Henry's Heartache

Henry’s Heartache

“Yep, just another day in the bush, swinging from branch to branch. Nothing more to do than scratch yourself, hoping to catch the big one” Mike the monkey said to himself.

The grey fat ticks are the juiciest, schrunchiest snack in this neck of the woods. But not even the thought of a whole bowl filled with ticks could interest him today. Mike Monkey has his sights set a bit further for it is time to go and mingle, so to speak, with the common folk. Maybe pull the odd tail, ruffle some feathers, and lay his old Mike the Monkey charm on.

Along the way he met Henry Hedgehog. “Hi Henry, where are you going?” Mike asked. Henry’s mother had sent him to call his father, who was digging for worms.
“Maybe I can go with you,” offered Mike.
“Well, my mom said that I must go straight to my father and not wander off somewhere.” Henry was a good little hedgehog boy who generally did what his parents told him.
“But if I go with you, it will not be as if you are wandering off somewhere. Then you will not get into trouble.” Mike did not give up easily.
Henry really didn’t want Mike Monkey to go with him, but was too shy to say so. Henry didn’t like being with Mike although he did not know why.
“Well……. I guess it would be fine,” said Henry.
Mike ran a little bit ahead of Henry Hedgehog, stopped in the path and turned to face him. Mike did not move when Henry reached him. Mike stuck out his finger and touched Henry’s pointy little nose.
That really surprised Henry and gave him a little bit of a fright. Henry shrieked and rolled himself into a tight little ball, as hedgehogs do when they want to protect themselves.
“Oh you are so funny!” laughed Mike. “If only you could see yourself, you little baby!”
Henry felt really stupid for getting such a fright. He didn’t want Mike to think that he wasn’t brave. Slowly he uncurled himself and explained, “Our parents teach us to curl up so that we will know what do when danger comes.”
“Oh, so what else do your parents teach you?” Mike wanted to know.
“I really should be getting to my father.” Henry Hedgehog wanted to get away from Mike.
“Well now, your mother did not say that you had to hurry, did she?” Mike was having fun.
‘No, not really. But she did say I mustn’t wander off.” It was difficult for Henry to tell Mike how he really felt because he didn’t want to hurt Mike’s feelings.
“So if we play a little bit along the way, you would not be doing anything wrong then!”
Henry could not think of anything to say.
“I have a game we can play – it is called tickle your belly!” Mike was not going to give up.
“Oh, no! Not my tummy, mommy says we shouldn’t let anyone get close to our tummies!” shrieked Henry. “It is not protected by spines and it is the only place where someone can really hurt us.”
“Henry, Henry, would I now go and hurt you? Am I not your friend? There, now you have hurt my feelings. Friends don’t hurt each other.”
Henry felt really bad. He didn’t mean to hurt Mike or make him feel bad. “I…. guess we can try it a little.”
Mike gave a really big smile and told Henry to roll over, so that he could tickle his tummy.
“Belly tickle, belly tickle, belly tickle” chanted Mike while he was softly rubbing Henry’s underside. It felt funny and Henry had to admit to himself that it felt kind of nice.
“Okay, now you do mine,” said Mike and lay down so that Henry could reach his tummy. They kept taking turns and Henry was starting to enjoy it.
When Henry’s turn came to be tickled again, Mike suddenly grinned. It wasn’t a nice kind of grin, it seemed almost nasty and there was a glint in his eyes.
“Poke the pig, poke the pig,” Mike started teasing as he poked really hard with his bony fingers, digging deep into Henry’s soft stomach.
“Ouch, you hurt me!” Henry cried out. Little tears started running down the sides of his nose. “You said that friends don’t hurt each other.”
“Who said we were friends?” Mike said, now very unfriendly. “And don’t think you can go running to your parents either, because then they will know what you have done. They will be very angry with you and maybe not speak to you, ever! Besides, you enjoyed it and it is not as if I made you do it. It will have to be our little secret, you know.” As Mike said that, his face was so close to Henry’s that he could see the little bits of food stuck between Mike’s teeth.
Henry was scared and sad at the same time. He felt so silly and there was nothing he could do about it.
“Go,” shouted Mike “run off to your daddy and don’t you say a word!”
Henry ran as fast as his little legs could carry him. He found his dad digging termites out of an anthill, next to a heap of worms.
“Mommy is calling you,” was all he could manage to say.
His dad turned around excitedly, “Look son, look at this feast I managed to find! My, are we going to have a great supper tonight or what!”
Mike couldn’t look his dad in the eyes. “Gee, that is really great dad,” he said without enthusiasm.
