but I do know that you should get somebody to help you. Either that, or tell them to stop!" Shadowpaw burst out laughing, and Cream looked at her surprised. Shadowpaw said after she was done, "Get help? No way! My pride wouldn't let me! There's no way I'm asking for help! And 'tell them to stop'? Yeah, right! Like they'd listen to me, anyway!"
Cream crossed her arms, and Shadowpaw realized she was serious. She coughed and said, "But, if I was to ask them to stop, how exactly would I do it, anyway?" Cream thought for a moment. Then, she smiled. "I've got it!" She looked at Shadowpaw and told her a plan that you will see later. When she was done, Shadowpaw sat there, nodding, and said, "Wow, Miss Goody Two-Shoes, I never thought you'd think of anything so sinister and corrupted!" She smirked.
"I like it!"
Later…
Tails, Cream, Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles were sitting on the couch playing Monopoly when Kussia skidded in and ran into the other hallway. (In other words, he ran in from the right to a hallway on the left) Soon afterwards, Shadow ran quickly through the room, blowing back everybody's fur. Then, a giant robot with chainsaws for arms ran through the room. Everybody blinked. Then, Shadowpaw calmly walked in, drinking Root Beer.
Tails raised an eyebrow and asked, "Shadowpaw, why are Kussia and Shadow running away from a giant chainsaw robot?" Shadowpaw stopped and smiled. "Why would I know the answer to that?" Tails looked at Knuckles nervously, and he shrugged. Shadowpaw walked to the hallway to the left, and stopped as Kussia and Shadow ran past her. She stepped to her right, and the robot ran past.
She looked at her watch, and counted down. "Three…two…one…"
BOOM!
Kussia and Shadow came walking into the living room. They were both completely black, and had their fur blown backwards. Shadow's spikes looked just like Sonic's, they were so blown back. Shadowpaw blinked and took a sip of her Root Beer. Kussia and Shadow looked at each other. Then, they both looked at Shadowpaw nervously. She smirked. They gulped.
The next day…
Shadowpaw was sitting in a lawn chair, sunglasses on and drinking more Root Beer. Shadow was fanning her with a giant palm tree leaf. Kussia walked over and poured more Root Beer into her cup. She picked up her sunglasses and looked over at Cream next to her on another lawn chair. "Aren't they being so nice, Cream? Makes you really appreciate kindness, doesn't it?" Cream nodded, eyes closed.
Shadowpaw glanced at Shadow and Kussia whispering to each other. They stopped and smiled nervously. She smirked and said, "What was that, Kussia? Did you say something?" Kussia looked at the robot, currently off, behind the lawn chair. He looked back at Shadowpaw. "I was…just saying how wonderful and kind you are! No one is kinder than you, Shadowpaw!"
She smirked. "Yes, I am, especially since most other people would've killed you both in an instant! But I'm more merciful, and I don't believe in killing potential servants." Shadow looked at Kussia, and said, "By the way, Kussia, what about that game you said-" Kussia shushed him, but he had already caught Shadowpaw's attention. She perked her ears up and raised her sunglasses. "What was that? A game?"
Kussia glared at Shadow, but said, "I was modifying a version of 'Shadow the Hedgehog' that Tails had already modified. It didn't have…the right eye colors. Yeah, that's it…" Shadowpaw flicked her tail thoughtfully, and smirked. "Hmmm…when you're done, what are you gonna do? Sell it? Play it?" Kussia nodded. "Both!" Shadowpaw looked over at Cream again. "You hear that, Cream? Kussia modified a game. Don't you want to see it?"
Cream nodded again, and stretched. "I wonder why he really wanted to modify it for…" Shadowpaw smirked. "I think I probably know…let's help him, shall we?" Cream smiled and nodded. "Yes, let's!"
Moral: If someone is nice to you, be grateful; that person could be meaner later on, so savor the kindness! It could be the last bit of it you get!
