Thump....... thump.....rattle.....rattle.....bang.
Pulling the white quilly prickles over my eyes, I couldn't help but feel frustrated and angry by the loud sounds of the bumpy wheely thingy and the smell of a new cardboard box. Back home, I had just been with my Mama, bubbies and sissies. We were roaming around in the fresh garden dirt looking for biggest, fattest, gooest-chewiest worms ever, when I was scooped into this box with some food, water, and my most favorite fuzzy red sock. I burrowed into my fuzzy red sock to escape the noises. I was so scared. I had no idea where I was going and why I was taken so quickly. I missed home.
My name is Puddles and I am a hedgehog and hedgehogs are NEVER known for breaking their routines. The noises from the bumpy wheely thingy were so loud, that I wasn't even brave enough to peek from beneath my white quilly prickles.
The noise stopped. A door opened.
Slowly sticking my rose-colored nose out of my most favorite red fuzzy sock.
Twitch Twitchety Twitch.
 I smelled scents of freshly plowed farmland after a healthy rain. Earth worms were out, which always made me a little hungry. My quills drooped. They were not pointy they were sad. The wormy smell made me think of my Mama. She always told me how special I was. Compared to my other bubbies and sissies, I was well…. Different and the Youngest. Not a good combination. Their quilly prickles were robust shades of brown, black, and gray which made me feel a little embarrassed of how lightly colored MY quilly prickles were. But Mama told me I was special, just like a flake of snow on a hushed winter day.
Thump... thump...thump.
 My quilly prickles covered my eyes again. I despised loud noises.
Thump... thump...thump
PLOP!
"Hi puddles" said a little boy with soil colored hair and the biggest eyes I had ever seen. His eyes had thick circles around them with glass inside the circles. These things on his face made his eyes even bigger! Must be a predator, I thought.
Without hesitation I made my loudest, nastiest, cry of a most unpleasant nature.
Ffftttttttt! Hissss! Hufff and Puff!
My quilly prickles became a pointy cactus ready defend and protect. Us hedgehogs come with our own personal armor- mine was fairly sharp, which made me a little prideful. Who was this boy and how did he know my name was Puddles? I sniffed around again. A new scent that I had never smelled before. It was sweet and earthy and best of all, it looked like a GIANT FLESHY WORM!
CHOMP!
"Ouch Puddles! That hurt!"
Ffftttttttt! Hissss! Hufff and Puff!
I hid behind my quilly prickles again.
I felt sad, I didn't mean to hurt the boy.
"Thats ok Puddles, we'll put you in here. Good night!"
POOF!
Paper fluff flew everywhere. I stood there quietly, waiting for the next big skirmish. Nothing...nothing but new sounds of a warm house happily creaking in the night.
I began sniffling and snuffling around my new room. Sweet smells of berries and savory kibble made my tummy rumble.
Shuffle, Shuffle.
My scuffling feet had discovered a mountain of yummy goodies.
Munch, munch, munch.
I stopped to listen to the sounds of the house. Still happy, I thought. The soft cotton candy moon wisped its way through the window pane. Each strand of light soft, like spun sugar, tapering at the end as if I could touch it and make it dissolve.  I loved this time of night. I sat there in awe of the creamy-blue moon.
My feet began to itch above the paper fluff for a new adventure.
Shuffle, Shuffle.
My eyes had fixed themselves on a gigantic round about thingy which kinda looked like the bottom part of the bumpy wheely thingy I traveled in this afternoon. What was it? An artistic modern art sculpture? A circular conveyer belt for all the food treasures I would find here? It’s gotta be useful. Hesitantly, I placed my chubby little feet with wirey nails on the roundabout thingy to explore.
Whoosh...It moved!
Ffftttttttt! Hissss! Hufff and Puff!
My quilly prickles covered my eyes. Terrified, I sat on the roundabout thingy shaking and trembling.  Eventually I peeked. Everything was still for a moment. Maybe if I could just find a way to get off. I thought.My plan was to run as fast as I could.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh. Around and around I went.
I was petrified at first, but the more I ran the more excited I felt. I couldn't believe that this round about thingy was actually……….kinda……. well fun!
Around and around I went.
Fast, slow, slow, and fast. I had lost so much time in this round about thingy, which felt more like a speed machine that I ran and I ran, until I felt the warmth of a golden peach sun.
 
Awwww, bedtime, I thought. As I hopped off the roundabout thingy, I slurped up a big gulp of water, grabbed my red fuzzy sock with my teeth, and headed for a place where I could burrow and there would be an absence of sound. I searched and I searched for a perfect resting place, until I bumped into a big funny looking purple cave.
P-U-D-D-L-E-S was written on it.
Maybe this is my home I thought? As I dug into the mystic purple cave, I discovered soft mounds of warm fluffy stuff. It was white like me. This was perfect.
ZzzzZZzzzzZZZzzzZZzzz
"PUUUUUUDDDDLLLLES!"
Ffftttttttt! Hissss! Hufff and Puff!
Up came the mystic purple cave. I was prickly like a cactus again until a sweet earthy smell made my nose twitch like crazy. This time I knew exactly who this smell belonged to. As a peered out from beneath my quilly prickles and saw the little boy with the soil colored hair and the big eyes. He was smiling. He scooped me up and held me close to his chest. The rhythm of his heartbeat was a soothing lullaby of soft notes and a whispering melody of breath.
As I sat there drifting in and out of sleep, a soft loving voice whispered into my little pinkish ears...
"I love you Puddles."
At that moment, it was clear to me. I was his Puddles and he was my boy and I knew that I would be very happy in my new home.
 
About Puddles
 
Puddles is an albino African Pygmy hedgehog. He is only six months old and enjoys a diet of low-fat cat kibble, and meal worms. Lots of meal worms! Puddles enjoys playing with paper towel tubes, balls, easter eggs, and his very own round about thing. Due to his shy nature as a hedgehog, he took a while to warm up to Sean and I. But after a couple of weeks he was eating and playing like a happy baby hedgehog. Hedgehogs use smell and hearing as their two dominant senses. So it's important to be courteous of noise levels when they are around and to let them sniff you first. As always, make sure you research about an animal before you decide to make it a part of the family! So long for now!