THE PARK
Book 1
Chapter 6- Small World
Chapter 6- Small World
To Felix, it seemed that Saturdays used to be about fun and games. Going outside to play, riding down to the park with a ball and a good book. Getting caught up in a game of cops and robbers with the other boys, then spending the rest of the afternoon playing baseball in the field across from Harvey High. Riding back home tuckered out, eating a good supper and going straight to bed with the comforting knowledge that church started an hour later than his school day.
Now, Saturday was the day Felix relaxed as much as possible. He spent his week doing a pile of homework, running back and forth across a field after a football, and silently tolerating the chatter and drama his schoolmates provided for one another. Felix needed a day to unwind, shovel down a big breakfast, kick back on his bed with a good detective novel and enjoy a lazy afternoon.
And he planned to do just that, as soon as he'd finished this errand for Mom. She'd run out of eggs while making breakfast. Felix had offered to ride down to the store for her and quickly pick some up. Mom had been delighted.
"And while you're at it," she'd said, "pick up some salami and cheese, and a couple pounds of flour. We're running low."
Now here Felix was at the general store, lugging around a large sack of flour and a couple dozen eggs, wishing he'd thought to grab Mom's shopping tote on the way out. He didn't have enough hands for the rest of the shopping list. Maybe, he mused while skimming over the cheeses, he could manage a block of cheese in one arm and a roll of salami in the other? Perhaps he could convince Mr. Blackstone to carry the flour to his bicycle.
An upbeat pair of paws came to a stop beside Felix. "Hey there, Hercules. You look like you could use some help."
Felix took one look at the cheerful hyena's teasing smile and smiled right back. "You could say that." He tentatively offered her the eggs.
Sarah eagerly took the eggs and bounced on her heels once. Her short tail wagged. "There. Now you won't risk dropping them."
A soft purr rumbled in Felix's chest. "Are you suggesting I'm clumsy?"
"Pff. Of course not," said Sarah. "But you're less likely to drop them if you're not handling so much at once." She brushed a long lock of loose hair back over her shoulders, with curious brown eyes fixed on her friend. "So, my dad sent me to the bakery to get us some raisin bread, but when I saw you through the window I thought I'd say hi. What's up?"
Felix smacked the bag of flour once. "Breakfast run for Mom. She's making omelets but she only had one egg left after mixing the pancake batter. And, since I was already gonna go get the eggs, she sent me to pick up a few more things." He shrugged the sack of flour to emphasize his point.
Mr. Blackstone stomped up to the counter, brushing his paws down his apron. "Ah! Finally got all that canned salmon out," the wolf sighed, smiling at the teens. "I might have to have a sale. So, how about it, Felix? Does your family have a hankering for some canned fish? Three cans for the price of one."
Felix shook his head. "I'll have enough to carry home as it is. Sorry, Mr. Blackstone."
Sarah raised a handpaw. "I'll take you up on that."
Blackstone clapped his paws together once. "You've got yourself a deal, sweetheart. That's thirty cents. Ten cents a can? You just can't beat prices like that." He grabbed a paper sack and strode back over to the display of cans he'd just completed. "What's your name? I'm not sure we've met."
"I'm Sarah," said the hyena. "I haven't been here but my dad has. We just moved here a few months ago."
"Oh! You're Andre's daughter, right?" Blackstone strode back to the counter, rolling up the sack.
"Yes!"
"I'm sorry, I just didn't make the connection until you mentioned moving. Species dissonance." The wolf chuckled. "I assumed his daughter was a wolf too."
Sarah shrugged and passed him three dimes. "We get that a lot," she said simply.
Blackstone rang her up and dropped the coins into the register bank. "There you go, Miss Sarah. Tell your dad I said hi. And have a great day." He handed her the sack with a friendly grin. She took it with a courteous smile.
The tomcat raised his free paw. "Hey, Mr. Blackstone. I'll just need a loaf of salami and one of those medium-sized blocks of cheddar. I don't wanna keep Mom waiting."
"Of course." Blackstone chortled to himself again, bending down to access the cheese display. "Your family sure goes through a lot of salami."
Felix shrugged with a sheepish half smile. "To be fair, it's mostly me."
