A/N: I'm sorry for not putting one up sooner. But I guess its mandatory to say that I do not own any characters from the Over the Hedge movie, comic or otherwise. The only character I do own is the mystery raccoon who has yet to be named and Buzz. And maybe any other animal I come up with thats yet to make an appearance. Other than that, thank you for all your positive reviews!
About a week of nut gathering passed. All of which were highly more successful than the first night. As it turned out Hammy had hidden more than just one hundred nuts. The number hovered around two hundred fifty so the work did a number on both of them. Until Heather decided to join, but even then untimely distractions made the progress slow. Namely mouse traps, fly paper, and poison ivy.
On a Saturday morning the nut gathering gang decided to take a break. Hammy still sported a bad itch and Heather was still combing sticky fly catcher residue out of her fur. Hammy had stored himself away inside RJ's small "pad" sitting on the ground with the universal remote in his paws. He flipped away nonchalantly until around 999 channels later he found some morning cartoons. Minutes later RJ slipped in and spied what the squirrel was watching. "You like this stuff?" He plopped down in the baby car seat and watched the story unfold. The bulk of the episode consisted of a lot of shouting, pouting, bright colors an overbearing variety of cuddly and surreal looking creatures.
"I've never seen animals that look like this, RJ" Hammy said, transfixed at the screen. RJ stared too but his face was transfixed with bewilderment instead of awe. "I've never seen humans that look that that, Hammy"
It became tremendously obvious by the third episode of the 10 episode marathon, that the cartoon had no plot to follow other than some announced fights which consisted of the "humans" yelling out orders to their "animals" who attacked in the oddest ways possible and were later on imprisoned inside tiny round cells that looked mighty uncomfortable to Hammy. And stranger yet, despite their entrapments, the animals were best friends with their humans.
"Thats just mean! Why do they have to take that!"
"Humans have the potential to be mighty cruel things, Hammy. Mighty cruel." He was thinking about the people who actually made this show. After a commercial went off advertising the cartoon's exclusive and probably bad tasting cereal, the theme song picked up again with the same dragged out and annoying tune. "I'm out of here." RJ left the area to the very itchy Hammy and his cartoons, coming in sight of Ozzie and his daughter Heather, he decided to check on the younger possum's fur problem. He could hear Heather complaining before he even got within speaking distance.
"Ouch! That hurts!"
"Sorry dear, just hold still."
"But dad! Urrrg! Watch it that comb hurts!"
"But Heather its the only way you'll ever get this nasty residue out of your fur." He yanked back on the comb and earned another howl from his daughter. RJ eased over to the two possums trying to not look like he was amused by this. He was.
"Hey Ozz-man, whats going on ?" And then he looked at Heather who in turn, after hearing RJ's voice, spun around to face him. She looked shaken and her fur spit off her body in the most awkward and frizzy way. RJ knew better than to crack a smile but that did little to help.
"Grr! Dad! Give me that comb!" In a quick paw swipe Heather snatched the comb from her father's paws and stormed away into a more private area of their green home. "I'll do it myself!" It was obvious she did not like getting caught without looking her best. Ozzy looked downcast when RJ nudged him. "Having a rough time aren't you?"
Ozzy seemed to deflate. "Oh RJ. You don't even know the half of it. I think Heather and I are growing apart. Its been getting worse day after day."
RJ didn't really know what to say to comfort him. The raccoon had become a "family man" you could say. But not a father. But he tried his best anyway. "Aw come on, Ozzy. I'm sure its just a teen thing. And Heather is growing up." This seemed to do the exact opposite of what RJ had hoped. Ozzy just shrank back a few steps and hunched his shoulders as if admitting defeat.
"RJ I don't know what to do. She's changing right before my eyes." The possum lifted his paws before his face in a theatric manner before cradling them to his chest. "It feels like only yesterday when I...cradled her in my arms like a baby." RJ felt an on coming wave of sympathy. RJ had by now learned what it felt like to gain love. But not loose love. It was a new concept, but then again Ozzy wasn't really loosing Heather. Things were just changing.
It wasn't long after that that Ozzy had convinced RJ to let him walk around with him, to release all his concealed tensions about his role as a father and how he tried to raise Heather as best he could without the help of a mate.
