Born to be Wild Chapter 14

The next day at 2 PM, Wildernessa and Cheesesticks returned back to Herkleston. She and the Mastiff walked to the front of the door of the Solomon residence. Wildernessa reluctantly pressed the doorbell, and after a few seconds, someone answered the door.

"Hello?" He asked. It was Wildernessa's father Keith Solomon. "Who are you?"

"I'm your daughter, Vanessa Yuh Solomon." Replied Wildernessa. "Your name is Keith Solomon, and your wife's name is Anna." Keith then ran to his bedroom, grabbed a photo of him and Wildernessa from two years earlier, and ran back to the front door. He looked at the photo and then the real Wildernessa.

"Vanessa?" He asked. "Is it really you?"

"In the flesh." Replied Wildernessa. "I'm sorry for running away, punching a kid, breaking some animals out of the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, and sneaking into an airplane. You have every right to be mad at me, but please hear me out! If I didn't free the animals, they would've never experienced what it would be like to be free. You can ground me for eternity if you have to, but riddle me this: Who do you care about more? Your daughter or your business?" Keith just stood there and thought for a moment.

"Guess me and your mother were too caught up in the stock market to notice our beloved daughter." He said, reaching over to give Wildernessa a hug. "Starting next week, all our light bulbs at Insuricare will be replaced with fluorescent light bulbs!"

"Does that mean I'm not grounded?" Asked Wildernessa.

"Sorry, but no." Said Keith. "You are grounded for three weeks for your actions, but you can still use your cell phone. Also, we have to do something about that dog."

"His name is Cheesesticks." Said Wildernessa. "I freed him from the animal shelter when I ran away, and I've been taking good care of him ever since. I even bathed him in the Creek to wash him!"

"I suppose you could keep him." Said Keith. "But it's better to keep him outside. While you're punished, you may play with Cheesesticks for up to one hour. Deal?"

"Deal." Said Wildernessa, spitting on her hand and extending it forward, and Keith reluctantly shook hands with her. "It's nice to have you back, Vanessa."

"I secretly missed you, too." Said Wildernessa, secretly tearing up. "So, I'm allowed to use my cell phone?"

"As long as you stop using it two hours before bed." Said Keith. This gave Wildernessa an idea.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Back at the Williams resident, Craig had just got back from the library to retrieve Blink, as well as some Smarty Boys books. He was about to open his BOYB book, but then, Duane entered his room with Craig's cellphone in his hand.

"I know you're not allowed to use electronics for four days," He said. "But it appears someone is trying to call you." He gave Craig his phone back for the time being so he could answer.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Is this Craig Williams?" Said the voice. It was Wildernessa.

"Yes, it is!" She said. "How's it going?"

"I got grounded for three weeks." Said Wildernessa.

"I got grounded for four days." Said Craig. "However, I'm going to see my grandmother on Saturday. She's a Town Hall Representative, and maybe, she'll help think of new laws concerning the environment!"

"That sounds great!" Said Wildernessa. "Could I come with you?"

"Sure!" Said Craig "I better go now, since I'm banned from using electronics for four days. Bye!" He hung up the phone, gave it back to Duane, and opened his BOYB book. However, Duane couldn't help but notice a gecko in his bug tank on his shelf.

"Where did you get that lizard?"

"That's Blink." Said Craig. "He's my new pet. I freed him from the Maryland Zoo.

"Typical Craig." Duane said with a smile on his face. As he closed the door, Craig searched through his sack and found that pack of BOYB cards that Kit gave him. He opened the pack and saw four cards: Chillin' Villain, Embercanda, Electrobat, and a Beast Swap.

"This will sure help Bernard with his college funds!" Said Craig, as he placed the cards in the book. Once Craig was done updating his brother's card collection, he put the book back and decided to read another Smarty Boys adventure.
------------------------------------------------------
After three exhausting days, Mortimer had finally arrived in Guyana. He roosted on a palm tree near the Demerara River Docks and rested for a few hours. At 12 PM, the boat heading to Matadi just arrived at the Demerara River Docks. Mortimer woke up upon hearing the foghorn and flew inside the boat. After a few minutes of searching, he found Kelsey, and she was happy to see him.

"Welcome back, my trusty falcon!" She told him. "I hope it wasn't too much trouble for you."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back in Maryland, Duane decided to drive Craig and Wildernessa to Grandmother Jojo's House. Cheesesticks unfortunately couldn't come because Wildernessa was still grounded. When he knocked on the door, Jojo was surprised.

