Back To The Outback Short Stories

Mother's Day Special

(Sorry for the delay)

Night time. Is where our story begins, with Maddie looking up at the stars just outside of her and Malcolm's shared den, her face slowly turning sad as a single slides down her beautiful face. "Maddie?" A voice said from behind her. Maddie quickly wiped her eyes and turned to see her mate Malcolm, slithering towards her. "It's late, are you coming in?" He asked her. 

"O-oh, yeah Malcolm, I'm coming" She said trying to hide the sadness in her voice. And she did pretty good at hiding it. But Malcolm could detect sadness in the voice from a professional actor. "Maddie, is there something wrong?" He asked, softening his voice, his eyes full of worry. Maddie sighed, she knew she couldn't hide her true feelings from Malcolm no matter how hard she tried. She sighed again before saying.

"It's just... I can't stop thinking about my mum" She said bowing her head slightly. It was at that moment that Malcolm knew why this beautiful snake was so sad. He knew that Maddie always wanted to meet her mum, but with her growing up in the park and with them only being in the outback for about a year there wasn't much they could do. He wrapped his tail around her and pulled her close. "I'm sorry Maddie" He said. "Don't be sorry Malcolm" Maddie sniffed. "It's not your fault" Malcolm looked downcast, he wished he could help Maddie... But how? "Come on Malcolm, we should head in for the night" Maddie said, pulling back from him and started slithering back towards their den with Malcolm following next to her. Malcolm, still deep in thought and still didn't know how to help Maddie... And then it clicked. There was a way he could help Maddie find her mum he was certain. So certain he didn't realize he was heading straight for the wall next to the entrance of their den. Until he run into it that is. "Malcolm are you okay!?" Maddie asked rushing to her mate's side. "Arg, yeah I'm alright, just wasn't paying attention" He said as Maddie thoroughly scanned him over. After deciding that he was fine, Maddie let him enter the den. "I'm sure this can be done" Malcolm said inside his head "If anyone in the outback will be able to locate Maddie's mother... It's her.

"You want, what now?" Zoe asked, confused as to what Malcolm was asking her. It was just after morning the next day and Malcolm had gone off to ask Zoe for help with finding Maddie's mother. "I want you to help me find Maddie's mum" Malcolm repeated to the thorny-devil lizard. "N-no, I know what you asked it's just, why me?" Zoe asked. "Come on Zoe, you've basically got an entire empire of spies and informers at your disposal, if anyone can locate Maddie's mum it's you" Malcolm reasoned. Since arriving at the outback Zoe had gained quite a bit of influence around the outback, meaning she was always well informed about what was happening around her. Zoe sighed. "For the record, I don't have an entire empire at my disposal... But I think I might be able to find Maddie's mum" She smiled when she said that. A huge smile spread across Malcolm's face. "Thank you so much Zoe, you don't know how much this means to me" He said. "Don't thank me yet Malcolm, I haven't found her yet.

Sometime later...

After spending most of the day with Maddie, Malcolm decided that he should go find Zoe and ask her about her investigation, so after saying goodbye to Maddie he went to go meet her by the opening at the front of the mountains. "So how'd ya go?" Malcolm asked her. "Well, you asked me to find a needle in a haystack- No wait, a hay barn" Zoe paused. "And?" Malcolm said anxiously. "...And I found the needle" Zoe said before a smile spread over her face and she turned around and called. "You can come out now" And from behind a rock came a deep blue snake who slithered slowly towards them. Malcolm instantly knew who it was. "Are you Maddie's mother?" He asked her. "If that's her name, then yes" The snake replied, her voice soft as if she was whispering. "I am Mary" "W-well it's nice to meet you Mary" Malcolm replied smiling. "My name is- Malcolm, or, my daughter's mate if you prefer" She cut him off. Malcolm's smile was replaced with a nerves one. "You are treating my only child right, aren't you" She leaned closer to him when she said that. "O-of cause I am" Malcolm said, before Mary started laughing. "I'm only messing with you Mal" She said. Malcolm chuckled a bit before he realized something. "Wait what do you mean, only child, you did have other children, right?" He asked before Mary stopped laughing and suddenly looked older and sad. Zoe also looked rather down all of a sudden. "Malcolm, there's, something you need to know about Mary and the rest of her children" And by the sorrow in her voice, Malcolm could tell something was wrong.

