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Friday April 4, 2008

6:38pm

"Happy birthday to you!"

The Spriggs' dining room became dim as the candles were extinguished, and a small applause sounded about the table. Patricia gave her husband a short kiss as she the chocolate cake aside, its candles--three-inch yellow wax digits of 4 and 3, exhaling twin trails of smoke curls. The cake sat beside a small pile of gift-wrapped boxes and paper bags.

"Thanks, hon," grunted Roger, and he glanced around the dining room.

Seated closest to the birthday dog, Anessa leaned over and hugged her father closely. "Happy birthday, Dad!"

Tyson grinned and nodded across the table. "Yeah. Happy birthday, Dad."

Truly, the meal was a special one--its significance marked by Bella's presence.

Bella was a prototypical case of the apple not falling far from the tree. Her stature, her all-black coat and her combative nature were clearly inherited from her mother. As a young pup, Bella had done hardly a thing without kicking and screaming. In elementary school her contentious nature and penchant for name-calling had summoned her annoyed mother to perpetual parent-teacher meetings. Now a sophomore at Sandy Varsity High, Bella had numbed her parents to her love of late nights and alcohol.

But for her father's birthday, the sixteen-year-old shepherd slouched back in the chair beside Tyson and gave her own, surprisingly-genuine, "Happy birthday, Dad." She had even forgone her typical attire: exposing neither midriff nor cleavage.

As the cake was divvied up, Tyson was careful to avoid making eye contact with his mother. He knew that any wrong move could set her off, and he repressed a sigh at the particularly-small piece of cake he received.

"Thanks," he grunted.

From the corner of his eye, Tyson could see Bella's smirk, and when he rolled his eyes the smirk grew a little more prominent. For taking the brunt of their mother's moodiness, Tyson made mental note to demand his sister's gratitude. Yeah, this definitely feels more like being back home.

Knowing that he was only hours from Elena's company gave Tyson the strength to make it through the celebration in good spirits.

After the family of five finished their cake, Roger was put in the spotlight to open presents and give stiff, forced reactions. The forty-three-year-old father unveiled an expensive-looking wrist watch from Bella; a blue Indianapolis Colts jersey from Tyson, gift cards and a do-it-yourself book from Anessa; then a nice set of dress clothes, a leather wallet and a twelve-pack of beer from his wife.

Roger hugged his daughters, kissed his wife and gave his son a quick pat on the shoulder before the family dragged themselves to the TV room.

* * *

11:15pm

"So, you're still leaving tomorrow?"

Caught on his first step out of the TV room, Tyson stopped and looked back to his mother. It was just past eleven, a reasonable time to hit the hay in hopes of hitting the road early tomorrow. "Yeah, I mean, I promised I would."

Patricia's eyes narrowed. "Maybe next time you should check your calendar before you make plans. I'm going to assume you didn't forget your father'sbirthday."

Tyson knew better than to admit that he had. "Yeah, I know. It kinda came up last minute." He hoped that his mother wouldn't press him too much on his story and was entirely surprised when she didn't.

His mother gave a nod--neither understanding nor accepting. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

And with that, Tyson ducked out of the room to ready himself for bed. Thank god that's over with.

* * *

Saturday April 5, 2008

10:14am

Cool air drifted over the black pads of Tyson's paws. He looked out over the lanes of I-60, but that sight quickly bored him. He turned his gaze left, towards Elena's relaxed figure, and a smile spread across his face.

The fox had the steering wheel of the Civic loose betwixt black paws. Her face was smart and alert, and her cascading copper locks were a beautiful contrast of autumn against a background of budding spring.

"Tired?" asked Elena, glancing from the road for just a second.

"Nope," Tyson chirped.

"You've just been quiet this morning." The fox's eyes slipped back to the road ahead of her. "A lot on your mind?"

Tyson rocked his head amicably and shrugged. "Eh, not really--just glad to be with ya."

Elena smiled and shook her head.

