Chapter Text
“Why am I doing this?” The same five words repeated and rang in his ears like fire alarms. Interspersed by the driving thump of a racing heart. The soft patter of bare feet sprinting over concrete was drowned out by the sound of crickets and cool night wind.
“It’s almost perfect… an empty campus… not a soul in sight. Not so much at a light from a window.” Up ahead was a solitary street, pouring a small beam of warm yellow light below it. His stomach flexed as he veered off the path to the grass beside it.
“I left my shoes behind because I knew they’d make noise.” His feet slid over the warmer dirt and vegetation as the wolf recloaked himself in darkness.
“Black clothes, no shoes, shit even a cloth over my mouth to hide my breath. I did everything to make sure things would go smoothly. I can’t even give myself a delusion that this wasn’t my intention.”
A light turned on ahead of him. High above in the window of a dorm. It was six or seven feet up but he still wasn’t taking any chance. Seeing a small gap in a row of small bushes planted along the building to his right, the wolf dove for the gap. In a flash, he threw his back to the wall and crouched down. The impulse to hide away didn’t help him feel any better about the action that he was about to take.
“Why am I doing this?” He thought again. His heart never relented in its furious convulsing as he pressed his body against the hard brick. He couldn’t see any figure move across the window. He took a breath and crawled low behind the cover of the foliage. After another moment the light ceased and the wolf moved back onto the path before him.
He inhaled deeply. “I’m close.”
He regained his speed and proceeded through the dormitory courtyard and to the larger campus grounds. Seeing the wider open area gave him a temporary sense of relief. In his mind, he figured if he was going to be spotted, it would have happened by now.
“Am I really doing this?” The question had changed. In a moment, he had given up searching for an explanation or excuse. He took another breath and refocused his efforts. He was close and he felt another relief wash over him. He even knew exactly where he was. The wolf hunkered low as he continued to softly step. Slowly moving amongst the faded darkness of the very early morning, he looked up at the darkened haze that was the night sky. The opaque clouds that filled all above him. They concealed the stars and strangled the pale moon. A thin crescent that barely touched through with a weak glow.
Even still, he was temporarily enamored by its presence.
“I shouldn’t be here. I should go back to my room. I should be a good person, a good friend, a good brother. I shouldn’t be a freak… I shouldn’t be here.” He shuddered and didn’t even realize his hands were clenched so tightly. His claws nearly broke the skin of his hand.
He stood still for a moment. Then without a sound, took the next step forward. He found himself getting lower and slowing down as he got acquainted with his surroundings. The wolf stepped closer to a large metal warehouse. It was a building that he personally knew very well.
“The stage production storehouse…so that’s where you went.” He thought as he pulled closer to the structure. The pieces clicked in his head when a new sensation entered his brain.
“Sweat…”
The rapid pulsing of his heart began to accelerate gradually along with a slight sudden contraction in his stomach. A shudder echoed within him he exhaled.
“I guess there's no going back now. This is what I am…” The flurry of internal strife and turmoil was momentarily pushed to the wayside as a new challenge presented itself in the material world.
“The door… I didn’t think about that.” So close to his target, the canine was left standing with a new challenge on his hands.
“Should I open it? Is that how they had been planning on doing it? I suppose that makes a lot of sense. Most students probably don’t even even know what this building was for. Few windows and plenty of space to…” the last word getting stuck in his throat. He held out his hand towards the door. This was going to be so loud. He was extremely familiar with this door, having likely been the drama club member with the most experience using it. Heavy and old. Somehow managing to creak and crunch at every movement of its hinges. His hand gripped the cold hand hold of the door. His thumb making contact with the latch.
“If I make a sound, I run away.” He looked down. Perhaps this was the liberation he seeked. A force beyond his control that even his degenerate brain couldn’t ignore. He pressed his thumb down. Nothing happened but resistance.
“It’s locked… But that means.”
“Mmmhnn!” A distant soft moan cut through the ambient noises like a gunshot.”
“You’re outside!” The wolf screamed to himself. He suddenly felt like there were hot coals in his stomach, heavy and burning white hot. His hands grasping his muzzle. He looked in the direction of the sound before another soft muffled moan rattled his ears. Thousands of years of evolution at work as the wolf silently inhaled and knew he had reached his destination.
