The Hedgehog

The is the short story that inspired my senior thesis The Rancid Rabbit, of which you can find on youtube. This is a long short story just a warning.

*-The Hedgehog-*
7/16/12

Animals are strange, it's more of we're strange and they seem to be the normal multicellular organisms in the world.  We seem to over think things, assume that animals aren't smart or intelligent because they can't communicate with us.  Scientist have discovered that they communicate through their eyes more than just with sounds.  Just through the simple movements of those little wet spheres could communicate a whole world of knowledge.  Of future actions and ideas, there are so much more to animals that we may never know.  Their lives are simple, and that's what makes them unique.  It's what makes them stronger, faster, and more durable, in the end happier creatures.  This story takes place when a man finally understands them, a bond was created that can never be broken.



It was Saturday, the rain came down hard and the ocean purred that of a great cat.  Putting his rain jacket on Ruben opened the door and stepped outside into the rain.  Walking down the boat docks he untied his medium sized ship the 'Aurora' and hopped in.  It was a gloomy day, and the Caribbean was not happy, but that wouldn't stop Ruben today.  Starting the ships engine the propellers agitated the ocean water and Aurora was off.  Rick Ruben was his name, a tall man with a jet-black beard and short wavy black hair.  With his cold blue eyes he looked out for anybody who would cross his path in the rain.  Two sons and a daughter he had with one beautiful wife, they lived on an island only two miles away from the main land.  Most of Rubens life he was driving a car to work, it was nice for once to not have to worry about traffic.  Ruben worked in Architecture, manly for Hotel Resorts and such.  Most of the time he had no reason for leaving the island for he could do his work there but his office gave him some peace from his family.  His children were 11, 12, and 9; they had their mother drive them to school in the morning.  Lauran was her name, beautiful women with bright brown eyes and long curly brown locks.  She was Latino, Ruben was Irish-polish which seemed to create a unique family; the kids were still much tanner than Ruben was.  She is an artist, primarily working in advertising but will sell paintings on her free time for three hundred dollars a piece.  More of surreal realistic, she wasn't very much a fan of abstract.  But the day was over, it was past 5pm and Ruben was ready to be home.  Their island was beautiful; only two other families lived on it.  They were the Henson's and the Lopez's, both young families like theirs so the kids had access to six other children to play with.  It was truly a happy environment, and the island itself was beautiful about three miles wide and six miles long, it had one large mountain in the middle and very large lush rainforest trees surrounding it.  Some beautiful wild life lived in it, monkeys, some wild cats, some exotic birds, and an occasional wild pig.  There were some snakes that you had to be careful of but they weren't too dangerous.  

The island had just come into view; Ruben was able to see the lighthouse at the top of the mountain.  The families took turns during the week to who manned it, so that no one ran into their precious island.  Ruben could see the house, not too close to the beach but not too far.  Moving the boat into the dock he killed the engine and hopped out tying the ships line to the dock.  Grabbing his things he threw his bag over his shoulder and began his hike, it was only a half a mile walk.  Trudging through the sand trying to keep his balance, his children peered at him through the window.  His beard became rigid as he smiled looking upon their happy faces.  
"Daddy's home", the children said as all three of them ran out the door.  Ruben saw them coming and dropped his bag in the grass.  The three of them jumped on him tackling him to the ground.  Lauran stepped outside wearing a smock and a ladle in hand, as she smiled to see her children tackling their father.
"DAD DAD DAD HOW WAS WORK DID YOU BUILD STUFF?
"YEAH DID YOU BUILD ANOTHER HOTEL WITH YOUR FEET"?
"DOES THE HOTEL GO TO THE MOON AND BACK, BECAUSE I WANT MOON CHEESE"?
"Yes, yes, and yes you little rascals", he said as he through two of them on his shoulders.  The younger daughter playfully screamed and ran for mom.
"THE MONTSTER HAS TAKEN THEM, RUN", she said as she ran for her mother.  Ruben made some growling noises as he chased her inside with the two youngsters on his shoulders.  
"Quickly before it's too late", the mother said as she shut the door on Ruben.  Ruben smiled and opened the door setting the two boys down inside.  
"Oh no he can open doors", the mother said.  
"RAWR", said Ruben as he approached the mother.
"Children save yourselves it's too late", the children screamed and covered their eyes.  
"I must feast", Ruben said as he twirled Lauran with one arm bending down and kissing her on the lips.  The children looked away and ran to their bedrooms as their parents kissed.
"Nice to see my man's home".
"What's for dinner"?
"Chicken Cascadia's".
"I love you, even though my intestines beg to differ".
She laughed as he kissed her again; they walked to the kitchen holding hands.  
"Kids dinner in five minutes", she yelled as she began to set the table.  Ruben stepped into his office for a second.  Setting down his papers and organizing his new assignments in alphabetical order in his filing cabinet, looking up he noticed some rain drops on the window.  It was a low rumble as it went from dead silence quite to an uproar of a rainstorm.  
"Honey close the windows we've got a storm", Ruben said as he ran out of the room to shut the windows.  
"Are the windows shut on the Aurora"?
"Yes yes they are dinner almost ready"?
