Chapter 4/Trapped Chapter 1: The Beaver and the Anteater

Before we get started I just want to clarify that this is a continuation of PaperWolf84's original "The Sanctuary of Suffering" fan fiction. So before you read Trapped, I highly recommend reading the original, not only because it's a great Happy Tree Friends story, but also because it will give a lot of context into what you're about to read. However, if you want to read this now without reading the original story, here's a little TL:DR. Basically, Russel, Lumpy, Lifty and Shifty arrive in this mysterious area that they dub Happy Tree Town, where the inhabitants never age and are trapped in there. This wouldn't be so bad if the inhabitants didn't also experience an endless cycle of death and rebirth. As the series goes on, more residents will move in and have to get used to their new home and lifestyle.

Happy Tree Friends is Owned by MondoMedia.

Handy POV

I woke up in the morning feeling excited. Today was going to be one of the most important days in my career. I made myself a cup of coffee and changed into my construction uniform. I was about to walk out the door and get into my truck when...

Rrrring! Rrrrring!* *Rrrring! Rrrrring!*

I immediately picked up the phone as I knew my boss was calling me.

"HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU TO PICK UP ON THE FIRST RING!!" My bossed yelled eccentrically.

"Sorry boss." I whimpered "Just was 'boutta leave for work."

"Well you better come QUICK! We just found something interesting!"

I rushed over to my truck to get to the Berriesberg Bank reconstruction site. Apparently the building was blown up in 1935 after some mob boss named Vadim had his goddaughter's college fund stolen.

The entire construction crew gathered around in a circle staring at something. I took a peek and saw it was a strange golden idol.

It was something like I'd never seen before. I held it up in my hands staring at it in intrigue. Then, I heard a loud breeze coming through without warning, and the glass pane above my hands started to shake. One by one the foundation of the glass started to let go and by the time I began to notice, it fell!

The next few moments are all a blur for me. All I remember is a sharp pain around my wrists, followed by some screaming and blood staining my clothes!Then I started feeling woozy when, all of a sudden, everything went dark.

I woke up in a hospital room in a bed. I sat up and looked at myself. My body seemed relatively unharmed, but something felt off. I saw a cup of water near my bed on a table. I reached for it, but I couldn't grab it. In fact, I couldn't grab anything! I looked at my hands. They were gone! All I had was 2 nubs with bandages wrapped around them!

"Oh! You're finally awake." The doctor said while walking into the room.

"What happened to my hands doc!" I yelled emphatically.

"Calm down sir!" The Doctor said. "Unfortunately, due to not properly secured windows on the building you were working on, one of the windows fell off and amputated both of your arms. We are immensely sorry for your condition."

"Dammit!" I said "I'm gonna have to quit construction work! I mean, who wants a worker with no hands!"

I sighed. "How much is it gonna cost?"

"Actually," The Doctor said enthusiastically, "someone else already paid the bill!"

"Really?" I asked curiously. "Who did?"

The Doctor continued "His name is..."

Knock Knock Knock*

The Doctor excused himself to answer the door. "Yes? Oh it's you!"

"Who is it?" I asked the Doctor.

"The man who paid for your treatment."

"Can I come in?" The man behind the door asked.

"Of course!" The Doctor exclaimed.

In walked a blue anteater with a pair of black glasses. It was Sniffles! He was the head of the scientific, archaeological, agricultural, economic, and historical departments of the University of Berriesberg at 22!

"Hello there." He said. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Mostly yes, aside from the hands." I answered. "What are you doing here? And, just out of curiosity, why did you pay off my hospital bill?"

"Well," Sniffles responded, "It has to do with the circumstances in which you lost your hands. I just want to ask you a few questions and give you support through this rough patch"

"Well then, fire away. I'll answer them." I responded.

"Okay. First question." Sniffles started. "What do you remember before the window fell?"

"I remember getting to work in my truck after my boss told me that they had found something interesting." I responded. "When I arrived, all of my other colleagues were standing around some golden idol. For some reason, I decided to pick it up and, after that, the window fell."

"I see! Interesting!" He responded. "I think you told me everything I needed to know already!"

"I did?" I asked, confused.

"Yes!" Sniffles yelled excitedly. "That tells me that you picked up one of the Golden Idols and lived!"

"Wait, why is this so important?" I asked.

"Because no one who's ever touched it ever lived to tell the tale!" Sniffles explained.

He eventually calmed down and proposed a deal. He wanted me to come with him all the way across the world to do an interview with Scientific Semi-Monthly.

Sniffles POV

Handy, by all accounts, should be dead. He didn't just touch, but held one of the Golden Idols and woke up the next morning, albeit without hands. To put it simply, he's a miracle.

