Mr Wobble finds his Hug

Mr Wobble finds his Hug

“It just vanished,” said Mr Wobble. “One minute I had it, then it was gone.”
He wiped the tear that was beginning to slip down the side of his long nose.
Chilly sat looking very formal in the way penguins do. He was unruffled by this news. “What sort of Hug was it?” he asked. “If it was a big one then I’m sure we’ll find very quickly.” He wagged his black wings and shuffled closer to Mr Wobble. “How big was it?”
Mr Wobble waved in the wind. He tried to straighten his knees, but they just sagged sadly. He leant against Chilly.
“It wasn’t really a big one - sort of medium sized, and very warm. It was an orangey-pink sort of Hug.”
“Oh,” said Chilly with a bit of a shiver. Warm Hugs are too painful for penguins. I would prefer a blue-green one, he thought. He watched as Mr Wobble tried to cope with two tears, this time one down each side of his furry nose.
“Have you lost it before?” asked Chilly.
“N..N…No,” stammered Mr Wobble. “I’ve had it for as long as I can remember.”
“When last did you use it?”
“I don’t remember. It was the Hug I kept for special occasions. And I’ve not had very many of them recently.”
Oh dear, thought Chilly. This is going to be a difficult task. Not only had Mr Wobble lost his Hug, but he was also sad. A sad Hugless Wobble, now that’s not something we like to have on our Shelf.