"Oh yes. Your mother told me you like to have a salami sandwich after football practice." He plopped the cheese onto the counter and thumped away to find the salami.
"With mustard." Felix smiled lightly. "Can't beat it."
,.~*~.,
Blackstone placed all of Felix's items in one large sack, taking care to place the eggs on top. Sarah walked with Felix out to his bike. "Gotta keep an eye on those eggs," she explained chipperly.
Felix chortled and carefully set the bag in the center of his bicycle basket. "No sweat, Sarah. It's not like I haven't done egg runs for my mom before."
"Of course. But, since I'm here..." The hyena shrugged.
Felix hopped onto his bike. "Hey. We should hang out on the weekend properly sometime," he said with a flick of his tail tip.
"Yeah! We should," said Sarah.
"Yeah." Felix smiled gently. "See ya Monday." He was about to kick up the bike stand when he noticed her ears were drooping. The tomcat planted both feet on the ground again, returning his attention to her. "Hey, are you OK?"
Sarah sighed; her smile faded a bit. "I will be. Don't worry about it."
Felix's mouth pursed into a frown. "Hey. You can't just tell me you're not OK and expect me to ride off and forget about it." He stepped back off his bicycle.
Sarah squeaked. "Felix, no. Your mom is waiting for those eggs. I've already brushed it off; don't worry!"
The tomcat flicked his tail dismissively. "Breakfast can wait a few more minutes."
There was silence for a moment while Sarah thought about it. Then the girl sighed. "I'm serious, Felix. I'll be fine. It's just that after the... Jonny incident, I've been a little more... sensitive to some things than usual. It's stupid."
"Oh." Felix rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, if it's any consolation, Mr. Blackstone wasn't being insensitive. He was just surprised."
"I know." Sarah's brow knit. "It's just that... in some places, my dad used to get snubbed because Mom and I were hyenas. Because people assumed we're low-quality customers." Her brow sank even lower. "I didn't mean to think poorly on Mr. Blackstone. The past is just... really hard to let go of sometimes."
"Hey. I get it, believe me," Felix said, sliding his hands into his pants pockets. "There was a little antiques shop that closed up a few years ago. The old lizard that ran the place was a real curmudgeon. He didn't let me or my mom shop there, 'cause she's a fox."
"He didn't let you shop there either? But you're a cat," Sarah declared, a bit bewildered.
"You know how Repute works," Felix said with disgust, shrugging. "I guess he figured I might steal from him."
"You? Steal?" Sarah restrained a snicker, her eyes sparkling. "But you're the ultimate goody two-shoes."
Felix's stomach clenched. If only she knew. He smiled softly, ignoring the intrusive thought. "Yeah, and so's my mom. Reputism makes no sense. And when word got out around town that the guy was snubbing customers based on bad repute, he lost most of his business."
"That's good to hear. Harvey Hollow's a decent place." Sarah beamed and bounced once. "Well, you've got eggs to bring home and I've still got an errand to run." She thumbed over her shoulder. "We should both get going."
"Glad we could chat about it," said Felix, climbing back onto his bicycle.
"Thanks, Felix." She waved goodbye as he pedaled down the street. "Enjoy your breakfast!"
,.~*~.,
Now that Mom had eggs (and a little help from her son), breakfast came quickly. And after the morning's hard work, Felix was eager to finally sit down and eat. His mother had prepared pancakes, french toast, and ham and cheese omelets. Felix got exactly five strips of french toast and exactly three pancakes, which he stacked just the way he wanted. Then he applied a small amount of butter and exactly three short squirts of maple syrup, one for each pancake. In his mind, that was simply the best way to eat pancakes during the school year.
During summer, he wouldn't care so much about diet. But during athletic seasons like football, he made sure to watch his portions, most of all when it came to the sweet and sugary.
Sometimes he hoped that Dad would notice what good care he was taking of himself. But his father remained predictably oblivious: Polite as anyone, with nothing more than a gentle smile and a "good morning" for his son. Felix pushed down the familiar frustration and forked up a bite of omelet.
Mom sat down with her own plate, a relieved smile on her pointed face. "Clive, guess who helped make breakfast possible this morning?"
Dad looked up, and fixed his olive eyes onto his son. "Mm, I see." He smiled softly.
