“You’ve got everything in your bag, right?” Oxnard asked the cute female mouse sitting in the passenger seat next to him.
        
        “Yep! I also packed some extra water bottles in case it gets really hot,” Molly replied. It had been a few weeks since they had gone on their previous date, and both rodents were very excited to see each other again. “I’ve never been to a botanic garden before. Did this one just open up?”


        “Yeah, just last month! I saw an ad for it online and knew that our next date should be there,” Oxnard said with a cheerful voice. “All of the flowers and statues they have there are gonna be super pretty.”


        “Good thing I brought my camera, then,” said Molly, who had it on a neck strap. She lifted it to her eye and snapped a quick picture of the hamster in the driver’s seat. Oxnard giggled and started the car, but felt his throat was a little dry.


        “Hey, Molly? You think I can have one of those water bottles?” Oxnard asked. “I had some coffee this morning, but I’m still really thirsty for some reason…”


        “Sure!” Molly said, pulling one out of her bag. Oxnard grabbed it from her and immediately took several giant gulps.

        “Hah, sorry! We can go now,” said Oxnard, pulling his car out of his spot and driving up the road. The drive only took about twenty minutes, and by the time they had arrived, Oxnard realized he finished the whole bottle of water. “Woah, I didn’t realize how much I was drinking!”


        “You better hope they have a bathroom here!” Molly teased as she stepped out of the car.


        “Yeah, you can say that again,” Oxnard said with a twinge of desperation. “You think you can hold onto my keys for me? I accidentally put on my shorts with holes in the pockets…”


“Yeah, no problem,” Molly said kindly. The mouse and the hamster walked to the entrance of the garden and stepped up to the booth for admission passes.


        “Two passes, please!” Molly said, insisting to pay this time around.


        “Sure thing!” said the female crane in the admissions booth. “Did you two want to go on the guided tour? The next group is about to start.”


        “A guided tour?” Molly asked, looking to the hamster next to her. “What do you think, Oxy?”


        “Sure! It’d be fun to learn about all the different things they have here,” Oxnard said enthusiastically.


        “You two can go join the group of animals gathered over there, then,” the crane said, handing the couple their passes and pointing to an assembly of critters under an arch decorated with flowers.


        “Thank you!” Molly said with a smile. She and Oxnard made their way over to the group and started to take in the sights of the garden. Flowers and plants of all different sizes and colors vibrantly painted the environment. Oxnard was wowed by all of the beautiful things he could see, but one thing he couldn’t see anywhere nearby was a bathroom. As he and Molly arrived at the back of the group, he tapped his footpaw anxiously and pressed his thighs lightly together. Suddenly, they could hear a loud voice speak out from the front.


        “Welcome, everybody, to our city’s brand new botanic garden! My name is Alton, and I’ll be your tour guide today!” the male deer said with a bright smile. “Before we begin, I’m required to let everyone know that although there will be many berry plants along the way, the guests are not allowed to eat the berries for safety reasons. That being said, why don’t we begin?”


        Oxnard and Molly walked along with the group as Alton enthusiastically shared facts about the plants around them. The hamster found all of the information engaging and interesting, but his attention span was occasionally interrupted by a rambunctious fox kit who couldn’t stop bothering his parents.


        “I wanna go hooooome, mom!” the kit whined.


        “Sweetie, we took you here to learn about nature. If you quiet down and behave, daddy and I will take you out for ice cream afterwards, okay?” his mom offered. He continued to whine, but soon quieted down and kept to himself. The tour continued on out of the initial flower patches and over to a pathway lined with berry bushes. Alton took a moment to stop and introduce some of the species of berries that were growing in the garden. While he was talking, however, Oxnard noticed little pawsteps moving behind him and stopping at a bush to the side. He turned around and saw the little fox kit from before picking the berries and stuffing them in his muzzle.


        “Molly, he said eating the berries is unsafe, right?” Oxnard confirmed with the mouse next to him.


        “Yeah. Why, did you wanna eat some?” Molly asked.


