{"sf1_id":812450,"sf2_id":null,"title":"The Adventures of Peter Gray chapter 6: One Cup o' Whiskey?","author":"Domus Vocis","words":2913,"posted_at":"2015-01-28T00:20:00.000Z","tags":["Adolescent","Adventure","Alcohol","Angst","Anime/manga","Anthro","Anthropomorphic","Canine","Character Development","City","Clean","Comedy","Compassion","Couple","Cub (clean)","Discipline","Drama","Dream","Emotion","Fear","Feline","Friendship","Gay Relationships","Heterosexual","House","Humiliation","Humor","Insanity","Multiple Species","Mustelid","New York","New York City","No-Yiff","Non-anthro","Pain","Plot Development","Public","Raccoon/Fox","Realistic","School","Science Fiction","Series","Short Story","SoFurry","St patricks day","Story Series","Teasing","boy","cute","grinning","holidays","innocence","joykill","laugh","paw","teen"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/812450-the-adventures-of-peter-gray-chapter-6-one-cup-o-whiskey","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/812450","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=812450\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"Chapter\n6\nOne Cup\no' Whiskey? \n \n          Spring wasn't here yet, but me nose\nknew the air changed overnight. Less snow appeared on the ground, just some\nslush that ruined me footpaws if I stepped in it. Good thing though was that I\nno longer needed me heavy coat, so I left it for some poor immigrant to have by\nthe docks. When winter came, I'd scavenge a more...warm one than before.\n \n          Meanwhile, it was just one day from\nSt. Patrick's Day, the day of drinking from dusk till dawn. Now that was me kind of holiday!\n \n          \"Come on, Jamie, when are ya coming\noutside?\" I shouted from below. \"Are ya up there?\" I started pacing the steps\nof me human friend's building until I heard something come from the windows.\n \n          \"Peter?\" it was his mother. She\nwhispered to me, \"Will you please be quiet? I nearly have Annabelle sleeping!\"\nFrom the look on her face, she seemed flushed. \n \n          I folded me ears and lowered me\nheadfur. \"Sorry!\" I whispered back with me curled tail. \"Where's Jamie, Mrs.\nLawton? Is he alright?\"\n \n          \"It's Friday, isn't it? Why he's at\nschool, Peter,\" she whispered to me. \"I believe you'll have to wait for another\nhour until he's free.\" She was about to head inside until she paused. \"Why do\nyou need to see him anyways?\"\n \n          \"I just wanna see if he'd like to go\nplay?\"\n \n          \"Oh, alright,\" she said with a\nmotherly smile. Her's reminded me of me mama's in me dreams, but I dismissed it\naway. \"You two be careful then, and tell James that he has to be home by dark\nplease?\"\n \n          I groaned but kept meself from\nfrowning. \"Yes, Mrs. Lawton!\" I replied with me voice low. \"Ya take care now,\nma'am.\" I waved me paw to her and she waved her hand back, then closed the\nwindow whilst I turned to the school. \n \n          By the time me footpaws got to the school,\nme eyes saw James walking out with his book bag and waving good-bye to some\ncubs.\n \n          He saw me. \"Hello Peter!\" James came\nrunning down the steps in a scurry, grasping me outstretched paw and shaking\nit. It took me a moment to realize I've been shaking it for a minute. When I\nlet go, me eyes saw the human raising his eyebrows \"Boy, you're really excited\naren't you?\" \n \n          A smile formed on me muzzle. \"Says a\nhuman boy who's never been to a St. Patrick's festival!\" I said, attempting to\nhide me giddy tail. Before I turned with him, I remembered. \"So where's Lance\nagain?\"\n \n          At that moment, James' eyes widened\nlike he seen a ghost. \"He got detention by Ms. Lesser for getting in a fight\nwith Gavin.\"\n \n          I stared at James and then glanced at one\nof the school's windows. A smile formed across me muzzle. \"That's me boy there!\"\nI laughed, walking beside the human. \"So tell me what exactly Lancie did that I\ncould never do?\"\n \n          While James explained everything, we\nwalked for an hour in the warm air and the cool breeze, passing by gents and\nladies in both fine attire and dirty clothes, laughing the day or quietly\nwalking by. I didn't know why they went drinking; today was the greatest day of\nthe year! People should've been out in the streets partying all day long. \n \n          \"So you're saying Lance stood up for\nme when Gavin was talkin' trash behind me tail?