"Not that it really matters, you know. I mean." Ozzy shrugged. "Even without a real mother...Heather has all of you. And...I think you all bring a healthy dose of maturation into my daughter's life."
RJ bit his tongue at that statement. What could characters like Verne, Hammy, and Tiger teacher Heather? How to be incredibly insane, narcissistic, and neurotically obsessed with keeping a schedule all at the same time? None of those traits seemed to even compliment each other! It was a miracle then that Heather was still stable.
They both walked around the neighborhood together but not bothering too much on staying hidden. It was warm for a fall day but only children were outside. And they were all absorbed in their own zone of play not paying attention to a wandering raccoon and possum.
Ozzy eventually took his conversation off of his daughter and onto something different. "You know, RJ. I've lived here my whole life. During the last winter it all changed so much. Nothing is recognizable outside of what is on our side of our little hedge. Yet sometimes I wonder." His gaze went up and out to the blue and white mountains in the far distance. "Whats out there?" RJ shrugged. "None of the good stuff thats here I can tell you that. Remember this is the good life."
Ozzy seemed thoughtful. "Yes but...that can always be altered can't it? A Utopian paradise can become a hell on earth at the flick of a wrist. Friends become foes, The easy life suddenly changing into a fight for survival! Love turned to hate because of fates cruel hand!"
RJ raised a curious eyebrow. "Where do you get this stuff?"
Ozzy chucked as they walked under a row of cars and SUVs that lined the sidewalk in front of homes. The possum was about to leave the security of their concealment and walk on to the next row of cars when RJ's paw shot out in front of him.
"Whoa there, partner. Someones coming out of that house."
The raccoon and possum looked on at the house directly in front of the car they were standing under. Its front door came open and a petite woman heaved her way over the threshold. In her hand she held a leash and on the other end of that that leash was a giant yet petrified German Shepard. RJ squinted his eyes at the sight.
"Buzz?"
Ozzy looked confused. "Who's Buzz?"
RJ signaled at the large dog. "Thats Buzz."
He noticed the dog's out of character whining reluctance to move. "He looks freaked." A conversation was struck between the woman pulling Buzz down the walkway and a man who was in the backyard fixing the damaged fence.
"Are you sure he got bit, honey?" Said the woman with a half grunt, trying to keep Buzz from running back into the house.
"Yeah I'm sure he was bit on the nose, Margret. Chasing some damn animal. And just look what he did to my fence!"
Margret sighed. "I know, Bill. You showed me at least twenty nine times in the past five days! I know the fence is broken!"
"I should show that dog to the pound for doing this! Do you know how much fixing this fence is costing?"
"About twenty dollars?"
"No its twenty five!" Bill yelled this out as if the extra five dollars was a noticeable increase.
"Well...Why didn't you tell be before that Buzz got bit on the nose like that. I would have taken him to the vet sooner!" At the sound of the word "vet" Buzz near panicked. He spun around and ran back to the house but was stopped short by the woman who had him by the leash. She had to cling to a light pole just to stay up right.
"Buzz...hold...still! Bill!...- Who knows what some wild animal might have given him- STOP STRUGGLING BUZZ OR ITS A ONE WAY TICKET TO THE POUND!" The big brute of a dog remained calm then. And RJ couldn't help but smirk at his predicament. So he didn't like the vet? Let it be the worst trip he's ever taken! Margret and Buzz walked to the SUV that RJ and Ozzy were under. They both started to back away to another car to keep Buzz from catching their-
Sniff sniff...Buzz unleashed a rumbling growl and rushed forward, nearly pulling Margret to the ground. "Buzz!" The German Shepard tried to shove his nose underneath the large van. He used his paws to try and reach underneath. The dog pulled out and started sniffing again from one car to the next. "Shoot! He got us. Run Ozz!" Both raccoon and possum ran post haste back the way that had come, making sure to never leave the safety of the car's under sides. Buzz could not reach the animals because of the incredibly small space created by the lowness of the cars and the slight elevation of the side walk but he caught sight of the possum and barked madly.
"Oh!" Ozzy went stock still in shock when Buzz's loud barking over taking him. Instinct instantly came to him mere moments later and soon he was as flat and stiff as a stale pancake. RJ had to turn around. "Ozzy not now!" The raccoon grabbed Ozzy and tried to revive him. "Where have I don't this before?" Buzz saw RJ and went crazy remembering the last time they had met.
