The Drifter

A Drifter wandered along the winding road, through
a small village, stopping he had no idea where he
was and to be honest, he didn't really care.

He was tired and thirsty, having walked all night,
the problem was not the dark, he never minded the
dark, but the cold chill he hated.

He was always alert to danger, eyes constantly
searching for possible hazards, being a Drifter,
there's always an element of risk, but he was
never scared, what was the point in being scared, what would be - would be, in any case, if anyone,
or anything came near him, he could defend himself okay thankyou.

The road had been dusty, he felt as if he'd
swallowed a highway. Staring ahead, he caught
sight of a running stream, it looked so refreshing,
that he quickly began to pick up the pace.

The village was quiet, nobody was around, it was
so early in the morning. The Drifter stepped up to
the stream and began to quench his thirst, drinking
in the cool clear running water. Some Sparrows
hopped close by, searching for worms, but the
Drifter did not even notice them.

Having quenched his thirst, he decided his next
job, was to find a quiet - safe place to sleep,
after his nights drifting. Looking around, he found
what looked like a comfortable place to sleep, it
was like a cozy den, with some soft straw on the
ground. He made his way over, to take a closer look, he decided it was just what he was looking
for, it was well protected from intruders, so he
crawled in. It was not long before he was asleep.

Carol Anne awoke, she was desperate to get out and
play, it was the school Summer holidays and it
looked like being another hot day. She gobbled down
her cereals and took her dish and ran it under the
tap water, leaving it to dry on the draining board.

Her Mother was down in the laundry room, doing the
weekly wash. Carol Anne shouted down to her Mother,
"I'm off out to play, see you later." She was just
about to go out of the back door, when her Mother
shouted, "don't you go to far Carol Anne."
"No Mum, just going to call for Billy, we're playing down the stream."

She banged the back door, walking down the garden
path and across the road, Billy was already coming
down to meet her. They ran down to the stream to
play in their den, as they entered, they got the
suprise of their life, for there curled up on the
straw - Carol Anne had put down, was a hedgehog
all snuggled up in a ball asleep. It looked like
our Drifter friend had been found.