        “Not exactly…” Oxnard said, stepping up to the fox’s parents and tapping the mother on the shoulder. “E-Excuse me, your son…” The vixen turned around and looked down to Oxnard before seeing her son’s bright orange fur crouched at the bushes a few feet behind him.


        “MAX! Stop that and get over here!” the vixen shouted, obviously very angry with her little kit. Max reluctantly spit the berries out and sulked over to his parents. “Weren’t you listening when the guide said not to eat any of the berries?”


        “But I was bored! I just wanted to try them--”


        “--We might have to reconsider ice cream after this, Max,” his father said with a stern voice. The vixen turned to Oxnard and smiled kindly.


        “Thanks so much for letting us know about that. We’ll try to keep a better eye on him,” she said.


        “It was no problem, really,” said Oxnard, going back to stand next to Molly. When he turned around, he was ready to learn more about the berries Alton was talking about, but he noticed that the little fox kit, whose name he learned was Max, was giving him a very displeased glare. Oxnard didn’t want to tattle on him; it was just for his own safety! The hamster tried to forget about it and move on, but Max certainly didn’t have any plans to forget what happened.


        The tour continued on, and the full water bottle that Oxnard drank in the car was really starting to catch up with him. He already had to go before the tour started, but now he needed a bathroom before he ended up with wet shorts. Alton stopped talking for a moment and encouraged the guests to take in the sights, so Oxnard took this opportunity to get his attention. “Umm...Alton?”


        “Yes?” he said, looking over to the back of the group. Oxnard noticed that a lot of the other animals in the group also looked back in his direction, which made him a bit nervous to ask his question. “Do you guys have a place to...uh...do you have, like, a bathroom?”


        “Unfortunately, there were some plumbing issues when we initially opened up the garden, so the bathroom is currently being worked on. We’re really sorry for the inconvenience,” Alton said.


        “Th--That’s okay, I can hold it…” Oxnard said defeatedly. He felt a little bad telling such a bold-faced lie, but he wasn’t looking to embarrass himself today. “Molly,” he whispered to the gold-furred mouse, “I’m gonna run off and find someplace to go. I’ll meet up with the group later.”


        “Are you sure?” Molly asked, not wanting Oxnard to get in trouble for anything.


        “Yeah, I definitely can’t hold it much longer. I’ll be quick, okay?”


        “Alright, just be careful no one sees you,” Molly advised. Oxnard quickly scurried off from the group and scanned the area for a bush or something similar he could hide behind while he did his thing. Little did he know, Max the fox wanted revenge for the ice cream he was now likely to miss out on. He followed sneakily behind Oxnard, not knowing exactly what he was going to do to get back, but determined to find some way to mess up that hamster’s day. 


        After two long minutes of frantically scurrying around, Oxnard finally found a bush that he felt was in a private enough space for him to tinkle in. Before he stepped up, however, Max very quietly snuck around the back of the bush and hopped inside without making it rustle. The fox kit’s sharp eyes could easily see through the leaves in front of him, and it sure was a sight to behold. Oxnard waddled up nervously and checked his surroundings once more.


        “Looks like we’re all clear,” he mumbled to himself. The hamster tugged down the front of his pants and carefully stretched his undies down. Max had to stifle a giggle as the hamster standing in front of him just revealed his tiny rodent penis. It was just barely more than an inch long and rested softly on top of his similarly small balls. He watched each jiggle it gave as Oxnard adjusted his stance. The hamster tried his best to get a stream going, but his nerves were preventing him from letting even a drop loose.


        Wait a second...he’s gonna...Max just realized he was about to be right in the splash zone. He couldn’t move, though! This big, mean hamster would tell his parents and then he definitely wouldn’t get ice cream. He started to brainstorm a way to get out of the situation, but then…


        “Mph,” Oxnard grunted, deciding to change things up a little. To make himself more comfortable, he tried dropping his undies and shorts to his ankles. He was in a private part of the garden, so no one would see his big hamster butt anyway.


