Hug Me

For all I know I'm going to get a DMCA takedown notice for transcribing this, but I felt like typing the whole thing out and leaving it up to your interpretation.



Hug Me
by Patti Stren

Elliot Kravitz was not like other porcupines, who were quite content having quills and being left alone.


Elliot was not content. He wanted a friend. A friend to talk to, a friend to play with and tell his best secrets to, but mostly a friend to hug.


All his friends told him, "Hey, Elliot! It's really great having quills! No one bothers us and we always get to be first in line. And we never have to share our ice cream cones. No one ever comes near a porcupine!"


But Elliot rather liked being with people. He never really minded sharing his ice cream cone, even if it was a double-scoop, chocolate chip cone with sprinkles on top.


Elliot longed for a friend. You see, there was one thing he wanted more than anything else in the world...A BIG, TIGHT HUG. The other porcupines wouldn't hug him. It's too hard, they said, to hug someone with quills.


So Elliot spent a lot of time hugging telephone poles, parking meters, and traffic lights.


After a while, Elliot got tired of hugging telephone poles, parking meters, and traffic lights. They really didn't make him feel very good.


During the day, he continued to hug things. And then at night, in bed, Elliot would dream about having a real friend who would hug back.


One morning, he got out of bed and said, "Enough is enough. No more hugging parking meters, traffic lights, and telephone poles. I want a friend to hug! A friend who will hug me back."


Elliot decided to disguise himself as a birthday present. People love birthday presents. Maybe someone who loved birthday presents would want to be his friend.


When it was Christmas, Elliot put lights around each quill and rented himself out as the first walking Christmas tree.

Everyone loved to look at him, but no one ever wanted to touch him. He never got hugged.


By this time, Elliot was very angry and upset. "I'll get even," he said. "I'll put erasers on each of my quills and wipe everyone out!"


Then he said to himself, "Elliot, you're being silly. There's nothing you can do."


And then he said, out loud for everyone to hear, "I GIVE UP! I don't need anybody. I'm going to the forest where I can be alone and no one will ever find me!"


In the forest, Elliot found himself a quiet, grassy spot under a tree. He sat hugging his knees. "You give up what?" a little voice said. Elliot turned around and saw another porcupine facing him.


"What's your name?" she said.


"Elliot Kravitz," said Elliot Kravitz.


"What's yours?"


"Thelma Claypits," said Thelma Claypits.


"What are you doing here?" she said.


"I'm here because nobody wants to hug me."


"I'll hug you," she said.


"You will?" said Elliot.


"Sure," said Thelma.


"But I'm a porcupine," said Elliot.


"What do you think I am?" she said, pointing to her quills. "Let's hug."


And they tried...slowly, carefully, very gently, they hugged.


Elliot smiled.


"This is nice," he thought to himself.