Nina Cresst

Polly Puddles and the Family Predicament

 

Chapter one

Launching the Puddy Prius

 

Outside was hot enough to cook a sunny-side-up egg, and our platypus family was excited about our long-awaited vacation. Little did we know the pickle we were getting into.

 

Onrie Puddles is my dad and likes things just so. His name fits him perfectly. He is feisty but controlled and is the opposite of my nature-loving mom. When it was time to pack up our electric car, the "Puddy Prius," he made sure to pack efficiently and tried to maximize all the space. But it was still looking like a very tight squeeze for the three kids. Dad hollered as he found space for the last pool toy, "I am going to fit everything in here! I know it!" He pushed up his glasses. My mom, Piper, answered. She is my free-spirited, independent, bold, and adventurous Momma. She’s my hero. "Onrie, it'll be fine. If we don't get it in there, then we don't need it." She gracefully swayed over to the car to help.

 

Puggles is my younger brother. He is an amazing swimmer. He jumps higher and swims faster than anyone I know. So, when he found out we were on our way to the best water park around, he asked if his best friend, Bubbles, could join us. Puggles had looked up at Mom with his little brown, bright eyes and goofy smile, clasping his hands in a prayer-like gesture, "Momma, can Bubbles come with us? I want to do back flips and jump off the highest jumping board, and if he isn't there to see it, well, then it won't be any fun. Please, Mom. Please. Pleaaaasse?"

 

Not being able to resist his extreme cuteness, she had given in. "OK, but he will have to pay for his own admission into the park. We’ll take care of the rest."

 

"Yes!" Puggles had pumped his little paw into the air in excitement. That seemed to shut him up for the moment, but it wouldn't last. It was only a matter of time before he asked for something else. I just rolled my eyes, because my brother always gets his way. I knew that when I rolled my eyes, Mom would make the "blahhhh" gagging noise. She doesn’t like it when I “show my sass.” "Yuck,” she always says, “Don't make me gag, Priss! Just ask me directly and I may consider."

 

"She has high expectations for you," my dad would always say when I went to him to complain about Mom's attitude. This time around, I didn't even bother asking if Poppy could come along.

 

Poppy’s my best friend. Every day, she fusses over how her fur looks. It has to have the right shape and the right accessory to fit her trendy style. It is sometimes hard to understand why we are best friends because I am the complete opposite. I am shy, a little awkward, and wear glasses. Oh, yeah, and I couldn't care less about anything trendy. I think we’re friends because we’ve been neighbors for years, or maybe because opposites attract. I don't know, but I do know that I wouldn't want to be without her. I hugged her before we left. "See you around, Poppy. We will be back in a couple of days."

 

Oh, by the way, I'm Polly. Polly Prissypants Puddles, to be exact. I know, Prissypants, right?! It’s a middle name that I will never live down. No one outside my family, other than Poppy, knows about the embarrassing middle of my name. Well, and now you. Where did it come from, you may ask? The top portion of my fur is a different color than my bottom fur. It looks like I'm wearing pants. That's why my mom called me “Prissypants” when I hatched out of my egg. It's better than what I would have been called if I were a dude. Percy Percival Prescott Puddles! What a mouthful! My initials are still PPP; it sounds like a fart in the wind. I will never introduce myself by my full name to anyone other than you. I hope you can keep it a secret.

 

As we piled into the Puddy Prius, Mom looked back at us and said, "Everyone ready to go?" She handed us each a snack pack. I looked out of the window as we pulled out of the driveway, saying

 

goodbye to our beautiful den. It bumped up next to Lake Whatchagocha, and I already missed it. It’s a dry, lovely burrow where I had my own room to stretch out in, unlike in our crowded car. There are two entrances to our den, one on land and the other underwater. Our doorway, on land, is a round burrow door with sweet little windows on either side. I could see that doorway getting smaller and smaller as we headed down the road. Under the water, there is a lovely little patio out back where we sit and watch the fish and other Splashy Paddlers swim by. Ours is a natural den. Most Splashy Paddlers, like ourselves, have similar digs.

 

As we drove down the road, I waved to Mrs. Sally Squirrel, who was hanging out her laundry to dry. Unlike us, her family lives in a large hollowed-out tree, with wee little curtains and a tiny porch overlooking their pinecone pillars. Bubbles lives in a similar burrow to ours, but it was on the river that fed into Lake Whatchagocha. Poppy, being a part of a skunk family, lives down the way in a massive log, in the neighborhood called Critter Calling. Their community lives much like the city dwellers lives, all stacked on top of each other. Our borough settlement is called Northwood Hollow, and is home to many different types of animals: Winged Wonders, Splashy Paddlers, and Four-Legged Foragers. We, and all of our neighbors and friends, are native to the wild north. It is a “unique ecosystem,” as my Dad calls it. I just call it home.

 

"See you later, dear!" Mrs. Whitetail Deer hollered to us as we passed by. Doxie and Noxie, her twin fauns, played ball outside. The treehouses outside my window started to pass by more quickly, now that we were picking up speed.

 

Dad hung his hand out and waved, "Aquilon Water Park, here we come!"