        This is my chance! Max said with an idea suddenly popping into his head. He reached a paw out the front of the bush and grabbed onto Oxnard’s shorts and undies, yanking them towards him and making the hamster fall flat on his back. They swiftly came off his ankles and left the fox kit with a rather...revealing view. Oxnard’s previously mentioned big hamster butt was naked on the grass, and Max could not only see his furry taint, but also a small glimpse of the pink hole nestled between his chubby cheeks. He took a moment to giggle and take in the view, but he knew that now would be a good time to head back to the group. He jumped out the back of the bush and used his canine senses to find the nearest garbage can. “Have fun running around without pants, tattle-tale,” Max quipped, tossing Oxnard’s garments in the garbage before running back to where the group was.


        Oxnard rubbed the back of his head and sat up. “What was that?” he said to himself. It almost felt like someone ripped off his…”PANTS! Where are my pants?!” Oxnard exclaimed in a panic. He quickly stood up and tugged the front of his shirt down over his privates. His missing pants weren’t on the ground where he was standing. Did something...or someone snatch them and run away with them? Either way, Oxnard was now in a deeply troubling position. Pulling his shirt down over his hamster parts wasn’t exactly the best way of staying covered up; his big ol’ butt cheeks were even more exposed when he did that!


        “Ooo, what do you think’s over here?” Oxnard heard a feminine voice to his far right.


        “I dunno, they might have a secret garden or something,” another female voice said.


        “Shoot, shoot!” Oxnard whispered in a panic. He didn’t know where to hide, but the footsteps were approaching quickly. Without thinking, he dove headfirst into the bush in front of him. Bad idea. The sharp, pokey branches caught onto the hamster’s shirt and ripped it in several places as he crawled through. “Gah!” Luckily, the branches weren’t scratching the skin under his fur too badly, but the damage they caused to his shirt was...much worse. Oxnard remained crouched in the bush as the voices moved past him and faded away. “Phew, that was a close one,” he whispered to himself. He emerged from the other side of the bush victorious...and completely naked. “Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me…” The bush tore his shirt completely off? How bad was his luck going to be today?! He threw his pink hamster paws over his furry bits and remained crouched on the other side of the bushes. “I’ve gotta find something to cover up with.”


        For the following ten minutes, Oxnard’s anxiety (and his need to pee) were steadily building. There were a few close calls along the way, but he eventually saw what appeared to be the garden’s gift shop in the distance. He suddenly got an idea. The hamster snuck the rest of the way over and was relieved to see that there weren’t any customers currently shopping around. He carefully eyed the racks and displays, but there were no clothes to be seen! Just hats, glasses, and other little trinkets. Well, if I can’t hide my bits, at least I’ll be able to hide my face, Oxnard thought to himself. He checked his surroundings to make sure no one was walking by and did his best to stay out of the view of the bored-looking alpaca playing on his phone at the check-out counter. He scurried forward and snatched a sunhat and sunglasses off of the closest rack.


        “I’ll pay for these later,” he whispered to himself to settle his good conscience. He put both accessories on and returned his paws to his privates before hopping stealthily back behind some nearby bushes. “Okay, now to find Molly,” he whispered, “and hopefully we can leave before I pee myself…”


        It was not easy running around the garden with just a hat and sunglasses on. Oxnard’s heart was racing as he dove and crouched behind various plants to prevent nearby animals from catching a glimpse of something they weren’t supposed to. There were certainly a few close calls, not to mention a couple embarrassing instances where Oxnard would overhear animals swearing that they just saw a nude hamster out of the corner of their eye. His frantic sneaking eventually landed him in a wide-open courtyard area surrounded by tall hedges. In the middle was a beautiful stone fountain, about six feet tall with three tiers getting smaller as they ascended.


