THE GATHERING SECRETLY SAVING THE WORLD PART ONE OF THE HEDGEHOG CHRONICLES by Z. G. STANDING BEAR HEDGEHOG The snail moves like a Hovercraft, held up by a Rubber cushion of itself, Sharing its secret With the hedgehog. The hedgehog Shares its secret with no one. We say, Hedgehog, come out Of yourself and we will love you. We mean no harm. We want Only to listen to what You have to say. We want Your answers to our questions. The hedgehog gives nothing Away, keeping itself to itself. We wonder what a hedgehog Has to hide, why it so distrusts. We forget the god Under this crown of thorns. We forget that never again Will a god trust in the world. by Paul Muldoon New Weather, 1973 Reprinted with permission. 67, 000, 000 SPRINGTIMES AGO (Give Or Take A Few) The blood-red sunset came crashing to a close. The youngsters all cringed as the ground shook, but their mother had a serene expression. "Wow!" Little Petrov was impressed. "Got 'im with the big horn!" Petrov's brother Vasily just looked up in awe. "It's time you boys came with me to talk with your Grandfather, " said their mother, Lalo. "You are getting old enough to hear what you must know for the rest of your life and the generations to come." The boys were not that keen to sit down with their Grandfather, Bohuslava, the oldest and wisest of the entire Grootwhump. They were much more interested in the huge meat-eating dinosaur that had just come crashing down and blocked out the sunset. The teeth were huge, at least as long as the young hedgehogs were tall. There was blood all over. The scales were smooth and shiny. They'd never seen anything that big and fearsome so close up, a thing that would, millions of winters later, be called a tyrannosaur. The normally mild triceratops that beat him just seemed to get in a few good licks with his spiky head. "Served the toothy one right, " both boys thought, since he had just eaten and went after the triceratops seemingly out of meanness. But Lalo insisted. "Now is the best time." The twins waddled behind their persistent Mom around the blood-soaked teeth of the now dead tyrannosaur. The triceratops that had somehow won the contest snarled at them as they trudged past, but they didn't worry about the big fellow. He had never bothered them before. The red sunset was again visible. Scurrying under protective rock ledges, the trio finally reached the small cave inlet of the Grootwhump Elder, Bohuslava. Lalo, in her usual quiet way, addressed the most senior hedgehog. "My boys are entering being boys no longer. I ask you to tell them the secrets that will assure them long lives, for themselves and their children's children. "Ah, yes, Lalo, " said Bohuslava in a soft, measured voice. "But you must remember that I am getti