The GPS interrupts me with a new direction, which leads me to a little trailer off the beaten path. I really hope I'm in the right place...
Trotting up to the entrance with the delivery box in hoof, I give a couple knocks and suddenly all kinds of baying, barking, and yelling can be heard inside. I prepare to set the package on the porch and run back to the car before anyone sees me, but before I could move an old jaded wolf with a shotgun in paw had already opened the door.
"Eh, what are you doing here?" he asks, in a rough tone.
"Here to deliver a package." I said, calmly and formally: just like I had practiced. However, I was visibly shaking. Hopefully the wolf thought I just did that because I was cold.
"I didn't order an- SHIELA! WE GOTTA PACKAGE COME'N SEE."
I flinched at the sound of the wolf's oddly timed yell, as another elderly wolf, I assumed who was Sheila, came to the door.
She adjusted her bifocal glasses and eyed me all over. "Eeeeeeeeeeehhhhh..." she grunted.
"Whats in it?" she said. It sounded like she had a stuffy nose.
"W-w-ell uhh," I stuttered. "Label says its from Alexandra Martin..."
"Alex-An-DRA?" yelled the old lady. "Give it to me! My daughter has purchased me a gift for the first time in years! Scram, deer. Or I'll let the kids out on you, already got what I need now."
I quickly handed her the package as several younger wolves snarled in the back of the trailer. I dashed back to my truck as fast as I could, but tried not to look scared.
The "Reindeer Delivery Service" started back in the days of old when animals hated other species of animals, and when eating each other wasn't a big deal. Lots of big and dominant predators found out that deer were actually great at delivering supplies, especially in the cold, due to their thick winter coats. Around Yuletide, deer would help deliver offerings of peace to the other animal's villages, aaaand sometimes the deer themselves were the gifts, so that feasts could be had...
Over time, as people realized that eating other people is bad, the tradition mildly shifted from "we do this because we would eat you otherwise" to "it's 'your' choice to pick this job and you're a deer, but it's not actually your choice because you're a deer."
None of this helped with my driving. I was starting to get furious! It felt unfair! Why should I be ten times more likely to get a certain job cause I'm a deer?
Perhaps I was misremembering anti-carnivore propaganda I had heard before?
Perhaps I was just making the tradition's origins up as a way to justify my anger with this job and with how crappy things had been going this month?
My dad passed away on the 4th, my TV was fried on the 8th and I had to get it replaced... On the 15th and 16th I lost power from a terrible ice storm that also froze 3 people in the area to death... Now what? Today's the 23rd, so I only have 8 days left in this awful month... And only 42 until I can take a vacation to go back home... well, that is if I can even get enough money. And I'm sure I won't. I'll probably live in my dad's house until I starve.
I noticed a young raccoon and a crocodile walking along the road up ahead. I hit the brakes, only for the car to start sliding-- I turned the wheels but the momentum of the car kept it moving forward. Not even 3 seconds had passed since I had noticed the two children, for perspective of the time. I certainly wasn't going to let myself kill someone two days before Christmas, even on accident.
I floored it, and the car managed to gain traction at the right second, driving straight in compliance with the previously turned tires. The truck went straight off the road and into a deep ditch, toppling over on its side. Glass shattered, metal crumbled, and I suddenly felt like a lifeless puppet for the short duration of the crash.
I weakly pulled myself from the wreckage, dizzy and covered in bruises. My first thought was not about my health, but the fact that I'm definitely getting fired for this.
The kids stood at the top of road, looking down at me with fear. "Are you okay!?" yelled the croc.
"Yeah, I'm... fine," I said with a voice crack, as I ignored the vicious cuts on the side of my nose. The windshield had been busted and it looked like a few trees had impaled the cargo section of the car, but since it was 2 A.M., it was too dark to tell how bad the damage was.
I crawled out of the sideways vehicle, and up to the kids. They were absolutely bewildered by how little I appeared to care about myself at that moment.
"Walk on the right side of the road next time... The heck are you kids even doing out here?" I mumbled, as I took out my phone to call some help. The cuts on my face were bleeding bad and I probably needed stitches... I dialed the emergency number with a sigh.
The phone hummed.
I better not get in too much trouble for this... My life's already bad enough.
.....
"Bakery!" shouted Holly.
"Mmmhmm, local bakeries are the best." I replied.
"What do they do?" she asked, curiously.
I gave her a snarky comment to hide the surprise. "They bake things, of course."
"What?"
"You'll see."
I pushed open the door, the door bell rung, and the smells of the baked goods got even stronger. Even Holly lifted her nose to the air to smell; there was now a stoic yet excited look on her face.
"Welcome!" said an elderly fox from behind the counter. "Anything you're interested in?"
"French bread?" I asked quickly in response.
"Ah yes, and it's very fresh! You're just in time sir. These baguettes are right from the oven! I'm preparing many batches for Christmas. Our goods are very popular around the Jamaalidays."