        “And over here is, in my opinion, the most beautiful part of the garden,” Oxnard heard a voice approaching behind him, accompanied by about a dozen different sets of footsteps. A tour?! he thought worriedly. There was nowhere to hide! He couldn’t spot any other exits from the fountain courtyard other than the one behind him, and he couldn’t just hide behind the fountain. They would probably walk around to the other side and see him crouching there! The tour guide would throw him out and it would ruin his date with the sweet mouse he had yet to reunite with. Without time to think, Oxnard quickly jumped into the lowest layer of the fountain, but he was shocked to find out that the water was freezing cold! That, and it wasn’t deep enough to hide in. Even if it was, he couldn’t hold his breath that long. He desperately racked his mind for any place he could possibly hide. Hold on… Oxnard thought, if there isn’t anywhere to hide, maybe...I can hide in plain sight?


        “No! I can’t do that,” Oxnard whispered assertively to himself. Sure, the hat and sunglasses would protect his identity, but the animals about to walk into the courtyard would see his...I don’t have a choice, do I?


        Oxnard reluctantly climbed up onto the second tier, then the highest, still shivering from the freezing cold water. He quickly shook as much water off of his fur as he could and tried to think of a believable pose before the voices rounded the corner. Looking down at his body, however, he noticed that his little hamster bits had shrunk down considerably from the dip in the fountain. His (slightly more than) one-incher had become a tiny half-inch nub right before his very eyes, and his little hamster balls had tightened up close to his shaking body. “Great. Just great,” he sarcastically remarked. Oxnard lifted his right leg in the air behind him and raised his left arm in front. He pointed his paw and held the position carefully, hoping that no one would question whether he was a real statue or not.


        “Here it is, folks! This is the stone fountain,” a female badger said as she rounded the corner with a group of animals following closely behind her. Thanks to Oxnard’s sunglasses, he could at least move his eyes around and observe his surroundings. Immediately, he saw that the female badger was taken aback by what she was seeing. 


        “What the…” she whispered softly to herself. Did they install this statue on top of the fountain last night? There had been a few things that management had put into the garden without notifying the tour guides. She figured that this statue was just the latest addition to the garden, and she didn’t want to seem like she didn’t know what she was talking about. “And it’s complete with a brand new statue as well!” she improvised. She was very surprised with how realistic the statue looked. It was like a real model of an animal in a museum!


        “Woooah,” the animals in the tour group gasped and gawked. The fountain was cool and all, but everyone’s attention was directed towards the ‘statue’ displayed on top. 


        “Mommy, he’s naked,” Oxnard heard a little voice say. He looked down and saw a small bunny kit pointing up at his lower half.


        “Shh sweetie, remember what we said about being mature last time we were at the art museum,” the bunny’s mother said.


        “This one’s thingy is a lot smaller than those statues were, though,” the bunny kit observed, making the other animals in the tour group chuckle and look more closely. Indeed, the hamster’s shrunken penis and balls were probably smaller than any statue anyone in the group had ever seen before.


        “You think all hamsters are like that, honey?” a beaver joked with his wife, causing her to giggle and blush.


        “I remember dating a mouse or a hamster back in college, and I certainly don’t remember them being that small,” she shared.


        Oxnard was beginning to get fatigued, not only from holding his pose for so long, but also from enduring the embarrassing comments about his tiny winky and balls. He was thankful that his identity was hidden and that they were buying his act, but still felt humiliated by all of the jokes and the staring.


        “He’s got a big, furry butt too, doesn’t he?” a squirrel standing on the other side of the fountain said. With the hamster’s right leg lifted behind him, the squirrel could even see his private hamster hole! Not to mention his tight sack nestled between his thighs.


        When was this going to end? As the seconds ticked by, he realized two things that he wouldn’t be able to hold for much longer: this pose, and his bladder. All the talk about his exposed privates made the familiar feeling of needing to pee return with a vengeance. C’mon, c’mon, move on with the tour already!


        The badger giving the tour, meanwhile, was really confused. Why wouldn’t they just install a stone statue? And why did this one almost look like it was...alive? She took one last long, curious glance at Oxnard’s puny hamster parts before deciding to move the tour forward. Hopefully they’d get to finish soon and she could ask her manager about what the heck was going on.