"Almost just a couple more minutes, gather everyone and have them come to the table".
"Albert, Tim, Jamie it's time to for dinner", Ruben yelled down the hallway.  The two boys came sprinting out of their rooms tackling each other.  The sound of what seemed like two large rodents digesting a bird carcass rolled down the hallway to the dinner table.  Ruben had to step over them in order to avoid them.
"Jamie", Ruben yelled.  Walking down to her room he knocked on the door looking inside.  "Jamie it's dinner time", Ruben said stepping inside the room.  Scattered across her floor were her teddy bears, stuffed lions and tigers but there was one in particular that caught Ruben's eye.  A big white stuffed hedgehog, it was laid on the floor with a red ribbon placed over it.  Around it were three teddy bears facing it, one was a tiger, one was a rhino, and another was a monkey.  It was peculiar a 9-year-old girl would come up with a scene like this, not tea parties or playing mother.  Ruben twirled his beard as he looked at the scenario.
"AHHHHH"!!!
Ruben jumped to find Jamie jump out of the toy box with her butt stuck out and her hands curled like claws showing all of her teeth.  
"You scared me you little monster you", Ruben scooped her up and tickled her belly.
"I scared you so good Daddy, did you poo"?
"Did I poop because I was scared?  Hmm, let me check", Ruben patted the butt of his pants.  "Nope no poo".
"Ohh man I wanted to make you poo", Jamie said pouting.  
"I'm sure you will some day", Ruben said a bit perplexed as he said it.  "So what's going on with your teddy bears here", Ruben said pointing to the floor, he set Jamie down.  
"Mr. Gippers was very bad so the towns folk killed him.  That's why he has this on him", she lifted the red ribbon off of the teddy bear.
"Wow, what did Mr. Gippers do"?
"Mr. Gippers went pee pee where no should go".
"Ha, where did Mr. Gippers go pee pee"?
"In the Diary of the Towns Folk".
Ruben burst out laughing but not too hard, picking his daughter back up and heading for the door.  
"Well I hope Mr. Gippers learns where to go pee for now on", Ruben said tickling Jamie's belly.  As he walked out of the room Ruben took one glance back at the teddy bear scenario.  Glancing at the hedgehog teddy bear with the red ribbon on him seemed to haunt him for some reason.  Despite how funny his daughter interpreted it, there was something about the image itself that just didn't feel right to Ruben.  Almost as if he tasted some bad eggs, but Ruben shook his head and continued to dinner.  Walking down the hall with his daughter Jamie wrapped around his shoulder.  
They sat and ate at the table talking and laughing about their day.  Before they knew it it was time to put the kids to sleep.  Ruben and Lauran carried their sleepy children to their beds.  The children groaned as they fell onto their soft pillows.  Kissing them each on the cheek and tucking them into their beds they slowly shut the doors and whispered good night.  Lauran stood in the kitchen with a glass of red wine in her hand; she wore a nice beautiful dress.  Ruben approached her with a perplexed but curious smile.  
"What's the occasion"?
"Oh just something that your not supposed to know", she said with a smile.
"So a surprise I guess", he said as she handed him a glass of red wine.  
"Yes a surprise".
"I feel underdressed", he said trying to fix his tie and button his shirt.
"You're fine", she said as she grabbed his tie and lead him out the door.  They walked down to the beach, the storm had passed and the air was cool.  You could hear the ocean crashing on the beach with every powerful wave it had.  
"Not that I want to spoil the moment, so what's the surprise"?
"Oh I'm sure you'll see in a moment, now from here on in you have to close your eyes".
"Okay but if I trip and fall I'm not going to be as happy when I see the surprise".
"Oh what, do you not trust me"?
They walked down the beach, to a small hidden spot Ruben didn't travel to often.  After a couple more feet she let go of his hand, he felt her presence leave.  His smile began to dim, and euphoria turned to fright in just a couple of seconds.  
"Lauran, you there?"
Nothing, not even a sound of footsteps, his heart began to race.  
"Now open your eyes"!!
Opening his eyes his mouth dropped and his eyes grew wide as his senses took in the presence of a brand new large and pretty yellow Pontoon Plane.  
"Now we can take the kids to Disney, and visit your parents".
"How did you do this, my god I can't believe it".
"I got a raise, and since it is a couple nights before our anniversary I wanted to do something not only special for you but for our family.  I know your getting sick of that boat, I just wanted to show you how much I love you".
"You 've done that over and out, come here", Ruben kissed her lips and they laughed and kissed each other on the beach next to the new Pontoon plane.  The moon illuminated their bodies as they kissed each other through the night.  The stars glowed brightly and the ocean growled with every passing wave.  The night went on and the both of them went back to the house holding hands.  

The next day came, it was Saturday; Ruben rose early and went for a run on the beach.  Running by the plane, he took a closer look inside and such.  Getting back to the house, washing off and changing his clothes he decided to take some of the kids out for a ride.  Lauran had to go into town to pick up some groceries so she took Jamie and Tim.  Albert stayed and went to the pontoon plane with Ruben.   Buckling him into his seat, he checked to make sure he brought his camera.  Giving him a smile to Albert as he started the engine.  