Felix brightened. He was about to reply, but Mom interrupted. "And he got those eggs to me in perfect condition, and in a reasonable amount of time," she bragged, smiling warmly at Felix.
The tomcat set down his fork. "Yeah, and that was even with Sarah talking to me. She was out doing an errand for her dad."
"Sarah?" Dad's smile turned inquisitive. "The hyena girl I've seen you talking to?"
Felix nodded, swiping up a strip of toast. "Yeah. She's my closest friend."
"A girl?" Mom's eyebrows shot upward; her emerald eyes sparkled suggestively. "You've never mentioned you were close friends with a girl!"
So he hadn't. And Dad probably hadn't deemed it noteworthy enough to mention to his wife. At least he'd remembered what Sarah looked like. Then again she was the only hyena at Harvey High. Felix dropped his gaze. "We're just friends, Mom. She doesn't want a boyfriend right now." Gosh, that tone was overly dour; he sounded disappointed. He was disappointed, just... not over Sarah. He chuckled in an attempt to sound less upset.
It didn't work. Mom cooed sympathy. "She might change her mind. You're such a sweet young man. And handsome, too." She patted his neatly-brushed cheek fur.
Felix blushed at the remark, knowing full well how his continued discomfort would be interpreted. He wiped his handpaw down his face, swallowing.
"Tina, you're embarrassing him," purred Dad, cutting his omelet.
"I'm his mother. That's part of my job," Mom chuckled.
"Well, they do seem to get along in class. At least they aren't distracting one another."
"We're only buddies. We pay more attention to class than to each other." Felix hoped that statement would prompt further conversation with Dad.
"That's good." Dad continued to eat his eggs without even looking up. Felix's hope turned sour in his chest. He felt stupid for even trying.
Mom leaned in a little closer to her son. "Do you at least look at her?" she asked, almost teasing. "Is she pretty?"
Felix sighed with an annoyed lash of his tail, then shoved in a big bite of pancake.
Dad chuckled. "Let him eat, honey."
Mom sighed and drew back, shaking her head. "Oh dear. You really are a pill, as the kids say."
The rest of breakfast passed by peacefully, and, thank God, uninterrupted by any further prodding about Sarah. Dad discussed his lesson plans for the next week, Mom discussed her weekend outing, and both of them agreed on the inevitable re-election of President Eisenhower. The conversation was uninteresting to Felix, so he said nothing.
Dad finished breakfast first, just as Felix was a few bites away from finishing his. The black cat stood up, dirty plate in paw, and kissed his wife on the head. "I'm going to grade some essays. Enjoy your outing with the ladies."
"Have a great time with that work, dear," Mom said, in a tone so unmoved it was almost humorous.
Dad rinsed his plate and set it in the sink, silent. Felix helped himself to a couple more pancakes (this time syrup-free), mentally kicking himself. Once again, he'd made poor conversation with his father. Heck, that conversation was just terrible. Mom was gonna think something was wrong. At least, he believed, if he seemed to have a healthy appetite, Mom wouldn't think Felix was upset. After all, why should he be upset? He wasn't a child.
He was sixteen. He was almost an adult, for goodness' sake. He shouldn't be so disappointed if his father didn't spend any time with him, right? He should be OK with that. He was growing up, but Felix couldn't help but feel like he was still a little kid every time he silently begged for Dad's attention and got little to nothing in return. Every attempt he made was pointless, but he still tried. He still held on to hope, despite it all.
How embarrassing.
Dad paused on his way out the kitchen, then turned around. "Felix."
Felix lifted his head at once, both ears forward. "Dad?" His heart began to pound.
Dad smiled with a flick of his tail. "I look forward to reading yours. You've been doing very well on the assignments."
Felix's ears and brain tingled with excitement. Dad thinks I'm doing well! He could barely think, much less form a coherent response. "I... I'm glad. Good." He breathed a soft laugh.
"Keep it up." Dad blinked softly and disappeared. Felix finished breakfast with a smile on his face and a warmth in his chest.
Now, Saturday was the day Felix relaxed as much as possible. He spent his week doing a pile of homework, running back and forth across a field after a football, and silently tolerating the chatter and drama his schoolmates provided for one another. Felix needed a day to unwind, shovel down a big breakfast, kick back on his bed with a good detective novel and enjoy a lazy afternoon.