At the far end of the store house was a covered open garage. He moved down the perimeter of the building. With every sound he quickened his pace. The soft steps effectively neutralized the sounds of passion from around the corner. He was here all he had to do was peak around.
————
“Ugh Legoshi I think I’m in love!” The alpaca said, allowing himself to fall back on to the hardwood floor of the club room.
“Oh, you mean Els?” The wolf said awkwardly as he wiped down the barn doors of a light fixture.
“Well duh dude who else would I be talking about?” The alpaca smiled and stood back up.
The two male animals looked up across the room to see the female goat standing amongst the other female actresses. Her small stature making her stand out. She looked over to the two sitting males. Legoshi blushed and looked away, knowing where her gaze was heading, instead turning to the smitten alpaca.
“Uh god she’s so hot, I was worried dating someone from the club could get awkward but it’s been so fun and easy.”
The wolf said nothing for a moment, but seeing his friend so overjoyed filled him with a mixture of feelings. Tem had confided in the wolf about his crush on their fellow club member. Naturally he was happy that the alpaca had found the courage to ask her out and more so that the goat had agreed.
On the other hand, another sense had made itself ever present when it came to the blossoming club romance.
“You know I should be worshiping the ground you walk on.” Tem said blushing and unable to conceal his smile. The wolf was slowly pulled back from his mind.
“Oh uh, what do you mean?” He replied.
“Well, you’re the first person I talked to about my crush.” Tem said.
“Was I really all that helpful?” Legoshi replied.
“Well I figure that most people would have blabbed to her right away but you didn’t. You just listened to me, without judgement and you encouraged me to take that step.”
The wolf blushed. “I still don’t see how that was so meaningful. I just kinda said you talk about her a lot so you should just do what makes you happy.”
“Well that’s it, do what makes you happy. You were right and you're a good friend.” The alpaca blushed and chuckled “Um speaking of doing what makes you happy… I think tonight is the night.”
“For?” The wolf replied, returning his attention to the lamp. Tem’s voice suddenly got quieter.
“Come on, don’t make me say it. Me and Els, you know, doing…it.”
“I’m so fucking… jealous.” He felt just as disgusted thinking the words as he would have had he said them. What a terrible thing to believe and how could one possibly who thought this way possibly consider themselves a friend. These thoughts and others like them plagued the wolf. But deep inside the truth of the matter wasn’t concerned with them.
Els was beautiful and very sweet. Even when it came to being around carnivores more than twice her size. She carried herself in the same fair and comforting demeanor.
But that wasn’t it. It wasn’t Els that made him jealous. It was deeper than that, more primal. It was the love.
————
The wolf, as still as possible, moved half his face past the edge of the building. He didn’t see them right away. The goat and alpaca had taken care to not be so obvious and had stuck to the dark, but for the wolf, that wasn’t much of an issue. Constantly being around the alpaca had made locating him by his scent easy. Also the wolf’s eyes could easily see them in their embrace. Quickly scanning for light, he refocused on the two.
“Oh my god…” Tem whispered as he held himself up above the goat. Obscuring her breasts from their uninvited guest. He leaned forward and his face met hers in a breathy and warm kiss.
The wolf was dead silence. He knew that for every biological advantage he held in that moment. His two club members could easily end up hearing or potentially spotting him.
“More…” Els said with a breathy moan. She moved her hand over her mouth after her words had left it. Tem began to rhythmically thrust. The building speed getting louder, the gravel beneath the blanket one of them had brought crunched with seemingly monstrous volume.
The entire scene before him looked so warm. Soft wool and fur meeting one another in a way unlike any other. Being in the presence of such made him feel cold by comparison. The scent of sweat, all the sour and saltiness flooded his nose. Slight numbness in his fingers caused him to bring them to his chest beneath his black jacket.
His fingers ran over the finer fur of his stomach. A claw draping the skin just hard enough to feel the sharpness. Warmth radiating through from his insides and running up his arm.
A moment of clarity of where he was made him draw his hand back. “You’re… no friend! What kind of a friend would do something like this?!” The wolf thought. Part of him really couldn’t believe what was happening. Of all the things he could be doing he was doing this. “You’re so pathetic, the thought of a friend getting to experience a moment of intimacy made you do something so vile. You’re worse than a hungry predator. At least people could understand why a carnivore that devours an animal would do something so terrible. What do they even call someone like me? Voyeur, Stalker, Pervert, Freak!” All would be accurate. He wanted to vomit and probably would have aside from the fact that it would make noise. Still the wolf refused to look away.