        “Alright everybody, we’re going to be moving to the end of the tour!” she said. “If you’d please follow me…”


        Yes! Oxnard cheered in his head. He diligently held his pose as the animals left the way they came in. When he saw the last tail disappear behind the hedge, he let loose a sigh of relief and returned to a more comfortable standing position. “Finally, I thought that would never end,” he sighed in relief. “But now I’ve really gotta go…” He was about to hop down and run away, but before he even had the chance…


        “And if you’ll follow me back here, this is where the garden’s beautiful fountain is located,” he heard a familiar voice announce. Alton? No no no no no!!!! Turn around! Skip this part! Oxnard silently pleaded. Alas, he could hear the footsteps approaching the corner, and decided he had no choice but to assume another position and hope his group would believe it too. Nobody knew what he looked like, right? Maybe those foxes, but the sunglasses and hat would make it hard for them to tell if it was the hamster who helped them out earlier. That just leaves...Molly? She would recognize him for sure! Well, it wasn’t anything she hadn’t seen before… Oxnard hastily got in a new position, choosing this time to stand on his right leg instead. He worriedly awaited the group’s arrival with his right arm and paw pointing in front of him.


        “Here we are, the garden’s fountain!” Alton said as the group filled the open courtyard space. He was about to talk about the design of the fountain, but was stopped in his tracks by the...new hamster statue? When did they put this thing in? Like the badger before him, he didn’t want to seem like he didn’t know how to do his job, so he did his best to pretend like he already knew about it. “We recently had this, erm, statue installed to represent the...innocence of nature?” he fibbed. His eyes naturally gravitated between the hamster’s legs, as did everyone else’s.


        “O-Oxnard?” Molly whispered to herself. There was no way...was that really him? Why was he naked? Where did he get that hat and sunglasses? She blushed, realizing she was likely the only one at that moment who knew that the ‘statue’ in front of them was really just a buck naked hamster trying his best to hide in plain sight. What she didn’t know was that Max the fox also knew what was going on. The hamster he had de-pantsed earlier was now standing naked in front of the whole tour group. This was definitely better than ice cream, and he didn’t want to say anything to ruin it.


        “Well, it’s certainly a lot...smaller than I was expecting,” a coyote in the group said. It was likely he wasn’t talking about the hamster’s height, but rather his length.


        “You can say that again!” a skunk in the group laughed along. “Maybe hamsters have those big ol’ teeth to compensate for their little...you know…” Some of the animals chuckled at his joke, but Oxnard wasn’t happy to hear the particularly offensive remark. Unfortunately, all he could do was stand there patiently and hope that they wouldn’t stare for too long. His body was already starting to get tired, and he felt like his bladder was going to burst within the next minute.


        “His fur looks so realistic!” a female duck commented. “You can see every little detail!”


        Oxnard’s stomach sunk lower with each comment. Everyone was staring at his scrunched up nub, and it was making him really nervous! So nervous, in fact, that his body decided that it was time to let the floodgates loose. No, not now! Not while everyone’s watching! He could see the animals gathering closer to the fountain, none of them knowing that they were about to get a whole new show to watch.


        “Is it...twitching?” the coyote from earlier asked.


        “Yeah, his winky just wiggled a little!” Max said, grinning and pointing up at Oxnard’s bits.


        The hamster’s little button had in fact just twitched slightly, announcing the arrival of…


        *psssssssss*


        Oxnard’s pee stream emerged from his tip and splashed down into the pool on the bottom tier of the fountain. Nooo, this can’t be happening! He felt a strange mixture of relief and embarrassment from finally being able to let go, but doing it in a place that was the complete opposite of the word ‘private’.


        “Haha, I’ve seen these kinds of statues before!” the jokester skunk said. “Where water comes out of the ding-dong, heheh.”


        “Are you sure that’s water?” the fox dad said. “It kind of looks like…”


        “That’s probably because of the, uhhh…” Molly started, trying to cover for her unlucky date. “The sunlight! It’s shining through the stream and making it look that way!” No one seemed to challenge her made-up explanation, so she sighed in relief and continued watching with red cheeks. 


