{You ever have a story that's just so good, you have to get it written down right away? That's how I was with this one. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it. Props to anyone who can spot the religious allegory and is also familiar with their pokemon. Enjoy!}



Once upon a time, there was a meadow full of Mareep. They lived together with a Houndoom, whose job it was to take care of them, feed them, give them hugs and kisses when they were sad, and play and laugh with them when they were happy.

Houndoom enjoyed taking care of his Mareep, and the Mareep enjoyed being taken care of. Together they were all very happy!

But one thing Houndoom was always very careful about was the fence. He always said no one was allowed to try and go past it, because he didn’t want anyone to get hurt or lost.

One little Mareep didn’t think this was very fair. She had already seen everything the in the meadow. She wanted to see what was outside of it. “But why can’t I go see what’s on the other side?” she whined to Houndoom one day.

“Because there’s nothing out there that would be nice to little ones like you,” he replied, patiently. “You’d only get hurt if you wandered off, Mareep.”

“I can take care of myself!” she exclaimed angrily. Just how stupid did Houndoom think she was?!

Houndoom thought carefully before speaking. “I’m sure you can dear, but you still need me to take care of you. The world can be a scary place sometimes, even without the fence. Its better if you stay here with me.”

But Mareep wanted to do things her own way. She didn’t want to listen to the grown-ups! “I don’t need you!” she cried.

“Oh?” Houndoom answered, still being patient.

“I’m gonna go after that fence myself, and you can’t stop me! So there!” She started walking towards the gate.

“Young lady, if you do what I think you’re about to do, you’ll find yourself in very big trouble,” Houndoom said. “No extra hay for dinner, for starters. And a long time-out before bedtime.”

That was enough to make Mareep stop in her tracks. She walked back to the meadow, tail tucked between her legs. As she walked past Houndoom, she said, “I hate you!”

Houndoom sighed. “I’m sorry, dear. But that’s the way it is.”

Mareep went off to chew the grass. Stupid grown-ups! It really wasn’t fair.

The next morning, Mareep was still in a very bad mood. She had walked to the edge of the meadow, where she could be by herself. “Its not fair!” she moaned. “Why does Houndoom have to make such a bunch of dumb rules?! Its too hard to listen to them all!” She looked at her hooves and pouted. “I’m a big girl! I can do these things by myself. Why do I have to stay in the meadow all the time?”

“Oh, my poor dear, I quite undersssstand what you mean,” said a voice.
Mareep jumped in surprise! Who was there?

A Seviper was curled around the fence railing. He had a very handsome smile, and Mareep felt a little less frightened by looking at it.

“Oh, I’m ssssssorry! Did I ssssscare you? My apologies. But what isss a cute, tender little one like you doing here? Shouldn’t you be closssser to the meadow?” Seviper asked.

Mareep blushed a little at being called ‘cute.’ Houndoom had told her she shouldn’t talk to strangers, but this one didn’t seem so bad. “I wanted to go behind the fence, but Houndoom won’t let me."

“Mmm. I ssssee. And how did that make you feel, dear?”

Mareep pouted. “Bad. And mad! It’s not fair! It feels like he just makes up these rules ‘cause he doesn’t want me to have any fun!”

Seviper inched his head closer. “Mmm-hmm. Yesssss. I do know what itssssss like to not have fun because of rules. I’m sure he meansssss well, of courssssse,- but still, I bet you wish he would let you do things your own way. Itsssss not always easy to listen sometimessss, isss it?”

Mareep nodded. Here was someone who understood how she felt! “Yeah! He says I still need him, but that’s not true! I can take care of myself without his help!”

“Well, I’m sure a big, clever young girl like you doesssssn’t need that much help. But it can be a big, ssssscary world out there. You shouldn’t wander off by yoursssself. Maybe it would be better if you came with me.”

Mareep was a little surprised. “Come with you to where?” she asked. As much as she wanted to see what was beyond the fence, she didn’t want to get in trouble.

“Oh, nowhere that far away. Jussssst so you can sssssee what’s out there.” Seviper replied.

“Won’t Hounddom get mad when he sees I’m gone?”

“And why would he do that? You’re jusssst one little Mareep out of a big flock. He probably won’t even noticccce you’re gone! But even sssssso, I think he would feel better if you had one grown-up to show you the way.”

