The Wild Robot | The Boy, the Fox, and the Wild

The Fox

The morning came. I made sure there was enough light outside to know where I was headed. I will get some clams for Fink and try and get him to undo what he did to the squirrels later.

There's one little problem: I got lost...easily.

Before I knew it, I was walking in circles and now I started freaking out. This is not good. I spent a good ten-twenty minutes looking for a clearing...but it's all just trees. Plus, I'm alone. With Fink, it's not usually a problem...he's the leader so everyone (almost everyone) respects him. Yet, without him, I might as well be somebody's lunch...

I prayed for a way out...or at least a sign that I was headed in the right direction.

Thankfully, I heard several voices nearby: a single female with several young children. I can see them walking next to a tree that had been downed for who knows how long. It's the opossums!

"Mom look, it's the Roz look-alike!"

"Where's your manners!?" Pinktail swatted at her eldest child with a paw.

"I seem to be lost; can you help me?"

"Wait, can he understand us?" One of the younger children gasped before another next to them sighed loudly, "mom's getting soft around strangers."

Pinktail didn't even need to ask how I understood her, only that I needed help. And so, I explained the situation and what I wanted to do for Fink...and the small critter family happily obliged. They led me out of the woods and toward the beach. There, they helped me collect clams: which I gathered in a small bag to take back to the refuge.

"So...do you eat?" I heard one of the kids say as they offered me a clam in their paw. Once I took it, I giggled, "of course I do!"

"Oh yeah, like what...you look like a carnivore" they said, putting their paws on their hips.

I took out my PDA to show them some pictures I had taken last Thanksgiving...many different images of food appeared as the kids gathered in awe.

"With that much food, they probably hibernate!" One said from the back.

"Do you aestivate?" One walked up and asked before I laughed.

"I don't."

Suddenly, the "leader" of the kids circled up my back and rested on my shoulder, "I'm Rowan...the oldest, smartest, and prettiest" she stated with such grandiose gesture. Then, she looked back and forth before whispering in my ear, "don't tell Petunia, she'll bite my face off."

"O-okay..."

"Promise me! Promise me you won't, or I'll bite your face off!" She warned.

"Okay, I promise!" I whispered back before she smiled and nodded in satisfaction...descending to rejoin the others.

The mother soon joined our side, nodding at all the raw mollusks we had collected, "that should be enough. I take it you'll need us to lead you back?"

I nodded "if it's not too much trouble. I, unfortunately, my kind does not have a great sense of smell."

"So, you can't smell us when we play dead? Where's the fun in that!?" Petunia exclaimed.

Pinktail just shook her head.

And so, the family leads me back to the only artificial structure in the forest. About halfway there, we hear a panicked voice not too far away...a familiar voice.

It isn't long before we all see who's all worked up: it's Fink! Ah shucks, he's awake!

"Kid! Kid, where are you!?"