(This tiny tale is a Christmas surprise. SO, DON’T YOU TELL ! Two hedgehogs are in the mail to two little granddaughters. When they get them, they can hold them while their mommy or daddy reads this story to them. Oh, I love December !)
The Little Hedgehog Finds a Friend
(A Tiny Tale from Grandma)
One fine day, Grandma was looking out of the window. Suddenly she saw something. Could it be? It was ! It was a hedgehog. Not an ordinary soft and bumpy hedgehog but a very fine and fancy hedgehog in a pink tutu. The little hedgehog was sitting in the swing. Very still. Waiting for someone to push her. No one did. Grandma hurried to her desk and got her camera. She quietly opened the door, just enough to poke the camera through. She took a picture. Then another. She listened. The fancy hedgehog was talking to herself. Then she called out to anyone who might hear her. Hello. Hello. Is anyone there? No one answered the little hedgehog.
She wondered if she could see better from the glider. She climbed into the seat and looked around. She couldn’t see a soul and all she could hear was the sound of the leaves falling down around her. She needed someone else to help her glide. But . . . no one came to glide with the little hedgehog.
From the glider she walked to the teeter totter. She climbed onto the seat and waited. “I can’t teeter without someone to totter.” No one came to totter the little hedgehog.
She thought maybe if she rode the motorcycle around the yard she might find a friend. Once she was on the seat, she didn’t know what to do. There was no one to push the little hedgehog. The motorcycle was quiet. So, she climbed up onto the bench of the little table. And waited. And waited. No one came to eat lunch with the little hedgehog.
She climbed the stairs in the playhouse to get a look from a high point. She could see the whole yard but couldn’t see another living thing. She climbed down and sat at the little, blue table in the playhouse. Surely someone would come and sit with her. No one did. Even when she sat on the animal bench, she sat alone. The little hedgehog was becoming just a little bit discouraged. Just a little bit.
Then she saw something. Under the trees. Animals just like her. Well, similar. She approached a rabbit and a turtle. She asked them if they wanted to be her friend. They were quiet. They didn’t say a word. They were made of stone. Next she found three frogs. They seemed to be thinking about something. She asked them why they hadn’t answered her when she called. They didn’t say a word. They, too, were made of stone. They were just decorations. What now?
Time was passing. The little hedgehog’s feet were getting tired. She looked through the fence. She walked down the path to the end and back. She sat on the wooden stairs and on top of the very biggest rock she could find. The little hedgehog decided it was time to go. She had dressed up in her fancy clothes for nothing. There was no one to see her and no one to talk to. There was no one to swing with or teeter with or glide with or walk with. No one.
The little hedgehog sat down under a tree. She tried not to cry. Her feet hurt and she was hungry. She was tired of being alone. She wanted so much to find a friend. One little tear rolled down her cheek. Then . . . she heard something. Not much, but something. She held very still and listened. It sounded like it was coming from behind the very tree where she was sitting. Her feet were so tired from trudging all over the yard, that she didn’t know if she could get up and run very fast. She didn’t have to wait long to find out what was making the sound . . .
From behind the very tree where the little hedgehog was sitting came a little, tiny, white and fluffy rabbit. She was dressed up too. She had a bow in her hair and a necklace around her neck. She also wore a little, tiny bracelet. She was pretty. She talked in a little, rabbit voice and shyly peeked from behind the tree. She asked the little hedgehog if she was looking for a friend. If she was, the little rabbit would like to be her friend.
The little hedgehog was so happy. She told the little rabbit everywhere she had looked for a friend. She told the little rabbit that she was ready to give up. The little rabbit said that she understood. She, too, had been looking for a friend. They sat on the rock and talked. And laughed. They climbed into the blue swing and talked. And laughed. They sat in some little chairs and talked. And laughed. Both in their very fancy clothes. They put their backs together and warmed themselves in the sun as hedgehogs and rabbits do.
The little hedgehog hadn’t dressed up for nothing after all. She had found a friend and a very cute one at that ! Remember that one never knows where they might find a friend. Be ready !