And he planned to do just that, as soon as he'd finished this errand for Mom. She'd run out of eggs while making breakfast. Felix had offered to ride down to the store for her and quickly pick some up. Mom had been delighted.
"And while you're at it," she'd said, "pick up some salami and cheese, and a couple pounds of flour. We're running low."
Now here Felix was at the general store, lugging around a large sack of flour and a couple dozen eggs, wishing he'd thought to grab Mom's shopping tote on the way out. He didn't have enough hands for the rest of the shopping list. Maybe, he mused while skimming over the cheeses, he could manage a block of cheese in one arm and a roll of salami in the other? Perhaps he could convince Mr. Blackstone to carry the flour to his bicycle.
An upbeat pair of paws came to a stop beside Felix. "Hey there, Hercules. You look like you could use some help."
Felix took one look at the cheerful hyena's teasing smile and smiled right back. "You could say that." He tentatively offered her the eggs.
Sarah eagerly took the eggs and bounced on her heels once. Her short tail wagged. "There. Now you won't risk dropping them."
A soft purr rumbled in Felix's chest. "Are you suggesting I'm clumsy?"
"Pff. Of course not," said Sarah. "But you're less likely to drop them if you're not handling so much at once." She brushed a long lock of loose hair back over her shoulders, with curious brown eyes fixed on her friend. "So, my dad sent me to the bakery to get us some raisin bread, but when I saw you through the window I thought I'd say hi. What's up?"
Felix smacked the bag of flour once. "Breakfast run for Mom. She's making omelets but she only had one egg left after mixing the pancake batter. And, since I was already gonna go get the eggs, she sent me to pick up a few more things." He shrugged the sack of flour to emphasize his point.
Mr. Blackstone stomped up to the counter, brushing his paws down his apron. "Ah! Finally got all that canned salmon out," the wolf sighed, smiling at the teens. "I might have to have a sale. So, how about it, Felix? Does your family have a hankering for some canned fish? Three cans for the price of one."
Felix shook his head. "I'll have enough to carry home as it is. Sorry, Mr. Blackstone."
Sarah raised a handpaw. "I'll take you up on that."
Blackstone clapped his paws together once. "You've got yourself a deal, sweetheart. That's thirty cents. Ten cents a can? You just can't beat prices like that." He grabbed a paper sack and strode back over to the display of cans he'd just completed. "What's your name? I'm not sure we've met."
"I'm Sarah," said the hyena. "I haven't been here but my dad has. We just moved here a few months ago."
"Oh! You're Andre's daughter, right?" Blackstone strode back to the counter, rolling up the sack.
"Yes!"
"I'm sorry, I just didn't make the connection until you mentioned moving. Species dissonance." The wolf chuckled. "I assumed his daughter was a wolf too."
Sarah shrugged and passed him three dimes. "We get that a lot," she said simply.
Blackstone rang her up and dropped the coins into the register bank. "There you go, Miss Sarah. Tell your dad I said hi. And have a great day." He handed her the sack with a friendly grin. She took it with a courteous smile.
The tomcat raised his free paw. "Hey, Mr. Blackstone. I'll just need a loaf of salami and one of those medium-sized blocks of cheddar. I don't wanna keep Mom waiting."
"Of course." Blackstone chortled to himself again, bending down to access the cheese display. "Your family sure goes through a lot of salami."
Felix shrugged with a sheepish half smile. "To be fair, it's mostly me."
"Oh yes. Your mother told me you like to have a salami sandwich after football practice." He plopped the cheese onto the counter and thumped away to find the salami.
"With mustard." Felix smiled lightly. "Can't beat it."
,.~*~.,
Blackstone placed all of Felix's items in one large sack, taking care to place the eggs on top. Sarah walked with Felix out to his bike. "Gotta keep an eye on those eggs," she explained chipperly.
Felix chortled and carefully set the bag in the center of his bicycle basket. "No sweat, Sarah. It's not like I haven't done egg runs for my mom before."
"Of course. But, since I'm here..." The hyena shrugged.
Felix hopped onto his bike. "Hey. We should hang out on the weekend properly sometime," he said with a flick of his tail tip.