I thanked the fox and set 4 gems on the counter as he handed me the bread loaf, wrapped in recycled paper. I could already feel how warm it was through the cover.
"Have a good day sir, and also... who's this?" The fox said as he glanced over to Holly.
"I am Holly," she said, quickly and softly with a smile.
"Ah, Holly! I like your coat. It fits you perfectly."
"Thank you," she replied. "You've always been a nice person."
The fox seemed to look away, as if to assess his past. It was almost like he doubted his own actions because he had never been complimented like that before... And if he had never met Holly before, how would she know that? He wondered all the same things as I did.
We sat down at a booth, which was one of only two in the establishment. I opened the bag, took off a bread piece for Holly, and gently set it in her paws. She definitely enjoyed it, and ate it happily; because fresh bread is always the best!
A question popped into my head that I've been waiting to ask for a while, though I still wasn't sure if it was the right time to ask. "Why'd you go away when Lucky came over?"
Holly waited until her mouth was no longer full to speak... Or maybe perhaps she was trying to simplify her answer to me. "Lucky was not safe."
I felt the inside of my chest droop suddenly. "What?"
"Lucky was not safe," said Holly again, with the exact same tone and speed as before.
"Why wasn't she safe?"
"No."
"Huh?"
"I can't talk. I mean, I won't..."
We both remained silent as we ate the bread. The whole building felt even more silent; no one else was in sight, not even the fox. I felt like I had hurt Holly in some way by reminding her of something; like I shouldn't have mentioned anything at all. But then, I could tell Holly had more questions for me.
"Wild?" asked Holly.
"Huh?"
"What is wild?"
"Well, things that aren't in towns and stuff. Like, out there in the forest, in the snow... Sometimes crazy animals live out there and they'll hurt people, cause they're, uhh, bad..."
I tried my best to explain, although it's hard to explain things to someone who barely has a grasp of language in general.
"Am I bad?"
"No."
"But you said."
"I never said that! I would never say that!"
"I can tell you thought it.""Thinking and saying aren't the same!"
"They are to me."
"Not to normal people..."
There was a short pause. Ok. Holly has been reading my mind, hasn't she?
"So why did you think I was wild?" asked Holly.
"Your fur was a bit messy. It was my fault for judging you."
"Judging?"
"You know, when you think things of people before you know them."
Holly took another piece of bread on her own. "Do you really know me?"
"You tell me," I answered.
Aisybell
Level 60
The Kind-Hearted
Joined: 12/9/2016
Threads: 11
Posts: 355
Posted: 4/7/2017 at 12:26 AM
Post #12
An hour and a car ride later and we were at the park. Holly and I sat at a frosty bench, that made your rear wet from the melted frost. I ignored the awkward cold spot on the bottom of my pants as I looked over to a frozen pond. I could barely believe it, there were some people out!
A family of koalas was ice skating, and it sure looked like fun. Holly also seemed very interested; her nose pointed to the eldest koala who was impressing his wife, son, and daughter with skating tricks. Every time he did a twirl, Holly wagged her tail and the koala family cheered.
Without second thought, I jumped up from the bench and dashed onto the ice. It was hard to keep my balance, and difficult to move forward since I had no skates, but I was desperate to join the fun. Holly bounded over to "skate," too.
Soon, nearly everyone (though not many were outside today) in the park was watching. It was a small pond, and certainly not one that a lot of people could fit on, but the space that was available was taken immediately. Soon the pond was populated by happy skaters and surrounded by even more happy spectating folks. All it took was a bravely awkward move from me.
One animal, a kangaroo, probably about my age, began to hum "Let it Snow" somewhat loudly. It was even more awkward than the skating at first... But his tune was perfect. Some began to sing along, others stared quietly before they reluctantly decided to join in... Eventually, it was just me and Holly left to sing in the whole entire park.
At the same exact moment, we both sang the final chorus together with the rest. Holly had a pitch perfect voice, absolutely stunning and much more deserving of praise.
"Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!"
I intentionally sang softer so her voice could be heard over mine.
The song had finally ended, and everyone began to clap and cheer, unlike anything I've ever seen happen in this cold town. I assumed the Jamaaliday "magic" has made people more accepting. Perhaps it was the "magic" surrounding Holly, to say the least.
The bell tower struck noon. The chimes could barely be heard over the laughing and friendly conversation at the park.
...
Later in the afternoon I got two cups of hot cocoa, one decently sized for each of us. Holly's had a chocolate substitute, and while it was tough explaining to her why she couldn't have real chocolate, she eventually understood that I was only trying to keep her healthy, and more importantly, safe.
Holly got to see everything there was. All the monuments for the animals who founded the city. The library. Every single park in the town.
