Percy The Hedgehog

Percy the hedgehog trundled slowly and carefully on his way to school, taking great care when placing his feet and concentrating on the rough path ahead of him. Autumn was in full motion, and the beautiful way in which the sunlight dappled through the interlaced golden red and orange tree canopies surrounding Percy was lost on him. He was far too preoccupied with the sludgy brown mess that had been made by the fallen leaves mixing with the huge gaping puddles, under the paws of all his classmates on their journey before him. He took each step so carefully because at any moment a hidden puddle could force the ground to give way under his feet and plunge him into the cold murky water, which had already happened on several occasions.

Percy finally arrived at school freezing and dripping. Dreading entering Mrs. Bracken’s classroom, he dawdled on his way down the harsh, uninviting corridor. On reaching the door, his heart dropped. He would have to open it himself, which he always struggled with, and find his way to his seat in front of everyone because the class had already started. He pushed himself upwards and made an attempt to clasp the handle of the door with his good paw, but, as usual, he couldn’t grab it. His second attempt was slightly more successful, he managed to get hold of the handle but the twist proved too much, and he fell against the door with a “THUD!” His shoulder throbbed as he tried again to open the door into the room, but finally he managed to use the pad of his paw to gain a grip on the rounded and shiny handle and fell into the classroom in one final, desperate effort. The scene that greeted him was not a pleasant one, Mrs. Bracken was nowhere to be seen and a jumbled leering mass of jeering faces peered down at him.
“Ha ha… struggling again Percy?”
“Why don’t you just give up now? You’re never going to be able to do anything!”
“Stupid little Percy, forget how to walk?”
All through his walk to his seat in the back corner of the classroom, which seemed to take forever, the taunting continued. He sighed as he lowered himself into his seat, hoping the day would end soon so he could be alone and at peace.

The day passed for Percy much like any other, the hassle and exhaustion each day caused him seemed to be never ending. The other animals he attended school with made it unbearable for him and he dreaded every day. He left school after every one else for fear of being pushed and shoved, being a hedgehog should have prevented all that, but the other animals always seemed to find a way. The scene that greeted him as he left the school gates was breath taking; the poplars, oak, rowan and hazel trees that lined his way home pushed dark mauve silhouettes in front of a sky saturated with every colour imaginable. Pale purples and blues filled the top of his view and as his eyes lowered and the clouds cleared, the warmth of colour created by the sun became clear, tepid yellows gave way to richer oranges and burnt amber, scorching reds merged with roasted scarlet and sumptuous maroons. The sky enraptured and energised him.

He set off on his journey feeling better but still not well. The way his classmates treated him seemed to consume him so completely that even the serenity he had just been overwhelmed by seemed jagged, fractured and cracked. He found himself slowly but surely overcome by the way his classmates considered him, he was unable to come to terms with the uselessness of his bad, smaller and pointless front paw. He hated himself. The way he was being treated was unfair and unjust but he was alone. Completely alone. He endured his journey back from school feeling more downtrodden than ever, when he spotted a small silvery green light through the forest.
“What could it be?” He thought, not allowing himself to become excited, he thought at first he was imagining it. Going against his instinct to carry on and ignore the strange apparition, he pursued it. He was not scared of the growing darkness; it was in fact at night that he thrived. His nocturnal tendencies allowed his senses to become sharpened and more acute as he pushed his way through the cumbersome undergrowth. Huge reeds and vines wrapped round his paws and pricked across his spines but Percy was determined. He navigated his was through the forest, in his familiar surroundings, never letting the strange light out of his sights.

He suddenly arrived at the source of the light to find a tiny little glow worm shut inside a water droplet swimming around without a care in the world. “I’ve been a-waitin’ fer you,” a voice behind him chuckled.