"You ready bud, ready to fly for the first time"?
Albert gave him a little nod, he was scared; his hands clung to the seats and his arms tensed.  
"Don't worry bud, once time passes you'll get used to it, it'll be fun".
Starting the engine they took off, after thirty seconds the plane left the water.  At that moment Albert clung harder than he had before, his heart began to race as they went higher and higher into the air.  Ruben smiled and gave a chuckle; he turned the plane around and flew over the island.  Tipping the plane at an angle so that through Albert's window you could get a full view of the island.  
"See our house Albert"?
Albert took a glance out his window and saw the house; a smile came across his face as his eyes widened seeing the island of theirs so small.  Then the plane shifted and his smile went away as he clung back to the seat.  
"Hang on kiddo I'm going to land this guy pretty soon, we're almost there".

Ruben turned the plane and they came upon another island in the Caribbean, a very small island much smaller than the one they live on.  The island they live on is about 2 miles long and a mile wide, this island was a quarter of a mile long and 3/4ths of a mile wide.  It was covered with dense foliage and had what looked like a large knife protruding from its center.  A gray rock protruded out of the island about a hundred feet.  Ruben landed the plane and he carried his kids on his shoulders as he trudged through the water toward the beach. He looked up and pointed to the great rock that stuck out of the island.
"See that kiddo, it was at the top of that rock your mother and I first kissed".
"Wow really dad, I bet you could see the whole world from there".
"Oh yes, you'll see it pretty soon".
They came to the beach and began to walk around the island till Ruben found the trail in through the dense foliage.  It was a small trail, more of a deer path than anything else but one he and Lauran used to use when they were young.  Ruben and Albert walked into the island holding hands.  You could hear the vast different species of birds and monkeys covering the island.  After a climb of about forty minutes they made it to the top, it was more of a staircase to the heavens.  
"Wow kiddo I'm drenched you bring your camera", Ruben said wiping his neck.
"Right here Dad", Albert took out the camera out of it's big bulky case he took some pictures all around, you could see everything.  They stood directly in front of the sun it was beautiful, the colors of the sky were glowed with the most beautiful colors.  The ocean seemed to have an end, you could see the coast off to their right; and ahead all the island of the Caribbean.  
"Hey bud look there, there is our island", Ruben said bending down next to him.
"Wow", Albert held the bulky camera and took another picture.  "Dad what's our island called"?
"Oh you don't remember, I used to tell you the story when you were a kid.  It's called 'Isla de la Tortuga Solitaria'."
"Dad what does that mean"?
"It's means Island of the Lonely Turtle, it was said when Spanish explorers came to it they found no creatures or wildlife except for one large turtle near the center of it.  They felt so bad on their way back from other voyages they would capture turtles just to bring them to our island".
"Wow, so that's why turtles are everywhere at home".
"Oh yes, speaking of which I think it's time to go home", Ruben said picking Albert up and putting him on his shoulders. They began to head down the rock as they descended back into the forest of the island.  Albert touched the leaves of the trees high above him, grabbing some of them and putting them in his pockets.  The sun began to disappear from them as they reached the heart of the island.  Once they had reached the bottom of the rock Ruben placed Albert back on the ground and they held hands traversing through the rain forest.  A wild pig ran in front of them, Albert grew scared but Ruben only smiled.  
"Was that cool or what kiddo"?
"It was big and scary".
"Hard to believe this island has those creatures".
They took a couple more steps forward and then Albert tripped and landed with his hands out.  Ruben rushed over to see if he was all right, it was only a scratch.
"There's a medical kit in the plane, we can patch that up right away bud".
Just as he had finished what he was saying something caught his eye, the dirt glared at him.  There must have been some metal or diamond or some kind of high lustered object in the dirt.  Ruben bent down and rubbed his hand across the dirt of the ground, he came across something.  Rubbing the dirt a bit more, it was metal; he followed the metal to see where it leads.  After ten minutes of unbarring Ruben discovered it was a sword, well a broken pieced of the blade.  Looking at where the hilt would be he looked in the bushes.  There in the bushes was the hilt and following that was a skeleton hand holding onto it.  Ruben walked over to where the hilt was; it was a corpse of a man, could've been a pirate.
"My god, Albert look at this I think we may have stumbled upon a pirate".
Albert waddled over holding his cut hand, his eyes widened.
"Wow that's so cool, why do you think he's dead"?
"I don't know seems to be a while though, his outfit seems to be that of a century or so ago.  Hmm wait a minute", Ruben stood where the pirate laid and looked in the direction the pirate was.  Walking across the path about ten feet he went in the bush on the other side.  
"Ha well what do you know".
"What is it Dad", Albert said rushing over to see.  Pushing the bush and ferns out of the way he found what it was, Ruben looked down at it in awe.  A treasure chest sat there before them.  It was covered with mold and vegetation but a treasure chest nonetheless.  
"I think it's a treasure chest kiddo, hmm there seems to be a lock on it", Ruben tugged at the moldy lock holding the chest together.  "Well we can take it home with us, pretty cool though huh"?
"I hope there is pirate treasure inside, to bad it's a dead pirates treasure".
"Ha, too bad indeed".
