Midi the Squirrel: the Story

Midi the Squirrel: the Story by Nick Kovacs
CHAPTER 1: THE COMING OF MAN​

Midi jumped out of bed, already dressed in his usual red T-shirt and blue pants, and ran for the door as fast as he could. He was a young squirrel, about twelve years of age, although he acted as though he were much younger. He rushed down the stairs, past the kitchen, and called out just as he passed "I'm going outside!"
"Wait right there," Sophie, his older sister called.
It would be hard to guess that Midi and Sophie were related at first glance, Midi being a brown tree squirrel, and Sophie being a gray raccoon. But in fact they weren't. Sophie and her real brother, Trey, had adopted Midi some time after they'd run away from they're own home. Trey and Sophie were both 17 years old.
Sophie took Midi and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "There, now you can go."
Midi jumped up; now feeling suddenly energized, and took off bolting out the door, not forgetting to call out "Thanks!"
He made his way up the hills behind his house, and looked out into the field below him. The wind blew gently on Midi's face, and he inhaled it deeply. Then he let it out.
"This is going to be a good day," Midi said to himself, "I can tell."
----
Professor Jonathan Foyt led his son, Justin, down the corridor of a UN laboratory. Justin was a 15-year-old human with red, fluffy hair. He wore a yellow polo with a red stripe across the chest, and faded blue jeans.
Justin followed his father into the lab where he saw a machine unlike any he'd seen before in his life.
The machine was approximately eight meters in height, with curved spires on either side, and a large platform in the middle that was big enough to fit a vehicle on.
"That," Justin's father said, "is our new teleportation machine." He moved closer to it as Justin admired its ominous majesty. "It works by folding space in on itself and then moving objects through the fold."
"Why not just create a wormhole, like in sci-fi movies?" Justin asked.
"It's easier, not to mention safer, when done this way," John answered.
"Oh," Justin answered, not really knowing anything about these things. He stepped closer to the machine, carefully inspecting the close-up details. "When do you think it'll be finished?"
John shook his head. "I have no idea. For all I do know, it could take over a year before we can be sure it's totally safe." He moved to stand next to Justin. "Although we know it works, we haven't tested it on any living things. And honestly, I don't think I'll ever feel completely ready to."
Justin pondered about live testing, not at all aware that this machine would soon indeed have its first test on a live creature.
John stood in front of the control panel, and started typing in commands. "I'm going to run a quick diagnostic. Don't touch anything."
Justin looked at one of the side spires. "OK," he said, although he sounded a bit zoned out when he said it.
His father continued entering commands, flipping switches, moving plugs around, until the screen flashed red with a warning on it.
ERROR! SECURITY COMPRIMISED! EVACUATE THE TESTING ROOM!
Justin's father backed away from the machine. "Justin! Get away from the--"
It was too late. Just as he shouted, there was an explosion and a flash of blinding light as a bolt of energy erupted from the machine, and latched onto Justin. He tried to cry for help, but it was impossible to hear over the sound of wild electricity.
Another flash later and Justin had disappeared.
Jonathan Foyt surveyed the destroyed lab. The teleporter was totaled, and all the computers burned out.
The door burst open, and several guards and scientists flew into the room. One of the guards helped Prof. Foyt to his feet.
"What happened in here?" he asked the professor.
"Th-there was a p-power s-surge in here," John stuttered. "J-Justin's gone…" He hung his head low. "Who knows where he is now?"
They all turned, and left the laboratory.
A machine in the corner crackled with the last trace of its energy before dying out.
----
Midi jumped out of the tree he'd been climbing in, and started running down the path heading back to his own house. He had been at the park for almost the entire day, and it was high time he went home before Trey or Sophie got worried.
He was about halfway home when the sky lit up. Midi looked up, and then quickly hit the dirt as a bolt of lightning struck the ground before him.
Midi coughed as the dust settled around him. He was used to taking dust baths at home, but this was the wrong kind. Before him was a strange figure he had never seen before in his life.
It was some kind of creature, most likely a person judging by how it wore clothes as he did, but for some reason it had no fur or tail like Midi, or anyone else he'd met for that matter. But it had some kind of big red bush growing out of its head.
The young squirrel didn't know what to make of it at first, but he followed his first instinct which was to taste this strange new thing he'd come across, as was the first instinct of many rodents.
Midi didn't find the flavor of this thing to be all that great, but after licking it in the face, the creature began to stir. It opened its eyes, they were similar to Midi's, only a bit greener, and stared dazedly at Midi like it didn't really know what it was looking at.
