{"sf1_id":656983,"sf2_id":null,"title":"On A Balcony","author":"Syndel","words":571,"posted_at":"2014-01-26T05:54:00.000Z","tags":["Cub","Lion","No-Yiff","Short","Tiger"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/656983-on-a-balcony","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/656983","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=656983\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"Just a little flash fiction.","content":"The Tiger's heart leapt in fright as he saw the balcony door\nwide open. Dashing forwards, panicking he cried out, \"Alex!\"\n  The Cheetah cub was\nsitting by the railings, legs dangling through the gaps between the iron bars.\nHe did not look up as the Tiger approached. \nHe was staring out onto the darkened city, the tower blocks down in the\nsuburbs looking like blocky hills in the darkness.\n  \"Thank god,\" the\nTiger whispered, \"What do you think you're doing, scaring me like that?! What\nare you doing out here.\"\n  \"Don't be mad,\" the\nCheetah cub said, his head held low.\n  The Tiger breathed a\nheavy sigh. \"No... no, I'm not mad. Just... what are you doing, young one?\"\n  \"I was just watching\nthe cars go by...\" he said, quietly.\n  The Tiger paused,\nholding his tongue as he studied the cub. The spotty coat of the Cheetah was\nalmost invisible in the blackness, as if the darkness of the city beyond was\nready to swallow him up. He stepped forwards slowly, coming to sit next to the\nCheetah, looking upon his face, lit from below, like an angel staring down into\nhell.\n  \"I don't like\nmovies,\" the cub said without warning.\n  \"W-what?\" the Tiger\nsaid, incredulously. The cub had been laughing along with him earlier when they\nhad been watching the film - some action flick, something with a predictable\nplot and slap-stick moments. \"Why not?!\" he found himself asking, perhaps more\naccusatory than he had meant to. He had actually enjoyed it, for once, even\nthough it had been aimed more towards the young cub's sensibilities.\n  \"They always end.\"\nThe Cheetah cub said, sadly, raising his button nose and staring up into the\nstarry sky.\n  The Tiger was\nmomentarily stunned, unsure of what to say, instead just following the cub's\ngaze in awe. He hadn't been expecting this. \"Alex...\" he said quietly.\n  \"It always ends,\nevery time. I'm sick of endings. I just want them to stop,\" Alex said,\nstubbornly raising his voice.\n  The Tiger didn't\nknow what to say. He was unprepared - so woefully unprepared. He stared at the\nyoung, defiant cub. \"...it's cold out here,\" he mumbled, shivering.\n  \"Yes,\" Alex said,\nhis voice fading in an instant, like the flame of a candle in the breeze. \"It\nis.\" The young Cheetah cub leant over, pulling his feet up as his head came to\nrest in the lap of the Tiger. He stared up, seeing right through the concerned\nface of the Tiger, up and up with his great black eyes. \"A story that always\nends,\" he whispered.\n  The Tiger tore his\nglance bitterly from the cub. There was too much pain for him to deal with\nthere. \"Not always, dear, sweet Alex,\" he whispered. \"Not always.\" The city\nseemed to shimmer as he spoke again, tears welling in his eyes. \"Sometimes an\nending is just the beginning of a new chapter.\"\n  The cub was still.\nThe Tiger blinked to clear his eyes, and looked down to see the cub asleep,\nhead buried in his furry legs. Carefully he swept an enormous paw beneath the\nsmall bundle of fur, lifting him up as he stood. Cradling the child, he sighed\nand stepped back inside, a soft \"Chu-nk\" behind him as the door to the balcony\nclosed.\n  \"Too many dark\nnights. Far too many.\""}