        “Mph!” Oxnard grunted as silently as he could. This was humiliating! It was one thing for everyone to see his naked hamster penis and balls (after they had shrunken from the cold water, no less!), but now he was peeing in front of them? He couldn’t take much more of this! And unfortunately for him, neither could his chubby hamster body. His leg was getting incredibly tired supporting his weight, and soon started to shake.


        “What the...it’s shaking!” said the vixen. Not only was Oxnard’s leg shaking from the amount of time it was supporting him, but his pee stream was also wavering. Everything was falling apart for the poor hamster!


        “I’m starting to think that isn’t a statue…” the coyote said. Just then, Oxnard’s leg started to shake more wildly. He decided to give up the ‘statue’ act and wiggled his arms in a desperate attempt to stay balanced.


        “It’s alive?!?!” the skunk exclaimed. Although he tried his best to regain his stance, Oxnard slipped from the top tier and fell into the water below him, all while his pee stream was still going strong. He landed with a big splash, drawing all of the animals up to the edge of the fountain to see if he was okay.


        “Oxnard!” Molly shouted, reaching her paws out to pull him from the water. He was kind of heavy, but Molly managed to rescue him from the fountain and set him down on the surrounding cobblestone. Everyone gathered around the hamster, who was not only missing his hat and sunglasses but also appeared to be passed out.


        *psssssss*


        “Hey, what’s that sound?” the vixen asked.


        “He’s still peeing!” Max pointed out to his mom. Everyone watched as the yellow stream coming from Oxnard’s tiny (and freshly shrunken) button splattered on the cobblestone in front of him. It eventually slowed down to a trickle, and just as the last drops leaked onto his tightened hamster parts, Oxnard suddenly sat up.


        “Wh-What happened?!” Oxnard asked worriedly. He looked around and saw all of the animals around him looking down with concerned faces, though some of them appeared to be stifling laughter. He followed their eyes down to his crotch, which was exposed and covered with...pee? Crap! This day couldn’t have gone any worse! He felt a tap on his shoulder and looked to his right, where Molly was holding out a damp sunhat to him.


        “You might wanna cover up down there,” she said, pointing down to his privates. Oxnard snatched the hat and stuffed it between his legs. He stood up, having no idea what to say to the animals who had just witnessed a very...personal display.


        “Hey, you’re that hamster from earlier, aren’t you?” Max’s mother asked him.


        “Uhhhh...sorry!!!” Oxnard blurted before turning to Molly. “Let’s get outta here!” He quickly grabbed Molly’s paw and pulled her away from the group and out of the courtyard’s exit. On the way out, the two rodents were about to pass the gift shop. “Do you have a twenty?!” He frantically asked her.


        “What do you need a twenty for?” Molly asked. Oxnard looked guiltily down at the hat he was still using to cover his crotch as he ran with her. “Ohhh. Yeah, but you have to promise to pay me back!”


        “I promise!” Oxnard said, grabbing the bill that she had pulled from her purse and slapping it on the gift shop desk. “Thank you!” he called out to the alpaca, who looked up from his phone briefly and did a double take after seeing the hamster’s jiggling butt cheeks running away. They sprinted through the entrance gate of the garden and straight to Oxnard’s car. Thankfully, Molly was holding on to Oxnard’s keys, so she pulled them out and tossed them to him. He unlocked the car and hopped in with determined speed. Molly hopped in next to him and both rodents shut their doors. They took a moment to catch their breath, then Molly looked over to her left.


        “Okay. What was that all about? Why the heck are you naked?” Molly asked, genuinely wondering what could’ve happened.


        “It’s...it’s a long story,” Oxnard groaned.


        “Well, you can tell it to me while we drive back to your place,” Molly smiled, trying to cheer up the very stressed hamster.


        “But it’s kinda...embarrassing,” Oxnard said, his cheeks burning bright red.


        “Oxy, I just watched you pee into a fountain totally naked,” Molly reminded him.


        Sigh, “that’s a good point,” Oxnard said. “Alright, well, it all started with that water bottle…”