"Yeah! We should," said Sarah.
"Yeah." Felix smiled gently. "See ya Monday." He was about to kick up the bike stand when he noticed her ears were drooping. The tomcat planted both feet on the ground again, returning his attention to her. "Hey, are you OK?"
Sarah sighed; her smile faded a bit. "I will be. Don't worry about it."
Felix's mouth pursed into a frown. "Hey. You can't just tell me you're not OK and expect me to ride off and forget about it." He stepped back off his bicycle.
Sarah squeaked. "Felix, no. Your mom is waiting for those eggs. I've already brushed it off; don't worry!"
The tomcat flicked his tail dismissively. "Breakfast can wait a few more minutes."
There was silence for a moment while Sarah thought about it. Then the girl sighed. "I'm serious, Felix. I'll be fine. It's just that after the... Jonny incident, I've been a little more... sensitive to some things than usual. It's stupid."
"Oh." Felix rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, if it's any consolation, Mr. Blackstone wasn't being insensitive. He was just surprised."
"I know." Sarah's brow knit. "It's just that... in some places, my dad used to get snubbed because Mom and I were hyenas. Because people assumed we're low-quality customers." Her brow sank even lower. "I didn't mean to think poorly on Mr. Blackstone. The past is just... really hard to let go of sometimes."
"Hey. I get it, believe me," Felix said, sliding his hands into his pants pockets. "There was a little antiques shop that closed up a few years ago. The old lizard that ran the place was a real curmudgeon. He didn't let me or my mom shop there, 'cause she's a fox."
"He didn't let you shop there either? But you're a cat," Sarah declared, a bit bewildered.
"You know how Repute works," Felix said with disgust, shrugging. "I guess he figured I might steal from him."
"You? Steal?" Sarah restrained a snicker, her eyes sparkling. "But you're the ultimate goody two-shoes."
Felix's stomach clenched. If only she knew. He smiled softly, ignoring the intrusive thought. "Yeah, and so's my mom. Reputism makes no sense. And when word got out around town that the guy was snubbing customers based on bad repute, he lost most of his business."
"That's good to hear. Harvey Hollow's a decent place." Sarah beamed and bounced once. "Well, you've got eggs to bring home and I've still got an errand to run." She thumbed over her shoulder. "We should both get going."
"Glad we could chat about it," said Felix, climbing back onto his bicycle.
"Thanks, Felix." She waved goodbye as he pedaled down the street. "Enjoy your breakfast!"
,.~*~.,
Now that Mom had eggs (and a little help from her son), breakfast came quickly. And after the morning's hard work, Felix was eager to finally sit down and eat. His mother had prepared pancakes, french toast, and ham and cheese omelets. Felix got exactly five strips of french toast and exactly three pancakes, which he stacked just the way he wanted. Then he applied a small amount of butter and exactly three short squirts of maple syrup, one for each pancake. In his mind, that was simply the best way to eat pancakes during the school year.
During summer, he wouldn't care so much about diet. But during athletic seasons like football, he made sure to watch his portions, most of all when it came to the sweet and sugary.
Sometimes he hoped that Dad would notice what good care he was taking of himself. But his father remained predictably oblivious: Polite as anyone, with nothing more than a gentle smile and a "good morning" for his son. Felix pushed down the familiar frustration and forked up a bite of omelet.
Mom sat down with her own plate, a relieved smile on her pointed face. "Clive, guess who helped make breakfast possible this morning?"
Dad looked up, and fixed his olive eyes onto his son. "Mm, I see." He smiled softly.
Felix brightened. He was about to reply, but Mom interrupted. "And he got those eggs to me in perfect condition, and in a reasonable amount of time," she bragged, smiling warmly at Felix.
The tomcat set down his fork. "Yeah, and that was even with Sarah talking to me. She was out doing an errand for her dad."
"Sarah?" Dad's smile turned inquisitive. "The hyena girl I've seen you talking to?"
Felix nodded, swiping up a strip of toast. "Yeah. She's my closest friend."
"A girl?" Mom's eyebrows shot upward; her emerald eyes sparkled suggestively. "You've never mentioned you were close friends with a girl!"
