Chapter 2: Picnic

I walked well into the afternoon. I didn't know where I was. I was in someone's yard on a dirty street with tipped trashcans all over. It was paradise! I rummaged through the trash for a while, but after finding nothing of interest I gave up the search and continued on. I walked across the road and to a little lake. There were two girls by the lake. I walked slowly up to them. 

  "Like, totally, Jamie." One girl said. 

  "Hey, Kelly, do you like, smell something?" 

  "Yeah! It's like, an animal or, like, something else." 

  "I found it, Kelly! Look! It's, like, a raccoon!" 

  "Ew! Get it away! It smells bad, like, seriously!" 

  "Seriously!" The girls gathered their bags and walked away. "Sis!" Jamie called out across the lake.

  "What?" She called back. "I am trying to finish this book for my book report!" I noticed that she used proper grammar.

  "There is, like, a stinky raccoon over here!"

  "Really?" The girl put down her book and hurried over. "Aw! It is so cute!"

  "Cute? This is, like, a gross animal."

  "Yes, it is cute. Look! It's injured!" The girl examined my back leg. "It think it has a broken bone. You better come home with us, little guy."

  "Come home with us?" Jamie asked. "I don't think so. That animal is going to make me smell bad. I like, totally don't want to smell bad."

  The girl coaxed me into her book bag. It was very comfy. She kept herself away from my head, so she didn't get rabies. I don't carry rabies, anyway! And trust me, I'd know. Anyway, when we arrived at their house, the girl said, "Mom! I have a new patient!"

  A woman hurried out of the kitchen. "Oh, that's great, honey! Who is it?"

  "It is an injured raccoon." The girl opened her book bag to show me to her mother. 

  "Aw, that's a cute little guy." The woman lead the girl over to the kitchen table and put a sheet over it. "Annie, put him right here."

  "Thanks mom." Annie said as she gently set me down on the table. "He has a little smell to him. Maybe, when he heals, we can wash him?"

  "Of course, honey." The mother looked at me more closely. "What do you think is wrong with him?"

  "Broken back leg." She pointed as I crawled around, sniffing the sheet. "See, when he walks?"

  "Oh, the poor, poor creature." The mother got a pitying look on her face. "What do you think happened to him?"

  "Probably fell." The skin isn't broken, so he probably wasn't attacked."

  Yes I was! I thought.

  "What do you want to name him?" 

  "Mother, you know I can't name my patients. Then I get attached to them and can't stand to let them go. You know what happened with Picnic, our other raccoon. She is still living here, isn't she?"

  "Yes, I know, honey. Maybe just a nickname?"

  "Okay. Fine. How about..." Annie looked at me for a while.

  Sam. Sam. Sam. I thought, trying to use my psychic abilities. Name me Sam.

  "What about Sam?" I couldn't believe it! My psychic abilities actually worked! 

  "I like that name." The mother said. "Call me Grandma Sally, Sam." She said to me. "And call Annie, Mother Annie."

  "Mom!" Annie laughed. She had a nice laugh. Then the sister Jamie walked in from the hall.

  "And this," Grandma Sally said, "Is Auntie Jamie." 

  "Mother! Like, I don't want to be know at all by this creature. Seriously."

  "Oh, honey." Grandma Sally said dismissively to Jamie. "Well, Annie, go clean your room."

  "But, it's fine the way it is."

  "Go." Grandma Sally pointed down the hall. Annie scooped me carefully into her arms. She sulked down the hall and into her bedroom. She set me down on a stack of animal encyclopedias.

  "Well, Sam." She said to me. "This is my room. Picnic! Where are you?" A small face poked out of the closet. Woah! I said. I fell backwards onto my back at the sight of the sudden face. "Aw, you poor thing." Annie put me back on my stomach. Then she leaned over and scooped up a smaller raccoon into her arms. "Hello, picnic. Yes, I know. Hello, little Picky." She crooned. The raccoon twisted in her arms to face me. Hello. She said. I'm Picnic. You are?

  I'm Sam. I answered. 

  Nice to meet you, Sam. She said. Welcome to our house. How long will you be staying? 

  Until my leg heals. I answered, and I turned to show it to her.

  Aw, you poor thing. I had a broken bone too. Only, it was my front. Annie found me by the lake.

  Annie found me there, too. Was it only a coincidence? I had a bad feeling about Picnic.

  I don't think you'll be leaving.

  What do you mean? I asked. Yep, definitely a bad feeling.

  Well, has she given you a name yet?

  Yeah...

  Then she is attached to you. She won't be letting you go.

  But she has to! I am going to go on an adventure! 

  Don't hold your breath. There isn't going to be an adventure for you. Better get comfy, Tailless. You'll be here for a long time. Oh! It's feeding time. See you around, Tailless.

  I hate it when animals make fun of my having no tail. I got in a little fight with a pit bull as a baby. I don't like to think about. I looked around as Annie took Picnic to one of the seven baskets lined with blankets. She cuddled her as she fed her strips of bologna. Picnic looked at me smugly and winked. You're next, Tailless. She said to me. I had to get out of here. I had to. No adventure? That was the whole reason I left! I can't let a wannabe veterinarian keep me from living my life how I want. Annie came over to me and scooped me up. She put me into the basket closest to the window and wrapped a cast around my leg. She then fed me some strips of bread and a little dog food. I have to get out of here. An adventurer doesn't let someone feed them dog food. An adventurer finds dog food for themselves. So, later that night, I climbed out of my basket. The cast really helps! I thought. I hoisted open the window and climbed out of it. Tata, Picnic. I said. Picnic just looked at me, bewildered. I'm going on an adventure, Picnic. So long. And I jumped out the window onto the top of a bush, and into the night. I felt the cold air on my fur. I felt the freedom on my mind. 

I was free once more.

Chapter 1: The Sun Is On My Side

It started out as a normal morning. Until those incessant dogs started barking. I was looking out at the morning sunrise that was painted with blues, and yellows, and reds. When the dogs started barking, I toppled backwards around my brach and fell from about fifteen feet. When I hit the ground, I knew my back leg was broken. I opened my eyes to two sets of gleaming white teeth and the sound snarling through the chain link fence. Their owner was yelling, "No! Stop! Get away! No!" and the owner pulled them back from me. He started to take them inside, but they lunged out at me yet again. I thought this was the end of me. But it wasn't. I knew I still had a chance. I struggled onto my stomach and climbed into a standing position. I crawled through the gap in the fence. There were two people looking at me. I stared back, but I soon looked away and climbed into the bush. I was trying to climb the bush but I couldn't. So I just sat there. Later, in the evening, someone put out some strawberries for me, but I couldn't get to them because I was in so much pain. During the night I decided I needed to leave. I had lived in that yard for three years, but I knew that this was my time to leave. Go on my own adventure. So I set off. I walked and walked down the sidewalk. I don't know where I got to. Just when I thought I couldn't go any farther, the morning crept up on me. The sun shined its light on me, cast its warmth down my back. I looked up at the sky. The sky looked down at me. I knew I could do it. I could do anything now. I smiled up at the sky. I had hope. Why?


Because the sun was on my side.