Tanner lay in his bed, where his brother had tugged him in. He was still six inches long, and made of plastic.
"Don't worry, brau, tomorrow when you wake up you won't be plastic any more," Derrick promised. Tanner just wasn't sure he could believe his brother.
Eventually, he fell asleep, and then Derrick's preset program clicked in. '
It was dark when Tanner awoke. He could hear his heart beating again, he was alive, but there was something not quite right. He rolled over in the dirt. He was in dirt? Not his bed? He could see a dim pale light at the far end of the tunnel leading from his burrow. He plodded slowly on all fours toward the light. He could hear noise and voices booming as he approached the overhead opening. He began to climb.
"Look the ground hog is sticking his head out!" shouted some kid.
Ground hog? Tanner thought as he looked at is clawed paw and furry arm, and then around on the crowd surrounding his enclosure. He ducked his head back in the hole and shook it.
"Did he see his shadow? Six weeks more? Wait, he's sticking his head out again!"
Tanner sighed and crawled out of the hole and wandered around, as he scanned the crowd for Derrick. Sure enough, there was Derrick snapping pix or perhaps videoing the event with his camera phone. Tanner wondered if he would change back into a naked human or be a ground hog forever.
"Happy Ground Hog Day!" shouted Derrick.
Tanner got up on his hind legs and tried to give Derrick the finger. The crowd ooohed and aahed at the cute ground hog standing on his hind legs and waving his paw.