So he hadn't. And Dad probably hadn't deemed it noteworthy enough to mention to his wife. At least he'd remembered what Sarah looked like. Then again she was the only hyena at Harvey High. Felix dropped his gaze. "We're just friends, Mom. She doesn't want a boyfriend right now." Gosh, that tone was overly dour; he sounded disappointed. He was disappointed, just... not over Sarah. He chuckled in an attempt to sound less upset.
It didn't work. Mom cooed sympathy. "She might change her mind. You're such a sweet young man. And handsome, too." She patted his neatly-brushed cheek fur.
Felix blushed at the remark, knowing full well how his continued discomfort would be interpreted. He wiped his handpaw down his face, swallowing.
"Tina, you're embarrassing him," purred Dad, cutting his omelet.
"I'm his mother. That's part of my job," Mom chuckled.
"Well, they do seem to get along in class. At least they aren't distracting one another."
"We're only buddies. We pay more attention to class than to each other." Felix hoped that statement would prompt further conversation with Dad.
"That's good." Dad continued to eat his eggs without even looking up. Felix's hope turned sour in his chest. He felt stupid for even trying.
Mom leaned in a little closer to her son. "Do you at least look at her?" she asked, almost teasing. "Is she pretty?"
Felix sighed with an annoyed lash of his tail, then shoved in a big bite of pancake.
Dad chuckled. "Let him eat, honey."
Mom sighed and drew back, shaking her head. "Oh dear. You really are a pill, as the kids say."
The rest of breakfast passed by peacefully, and, thank God, uninterrupted by any further prodding about Sarah. Dad discussed his lesson plans for the next week, Mom discussed her weekend outing, and both of them agreed on the inevitable re-election of President Eisenhower. The conversation was uninteresting to Felix, so he said nothing.
Dad finished breakfast first, just as Felix was a few bites away from finishing his. The black cat stood up, dirty plate in paw, and kissed his wife on the head. "I'm going to grade some essays. Enjoy your outing with the ladies."
"Have a great time with that work, dear," Mom said, in a tone so unmoved it was almost humorous.
Dad rinsed his plate and set it in the sink, silent. Felix helped himself to a couple more pancakes (this time syrup-free), mentally kicking himself. Once again, he'd made poor conversation with his father. Heck, that conversation was just terrible. Mom was gonna think something was wrong. At least, he believed, if he seemed to have a healthy appetite, Mom wouldn't think Felix was upset. After all, why should he be upset? He wasn't a child.
He was sixteen. He was almost an adult, for goodness' sake. He shouldn't be so disappointed if his father didn't spend any time with him, right? He should be OK with that. He was growing up, but Felix couldn't help but feel like he was still a little kid every time he silently begged for Dad's attention and got little to nothing in return. Every attempt he made was pointless, but he still tried. He still held on to hope, despite it all.
How embarrassing.
Dad paused on his way out the kitchen, then turned around. "Felix."
Felix lifted his head at once, both ears forward. "Dad?" His heart began to pound.
Dad smiled with a flick of his tail. "I look forward to reading yours. You've been doing very well on the assignments."
Felix's ears and brain tingled with excitement. Dad thinks I'm doing well! He could barely think, much less form a coherent response. "I... I'm glad. Good." He breathed a soft laugh.
"Keep it up." Dad blinked softly and disappeared. Felix finished breakfast with a smile on his face and a warmth in his chest.
Next Chapter >
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Chapter 1- Harvey Hollow
Chapter 2- School Days
Chapter 3- Day One
Chapter 4- Friendship 101
Chapter 5- (Don't Take It Personally)
Chapter 6- Small World
Chapter 2- School Days
Chapter 3- Day One
Chapter 4- Friendship 101
Chapter 5- (Don't Take It Personally)
Chapter 6- Small World
Comments
Have a comment? Email it to [email protected] and I will post it here.
Mikky F
Cy, your stories are insanely good. I adore that you've spent a lot of time researching the 1950s and making sure things are accurate as well as making each character feel organic. Felix's relationship with his dad is handled so beautifully. I feel like he's a whole real person. And it's fun to see the home life of these characters. All around good chapter. Ly, girl <3
RadicalRatz
I can't comment on your website right now but I wanted to say I absolutely love your story and can't wait for chapter 7!! :3
Myers J
really loving the story so far! :)