Ruben stopped and looked at the pirate corpse one last time, he moved the shirt away revealing the ribs cage and hip bones.  
"That's strange".
"What is it Dad"?
"He's missing a rib, just strange, well let's go kiddo", Ruben said.
They both walked away, Ruben holding the chest in his right arm while holding Albert's hand.  Walking back to the pontoon plane they flew home.  Lauran was home with the kids, getting their schoolwork together and preparing for tomorrow she started to make dinner.  The kids began playing in their rooms with their Legos and action figures the couple hours prior to dinner.  Ruben took the opportunity and went to his office, shutting the door behind him and setting the chest on his desk.  In his hand he had an old locksmiths tool kid, it was his dads; just another hand me down item in the family.  He then began to work his way at the lock, time sped by, and before he knew it ten minutes turned to an hour.  Sweat began to drip onto his brow.  The lock wouldn't budge; it had to be hundreds of years old and it yet managed to fulfill its one duty nonetheless.  
"Did you get it open", Albert said twirling his hair as he peaked his head in the doorway.
"Oh, you scared me kiddo", Ruben stood up and picked Albert up setting him on his lap.  They both looked at the treasure chest, staring at the lock.  "It seems to be indestructible".
"In-des-truck".
"In-des-truct-ible, ha ha yes it's a very difficult word".
"Okay well let me know when it's open, I want to show my friends pirate treasure", Albert said he closed one eye and turned his hand into a hook.  
"Me too, go ask mom when dinner is".
"Argh MOM"!!!
Ruben winced as the kid yelled as loud as he could in a pirate voice; a smile crept across his face.  He stared back at the lock, his look perplexed and uncertain of what to do next.  His fingers just touched it, he tapped it and placed his ear on it hoping to hear something; nothing gave any hint.  
"What are you"?
Ruben stared at the chest a little longer.
"Dinner Time"!!
Jumping in his chair again with fright, Ruben shook his face and stood up pushing his chair in.  Before leaving the room he took one last glance at the chest and then shut the door.  They ate through dinner talking about their day.  Albert boasted at the treasure chest they found and how they can't wait to see what was inside.  Lauran talked about the market and the people they saw, running into some old friends and catching up.  Ruben helped Lauran take care of the rest of the dishes then sent the kids to bed.  Lauran had to get up early the next morning so she went to bed early.  Ruben tucked the kids into their beds saying goodnight, he then wondered back to his office.  Opening the door he peered in, the moonlight illuminated his room.  It almost seemed as if a spotlight was pointed at the chest itself.  Walking in he grabbed the chest and headed outside to the backyard.  Briefly going inside the garage to grab his pickaxe, resting it on his shoulder with the chest in his arms he walked out to the breach so he didn't wake anyone up.  After walking a quarter mile he set the chest down in the sand.  He had walked in land; surrounded by dense foliage of Palm trees and sand he was completely alone.  Hoping none of the neighbors would hear so he went as fast as he could.  Lifting the pickaxe high in the air and squinting his eyes at where the lock was with a grunt he let gravity take it's turn and swung it at the chest.  He missed, there was a scratch next to the lock now, it wasn't bad just obvious.  He continued to swing, the night grew old and an hour passed by, he was covered in sweat.  Rubens beard grew puffy, his hair was a mess and his shirt slowly grew darker due to the amount of sweat.  Barley breathing he fell to the ground catching himself, looking up at the chest with all of it's new scratch marks and indents around the lock.  
"This is crazy, ha it's just one big joke", Ruben said as he picked up the pickaxe and through it the chest.  He collapsed in the sand catching his breath; he heard a strange metallic clink when the pix axe hit the chest.  Sand stuck to his sweaty face as he looked up to see what had happened.  Covered in sand from head to toe, he could barley see but just was able to make out the chest.  Squinting a bit he looked at where the lock was, there was a large chunk missing from it.  The lock had been broken; Ruben laughed and blew sand everywhere when he realized what he was seeing.  Wiping his face to get the sand out of his vision he crawled to the chest, pulling his body forward as fast as he could.  He stood up and sat on his knees looking at the lock he ripped it off and lifted the latch.  With out a moment's hesitation he flipped the lid of the chest open.  It was full of sand; the entire chest was full to the brim with sand.  Wiping his face Ruben took his left hand and thrust it in the pile of sand within the chest.  Groping his hand about trying to find something, anything inside that could possibly be worth getting shut out in a chest.   After a couple of minutes he almost thought there was nothing.
"Ow", Ruben said as he pulled his hand out and sucked his finger.  He had hit something sharp; Ruben took the chest and flipped it upside down.  The sand fell out and out clunked two objects.  Moving the sand out of the way to find out what the objects were he almost pricked himself again.  It looked like a pig rib, carved from something silver; it was extraordinary to look at.  Ruben held it in his hand and stared deep into it.  Placing it on the ground Ruben pushed the sand away to find what the other object was.  A glint of silver showed through the sand, moving it away Ruben found a dagger.  It was about 7 inches long; the blade had been chipped away here and there.  What was extraordinary was the hilt, it was very thick and large and carved to look like a dragon like serpent.  The dragon serpent had tusks like an elephant that wrapped around the knife giving the separation between the blade and the handle.  
