The Ham Ham Airplane
Author's note: I really think that Hamtaro and Bijou should be a couple. Enjoy!!! And by the way, I do not own Hamtaro or anything associated with it. I am simply an author who wrote about the characters in Hamtaro.
On a bright sunny day, Maxwell had a splendid and wonderful idea! He wanted to build an airplane. He didn't know why, but he knew it could be used for wonderful purposes. He decided to talk to Panda about it.
"Hello, Panda," Maxwell greeted.
"Hamha, Maxwell," Panda said, returning Maxwell's greeting.
"Couldn't you build anything, Panda?"
"Just about anything."
"How about an airplane?"
"An airplane?"
"Yeah, an airplane."
"I think I could. I'm sure I could, but I've never tried before."
"I could get some books on how to build one and what materials we would need."
"That would be great. It would help a lot."
"Okay. I'll go on a trip to the library."
"Shouldn't we tell someone about this?"
"I don't think so."
"Could we tell Cappy?"
"Probably not."
"What about Boss? He could probably help us build it."
"Nope. We can't tell him either."
"I can't keep this a secret forever, Maxwell. Eventually, I will need to tell someone about my plans. It helps me to work. Hiding something isn't fun."
"Hmmm. Let me think…I know, we can tell Hamtaro!"
"Yeah, he's always up for an adventure."
"He can test-drive it after we're done with it."
"Okay, we can tell him tomorrow."
"See you at the clubhouse."
Maxwell went to the library and began to check out books on building an airplane. Panda went home and started to collect some tools that he thought he would need. The next day, they both woke up bright and early. Maxwell had finished reading the books, and Panda finished gathering his tools. At the clubhouse…
"Wow!" Hamtaro exclaimed. "You guys are here early. Nobody comes to the clubhouse at this hour. What's going on?"
"Well, Panda and I have a project we want to tell you about," Maxwell explained.
"It's really big," Panda added.
"Okay, what is it?"
"Well, it's kinda a secret that we're only telling you."
"You can't tell any one else about it, okay?"
"I'm your ham. Go ahead and tell me."
"Hamtaro, this is very serious. We don't want anybody knowing about this."
"Yeah, you have to take an oath."
"I solemnly swear that I will not tell anyone about this secret project. I would like to know though. Why not?"
"Then there might be a fight over its purposes and who would be the owner of it."
"They might not know how to use it either. Then it could get broken, and it would be ruined."
"Okay, I'm not telling. A horse wouldn't be able to knock it out of me. A shark couldn't make me tell. A lion couldn't beat it out of me. A…"
"Can I tell you what it is now?" asked Maxwell.
"Oh, yeah," Hamtaro said. "Sure."
"It's an airplane."
"Really?"
"Yep," Panda assured him. "It would be a lot of fun to have one. A small one that is. It would probably be a one seater with…"
Hamtaro wasn't listening. Instead he jumped around happily considering about the possibilities.
"Oh, wow!" Hamtaro said to himself. "Imagine the adventures we could have! We could go to another state, or Canada, or we could even go to France! Yippee!!!!"
"Yes, we could," Maxwell agreed, "but not if it doesn't get built first."
"Right," Panda affirmed.
"How could I help?" Hamtaro asked.
"You'll help soon enough. Actually you could come up with the design on the outside. I've finished reading the books. First we'll need some metal, and some tire, and…."
Maxwell explained what they needed to build the airplane. After gathering all of the tools, Hamtaro, Maxwell, and Panda all met at Panda's house. Meanwhile at the clubhouse…
"Hey," Boss said, "where are Hamtaro, Panda, and Maxwell?"
"I haven't seen Maxwell since yesterday," Sandy remarked. "I hope he's okay."
"Panda stopped by my house this morning," Cappy noted. "I saw him walking toward the clubhouse about 45 minutes ago."
"What about Hamtaro?" Bijou asked full of concern. "He's always here. What is happening?"
"Oh, he's probably out somewhere collecting some sunflower seeds for you," Pashmina reassured her.
"You're right. He probably is."
"I bet that they're out somewhere doing something that's as crazy as they are," Howdy said, exploding into a fit of laughter. "He he he! I crack myself up."
"That wasn't funny, Howdy," all of the hams said at the same time.
"Well, you can't blame a ham for trying."
