The Adventures of Creech and her Friends Part 1

Chapter 20: Life-Changing News

    One fine summer day, Creech woke up from a really relaxing nap. She was now 20 years old, a full-grown adult. Her window was wide open, and a cool, summer's breeze was blowing in. She closed her eyes, letting her long, pale green hair wave about in the breeze. It was a very comfortable feeling. 3 years had passed since her team, Team Crophopper, had won the Wings Around The Globe Rally, and they had never gotten tired of it.

    Smiling, Creech looked at herself in the mirror for the last time. She was still wearing Elsa's old coronation dress that Anna had given her three years prior. And after all this time, it still fit her. The long magma red cape fluttered in the breeze, and the gold tiara with its blue diamond sparkled as brightly as an evening star. She looked more like a princess than a racer in that outfit.

    Just as she was about to go outside, she glanced over at a picture on her nightstand. It was of Mufasa's wife, Sarabi, who had passed away a year ago. The whole town missed her very much-and so did Creech. She had always thought of Sarabi and Mufasa as her second pair of grandparents, since her old grandparents had died when she was seven thirteen years ago. If only she could see me now, she thought.

    When she got outside, it looked like pretty much most of the town was there, hanging out at the Fill 'n' Fly, the local garage and fueling station. Two of Dusty's friends, Chug and Sparky, were enjoying all of the magazine and newspaper articles about Dusty. "Awesome pic, Dust!" Sparky laughed as he carried the paper over to Dusty, who happened to be there. " 'Cept your eyes are closed."

    "Heh. Racing with your eyes closed, huh?" Chug laughed. "So that's your secret."

    "Oh yeah. You figured it out, Chug," Dusty chuckled.

    Laying next to him were a fully grown Kopa and Kovu, who were happily enjoying the conversation. As much as they loved racing, they were always happy to be home. Propwash Junction may be a tiny farm town in the middle of the Minnesota country, but it was gone to everyone they loved best. "Hey, look who's here to join us," said Kovu, giving Creech a wave, to which she returned.

    "Hey everyone," she said in a merry voice. "Y'all doing alright?"

    Everyone nodded. Her now eight-year-old brother, Junior Asparagus, happily greeted Creech with a hug. "How was your nap, sis?" he asked.

    "It was pretty nice," Creech admitted as a bird flew by, twittering and chirping sweetly.

    Kopa, after greeting Creech with a nuzzle, glanced around at the Corn Fest decorations. "Something tells me that we're gonna have a big turn-out this year," he commented.

    "We sure are, alright," said a voice. "Because you're not gonna believe the headlines."

    Turning her head, Creech smiled as Shenzi approached them. Now unlike most hyenas, Shenzi was a friendly, kind one whose parents had gotten killed when she and her two brothers, Benzai and Ed, were only cubs. Scar and his wife, Zira, had taken them in and had raised them to be evil and troublesome. As the years had passed, Shenzi had tried to stand up for what was right-only to get horribly abused for doing so. Then one day at the Wings Around The Globe qualifying rounds in Lincoln, Nebraska, she met Creech and her siblings, and liked them from the start. As the race wore on, she became more interested in them and hoped that she would soon get adopted. Her wish cane true when after the rally, she quit Scar's team and got adopted by Creech's family. "Hey, Shenzi. What's up?" Creech asked after she had given her a hug.

    "Well, you guys might oughta see this," Shenzi replied, handing over the newspaper she'd been carrying.

    Sure enough, the headline said: "After their Red Bulldozer win, racing team champion Team Crophopper returns home to Propwash Junction, where they will be performing at their annual Corn Festival."