LateNightHacking Louis My Writing

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Nutsy was lying on Josh’s back. He tried to relax as the raccoon padded his way home. The squirrel’s shoulder ached where it had hit the branch, and he was glad the burly raccoon had offered to carry him. Although the ride what somewhat bouncy, it was surely better than walking home himself. Nutsy listened to the sounds of the forest and the soft sound of the raccoon’s footfalls in the leaf litter. He hugged his friend, and felt the raccoon wince. This surprised the squirrel. Now that he concentrated, Nutsy could feel from the rhythm of the raccoon’s gait that he was limping slightly. Josh had said that he had scratched himself on some bushes but had refused to say more. The squirrel wondered what he was missing.

They made a pitiful ragtag pair as they shambled back trough the forest. Fur was in disarray and blood from their scratches was beginning to darken and congeal. They looked like they had been in a brawl and lost.

Suddenly Nutsy lifted his head up. "Did you hear that?"

Josh froze. "Hear what?" he rumbled.

"Shh! Listen!"

Josh held his breath and strained his ears. He could hear the wind whispering through the upper stories of the forest. He could hear the tap-tap-tap-tap of a woodpecker drilling for grubs in some far off oak. There was a scrabble of small claws on bark as another squirrel climbed down a tree somewhere to his left. A cricket chirped intermittently, and he might have even heard a tree frog somewhere to his right. Finally, he heard a soft, strange cry again off to his right. It was almost indescribable, almost like someone sobbing from pain or frustration. "I hear it."

"Let’s get out of here. That sound gives me the willies," Nutsy whispered.

"No. Let’s go check it out. I’ve never heard anything like that."

"All the more reason to get home. Let’s go," Nutsy urged.

The raccoon turned to the right and walked toward the source of the sound.

"Joshua, are you crazy?" Nutsy in a louder voice.

"Shh!"

After walking about 30 feet, Josh stopped behind a fallen log and looked over. When he didn’t move, Nutsy climbed up the raccoon’s shoulders and glanced fearfully over the top of the raccoon’s head.

"What is it?"

Peering over a fallen log, the two friends watched the sight in front of them with amazement. Before them was a large patch of blackberry brambles forming a thorny jungle that extended to the left and right. Trapped a little ways into this jungle was a creature neither of the two friends had ever seen before. Its fur was downy looking and pure white, though it seemed to shimmer occasionally with an opalescent gleam. The only part of the creature that wasn’t white was its eyes, which were a light blue-green color. The creature was almost as big as Josh, but it wasn’t a raccoon since it didn’t have a black mask or a striped tail. It certainly wasn’t a squirrel -– it was far too big. It didn’t have the long ears and small, puffy tail of a rabbit. Instead, it had small, round ears and a narrow tail at least as long as its body. It wasn’t a badger, since its body and muzzle were much rounder. It wasn’t as long and sleek as an otter.

The creature was also in terrible shape. It had a blackberry vine wrapped across its belly, around one hind leg. Crimson streaks etched by blackberry thorns stood out in sharp contrast on its snowy pelt. From the dark juice on the creature’s muzzle, Josh guessed it had wandered into the brambles to eat the berries.

The creature held one vine in its left paw to prevent it from lacerating its shoulder. It was standing on its right hind leg. Its prehensile tail was trying to remove the vine wrapped around its left leg. Josh watched with surprise as the creature reached with its right paw for a berry that was just out of reach. Losing its balance, the creature fell backwards into the thicket. It let out a soft wail. Whimpering softly to itself in syllables Josh couldn’t understand, the creature rolled painfully to its feet and began to stand again. Josh guessed that the creature’s thick fur was the only reason it wasn’t injured worse than it was.

Nutsy leaned over and whispered to Josh, "That poor thing must be really hungry. Look! It’s going to try again!"

Startled by the sound of the squirrel’s voice, the white creature stared wide-eyed at the two friends. Suddenly, the creature’s fur became a rainbow of colors, as if an artist had dropped his palette. With a swirl of greens, browns, and blacks, the creature disappeared! It was Josh and Nutsy’s turn to stare with wide eyes.

"Where did it go?!" exclaimed Nutsy

"I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like this, ever!" Josh continued to stare at the hollow in the brambles where the ivory creature had been just moments before. Something just wasn’t right.

Nutsy climbed up and stood on the log. Josh noticed two blue-green eyes appear for an instant, suspended in midair, then disappear again.

"Look it’s still there! Did you see its eyes?"

"Yes," replied Nutsy, "and I bet you’ve never seen a blackberry leaf with a red scratch either." Nutsy jumped off the log and began to approach the blackberry patch.

"What are you doing? It’s still there!" hissed Josh.

The flying squirrel waved the raccoon to silence. Josh could see the creature’s eyes watching his companion. Nutsy climbed up a sapling at the edge of the brambles and, with the amazing agility of his kind, made his way out along a narrow branch until he was over a cluster of berries. He leaned out with his good forelimb and picked a berry.