The Shelf was a crowded but happy place. There were a few niggles every now and then when someone got in the way. It was a safe place and they all had an excellent view of what went on. Gabby especially. Being a giraffe she could see further than anyone else.
“Gabby, can you see Mr Wobble’s Hug anywhere?” asked Chilly.
She rose slowly above them all, stretching her joints delicately. “Oo.. I’ve been crampelled up here for too long,” she complained.
“Crampelled – you mean cramped,” said Custer, his eagle eyes fixed on Gabby.
“No, I mean both cramped and crumpled,” said Gabby.
“Tut. Tut. Standards are slipping. I suppose you’re going to say your knees are ‘crinking’,” he said, turning his back on everyone and staring into the distance.
Gabby thought for a moment. “That’s a good word,” she said. “That’s just how they feel!”
Chilly shuffled impatiently. “Come on Gabby. Can you see the Hug?”
Gabby turned her head slowly, eyeing all parts of the shelf. “Nothing.. so far…” She moved to the edge of the shelf. “Hang on to my tail, Chilly, I’m going to see if it might have fallen off the Shelf.”
A shudder of fear went through them all. Fallen off the Shelf! It happened occasionally and afterwards nothing was ever the same again. Custer broke his beak once. He still refuses to talk about it.
“No, I can’t see it,” said Gabby, stretching back to her full height. “Wait! What’s that behind Prickles?”
Prickles was wedged into the corner, keeping back a dark shadow – the one Gabby spotted.
“There’s no use talking to Prickles,” said Custer, “he’s always asleep.”
“We’ll have to move him then,” said Chilly.
They froze. Prickles by name, prickles by nature. His long spikes seemed to know just where to point, even when he was asleep.
“Prickles! PRICKLES!” shouted Custer “Hey, WAKE UP. It’s important.”
One quill twitched.
“He’s responding,” cried Chilly. “Try again Custer. Let’s all shout together.”
“WAKEY-WAKEY,” they all cried.
Brown eyes shot open, quills at full alert. “I heard you the first time!” said an angry Prickles.
Mr Wobble, startled, fell back into Custer’s lap, knocking over Chilly in the process. Gabby felt her knees go crink.
“There had better be a good reason for waking me up,” said Prickles, looking at Custer, who was the only one who could return his unblinking gaze.
Custer cleared his throat. “It’s.. er.. Mr Wobble’s Hug. It.. er.. is lost.” The words stumbled out of Custer’s mouth and he looked around embarrassed. “That’s right isn’t it?”
The others chorused, “Yes.”
“And what has it got to do with me?” asked Prickles, fanning his quills.
“Er.. Gabby saw a shadow behind you and we.. er.. wondered if it’s Mr Wobble’s Hug..” said Custer.
Prickles glared at Custer, Gabby, Chilly and then at Mr Wobble. “A shadow, huh? And what makes you think it is yours, Mr Wobble.”
At this challenge Mr Wobble collapsed further into Custer’s lap. Hoping to be smothered by the comforting feathers and to disappear from the steely gaze of Prickles.
“Speak up,” said Prickles.
Mr Wobble’s muffled voice, filtered through the feathers, “I.. I’m just w..wondering w..whether the shadow is my Hug. N..not whether it is your shadow. Oh, I mean, it’s ok for you to have a shadow. I just w..wonder w..whether my Hug is hiding there. You see…”
“Goodness me. What’s he saying Chilly?”
Chilly stood calm. He was used to the cold. “He’s wanting to know whether you would please, Prickles, move a bit, so we can check whether his lost Hug is behind you.”
“I’m surprised at you all,” said Prickles. “You should know that Hugs don’t hide in shadows. Look at your own shadows – do you see any Hugs in there?”
There was a lot of shuffling and ruffling as Chilly, Gabby, Custer and Mr Wobble all looked round trying to catch a glimpse of their shadows. Mr Wobble couldn’t find his, because it was stuck in Custer’s feathers somewhere.
“I’ve lost my shadow as well,” cried Mr Wobble. “Oh no!”
“Pull yourself together Mr Wobble,” said Prickles quite firmly. “It’s not lost. It’s just behind you. And because Custer is behind you it is hidden for a while. But it’s still there.”
“Oh,” said Mr Wobble thoughtfully. “Do you think my Hug is just hiding as well?”
“It could be, though when Hugs go, they tend to just go,” said Prickles.
Mr Wobble felt the tears welling up again. “You mean forever,” he sobbed. Custer folded his wings round Mr Wobble to comfort him. “F..freffer..” came the sound beneath the feathers.
Prickles let out a sigh and shook his quills in a rather alarming manner. “I do wonder about you all,” he said, “has no- one explained to you where Hugs come from?”
He watched as feathers and fur shook gently from side to side. Mr Wobble’s head poked out from underneath one of Custer’s wings. Chilly started to shiver.
“They come from inside you,” he explained.
The Shelf nearly collapsed as Gabby fell down laughing. “Inside! Ha.Ha!” Then Chilly began to shake, Mr Wobbled wobbled furiously and even Custer had to stifle a giggle.
“Stop it and listen!” demanded Prickles. “No wonder no one has been though this with you before. You are very disrespectful.”
A chorus of ‘sorries’ filled the air. Heads dipped down just a bit.
“Mr Wobble you need to look inside yourself to find your Hug.”
As if they were one, Mr Wobble, Chilly, Gabby and Custer all looked down, trying to catch a glimpse of their insides.
Prickles rolled his eyes to the ceiling in utter despair. What a bunch of idiots I get to share the Shelf with, he thought. What a bunch!
“Chilly, how do you feel? And NO, don’t touch yourself like that. I want to know how you feel – inside.”
“You mean .. like… well.. chilly?”
“Go on.”
“Sort of cool and calm.”
“Good,” said Prickles.
“Now Custer, how do you feel?”
Custer straightened up, looked ahead, and said, “important, in a moderately warm sort of way.”
“That’ll do, Custer. Now Mr Wobble. Do you see what I mean when I say ‘inside’ you?”
“Y..Yes,” said Mr Wobble, in a sort-of way. “But how do I MAKE a Hug?”
“Well, it takes two to make a Hug.”
Everyone was very still. Prickles had their full attention.
“Really, I shouldn’t be the one who has to tell you this,” sighed Prickles. He stretched his quills out to their fullest reach, and then flattened them along his back.
“A Hug happens when two of you feel inside in a nice sort of way.” He looked at the little assembly in front of him. “Each combination of you will produce a different Hug. Each one will feel different.” I’m losing them, he thought. He wondered whether they would learn better by trying it out.
“OK, let’s do this differently. Mr Wobble, you’ll have to be brave and trust me.”
Mr Wobble looked at Prickles with wide eyes. He watched as a couple of quills twitched. “Oo.. how brave?”
“If you want to find your Hug, you’ll need to be very brave.”
Mr Wobble thought about this for a moment. “Prickles, I think I can be very brave, but I’m not sure what trust is.”
Prickles frowned. He grimaced. He chewed his lip. “I can’t tell you what it is, but like your Hug you’ll know when you have it.”
Mr Wobble didn’t like the sound of all this. Being brave AND having to do something he won’t know what it is until probably too late. But he did very much want his Hug back.
“Come here, Mr Wobble” said Prickles. “Yes, closer to me.”
Gabby stiffened, “Watch out,” she whispered to Mr Wobble. Chilly was shivering so much he had tucked himself under one of Custer’s wings.
Mr Wobble took a few shaky steps towards Prickle. He watched the quills shimmy with each step he took.
“What are you afraid of?” asked Prickles
Mr Wobble felt the tears come from deep inside him; from a very wobbly place indeed. Unsteady on his feet, he started to shake and shiver.
Prickles dropped his voice and spoke slowly and with a kindness the others had not heard before, “I’ll not hurt you, I promise. You need to trust me if you are going to find your Hug.”
Mr Wobble inched his way along the Shelf until he stood in front of Prickles. Then, like a centipede uncurling after a long sleep, Prickles started to stand up on his back legs, his quills lying safely behind him.
Chilly gasped. “Did you see that soft pink underbelly?” he whispered to Gabby. She just nodded, not wanting to take her eyes off Prickles.
“Now put you arms round me,” said Prickles.
Mr Wobble was nearly faint with terror. Touch Prickles! Touch Prickles! – one of the rules of the Shelf was NEVER to touch Prickles. He felt his knees going.
“Hold on Mr Wobble. Take hold of my shoulder,” said Prickles, leaning forward.
To save himself from collapsing in a heap on the Shelf, Mr Wobble grabbed at the neck of Prickles.
“Now put your arms round me.”
Mr Wobble felt himself enveloped in a warm pink flush. This was not what he expected. Something stirred in his toes and leaked upwards. It crept slowly past his knees and then rushed upwards, exploding somewhere near his heart.
“Oh. Oh!” cried Mr Wobble, quite joyfully. “That’s it, I can feel my Hug!”
Prickle grunted and started to back off.
“Oh, Prickles, thank you,” shouted Mr Wobble, flinging his arms round him once more, and only just in time as the quills were reappearing now that Prickles was lying on his tummy again. “This time it’s a pinky-orange Hug.” Mr Wobble danced a little jig along the Shelf.
Gabby wagged her neck in delight as Mr Wobble hung on it for a moment. “Yes, it is a very nice Hug,” she said.
Chilly and Custer got a joint Hug from Mr Wobble. Chilly protected himself with Custer’s feathers. “Yes. Yes. Enough. Enough,” said Custer, slightly embarrassed. “I’m glad you’ve found it.”
Mr Wobble rushed back up to Prickle, who was just settling back to sleep. “Oh, thank you so much, Prickle.”
“Don’t thank me,” he said nodding off, “it’s your Hug – thank your self.”