"Please," Dexter stated sarcastically. "Anyone could come up with a better joke than that. Even Penelope, and all she can say is 'okyoo.'"
"Oh, would you two knock it off," Pashmina retorted.
"This isn't any fun," Cappy complained.
"No, it isn't," Bijou agreed. "I think that we should go look for them."
"That's exactly what we'll do," Boss resolved. "Everybody spread out and search."
Everyone did go searching but not finding. At Panda's house…
"I came up with the perfect design," Hamtaro said holding up his drawing, "see."
"That's excellent, Hamtaro," Maxwell said, "Now, we will start building."
"I hope you guys know," Panda reminded them, "that after the airplane is finished, we will have to build it a hanger."
"What's a hanger? Is it what you put your clothes on?"
"No. It's kind of like a garage for cars, except that it's for an airplane."
"Oh," Hamtaro said.
"Lets get started, shall we?" Maxwell stated impatiently. "We will build the hanger after we build the plane."
"Okay," Panda said cooperatively. "I already drew up the plans on how it's to be built. It looks like this. When it's done, it will look like this. Here are the parts. Hamtaro, hand me that wing please."
"Here you go."
"Maxwell, help me put this wing on the fuselage."
"Like this?"
"Yes, thank you."
"I got the propeller and rudder," Hamtaro said.
"Put that on there and put this on here," Panda said, continuing to give out orders.
"Here is the other wing," Maxwell said.
"Do that one just like the other one."
"We're making good progress," Hamtaro observed.
"Are you guys having fun?" Maxwell asked.
"Yeah," Panda said without hesitation. "I'm happy I can work on something. It was getting kind of boring at the clubhouse. I haven't built anything since the Ham Ham Fun Park."
"I can't believe we're really doing this. This is going to be terrific!"
"Let's finish some more of this. I'm sure we're almost done."
"We are very close to the finish. All we have to do is put on some landing gear, two twin jets, and all these buttons that go in the cockpit. We could add some weapons like rockets, machine guns, missiles and some other stuff if you want to."
"Let's go for it. There isn't any harm in adding some extra stuff. I think they make the plane look extra cool."
"Let's get back to work, fellas."
The three hams then got back to work on the plane. They worked hard and finished it soon after, but while they were still finishing, all the other hams were worrying about them.
"Any sign of them anywhere?" Bijou asked.
"Not a trace," Cappy stated.
"I've looked everywhere," Boss cried despairingly. "They're nowhere to be found."
"I don't think we'll ever find them," Pashmina said, sitting down on the ground from exhaustion.
"This is one serious game of hide and seek," Howdy exclaimed.
"You're telling me," Dexter said, plunking down right next to his buddy.
"We have to find them," Bijou stated. "They have to be somewhere."
"I agree," Sandy added.
"Then it's settled," Boss said. "We will all just search everywhere. Don't leave a rock unturned."
All the hams then set out to look everywhere they could. They still didn't consider going to anybody's house though. Right at that moment, Panda, Hamtaro and Maxwell finished the plane.
"That took a lot out of me," Hamtaro said, dropping his tools from his callous paws. "I'm tired."
"So am I," Maxwell concurred.
"Good job, you guys," Panda said, congratulating his co-workers and best pals. "We finished the plane in record time. It took us only half of the day to do it. 12 hours."
"Now that we did all the work, except build the hanger, can we go get something to eat? I'm not only tired but hungry too."
"I know we could eat at the clubhouse. There are plenty of sunflower seeds there."
"Yeah, but what if the other hams are there."
"We'll have to hope that for some strange reason they are not there. If they are, we will have to come up with something."
"Let's go."
"We'll leave the plane here then. For now, Panda's garage will be the main hanger."
"That works for me."
"Is anyone else here hungry?"
"I'll race you there," Hamtaro said, jogging toward the door.
"Not if I beat you," Panda replied, jogging at a faster pace after Hamtaro.
"You both are going eat my dust," Maxwell said, pealing out with incredible speed past the two.
And so, the plane was finished, and the three hamsters raced each other to the clubhouse. The others were still out searching, so when they got there, it was empty.
"Well, I guess you won, Maxwell," Hamtaro said, conceding defeat.
"You got lucky," Panda explained.
"That's not luck, that's speed," Maxwell replied.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's not forget why we came here."
"Why isn't anyone here?"