"Get over here and catch this."

Josh was forced to scramble over the log to catch the berry Nutsy threw at him. The raccoon was uncomfortably conscious of those bluish eyes that watched their every move. Fear made the raccoon’s hair stand on end. Why was Nutsy taking such wild risks? Josh continued to catch berries until he had a pile of about ten at his feet.

Suddenly, Nutsy’s injured foreleg twisted and he lost his hold on the branch. His toes lost their grip and, with a squeak of surprise and pain, he fell. Josh stared in disbelief as the empty space the creature was occupying shimmered like liquid and caught the falling squirrel. As soon as the creature stopped moving, it became undetectable again. Nutsy appeared to be lying on his back in mid-air about a foot above the ground. Josh growled.

Again paint dripped and swirled, and the snow white creature became visible holding the squirrel in open paws as if it were afraid of it. Slowly, the creature set Nutsy down and he scampered back to the raccoon.

"Can we get out of here yet?" begged Josh.

"No! It’s friendly! You saw it."

Josh was still not convinced, but he didn’t stop the squirrel as Nutsy grabbed a blackberry and scampered back toward the creature. The creature, resting on its haunches, shrank back timidly as Nutsy ran towards it but did not disappear. Nutsy stopped right in front of the creature and held out the berry. Tentatively, it took the proffered morsel between two fingers and brought it to its mouth. Still watching the squirrel, it quickly ate the berry and huddled back again. Nutsy grinned broadly and scampered back to Josh’s pile of berries. He quickly returned with another. After quickly swallowing this berry, the creature made a rolling gesture with its paws and soft reply.

"N’moir lyung."

Neither Josh or Nutsy had any idea what this meant, and Josh was often surprised by the languages the little squirrel knew.

Nutsy beckoned for the creature to come out of the thicket, but it made no move that showed that it understood. Retrieving another berry, Nutsy decided to draw the ivory creature out of the thicket. When it reached for the berry, the squirrel took a step back. Startled, the creature pulled back its paw. Slowly, it reached forward, stretching. Again, the flying squirrel stepped back. The third time, the creature had to lean forward on one foreleg and reach with the other. Nutsy let it have the berry. It ate it more slowly this time, again watching the squirrel. Nutsy grabbed another berry, but this time stopped further from the creature. It would have to come out if it was still hungry.

The mysterious animal stared at the squirrel, blinking its blue-green eyes in indecision. Finally, it leaned forward and stood on all fours. It looked much more menacing this way, Nutsy thought. It began to slowly walk forward. Suddenly, it stopped and looked back over its shoulder. Stepping to the side, Nutsy could see that the creature’s hind leg was painfully caught in a lasso of blackberry vine. It grabbed the vine with its tail, but couldn’t free itself. The creature strained forward. The big thorns gouged into its leg, and, with a cry, it fell to its belly, its left leg stretched out uncomfortably behind it.

"Sefn m’luiw nur. Sefn fet wyng. Nehgn? Nehgn?" the creature whimpered softly. Nutsy could only shrug. He came up and offered the berry to the creature. "Nehgn?" it implored one last time. When the confused squirrel made no move, the ivory creature closed its eyes and began to cry. Nutsy looked panicked. What had he done?

"You idiot," said Josh as he walked up beside the squirrel. "It wants you to free its leg."

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Nutsy scampered back to the creature’s hind leg. He pulled at the vine, but to no avail. The creature opened its eyes. When it saw the imposing figure of the burly raccoon, it began to scrabble and back away.

"Josh, come here. There’s no way I could move this. You’ll have to do it," said the squirrel. Josh turned to examine the vine. When he reached for it, the creature flinched, pulling the vine tighter.

"Go talk to it or something," grumbled Josh.

Nutsy walked back to the creatures head. He began to murmur in its ear and scratch its head. "Shh now. Don’t move. It’ll be all right. Shh. It’s OK..."

Josh pulled on the vine and was able to get enough slack to unwrap the creature’s leg. When it felt its leg come free, the creature quickly stood up on all fours. It turned around began to nuzzle the larger raccoon.

"N’moir lyung" it mumbled as it rubbed its head against Josh’s chest. Josh’s dislike and distrust of the creature began to soften. Soon, the snow white creature sat back on its haunches and watch the two friends carefully.

"What do we do next?" asked Nutsy as he came to stand beside Josh.

"Finish feeding it I guess," replied the raccoon. With that, the squirrel and raccoon walked back over to the pile of berries. Soon, the creature followed them. When Nutsy managed to convey that the berries were for it, the creature ate them quickly. When it was done, it had the dark juice all over its paws an muzzle. It nuzzled the flying squirrel in appreciation. Josh decided it liked this creature even more.

"Ack! Hey, you’re getting that stuff on me!" Nutsy complained, and the creature licked itself clean. Then it stared expectantly at the two friends.

"Mueng loef ner feum?" it asked.

Nutsy and Josh just looked at each other.