"Bill! Help me! This dog is going insane!" Bill seemed to not be listening. "What?" Margret continued. "Come get the d-oooAAHG!" She fell face first onto the side walk when Buzz made his last and successful effort at pulling the leash out of her hands."
"Ozz, Ozzy get up, man!" Ozzy's eyes slowly fluttered open as he mumbled the words "I saw the dog...where is it?" RJ helped Ozzy back on his feet, he had also lost sight of Buzz. "I don't know I thought he was right..." Then RJ felt the hot breath flattening out his back fur. "THERE!" Buzz swiped at them from his new position on the street side of the cars. There was more room for him to reach but he was still to big to squeeze under the cars. RJ and Ozzy kept their distance as the dog tried in vain to snap one of them up in his jaws. But as Buzz started his second attempt he was bowled over by the overbearing mass of Bill who had come to restrain him to Margret's great relief. "He was starting to scare the children, Bill now help me get him into the van!" Buzz was big and strong but not as fat, strong, and determined as Bill was to get the dog into the van. With ease Bill lifted the German Shepard off the ground the way a muscular hero would lift up his lovely and small girlfriend and shoved him into the car after Margret got the backseat door open. After the woman closed it Bill kneeled back down to see what caused Buzz to act this way. But nothing was obvious when he looked. "Whats wrong with this dog?"
"Are you sure nothing is under there?" Margret kneeled down right beside her husband but was also greeted with nothing. "Thats strange...maybe Buzz really is sick," was her suggestion when they both stood up. After a few brief words past between the couple, the woman got into the car and the man went back to his work fixing the fence.
Down under the SUV, RJ and Ozzy stood pressed like paper against the the inside of the tire wheel. Silently Ozzy whispered. "Are they gone?" RJ answered, "I think so." They both deflated, and fell out on the pavement. But both quickly got out of the way when the vehicle above them started to move.
"That was close...lets...try to be more careful."
"Yeah. Good idea."
The two friends recrossed the neighborhood and made it to the hedge just as the day was half way through. Heather was in a better mood now that her fur was clean. She had to wash herself in the pond about three times but the job was done. She was sitting alone with the comb, gently moving it through her fur when her father walked up from behind. "So dear, are you feeling any better?" Heather smiled lightly and nodded. "Yeah much better, um.." she hesitated. "Sorry about earlier. I need to work on that." The father wrapped his arms around his daughter, his eyes shown with understanding. "Its okay, dear. I understand."
"Has anybody seen Quillo? I've looked everywhere but I can't seem to find him." Verne understood what it felt like. Since the level of attention needed to keep up with a child was probably below the level of attention it took to keep an eye on Hammy. " I was about to ask you a question just like that, Penny. But I'm afraid I don't know where Quillo is." Penny the porcupine mother of three young triplet brothers tried her best to not over worry when one or all of them went missing for a time span longer than what she felt was safe for young ones their age. Bucky, Quillo, and Spike were getting more rambunctious and determined to explore with each passing day. Slowly eeking their way out of the tight parental grasp of their parents in order to experience the suburbs with out them.
"Lou and I have searched everywhere for him, Verne. Oh I hope he didn't go over the hedge alone!" It was Verne's guess that Quillo probably went with Hammy on another nut hunt. He didn't say this to Penny though knowing full well that Hammy's brand of babysitting would do little to calm Penny's nerves.
"Jeepers, where could he have gone. The boys were taking naps right were they were supposed to and one little distraction takes me and Lou away for a bit, we come back, and Quillo is gone!" Penny looked distraught, Vern looked up into the sky and could only wonder about what Hammy was doing at that time.
Quillo looked up at Hammy who sat high on a gutter pipe.
"Hammy how much farther do we have to go before we find these nuts? Quillo's little paws were starting to feel fatigued from walking through lawns, flower beds, and flora house decorations. Going in every which direction, following Hammy to the corners of suburbia and back again. Trying his best to keep up with the acrobatic squirrel yet at the same time not get caught. Although Hammy was covered in moss, mud, and leaves. (Trying to stop the horrible itch) He had a much easier time getting around than Quillo. A squirrel was a much more common sight going up an down trees, electric wires, and on roof tops, than a porcupine baby scampering though a front lawn.