"Maybe there was some strange reason like Hamtaro said."
"Let's get the food and eat before they get here."
"I'll go get the seeds."
"Is there anything else we will have to do regarding the plane?" Hamtaro asked.
"We might want to make some rules before the other hams ride it," Maxwell suggested.
"Yeah. We will have to make sure that it's safe too. That will be my job. What will the plane run on? We don't have any fuel."
"Maybe we can make it run on seeds. I don't know how, but we could try."
"That might work."
"Here are the seeds, Panda said, placing a bowl full of sunflower seeds on the table. "Dig in."
As they ate, the other hams were still out looking for them. After Maxwell, Panda and Hamtaro finished eating, they went back to the main hanger (Panda's garage), and the other hams returned to the clubhouse.
"I like give up," Stan uttered. "If this were hide and seek, they would have the best hiding place ever."
"They are impossible to find," Boss said. He was exasperated by their inability to find the missing hamsters.
"I'm completely and thoroughly tired," Dexter stated. "I couldn't take another step. My glasses are dusty, and my throat is parched."
"My feet hurt from like walking such long distances," Sandy added.
"I'm going to take a nap and then try again," Boss told the rest of the hamsters.
"That may be a good idea," Oxnard agreed. "I'll sleep right after a small snack."
All the hams then act like Snoozer and take naps. All of them start to have good dreams, but little did they know that ten of the biggest and meanest cats were circling the clubhouse. They had one intention: to eat all of the ham hams. Why? I don't really know. All I know is that they were very hungry. Back to Panda's garage…
"We should make the weapons so that you can take them off or put them on whenever you want to," Panda suggested.
"That's a good idea," Hamtaro agreed.
"I'll take care of that," Maxwell stated.
"I guess I'll draw up some plans for the hanger. It should have plenty of spare parts, seeds and ammunition. We can worry about that later though."
"I took care of the weapons being able to be put on or taken off," Maxwell said.
"I think we're ready for a test-drive then," Panda said, finally able to put the plane to the test.
"I'm ready," Hamtaro said fearlessly. "Do I need to wear anything? A helmet perhaps to keep me from getting injured if there's an accident."
"Yep. I made those too. Here you are."
"Okay, Hamtaro. This is only a test to see if the plane can fly, so don't try to test its limits or anything."
"Make sure you're careful up there," Maxwell added.
"I will."
Hamtaro jumped into the seat of the plane, strapped on his seat belt, and put on his helmet.
"Wish me luck."
"One more thing," Panda insisted. "There is a communication radio in there. That's for talking to us. We have a transmitter and receiver down here. When we build the hanger, we'll move the equipment too. If something happens, make sure you radio us. Tell us about everything that happens up there with the plane."
"I've packed an extra amount of sunflower seeds if the engine fails in midair," Maxwell added. "If the plane stalls, and you can't get control of it, there is an ejection seat. Don't hesitate to bail. We can learn from our mistakes and build another plane if something goes wrong."
"Where's the runway? I'm anxious to see how this baby flies."
"We can use my driveway," Panda told him.
"It's smooth enough," Maxwell contemplated. "We can use it then."
"All systems are a go. Here I go."
"Radio us," Maxwell told him.
"I will."
"Come on let's get to the receiver," Panda told Maxwell.
Hamtaro turned the key and gunned the engine. Firmly gripping the steering wheel, he braced himself for lift off. He pulled the control wheel back slowly. The plane's ailerons and elevator gradually moved down. The plane continued to rumble down Panda's driveway with increasing speed. Before long, the plane left the ground, and Hamtaro felt the gravity-defying force of lift.
"I'm flying," Hamtaro told himself. "I'm really flying. This is so fun. Hamtaro to main hanger. Hamtaro to main hanger. Can you hear me? Come in, over. I always wanted to say that."
"This is main hanger," Panda answered. "What's up?"
"This is great. I just wanted to have the weapons on for the test run. You never know when you might need them. Waagh!"
"What's wrong, Hamtaro?"
"Sorry, I can't talk right now."
