Hedgehogs don't really exist in the USA. Although hedgehogs aren't glamorous animals by English standards--they rank on the level of chipmunks or squirrels--they always seemed kind of exotic and foreign to me when we got back to America.
Hedgie's unique compact and streamlined shape made him different from all my other animals. He had no limbs, just four small brown felt flaps for legs. Although he was a hedgehog, he had no quills, but a nicely rough, natural looking fur that I later discovered could be twisted into miniature dreadlocks for special occasions. He could be squeezed into most bags with great elegance, taking up a very exact amount of space.
Some friends (with very conventional ideas about stuffed animals) have reacted with near disgust at Hedgie, and have asked rude questions such as "What is that lump?"--which both Hedgie and I find very offensive.
No one can quite recognize his hidden talents. He fits into my stomach in such a way that I can curl around him for comfort when I have a stomach ache. Sometimes I imagine he's an organ with EXACTLY the same shape as my stomach. We shared a tender moment recently, when I noticed some white hairs in his fur coat for the first time and thought, "Hedgie, you seem to be aging--look, your first grey hairs."
