Wings of Fire as Humans

Boop the nose

This chapter is kinda long, but it has some pretty important backstory stuff so...

"WHAT!?! How did we get lost?" screamed Peril. "and WHERE is that stupid raccoon?" Her companion shook his head. "That raccoon is the least of our worries! We don't have food or water! There are bears here! We might never even find our way back to the cabin!" That was when the full severity of their situation finally hit Peril. Panic began to rise up inside her, and her thoughts swirled together in a cyclone of uncertainty and fear. All her life, Peril had felt invincible. If she was ever in danger, she could just be MORE dangerous. If she was ever insulted, she just looked in the mirror and told herself she was strong. but this time, there was nothing to beat up, and no reflective surfaces nearby.

Peril rubbed her temples, trying to focus on the situation at hand. Then she remembered something she had learned when she was a child, probably in girl scouts (Peril had been part of a girl scout troop when she was 7, but her foster mother Scarlet had taken her out because 'social interaction was making her weak') "wait...the cabin is north from here, right?" she asked. Turtle nodded. "and moss grows on the north side of trees! So the cabin should be roughly...THAT WAY!" Turtle looked at her in surprise. "I suppose it's worth a try. maybe we wont starve to death out here after all!"

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Turtle had been right. They were not going to starve. But they very well might die of thirst.

"how much longer is it? MY THROAT IS DYING"croaked Turtle.

Peril sighed. Clearly this boy was not a fan of long distance walks. Or any type of walk, for that matter. "only five more minutes" she responded.

Turtle looked at her with irritation. "YOU SAID THAT FIVE MINUTES AGO!!!!"

"Just trust my girl scout instincts!"

"you were a girl scout for a month, you cannot have 'instincts'. By the way, what is the deal with that? You told me your mom took you out of it because you were becoming 'weak' or something."

Peril stopped in her tracks to glare at him. "Scarlet is NOT my mother. She's the woman that got paid to let me live at her house. She took advantage of my insecurities and ruined my life."

"oh...I'm really sorry. do you want to....talk about it?"

she narrowed her eyes at the boy. "No. Why do you care?" she snapped. Turtle looked at her apologetically. "Well...sometimes I like to talk about my issues with my friends...like when mom didn't mention me during a speech about her children after she won some writing award. I felt small and insignificant...but my friends were there to support me." She looked at him skeptically. "Well, there isn't much to tell... Scarlet used to be an Olympic coach, and she fostered me so that she could live out some crazy fantasy in which I became a gold medalist and she rose to glory again...she didn't let me hang out with anyone, have my own things, enjoy my life or leave the house because my mind had to constantly be focused on sports and nothing else. Anyways, about a year ago she got hit by some student driver named Glory, and her face got kind of ruined, so she just disowned me because her confidence was crushed forever. Not much of a backstory, I know"

Turtle just stared at her. "THAT WAS A LOT OF BACKSTORY"

He opened his mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by a loud rustling sound from the bushes.

Peril's jaw dropped. "NO.WAY."

standing right in front of them was the criminal himself, the marshmallow stealing raccoon. He quietly nibbled on their sweets taunting the two teenagers with an expression that looked incredibly smug for a raccoon.

Peril brandished her large stick. "Oh yes, it's PAYBACK TIME!"

The animal probably foresaw what was coming, because it bolted back into the woods, with Peril racing after him.

The raccoon hissed and arched it's back, preparing to jump on her, but just then, someone from behind them shouted in a firm but high pitched voice, "HEY! OVER HERE!" Peril turned around to see none other than Kinkajou, waving a marshmallow. They had somehow ended up back at the cabin.

The raccoon slowly backed away from Peril and approached the marshmallow instead, Sniffing it and slowly coming closer. Kinkajou put the treat down on the ground and as the raccoon began to nibble at it, she whispered to the others: "see, he's just a little sweetheart! Maybe he will let me give him a boop!" Turtle shook his head. "please don't do that, it will bite your finger off" She did not heed his warning. "3...2...1...BOOP!"

Kinkajou lightly tapped its nose, and the raccoon snarled, snapping at her finger. "OUCH! IS THAT WHAT I GET FOR TRYING?!?" she complained. She looked at the tiny cut on her finger with disappointment.

Moral of the story: Raccoons are NOT boopable.

before any of you ask, the raccoon was not rabid, it just doesn't like being booped. Please do not boop wild animals, I am fairly sure they will not like it :D