A giant raven noticed the tiny airplane and its pint-sized pilot. Seeing it as food, it decided to follow. After following Hamtaro and his plane at a distance, it found nothing dangerous about the contraption. Flapping its wings gracefully, it flew toward the airplane. Hamtaro, noticing him, tried to speed his plane up, full throttle. The plane was incapable of going any faster. With the bird gaining on him, he decided to take evasive action. Hamtaro banked to the right, heading toward a house's lawn. The raven was more agile than the plane and continued to gain on Hamtaro. Hamtaro then flew low to the ground and skimmed the grass with the bottom of his plane. The crow flew slightly above him, still closing in on him. It was then that Hamtaro spotted a front porch with a gap between two wooden planks big enough for his plane to fit through. He instantly flew through, leaving the raven to squawk and hop around in anger at the gap's opening. Once through, Hamtaro's eyes couldn't adjust to the dim lighting fast enough. He squinted his eyes in an attempt to see better. The first object he saw was a shoe protruding from the ground. He immediately used his foot petals to change the rudder's direction. Its tail veered to the left, pointing him toward the right. No sooner had he evaded the shoe that he noticed the nails that hung down from the ceiling, sharp enough to cut his plane's wings to shreds. He dipped the plane and descended slowly. After avoiding a few of these, he saw live insects: spiders, scorpions, and beetles that weren't happy to have their home disturbed. Hamtaro was hard pressed rising just out of the reach of an angry scorpion only to have to duck another nail from the ceiling. Before long, however, Hamtaro saw a light at the end of the tunnel. He made for it with all haste, ducking and dodging the nails and insects. Flying through the opening, Hamtaro breathed the fresh air again. He was happy to be free of the damp and gloomy interior of the porch's interior. His happiness was short-lived, however, for the raven returned shortly after seeing him emerge. The raven did not give up so easily. Hamtaro climbed, plotting to escape the raven by altitude. The raven followed. Hamtaro reached the clouds shortly and figured that height wouldn't scare the raven off, which still pursued him. Hamtaro flew into the clouds randomly, hoping to lose the raven in him. After emerging from his fifteenth cloud, Hamtaro saw no sight of the raven.
"Whew," Hamtaro sighed. "I'm glad to be rid of that raven. I thought that he had me for sure."
From out of nowhere, the raven materialized above him. The raven had observed Hamtaro's movements from above. Instead of fruitlessly chasing Hamtaro around and losing him in the clouds, the raven had flown above the clouds and tracked Hamtaro's movements from there. Frightened, Hamtaro pushed the control wheel forward, taking his plane into a nose dive. The plane gained amazing speed, frightening speed even. Hamtaro did gain distance from the raven, but his plane started to stall. Hamtaro pulled back the control wheel, but it wouldn't budge. As the ground approached nearer and nearer, Hamtaro got more and more desperate. He now yanked on the control wheel, to no avail. He was now ten feet away from the ground. The raven had gained speed from the rapid descent and was now only centimeters away from the plane's tail. Tears streamed down his face from the speed that he was flying. He thought of his friends and Laura and Brandy, not knowing whether or not he'd ever see them again.
"If I don't make it back," Hamtaro thought, "I don't know what I'll do. No, I must make it back. I must!"
Hamtaro pulled on the control wheel. Sweat poured down his face from the exertion of his strength. Not a second too soon, the control wheel slid back, taking the plane back into a rapid ascent not one inch from the ground. The raven was unable to adjust his speed in time and landed beak first into the ground. Smack! The force of the impact caused the raven to go sliding forward. Its beak was slightly bent out of shape, and it ached horribly. The raven raised its head slowly, watching Hamtaro fly off into the distance. He decided it would be better to leave flying hamsters and airplanes alone next time.
"Hello, hello," Hamtaro spoke into his communications radio. "Is anybody there?"
"Yes," Maxwell replied, "Are you okay? What just happened."
"To make a long story short, I had a run in with a raven."
"Oh. You're not hurt are you? Did the plane suffer any damages?"
"No, it's fine, and so am I. Can I fly near the clubhouse?"
"You have my permission," Panda said. "How is the engine coming?"
"It's working perfectly. It only has about one fourth of a tank left of gasoline. I had no idea that this plane burned so much fuel."
"Well, what would you expect? You're using two twin jets."
"Right, Gotcha."
"So, how fast are you flying?"
"I'm flying at 50 mph. I think I'll use this as my cruising speed."
"That's a good safe speed to travel."
"Yeah, this is so… what in the world?"
