A Break from Playing

[Jared Maddock]

Jared dribbled the basketball in his hand idly. It was a rare occasion for him to not be on the court or in his backyard, playing one game or another. He had been ushered out of his house because his mother was in one of her cleaning moods, and he had hastily grabbed a basketball, threw on a pair of jeans, a black tee shirt, and a pair of dark blue vans. He hadn't bothered combing his unruly hair, and went on to take a walk around Muggle London.

He wasn't really sure what there was to do, and he found himself at the local park, looking around as if lost in thought, when the only thing in his mind was that he had absolutely nothing to do. It was a nice sunny day too, perfect weather to talk and maybe meet someone, and Jared surprised himself by actually wanting to get to know someone that isn't already his friend.

Standing idly in the middle of the park, dribbling his ball, he was just about to take a walk around when someone crashed into him. He made sure to catch the person before they fell, not wanting anyone to get hurt.

[GuestGuest]

It definitely was different from the weather back in Melbourne, that much Sophia had to admit and take advantage of as she strolled through the park with Mozart on his leash. She had taken a bit of time to visit her aunt Sophie in England before her aunt had to return to Italy and teach for the new school year there. It still threw Sophia off at the difference in school years between Australia and Europe but she had adapted enough to keep track of them over the few years she had been living in Victoria.

Aunt Sophie had some supplies to pick up so Sophia had taken Mozart out for a walk in one of the many parks in London. Things were going well, until Mozart spotted a half eaten apple that apparently had ended up just off the path. Mozart perked his ears up, aimed.......

Fired!

Himself, at the apple.

Of course this meant dragging Sophia along as well thanks to the aforementioned lease. He may be small but when you get a sudden pull towards apples, there is no stopping Mozart.

Target aquired!

Translated that means a sudden stop by Mozart and ........

keeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrashhhh!

"Oh goats! Oh my!" she babbled as she tried to keep her balance. She felt the hands reaching out to steady her and blushed. "Oh ... So sorry... It's just my dog... apples....." she tried to explain as finally the 'notahedgehogdog turned into apple seeking missle' named Mozart sat contentedly munching his prize, totally unaware of the uproar he just caused in pursuit of happiness.

[Jared Maddock]

"Are you okay?"

Helping set -the woman, now that Jared had proper time to assess the situation - upright, he wondered what the cause of the sudden crash could be. Surely he hadn't been blocking any particular path? He looked around, finding his gaze lower as he heard the distinct crunch crunch of chewing. Surprised at seeing a hedgehog munching on an apple. Following the leash on the hedgehog, he wasn't that surprised to find that it led to the woman that had bumped into him.

"Cute Hedgehog." He said, a corner of his lip quirking up. "It got a name?" He asked curiously, surprising even himself at his boldness. He was rarely this curious, nor talkative. It was then that he realized that since he had helped the girl before she fell, it had caused him to let go of the basketball he had been dribbling. Running a hand through his hair, he furrowed his brows as he wondered where it had gone.

[GuestGuest]

Yes, it was no surprise to Sophia that the young man took in the small prickly pet on the end of her leash. It was also no surprise that he referred to the small prickly pet on the end of her leash as 'a hedgehog'. This was rather common which also was no surprise considering that in actuality, the small prickly pet on the end of her leash was indeed a hedgehog. As she had before, Sophia automatically held a finger up to her lips and shook her head. "He ..." Oh yeah, this was going to make her sound so perfectly normal, she realized as she continued on. "Thinks he's a dog. Mozart," she added, supplying her pet's name. "He was abandoned by his mother and a labrador at the shelter raised him with her puppies that were born at the same time. So..." No the little notahedgehogdog had no clue he was not supposed to sit up and beg, bark (or at least what he could do to pass for barking) or any other puppy behaviours that were as natural to him as the instinctive hedgehog behaviours he also had, like his addiction love for apples.

"Sorry about almost knocking you down like that but I didn't expect him to take off running after this," she explained, pointing to the apple. Seeing the frown that seemed to be on his face, she asked, "I didn't hurt you when I ran into you, did I?"

[Jared Maddock]

Jared wanted to laugh at the woman's statement of the hedgehog - who's name was was Mozart - thinking that it was a dog. But as he listened to the story, he couldn't help the smile and chuckle that escaped him. "Well isn't that... quirky. Understandable, but quirky." He resisted the urge to say that it was adorable, since that wasn't exactly a description that often left a male's mouth. He mentally chided himself for spending way too much time with his sister. "But he seems to love apples, like other hedgehogs, so I guess he's aware that he isn't just a dog?" As far as he knew, no dogs ate apples. And no dogs run just to get some.

"Oh it's fine - I'm fine. Are you?" He said, nodding and smiling at her. He opened his arms, "No bruises or anything, see? Not even a scratch!" He then chuckled. "Oh I'm just looking for this basketball that I was holding earlier. It seemed to have disappeared..." He trailed off, taking a couple of steps from her and looking around for a bright orange ball.

[GuestGuest]

He was smiling, and chuckling. Okay, she figured, at least he wasn't backing away slowly looking for law enforcement or an escape route after he heard the story. "Definitely quirky and definitely explained a lot," she admitted with a small grin. "No, he's totally not aware he's not a dog. He still rolls up in a ball to sleep or for defense like other hedgehogs but also does all the dog behaviours he saw his puppy siblings do while he was being nursed and raised by the mother dog. Oddly enough, the mother dog treated him no different then her puppies, even managed to 'groom' him like she did the real puppies," Sophia explained, though adding with a look of unsure expression, "Though how she managed to accomplish that so easily I'm still not sure." After all, consider his prickly covering which was so unlike fur.

Once assured that he was unhurt and just looking for his basketball, which Sophia was fairly sure could not have gone far, she dropped the lease so it would drag behind Mozart and gave him a command, "Mozart. Ball. Find. Fetch." The little notahedgehogdog looked up from the apple core and began looking around the area, first toddling off one way before stopping and changing direction a couple of times and then making a straight line for a cluster of small bushes. Crawling inside, he came back out, nosing the orange basketball in front of him, back over to where Sophia stood with the young man. Upon arriving, he sat up on his hind legs, waiting for the treat Sophia gave him from her pocket, a small milkbone.

[Sponsored content]