"Wow", Ruben said as he placed the objects back in the chest and carried them back to the house with the pickaxe in hand.  There in the middle of the woods stood a small pile of sand that was much older then the sand around it.  As Ruben walked away a reaction occurred, steam began to billow from the sand.  
Ruben set the chest back in his office took his clothes off and passed out in bed.

Ruben got back in 'The Aurora' and headed back to the island, it was a long day of work but he managed to get some things done.  His mind was fixated on the two objects in his office that he had pulled out of the chest last night.  Before going to bed last night he had locked the objects in his safe underneath his desk.  It was a nice day; he had about a mile to go before he hit the island.  It was a good thing Lauran brought some gas home for the boat because he was close to empty.  Ruben picked his coffee cup and began drinking it, than all at once the boat hit something.  Spilling his coffee on his shirt and beard he winced in pain as the hot liquid burned his chest.  Opening the door and setting his cup down he walked to the edge of the boat looking into the blue abyss.  
"What the hell was that"?
Looking into the water to find something, nothing happened.  
"There can't be any reefs in these waters, I've sailed here for my entire life".  Ruben ran back inside opened up a little safe box near the steering wheel and pulled out a pistol, it was a small revolver.  Opening the barrel he noticed there weren't any bullets inside.  Scrambling through the cabinet he opened up every door and looked in every shelf.  It happened again, the boat was hit by something, and the ship was still running still heading for land.  Ruben fell over and hit the floor.  
"Ah what the f**k is going on"?
Then he found it, a little box that read bullets on the side.  Grabbing the box he quickly filled the gun with bullets, his hands shook with fear.  Standing up and running to the ships side he looked into the water, still nothing.  Ruben fired a couple of rounds into the water, and waited.  A couple seconds later the boat rocked again as something hit it; Ruben fell flat on his back.  Looking over the railing he noticed he had about ten minutes to go before they hit land, he had to slow the ship down.  Scrambling to get to his feet he put the pistol in his pants and ran over to the steering wheel, then he saw it.  Just in front of the boat as if it was circling the vessel Ruben saw a hump of flesh moving through the water, it had what looked like giant scales and what seeped like ivory tusks like that of an elephant protruding out of it's back.  The scales were green and a dark purple, then the hump of flesh disappeared back into the water.  Ruben took the opportunity and ran to the front of the boat and open fired at the water.  Nothing happened, land was getting closer; Ruben ran back inside and slowed the boat down.  Sweat came down on his face; his eyes grew tired and yet more frightened.
"What the hell was that?"
Ruben docked the ship tying it to their little hand made dock.  Grabbing his things he ran inside and fell in a chair, still breathing hard and heavy.  Lauran was the only one home; the kids hadn't even come back from school yet.  
"Honey, honey are you okay; did I hear gun shots out on the coast"?
"Yes you did, I think I'm going into shock".
She quickly ran to him and hugged him hard and tight.
"Your shaking and you feel cold, what happened out there"?
"Something something hit the boat, it wasn't a reef".
"What was it, a whale"?
"No something else, a creature a sea monster".
"Are you sure, I mean….
"Lauran I saw it, it had giant scales and horns poking out of it like some kind of Sea Porcupine, I need a drink".  Ruben got up and went to one of the kitchen cabinets and grabbed a bottle of scotch.  
"Honey, are you going to be okay, do you want to see a doctor or"?
"I'll be fine, I just need to shake this off, for now just make sure the kids don't go swimming.  I mean it could have been a floating pile of garbage but it sure scared the s**t out of me".
"Were you shooting at it, is that the gun fire I heard"?
"Yes, I thought I could scare it away but it kept on hitting the boat even more.  I don't want to talk about it for now; we'll forget this happened.  I'm going to go into my office and get some work done, I'll only be an hour or so than we can pick up the kids and start dinner".
"Okay well come here", she strode over to him kissed him on the lips and hugged him.  "Let me know if you need anything, I'll make sure the kids don't go swimming.  Do you want me to contact the coast guard and tell them what happened"?
"Yeah, that would be good, just want to make sure I'm not going crazy or anything.  Thanks honey", he kissed her on the lips and went to his office.  He fell into his chair hard, his body was tired, and his muscles had been so tense the last hour he felt like he could sleep for a day.  Grabbing a sheet of paper and a pen he quickly drew what he thought he saw.  After twenty minutes he looked at it, than he went online and did some research.  An hour passed by, he couldn't find anything like it, even looking up extinct dinosaurs but yet he found no matches.  
"What the hell was that thing, oh crap I almost forgot"!
Opening his safe he brought the pig rib and the dagger on the desk, he began to study them.  Reaching over for his coffee cup not taking his eyes off of the dagger he tried to understand what all of the symbols were on it.  
"Ruben do you want to come with me to pick up the kids"?
Startled Ruben knocked his coffee cup over while knocking the dagger over.  The dagger fell cutting his left thigh just a bit and hit the ground, the handle pieced shattered.  
"What was that, you okay"?
"Yes I'm fine, why don't you go ahead with out me, I have some paper work to catch up on".
"Okay, I'll be back in twenty minutes, watch the oven for me will you".