Hammy sniffed the wind. His amazing squirrel senses kicking in and locating the nuts near by. "This way! " Hammy slid down the gutter pipe and crossed the yard to two garden gnomes standing guard in front of a beautiful flower bed. Quillo gazed into the darkening evening sky. The small porcupine could see the slight appearance of stars . "I think this'll have to be the last stop, Hammy. Its getting late!" Hammy looked thoughtful for a second but agreed. "Okay!" Hammy gently tilted one of gnomes and started to fish out the nuts hidden underneath.
Carrell and sister Samantha were sitting in their home's living room playing video games, wildly tapping at their controls in their attempt to get the upper hand. Player 1 YOU WIN!
"YEEEAAH! I won! You lost! You suck!" Carrell stuck out his deep red tongue, red from too many sugary red lollipops, Samantha's face squinted in disappointment and annoyance.
"Oh be quiet! You only won because you kept using the same move over and over and thats cheating!" Her brother shrugged. "Playing fair is for the weak!" His attempt to sound tough only angered Samantha more who jumped at him started pounding down on his face. But Carrell was smart enough to block her punches with his arms. "Get off me!" In on heave the girl fell off her brother and tumbled backwards. She layed on her back. From her position she could see the world beyond the patio door upside down and something caught her interest. She picked herself up and crouched by the see through patio door, calling her brother to come up. "Carrell come over here! I see something!" He did and what he saw also caught his interest. "Woooow. That squirrel looks like it hasn't bathed in months!" Carrell was nine, and anything that looked strange, nasty, and just plain weird still piqued his interest as something to throughly explore or menacingly harass. He opened the latch to the patio door and quietly slid the it open. Samantha caught sight of Quillo. "Aw do you see that porcupine! He's so cute!" Carrell waved for her to be quiet much to her dislike. "Shhhh!" his eyes remained on the muddy squirrel.
"Come on I'm going to try and catch it." he whispered.
Hammy had just finished fishing the nuts from under the second lawn gnome and stored them inside his expansive cheeks when he noticed how the ground below him became shrouded in shadow. He was surprised for a few seconds when he heard Quillo beside him yell out. He looked up to see two human hands reaching out to grab him. But Hammy was naturally to fast for any human hands. He was gone in a flash. The human boy seemed at a loss. And then a very dissapointed look stretched over his face. Hammy saw Quillo was still in the yard and the boy, who had given up on him, was now going after the young porcupine, trapping him against the side of the house. Hammy sprang into action and zoomed across the yard, climbing up the boy's body and getting in underneath his shirt.
"GAH! SAMANTHA! CALL MOM THE SQUIRREL IS ATTACKING ME!"
Samantha was obviously scared to death at this notion and rand inside the house to get their oblivious mother. Carrell jumped around like a lunatic with a squirrel going up and down the front and back of his shirt. "Its Rabid!" It was only by chance that he managed to catch it and slap down on his shirt hard with his palm. Causing the dizzy squirrel to fall out of his shirt and onto the grass. Carrell then backed away from it, afraid of anything that could potentially hurt him although he had not been bitten. And then suddenly Carrell wanted revenge on the animal for making him look stupid in front of his sister.
"You need a bath you stupid squirrel." he said nastily while reaching for the water hose, he turned the blast power to its maximum.
Quillo ran towards Hammy to try and get his friend focused again. "Hammy! Dude, can you hear me? We've got to get out of here!" He wanted so badly to run but would never in a life time leave his friend behind. It were as if Hammy's senses had been knocked off kilter by the human boy's strike. But he shook the dizziness from his head and looked at Quillo brightly. "Right!" It was only a moment after he said that when both he and Quillo felt the incredible pressure of water blast them, over the yard and over the fence in one powerful stream that seemed to carry them. "WHAAAAAAAA!".