"My name’s Nutsy," said the squirrel, pointing to himself. "Nutsy."

"Nuezih?"

"Nutsy," the squirrel emphasized, tapping his chest.

"Nutsy," echoed the creature, getting it right. Then its fur swirled with color. It looked almost like Nutsy! It still had its original body shape and so lacked the squirrel’s flying membrane, but now its fur was now in shades of reddish brown that reflected the squirrel’s markings. Nutsy stared in awe.

"I’m Josh," chimed in the raccoon. "Josh."

"Joash... Josh," mimicked the creature. Again the colors of the creature’s fur blended and spiraled. This time the creature was a salt and pepper gray, with a black striped tail and a black band across its face. It looked like a smaller version of the big raccoon. Its blue-green eyes seemed eerily out of place.

Pointing, the creature repeated the names. "Nutsy. Josh. Faehlyn." On the last name it pointed to itself and became iridescent white again.

"Faylin?" attempted Josh.

The creature nodded. "Faehlyn."

The three watched each other in silence, waiting for something to happen. Nutsy rubbed his wrenched shoulder. "Let’s go home, Josh. It’s getting late. Pleased to meet you, Faehlyn."

The raccoon nodded, and Nutsy climbed on his back again. Josh turned and began walking towards home. They waved goodbye to the mysterious white creature which mimicked them and waved back. Soon, the creature was lost from sight.

When they had put some distance between themselves and the creature, they began to discuss what they had seen.

"I wonder where it came from? I’ve never seen any animal like that," said Josh.

"Me neither. What was it doing in that blackberry patch? You would think it knew nothing about them. That was pretty silly of it to get caught like that," mentioned Nutsy.

"Maybe it is migratory and got separated from its family group on the trip," suggested Josh.

"But we would know about them if they passed this way twice a year," countered the squirrel.

"What about their camouflage? You could walk right by and never see one."

Nutsy shuddered at this. The idea of such invisible animals out hunting scared him greatly. Even owls, the Silent Death, were at least visible.

"Looks like Faehlyn’s following us," murmured Josh.

Nutsy looked back and saw a gleaming white animal coming up behind them quickly. "It must be lost," replied the squirrel. "Let’s wait for it."

Faehlyn bounded up to a stop beside the raccoon and grinned. Joshua smiled back and the trio continued on together. The trip was quiet once Faehlyn and Nutsy gave up asking each other questions. Clearly neither one could understand the other, though it wasn’t due to lack of trying. After that, the trio had walked on in quiet companionship.

As they were approaching Nutsy’s home, Faehlyn began to fall behind. Finally Josh was forced to stop and turn around. Faehlyn was leaning against a tree trunk, with eyes closed and a pained expression on its face. The creature was no longer bright white, but had become dingy and faded. Patches of pale green and black swam across Faehlyn’s coat.

Nutsy approached and patted the creature’s shoulder comfortingly. "Faehlyn, are you all right?"

In response, Faehlyn vomited. The half digested blackberries splattered on the ground, along with some other substances the squirrel preferred not to identify. The poor creature’s whole body shook as its stomach voided its contents. Soon there was nothing left, but Faehlyn continued to heave dryly. Finally it stopped and collapsed weakly to the ground, shaking. The green and black was gone from its coloration, but its fur was becoming grayer.

The flying squirrel sprang into action. "Quick! Get some water. Let it a drink and rinse out its mouth. I’ll go find someplace warm for it to rest." Nutsy turned and bounded away.

Josh ran to his home. He grabbed a canteen he used for long trips, and ran to the stream to fill it. He hurried back to find the squirrel comforting Faehlyn. "Here’s the water," Josh announced. He trickled it into the mouth of the collapsed creature. Faehlyn lapped at it weakly. It began to shiver again. The creature’s fur was slate gray.

"I got Serin to loan us his den. We’ve got to get Faehlyn inside and keep it warm," said Nutsy anxiously. "You’ll have to carry it, Josh." After much struggle, the two friends managed to get Faehlyn across the raccoon’s back. Josh carefully covered the remaining distance to Nutsy’s tree. He had doubts about entering the fox’s abode, but he was more concerned for Faehlyn’s life. Josh followed Nutsy down into the fox’s den. The tunnel was dark, but soon they came out into a warm room. Josh laid the sick creature on the soft carpet. Nutsy brought out a big blanket and, with the raccoon’s help, wrapped Faehlyn snugly. The creature’s shivering began to stop, and Faehlyn murmured its friend’s names before drifting off to sleep.

Josh leaned back against the wall, watching Faehlyn. Nutsy huddled beside him, and Josh draped an arm around the squirrel. They watched their new friend together. Faehlyn was sleeping more peacefully now, though its tail sometimes flexed and turned. The color of its fur seemed to be stable now. They were thankful for that.

"What are we going to do now?" asked Nutsy.

Josh sighed heavily, which hurt his bruised ribs. He grimaced. "I don’t know. We need someone more knowledgeable. And we need them now."