{"sf1_id":881599,"sf2_id":null,"title":"The Adventures of Peter Gray Chapter 17: The 4th of July","author":"Domus Vocis","words":2969,"posted_at":"2015-07-01T15:21:00.000Z","tags":["1899","Abuse","Adolescent","Adult","Adventure","Anthro","Anthropomorphic","Arctic Fox","Black Wolfess","Canine","Central Park","Character Development","City","Comedy","Cub (clean)","Emotion","Feline","Fireworks","Fox","Friendship","Hindpaw","Human","Hybrid","Illustrated","Independence DayCompassion","Mild Drama","Multiple Species","New York","New York City","Newsies","Party","Plot Development","Public","Raccoon","Raccoon/Fox","Rules","Series","SoFurry","Story Progression","Story Series","Street urchin","Teasing","Timber Wolf","adorable","alternate reality","bird","black wolf","boy","gray wolf","grinning","hug","innocence"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/881599-the-adventures-of-peter-gray-chapter-17-the-4th-of-july","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/881599","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=881599\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"Chapter\n17\nThe\n4th of July\n          \"Happy 4th\nof July to everyone!\" a newsie I knew nearby shouted with a swishing tail.\n\"Happy Independence Day to all humans and fursons everywhere! Oh 'ello Peter!\"\n          I nodded to\nBromley and tossed a coin to the young German Shepherd cub before being tossed\na rolled up newspaper for trade. \"Good luck with the rest, Bromley!\" I said\nover the other customers. \"And Happy Independence Day to ya too!\"\n          As I walked\ndown the cobblestone path and soaked in the warmth of the sun, Central Park's\ntrees sprung to life amid the shallow winds and happy chatter of fursons. I\nmade sure to tuck the newspaper in me back pocket before smiling at the\nfestivities present. Fursons of every kind celebrated Independence Day in\ndozens of ways, some with sparkler sticks in their paws, mothers scolding their\ncubs to be careful less they want their fur to catch fire, or some already\nsetting up for a tasty picnic. \n          Me, I was\njust eyeing the sights, and keeping sight for unguarded food.\n          I checked me\nfather's pocket watch to see it was half past noon, and everyone was\ncelebrating high and mighty as angels outside. Seeing a human vendor next to me\nselling It was a few minutes later that I spotted a couple wolf kits playing in\nSheep Meadow with sparklers, and a certain fox and raccoon hybrid a few yard to\nme right looking at me with a wry smile on his muzzle.\n          \"Peter\nGray!\" Kid Blink laughed while lunging at me fer a hug. \"Tis great to sees ya\nin de Park!\" The goody hybrid lemme go and smiled a toothy grin at me while\nadjusting his eyepatch. \n\"Blink!\" I laughed with a\nflickering tail. \"I haven't seen ay in months!\" I walked alongside him,\nsmelling the scent of newspapers and sweat tracing his skin. \n\"I ams on me break day since\nit tis de Fourth of July,\" Blink smiled halfheartedly, \"and thought dis woulda\nbeen a gud time to taka stroll 'round de Park.\" He turned down to me with a\ncurious glance. \"How's youse been? I heard frem Bromley 'bout yer...little\nscuffle wit de local bully a month's back. Didja really youse glue on de 'yote?\"\nI folded me ears, slightly\nashamed that me and Gavin's little predicament went all the way across the\nbridge and into Brooklyn. \"Yeah we've handled our quarrel since the midnight\nhowl, Blink.\" I turned to the newsie and widened me eyes when I noticed his\nright leg with a slight limp. \"What happened to yer leg anyway? Ya look hurt.\"\nBlink perked his creamy ears\nup and glanced down to his leg. \"Ah it nuddin',\" he chuckled while catching up\nto me. \"De boss back 'ome is mad dat I didn't sell 'nuff papers last week.\" The\nhybrid shook his muzzle. \"He only nicked mes leg, and gave me anudder chance.\"\nI lowly growled and nudged his\nshoulder. \"Ya shoulda fought back fer yer American rights Blinkie!\" I barked to\nhim. The hybrid widened his eyes at me actions and lifted his paws up. \"I'm\nserious. Ya don't deserve that.\"\n\"I knows dat, Peter, but dis\nis de time when de bosses don't listens to ya,\" he sighed with folded ears. \"Dem\nfat tycoons care onlys about how's deep der pockets go, and sees de strikes as\npoppycock.\" He turned 'round fer something, and whispered in me ear, \"I should\ntells ya dat me and de odder newsies are planning sumdin', like a union. A\nNewsies Union.\"\nI laughed while we passed Bethesda\nTerrace, trying me best to ignore the stare of passing gentlewolves. \"Amen to\nthat Blink!