“What is wrong child, why do you sound so unhappy? Did your sister tease you again?” his father asked with concern in his voice.
“No dad, nothing is wrong dad. I am really all right. I guess I am just a little tired from the walk,” lied Henry.
Back home Henry wanted to be alone. He loved his parents and the last thing he ever wanted to do was disappoint them. “What a horrible thing I did,” said Henry to himself. It would be his own fault if his parents did not love him anymore. He was quiet for the rest of the week and tried to avoid his parents, just in case they saw that something was wrong. During mealtimes he was polite as ever. He pretended to smile but it was just a smile on the outside, because on the inside he knew that he would never smile again.
One day Henry’s mom said to him: “My child, you seem to have become very quiet. Are you feeling quite well?” She seemed very concerned about him. “I think you need some fresh air and exercise, why don’t you go down to the stream and snack on some of those yellow butterflies. They are your favourites and you’ll feel much better!”
“Yes mom, I’ll go.” Henry was too scared his mom would start asking more questions if he didn’t go. But there was no way that he was going down to the stream. There was no way he was going to leave the safety of being close to home. Instead he went to hide away in the hollow of the tree in the back yard.
As he sat there by himself, thinking about how he had messed up his life, tears streamed down his face again until he sobbed and shook from heartache.
“Stupid tummy, stupid tummy,” he said as he started pulling out the hair on his stomach. Just then his sister peered into the hole.
“What are you doing, Henry?” She was quite shocked. Although she often teased him, she was very fond of her little brother. She crept in next to him and hugged him as best as she could. “There, there,” she said “nothing could be this bad.”
That made Henry cry even more. “Yes it can,” he sobbed “and if mom and dad find out, they wouldn’t want me for a son anymore!”
“Don’t be silly, Henry, no matter what we do our parents will still love us. They might get angry, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t love us.”
Henry opened his one eye and whispered “Really?”
“Yes you silly! Really! Now tell me what is wrong so that I can see for myself if it is indeed so horrible.”
So his sister Hilda sat and listened to the whole story. The more she heard, the more she frowned.
“Henry, we have to tell mom and dad. If they get angry, it won’t be you they are angry with. It will be that nasty monkey, he is always up to no good.”
Henry was still scared of what his parents would say, but he had to admit that it felt better talking to someone about what had happened.
Hilda told their parents the whole story and they asked Henry some questions. His mom’s voice was soft when she spoke to him and his dad held his hand.
“Henry,” his mother said, “it is very important that you understand that this is not your fault. Mike is a sly and clever fellow. You are only a little boy and could not know that Mike was using all kinds of tricks to make you do what he wanted.”
Henry still felt very, very guilty. “But mom, I was really naughty because I agreed to play the game. I knew I wasn’t supposed to.”
“My darling child,” said his mom “he teased you and even made you feel bad and sorry for him, just to get you to do what he wanted. That is called manipulation. When someone tries to manipulate you it always feels uncomfortable. It doesn’t feel right to do it, but hey make it hard for you to say ‘no’. The world is full of creatures like that and that is why we tell you never to wander off. We love you very, very much.”
“Really mommy?” He was starting to look a little less sad.
“I know you have a very kind heart and always show your good manners. But if someone does something or says something that doesn’t feel right, you have to trust your feelings. It is not rude to say ‘no, I don’t like that’ and walk away. If anyone tries to hold on to you and force you to do things you don’t want to do, there is nothing wrong with fighting back, screaming for help and running away. No has a right to make you do anything that you feel isn’t right.”
“Yes and it is time that someone taught that monkey a lesson. He will be punished for what he did. Many animals will be happy to see that one sorted out!” said Henry’s dad.
“So you are not angry with me?” asked Henry.
“Never in a million years!” said his dad. “We are just very sad that you felt so bad for a long time. We love you as much as the whole world put together!” Then his dad ruffled the short fur on his head.
“Oh my darling little boy, you and your sister are the most precious things in our lives,” his mom said while she took his face in her hands and gave him some of her special nose kisses, rubbing her nose to his.
Then Hilda brought a big plate of earthworm hotdogs and for the first time in a while,