"I will love yeah", Ruben said as he grabbed a tissue to stop the bleeding from his thigh.  
"Damn, I can't believe I did that", he said as he began to pick up the dagger.  He moved the pieces from the handle of the dagger and found something.  The hilt was hollow; there was something inside, something white.  Moving the pieces away he pulled it out, it was a piece of papyrus paper.  It was wrapped together like a scroll; placing it on the table he opened it up.  It was small, about the size of an index card, there were some strange words written but what caught his eye was the drawing.  In the center of the paper was a drawing of what looked like a hedgehog, except it was frightening looking, it looked carnivorous, and there was something else.  It was holding something, Ruben opened his drawer to grab is magnifying glass.  Grabbing it he brought it to the paper to see what it was holding, looking closely is was a silvery gray color.  It was an odd shape too, then it hit him all at once, it was the pig rib.  Looking away from the paper he looked at the silver pig rib on his desk.   Placing the magnifying glass back on the desk he held the pig rib and looked at his own reflection in it.
"What are you", he said as he twirled the pig rib around in his hand to look at it from all sides.   
"AHHHHHRHHHR"!!!!
Ruben fell out of his chair he was so frightened, it was coming from the forest behind the house.  
"Holy s**t I can't take much more of this, what the hell was that"?
Then nothing, complete silence, it didn't sound human more like a wounded bear or something.   Except it didn't sound really wounded more of as if he was just waking up from a coma, announce its return to reality.  Lauran was still out; Rube was still in the house alone.  It was past 5pm, and it looked as if a storm was going to be coming.  Walking to the kitchen with his nerves still at edge he poured himself some whisky and gulped it down to help calm himself.  Sitting at the kitchen table he drank his whisky staring out into the forest, just zoning out really adoring the beauty in the simplicity of the palm trees.  The wind began to pick up; the trees began to wave in the wind.  His eyes wondered from the top of the trees to the bottom of the trees.  Looking at their trunks and then he saw it.  Some large black object that gave him Goosebumps, it was at the edge of the tree line staring at him.  The hair on Rubens back stuck up; the fear of knowing this thing this creature had been staring at him in his house the entire time.  Ruben could see it's yellow eyes glow in the forest, it was staring right at him.  He froze he couldn't move, what could he do, he had never been more frightened in his life.  Then the creature whatever it was turned and ran into the forest.  
"F**k, I can't take much more of this", Ruben poured himself another cup of scotch.  He had to be careful or he would be very drunk very soon.  Walking back to his office he locked the door behind himself.  Opening the bottom drawer there was a small combination box, Ruben unlocked.  Inside the combination box was a revolver and a box of bullets.  He began to load the gun with every bullet he had, his hand was shaking every time he pushed a bullet into the barrel.  Then all at once a pain over came him, it was in his ribs, and dropping the gun he screamed in pain.  Grabbing a hold of his desk he clutched his ribs, a tear fell from his eye.  Looking down at his shirt he tore it away with his meat hooks.  Revealing his pink hairy chest he looked down at his ribs.  They were red and there was something else, two of his rips were slightly outlined.  There were two silver streaks running across his ribs outlining them, the ribs themselves were red and purple.  Ruben touched his ribs and than retracted his hand quickly in pain.  The phone rang, Ruben scrambled to his desk to answer it.  
"Hello"?
"Ruben honey it's me Lauran, I'm sorry but there is a storm out, I think it's the beginning of a hurricane".
"Will you not be home tonight"?
"Not now, I'm going to try and wait it out here with the kids at my mothers, are you okay"?
"Yes yes I'll be fine, I just, ah ah, just need to get some paper work done".
"Honey are you sure your okay, I can come over if you want"?
"No it's fine I was clumsy and cut myself making something, ah uh, don't worry I'll be fine.  Good night honey, call when you come over".
"Okay well I'll……

Ruben hung up the phone before she could finish, looking down at his ribs.  Two large silver streaks outlined two of his ribs now; they weren't as painful as before but still hurt at the touch.
"What is happening to me"?
Ruben got up and sat at his desk again, picking up his gun setting it on his lap.  He looked at the knife, the blade was strange, taking out is magnifying glass again he took another look.  There seemed to be a blue blade in the middle of the silver one, there was something else in the dagger.  Ruben completely forgot where the blade had cut him before; it was only a knick nothing serious.  Looking back at his thigh again where the blade had slashed him he found it had gone straight through his pants.  A little bit of blood was visible; he tugged up his pant leg to get a better look.  The cut was nothing, only an inch long and wasn't deep at all.  The only concern Ruben had was it was black like a bruise, it almost looked as if he could see the individual veins and blood vessels around the cut slowly turning black as well.  Ruben touched the spot; it didn't hurt at all, not even the cut itself showed any sign of pain.  
