Russell patted down a mound and sighed with satisfaction.

I should be proud of myself, he thought.

Then he started to head back to Mr Fredricksen until he noticed something on the ground. It was large bird foot tracks.

'Huh?' said Russell. 'Tracks?' Then he realised it was a, 'Snipe!'

So he forgot about going back to Mr Fredricksen and clapped his hands three times as he followed the tracks.

'Here, Snipe,' he said. 'Come on out, Snipe. Snipe!'

Eventually the tracks came to an end. Feeling disappointed, Russell said, 'Huh.'

But that didn't stop him. The snipe should've been around here somewhere. He took out a chocolate bar and munched on it. Something rustled in the bushes and Russell turned to look. There was nothing there. Suddenly, Russell felt something nip at his chocolate.

Russell turned to look, but there was nothing there either. The nip, nip happened again and Russell turned and noticed something zipping in the bush just in time.

'Ha! Gotcha!' said Russell. He peered into the shrub. 'Don't be afraid, little snipe. I am a Wilderness Explorer, so I am a friend to all nature.' There was no response. 'Want some more?'

He offered his chocolate bar and a large, mango-coloured beak appeared out of the shrub and nibbled it.

'Hi, boy,' said Russell. 'Don't eat it all. Come on out.'

The beak zipped back into the bush and Russell waited for it to come out.

'Come on,' said Russell. 'Don't be afraid, little snipe. Nice snipe. Good little snipe. Nice...'

A large shadow clouded over him and Russell stared up to see a-

'...giant snipe?'

It was a large colourful bird and it stared down at him like a chicken. It even made a few bock, bock, bocks like a chicken would make.

He's beautiful, thought Russell.

Even thought he was a little shaky, he moved toward him slowly, raising his arm to pat him.

'It's okay, snipe,' he said. 'I'm not gonna hurt ya.'

The snipe backed away from him a bit.

'No, no, no,' said Russell. 'It's okay. I don't bite.'

The snipe seemed to understand him that time, and let Russell pat his feathery head.

Now he realised, 'Hey, I like this snipe.'

The bird placed his beak around him, as if he were hugging Russell, and purred. Russell was reminded of a true mother, but that was silly, because he believed this bird was a boy.

'You know what?' said Russell. 'I think I'll call you Kevin. Do you like that?'

The bird purred as if he actually did like that name and cuddled him harder.

'Come on,' said Russell, turning to indicating him to come along. 'I'll take you to Mr Fredricksen.'

But he slipped over a rock and landed on Kevin's foot. He was about to get back up and Kevin was about to help him up when his arm touched Kevin's foot (so he halted Kevin). It was so smooth that Russell never wanted to stop touching it. He took off his shirt, and placed his back on Kevin's foot and sighed with love. He then laid his stomach on it.

'Your feet feel so nice,' said Russell. 'Can you put it on me, please? I'll just remove the rest of my clothes first.' So he did and then got up from Kevin's foot. He lied back down and Kevin laid his foot on Russell's stomach. It didn't feel as nice as it did for his arm but that was okay.

'Oh, it feels so nice,' said Russell.

Then Kevin put his other foot on Russell's legs. Russell squirmed around slowly and moaned with love. That was the most comfortable thing he ever felt in his life. He sighed with love again and shut his eyes.

'You know what?' he said, yawning. 'Forget about Mr Fredricksen. I want to stay with you ... forever.'

The bird sounded as if he gasped and then picked Russell up and threw him into the air. Kevin caught Russell with his feet and cradled him like a baby.

'You are the bestest friend anyone's ever had, Kevin,' said Russell. 'Mr Fredricksen and everyone else was mean to me. But you understand me so much, don't you.' The bird purred. 'Well, let's go home.'

And so Kevin picked Russell up, placed him on his back and rushed off just when Mr Fredricksen called out for Russell.

I never want to see you again, cranky old man, thought Russell.

Eventually Kevin took Russell to a labyrinth and high-pitched bird calls were sounding. Kevin called back.

'What is it, Kevin?' said Russell.

Eventually, they went farther into the misty labyrinth until they came to a large bird nest where little baby snipes came out. Kevin stopped in front of them and groomed them.

Wait, thought Russell, Kevin's a girl?

And so after Kevin groomed the babies, she went into the nest, placed Russell down and laid her feet on him. The babies came up to Russell. Russell's stomach lurched as if he thought they were going to bite him. Kevin called at her babies, and then the babies cuddled up to him. Russell felt their soft feathers, but they weren't as nice as Kevin's feet.

'Aw,' said Russell. 'Cuties. I suppose you're a mother, right?' he said to Kevin.

Kevin responded with a loud tweet. Russell took that as a yes.

'Okay,' he said. 'I guess I no longer have to call you Kevin, I guess I can call you mom.'

Now "Russell's mother" laid her beak around Russell to hug him. The babies tweeted with joy. Russell sighed with love and shut his eyes.

So the boy and the snipe lived happily ever after, with no troubles at all, not even Charles Muntz or Carl Fredricksen ever succeeded in finding them and never would.

THE END

(Sigh) That was a nice story - in my opinion, that is. But I actually didn't expect it to turn out like this. That's okay. Feel free to comment (no rude comments please, that includes swearing) or even favourite.