“Love…” He thought. “These two deserve to be so happy. They deserve to feel such pleasure in each other.” His thoughts were interrupted as the two herbivores exchanged their mutual soft moans.
“Pleasure…” The wolf’s mind was suddenly elsewhere. “Am I aroused by this?” He could feel his tongue dry up. The wolf looked down at his pants. He didn’t notice any difference in himself but the thoughts wouldn’t dissipate.
“Why am I here, did I come here just to watch? Would someone else do what I’m doing and just watch.”
Bile rose in his throat. “If I did this again, would I grow to take pleasure in this? Would I do this again? Why am I a freak?!”
His stomach seized and he shifted his stance. His bare claw scraped against the concrete. The rhythm thrusting between Tem and Els slowed. She looked away from her lover atop her and glanced toward the corner of the garage but saw nothing.
“You…okay?” The alpaca asked between deep breaths
“Ye…yeah.” Els responded, slowly turning her head to look back up.
The wolf was already dashing away from the storehouse. The soft pads of his feet strode over the concrete. His steps were still silent but definitely sloppier than before. The urge to be sick welled within him, and seemingly was looking to be a guarantee. His throat now too felt bone dry and he sensed the familiar sensation of an approaching cough. His long swinging arm shot up to mute the noise, but threw off his balance as he ran.
His foot overstepped and before he knew it, he was sliding over the hard stone floor. His elbow had taken the most direct impact. Despite his fur, the fall was deep and he could feel the scrap against his skin.
“Ahhh!” He wanted to scream but kept it in. He regained his step. He cradled his elbow in his hand and sighed. Everything felt unreal, like each waking moment was another inside a fever dream. The wolf carried himself back to the dark solitude of the campus. Ever persistent of the lights and sounds that could find him, although none ever did.
“Please still be open…” He thought as he reached the side exit of his long awaited dorm. The wolf knelt down to the cold steel door and pulled the handle back. The door softly complied with his movement and opened. He looked down at a small oval shaped stone, previously placed with care to subtly deny the lock from its latch.
“I wonder how Tem and Els are gonna get back into their rooms.” Legoshi thought before the urge to be sick reignited. “Stop thinking about them! You have to get back!”
Quietly, the wolf slipped inside and carefully shut the door and started up the stairs back to his floor. Each step ramping up the desire to end the night. He exited the stairwell and surveyed the hallway.
“Clear!” He thought. He stepped on the slightly warm hardwood floor and felt it weakly moan at the pressure of his weight. He dipped into the washroom and found it to be empty.
As he gazed at the sight of the sinks and toilets basked in florissant, his body reacted almost before he could. Sour bile rushing up to his mouth. His reflexes had denied what they so desperately wanted to do in the past, devoting themselves to his mission. Now they couldn’t be held back.
It was already in his mouth as his knees hit the ground. The thought of trying to maintain the silence passed his mind but was dashed as the vomit hit the water. He gagged and heaved. His eyes welled up with wet tears. Pale yellow clouding the clear water.
“You sick bastard! You deserve to feel this terrible!” He gagged again but nothing else came out. The wolf looked over his shoulder to make sure he was still alone. Saliva slipped from his lip. He weakly restood and flushed away the sick. Ears hanging low, the wolf moved further into the wash room and found the furthest shower.
He pulled his clothes from his body and entered the stall. He cranked the water and soon hot water fell over him. He shuddered and felt his muscles loosen up.
“I don’t have a towel, but I could use my jacket to dry off. Throw them in the wash and no one would be the wiser.” The wolf looked at his feet. The dirt trailing off and leaving a dark trail swirling away down the drain.
The wolf followed through with his plan and eventually stood at his door wearing nothing but an undershirt and boxers. He took a deep breath and carefully turned the knob. He let himself inside the room. His eyes looked around the dark room. He could make out the cots and the various bundled bodies in blankets that occupied them. A soft crack rang out and his eyes snapped up.
“Legoshi?” Is that you?” A groggy voice asked.
“Jack?” Legoshi replied quietly and meekly.
“You okay? Why aren’t you sleeping?”