"Strange, well I should eat something", Ruben stood up and put the revolver in his pocket.  He walked to his office door; he unlocked it and went into the kitchen to make himself a sandwich.  His nerves were still a little off, but the scotch in his system helped to calm him down, even thought it wasn't doing too much for his balance.  Clutching onto the walls just a little as he walked down the hallway, he could hear the rain pounding on the windows.  Looking out onto the beach he could see the ocean's wave crash into the beach with rage.   The sky was black; he could hear the thunder rumble.  Lightning struck, light illuminated the entire earth for a split second then disappeared.  Ruben never liked lighting; it was more of the surprise when it came than anything else.  Ruben made himself a sandwich then turned on the TV, watching comedy central helped cheer him up a bit.   Eating peanut butter and jelly and laughing for a good hour, he felt better; felt better after everything that had happened today.  Then the power went off, everything went silent.   Fear that Ruben had just gotten rid of slowly crept back into his spine, paranoia began; he couldn't stop looking at the windows.  Lighting struck, and then one of the cats made him jump as it rubbed against his leg.  Ruben petted the cat and then stood, taking his plate to the sink to wash it off.  Then he just remembered, he lifted his shirt looking at his ribs, there was nothing, the silver streaks were gone.  Ruben touched it, no pain responded.  
"What is going on"?

The storm was picking up; the wind truly began to beat against the house.  Ruben just remembered that he had left the window open.  Running back to his office he saw the drawing of the hedgehog he found in the dagger pick up in the wind.
"No, no no no no wait WAIT!!!"
The drawing flew out of the window and headed towards the beach, Ruben turned and ran for the door.  Opening the door as fast as he could he swung it shut and ran out into the rain.  His arms outstretched hoping to catch the little piece of paper, it got caught in the wind and flew behind the house.  Ruben ran after it brushing his hair out of his face.  It began to rain, it would only be a couple minutes before the rain picked up and the drawing was gone.  The little paper flew into the woods and landed on the ground.  Ruben ran as fast as he could diving into the foliage, he had a handy miniature flash light in his pocket of which he drew out.  Turning it on he flashed the light on everything he could think it would be.  The light caught something, it was bright white, and it was the paper he ran over to it.  Picking it up it was only a little wet, he looked at the drawing it was still legible.  Ruben folded it up and placed it in his pocket.  Sheer pain erupted the moment, it sprung across his rib cage again.  Falling to the ground he couldn't stand because the pain was so bad.  Opening his shirt he shined the light at his rib cage again, the two silver streaks were back.  The skin around it began to grow reddish purple again, as if someone had been beating on his skin.  Clenching his teeth the pain made it hard to think clearly, he clutched the ground for relief, and then it disappeared, the pain had gone.
"Silver, Red, Purple, your time is running out", said a strange demonic voice in the woods.  
Ruben jumped in his shoes; the pain had subsided but fear crept back behind his eyes once again.  Like a bird his head shot in a million directions at once, trying to find out who was there.
"Who is there, what is going on, what is happening to me"?
Ruben yelled but no one answered, his beard grew wet and transformed into the main of a wet dog.  His hair clung to his face as he pushed it away, still looking to see who was there.  
"I smelled you insect when you were inside your hole scurrying about".
Ruben turned, before him was a giant ball of what looked like needles and thorns.  The ball had to stand at least four feet high, it was huge, and it looked like it was moving.  
Taking a step back Ruben tripped over a root and fell backwards, his head pointed toward the sky.  The water from the rain filling up his eyeholes nearly blinding him, he tipped his head back. Coughing and sputtering, he looked to see the sphere of spikes move and grow.  It seemed to open up, a pair of legs popped out hitting the ground to stabilize the body.  It grew taller and taller, two large clawed hands sprung out of the body, water dripped off of them.  Then a head rolled out and looked down at Ruben, it was monstrous with big large ears and numerous small pointy white teeth.  It had red eyes, that didn't seem to have eye lids; it smiled down at Ruben and then it spoke.  
"You shall take my place, as I take yours", it smiled with its big red eyes, blood dripped from its eyes.  
Ruben screamed in pain as he rolled over clutching his ribs again, looking at his ribs the silver had covered five of his ribs now; his sternum had become completely silver.
"What is happening to me"?
Then Ruben noticed, it had tusk like thorns on it's back with the same scales as as the, THE SEA MONSTER.
"Wait you, I saw you earlier today, what do you want with me, what are you"?
"I am the very life you have, the new life you will have", the creature said as he bent down towards Ruben.  Reaching out with one of his clawed hands he grabbed Rubens arm, lifting him off the ground.  Ruben began to scream in fright, the hedgehog bit Rubens arm.  Warm blood flowed down, and then the hedgehog brought his nose towards the wound and began to inhale the blood through its nose. The hedge hogs eyes were bleeding, but he blood retracted.  The eyes weren't red anymore, they looked brown in fact they looked human.  The hedgehog dropped Ruben to the ground; Ruben clutched his arm for it was still bleeding.  Then the hedgehogs mouth opened wide, it began to cough and hack.  It bent over, a glow of yellow light came from its nostrils and it's mouth.  Leaning over it hacked up three little yellow balls of light, they were bright, and they made the rain glisten as it fell to the ground.  Then within a couple of seconds the lights went out and smoke blew where they once stood.  The hedgehog leaned back and let out a horrible gut-wrenching scream as it's head dropped down and it fell into the sphere of spikes he was once before.  The screaming subsided, steams billowed form inside the sphere of spikes, then it began to cave in.  The scream went from that of a monstrous hedgehog into what sounded like a man.  Ruben held his arm, the blood still pouring out; he was beginning to feel light headed.  Then the spikes began to move, the hand of a man plunged itself out and open up the sphere.  A man stood where the creature was, he was naked, and he had red curly hair with a small red goatee.  
