Conker’s Pocket Tales Prologue – Story So Far…

Conker stared speechlessly at the mountain of presents that had appeared overnight in Berri’s house.
“Surprise!” cheered his friends among the Acorn People of Willow Woods, jumping out from behind a curtain of balloons and bursting into laughter at the dazed expression on Conker’s face.
“But… I…” he stammered, then gave up and let a wide grin spread across his face as Berri herself pushed to the front of the crowd and curtsied in front of him.
“All my own work,” she smiled mischievously. “Happy birthday, Conker.”
“Happy birthday!” his friends chorused.
Conker thanked them heartily, hopping from foot to foot as he eyed up the stash of presents.
“Ah, now just hold on a minute,” said Berri, stepping between the squirrel and his birthday hoard. “There’s something else you have to do first…”
She gave out a whistle, and through the open door came a trolley bearing the biggest birthday cake Conker had ever seen.
“Oh, wow!” he exclaimed as a couple of his friends wheeled it forward. “Berri, this is great!”
But Berri was frowning. “Hang on,” she said suspiciously, “this isn’t the one I made…”

And just as she finished the sentence, the fake cake burst open with a crash and a bulky figure sprang up from the wreckage, cackling as it landed amidst the presents and started gathering them up for itself.
It was Berri who was first to recover from the surprise. “Hey!” she squealed angrily. “What do you think you’re – yikes!”
Their uninvited guest, the most sinister-looking Acorn that Conker and his friends had ever seen, turned on Berri quick as a flash and grabbed her under one arm even as it turned to flee with its haul of goodies.
“Feisty, are we?” it sniggered as it vanished through the doorway. “We’ll just see about that!”
“Conker!” came Berri’s suddenly panicked voice.
“Berri!” Conker yelled back, snapping out of his astonishment and giving chase. But by the time he’d pushed through the stunned crowd and made it to the door, the Evil Acorn and his captive were nowhere to be seen…