\" I asked in a laugh. James\nlooked to me deadpan. \"And he fought the coyote for me? I paused me voice for a moment, and perked me ears with a grin.\n\"All that for lil' old me, huh? I'm so proud of that lad, yes I am!\" Laughter\nbubble outta me throat and wagged me tail happily. \n \nWe turned a street, and James threw me a\nquizzical look. \"But you don't go to school, so why are you so proud?\" he\nasked.\n \n\"Because James, that 'yote Gavin's been\nspreading rumors of me having fleas for the past month,\" I declared, \"and we\nalls know that me fur's so clean ya could clean a sewer with it!\"\n \nJames shrugged. \"Well I'm not a wolf, so I\nwouldn't know.\"\n \n\"Good point,\" I smiled. \"But if Gavin thinks\nhe can mess with me friends and stroll away scot-free like a schoolgirl, I gots\nsome news for that wolfish wanna-be.\" I pointed me finger in the air. \"By God's\ngrace, I shall avenge him...\" I heard music in the air, and I turned a street\nwith beaming eyes, \"...when I have me first drink of Old Man Holler's whiskey!\" I\ngrabbed James' hand and pulled. \"Come on!\"\n \n          \"Whoa! Wait! Peter!\" \n \n          Here we were; the St. Patrick's Day\ncelebrations. Booze reeked in the air, laughter echoed around the streets while\nrich gents strode by in their carriages with disgust, and the smell of trash\nand Five Points nearby hung like a Christmas tree ornament. There were a dozen\nthings to do, from eating Irish food, listening to Irish music, and even drinking\nIrish whiskey. \n \n          I even spotted two familiars among the\ncrowds, singing to an Irish song. \n \n\"I bare orders from the captain get you ready quick and soon\nFor the pikes must be together by the rising of the moon,\nBy the rising of the moon, by the rising of the moon\nFor the pikes must be together by the rising of the moon!\"\nThe familiar muzzle turned to\nme with a smile.\n\"Peter Gray! Gutentag!\" \n \n          I smiled while shaking the mouse's\npaw. \"Glad to see ya again, Hansel!\" I laughed, then nodded to his companion.\n\"You too, Edward. I hope you're al enjoying yourselves?\" Edward replied by\nsmiling and chinking his glass with Hansel's. In their other paws, they held\nstreet brooms while laughing outside a bar. From how everyone else was having a\ngoodtime, it looked like every gent \n \n          \"Isn't it illegal to drink on the job,\nguys?\" I asked with raised eyebrows. \n \n          They simply curled their tails and\nsmiled. \"Not when you've been out like we have!\" Hansel laughed before taking a\nsip of his beer. The mouse's ears then turned down to James. \"And who might\nthis human lad be?\" \n \n          I turned to the human lad beside me. \"This\nis me friend, James,\" I greeted for him. \"James, these are me German friends\nnamed Edward,\" the fox nodded his head, \"and this mouse here is Hansel.\"\n \n          James stared at them for a moment, but\nthen blinked and spoke. \"Glad to meet you both, sirs,\" the boy smiled. \"Happy\nSt. Patrick's Day.\"\n \n          All of a sudden, a crashing noise\nnearby startled us and me eyes glanced to see a raccoon howling in pain and\nlaughter from a broken chair. \"Same to you, kid,\" Hansel choked out laughter\nfrom it. \"Anyways, what are ya doing here, Peter? You trying to get drunk?\"\n \nI shook me muzzle in a grin. \"Have you seen\nOld Man Holler?\"\n \n          Edward shrugged, then pointed down the\nroad with perked ears. \"What Edward here is saying is that Holler went that way\nranting like a madman,\" he laughed with a shake of his small muzzle. \"Now you best\nget going before he knocks himself out.\"\n \n          I laughed. \"Will do!\" \n \n          They went back to singing, and I\ncouldn't help but hum as me tail wagged to its beat. And come tell me Sean\nO'Farrell where the gath'rin is to be. At the...\"\n \n          Me and James went once again on our\njourney for the geezer's whiskey, occasionally passing by peddlers trying to\nsell their own whiskey, green clothes, and even green dye for fur. When James\nasked why, I explained that according to legends of New York City, Old Man\nHoller was a prodigy in moonshining, making whiskey so powerful that it made a\nblind man see for a day and turn any rich and proper gent in New York into a\nmadman. \n \n          \"And you want to have a taste of that\nguy's whiskey?