He had been taking his nightly walks through the woods at the back of the house for years.
No matter what time of year, he hardly ever missed. Just a fifteen minute stroll through the dark trees was enough to set him up for a good night’s sleep. In fact, it was because of the countless number of times he had done it, that it made the incident so remarkable. The moon was partly formed on the night and he had paused briefly to find it through the canopy of trees. It was during these few silent and inactive moments that the thing ran past. In the poor light he was just able to make the creature out. It was a hedgehog. Although there was nothing remarkable about that, it was running upright on its hind legs!
It was because of this curious fact that he decided to follow it rather deeper into the wood than usual. For what seemed like the best part of an hour he made his way forward as quietly as possible until he came to the edge of a large hollow. He could hear voices. Looking down into it he could see hundreds of hedgehogs, all standing upright, and all facing a small central group that seemed to be in charge.
It was a meeting, and once he had got over the fact that they were all capable of speech, he began to listen. It soon became obvious that these creatures were planning a major revolt with the soul intention of taking over. Listening to the ideas being voiced, it was obvious that they were dissatisfied with the way humans were running things and felt they could do a far better job of it. The meeting seemed to go on forever, with all present expressing the idea that the takeover should begin as soon as possible.
Finally, with hoots of “Bravo” and “Onward”, the animals dispersed, scampering off in all directions. Some coming uncomfortably close to where he was crouched.
When they were all gone, he laid thinking about the consequences of what he had heard.
Then, a shocking thought came to him.
Who’s he going to tell?