Lost at the Store!
Hunter's running errands with his mom and somehow gets separated from her. He's practically 18, so he's not too worried as he wanders the store, but his wandering catches the eye of a sales associate there who just won't let him look for his mom alone.
"Hunter, quit your complaining. You're nearly eighteen years old, for goodness sakes!" His mom said, rolling her eyes.
"But Mom!" She gave him a glare and Hunter shut his mouth. He hated accompanying his mom on errands, especially this boring shopping trip.
"Just find something to entertain yourself." She said, looking through a rack of clothes. Hunter wished that he had gone to a friend's house like Koda had. He wandered a short distance away from his mom's cart. He did not understand why he had to watch her pick out new outfits for herself. He noticed two foxes not too far away; a teenage vixen and a todd that he would wager was her younger brother. The todd looked vaguely familiar from school, but Hunter could not quite remember his name. He seemed kind of geeky in his Flash t-shirt and black plaid shorts.
"C'mon, Ashley!" The fox whined. "Don't you think you're taking this a little far?"
"Nope. We're here to buy you a new dress and that's final." She held a yellow sundress up to the todd, only to shake her head and return it to the rack.
"No!" The todd whined, looking around shyly and noticing Hunter, which only made him blush more.
"I found those frilly rhumba panties in your underwear drawer, so we're going to have to find you a dress to complete the outfit." She put a finger to her muzzle thoughtfully. "On second thought." The todd's ears perked up. "The women's section might be a bit too mature for you. Let's go see what they have in girls'." The fox's ears flattened and he struggled as his sister pulled him away. Hunter giggled to himself before turning back toward his mom. She was not there. Looking around, he wondered where she could have gone. He made his way out of the carpeted area to the main aisle and still saw no sign of her. She could not have gotten far, so he began to walk around.
It had been a long time since Hunter had been anything that could be considered lost, so he was a bit concerned by how little it made him feel. Here he was, very nearly fifteen years old, and he was feeling like a little cub. He looked at himself in a nearby mirror. Sure, his mane was not fully grown, but he certainly did not look like a little cub. He shrugged and kept walking, looking left and right and every which way for his mom.
As he left the women's section and moved into men's, he tried to remember what else his mom had said that she was getting. He did not think that she was getting anything for his dad, so he left the men's section, but not before making a face at his reflection, the twelve year old in the mirror giggling at his silly reflection. He smiled and kept looking for his mom. A nearby cheetah sales associate noticed the cub walking around and wondered if he was lost. She followed him at a short distance, just in case.
Hunter went from men's to the entertainment section, still looking for his mom. The sales associate who was following him frowned. Sure, this was hardly the first nine year old she had seen walking around the store without supervision, but she sensed that in this case, he was definitely looking for his mommy. It was a gut feeling, but she always knew to trust them. She chuckled softly as the cub made his way over to toys, the favorite place of every cub she had ever seen.
Hunter made a beeline for the Hot Wheels, staring up at them with great interest. He wanted them all, but it seemed that the orange and brown one all the way up at the top was the best. Unfortunately, it was far out of reach. He stretched up as high as he could, going so far as to stand on the tips of his toes, but his efforts were to no avail. It was simply too high up for a six year old. He bit his lower lip, pondering just how able to he would be to climb up the shelves. He looked around, wondering just how much longer Mommy was going to be lost. He knew where he was. She was the lost one. His impeccable six year old logic made him smile. Now he just had to get that car.
Just as he began to climb, he felt strange paws on his waist. He turned with a yelp and saw the friendly smile of a cheetah. He squirmed, but she held him in her paws. She shifted him to just one arm and grabbed the car for him.
"Is that what you wanted?" He nodded, suddenly struck with a bout of shyness. She smiled.
"What's your name?"
"Hunter."
"Hi, Hunter. It's nice to meet you. How old are you, Hunter?" He stared down at the car, delighted by it. "Hunter? How old are you?"
"Four." He said happily. The cheetah smiled, noticing that the little cub's Pull-ups were peeking out of the elastic waistband of his blue shorts. She gently checked him.
"Where's your mommy, Hunter?"
"She's lost." He said with absolute conviction.
"Oh, my. Well, how about we go find her?" Hunter nodded. The cheetah was happy that the little cub did not seem too scared yet as she carried him toward the service desk at the front of the store.
Hunter watched over the cheetah's shoulder, hoping that he might see Mommy. Every time that they had gone to the store before, he had ridden in the cart. He could not remember how he had ended up in toys all alone. He just knew that Mommy was lost. He whimpered softly as he felt a twinge of fear. What if he never found Mommy? What if Mommy was lost forever? He wished Koda was there. He would know what to do. Big Brother Koda knew everything!
They arrived at the service desk, but the cheetah paused as she sniffed the air. She frowned and looked at Hunter.
"Do you smell that?" She asked. She could not help but smile as the two year old's nose twitched. She gently set him down on the counter and checked his diaper. Sure enough, her suspicion of where the smell was coming from was perfectly correct. She smiled and went over the walkie talkie. "Infants team, I have a code white up at the service desk." She playfully kissed the cub's nose. "Someone's bringing up supplies, cutie pie."
"Imma stinky cubby." Hunter cooed as she eased him onto his back and tugged down his shorts.
"Oh, you're a Huggies man, hmm?" She said playfully. She leaned in and blew a raspberry into his belly, grinning from ear to ear as he squealed with toddler delight. One of the cheetah's co-workers came up with a bag marked Emergency Diaper Supplies and handed it to her.
"Good luck." He said, covering his nose from the stench arising from Hunter's Huggies. The cheetah rolled her eyes and set to work, ripping open the little lion's diaper.
"My goodness! You weren't joking when you said you were a stinky baby, hmm?"
"Stinky cubby." Hunter agreed. She smiled and started wiping him. Hunter giggled. "Does that tickle?" She cooed. "You're a happy little boy. Who's a happy little boy?"
"Me!" Hunter squealed joyously.
"Very good!" The cheetah finished cleaning him up, slipping a fresh diaper from the Emergency Diaper Supplies under his bottom. Hunter purred softly as she placed his bottom down on the soft diaper. "You like that, hmm?" Hunter giggled and nodded. Whoever this cheetah was, she was really nice. He watched with delight as she taped the nice, snug diaper back around his waist and returned his shorts to covering it.
"Thank you." He said politely.
"You're welcome." She blew another raspberry into his belly and he squealed and squealed.
"Hunter!" The kitten looked over to where the voice had come from.
"Mommy!" He exclaimed happily, clapping his paws with joy. "Mommy's not lost!"
"That's right, kiddo." The cheetah said, handing him over to his mother. "Hunter was just spending some time with me."
"Thank you so much." She checked his diaper. "You even changed him?"
"All in a day's work." The cheetah said simply. "It was nice to meet you, Hunter."
"Bye bye." Hunter waved as Mommy carried him toward the car, where he knew his car seat would be. He could not wait to tell Big Brother Koda all about his fun day at the store.