Mareep considered this. She was a big girl. And she could always find her own way back if need be. She looked carefully to see that Houndoom wasn’t looking, and then she squeezed her way under the fence.

“Good girl!” Seviper said. “I’ll show you a very fun placcccce. We’ll have sssso much fun together, and Houndoom will never have to know! Why wasssss he so afraid, anyway?”

“Because he’s a stupid doody-head!”Mareep said. “I’m glad I met you, Mr. Seviper!”

“No, my dear. Trussssst me, I’m even gladder that I met you!” Together they walked into the forest, Seviper placing his tail around Mareep’s shoulders. Mareep felt something nick her skin a little, and notied the knife on Seviper’s tail was just a little too close to her neck.

“Hm?” Mareep intoned.

“Oh! Ssssorry,” Seviper said, slacking it back a little.

“Thank you,” Mareep said. She smiled to herself. This was going to be the best fun she had ever had!


As the two of them walked through the forest, Mareep noticed that they seemed to be going farther than she thought they would. The trees were getting taller, and she couldn’t see the sky as well as she did before. She wasn’t sure how much she liked it. “How much longer?” she asked.

“Not too much more, my dear. I think it’sssss just beyond this tree.”

“But you said that before…” Mareep whined.

Seviper didn’t like that. “Didn’t your Houndoom teach you not to mope and groan?!” he snarled.

“Sorry.” Mareep mumbled. Her hooves were getting sore. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. “Can we stop and rest? I’m tired.”

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” said a voice. Mareep looked up. There was a Murkrow sitting in the branches with a dour look on his beak.

“Why not?” Mareep asked.

Before Murkrow could answer, Seviper said to Murkrow, “Do you think you can fly fassssster than I can jump up that tree and eat you? You keep your beak shut! Thissss does not concern you!”

Mareep was shocked! “No! Don’t eat him! He was just being-“ But Seviper gave her a nasty look that made her not want to argue further.

Murkrow ignored him. “Where do you come from, little lady? I don’t reckon I’ve seen you in this part of the forest before.”

“The meadow! I live just past the fence, with a Houndoom and other little Mareep-"

“Shut up, sssstupid!” Seviper spat. Mareep withered. Seviper didn’t look so handsome and charming anymore, and Mareep didn’t like being spoken to that way one little bit.

“That’s no way to speak to a little one! Where are your manners?” Murkrow asked. He took a moment to preen his feathers, mumbling “Mm-mm-mm. Someone’s going to be in trouble.” Mareep was surprised. Why would she be in trouble? Seviper was still here with her.

“My dear ssssir, perhaps we could both try to mind our own busssinesss?” Seviper no longer seemed so jolly. In fact, he seemed angry and a little scared. But why?

“If you say so, if you say so,” Murkrow cawed. “But I think one of you is making a big mistake.” He took off and flew into the sky, flying in the direction Mareep and Seviper had come from.

“W-what was that all about?” Mareep asked.

“Nothing! Nothing at all,” Seviper hissed. He seemed more anxious and determined to keep moving. “I’m ssssorry I told you to shut up, dear. That was not very nicccce of me, I admit."

Mareep was glad to hear that! She was happy to be friends again. “Oh, that’s okay, Mr. Seviper! I forgive you.

“ Let’sssss keep moving for now. I promisssse you’ll have all the resssst you need when we get there.”

“Can’t I take a nap here instead?” Mareep asked.

“No! Certainly not.” Seviper thought quickly. “You don’t want to nap here. The ground issss much too hard. We have to get there quickly, or there won’t be enough time for the big sssssurprise.”

Mareep suddenly forgot how tired she was. “There’s a surprise for me?!”

“A very big ssssurprise!”

“Ooh, whatisit?!” she squealed.

“Now now, you sssssweet thing, if I told you, you wouldn’t be ssssurprised, now would you?” Seviper hissed.

“Is it too much farther?” Mareep asked.

“No, my dear, it’ssssss not too much farther at all. We’ll be there in no time, just you wait and sssssee!”


