A Pollution Nightmare

A Pollution Nightmare is the April 1994 story of Adventures of Ranger Rick.
== Plot ==
National Wildlife Week is coming, and pollution is the theme for the year. Boomer Badger does not like the theme, claiming that everybody already knows about pollution and is insignificant. He angrily stomps away from his friends preparing the party decorations, until he stumbles upon a shiny helmet resembling a motorcycle helmet. He curiously wears it and sees the world as a barren, lifeless desert polluted with trash. Boomer sees Sammy Squirrel with two tails, asking him why Boomer doesn't wear a gas mask. Sammy leads Boomer to a cave, where his friends are all gathered around a spring of water. Boomer is frightened to see Punky Porcupine without quills — wearing only a bow on her last one. Punky recalls a nuclear plant leak caused the animals to become mutated. Boomer also sees Zelda Possum has grown another head. The two heads begin arguing on the cause of their mutation; lead or mercury.
A drunk offers Boomer some water while speaking in swapped letters (such as "too dirty" becoming "doo tirty"), giving out the reason that he ate poisoned fish from Shady Pond. Scarlett Fox, wearing a gas mask, explains how pollution has taken over the world, destroyed Deep Green Wood once and for all. Boomer denies the events happened, while a millions of cockroaches and rats swarm in the cave's entrance. A bear-sized rat named Roncho Rat has appointed himself the leader of the area, and drives Boomer and his friends away from the cave to claim the water from the spring. A thirsty Boomer scavenges through mountains of trash, only to find the remains of the polluted, oily Shady Pond.
Frightened by the vision of a polluted world, Boomer takes off the helmet and is relived to find out everything was just a simulation. He sees his friends as they usually look with no mutations. Boomer apologizes for his statement earlier and partakes in National Wildlife Week. The story ends with Chester Chipmunk finding the same helmet Boomer wore and throwing it in the trash.
== Characters ==
* Boomer Badger
* Punky Porcupine
* Sammy Squirrel
* Zelda Possum
* Ranger Rick Raccoon
* Scarlett Fox
* Roncho Rat (only appearance)
* Chester Chipmunk
==Trivia==
*The April 1994 issue has a section detailing tips on how to turn the story into a play. The accompanying illustration shows Ranger Rick wearing a rat mask, presumably Roncho Rat.
===Cultural references===
*The swarm of rats and cockroaches sing a distorted parody of "This Land Is Your Land" by Woody Guthrie by singing "This land is your land, this land is my land, from the toxic waste dumps, to the oily beach sand ..."
==Gallery==
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==External links==
*The Free Library
Category:Stories/comics
Category:Ranger Rick
Category:1994