"What are you"?
"Like you I am a man, but I've lived before", he said with a strange accent.
He began to step out of the pile of spikes, the rainwater washing off his body.  Ruben began to shake; he was loosing a lot of blood.  
"You lived before?  Are you saying you're from a different time"?
"I was born in 1732; I died hung by the neck in the gallows of New Orleans winter of 1764".
"What were you, why did you die".
"I was a pirate, I had a family of four, they chased me down and killed me for being the one thing I had to be to provide for my family.  My life and my family were taken from me".
"What are you going to do, I think I'm dyeing why did you hurt me"?
"You shall take my place, as I take yours".
"No no no, what are you saying".
The naked man bent down and lifted Rubens shirt, the silver had eaten away at the outer skin of his rib cage.  The silver had incased his bones, five of his ribs were showing that were now silver.  Ruben screamed at the sight, not only was he bleeding to death from his arm but also an infection of some silver substance was eating him alive.
"I lost my life, and now I will take yours.  Through the eyes of your family they will only see you, but the reality is that I will be living with them not you".
The man began to walk away towards the house; Ruben stuck a hand out and grabbed his leg.  
"What makes you think I'm going to let you do that?"
Rubens face was now pale white; he began to shake for his heart was struggling to pump blood to the rest of his body.
"What makes you think you can, remember you opened the chest", the man shook free Rubens hand and began to walk toward the house.  Ruben looked down, his hair drenched, in the blood stained dirt he saw the paper.  The ancient drawing of the Hedge Hog soaked in the dirt; Ruben grabbed it and held it in his blood-drenched hands.  Then looking back to where the hedgehog was he noticed something, there was a pile of sand by it.  Then it hit him; it was the pile of sand that Ruben had dumped out of the chest.  It was still raining, relatively hard, but what caught Rubens attention was something strange.  Steam seamed to be billowing out of the pile of sand, almost as if it were so hot every drop of rain that hit it evaporated.  It was very very strange, Ruben crawled over to it still breathing and with his ribs burning with pain.  Crawling with his one good arm and pushing with his legs he made around the dead carcass of the giant hedgehog body.  Coming upon the sand he dipped his hand in, he could feel the heat.  It wasn't too hot, but hot enough that he couldn't keep his hand inside for long.  Ruben's ribs burned, he lifted his shirt and found that the silver had almost eaten away at his entire mid section.  Then he felt a sharp pain as one of his ribs was entirely covered in silver popped, the rib detached from his body and rocked in the wet dirt.  A tear fell from Rubens eye as he picked up his own rib in horror.  Then Ruben looked at his arm, it was pale white and he couldn't move it anymore.  It was over, his life his family everything was over.  The hedgehog had won; he should have never opened the chest in the first place.  Anything, he would give anything to get everything he had once before.  Ruben grew tried, sleepy; he couldn't keep his eyes open.  Before he knew it his eyelids closed and his face fell into the great big pile of steamy sand.  At first it burned like hell, Ruben couldn't stand the pain.  Then the pain went away, numbness flooded his whole body, and then he slipped into a very comfortable slumber.  There was something in the sand; it had changed Rubens life forever.  The hedgehog man had entered Rubens life with out his family knowing it.  They lived the rest of their lives not knowing of the true change that had occurred that night.  The whole family had lived, died, and even grown from generation to generation not knowing of that very night and what had occurred.  Rick Ruben died that night, what was left behind was a silver rib and bloody sand.  The pirate that had taken his place had taken the chest from inside and placed some of the sand back into the chest along with the rib.  Burying it where Rick Ruben had taken his last breath, what had become of Rick Rubens body was the sand.  It had decomposed into the smallest of pebbles, unrecognizable then just piles of grains of sand.  His essence was left in that chest, along with that paper with the hedgehog on it.  Though his body was left in a chest his mind moved on, to that of a small creature.  No more than a small hedgehog itself scurrying about it's life.  Until the day that someone will open that chest and release the essence of Rick Ruben a man who had lost his family to an unfortunate event of curiosity, for curiosity killed the cat in the end.  The personality and mind of Rick Ruben lived on in this Hedge Hog.  Decades it will wait, extending the life of the hedgehog itself.  In order to extend the hedge hogs life the body itself would have to grow larger and much more powerful in order to extend it's life, until the day came that someone opened the chest.  Then the hedgehog would finally have relief and be able to die and move on, but re-born Rick Ruben would be.  A man who's been punished for curiosity and in the end would only want to take the life of another in order to make up for what he had lost.  He was once a man who was happy and lived a good life who would be reborn the same but a monster.  Who will seek nothing but the happiness of others in order to fill the void of his loss.  In the end happiness remained for it was sorrow and anger that grew ever more powerful in the years to come.  This little hedgehog scurried in the forest of the island of the lonely turtle, only to be a vessel of a slumbering monster seeking its revenge.

8/22/12