Sweetwater was a sixty-mile shot east from Elliotsville, a touristy little stretch of road with an official population of two thousand but always more on hand. Stores selling knickknacks and the small-town eateries straddled the town's paved double-yellow straightaway. Dozens of cars were jammed into angular parking slots along the street, and the sidewalks were alive with people of all age and breed. Tyson and Elena--wandering arm in arm between novelty shops with short wooden bodies and faux stone columns out front, were quickly absorbed by the crowd.

They browsed stores of used goods, crafting supplies and books, the fox picking out goodies here and there.

Elena was crouched at a row of used books in one such store when Tyson's phone vibrated and he flipped it open absentmindedly. His eyes went wide as they scanned the new message. His heart skipped a beat.

"have fun with ur girlfriend? moms pissed"

The text was from Bella.

"Oh, shit," swore Tyson, and Elena glanced up.

"Everything alright?"

Tyson turned the phone towards the fox and watched her recoil slighlty.

"So, that's your sister?"

"My older one, yeah. Well--the middle child." Tyson stared at the message again.

"Does she really know?" asked Elena.

The young shepherd realized that there was no way his sister could know.She has to be fucking with me

He quickly punched "nothing new lol" into a text message and pocketed the phone.

"I don't thinkso," said Tyson. "I haven't mentioned it to anybody."

Elena cocked her head and smiled sweetly. "She must have just had a lucky guess."

Laughing at the sick coincidence, Tyson told himself that his girlfriend was right. The fox leaned over and pushed a short kiss on the side of his muzzle just as the cellphone made its presence known again. Tyson decided to ignore the buzzing phone and cursed his sister for putting him on edge.

"You're not bored here--are you?" inquired Elena, her eyes back on the faded paperback titles.

"Nah. I actually used to go to the library a lot, but I really don't read much anymore outside of school stuff."

"You should," said the fox, raising her brow. "And I'm not just saying that as your teacher."

Tyson shrugged. "I suppose." His phone vibrated again. "I'll go pick out a book and turn my phone off--let me know if you find anything good."

Moving to an unpopulated row of shelves, Tyson checked his phone once more and breathed a sigh of relief. Bella made no further mention of girlfriends, and Tyson knew that his sister would never tiptoe around such a ripe, dramatic issue. He killed his phone and realized that he had ended up in the historical and non-fiction section. "A book, huh?"

* * *

12:15pm

A plastic bag full of books dangled from Tyson's left arm, and Elena loosely clung to his right while they shuffled past more storefronts and considered their next stop.

"I don't wanna feel like I'm dragging you around," Elena said, giving her companion a stern look.

Grinning, Tyson swore that he didn't feel dragged about. "I'll just say if I see something good," he promised.

The shock brought about by Bella's messages had subsided. His spirits were soaring once more. It was looking to be a beautiful afternoon. Tyson playfully pulled at Elena's arm and had the great urge to give her a kiss, but he held himself back.

Elena gave her boyfriend's arm a tug in return. "Well, I'll do the same."

But as they walked along the sidewalks, the two canines found themselves interested more in the people than the shopping. They looked on sympathetically when a kitten toppled over on the sidewalk and cried 'til she was pacified with a tall, rainbow-striped lolly, and they traversed horror and humor when a giggling squirrel nearly ran into traffic--saved from the bumper of a Chevy Tahoe by a ram who grabbed her shoulders.

"Wow. Look at them_,"_ Elena whispered a short while later.

Tyson followed his girlfriend's gaze and spotted a pair of pronghorn at an adjacent corner. The buck and doe were finely dressed and serious looking, exuding a noble air.

"Purebred and proud for sure," Tyson remarked in a low voice.

Tyson came from a purebred lineage himself, but, as time went, less and less people were concerned with the once-traditional standard of purity--though there were still those who fiercely championed the practice of maintaining breed standards.

Watching the pronghorn couple, another one of the little thoughts which had been floating around Tyson's head surfaced. "Can I ask ya something?"

