It had been nearly ten years since Silver was found on the doorstep of Number Four Penders Drive. The Street itself however had not changed at all. The inside of the house was almost exactly the same as it was the day Menthor was horrified watching the news. The only noticeable difference were the pictures on the mantelpiece. Ten years ago these photos contained what can only be described as an angry little ball of red fur wearing different hats. Now the pictured contained that same boy now older. He had a black patch of hair on his head and rings around some of his dreadlocks. The photos showed Menniker riding his first bicycle, on a roundabout at the fair, playing video games with his father and being kissed by his mother. Nothing about the house indicated that another boy lived there. Yet, Silver the Hedgehog did still live here. A fact that was regretted by everyone involved. It wasn't long until he heard his usual morning greeting from his Aunt Cynthia "Up! Get up! NOW!". Silver woke up with a fright and he saw his door being shaken violently from the other side "UP!" he heard Cynthia shriek. He heard her walking away to the kitchen. Silver covered his face and tried to remember the dream he had. It was a good one. It had a flying Mobo cruiser in it. It wasn't long until Cynthia was back at his door "Are you up yet?" "Nearly" "Well, get a move on. I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn. I want everything perfect for Menni's birthday". Silver groaned, "What did you say!?" Cynthia snapped, "Nothing. Nothing!". Silver couldn't believe he forgot. Menniker's birthday was today". He quickly got up and tried to find a pair of socks. He found some under his bed but he had to pull a Mobani spider off one of them. He didn't mind spiders all that much. The Cupboard under the stairs was full of them and that's where he slept. After the socks he put on a pair of dirty old gloves and a pair of torn shoes to match.
He made his way to the kitchen which was full of Menniker's birthday presents. It looked like Menniker got everything he wanted. The new computer, the second TV and even the racing bike. What Menniker wanted with a racing bike was a mystery to Silver. The boy was very lazy and never exercised unless it involved punching somebody. You can imagine who his favourite punching bag was. He rarely managed it however, Silver didn't look it but he was very fast. Silver was quite short for his age and very skinny. His gloves and shoes were mostly held together with tape. The only thing Silver liked about his appearance were his eyes. This was because despite naturally being blue Silver found that sometimes if he concentrated they would turn yellow. Whether this was a normal or not Silver didn't know. His Aunt and Uncle didn't care enough to notice what colour his eyes were and he didn't dare ask in case it wasn't normal. Silver remembered one of the first things he asked his Aunt. He wanted to know what happened to his parents and all she said was "They were killed in a car crash. Now, don't ask questions". Don't ask questions was rule 1 for a quiet life in this house. As Silver was turning over the bacon Menthor entered "Comb your hair!" he barked. About once a week Menthor would comment on Silver's hair, or quills as they're called but Silver didn't dare remind him. Silver must have been to the barbers more times than the rest of his class put together but it never made any difference. His quills just grew this way, long and in every direction. Finally Cynthia came back with Menniker. She would often say he looked like a baby angel.
Silver himself was of the opinion he looked like a gormless cretin. As Silver put the breakfast on the table Menniker was counting his presents. He stopped at the last present from his Aunt Thunderbolt "That's 37. That's two less than last year". Silver could sense a tantrum coming and tried to eat his food as fast as possible in case Menniker turned the table over. Cynthia seemed to sense the danger as well "And we'll get you two more presents while we're out today. How's that Menni". Menniker had to think, a rare event that Silver watched with interest "So that's thirty… Thirty…" "39, sweetgums" "Oh, okay". Menniker sat down and began opening his parcels which made Menthor chuckle "Little tyke, wants his money's worth" he patted Menniker's head. The phone rang and Cynthia went to answer it while Silver watched Menniker tear through his parcels. Cynthia came back looking distraught "Bad news, Menthor. Rosie's broken her leg. She can't take him" she glared at Silver. Menniker's mouth fell open but Silver had a surge of hope. Every year while Menniker was taken out for his birthday Silver had to stay behind with Mrs Rosie the Chipmunk, an old lady that lived two streets away. Silver hated it there. The whole place smelled like cabbage and Rosie made him look at all the pictures of Chao she's owned. "Now what?" Cynthia said like she was accusing Silver of planning this. Some small part of Silver did feel sorry for Mrs Rosie but he had to admit not having to look at pictures of Tibbles, Snowy, Blu and Mr Tufty was a great relief. Menthor desperately tried to think "What about TB" "Don't be silly, Menthor, she hates the boy".
They often spoke about Silver like he wasn't in the room. They went through different people they knew until "You could just leave me here" Silver suggested. He hoped for this, he'd get a chance to watch the TV and maybe even play on the computer. Cynthia was disgusted by such an idea "And come back to find the house in ruins" "I won't blow up the house". They weren't listening "I suppose we could take him with us… And leave him in the car". Menthor immediately shot that down "That car is new. He's not sitting in it alone". Menniker started to cry. Well, it wasn't real crying. Menniker hasn't had a reason to actually cry in years but he knew his mother would take his side if pretended. Cynthia quickly hugged him "Oh, Mennidums, don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!". Menniker made big fake sobs "I… Don't… Want… Him… To… Come… He… Always… Spoils… Everything" he shot Silver a nasty grin from the gap between his mother's arm. Menniker's cries suddenly stopped the moment the door opened revealing his Rat friend Ripper. He was very large and would usually hold people's arms behind their backs while Menniker punched them.