The wolf hesitated and felt the same slight queasy feeling. “I think I’m sick.” The words carried a sting as he said them.
The Labrador sighed. “Are you alright? Do you need to skip tomorrow?”
The wolf moved to his bunk and crawled inside. “Ugh… no, probably not.” He groaned and got under the covers.
“Okay, I’m going back to bed.” Jack yawned and laid back down.
Legoshi quietly laid down as well, racked with guilt.
These thoughts would have kept him up all night but perhaps luckily he felt his body shutting down. Too much had happened too quickly and sleep was coming over the exhausted canine. A fleeting thought lingered as he closed his eyes.
“What did Jack do to deserve having a brother as rotten and sick as me?” Legoshi looked up at the top of the bunk. Hearing the soft breathing of the Labrador above him.
“Why am I here?”
————
“And that leads us to…” a tall wolf said as he advanced the slide in his presentation. “The first appearance of sexual reproduction appears in our evolutionary lineage around two billion years ago.”
Tem yawned and held his face in his hands. “Ugh Legoshi, will you take notes for me? I’m so tired.” The lanky wolf looked down to his side. The alpaca looked exhausted, not that Legoshi looked any more rested. More difficult however was the fact that he knew why his friend was so exhausted.
“Okay… but I guess I was kinda counting on your test answers for when I took mine.”
Tem laughed under his tired breath. “Legoshi, you're helpless. And besides, you can't just copy your brother's notes. He’s like a top student right? ”
The wolf scribbled about twenty percent of what had just been said. The class had shared a collective giggle at something, but Legoshi was far too distracted to recall.
“Yeah, but Jack is in advanced biology. I don’t even think we use the same book.” The wolf looked at his tired friend and nervously spoke.“Why are you so tired?” The wolf asked. “What are you doing?” He quickly thought. “Don’t pry anymore than you already have.”
The alpaca smiled lightly. “Well, remember what we talked about in club yesterday? About uh me and Els?”
“Oh right…you two and…well.” He said, slowly refusing to make eye contact. “Did it go well?”
“Ughh, it was… incredible. She’s so beautiful and god everything was so hot. We spent so long together. The sun was nearly rising by the time we finished up.”
A shudder ran over the wolf. The details of what he had seen became clearer in his mind. “God you’re such a freak. You could have just ignored it and he wouldn’t have bothered telling you about this. Not like you need any insight. It’s not like you don’t know.”
“You hooked up for that long?”
“Haha well not the whole time. We also talked and kissed a lot too. Honestly I think she might be the one?” The alpaca blushed.
“That’s…really sweet.”
“Excuse me! You back there!” A strong voice bellowed from the floor of the lecture hall. A flurry of faces turned back and set their sights on the wolf. Legoshi’s eyes looked up and felt the glare of a hundred eyes digging into him
“W…what?” Was all that he could reply with.
The class erupted in a moment of laughter causing the wolf to blush.
“Mr. Legoshi…back in the classroom, my classroom. Your fellow students and I were discussing the rise of eukaryotic life and the evolutionary advances of sexual reproduction.”
Legoshi looked down at his fellow wolf that stood before him. Finely pressed grey pants and a navy blue wool sweater that showed of his firm strong shoulders. Darkened Grey fur with white near his muzzle and a pair of gold rimmed reading glasses looked back at him.
“Isakazu. Just what I needed.” He silently groaned and glanced down at his notes. A collection of semi formed half thoughts and a hasty misspellings of words from the presentation.
“Please, enlighten us with what you believe benefits of sexual reproduction are.” The professor replied with a snide smile.
“Fuck!” His eyes darted to Tem’s non-existent notes.
“Sexual…reproduction has the benefits of being…uh…good.” The wolf stuttered, turning redder and redder.
The class erupted in laughter and looked back to Isakazu. The older wolf chuckled lightly as well.
“How insightful. While I cannot in good conscience call your answer incorrect… forgive me and the class if we assume your knowledge of sexual reproduction is rather limited.” He said, causing the class to once again burst out into laughter.
“No one can accuse me of being specist. And limited as your knowledge may be there’s still hope for your right here.” Isakazu gestured to his presentation. “So whatever you have to say. Save it when you’re not on my time… that goes for all of you.” Isakazu pressed his glasses up and raised his remote before advancing the slide.
————
“Damn, you got torn up in there.” Tem said as he started to peel back the plastic lid of a bowl of pasta salad.
