Monday, January 31, 2011

Napkin 68


Suddenly, Hedgie felt a sharp point in his back as one of the guard rats pushed him into the clearing. “Hey, looky here what I found,” said the rat. “The pudgy porcupine musta shrunk in the river.” “Well, that’s the only way she could have gotten out of my chains,” said Soot. “That’s not her, you arrogant fool!” said Abernasty. “That’s my son,” said Quincy proudly. “And if you lay a hand on him, I’ll … “ “You’ll what … you old fool!” interrupted Soot.


Friday, January 28, 2011

Napkin 67


From his hiding place in the bushes Hedgie could see Abernasty and Soot in a bitter argument. “You imbecile! You nearly had us all killed!” shouted Abernasty. “Some getaway that turned out to be!” “How was I supposed to know about that waterfall!?” protested Soot. “And look at you – the mighty Changeling! Can’t even change a few hummingbirds! Ha!” Abernasty was furious at Soot’s disrespect of him.


Thursday, January 27, 2011

Napkin 66


As Hedgie and Chester followed the tracks into the forest, Mezzo flew back onto Hedgie’s shoulder and reported, “Looks like a few of the rats didn’t jump ship in time and took the long ride down the falls. No casualties, but a few limped away.” That night, as the three were sleeping, Hedgie awoke at the sound of shouting off in the distance and walked toward it. As he got closer, he silently crept to the edge of a clearing.


Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Napkin 65


At the bottom of the waterfall they could see the wreckage of the rat’s ship. “Soot didn’t plan on waterfalls. No,” said Chester. “I’ll fly down there and survey the situation. You two look for clues up here,” said Mezzo. It didn’t take Hedgie long to find evidence that the rats jumped ship before going over the falls. “Look Chester. Look at all these tracks,” said Hedgie.


Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Napkin 64


“It looks like we need to cross the river, but there is no way to cross it,” said Hedgie. “I can help you over,” offered Chester. “And I think I am well enough to fly that short distance,” said Mezzo. After crossing over and continuing east along the river, they could not help but notice how much faster the river was flowing. As the rapids roared, they soon found themselves at the top of a huge waterfall.


Monday, January 24, 2011

Napkin 63


The next day, everything was ready for Hedgie, Chester and Mezzo to set off on their journey to rescue Quincy. “Good-bye,” said Hedgie. “Thank you for helping my family, Mrs. Phitch,” said Chester. “Good-bye friends,” said Mezzo. The three followed the river for quite a distance. Mezzo traveled on Hedgie’s shoulder because she was not strong enough to dart around yet. The river veered sharply east at a rocky outcrop and began to flow very rapidly toward the ocean.


Friday, January 21, 2011

Napkin 62


As things settled down that evening, plans were discussed about going to rescue Quincy from Abernasty’s evil clutches. “I need to come with you Hedgie,” urged Chester.” “And I as well,” insisted Mezzo, sitting up from her bed. Pearl added that she needed to stay behind and work on changing the sea otters back. And Bandy’s group would work on getting the forest back in order.


Thursday, January 20, 2011

Napkin 61


The animals started to cheer as, one-by-one, each of the hummingbirds got their beautiful iridescent colors back and began to fly above them. Pearl also was able to help Mezzo heal and she shed tears of joy at the sight of her friends flying above her. In the midst of this joyous scene, Hedgie looked at his mother seriously and said, “I have to go help father.” Pearl smiled knowingly and gave him a hug saying, “Yes … you do.”


Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Napkin 60


Mezzo opened her eyes and winced in pain. “Don’t worry about me. I’m Ok. Just please get my friends …” Chipper comforted her as she slipped back into unconsciousness. “We must get busy!” said Pearl. Pearl worked like a dervish giving everyone a task to perform to help her prepare the cure that would reverse the initial affect of the dark change that was cast upon the hummingbirds.


Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Napkin 59


Then Bandy took just a brief moment to explain to their new friends that Bandit was mute as a result of a previous battle with the black jacket rats. Chester and Pearl gave Bandit a little hug and thanked him again. “Mother, I’m afraid we have a lot of work to do on those little hummingbirds to undo the dark change that Abernasty started on them,” said Hedgie. “And Mezzo took quite a beating, too.”