But that was not true either. The surprise was still a long way away. They had walked for so long now, that the sun was now beginning to set in the sky. Mareep had asked “Are we there yet?” lots of times, but Seviper never answered. The poor girl felt like she was about to fell asleep on her hooves. But then Seviper called out, “We’re here!”

Mareep felt a big smile spread across her face. She bounced ahead of Seviper and broke through the grass, expecting to see something nice like chocolate cake and balloons…

Only to fall into a big, bad-smelling pool of mud with a ‘splat!’ Mareep looked around, looking for the surprise. There were ugly mushrooms and Skorupis skittering around, but nothing that looked like fun. Mareep felt her tail droop. “Where’s the surprise?” she asked in a small, quiet voice.

“The sssurprise? The ssssurprise, my dear, is this mud puddle! Ta-da! This issss where I live, and now you can ssssstay here with me! Forever!”

Mareep felt a yucky, sad feeling fill up her heart. This was what they had walked for so long for? She felt tears of disappointment dot her eyes, and she had to fight back the urge to burst into tears.

“I…I wanna go home…” Mareep sniffled.

“Home? And why would you want to go home?” Seviper asked, sounding surprised.

“B-because this isn’t fun anymore…I’m sorry... Maybe next time ...” She got up and tried to walk out of the mud.

But Seviper slithered in front of her. “And what do you ssssuppose will happen when you do go home? Hm?” He stretched up to make himself taller, and blocked Mareep off each time she tried to go around him. “Did you not wander away when he told you not to?”

“B-b-but…you told me to come with you…” Mareep said.

“But you didn’t have to, now did you? And now if you go home, Houndoom’s going to be so mad at you! You know how he is about rulessss. He’d probably yell at you. He’ll take your favorite toy away. Maybe he’d even spank you for being such a naughty little Mareep!”

Mareep was horrified at the very idea! “No, that’s not true!” she cried. “He’d never do that! He loves me!”

That seemed to make Seviper very angry. “My poor foolish dear, love isn’t real! Why would he want you back? Why would he want such a bad Mareep to live with him? Even if you went home, he’d probably tell you to go away and never come back. He doesn’t love you anymore!”

Oh, now that really hurt! Mareep started to cry now, softly. “No….no, that’s not true…” But she wasn’t very sure. After all, hadn’t Houndoom said that if she wandered off, she would be in very big trouble?

“Oh dear, now I’ve gone and upssset you. I really have.” Seviper sounded like he was sorry for the things he said. But then he smiled in a not-so-nice way and said “I think you need a hug.”

Mareep wasn’t sure if she liked that idea. “No…no, thank you. I really just wanna go home.”

Seviper slithered underneath her and wrapped himself around her middle. “Oh, but I insissst.” He squeezed her very tightly.

“No, please. I wanna go home now! Can you please l-l-let go of me?” But Seviper took no notice. He wrapped himself around again, and started squeezing even tighter!

“I said let go please!” she cried. She didn’t like the oily feeling of his skin one little bit! Then she realized that what Seviper had really wanted all along was to eat her!

“Oh no! Oh no no no! HELP! HELP! HELP! HELP!” she screamed.

“Now, now, you tender little one, there’s no need to struggle so. Besides, there’s no one here to listen. Now why not stop squirming so I can give you a kisssssss…” He opened his mouth very wide, and Mareep saw two bloody red fangs. Seviper brought the sharp knife on his tail close to her throat and squeezed harder. Mareep struggled and thrashed as hard as she could, but it was no use! She could feel his wet, nasty breath on her neck…

But all of a sudden, there was a loud barking! “ARF ARF ARF ARF ARF! ARR-ARF ARF ARF ARF ARF!” It was Houndoom! Mareep felt a hot blast of fire rush past them, and now it was Seviper’s turn to scream!

He let go of her and tried to slither away as fast as he could, but Houndoom was faster! He pounced on Seviper, using his hind leg to pin down his tail, and a front leg to seize him by the throat.

“Don’t kill me! Please don’t kill me!” Seviper moaned. “I was just looking after her, I swear! You know how I am with lost little ones, I just saw she needed a hug and-”

But Houndoom was not fooled! “Oh, I know exactly how you are with lost little ones, you disgusting little liar,” Houndoom spat, “So listen carefully- this is the only warning I will give you. The next time you try to lead one of my Mareep away like that,” he growled, “there will be nowhere far enough away for you to run! Do you understand me?!”