“You don’t have to rub it in.” Legoshi said, unwrapping a sandwich as the two sat across from one another. “He deserves to do it, he probably deserves to kill you.” He thought as he spoke.
“I feel bad, I mean I was talking too.” Tem took a bite. “And besides, Isakazu is an asshole. He just gets off on making you feel like a piece of shit.”
“Well a lot of students seem to like him. You know I actually have never heard him say a word to me before today.”
“Well it is a big lecture hall for a required class. I bet most students don’t talk to him.”
“I actually have him in another class.”
“Really?”
“He’s the wolf biology room monitor. So I spend an hour with him and all the other wolves every week. He’s quite popular and talkative with most everyone there. Well aside from me.” The wolf didn’t realize his ears dropped as he retold this.
Tem stopped eating. “Well do you wanna speak to someone like that?”
“I mean, not really.”
“Haha then fuck him. Fuck those other wolves too.” Tem giggled as did Legoshi.
“You’re a good friend Tem.” The wolf replied. The feeling of sorrow was returning. Legoshi looked down at his sandwich which was looking less and less appetizing by the moment.
“I’m sure you’d be just comforting for me if all my fellow alpacas were all assholes.”
Legoshi laughed and put down his sandwich.
“Actually we have two of our fellow club members right here.” A voice called from behind the two of them.
Legoshi turned around to see a deer and a wolf walking up to the pair. Tem looked to the side past the wolf and dropped the fork with a loud clatter.
The female wolf that stood with them was unfamiliar but their attention shifted to the deer who was.
“This is one of our lead actors, Tem. And you're not the only wolf in our school club. This is Legoshi, one of our stagehands.” The deer said.
“Hi Louis, who is this?” Tem said, looking at the female wolf.
The wolf smiled and stood proudly before leaning forward past Legoshi and presenting her well manicured hand.
“I’m Juno, nice to meet you.” The alpaca gently took her hand and shook it. She glanced to her side, meeting the eyes of the silent wolf. Legoshi didn’t realize how close they actually were to one another. “Juno, nice to me you… Legoshi.” She smiled as the name came to her.” Legoshi extended his hand slowly to her and smiled.
“Juno is going to be joining us as our newest member of the drama club.” Louis said. Juno smiled and stood back beside the deer.
“You’re an actress?” Tem replied.
“Mmhhmm, I actually just enrolled here at Cherryton. Before that I was a student at Clairmont Performing Arts Academy.”
“That’s a serious school.” Tem replied shocked. “You left a place like that for our school?”
“Well your school has a well respected drama club. And Clairmont has a lot of talent but a lot of egos. I figure I could have a lot more range and space to grow in a place like this. Plus I was offered a very generous scholarship and so I couldn’t refuse.” The wolf spoke with a smile.
Tem’s phone beeped. He pulled it from his pocket and smiled. “Well nice to meet you Juno, I have to run and meet a friend before lunch ends. But I’ll see you all this evening.”
“Bye Tem. I can’t wait to talk more.”Juno said. Legoshi just weakly waved his friend away and took a bite of the sandwich
“Actually he brings up a good point. Juno you should find lunch before the period is up and we can continue the tour later.” The red deer said looking at his watch.
“Oh good idea. Well uh, I’ll be off. I can’t wait to get to know you better, Legoshi. Just promise to make me look beautiful with your spotlight.” The wolf giggled.
Legoshi looked back at her with a mouth full. Hastily swallowing. “Oh, yeah. Nice meeting you. It’ll be nice not being the only wolf in the drama club.”
Juno blushed from his words and quickly strode away. Legoshi looked over his shoulder and noticed that Louis was still perched over him.
“So… I guess it’s nice that the drama will have such an experienced actress in our cast now.” He replied awkwardly, trying to sense out the motivation for the red deer’s presence.
“Yeah, she’s a very talented dancer and performer. The kind of presence we desperately need.” Louis said.
“So you’ve seen her perform?”
“Obviously, why else would I have asked her to join our program?”
The vibe had shifted and the wolf instantly felt small. “So did you have something to do with her scholarship and transferring to another school?”
“It was a small incentive for what I see as a worthwhile investment. From what I figure supplementing our cast some actual talent might raise our standards and actually get somewhere.” Louis said.