"Can we get ice cream?"

"Huh?" Tyson glanced at the building they had arrived at. Unlike the other shops with their bare wood exteriors this one was the pink of watermelon flesh. Black, looping cursive spelled "Super Freeze" across a long oval sign. "Oh! Sure," he laughed. "Sounds good to me."

Elena, in an innocent tone, inquired, "You mean that wasn't what you were going to ask?"

"Not quite." Nevertheless, the grinning shepherd pulled a door to the ice cream shop open, and the canine couple entered together.

They found it refreshing after the busy shops and Sweetwater sidewalks, with only Patti Page melancholily singing for an ex-lover and a couple whispering at a corner table to be heard. There was no line to order. Elena told an old buck--whose curling horns spoke volumes of his pedigree, that they needed some time to figure out their order.

"Well, don't keep me waiting," prodded Elena, turning back to her date.

"I was wondering what's in your family, besides fox."

"Grizzly: my dad."

Tyson inspected the wide muzzle and broad-shouldered build of his vulpine--mostly-vulpine, companion and nodded. "Okay," he said, "that makes sense."

"It shows, doesn't it? I'll never have that scrawny-fox body."

"You sure as hell don't need it."

A snorting laugh came from Elena's nose, and she shook her head. "Okay, now that's enough--Ice cream." And with that, she decisively fixed her eyes on a menu of styles and toppings.

The canines carried on their conversation of breed politics over ice cream, easing into lighter topics as they ventured back to the crowded sidewalks and fresh air.

* * *

7:04pm

When they struck out for home Elena and Tyson drove straight into a blinding sunset. Both canines were tired, and the car remained quiet for much of the drive. Tyson wore a thoughtful frown as open fields and bundles of leafless tress slid across his window.

The words "I love you" kept reverberating in his mind.

They weren't words that he had often said: never to the girls he'd gone out with in high school, never to any of his friends, and he was pretty sure those words hadn't come up in conversation with his parents in years.

Still, he couldn't get the words out of his mind.

Tyson waited until they had stopped in the gravel of Elena's driveway, until the fox had unfastened her seat belt, before he looked hard into her eyes and spoke.

"Hey--"

A teasing glint lit the fox's eyes as she turned. "Hmmm?"

Nerves pushed Tyson forward. He put a soft kiss on Elena's lips and kept his head close to hers. He stared into those beautiful golden-yellow eyes.

"I love you."

Silence hung within the car for several seconds.

"Ty--"

Tyson didn't like the fox's hesitant tone.

"You really are sweet."

Shit.

"I like you. I like you a lot, and this is really fun--but for now, Ty, I need it to stay this way."

Leaning back in his seat, Tyson pondered the response. He wasn't really sure what it meant. "Fun, so--"

Elena appeared guilty. "So, I want us to keep going out, doing fun things like this. I'm really enjoying it, Ty. You've made me feel great, but listen, I've been through a long marriage and a bad divorce. Give me a little more time."

Bad divorce?

Tyson could only nod. He felt like the bridge he had ventured out on was collapsing.

"I'm sorry, Ty. Don't feel bad. You've been--you are great, and I do really like you." Elena shifted in her seat to lean over the center console and kissed the shepherd's muzzle.

"Okay," Tyson agreed, although he still wasn't quite sure what he was agreeing to. All he could determine was that their relationship remained intact, but his own feelings were maybe a little stronger than the fox's. It stung.

The shepherd undid his seat belt. "Sorry if I made things weird," he said, forcing a casual tone.

"You didn't, Ty. I'm the one making it weird. I had a lot of fun today."

"Me too," Tyson said with a nod, "and just let me know if there's anything you need to talk about. I'm here for you."

The fox embraced the shepherd and slipped her tongue into his mouth. Once Tyson regained his composure, he worked his arms around the fox's shoulders.

To Tyson, the kiss tasted of urgency.