“Yes! Yes! Now get off me, please!” Seviper moaned.

Houndoom got off Seviper and took two steps back. He snorted, a small bit of black smoke coming out of his nose. “Now get out of here, you, before I change my mind.” Seviper slithered away into the mud as fast as he could, and vanished into the swamp for good.


Houndoom picked up Mareep by the scruff of her neck using his mouth, and brought her out of the mud puddle. He set her down on the ground, and sat very close to her.

Poor Mareep trembled all over, and tears ran down her face. Houndoom was going to be so mad at her! She curled up and closed her eyes, waiting for him to start yelling at her…

But he didn’t. Instead, he started kissing her face, licking all the tears away. “Oh, my poor dear! Are you okay?! That must have been so scary!” Sadness and relief filled Mareep’s heart at the same time. So Houndoom wasn’t mad at her after all!

“I…*sniff*…I d-did a bad thing…” she sobbed. She started crying harder, burying her face into his chest.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Houndoom cooed. “Let it all out, little one.” He kissed her again and again until she had gotten all the bad things out. When she had stopped crying, Houndoom pulled her into a close hug. “Why did you wander off like that?” he asked in a gentle scolding voice.

Mareep wasn’t sure how to answer. She felt so ashamed now! Why had she ever thought this was going to be fun? “Well…I wanted to see what was beyond the fence, even though you told me not to. And Seviper said there was a present for me, and that we wouldn’t be going far.”

“And then what happened?” Houndoom asked.

Mareep sniffed. “It turned out he was a big fibber, and all he wanted was to eat me. We kept walking and walking until you found us.” Mareep rested her head on Houndoom’s chest. “If you want, I’ll go away now.”

Houndoom was surprised! “Go away? To where?”

“I dunno. Somewhere in the forest, I guess.” Mareep replied, sadly.

“Don’t you want to come home?” Houndoom asked.

Now Mareep was surprised! “You want me back?”

“Of course I want you back! Why wouldn’t I?

Mareep was quiet for a moment. She looked down at her hooves.

“Mareep?” Houndoom asked.

“Seviper said you wouldn’t…you’d be so mad at me, and then you’d tell me I couldn’t come home…He said you don’t love me anymore, because I’m a bad Mareep…But that’s not really true…is it?”

Houndoom hugged her closer and gave her another kiss. “No, darling. You have made a bad mistake, that is true, but I love you just as much as ever! Nothing you do could ever change that. There is nothing bad about you! You are beautiful and wonderful inside and out, and I love everything about you! When I saw you were gone, I was so scared!”

Mareep smiled for the first time in ages. “You were scared?!”

Houndoom smiled back. “Very scared!”

“Did you cry?”

“I would have if I hadn’t found you!”

The two of them laughed hard, driving all the bad things away at last. “I’m so glad you’re safe, sweetie. Are you ready now?” Houndoom said.

“You really mean it? I can come home?” Mareep cried.

“You can always come home, little one.” Houndoom cooed. “Now let’s get going. The other Mareep have been very worried about you,” he said. He let Mareep ride on his back, since it was such a long trip back.

Together, the two of them traveled home to the meadow. As she got cozy on her savior’s back, Mareep smiled and blushed a little. “I’m sorry I wandered off, Houndoom. I promise not to do that again.”

Houndoom smiled back. “I’m glad.”

When the two of them got home, the other Mareep ran up to the gate, happy to see Mareep was safe and sound. The all gathered around and gave her big hugs!

“You’re home! You’re okay!”

“We were so worried!”

“What was it like out there?”

“Was it scary?”

“We heard something about a Seviper!”

“We’re so glad you’re home!”

Everyone in the meadow that night was so happy that Houndoom had brought back Mareep safe and sound!

Mareep got extra hay for dinner that night, and got to stay up just a little bit later after storytime.

And after all the other little Mareep snuggled in a pile for bedtime, Houndoom gave her an extra bedtime kiss.

“Goodnight, little one. I love you!” he said.

Mareep kissed him back and said “I love you too!”

Together they snuggled close and went to sleep under the stars.

And Mareep never wandered out of the meadow again.