“Should I say something? Is it worth entering this fight? Tem, Els, Sheila, even Bill, hell the entire club shows dedication to this club. Maybe they didn’t meet this deer’s arbitrary standards. But they didn’t deserve to be belittled like this.”
“Is this going to become the norm? You’ll recruit outside actors, will we even be the Cherryton Drama Club after a while?”
“Oh calm down dog, just think of it as a friendly reminder of what’s at stake. I have one more year at this place and when I’m gone, whatever is left of this club will look back on my presence as a golden age that will be fruitlessly sought after.”
Legoshi was silent, he didn’t know what to say. Shock, disgust, intimidation, all these things beat down his ability to speak.
“And we all have a role to play, and whether we can rise to that occasion will remain to be seen. Which reminds me. I’m offering you a chance to rise.” The deer said, putting a hand on his shoulder.
Legoshi shuddered. “How could a smaller herbivore hold so much dominance over me? What did he have in mind for me?”
“What… Do you need.”
“I need your eyes and ears tonight. I’m going to audition Juno for our lead female role in our Adler production.”
“The one in less than two weeks? Why do we have to do it at night?” The wolf replied.
“Well that concerns our current leading lady. As far as Ellen knows, she’s still slated for the role. And it should be obvious why we can’t simply audition Juno during regular club hours.” Louis said matter of factly.
“This just gets worse and worse.” Legoshi opened his mouth. “That’s so unfair. How do you think the club is going to take this?”
“They’ll deal with it in their own ways but I’ve made up my mind. If Juno can’t do it, then I’ll admit my mistake and we’ll continue with our original casting. Best of all no one is none the wiser.”
Legoshi had no real idea how to respond.
“Also, the world hasn’t been known to be exclusively fair, you of all animals should know that better than anyone.”
Legoshi was stunned as the deer removed the grip of his shoulder and turned away.
“And legoshi, dress in dark clothes. We would want anyone seeing you wandering around at night.” The deer walked back into the crowd.
————
“Glad you're feeling better, do you think it was just something you ate?” The Labrador said as he kicked his feet over a drained swimming pool. Legoshi sat at the bottom of it. The waterless deep end, now just a hard shell of concrete and tile.
“Yeah, I guess so…” Legoshi rubbed his eyes and let his face hang low. The sleep he didn’t get the night before taking its toll.
“I take it you don’t want one of these?” Jack fumbled in his bag and pulled out a red bean pastry.
“Uh..do I have to eat it now?” The wolf said, looking up at the dog’s feet.
“I guess not. Go nuts.” The lab said with a chuckle. Jack let the pastry fall through the air and it landed with a plastic crinkle on his lap. The wolf slumped and put it to his side. “Think you’ll be all better before Saturday?”
“Why do you ask?”
“I mean we could try and do something for your birthday for once.” The lab said, kicking up his feet above his brother’s head.
“Oh right, what did we do last time? Didn’t we have a party?” The wolf said, racking his brain.
“If you wanna call watching a movie in the room and sharing a big bag of chips a party, so be it.”
“So are we gonna watch another movie?”
“Legoshi, I was joking!” Jack laughed. The wolf sighed heavily.
“Listen, I know you're not the biggest social butterfly but we should do something. You only turn eighteen once.”
The wolf thought about it for a moment. After the prior night, the idea of doing anything nice or fun for himself felt undeserved.
“I’ll think about it. I promise.”
“Well don’t wait too long. Also you got a couple of things in the mail. A package and a letter from mom and dad. Probably some money.” Jack said, starting to unwrap his bean bun.
Legoshi perked up at the news of the mail. “Really? I might check that out real quick. I have a feeling that the drama club is gonna run really late.” He said standing up.
“Well don’t push yourself too hard and I’ll be done tutoring around seven if you want to get something to eat.” Jack said. Legoshi hopped up, grabbing the ledge of the pool’s edge and lifting himself up.
“Ugh, maybe. The club is going through some changes and now I might have to put in some extra work.”
“Sounds annoying. But don’t let that distract you. Tomorrow I wanna hear some concrete plans about what you want to do for your birthday. Alright?” Jack said with about as stern an expression as he could make.”
“Okay, I promise I will do that.” The wolf said heading to the stairwell off of the roof.
