Why do I need a hedgehog?

Once upon a time a Zebra was sitting at home, typing furiously into his computer. A pencil stuck behind his ear, eyes fixed on a screen, hooves tired from hours of writing but it’s all worth it, final words are about to be placed on a screen one, two, three finished. Zebra laid back in his chair, took a sip of water with few melted ice cubes and pressed print. Loud sound from a rusty old printer filled the room, normally he would wince at the sound and long for it to end but this time, he closed his eyes, took few deep breathes and stretched. As soon as the printer spitted out 100 pages, an excited Zebra grabbed the pages and ran off to the movie studio, to create a film. 

As soon as he ran outside, he was greeted by warm rays of the African sun and his friend Rhino who came to greet his friend. Rhino always carried a hairbrush he was a good friend and neighbour of Zebra, that’s why Zebra allowed Rhino to fix his hair. They had tones of adventures together and Zebra wrote a film about it and couldn’t wait to see it on a big screen, however hedgehogs got in the way.

You see right now; hedgehogs are very popular; everything is about hedgehogs. Hedgehogs are everywhere, they are trendy now. Why? Nobody knows, but apparently some hedgehogs said they were not happy with shared lakes and rivers, since it’s easy for fox to hunt them there. Hedgehogs are on TV, in magazines, in books even in happy meals. Nowadays, it’s necessary to have cartoons, plays, books, about or with hedgehogs in it. If your story doesn’t have hedgehogs in it, nobody cares, nobody will buy it, watch it or talk about it. Zebra’s script doesn’t have a hedgehog so it’s a big, clear NO from the fellow animal producer. No movie will be made unless hedgehogs are added.

Poor, young Zebra is devasted but it’s a story of his life: he grew up in Africa in the midst of warm days and cold nights, alongside Rhinos, giraffes, flamingos and scary lions; there were no hedgehogs in his life, he never even met one. If Zebra was completely honest, he wouldn’t know how they look like if not for TV but he disliked them already. As hedgehogs who existed on another part of the world had managed to prevent his dream from coming true. Small tears were pouring down his eyes, while he sniffed cold air and stared at the starless sky, his friend Rhino sat beside him, he couldn’t offer a solution but bare company was enough. Zebra sobbed until an idea came into his head, he stood up, wiped his tears and wished Rhino a goodnight. Before heading to bed, Zebra emailed his movie idea to every single animal who wished to make a film and waited for an answer.

In the morning his mailbox was bursting with replies, sadly not the ones he had hoped for: the majority said no, others suggested that he should add a hedgehog, some honestly wrote that his story MUST have a hedgehog in it or nobody will watch it. Devasted Zebra was ready to smash computer to bits and tear his script apart, his little heart was smashed to pieces along with his hopes and dreams. BING one more reply, his hooves were shaking, his heart shrunk and his breath… Well he wasn’t sure if he was actually breathing… He clicked. An email said a bunch of nice stuff and an animal was willing to start working on the film soon, here is an exert from an email: Love it! Let’s work on it. Let’s meet in a couple of days and start shooting, will bring my friend with me. P.S. Finally no hedgehogs.  

That night nobody slept and the entire Africa celebrated. In a few days hedgehog and squirrel arrived.
Zebra was just as shocked as everyone else, an animal who liked his film was a HEDGEHOG and a squirrel was his assistant and cameramen, all in one, hyper energetic and super chatty. Hedgehog on the other hand was very sophisticated, professional, and composed. He wore a straw hat with purple ribbon which matched his purple bow and had a long cane in his hand. In daytime they shoot scenes and at night continue to work on things that were just as important such as: editing and post synchronization. Hedgehog wanted everything to be perfect, every angle, every shot to be spectacular. 
When the film was near completion Hedgehog and Zebra decide to sit by the fire and drink some tea. They sat in silence for some time and stared at the fire, allowing the wooden cracks to fill in the silence. Finally, the hedgehog decided to break the silence:

- You do understand that nobody will watch it. He sipped his tea and continued to look at the fire.
- If you don’t believe in it, why you even made it. Asked Zebra slightly puzzled.
- I am tired of the hedgehog movement, I never asked for this life, I always wanted a simple life but world turned everything upside down. I am sick of animals who wear I am proud to be hedgehog badges; I mean seriously between the two of us, you should not be either proud or ashamed, you should be happy and content but somewhere along the way animals forgot about it and turned everything into a big charade. Hedgehog signed and drank some more tea.
- You did not answer my question, why you agreed to help. Zebra implied, curious as ever and hungry for an answer.
- I am a skilled director and I know we could have made a bestselling, top charting film about a Zebra and a hedgehog. Hedgehog chuckled to himself and his eyes filled themselves with sadness.
- What about the plot? Asked Zebra. We would need a good one, do we?
- Plot doesn’t matter, when was the last time it did. Now art is no longer what comes from a soul but what is required on a checklist. He attempted a laugh, but a tear was sliding down his cheek.
- But it shouldn’t be that way. Sobbed Zebra who was crying down a river I want art to matter again… I want animals to stop being proud and simply live, enjoy life and not compete in it.
 Hedgehog and Zebra cried some more, then Hedgehog turned to Zebra and said 
- Everything will change, you just have to believe in it and wait: broken leg doesn’t heal overnight and neither does the world. Understand?
- Understand. Zebra wiped his tears.

Hedgehog and Zebra completed the film, but nobody apart from their friends watched it or even heard of it, but it did not matter one bit. Zebra often gathers friends for sleepovers, where they would watch a film, remember a good old hedgehog, and believe in a better tomorrow. And like the hedgehog said: The world will heal; it just needs time, faith, and lots of love.

The End