But even when the two animals were gone Carrell's fun wasn't over. The hose was long enough so he opened the fence's gate and ran out to the side walk, still spraying the two animals maliciously. "Take this you damn squirrel!" Quillo was pushed out into the street because he was too weak to fight the water pressure. He squeaked as he fell down a storm drain. Hammy managed to escape the water's path by hiding in a tree in another yard, and the yards owners came out in protest of high velocity water spraying on their windows. So Carrell stopped and tried to slink back into his backyard trying to look innocent. But it was too late, his mother had seen the whole thing...
Later when all the commotion had ended Hammy ran down the tree and across the street to the storm drain. He poked his head down the large hole trying to peer into the darkness. "Quillo are you down there?" he shouted and his voice slightly echoed in his ears but no sound of Quillo answering back. "Quillo!"
The dark place smelled rank with blood. That was the first thought Quillo registered as soon as his eyes opened. This held him to his spot in fear. The fear of moving too much. Of exposing himself to whatever it was which caused the bloody smell. But then he heard Hammy's yell pierce the darkness. He wasn't far away, he was above him but Quillo felt like he was down deep and constricted. The smell of blood paralyzed him. In the instant he realized he was to afraid to move, Quillo hated that he agreed to tag a long with Hammy on this insane outing. "Quillo!" Hammy's voice rang out again, and again, and again. Each time his voice lost its usual naïve blissfulness, a more frightful element entered the squirrels voice. He was worried for Quillo. Quillo yearned for the courage to call back...but the blood. Was the wet liquid he felt under his quills water or blood?
Something moved.
Quillo felt his heart pound when he heard something slide through the sludge at the bottom of the drain towards him. He whimpered and backed away only to feel his back pressed against the wall. The space was small and Quillo could see none of it. Then the young porcupine felt coarse fur brush against his nose and shrieked. This caused an immediate reaction to whatever had touched him. It shrank back. And Hammy, hearing Quillo's scream only resumed his calls for him with more vigor.
There was something inside Hammy's brain that finally clicked. I'm going down he thought, and he did without further question. There was a light splash as his paws met with the mucky ground and darkness consumed him. Hammy picked up on the young porcupine's pitiful wails and made a beeline, he didn't need to see. But as soon as Hammy reached Quillo he crouched down on all fours. The smell of blood was stronger than ever. Had something died? He heard movement and snatched Hammy into his paws. Quillo buried himself deep into the squirrel's chest fur the same way he instinctively hid under his mother. The quills hurt like hell, but Hammy dragged the sulking Quillo back to the storm drain entrance where a small amount of light showed through. The animal behind them came forward, in one deft movement Hammy tossed Quillo up and out the opening. "Stay down!" he hissed at the shivering porcupine babe, who was still too petrified to move anyway. "H-H-Hammy! Behind you!" The squirrel turned around to face something that really made his heart stop.
If a face could be seen Hammy probably would have yelled. But fur matted with blood and dirt covered most of its features save for one blankly staring eye that was exposed underneath the hanging fur. It bored down onto Hammy with a power he could not understand. He sank back into the wall and slid down to the ground, too afraid to move. The creature's fur was dark as night, even in the blackness of the storm drain Hammy could see this. The body was small, only a slight significant size bigger than he was. Its tail and body fur was as matted, bloody, and dirty as the fur on its head making the animal look ragged. For some reason that Hammy wasn't sure of he knew this creature was a raccoon although he couldn't pick out a gender. The body was gaunt probably from famine and the animal's natural sent was lost in the smell of sewage and blood. A bad nightmare, a horror story, one cookie too many before bedtime.
The raccoon looked up at Quillo who gasped and shrank back. Not knowing if it was going to attack or not, Hammy took no chances and kicked the raccoon right in the chest with his back legs, it seemed to crumble, then he scrambled up and out of the drain before it had time to regain its footing. Without saying anything Hammy grabbed Quillo and made a frantic high speed dash back to the hedge. He knew he would have to take the fall for Quillo being out so late, but that would be alright. His mind raced on an on. Maybe he should forget about the remainder of his nuts, for some reason he lost a substantial amount of concern for nuts and his mind rested on the bleeding animal back in the storm drain. He saw it crumble in weakness under his kick and knew he had kicked too hard.
A/N: And thats all folks! For now anyway. Who knows when I'll even begin on chapter 4. But I know I can't procrastinate for too long. I hope to get the story unfolded more by next chapter.Thank you for reading.