————
The late summer sunlight showed gently over the rooftop garden. Climbing over the boards of a wooden fence. The presence of which could make one forget they were several stories above the ground. A couple trees and a variety of bushes and hedges clung to the edges of the fence, basking in the sun as it hung overhead.
“You’re so close.” A cheerful voice said as she walked alongside the concrete path that met the dirt. Two hands firmly holding the sprayer on a garden hose. She pulled the trigger and sent a quick spray of water on to the growing stalks of large sunflowers.
She readjusted her aim and pulled the trigger again, sending another shower onto the flowers in the back rows. She let off the pressure and placed the sprayer down on the ground. For a rabbit, the sprayer had a heft to it. Admittedly, sometimes she imagined herself a soldier while wielding it, sending flames into a trench. It was the kind of thing one could do to pass time in solitude.
“You’re gonna look so pretty when you bloom. She carcassed the concealed petals of a nearby sunflower. Its stalk, thick and strong and vibrant green. The result of a dedication and care that came solely from the rabbit.
She smiled and stretched her arms over her head. A small bead of sweat rolled down her face. Even though the summer was dwindling away, the labor of maintaining the garden kept the heat coming. She looked over her shoulder and looked at one of the trees and saw a reddish brown pair growing from its branches.
Just seeing the fruit hanging before her made her realize how hungry she really was. She spotted one of the many little stools that she had stored around the garden. She picked it up and planted it beneath the perched pear. She stood up and clasped it in her fingers, testing the firmness of the fruit. The skin felt somewhat stiff but overall ripe enough to eat. She gave it a quick tug, pulling the fruit from the branch and leaving behind the stem.
As she walked back, she put the fruit in her mouth. She held it with her teeth as she picked up the sprayer, dragging the hose along towards its spout. The rabbit shut the valve and fired off remaining water elsewhere. After a rushed attempt to coil up the hose, the rabbit made her way into the garden shed. She walked to the sink and quickly rinsed off her hands.
Finally removing the pear from her mouth, she yawned and stretched her jaw. She pulled out a small plate and knife from a little kitchenette cabinet. Being the club president and sole member had given her the authority to really do whatever she wanted in the clubhouse. She got her own key, could come and go as she pleased and stocked it with several provisions just for herself. One thing that had been in a holdover from another time was the small bed that sat low in the corner. She had wondered what purpose it had served. Maybe it was for some kind of live maintenance man. Maybe a retired hospital bed that the school saw for whatever reason not to throw away. Either way, it was there. The rabbit used it on occasion as well.
With four cut movements, the knife had carved off four meaty pieces of pear, leaving a squared core at the center. She picked it up and chucked it out the doorway into one of the growing plots.
She picked up a slice of pear and slipped it into her mouth. Just as she had suspected, it was slightly under ripe but still tasted pretty good. Also on the desk was her cellphone. Designed for a smaller animal. She tapped the screen and saw she had several notifications from her Beast Book messager.
“Hey Haru, I was wondering if you were down…”
The latest message preview cut off. She unlocked her phone and went through them. Most of them more or less said the same thing. Mostly male animals had sent them. In addition to that, she had two additional messages. Both were angry, one of them had called her a whore, both were sent by females. Lastly a photo message was sent. Haru deleted it before viewing it. She had a decent idea what it was of. She blocked the latter three and put it down
She sighed and ate another piece of pear. She went and laid down on the small bed.
“One more year of this? And then another year what exactly. College I guess, maybe things would be better if I was somewhere I wasn't the social pariah?”
Haru stayed laying on the bed. There wasn’t anything else to do for the day. She easily could have closed her eyes and took a well deserved nap.
“Ding!”
The rabbit's text tone rang out. She reached over with interest. She rarely gave her personal phone number to anyone. A message from a number she didn’t recognize had sent her a message.
“Hello, it’s CM. Was wondering if you’d be available to meet with me this afternoon. I know it’s last minute but I’ll make it worth your time.”
It wasn’t the message that she was expecting. More than that it wasn’t really the message she wanted. She thought about it for a minute.
“I guess I have nothing better to do. It wouldn’t be a huge time commitment.”
The rabbit sighed.
“Hey you, it’s been a minute. I’m game, I can be ready real quick. Kinda the same thing as last time. Same place?”
She sent her message. Almost instantly a response was being typed. The dots gave way to a new message.