Maddie stood outside her and Malcolm's den, looking up at the orange and pale blue sky of evening, waiting for him to get back. She sighed as she waited wondering where he could be. "Maddie!" She looked towards the source of his voice when she heard him call. She saw him slithering towards him with Zoe following next to him, and an unfamiliar deep blue snake following not far behind. "Hi Madds, sorry it took me a second" Malcolm said when he reached her. "Malcolm where have you been?" She asked clearly concerned. "Just looking for someone" Was all he said before moving aside to let the deep blue snake move up to her. When looking at her carefully, Maddie couldn't help but feel some kinship towards the snake. "Have we met before?" Maddie asked the snake. "We've met, but we haven't spoken if that makes sense" The snake replied in a soft voice. This however just made Maddie more confused and turned to Malcolm hoping for an explanation. Seeing she wasn't getting it, Zoe whispered something to Mary. "Does this sound familiar?" The snake asked getting Maddie's attention. And she again to sing.

(Pretend it's Mary singing)

When she finished Maddie had her tail over her mouth and tears were threatening to escape her eyes. "Mum?" She said removing her tail from her mouth. Mary who had tears starting to leak from her eyes smiled gently "Little one" She said gently. "Mum!" Maddie cried practically flinging herself at her mum. Mary responded by wrapping her tail around her daughter. "Mum" Maddie sobbed into her mother's chest. After a moment she pulled back and looked at Malcolm. "How did you find her?" She asked. Malcolm smiled "I knew you always wanted to meet your mother, so I asked Zoe to see if she could find her" Maddie smiled and turned to Zoe. "Thank you so much Zoe" She said. "Don't thank me Maddie I didn't expect to find her at all" Zoe said with a bit of surprise on her voice. Maddie looked at her mother, both still smiling "Did you try to find me?" She asked. "I looked for you everyday" Mary said. But then her smile faded "Unfortunately it came at a cost" She said. Now it was Maddie's turn to lose her smile. "W-what do you mean?" She asked. Malcolm sighed getting her attention. "After you were swept away from her by a stream of water she chased after you... But she lost you... And when she got back to her nest, her other eggs were gone" Malcolm finished trying not to cry. Maddie, with new tears in her eyes looked up at her mother who also had tears in her eyes. Maddie buried her head in her mother's chest. "Oh mum" She wept. "Shh, it's okay Maddie,I'm just glad one of my eggs survived" Mary said tears still in her eyes but they were tears of happiness as mother and daughter embraced with Malcolm and Zoe watching also with tears in their eyes at this happy moment.

After a long moment of reunion it was now night-time. Zoe had gone back to her own den. And Mary deciding to stay the night in the opening near the entrance to the den. And Maddie and Malcolm in their nest in the area through the tunnel that lead to the opening. As they were just getting settled with Malcolm wrapping himself lovingly around his mate, he was met with a surprise kiss. "Thank you for finding my mum Malcolm" Maddie said. "It's alright Maddie, I knew you wanted to see her someday and I'm glad I could make that wish come true. "Now all we need to do is find your mum" Maddie said. But that comment Malcolm's face fell. "About that, I did ask Zoe about my mum" Malcolm said doing his best not to cry. "...She was killed by hunters" He finished as he bowed his head as tears leaked from his eyes. "Oh Malcolm" Maddie said as she used her tail to pull him into her chest. After a moment when Malcolm stopped crying. Maddie pulled back and smiled at him. "I'm sure she would be happy that your living your life and helping me through mine" She sad and that made Malcolm smile. "I love you Maddie" "And I love you too Malcolm" They shared a kiss and both drifted off to sleep.