Of Badgers and Boys

Um... What?

I woke up one morning, breathing heavily as I shook my head to shake my head of the awful dream... 

I screeched as I felt it chasing me. Why on EARTH was a badger chasing me?! What did I have that it wanted?! And yet, the badger didn't seem to have any malicious intent. But as I slowed to see what it would do, it jumped on me.

Aaaannnd... that's where the dream ended. Every time. The unnerving thing was that there were badger holes in my yard. And that had started about as soon as I'd been having the dreams. And I wasn't having the dreams because badger holes had showed up in my yard. I was more convinced of the opposite.

I decided that in order to calm my nerves, I should probably just give the stupid badger a name. So after thinking for a while, I came up with the name Desmond. It's a name that sounded like what a grumpy old badger would call himself if he could produce coherent thoughts other than "I'm going to terrify this girl every night for no reason!!!!" or "This yard looks like a great place to dig a hole... better dig twenty more!"

So, Desmond and I became enemies from that day forth. I glared down the badger holes when I came home from school, and Desmond visited me every night in my nightmares.

----- A few weeks later ----- 

I came home from school, noting with satisfaction that all the holes in the yard had been filled, probably by one of my neighbors. Now, perhaps, the badger could dig his way out somewhere else. 

That night, I was about to drift off to peaceful slumber for once, when I heard what sounded like someone digging in the backyard with a shovel. My eyes shot open, and I grabbed my flashlight, heading down the stairs quietly, as not to disturb whoever was doing something in the backyard. I grabbed the phone and dialed the police station just to be sure. Drawing all of my courage, I flung the door open and switched on the flashlight. 

"Ouch!!! What's the big idea?! What's your problem?!" came the indignant response. 

Opening my squeezed-shut eyes revealed a boy, the same age, if not slightly older than me. He had dark hair, wore a grey shirt, and... was that a tail?! He was shielding his eyes from the light, irritated. 

"What are you doing, digging holes in my yard?!" I screeched indignantly. 

"This is my home! Some idiot filled in all my prior holes, and now I have to dig a new one!"

"You're not a badger!!!" 

"Yes, I am!! Why do you think I..." he said, turning his back to me and looking at his arms and legs, then proceeding to screech and fall on his behind. "Holy cow, I'm not a badger!!!"

"Oh? What gave it away?" I spat back sarcastically.  

The guy glared at me. "Normally I'm not like this."

"Not like what? Digging holes in peoples' yards late at night?"

"I'm not a human!!! I'm a BADGER!!! Somehow, I'm now a human. Great... Where am I gonna live now?" the boy said, sitting on the ground, upset.

"Desmond?" I asked, just out of curiosity. 

"Who's Desmond?" the kid asked, looking at me as if I'd lost my mind. "The only time I've ever heard anyone refer to me that way was.. when this girl would glare down my holes at me...." he said, gazing at me in shock.

"You're Desmond?!" I screeched.

"And you're loud... Nice to meet you, loud girl who hates me." He grumbled. "What did I ever do to you? Nothing. I just dig holes in the yard, because I'm a badger. I never bother you otherwise." He said, mostly to the dirt he was still scratching at halfheartedly. 

I blushed, feeling bad about it. I had somehow ridiculously assumed that Desmond had been the tangible figment of my nightmares. I didn't stop to really think that perhaps he was just a badger, much less that he'd have feelings too. I went and sat by him, but not close enough to make him uncomfortable. "Sorry, Desmond. I've been having nightmares about badgers lately, and I took it out on you because of an irrational thought. Sorry." 

Desmond looked over at me. "Why do you call me Desmond? I don't understand that."

I blushed, more embarrassed. "I thought it was a fitting name for a badger." I said, looking at the ground.

Desmond sighed. "I guess it's too late to change it, so whatever. I won't be able to stick around here much longer anyways. It's not like I know you. You've never even said your name."

"O-oh. Sorry. I'm Dakota. And you can stay with me." I said, not really sure I wanted a humanized badger in my house, but I felt bad enough at the moment. 

Desmond looked up at me with his dirt brown eyes, not saying anything for a moment. "Why? Why would you ask me to stay if you hate me?"

"I don't hate you. I'm really sorry, and now you have no place to go. I would feel better if you stayed with me." I said, not really understanding why  I was pleading that this badger-turned-boy stayed with me, but nonetheless doing so. 

Desmond continued to stare at me, then sighed. "Fine. At least for tonight. I won't impose." he said, standing. 

I gave him a small smile, standing and leading him into the house. I led him to the guest room, making sure there was plenty of blankets. "Here you go, Des. Let me know if you need anything. My room is right up the stairs if you need anything."

"Won't your parents mind?" 

"I live by myself, Des. It's just us in the house. I probably won't be up very early tomorrow, so you can sleep in."

"You do know that badgers are nocturnal, right?" 

"Oh. Well, what do you want to do then?"

"You go on to bed. I'll just stay here. I'll be out of your hair in the morning."

"No. Let me help you at least find a new home tomorrow. It's the least I can do, since your old home got filled up with dirt." 

Des smiled slightly for the first time that night. "Alright, Dakota. Thanks." he said, crawling into the bed. 

I smiled. "Sure. Goodnight." 

"Goodnight," he said, and I smiled as I closed the door behind me and returned to my own warm bed.

A/N: Okay, so this is my badger story. I still have no idea why I wanted to write about a badger, but so be it. Somehow, I've just been fascinated with various animals/objects turned into people. Let me know if you liked it, and I'll keep going. Thanks for reading!!!