Sally and The Werehog

The Proposal

A branch from a bush was pushed away, revealing Sally's home. Hamlet smirked and chuckled, "I have a feeling Sally's gonna get the surprise of her life, huh, Shadow?" Shadow agreed, "Yep, this is her lucky day." He released the branch, letting the branch hit Hamlet in the mouth. Shadow walked towards a small group of people, who seemed to be preparing for a wedding. Shadow cleared his throat, catching everyone's attention, "Excuse me. I'd like to thank you all for coming to my wedding. Now first, I need to go in there and, uh..." He winked at the group, "... propose to the girl." He chuckled as most of the men laughed heartily and the taken women merely rolled their eyes in amusement. However, the single ladies sobbed their hearts out. Hamlet snickered before Shadow poked his finger on Hamlet's nose. Shadow then ordered Hamlet, "Now Hamlet, when Sally and I come out that door..." "I know, I know," Hamlet reassured. He pulled out a conductor's baton, "I strike up the band!" With that, he turned around and wave the baton around. The band started playing a polka version of "Here Comes the Bride". Hamlet smiled until Shadow stuffed his head inside a tuba. "Not yet!" Shadow growled. "Sorry!" Hamlet apologized. Meanwhile, Sally was reading Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in the dining room. Unfortunately, her mind wasn't focused on the words on the pages. It was almost three days since her father had left. It was the knock at the door that caught her attention. Sally set her book open on the table Shadow and walked up to the front door. She pulled down another invention of the table and walked up to the front door. She pulled down another invention of Max's which looked like binoculars connecting to a tube, and peered into them. Instead of her father most likely carrying prizes for the both of them, she saw a staring. Sally pushed up the peep-goggles and silently groaned in annoyance, rolling her eyes as well. It was bad enough she was worried for her only family member. Now she has to deal with this numb-skull while he was gone? Nonetheless, she wiped her frown with a pleasant smile and opened the door. Shadow walked in without much as letting Sally welcome him, his chest puffed up in a proud manner. "Shadow, what a pleasant surprise," Sally said politely. "Is it, now?" Shadow replied, his voice full of arrogance. "Then again, I'm full of surprises, love." He walked further in backing up Sally until he leaned onto a chest with mirror, "You know, Sally, there's not a single girl in town who wouldn't love to be in your shoes. This is the day..." Shadow had caught sight of his reflection in the mirror. He smirked at himself and licked a tiny, barely noticeable herb out of his white teeth. Then, he turned back to Sally, "Anyway, this is the day your dreams come true." He walked towards her as Sally crept back into the dining room. "What do you know about my dreams, Shadow?" Sally asked, her eyebrow raised. "Plenty!" Shadow replied, sitting in the chair. "Picture this..." With that, he put his mud-covered boots right on her open Romeo and Juliet copy. Sally felt anger and irritation flare up in her chest as she held back and growl. "A rustic hunting lodge," Shadow described as he took off his boots, completely ignorant of Sally's reaction towards his cruelty to her books, "my latest kill roasting over the fire, my little wife massaging my feet, while the little ones play on the floor with the dogs." Sally grimaced at the slight stink coming from Shadow's exposed feet and socks. But that was wiped away when Shadow stood up and came closer to Sally, "We'll most likely have six or seven." "Dogs?" Sally asked. However, Shadow laughed as Sally took her book off the table, "No, Sally! Strapping boys, like me!" "Imagine that," Sally falsely chuckled, cleaning off the fifth and setting a bookmark in it. She walked towards the bookcase when Shadow smirked, walking towards her, "And do you know who that wife will be?" Sally, who had put the book back in its place, replied, even though she knew the answer, "Well, let me think..." Shadow, who decided to play the dominant role as he cornered her, growled in a lustful tone, "You, Sally!" Sally duck under his arm and backed into the door, "Shadow, I'm rather..." That was when she had an idea to get the hedgehog out of her house, "... speechless. I really don't know what to say." Shadow, who had thrown a chair out his way, smirked as he concerned her again with his arms. "Sally you'll marry me," he ordered. Sally feigned a sorrowful expression as she reached for the doorknob, "I'm truly sorry, Shadow but, I..." She grabbed the doorknob, twisted it slightly, and shouted before Shadow could kiss her, "I just don't deserve you!" With that, she ducked underneath his arm and threw the door open. Shadow, who had put all his weight on his hands on the door fell right down the stairs and into the mud hole, yelping as he did so. True to his word, Hamlet started the band to play "Here Comes the Bride," not noticing Shadow's embarrassing fall. And to make matters even worse, his tail and feet were sticking out of the watery mud and Sally tossed out his boots on her doorstep, slamming the door. Hamlet turned his head to see the would-be couple, smiling. However, that smile became a surprise when he saw Shadow in the mud. So he waved his hands to silence the band and leaned down to Shadow. Shadow raised his head, anger present in his face. It was clear that her rejection had done major damage to his pride. "I... take it she said no?" Hamlet asked innocently, a sympathetic smile etched on his lips. Shadow bared his teeth, grabbing Hamlet by the collar and snarled in his face, "I will have Sally for my wife. Make no mistake about that!" With that, he tossed Hamlet into the mud. As Shadow walked out of the mud, Hamlet glared at him, huffing. A few hours later after Shadow's proposal, Sally unlocked her door and peeked out. She asked a Mobian chicken that sat on a stair column, "Is he gone?" The chicken nodded to her. Sally sighed with relief, then her face twisted into one of anger as she walked down the stairs. "Can you imagine?" Sally asked, grabbing a bucket of chicken feed and walking to the tiny farm behind her house. "He asked me to marry him! Me! The wife of that uncivilized, pigheaded, brainless..." Sally stopped her ranting and said, setting the feed down,

Madame Shadow

Can't you just see it?

            She took a small towel, putting it on her head like a nun,

Madame Shadow

His little wife

"Ugh!" she groaned, disgusted with the thought. She tossed the cloth on the ground and said with great determination,

No sir!

Not me!

I guarantee it!

I want much more

Than this provincial life!

            Sally walked out of the pen, and to a hill that overlooked a beautiful landscape. Trees with leaves that made them resemble fireworks were on the rocky hills and a shimmering river traveled to who-knows-where land. She started at the majestic sight and sang what she longed for in the years,

I want adventure

In the great, wide somewhere

I want it more than I can tell

            She sat down next to a few dandelions that were puffing their seeds out. She plucked one and said, gently caressing the fluff,

And for once

It might be grand

To have someone understand

            She released the seeds into the air, wishing to be one of them,

I want so much more

Than they've got planned...

            For a few moments, Sally just stared at the opening. Then, she saw a scarf, stuck in a tree, she went to pull it off from the branch and notice that the scarf looks familiar to her. "This scarf looks just like the one I gave to my father just before he left." She took a closer look at it, and started to recognize the design. "This is the scarf that I gave him, but it has scratches!" fear mixed in her voice. "Then that means Daddy's still out there in the wood! Something must have happened to him! "I have to go find him." With that, Sally rushed to the house, took her cloak, and ran to the trail Max had taken before he disappeared. She will look for her only family member, even if she had to face the sacrifice.