SHANNON AND THE BABY HEDGEHOG

This is the first of four short stories for children, featuring a lovely dog we had who sadly died in 2007.




Shannon was half German Shepherd and half black Labrador, though she looked more German Shepherd than anything else, apart from her floppy ears, but had the good nature and gentleness that most Labrador dogs have.

One evening, Shannon was running around the borders of her large garden. She did this ritual most days, to see if any cats were hiding in the hedges, as she often chased them to keep them “on their toes!” She never actually caught one though; they were much too fast!

That evening, Shannon noticed something small, rustling in the bushes towards the end of the garden. She nosed towards it and heard a whimper and weird snuffling sounds. Her tail was wagging furiously with excitement at the find!

“Please don’t hurt me” squeaked a tiny creature.

“I wasn’t going to” replied Shannon, calmly. “But who and what are you?”

“My name is Harry and I’m a hedgehog” replied the nervous, soft-prickled little fellow.

“What are you doing here?” asked Shannon, who had never seen a hedgehog before.

“Well” explained Harry “I’ve lost my parents; they went off to see if there was any left-over cat food, outside your neighbour’s back door and told me to wait here, but it’s been ages now”

At this point poor Harry started to blubber “Anyway, who are you?” he snuffled, his little piggy-eyes red with crying.

“My name is Shannon and I’m a cross-breed” replied Shannon, proudly wagging her long bushy tail.

“You look perfectly happy to me” observed the little hedgehog, tearfully.

“No silly!” laughed Shannon “It doesn’t mean I’m angry or cross, it just means I’m a mixed breed dog”

“Oh, I see' murmured Harry, cheering up a little, though he didn’t really understand, as he was much too young. He hadn’t seen a dog before and this creature was enormous, had huge sharp teeth and a strange swishing tail.

“Which neighbours did your parents visit?' asked Shannon. “Left or right side of my house, as they both have cats?”

“The ones on the left, I think” sighed Harry, who was feeling quite exhausted by now. “They have three cats and a very fancy cat-flap, you know"




Shannon liked the idea of a fancy cat-flap and wondered if they made fancy dog-flaps, big enough for her to get through. Must ask my humans about that, she thought, but just then Harry started to whimper again.

“Don’t worry” she said “I’ll give you a lift”

With that, she picked a trembling Harry up in her soft, gentle mouth and carried him all the way to the gate near the house. Then she put Harry down very slowly and carefully.

“Hurray, I can see them!” yelled Harry excitedly, miraculously revived all of a sudden!

“Hey! Mr and Mrs Hedgehog” shouted Shannon, “I’ve got your son here. You really should take more care of him, you know. He’s still only a baby'

“Oh no I’m not!” retorted Harry, indignantly. 'I’m three weeks old now and anyway, I’m a hog-let, not a baby!”

“Thank goodness, you’re OK son!' roared Harry Hedgehog Senior, who had a very loud booming voice - for a hedgehog.

Harry junior started to cry again. “There, there,” cooed Harry’s mother, soothingly. “But I did tell you to wait for us under the bushes, that we wouldn’t be long and we’d bring you back a tasty morsel or two”

“I’m sorry Mum” sniffed Harry. “This kind cross-breed dog, helped me find you and Dad”

“Cross-breed, cross-breed!” exclaimed Mr and Mrs Hedgehog, in unison. “What’s a cross-breed? - it looks cheerful enough to us; why is it so cross?”

Shannon sighed wearily, having to explain again to Harry’s parents, what a cross-breed was!

“Well, anyhow, thanks for looking after him” they said 'But it would have been best to leave him where he was, as we always know where to find him then”

“OK” replied Shannon, good natured as always. “I was glad to help”

“Thanks” squeaked Harry. “I hope I’ll see you again soon, Shannon”

“Me too” said Shannon, “Cheerio Harry, see you soon”

“Make sure you have a good bath and a flea spraying!” chortled Harry’s Mum and Dad.

“Why’s that?” asked Shannon, looking rather puzzled.

“Because we’re full of fleas, you know!' laughed Harry and his parents.

'Oh wonderful” groaned Shannon, having a jolly good scratch!