“Great, yeah same spot. I’ll send a car to get you. 15 minutes?”
She held her phone in silence. “Your choice.” She thought to herself.
“Yeah. See you soon.” She typed out and sent. She laid back hard. The sound of the creaking bed made her pause. Haru inhaled deeply and popped off the bed. She walked to the plate, took both remaining slices and tossed them into her mouth.
————
Legoshi opened the door of his dorm. He was greeted by the sound of automatic gunfire blasting from the speakers of the little CRTV. Glued to the screen were two of his roommates. A coyote named Durham and a large white sheepdog named Collot. The two sat on the floor mere feet from the tiny split screen.
“Dude you suck at this game.” Durham sneered.
“Fuck you, I’m literally winning.” The Sheepdog barked back. Before the two canines burst out laughing.
“Hey guys.” Legoshi said as he stepped around them.
“Oh hey birthday boy.” Collet said, not turning away from the game.
“Oh is that today?” Durham said.
“Well Saturday.” The wolf replied looking into Jack’s bunk.
“Movie night again?” Collot asked.
“Ehh Jack really wants me to actually make a plan for it.”
“Any ideas for what you wanna do?” Durham asked.
“I guess we could go out and do something in the city but I’m really bad at planning and making decisions.”
“You could buy us some beers. That could make the movie night more enjoyable.” Durham laughed.
“Good luck getting your brother to go along with that.” Collot replied.
“Well… You really think I could get away with doing that?” Legoshi asked.
“Dude you’ve been over six feet tall for the last four years.” The Coyote replied.
“Yeah but the shops have those ID scanners.” Collot said. Durham just rolled his eyes.
“Maybe I’ll treat everyone to dinner. My mom and dad usually give me some cash.
“Aww thanks dude.” Durham said. The sheep dog looked at his friend and gave him a little jab with his elbow.
“That’s nice but don’t you wanna spend your birthday money on something nice for yourself?”
The wolf thought as he rifled through his brother's rather clean bunk. “The last time you did something for yourself it wasn’t so nice was it?” He winced. “I guess I just feel like the best thing for me is to do something good or uh nice for someone else.” Legoshi replied.
“What are you looking for by the way?” Collot asked.
“Jack had some mail for me. Probably the money.”
“Did you check your bed?” Collot asked. The wolf sighed and looked down into his bed. Laying on the messy blanket and sheets was a little red envelope and a medium sized Manila envelope that was bulging. He started with the red letter, peeling it open with his claw. Inside was a very passive blue card that said happy birthday on the front. It was one of the signature themes of his adoptive parents.
He had always felt like we’re worried about misunderstanding or awkward feelings. Part of him appreciated it. They never tried to put him in activities that he clearly would have hated. But at the same time it made their relationship somewhat distant. To Legoshi, it seemed they never wanted any risk in how they interacted. So they were pleasant and very loving but he knew they’d never have a relationship like they would with their birth son. The card was without cringey jokes and very neutral design.
Three ten thousand Yen bills greeted him as he opened the letter. It looked like he would be able to treat his friends to a really nice meal after all. That felt like a good use of his money. He was happy he could tell Jack that he had made a plan. He thought of ramen, maybe curry. Either one would be a good fit. He lifted the bills from the card and saw a handwritten message in black ink. He read.
“Dear our wonderful wolf, we’re happy that we’ve been able to see you grow into a strong and healthy boy. For us, this celebration is not only for your eighteen years on this earth but the ten years that you’ve been a part of our family. While we can’t change the past and we don’t choose to live through the painful hardships of life, you live everyday as someone we are very fortunate to know. Thank you for being such a wonderful brother to Jack. He is so fortunate to have a life with someone so protective and considerate in it. Continue to live every day and everything will work out as it’s meant to. We love you so much and buy something that makes you happy. All our love, mom and dad.”
He looked over the sentences on the page. He had to admit it was more personal than he was expecting. They also had a tendency to express how proud they were of everything he had overcome. Something the wolf had never been extremely fond but not because he found it patronizing. Rather he felt like he hadn’t overcome much of anything.
His interest then turned to the envelope. He hadn’t remembered ordering anything in the recent past. He looked over the address. It was covered in postage and customs stamps.
“What the hell is this?” His eyes went wide as he read the sender address. “The Unification Church of the Rexus. Komodo Island, Indonesia. From GG.”