The Happy Hedgehog

The Happy Hedgehog — A Fairy Tale
I’m a young hedgehog. My name is Antoshka (or Toshka, for short). My family lives in the forest, where we burrowed ourselves a deep hole. Our whole family fits there!
My dad used to live near an army station; there, he observed military life—the soldiers were disciplined as they did their construction. Dad decided that, when he would marries and have children, he would give orders in his family just like in the military—he dreamed that his descendants would follow his rules. Soon, my father met my mother—a beauty—and married her, and six little hedgehogs were born. I was the youngest and most restless—my parents couldn’t keep up with my many pranks. I did not give into their iron first (unlike my siblings). Dad would assemble us in line, commanding: “Left! Right” To this day, I still can’t tell left from right! Dad taught us, the little ones, how to defend ourselves predators, which animals can eat us, and how to find food. This training, of course, was vital for kids. But for me these lessons were boring and uninteresting. I loved watching nature—and at night it was especially interesting, because we, hedgehogs, are nocturnal.
I was born with unusual abilities. I understood not only animals’ speech, but also people’s! And, so what? The writer Vladimir Kunin wrote three stories about a cat, Kysya, who perfectly understood all human languages and could start a conversation with any living being!
I decided that I had to break away from my family, live solo for a little while, and see how other animals—and even people—live. So, one day during a nighttime stroll with my parents, I fell behind them and turned off in another direction (I don’t remember if it was left or right). I walked quietly, rejoicing in my newfound freedom and admiring the beauty of the forest. It was the autumn, different-colored leaves crunched under my feet. What beauty!
               
My happiness was unlimited! Suddenly, I heard quiet footsteps behind me. I looked around—and felt terrified! There was a red fox, carefully watching me! Daddy had told us about this animal, which can and, most importantly, wants to eat us! What a nightmare—a horror!
Fortunately, I remembered my dad’s instructions. I curled up and rolled forward! Sometimes, I would peek out and see the fox, with a bewildered expression, running after me! I accelerated even more—and rolled down a little hill! Suddenly, I realized that I was in a deep hole. I looked around. Oh my God! The fox looked into the hole. But it did not dare jump in—apparently, it was too deep! I curled up again, my head was spinning with fear, and it was getting light. My eyes closed and I fell asleep. I didn’t remember how much time passed, but I woke up, stretched and felt very uncomfortable! Something had happened to me!
My body was in someone’s huge paw, covered in feathers! A moment later, I was thrown upwards! At first, I was afraid that I was going to get eaten! But then, I realized I was flying higher and higher. My eyes widened and saw the huge, flying body an eagle.
“Well,” I realized, “this is how I die …what have I done?” And, in the next moment, something happened to the eagle!
Someone was attacking him, and I heard them say: “Oh, you thief! Yesterday, you murdered my children—I will not forgive you for that!” A fight broke out. Surprised, the eagle released me from its grasp. I began flying again—not up, but down! I felt horrible, but managed to see the beauty of the sky and clouds. And a rainbow—something that I had never seen before! It was scary and interesting at the same time!
My flight ended very quickly! I had fallen, but did had not broken any bones. Beneath me was something very soft, and around me were hens and a rooster, all with colored feathers. The hens clucked very uneasily, but I realized that they were very surprised by my appearance and were worried about their eggs. I should tell you, though, that they were not worried in vain! I still managed to steal one egg and eat it with great pleasure.
When it got dark, I went to scout out my environment. Just in case, I would roll along any smooth ground— carefully looking around, for fear of running into a dog.
Suddenly, I saw such a familiar picture that my heart began to ache. There was large, red cat, feeding baby urchins. I approached her and asked why she had such unusual children. The cat explained that the mother of these children was killed in the clutches of a huge eagle, and she had adopted them.
Somehow, I ended up in a glass vessel, in which there was a strong smell of fish. It was an old aquarium. How did I get there? I saw a small, messy kid, who was carefully watching and poking me. I again curled up in a ball; I was uncomfortable and scared all over again. Oh, how tired I was of my adventures—I no longer had the strength! The boy continued to mock me, turning me around and putting me on my paws.
And then, luckily, two girls entered the room! They saw me and began to chastise the boy. One of them placed me into a small basket. The girls put the basket under their bed, and I fell quickly asleep. That’s how I ended up in a big house in the countryside.
I really like fruit, especially apples. Therefore, before going to bed, I was very hungry and ate a lot of apples—my young saviors were overjoyed!
At night, I would up and walk around the room. I heard the girls talking to each other (and about how loud I was being).
I noticed that the door wasn’t closed all the way, so I pushed it open and went out into the yard.
I was tired of being on my own—I had decided to return home. It took me quite a long time to get back to our family’s hole in the ground!
I decided to catch my breath for a little while before showing myself to my parents, and overheard them talking. They said that they were very worried about me and waiting for me to return. I was very glad to hear that!
Indeed, the happiness of parents directly depends on the happiness of their children.