This is my FRIDAY FICTIONEERS entry for today. This week, the picture’s courtesy of Marie Gail Stratford, someone who can always be relied upon to come up with an excellent response to Rochelle’s weekly challenge. Sadly, I’ve no idea what’s in the picture so I’ve had to busk it a little. After 3 puns in a row, I might pop back and change the title but for now, it’ll have to stand.
*****
Norbert disliked childhood but adolescence was even more of a disappointment. He’d always been big, though he’d assumed his stocky frame would become muscular but he stayed blobbish as his brother, Jeremy, the so-called runt, became dashingly impish. He’d hoped, at least, that his voice would break but the same unintelligible squeaks persisted in coming out every time he opened his mouth.
Every night, he’d go to bed and wish he’d wake to find he was really a misplaced porcupine. Every morning, he’d realise he was still a hedgehog. Hans Christian Anderson had a lot to answer for.
The Inevitable Asterisk 
Dear Etienne,
We’re never really satisfied with who we are, are we? Cute story.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Thank you
I love where your brain took this, absurdly brilliant.
Thanks
Haha, cute story. I kinda wish I’d taken an Australian tack and gone down the echidna route myself now.
Cheers
KT
I’d completely forgotten about echindae till now. Thanks for reading.
Enjoyable way to start my reading, Etienne.
janet
Glad to be of service.
Fun stuff, Etienne. I love what you did with the prompt. There really is no reason to know what a picture is of when there are elements of the photo (in this case spikes or prickles) that you can use as a jumping-off point.
All my best,
Marie Gail
Thanks. And thanks for the picture, whatever it was of.
Imaginative story here Etienne, and a great twist at the end! I enjoyed it
Well done!
Thank you.
Poor Norbert, if only he knew how I adore hedgehogs. Cute story.
Thanks. Generally I’m ambivalent about them-something to do with that squeaking-but each to their own.
I love the idea of being dashingly impish. Great take on the prompt.
Thank you
Poor Norbert. A hedgehog stuck (!) in a porcupine world. Thanks for starting us off with a smile 😉
Any time. Thanks for readinf.
I love hedgehogs and have played with them before, however never a porcupine. Although, a dog we had once had an unfortunate encounter with one. This is a cute story and Norbert is who he is. You made me smile too! Nan 🙂
Thank you. Love the idea of playing with hedgehogs.
This is great, I love the description of the boys. And this cluster really looks like a porcupine.
Thanks. And glad you agrees with me about the picture.
Poor guy 😦
I hope he learns to love himself and whatnot 🙂
Let’s hope. Thanks for reading.
Ahhh, poor Norbert. I hope he someday accepts himself. Great response to the prompt. 🙂
Thank you. Let’s hope so.
That was a fun story. I thought Norbert was a person until I got to the last sentence and it wasn’t until I reread it I could really enjoy all your wordplay! I didn’t get the Hans Christian Andersen reference though. Does the story allude to one of his fairy tales?
Thanks. The HCA reference was to the Ugly Duckling, which I assume was one of his. I can remember Danny Kaye singing the sing anyway.
Prickly little tale.
I am to please and I don’t have an inner editor to give it the spike.
Great fun but I too didn’t get the HCA reference.
Thanks. It was meant to be a nod to the ugly duckling, though I’m not entirely sure it was one of his.
This made me smile.
Thanks
Not an ugly duckling, not a swan – a lovely hedgehog. Beautiful story.
Thank you
This is fantastic. Nice title and awesome take on the prompt! I’m not sure what this is a picture of either…
Thanks for reading
Really cute story, Etienne. Poor Norbert is just going to have to accept who he is. Humorous and well done. 🙂 — Suzanne
Thank you