Saturday, January 15, 2011

Photo-Op Chester


[Remember when Hedgie first met Chester? He called him "Kelpy" while he was caring for him because he found him all wrapped up in kelp on the beach.  KD~j~]

Friday, January 14, 2011

Napkin 58


The other animals joined them at the cliff’s edge. “Oh, my dear Hedginald. I am so happy to be holding you,” said Pearl. “I was so worried about you. It looks like you have made some wonderful new friends, though.” She gave Chester and Bandit a thankful hug. Chester looked at Bandit and said, “Thank you for helping me to get her out from that river.” Bandit smiled, but did not reply. Chester seemed puzzled.


Thursday, January 13, 2011

Napkin 57


Pearl was so proud and happy when she made it back up to the top of the hill and saw her son gently moving the hummingbirds to a bed of soft fresh moss. “Oh, mother!” said Hedgie as he hugged her tightly. Their tears of joy said more than words about how thankful they were to be together again at last. But a little sadness also mingled with their tears when they both looked down the river and saw Quincy being taken away by the rats.


[I got so wordy on the other side of this napkin that I had to open it up and make the drawing on the inside. KD~j~]

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Napkin 56


“Well, it looks like my kelp wrap worked on you, little buddy,” smiled Pearl. Chester gave her a big hug. “Yes,” he said. “Now we have to go help those poor hummingbirds,” said Pearl. As they made their way up the cliff, one of the blackbirds brought the keys to get the chain off of Pearl’s neck. “Thank you, little fella. I’ll see what I can do about you too,” said Pearl.


Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Napkin 55


Bandit dove into the river to help save Pearl. Chester was trying with all his might until he started to lose consciousness, when suddenly, the water surrounding them began to stir and shimmer and sparkle. Bubbles formed all around them and gently lifted them up to the surface where Bandy and Bandit helped them ashore. “What happened!?!” asked Chester. “Water fairies,” answered Pearl.


Monday, January 10, 2011

Napkin 54


“Great catch, Chipper!” said Bandy running over to them. “Now, have your scouts take Mezzo and the keys up to Hedgie so he can start helping those poor hummingbirds.” Then she went to join Bandit at the river’s edge. Down at the bottom of the river, Chester was struggling against the weight chained around Pearl’s neck, and the river’s current.


Friday, January 7, 2011

Napkin 53


Just as Mezzo got the keys from Soot, one of the black jacket rats grabbed an oar, swung it wildly and batted her violently toward the rocky riverbank. Chipper, one of the chipmunk scouts, saw all of this happen and leapt from his tree to break her impact. “Gotcha!” “Ow!” “Ow!” they both said as they slammed against the rocks.


Thursday, January 6, 2011

Napkin 52


“Don’t worry, Hedgie! I’ll get her!” cried Chester as he scurried down the cliff and dove into the river after Pearl. Bandy, Bandit and the others were not far behind. On the boat, Soot was waving his arms wildly and yelling, “Get this blasted blue bumble bee away from me!” But Mezzo still managed to snatch the keys from his grip.


Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Napkin 51


“What about these two?” asked Soot. Abernasty glared at Quincy and Pearl and said, “We need to keep Phitch for now, but you can toss that meddling chubby chipmunk overboard. So Soot sauntered over in his usual air of contempt and shoved Quincy aside to the floor. “Looks like you are going to be the only drowned rat around here,” said Soot as he grabbed Pearl and threw her into the river.


Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Napkin 50


Soot’s escape contraption slid all the way down the cliff and landed in the river with a great splash. After all the dirt was rinsed off in the water, they could see that it was a large boat. “You all will regret this day when I come back and change all of you into black beetle bugs!” threatened Abernasty waving his scepter in the air.


Monday, January 3, 2011

Napkin 49


As Chester watched what was going on all around him, he was startled by the sound of squawking and flapping and then heard a loud thud behind him. “Ow!” said Hedgie when he hit the ground. It was Hedgie’s idea to confuse the gullible rats by disguising himself as the Changemaster, with the help of the blackbirds, of course. “Are you alright?” asked Chester. “Yes, but my father and mother are down there with those blasted rats!” cried Hedgie.


[Happy New Year!! Welcome back to school! KD~j~]