"What's happening?" Panda asked. "Is something wrong with the plane? Are there more ravens following you now?
"No, there are ten humungous cats surrounding the clubhouse. I'm happy that I brought those weapons. I am going to need them. You guys need to get over here quickly!"
"We're on our way, Hamtaro," Maxwell said. "Panda, grab the portable radios. We can talk to Hamtaro as we run."
"I got them," Panda said, the portable radios in hand. "Let's hurry up."
As Panda and Maxwell run like the wind to save their friends, the other hams start to wake up at the clubhouse…
Penelope yawned loudly.
"I had a good nap," Dexter said, rubbing sleep from his eyes.
"Everybody be quiet," Boss snapped. "Can you hear that?"
"That can only be one thing," Bijou said, terrified.
"Cats and lots of them," Cappy said.
"What are we going to do?" Howdy asked.
"I like wish that Maxwell were here," Sandy said longingly.
"I wish Hamtaro were here too," Bijou said.
"I know I'm flirtatious sometimes," Stan said, "but when I'm serious, I don't play around. I will not let one of those cats hurt any of you. I'm like going out there now."
Stan marched toward the door in defiance of his impending doom. He only had his maracas, but he was determined to crack a few skulls with them before they broke.
"If like no one else wants to go with me, that's fine. I can go it alone."
"Wow, Stan," Pashmina exclaimed. "I never knew you could be so brave."
"I'll go with you," Boss said, hefting his shovel.
"I may be small," Cappy stated, "but it would be a mistake if they underestimated me."
"Count me in," Dexter said, walking toward them.
"Me too," Howdy said, falling in step with Dexter.
All the boy-hams march in single file after Stan.
"Be careful," Bijou said after them.
"Stay safe," Pashmina told them.
"Thank you, Stan," Sandy said.
"Okyoo!" Penelope stated.
All the boy-hams went outside to wage war with the cats. The leader, a fierce and gruesome looking cat with only one eye, approached the gang of hamsters.
"Where are the rest of you?" he asked. "As you are, there aren't enough of you to even serve as a snack for us."
"The hams that are like in our clubhouse," Stan said, "stay in our clubhouse. If you want to eat them, you'll have to like do it over my dead body!"
Each of the other hamsters backed Stan up.
"Spoken like a true fool," the cat leader snorted. "You will now also die like a fool." The cat leader leapt at Stan with his claws outstretched. Stan showed amazing agility and jumped high into the air, above the cat leaders body. The cat leader looked up with his one good eye to find Stan descending upon him with two maracas. Stan dealt him a blow that caused him to momentarily lose consciousness. Stan stepped a few steps back.
"Now, like get out of here, you no good, rotten, low-down, cats!" Stan yelled at the cat leader. The cat leader glared at Stan after regaining consciousness. Filled with hatred and rage, he called his minions to him. Nine other cats gathered to him and formed a line.
"My minions, inflict pain. Show them no mercy." The cats charged at the hamsters, who prepared to fight bravely to defend their home. Meanwhile, Hamtaro speed toward the clubhouse and the melee…
"I wonder what they are doing," Hamtaro said.
"Who?" Maxwell asked.
"The hamsters outside of the clubhouse. They are fighting the cats in front of the clubhouse."
"It sounds as if they are defending our clubhouse."
"Where are the girl-hams?" Panda asked.
"I don't see them anywhere. Maybe they're in the clubhouse, and the guy hams are defending them too."
"I feel so good knowing that they are protecting Sandy," Hamtaro said.
"And Bijou!" Hamtaro added.
"I bet that they're fighting bravely," Panda stated, "but you know what the real odds are to them winning right?"
"Who cares? They're fighting with courage. Just like I'm about to do with this plane."
"Hamtaro," Maxwell said, "forget what we said about this being a test run. Use the plane to its best ability and please be careful. You probably have already mastered most of the plane's maneuvers from your run in with the raven earlier."
"All right!" Hamtaro exclaimed.
"Remember that there is an ejection seat," Panda reminded him.
"Okay, see you on the battlefield."
"We're on our way," Maxwell said, putting his portable radio away.
"I'll get rid of those cats!"
Maxwell and Panda arrive and help out the other hams fight the cats. Hamtaro uses up all of the weapons on the plane including machine guns, rockets, missiles and bombs. After a long and intense battle, the ham hams emerge victorious! The cats slink off badly injured and vowing to return. After landing, Hamtaro hopped out of his plane.