Silver couldn't believe his luck, he was now sitting in the back of the car with Menniker and Ripper on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life. They couldn't think of anything else to do with him although Menthor did make sure to give him a warning before they left "I'm warning you now, boy. Any funny business. Anything at all and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas". Silver tried to reassure him but it never worked. The problem was strange things happened around Silver and his Aunt and Uncle didn't care when he told them he didn't make it happen. Once Cynthia was so tired of taking Silver to the Barbers without it having any visible affect that she took a pair of kitchen scissor and cut all of them down until he was completely bald. Menniker had a good laugh about that. Silver meanwhile had spent that night unable to sleep. Horrified at the images of his classmates seeing him. That terrible event never came to be however as the next morning he found his quills to have returned at the exact length it was before. Silver was given a week in the cupboard for this despite him explaining that he had no idea how it grew back. Another time was when Cynthia kept nagging him that he had to wear more clothes but every time she tried to force a shirt or a cloak over him it seemed to get smaller until it was absolutely impossible to fit him. Cynthia said she must have shrunk it in the wash and thankfully forgot to punish Silver. Another time though was in serious trouble when he was found on the roof of his school. Menniker's gang had been chasing him and as Silver tried to explain through the hole in the cupboard door all he tried to do was jump onto one of the bins. Silver supposed the wind must have carried him or something.
Silver was determined that nothing like this was going to happen today. This was the first time in a while he's been anywhere that wasn't the house, school or Mrs Rosie and Silver had no intention of ruining it. As they drove Menthor complained He liked to complain about things: people at work, Silver, the council, Silver, the bank and Silver were just a few of his favourite subjects. This morning, it was Mobo-Cruisers "New age, flashy rubbish. Roaring about being driven by young hoodlums". Silver suddenly remembered "I had a dream about one. It was flying". Silver's head was flung forward with the force because Menthor had hit the breaks "Mobo-Cruisers or any cars for that matter don't fly!" he hissed at Silver. Menniker and Ripper sniggered as Silver tried to defend himself "I know they don't. It was only a dream". He wished he hadn't brought it up. If there was one thing they hated more than Silver asking questions, it was Silver talking about things not acting in a normal way. They seemed to think he would get dangerous ideas.
It was a very sunny Saturday and of course the zoo was already crowded with other families. Menthor bought Menniker and Ripper large chocolate ice creams and after the woman asked what Silver wanted he was forced to by him a cheap lemon ice lolly. Silver thought it wasn't too bad although he quickly forgot about it when Menniker threw a tantrum about his ice cream not having enough sprinkles. Silver was allowed to have it while Menthor bought Menniker a new one. It had been the best morning Silver had in a long time. He was getting worried though when Ripper and Menniker started getting bored. Silver made sure to keep his distance so they wouldn't resort to hitting him. They went to the zoo restaurant and then headed to the reptile house. Menniker was looking around the enclosures trying to find the biggest Mobani snake in the place. He finally found it, it could crush Menthor's car although right now it was sleeping. Menniker was angry so Menthor hit the glass "Move" "MOVE!" Menniker repeated. "He's asleep!" Silver yelled feeling bad for the snake. The others were so angry at the snake disappointing Menniker that they didn't register Silver talking back, they shuffled away. Silver got closer to the glass. He wouldn't be surprised if it had died of boredom.
No company except annoying people tapping on the glass. At least Silver could visit the rest of the house. The snake opened it's eyes as if sensing Silver and then looked up at the ceiling as if saying "I get that all the time". Silver looked around to make sure no one was watching "I know. It must be really annoying. Where do you come from anyway". The snake surprisingly heard him through the glass and tapped its tail to a sign that said "Tropical Jungle" "Is it nice there" "Bred in captivity" it tapped on another part of the sign. Silver was about to ask more when "RIPPER! LOOK! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT THIS SNAKE IS DOING!". Menniker returned and punched Silver in the stomach and fell back into the hard concrete. Silver didn't know what happened next. One second he was staring angrily at Menniker and Ripper leaning against the glass of the enclosure. The next second the glass was gone and they both fell into the enclosure's pond. The snake meanwhile quickly uncoiled and slithered out of the enclosure causing everyone in the reptile house to panic. As it slid past Silver he swore he could hear it say "Thanks, amigo. Tropical Jungle, here I come". Menniker and Ripper tried to escape but the glass suddenly returned trapping them inside. Silver had to listen to Cynthia's screaming as she thought her son was going to be eaten.
The next hour was spent listening to the Zoo director apologising to Cynthia and Menthor before they finally left. On the drive back Silver had to listen to Ripper and Menniker's version of the story. As far as Silver saw the snake didn't even touch them. It was much more concerned with escaping but with how Ripper described it they had to fight it off from strangling them to death. Then disaster happened "Silver was talking to it. Weren't you, Silver?" Ripper said. Menthor waited until Ripper had left the house before turning on Silver. His rage was frightening, he could barely get any words out "Go-Cupboard-Now-No Meals!" he then collapsed into a chair.
Silver really wished he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he had to be sure the others were asleep before he snuck out to get some food. This had been Silver's life for 10 years. 10 miserable years, ever since his parent's deaths. Silver couldn't remember much about it. Sometimes when he strained his memory he saw a vision of a glowing gold light and pain in his head. He supposed this must have been an explosion from the crash. He couldn't remember his parents. Didn't even know what they looked like. There were no pictures of them in the house and Cynthia never spoke of them. Silver often dreamed of some distant family member coming and taking him away from this house. But he didn't have any other family. There were times however when Silver thought (Or maybe just hoped) that people he met seemed to know him. Once in a shopping centre a blue rabbit wielding a staff bowed to him. After confirming that Silver did not know the man Cynthia rushed him out of the store without buying anything, On a bus an old vulture waved at him. The strangest was just a few days ago while walking to school and elderly mole had actually shaken his hand and then walked away without a word. Silver would have asked these people what they were doing but they always seemed to vanish the moment he wanted to.