Some of these things I saw for the first time myself, and it made me feel like I was in an entirely different city. The people that were out actually seemed happy with their lives. Before I met Holly I only saw the bad in people, and when I looked at the world differently, it felt like it looked at me differently, too. Maybe it was just the new park I was at, I dunno.
I turned my head and saw a poor goat, with dark magenta fur, begging for food. His clothes were stinky, stained, and worn, and his cabbie hat looked like it had been passed down for a few generations already. Clearly he wasn't trying to scam; he asked for food rather than money, so you could trust that he actually was having a hard time.
The penguin near the bridge motioned for the goat to go away, and then continued to eat his kelp sandwich right in the goat's face. Now that's the first lack of Jamaaliday spirit I'd seen all day...
A few animals murmured to one another; I couldn't tell if they were going to call the moderators on the goat, or if they were discussing if they should lend him some food instead.
Holly slid a bag of pretzels from her pocket-- the extra snack I had gotten her at the bakery-- and then she trotted over to the goat silently. She tapped him on the back, handed it to him, then left without a word. The goat was speechless; he was so surprised he couldn't even muster a simple thank you.
Holly padded back over to me with a smile... The air felt breezy and crisp.
She walked right past me, away towards a snowy hill. She motioned for me to follow, so I galloped toward her and asked no further questions.
Holly startled me by falling face first into the snow. At first I thought she had a heart attack, but a few seconds later I realized she was just trying to make a snow angel by mimicking the other people in the park. Sadly, she wasn't doing a great job. Holly was just making a giant indention in the snow while flopping around like a fish, getting her fur cold and wet.
"You're doing it wrong. Watch," I said softly, while holding back laughter.
I laid down in the snow on my back, and swept my front legs back and forth across the snow to make "wings," then I moved my back legs in the same motion to create the "gown." Holly watched carefully for a few seconds, then plopped back into the fresh snow and created a snow angel to match mine. Only difference was that hers had no stubby antlers...
So Holly poked one of her nails in the snow and drew two 'antlers' on her snow angel.
...
I noticed a formally dressed polar bear out of the corner of my eye. He was pacing back and forth through the park, appearing to keep the same exact distance from us with each passing. His suit was clean and crisp, and his fur was combed nicely; clearly he was not a regular visitor to the park and had a more bureaucratic duty than other citizens. Maybe an extremely official duty... and I had something to do with it.
Holly's ears perked up, but she didn't make eye contact with him. I could tell she was intentionally avoiding his glare. "Do we need to leave?" I asked, softly.
"Yes."
I remained calm while I trotted over to the street, with Holly close, and the bear still in view. I waved for a taxi and luckily enough, there was one coming right as we made it to the sidewalk.
"Where do we need to go?" I said.
"Somewhere safe," replied Holly, just before I opened the back doors of the cab.
We got in the back of the cab where we were met with the driver, a hawk.
"Where to?"
I shuffled around in my seat nervously. My heart rate was surprisingly high... I mumbled Lucky's address then handed the correct amount of gems-- that was quite a lot-- to the hawk. I barely had anything left now.
"Going to see family for the holidays?" asked the hawk. "Nah," I muttered. "Just a friend."
"Mhm," the hawk nodded in acknowledgement.
As we cruised away from the park, I noticed a caribou setting a package on the top of a stairway, near a doorstep. I kind of felt bad for her, having to work all day on Christmas eve and then even on Christmas day. I also started remembering my first day on the job.
......
"Danny Fursenfield, huh?" asked a moose.
"Yea," I replied, meekly yet coolly. I was worried that the elk, who were sorting the packages to the right of me, were going to start judging and calling me names if I didn't behave perfectly enough.
"You're the new guy," the moose continued. "Another whitetail, too. At least you're not a caribou. We've had enough of them..."
"What's wrong with caribou?" I asked, nervously. I started to get worried that the other workers were going to be even more bigoted than I normally am.
"They've got big antlers and they shed them around this time. Last year during the Jamaaliday potluck, Fred's antlers popped off and landed right in the fruitcake!"
It sounded like an amusing story to me, so I let out a chuckle, but the moose was still genuinely dismayed and furious about it.
"My mother made that cake just two days before she had a heart attack. It was the last fruitcake she ever made."
My chest sunk. I apologized for the laugh and then pretended to be paying more attention to the boxes than the moose. While gently moving over a fragile container, I looked over to the poor rhino on the other side. He seemed in a bad mood, and he had a right to be. He gets paid less then I do...
My internal monologue was interrupted by the sound of the moose grabbing the fragile container and tossing it as hard as he could into a bin, causing me to jump like a wimp. The other packages, which hadn't been marked fragile, were then lightly and gently placed next to the crushed "fragile" box.
I sighed.
.....
The car next to ours backfired, quickly ending my flashback. I glanced over at Holly who seemed to be deeply worried, and also bothered by the situation.
"Don't worry Holly, we'll be there soon."
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