"That was a real adventure!" Hamtaro yelled enthusiastically.
"You're telling me!" Maxwell agreed. "You couldn't be more right."
"I didn't know the plane would work so well," Panda said.
"Plane?" Boss said, overhearing.
"As in airplane?" Cappy said. "You have an airplane!"
"Panda!!!" Hamtaro and Maxwell said. "You weren't supposed to tell."
"Whoops, I didn't mean to let it slip."
"Oh well," Hamtaro shrugged. "We were going to tell you all anyway."
"Like way cool dude," Stan stated. "Our own airplane. I still think that my maracas are like way more interesting though."
"We can tour the whole world!" Dexter said.
"We can have an airline," Howdy thought out loud.
"Wait a second!" Panda yelled. "We are going to have some rules before anyone flies this thing, except Hamtaro. He already knows what it can do and how to fly it."
"For now," Maxwell said, "the plane is off limits to everyone except Panda, Hamtaro, and me. We have to teach you guys how to fly it."
"We still have to break the news to the rest of the gang," Hamtaro said.
"Then let's," Boss said, leading them all to the clubhouse's entrance.
After the boy-hams go inside…
"Hamtaro?" Bijou exclaimed, shocked. "Where have you been? We were all worried sick about you, and we went searching for you!"
"Oh, Maxwell," Sandy sighed with relief. "There you are! I thought like something awful might have happened to you.
"I was out having fun with Maxwell and Panda," Hamtaro explained.
"Sorry we were absent for such a long time," Maxwell apologized. "We were building something."
"Building something?" Pashmina wondered. "What was it you built?"
"Okyoo?" Penelope said imploringly.
"It was like an airplane," Stan said.
"Really?" Bijou asked.
"Yep," Hamtaro said proudly. "It took us half the day, but we made one."
"We had a good time!" Panda told them.
"A terrific good time!" Maxwell added.
"Can we like see it?" Sandy asked.
"Sure!" Hamtaro said. "It's right outside. I used it to fight off those mean cats. The other hams helped, of course. I couldn't have done it without them."
"Whoa!" said at the sight of the hamster sized airplane. "You flew this thing!"
"Sure did"
"It looks pretty complicated to me," Dexter stated, examining the controls in the cockpit.
"It was hard work drawing up the plans," Panda replied.
"I bet it was," Howdy exclaimed.
"You used it to save us?" Bijou asked Hamtaro.
"Yes, " Hamtaro replied. "I did. It was fun. Dangerous, but fun. There was also this run in with a raven that I had earlier, but that's a story for another day."
"Thank you, Hamtaro. I've been afraid of this moment for quite some time, Hamtaro, but I have finally plucked up enough courage to tell you."
"What?"
"That I love you."
Bijou looked at him and then gave him an affectionate kiss.
"You're more than welcome, Bijou. You know, I've never had the courage to tell this to you either, but I love you too."
"Really?"
"More than ever."
Hamtaro and Bijou hugged each other and held hands.
"Hey, Stan," Pashmina said, walking up to him. "I never knew you had another side to you like that."
"Well," Stan began, "I always like had that side of me, but I didn't want to act serious all the time. That would totally be boring. That's why I began to flirt with all the girl-hams."
"I like this side of you."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Pashmina gave Stan a kiss and giggled.
"Ahhh. That felt like so good."
"I can't wait till Valentine's Day."
"Did you really like help build the plane?" Sandy asked Maxwell, who was busy writing an instructions manual for the plane.
"MmmHmm," Maxwell replied, shutting the instructions manual and putting it aside. "I did the research on the structure."
"You're so like wonderful."
"I'm nothing compared to you, Sandy."
Maxwell and Sandy sat next to each other, snuggling up to each other and sharing a gentle kiss.
"This was a terrific day," Hamtaro said to everyone. "I wonder what tomorrow will bring."
"It will probably be good," Bijou said, optimistic about the future.
"I can't wait," Boss added.
"Yeah!" All of the ham hams shouted, full of hope in the joy that tomorrow would bring.
THE END
I hope that you all enjoyed The Ham Ham Airplane. I updated a little bit to add a few more action scenes, and I hope that they livened up the story a little bit. Any reviews would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading.