POM-POP - TIMELINE #615499

(Timeline Tuesday #111)

Pom-Pops are a delightful species of colorful, friendly creatures from a nearby timeline. They stand approximately two feet tall and are covered in thick, hairlike extensions that obscure the rest of their body. This creates a distinctly mop-like appearance. These extensions (also called hairs, although they technically do not fit this classification) will grow in three distinct hues, and when hanging together they create a vibrant, rainbow-like look. Pom-Pops come in a vast menagerie of colors.

These creatures are capable of communication with one another, speaking through a series of chirps and clicks. They deliver these communications at high speed, and any attempts to fully translate what they are saying have been unsuccessful. It is believed the Pom-Pop language is slightly more complicated than the animals of our timeline, but not as complex as the languages of humans. Translation remains difficult because most of their chirps are simply wordless expressions of excitement.

Pom-Pops are quite fast, especially for their size. They have no problem darting swiftly over the desert terrain they call home, but their time to any particular destination is quite variable due to their tendency for zooming around in strange, meandering paths. They are naturally curious, so any Pom-Pop journey is bound to have a few stops along the way.

The diet of this creature is very specific, finding nourishment only in root vegetables. In the wild, Pom-Pops dig up any plant life they can find in an otherwise desolate desert, devouring the roots. However, as they have come to call this timeline home, the species has developed a particular fondness for potatoes, specifically French fried potatoes. They have now been trained to carry out time sensitive search and rescue mission in the desert, with the promise they will receive a large helping of French fries as a reward for their task. Because of Pom-Pop rescue programs, the death rates of lost hikers in many national parks have been cut by seventy-five percent.