The Adventures of Private Midnight: Chapter 1

Posted on November 8, 2020 by

The Adventures of Private Midnight

Lead author: zellybelly
Coauthored by: King Momdo

Chapter 1: The Beginning

Once upon a time in an icy land far, far away from where any human had ever set foot lived a little penguin. This penguin wasn’t your normal penguin; he was different from everyone else. No matter where he would go, the other penguins would make fun of him, and he would fall asleep each and every night alone and crying, feeling as if he didn’t belong.

One day, he decided that he had enough, and so he packed a bag and set out. He waddled his way away from town and away from everything he had ever known into the snowy wasteland. Left flipper, right flipper, he sang to himself while he waddled. After a little while, The Little Penguin stopped in his tracks, noticing something that didn’t seem to be quite right. Waddling again, this time with great care, he began to realize what lay in his path. Inching closer yet, The Little Penguin began to stare down into the crevice that lay in his way. Feeling discouraged, he sank down into the snow and started to lose hope.

The Little Penguin leaned against an old log that was starting to rot and looked back at his home. He couldn’t go back—not to where he didn’t belong—not back to where no one wanted him. He looked into his bag and pulled out a snack. But before he could take a bite, an idea of a way to get across the crevice popped into his head. Reaching into his pack again, he pulled out some supplies that he had brought along.

Looking around, The Little Penguin spotted a few pieces of wood that had broken off the log. I could put this here… Bang! Bang! Bang! And that there… Saw… Saw… Saw… And this over here. In no time at all, The Little Penguin had made a bridge to get himself across!

As he stepped onto the bridge to see if it was sturdy, The Little Penguin began to feel frightened. “Come on, you can do it!” he said to himself. With one foot first, and then the other, he slowly began to cross the little bridge.

Waddle… Waddle… Creek!

Waddle… Waddle… Crack!

Waddle… Waddle… Squish.

The Little Penguin felt the snow compact under his feet. He had made it across, and his bridge worked! He grabbed his things and looked back at the little wooden bridge with a proud smile. He continued on his way, with the wind whistling and whipping around him. A storm would be coming tonight, and The Little Penguin had never been alone in the dark outside, let alone out in a storm. He looked back once more. Should he go back home, back to where he didn’t belong?

He shook his head and looked back at his path through the snow. Why go back now? He clenched his flipper into a fist and started waddling again. The sun sprinted towards the horizon giving less and less light for The Little Penguin to find somewhere to stay the night. The moon began to rise, letting the darkness fall over the white landscape—leaving nowhere for The Little Penguin to go. He sat down in the snow and began to cry, lost from home, lost from everything. The Little Penguin sobbed into the night.

As the chill of the night set in, The Little Penguin started to hear the pitter-patter of footsteps on the snowy landscape leading up to him.

“Hey little guy, you alright?” a voice asks him.

The Little Penguin looked up at the figure, straining his eyes to see who was talking to him. As the silhouette waddled closer to The Little Penguin, it started to come into view. Bringing his torchlight closer to his face, the bigger penguin looked at The Little Penguin with great concern, wondering what had happened.

The Little Penguin silently looked up at the figure. To his surprise, he saw a penguin, a penguin green just like him. For the first time in long a while, The Little Green Penguin’s face gleamed with joy.