Midi smiled, trying not to frighten the thing, but it did exactly the opposite of what he intended.
The thing jumped up to his feet, clearly scared badly, and spoke. "What the heck are you?"
Midi grinned again. "That's easy!" he exclaimed, "I'm a tree squirrel!" He thought it was some kind of game. "OK, my turn. What are you?"
The pale furless thing first stared incredulously, and then began to stutter. "Buh-buh-but… squirrels don't talk." He sat down and wrapped his arms around his knees. "This is just a dream. Yeah, just a really weird dream. I'll wake up; go to school, like normal…"
"That's not a what-you-are." Midi said.
The furless looked at him. "What?"
"I asked what you are," said Midi, "not if I talk; which I clearly do." He cocked his head to the side. "Or are you just deaf?"
The furless raised his thin eyebrows. "Excuse me," he said, "I just didn't know there were squirrels that talked…" He paused. "But then again, I don't even know where I am." He looked back down at Midi. "Do you know where I am?"
Midi shook his head slowly. "I'm not gonna answer until you answer my question. It's still my turn, y'know."
The furless smacked his head. "Oh, right, I'm sorry. Um, I guess I'm what you would call a human. You know what that is, right?"
Midi shook his head again, faster this time. "Nope, never heard of it. So, what's your name?"
"Justin," the human replied.
"Cool. I'm Midi. Midi Cartier the Squirrel."
Now it was Justin's turn to tilt his head. "What kind of squirrel did you say you were again?"
Midi looked blankly ahead, as though he'd forgotten the answer to a very difficult math question. "Uh…" He kept staring. "Oh, yeah! That's right! I'm a tree squirrel."
Justin looked to the side. "OK, then." He looked back at Midi. "Where am I? Just tell me what planet."
Midi did the staring thing again, and then answered, "Kyroda. You're on Kyroda."
"Not Earth?"
Midi looked all over the place. "Yes you're on earth. What'd you think that was? Water?"
Justin shook his head. "I mean the planet Earth. This isn't that planet?"
Midi raised one eyebrow and let the other one down. "Who would name a planet after the dirt?" The question seemed real.
Justin thought about it; then decided it was probably best he didn't pursue the subject. "Well, anyway, I suppose I'm stuck here until I can find a way home."
Midi's ears perked up. "You can stay with me, if you want to."
Justin considered this. "Only as long as you don't sleep in a tree."
"Why would I sleep in a tree?" Midi was starting to wonder about this human.
"But didn't you just say you were a tree squirrel?" Justin asked.
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I gotta sleep in one."
Justin realized he'd hit yet another dead-end subject, and decided he would just take Midi's invitation, no matter what he lied in.
About half an hour later, they arrived at Midi's (to Justin's relief) house. It was about average size, with two stories, and some trees in the back yard, one of which did have a tree house.
They went inside; Justin kicked off his shoes, and realized that Midi wasn't wearing any shoes at all. Midi wondered why Justin didn't have any toes, then realized a minute later that he was wearing socks, although he'd never seen socks that were so thin. Justin had to explain the deal of humans wearing shoes, but Midi only became more confused. It seemed to Justin that Midi got confused a lot.
"Trey and Sophie should be home soon." Midi said.
"Who're they?" Justin asked.
Midi took a photograph of him standing between two taller raccoons. "Them." He pointed. "They're my brother and sister."
"Oh, I see." Justin said, but he didn't see. He didn't understand how a squirrel's siblings could possibly be raccoons. They weren't even rodents, so how could it be? And another thing, why didn't he see any parents? But his better judgment was telling him not to ask Midi too many questions before his head popped with confusion.
They ate ice cream, cookie dough and maple syrup, and watched TV on the couch in the living room.
Midi seemed like a very nice person to Justin, but he was a little concerned about meeting his siblings. Being raccoons that most likely meant they were hunters. Would they try to harm him?
He didn't want to think about it, but the more he tried to ignore it, the more it nagged at him that he could very well be in danger.
Justin was pulled out of his thoughts when Midi poked him in the side.
"Dude, you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, sure…" Justin didn't know if he was being honest or not.
"Okay." Mid jumped up, checked the clock, and ran upstairs to his bedroom. He came back down carrying a box. "See this?"
"What's in it?" Justin asked.
"I dunno," said Midi. "Just found it; can't figure out how to open it." He held the box up to his ear and rattled it. It sounded like sand the first time, then sounded like water the second time, and then like rocks the third.
Justin had no idea what to make of this, but Midi just tossed the box aside, and they both went back to watching TV.

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