Stay Signed In
Do you want to access your site more quickly on this computer? Check this box, and your username and password will be remembered for two weeks. Click logout to turn this off.
Stay Safe
Do not check this box if you are using a public computer. You don't want anyone seeing your personal info or messing with your site.
Animal Paradise: A Journey from south to North A story by meh!
Chapter 1 the home
In the southern area of England, 8 animals all live together in their very own animal paradise! The animals all escaped from there owners on the first day of the year, 1st of January. It wasn’t really the new year present there owners where hoping for, but for the animals, it was a whole new adventure, and the animals had never been maintained very well. Some, when they escaped where nothing but skin and bone!
All the animals live together in a forested area, away from large amounts of human activity. The only houses in the whole couple of acres of land was a small cluster of old Tudor-like houses with thatched roofs, and a small shop, selling things like newspapers and sweeties and cereal and bread and jam and milk and eggs and, most importantly, pet food. Anyway, in the forest lived a lamb named Larry, and his friend Charlie the sheepdog. Then there was Ted the pug, and Blackie the cat (who where both friends) Then Max the puppy and his friend, Thumper the rabbit, And last of all, Hamish the rat and Mac the rabbit, who where friends. They where all divided into neat groups of two. Some where totally different, but where friends because they lived together, or knew each other quite well.
On January the 1st, at precisely 7 o’clock in the morning, the animals had just settled into their new home in the forest. It was a icy cold, snowy morning, but the furrier ones looked after the ones with less fur. It wasn’t long until they knew each other. Snap! There was a sharp snapping noise as Hamish the rat dug his sharp teeth into a thick branch, it snapped easily as if it had been a biscuit. The rabbits, Mac and Thumper joined in. The animals had all been very quiet for the first few minutes, but now they were starting to speak up.
“What did that clumsy sheepdog Charlie want some branches for?” Hamish spoke up in a high pitched squeaky voice. Mac looked up, a annoyed look on his almost innocent face. “Don’t call him clumsy! He is very agile and strong and quite amazing. And he wanted it for a den or something, and before you say anything there’s no point in arguing.” Mac obviously had a very short temper. Hamish shrugged to himself, and continued nibbling. Thumper, who was he youngest out of the three rodents, looked up from his work and squinted. “Brain-freeze!” he squealed, living up to his name and thumping about. The large amount of snow was still fresh, and bitterly cold, like ice-cream that has just come out of the refrigerator. Mac hopped over to tell Thumper to quit complaining, and Hamish sighed, and murmured to himself Rabbits…
Meanwhile, in a large opening in the forest, shaded half by trees, the other animals where hard at work, preparing houses and finding food and streams, and places to hide when there was danger. If there was danger.
Charlie had organized the whole thing, and had it planned out neatly in his head. He kept running about everywhere, talking to the different animals, and helping with the jobs he could do. Larry, the lamb, was a very valuable member, for he had a soft woolly coat, perfect for tying things and making blankets to keep the team warm.
“Larry” Charlie came over. “How’s the wool business?”
“Lovely and fluffy.” Larry bleated. “You didn’t really have to ask, its always fluffy.”
“Well if you don’t mind” Charlie said “You could go and help find some food?”
“Sure” Larry trotted of over the snow, and scraped at a patch of snow until a big green patch of grass appeared. Thumper and Mac bounced over quickly and nibbled at it until half of the green patch was just a few short stems. Larry laughed. “No need to rush! Its not suddenly going to disappear or something” The rabbits looked up at Larry like he was some huge worm trying to eat them. Thumper blushed a bit and went back to nibbling, but Mac bounced over to help Blackie the cat and Ted the pug to build houses. Larry shrugged and dug up more snow.
Ted and Blackie where definitely the most talented animals there at that moment. They knew a lot about tying things and the best way to hold things upright. At the moment, Ted was tying a tent shape made out of branches, up with wool from Larry. He was making a den for the rabbits, and it was one of the largest. He worked quickly and soon, in about 5 minutes, the house stood up sturdy. Ted put lots of wool into the house as bedding, and stood back and admired his work. “Rabbits done, just old Larry to go. That’ll be a toughie.” Ted took the biggest branches, and lined them up in the snow and got some wool to tie them together. It was 5 times bigger than Ted at least. “Blackie” Called Ted to his friend, who was working on a form of transport that he called a ‘sled’ “Need some help here”
“One second” Blackie jammed a old piece of metal he had found through a hole to make the bottom of the sled. “Looks good?” Blackie sat in the sled. It looked more like Santa’s sleigh than a sled. “Yup” Ted yapped. “Just c’mon. Wait! here comes Mac!”
Mac came over behind Blackie and looked at the sled. “Bit small don’t you think?” Mac jumped inside the sled. “Even small for me”
“But its not finished yet!” Blackie said sharply. “I’m making, lets say, a double sled, there’s going to be another bigger compartment on the front, big enough for… for three rabbits!” Mac knew she was making it up on the spot, but decided not to argue. “Ok then” And Mac bounced over to help Ted with the houses.
Max the dog was a bit of a loner. Even though thumper was his best friend, he preferred much more to be on his own. He had a woollen knitted bag over his shoulder, and he was collecting different fruits and nuts and hunting birds. Being a Jack Russell, he was quite good at hunting. In his bag at the moment, he had three blue-tits, a sparrow, and lots of acorns and other, actually quite tasty looking, nuts and seeds. The reason he wasn’t allowed to catch any mice or rats or rabbits, was because rabbits and rats where in the group, and he didn’t want to insult or shock or upset them in any way, especially Thumper.
He padded over to a tree to look round for nuts when suddenly he heard a rumbling sound in the distance. He looked up and saw a swirling mass of smoke-grey clouds, and he saw a flash of white and yellow and another rumble came over, shaking the ground beneath his paws. He yelped, feeling frightened, and turned and fled down the snow coated path. Rain started falling on his fur, and he ran faster than ever, until the opening was finally in view.