I was able to come to his house in order to help Handy pack some of his stuff. For the interview, Scientific Semi-Monthly wanted him to wear his construction clothes and to bring some construction equipment for photo shoots. He and his employers were happy to provide them.

We got into my car and started driving to the airport. We decided to chat on the way there.

"So, how did you get interested in all of the stuff you do at the university?" Handy asked.

"Well, it's simple." I responded, "I'm a very quick learner."

"Oh. Okay." Handy said while relaxing.

Soon we arrived at the airport. We got our luggage out of the car and got to baggage claim. You know, for 1956 standards, you would think that they would be more thorough with checking bags.

We got to our gate about 15 minutes before it opened. Scientific Semi-Monthly provided us with first class seats so we got to stay in the lounge for a bit. We got on the plane and soon enough, it took off.

I decided to just take a nap as I heard that this flight would take about 15 hours. It was nice, quiet and peaceful.

Soon enough I decided to talk to Handy about some things.

"Hey Handy!" I said.

"What is it." He responded

"Right now, we're flying over where the second Golden Idol is said to be" I enthusiastically stated.

"Really!" He said. "That's pretty neat."

"According to legend, once a pirate named Russel and his crew went out to find this Golden Idol," I continued, "but after they left the dock, they were never seen again. Although some sailors still claim that Russel is on the local island."

All of a sudden, the lights started to flicker, followed by loud sound that sounded like it came from outside. I looked outside in horror as I saw one of the turbines burst into flames before detaching from the plane!

"What the hell happened!" Handy yelled

"The turbine's gone!" I responded as Handy began to panic.

Soon enough the oxygen masks were deployed. I was able to grab mine easily, however Handy, not having hands, couldn't get it easily, so I had to help him as we were plummeting towards the ocean!

The water just kept getting closer, and closer, and closer until...

*BANG*

I woke up just about an hour later in the now flooded and broken aircraft. Fortunately, I was able to wake up Handy. Somehow, we survived and sustained little damage. The rest of the passengers and crew, however, weren't so lucky. They were dead!

"Dear God!" Handy expressed in horror. "What are we going to do!"

"I don't think should stay in here much longer. We need to get out the life jackets and inflate the safety slide!" I ordered.

We quickly got both done and got out of the plane. We were surprisingly close to the shore, so we swam until we got to the shore. We then rested and thought about what we would do.

"Do you think that there is somewhere to stay nearby?" Handy pondered.

"You know what, I'll go check out the local area. Let's see if there's some materials nearby." I responded.

I went into the woods. I saw that I was already on the other side of them. On the other side I saw a small town. It looked very old, lacking most modern luxuries like a school or a hospital, but it would do. I decided to check the name of this place.

"Happy Tree Town"

"Population : 4"

Handy POV

"Happy Tree Town?" I asked. "You don't think that sounds a bit suspicious"

"I'll admit," Sniffles said, "I think it's suspicious too. But it appears to be our only solid option, unless you want to live on the shore scouting for food."

"You make a good point." I said. "So let's just go over there, shall we?"

We walked about 200 feet in order to get there. When we finally entered the town, we decided to take a look around at all that was there. Soon, a tall, light blue moose approached us.

"Hello there!" He started. "Welcome to Happy Tree Town!" He proceeded to look back at someone else. "Hey Russel! Add 2 to that population sign!"

"Wait no!" Sniffles interrupted. "We're not planning on moving in here! We're just trying to find a place to stay temporarily!"

"Oh yeah! I should probably explain the entire curse thing to you guys." Lumpy realized. "So, due to some force that we don't know about, we are stuck on this island and can't escape. That might sound bad but, on a brighter note, you now can never age or permanently die!"

"Wait. Permanently die?" I questioned.

Before the moose could answer...

"AAAAAAGGHHH"

It came from where the sign was. We ran over to find an otter who looked like a pirate having been squashed under the fallen sign!

"Oh God! Get the sign up! Help me with this Sniffles!" I shouted.

We were about to lift the sign when we saw an older car come hurling towards us. The last thing I heard was, "The breaks ain't workin! How do I stop this damn junk!"

Yet again, pain briefly coursed through my body before it all went dark.

Russel POV

I was surprised to see new people walking into the town. According to them, the year was now 1956. It has been 200 years since I've arrived here.

The anteater named Sniffles was surprised to see me, as my tale had gone down in legend. He was also surprised to be alive after he crashed into a car.

The beaver Handy was sad that his arms were still missing, which even surprised me! According to Sniffles' theory, people will revert to the state they were in when they entered the area.

Also, Handy wants to volunteer to expand the town and add modern touches. Everyone is welcome to the idea and Sniffles even wants to help! It seems that they're getting used to their new home fast. Anyways, here's to more people coming along to spice things up.

An: Thank you very much for reading my continuation of The Sanctuary of Suffering. I hope to make more chapters in the future