\" James asked. From the way his human face formed, me thoughts\nbelieved he was confused. \"Isn't it a bad idea, Peter?\"\n \n          I shrugged. \"Hey, first time for\neverything, Jamie,\" I laughed. \"And what better time for a cup o' whiskey than\nSt. Patrick's Day?\"\n \n          At last, me eyes spotted the geezer as\nhe carried that jug of his on the other side of the street. Grabbing James'\nhand, we ran across the cobblestones and narrowly missed a cabbie and his\nhorse. \n \n          \"Mr. Holler!\" I shouted, and the old\nwolf turned to me.\n \n          Old Man Holler was an aging wolf\nnearly in his sixties, a relic with auburn eyes and matted fur with a torn worn\nbrown trousers and a dirty white shirt. His muddy and disheveled tail wagged\nalong with his toothless grin. The old geezer didn't even notice the other\nfursons laughing at his debauchery. \n \n          \"'ello there boy!\" he giggled while\nstumbling on his filthy footpaws. \"Me brains is more flooded than the Hudson,\nyes its is!\" He howled with laughter before falling over and laughing like a\nmadman. \"Ouchie me tail!\" He giggled while holding that jug of his.\n \n          I turned to see James covering his\nnose and eyes. \"He smells awful!\" the lad muffled. \"He smells worse than you do\nafter digging through a garbage can!\"\n \n          I shook me muzzle and approached the\nold wolf. \"Well, it looks like you're having a fine day, Old Man Holler?\" I\nasked with a smile and wagging tail. \n \n          I held his jug up. \"Ya bet yer\nhindquarters I'm having a good time!\" He giggled. Behind him, another street\nurchin, a raccoon no older than me, ruffled into the guy's pockets and took a\ndolar bill; Holler didn't even notice yet. \"Ya young lads care for me whiskey?\nIt's the only thing keeping me head awake all day!\" The old wolf grinned and\ncasted out a breath so foul I felt it from an arm's length away.\n \n          I coughed a moment. \"Us? Try your\nwhiskey?\" I gasped pretended. Me eyes turned right and left for any policemen\nnearby. I grinned when none were in me sights. \"Sure!\" I attempted to grab the\nwhiskey, but Holler suddenly pulled the jug back. \n \n          \"Uh uh uh,\" he smiled which clutching\nthe jug close to his chest. \"I'm afraid I don't give it away for free, boy.\"\nHis eyes looked down to me pockets. \"How's about you pay for the fact yous\ndidn't stop that raccoon taking me money?\"\" I widened me eyes; so the geezer\nwasn't dumb after all.\n \n          \"Come on,\" I pleaded deeply. \"Can\nyou...can you at least gimme one cup o' your whiskey? At least one?\" I closed me\npaws together and shook them with insistence. \"Please, kind sir?\"\n \n          The old wolf shook his muzzle. \"No\nsiree,\" He caressed the jug. \"Me paws aren't letting go of this angelic relic\nunless yous can pay me. Maybe one sip for fifty cents?\" As I dug into me pocket,\nhe grabbed me wrist. \"How abouts that fancy pocket watch in yer pocket?\" He\nslightly giggled, and I pulled me wrist away.\n \n          \"Sorry I don't give away me precious\nfamily heirlooms, Holler!\" I growled with a downcast ear. \"Fine!\" I reached\ninto me pockets and pulled two quarters out. \"Here, now can you gimme a sip of\nthat whiskey, Holler?\"\n \n          James nudged me shoulder. \"Forget\nabout it Peter,\" he spoke up. I forgot about him being there and didn't notice\nthe lad crossing his arms. \"Don't you think you'll regret taking a sip of\nwhiskey that strong?\" I glanced at\nJames then to the jug in the wolf's paw.\n \n          Old Man's laughter filled the street,\nyet everyone kept going on like he were a ghost. \"Yer pinky friend's got a\npoint there kid,\" the wolf grinned like a loon. Typical of him to use slurs\nlike that. \"Me whiskey is so powerful that it turned a proper man like\nRockefeller into a lunatic!\" Holler chuckled in coughs, but then placed a\nfinger to his chin. \"Or was it the whiskey that turned me crazy like me?\"\n \n          I paused for a moment and thought it\nover. Ever since I saw a bottle of alcohol in the streets and felt a touch of\nit on me tongue, me taste buds have been overly attracted to the taste. And now\nwith the 'pot-of-gold' in me sights, how could I throw this away like trash?\n \n          \"I'll have one sip, please.