"Duane!" She said. "What brings you here?"

"My son wants to speak to you about the environment." Replied Duane.

"Why, sure!" She said, opening the door so her son and grandson could come in. "Why, Craig, you've grown so much! Who's this girl you brought in?"

"My name is Vanessa Yuh Solomon." Said the girl. "But when I'm at the Creek, I'm Wildernessa, guardian of animals! Unfortunately, I've been grounded in my room for three weeks, but my parents gave me permission to visit you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Vanessa!" Said Jojo, shaking Wildernessa's hand. "Craig, you wanted to speak to me about the environment?"

"Yes." Said Craig."

"Sit down, sugar." She said, and both kids took a seat. "During my lifetime, I have seen many lovely animals depart, like the Passenger Pidgeon, the Golden Toad, the Mexican Grizzly Bear, and the Tasmanian Tiger. I personally don't like how governments handle environmental situations. They don't see that there are cleaner alternatives to everyday lives that can make a big change, like solar panels, cars being powered by cow manure, and becoming a vegetarian."

"You work at the city council, right, Grandma?" Asked Craig.

"That's right, sugar." Replied Jojo.

"Could you help make some changes to make Herkleston a better place?" He asked. "I don't want the Creek to disappear!"

"Of course, I can, sugar!" Said Jojo. "You, me, and Vanessa will work on a speech together, and we'll present it on Monday!"

"Great!" Said Craig. "Let's get started!"
---------------------------------------------------------------
After two days together, Grandma Jojo, Craig, and Wildernessa concocted a speech that Jojo agreed to give Tuesday morning at 10 AM in front of Herkleston Town Hall. Many people were there, including some of the kids from the Creek, such as Craig, JP, and Stacks. Wildernessa was even given permission to attend the speech, but had to return home after it was done. A large screen was behind Jojo, putting on a slideshow.

"Good morning, Herkleston!" Jojo started. "I have brought you all over today because I believe we need to reduce our carbon footprint. Animals like the box turtle, mudpuppy, and black-footed ferret were once abundant. However, their homes have been destroyed to make room for more cities and highways. If these animals disappear, animals that we rely on, like bees, earthworms, fish, and butterflies may disappear, as well. Earth will become a wasteland like this." A drawing courtesy of Craig Williams then appeared on the screen, making some people gasp. "Is this what we want? Do we want our kids to lose the place they love to play in?"

"NO!" Said the crowd.

"Then I suggest that there will be lots of changes in Herkleston!" Jojo continued. "I, along with my grandson Craig, suggest we should make a wind turbine! A wind turbine is like a giant fan: As the wind blows on it, the turbine produces electricity. With a wind turbine, we don't have to burn so much fossil fuels!" The crowd then cheered.

"I also suggest that starting today, we should pick up after ourselves when we go out! We should ban use of pesticide! We should drink glasses without straws! We will have an Earth Day once a month! Who's with me?"

"I am." Said Craig, raising his hand.

"I am." Said Wildernessa, raising her hand.

"I am." Said Duane, raising his hand. Nicole, Jessica, Bernard, Stacks, and JP started raising their hands. Soon enough, everyone raised their hands and agreed to make Herkleston a greener place.

"For a greener tomorrow?" Jojo asked.

"For a better place for our children!" Said everyone, and people started heading to the park and the town alleys to clean up unwanted trash.
Author's Notes: Electrobat, Embercanda, and Beast Swap are not real cards. However, Chillin' Villain is.

The Smarty Boys, a spoof of The Hardy Boys, was a book franchise in the Craig of the Creek episode 'The Final Book'. Bernard complains that the culprit in each book is always the first person the Smarty Boys meet.

Jojo Williams is Craig's grandmother who was a rights activist during the 1960s. As I am typing this, she only appeared in two episodes: 'Monster in the Garden' and 'Bug City'.

Insuricare was actually the name of the company Bob Parr/Mr. Incredible worked at in The Incredibles. It was an insurance company that didn't help insured customers. It was run by the greedy Gilbert Huph, who's voiced by Rex from Toy Story himself, Wallace Shawn.
Unfortunately, Bob got fired from Insuricare for throwing Mr. Huph through at least four walls and breaking his bones.