Tolouse's Story
A Sonic the Hedgehog story
by Kris Kelley
This story is protected by copyright laws. Feel free to distribute this
story, but the author does not allow any unauthorized alteration of the
story or distrubition for profit.
Part 2.
The next day.
Somewhere deep within the Great Forest.
The hovercar was dying. Apparantly the run-in with the robot
patrollers had caused more damage than they had realized. Shirley
wasn't sure how much longer it would run.
About 20 minutes later, she was sure. No longer. The engines cut
off, and the hovercar plowed into the ground. Shirley cradled Tolouse
as everybody was thrown forward by the crash. Nobody was hurt. At
least, not physically.
Shirley wrestled the doors open, and the 20 or so refugees exited
the hovercar. All were scared, most were crying, nobody knew what was
to happen next. All eyes were on Shirley.
"Shirley, tell us, please. Do you know what on Mobius is going on
here?"
Shirley looked at them wearily, holding Tolouse in her arms. "I
don't know. Jean was in the palace when it happened, and he called me
just before---" She looked away as a tear rolled down the fur of her
cheek. "I don't know." Then an idea came to her. "The radio!"
Shirley got into the hovercar, and switched on the radio, praying
it still worked. It did. The commercial frequencies were nothing but
static, so she switched to the frequencies used by the Palace Guard.
She picked up voices on one of the channels. She fine-tuned it and
turned up the volume for all to hear.
A deep, evil voice sounded through the hovercar's speakers.
"Snively, is it done yet?!"
This was answered by a higher-pitched voice. "Yes, sir. SWAT-Bots
have travelled through all sections of the city, and virtually all
citizens have---"
"Snively, what do you mean by, 'virtually'?"
There was a hesitation. "Well, sir, it...appears there were some
attempts at escape...various reports show that---"
The deep voice interupted again. "SNIVELY!! I *trust* this is
being taken care of?!"
"Y-y-yes, sir. Hover-bots are patrolling the Great Forest for any
signs of refugees. I...I promise you, sir, if there are any refugees,
they will be captured."
"Good, Snively, good. Continue."
A note of relief was heard in the higher-pitched voice. "Thank
you, sir."
Nothing but static afterwards.
Shirley switched off the radio and looked at the frightened faces
around her. She realized they were unsure of what to do, and were
looking to her for guidance. She sighed heavily, resting her head
against the windshield. Gods of Mobius, what am I to do?
"Mommy?"
She looked down at Tolouse. Although they were still glazed with
fear, there was expectation in his eyes as well. She sighed again. If
she didn't help them survive, who would? Like it or not, she thought,
I've been chosen to get us through this mess. Lucky me.
Shirley climbed out of the hovercar and looked around, trying to
determine what they needed to do. Ah! That was it. She cleared her
throat, and tried to make her voice sound as confident as possible. It
wasn't easy. "Well...it, uh, looks like we're going to be here for a
while, and we've got work to do. We'll need to hide the hovercar, and
we'll have to dig some burrows to hide ourselves in. If those 'hover-
bots', whatever they are, are looking for us, we're going to have to
live underground."
She studied the ground, then began digging with her bare paws.
"Come on!" she persuaded. A few joined her at first, and then
eventually everybody was helping, even little Tolouse. Shirley watched
him, sadly. Is this how he is going to grow up, without a father, as a
refugee? Tears wet the fur of her cheeks.
By nightfall, the hovercar had been covered over with foliage, and
they had enough burrows for everyone to sleep in, safely hidden from any
surveillance above.
That night, Shirley and Tolouse were awakened by a loud roar.
Overhead, hover-bots were continuing their search through the Great
Forest. Shirley grabbed Tolouse and crawled as far back into the burrow
as she could.
"What is that, Mommy?" Tolouse screamed, crying.
"It's okay, baby, it's okay." Shirley said, rocking him back and
forth. She and the others had been careful to see that the burrows and
the hovercar were as camouflaged as possible. Still, she just knew that
those machines would stop, and any minute they would be flushed out of
the burrows and taken away.
It didn't happen. Soon the roar quieted to a whisper, and then was
gone. The hover-bots had moved elsewhere.
Shirley could not hold it in any longer, and tears flowed as she
thought of Jean, Tolouse, and what their lives were to become.
Eventually, sleep returned, and Shirley slumped against the side of the
burrow, holding tightly onto the sleeping Tolouse.
* * *
And this is how their new life began, as refugees of the Great Forest.
to be continued
--
*******Robin Hood (Kris Kelley) gt6005a_at_prism.gatech.edu*****************
* fnord-42-froinlaven-cowabunga-the truth is out there-get out-spin dash *
* are you pondering what I'm pondering?-welcome to the next level-yars!! *
* finish him!-i hope i've shown you how to treat a lady-i'm a character! *
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* "Don't care what people say / Just follow your own way." - Enigma *
* "I'm not sure that the world would be ready for 2 of me!" - P. O'Toole *
* "Life: Am I taking this too personally?" - me *
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Received on Sat Mar 25 1995 - 01:58:13 PST
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: Thu Mar 19 2015 - 12:17:02 PDT