\" I asked.\nHoller handed me the jug and struggled to keep it in both me paws. Breathing\nheavily, I tilted the jug to me lips. \n \n          \"Peter, I have a bad feeling about\nthis,\" James wavered. \"Are you sure that you need to do this to prove how-\" \n \nAnd down the liquid candy went, and\neverything went in a blur. I watched in the corner of me eyes as everything\nslowed like an aging record player. A few cabbies drove by with gents and poor,\npedestrians waltzed by either celebrating or on their merry way. Some sang that\nmerry tune 'The Rising of the Moon' while drinking, or humming to another tune\nof St. Patrick's spirit.\n \nIn the mere seconds that the whiskey went\ndown me throat, I swears me eyes spotted the jug in me paws change colors, the\nsky turn night, and even the species of every man and woman change like a\npersonality. I thought I even smelled black smoke in the distance. \n \nBut by the time I felt the whiskey's\nsweetness, I blacked out.\n \n          \"Peter, ya dumb boy. Wake up!\"\n \n          Me eyes jutted open and I felt like\nthe backside of a donkey's arse. \"Ugh,\" I groaned. Me throat felt raspy and it\ntook me a moment to realize where I was.\n \n          I was sitting on a chair, me muzzle\nand headfur wet as a rain shower, and a tall and familiar figure standing in\nfront of me with several others. \"Peter, how dumb are ya?\" the older on spoke.\n\"Peter? Peter, can ya hear me?\"\n \n          I coughed a few times while rubbing me\neyes. I opened them to see a cross Joseph and an equally cross Lance in the\nbackground of the bakery. \n \n          \"Peter Gray, how dumb are you?\" Joseph\nasked, his voice making me head split in two. Still dazed like a lovestruck\nloon, I shrugged. \n \n\"I dunno,\" I groaned. Me tongue felt dry as a\nsummer day, it did. I placed a paw to me forehead. \"Oh God, do I feel awful...\" I\nattempted to stand up, but the noise of the floorboards sounded like a\nstampede.\n \n          I flinched with me covered ears as\nJoseph sighed. \"Consider yourself lucky that James brought ya here yesterday,\nboy,\" Joseph spoke (loudly). \"What were ya thinking about drinking? Don't ya\nhave any standards, boy?\"\n \n\"I don't have standards Joseph; I rent 'em,\"\nI slurred at me joke, but grunted when me tail fell on the floor. \"Yelp!\" I\ncringed to the pain, then realized something particular from earlier. \"Wait a\nminute...Did ya say James brought me here yesterday?\"\nOh God, what did happen?\n \n          Lance chuckled. \"Yep,\" he said with a\nwagging tail, \"and James told me you were more drunk than a sailor on Monday.\"\nHe giggled. \"Man, if the Presser Lesser didn't have me, I would've gone to see\nya make a fool out of yourself.\" He laughed, and I felt like burying me head in\nthe ground.\n \n          \"Will ya stop that, Lancie?\" I pleaded\nin a moan. \"It hurts like 'ell...\" I grabbed meself a nearby newspaper and wiped\nme forehead clean of sweat. I caught the words 'Windsor' and 'fire' in the\npaper, but me brain was too melted to make out what the article was about.\n \n          The door opened in its bell ring, and\nI yelped as a customer slammed the door shut after leaving. \"Will everyone stop making noise, for God's\nsake?!\" I begged. Me ears were hurting more than a woman's slap across the\nmuzzle.\n \n          \"Hmmm...something doesn't sound right,\"\nJoseph make a gaze to me. I knew that look; oh God no! \"Lance, can you close\nthat door properly?\"\n \n          I tried to pounce for the raccoon, but\nhe got to the door and slammed it shut. Loudly. \"Ah!\" I cringed and felt me\neyes water. \"Lancie, just wait until I get me claws on ya.\" He opened and\nclosed it again, and again, and again.\n \n          \"Promise to never drink, Peter Gray?\"\nJoseph asked. \n \n          \"Okay, okay, okay! Stop it!\" I groaned,\nscratching the back of me aching head. \"No more drinking, Joseph. No more\ndrinking, no more drinking!\"\n \n          The aging wolf stared at me with an expressionless look, and then shrugged. \"Okay, then.\"\nFor giggles, Lance slammed the door shut. \n \nAgain.","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/810715-the-adventures-of-peter-gray-chapter-5-kick-the-can.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/823863-the-adventures-of-peter-gray-chapter-7-a-stroll-in-central-park.json"}