\" I hollered with wolfish glee. \"Screw the newspapers, screw the fat\ngentlewolves, and screw the coppers even if they try to stop ya from striking.\"\n\"Says de guy who runs frem\ncoppers like the cooties?\" Blink chuckled skeptically. \n          \"Eh, don't\nworry about me, Blink,\" I spoke, playfully nudging the older fox/raccoon's\nshoulder.  \"Those lackies couldn't catch\nme if I presented meself like a bordello gal.\" I turned to him and smiled\ncheekily at his raised eyebrow.\n          \"Relax\nyerself Peter,\" Blink said after a moment. \"It's Independence Day. Go\ncelebrates yerself with yer friens.\" He patted me shoulder and wagged his tail,\nthen twitched his left ear toward our right. I followed his gaze and saw four\nfigures approaching us. \n          \"Peter!\"\nJames waved. Alongside him were Mr. Lawton, his wife Laura, and little\nAnnabelle in summer clothes. I noticed Mr. Lawton carrying something under his\nleft arm, but James' arms got in the way. \"Peter!\" \n\"Ah, is dat yer family, Peter?\"\nBlink teased me. \n          I folded me\nears and walked over to them with me fox/raccoon friend. \"'ello James!\" I\ngrinned with a wag of me tail. I quickly walked over to him and gave the human\nfriend of mine a pawshake, then turned to Laura and Mr. Lawton with a friendly\nsmile. \"Happy Fourth of July to ya all!\"\n          \"Happy July\n4th to you too Peter!\" James chuckled with a pat on me right\nshoulder. \"We've been looking for you all over this place.\"\n          I raised one\nof me twitching ears in confusion, but a certain smell from Laura's basket\ncaught me nose like a greasy fishing hook, and it didn't take me long to know\nthe smells anywhere. \nI stepped closer and sniffed a\nfew times. \"Hmmm, is that freshly baked bread from Joseph's Bakery and\ncheesecake tipped with strawberries and a small collection of...fruits?\" I asked\nwith interest. I clutched me stomach as it was rumbling, and offered a innocent\nlook. \"May I join ya?\" \n\"July doggy! July doggy! July\ndoggy!\" Annabelle chirped. \"Doggy!\"\n          Laura\nsmiled. \"Of course you can Peter, as long as my wife made enough for later?\"\nMr. Lawton smiled happily as Laura playfully smacked his shoulder. \"And who is\nthe furson behind you, Peter? A friend of yours?\"\n          Blink behind\nme cleared his throat and offered a paw. \"De name's Kid Blink,\" he said with a\nquick tip of his newsie cap. Blink then blinked a few times and curled his\nfox/raccoon tail. \"May I comes as well? I gots nuddin' to do.\"\n          \"Anyone\nwho's a friend of Peter's is a friend of ours sonny,\" Mr. Lawton said. \"Now\nlet's go get our spot before the best spots are taken. Come on.\n          Blink and I\nfollowed the heavenly smell Laura carried in her basket, almost the point me\nand the hybrid were elbowing each other for first dibs on the cheesecake. It\nwas a few minutes later that we found ourselves in a part of Central Park\nwithout trees 'round. Kits and human kids played in every direction me eyes\ncould see. Some played with sparklers in their paws and hands, others tossed\nhorseshoes, a couple ate fantastic-smelling food with their families, and the\nrest simply watched and chatted with glee. \n          For a\nmoment, I was about to look for Lancie and his family, but remembered him\nsaying they planned to celebrate July 4th at his aunt's house, which\ncoulda explained why the idea of hiding from me friend's parents kinda lingered\na bit. Oh well. \n          \"Where are\nwe gonna go?\" James asked his parents. \"I can't see any spots for the\nfireworks.\" We initially noticed Annabelle looking surprised by his statement.\n\"Don't worry Annabelle, there will be\nfireworks tonight.\" That calmed her down quickly, for now.\n          I felt me\nstomach rumble, me belly more empty and less hollow than a church on Monday,\nwhen I spotted a spot. \"Ova there!\" Blink beat me to the punch, and we finally sat\ndown.\n          The grass\nwas very soft, but no better than the delicious cheesecake we got ourselves\nafter the wonderful feast. Me stomach felt like a stone afterward, but it\ndidn't stop me from having a cheesy and sweet bite. Blink seemed hesitant at\nfirst, but wolfed his piece of cheesecake down like a wolf. As he sat down\nthere next to me with a toothy grin, we marveled in the rest of the foods\npresent in the center of the picnic blanket. Around the basket, James was to me\nright eating a piece of bread, Mr. Lawton across from me favoring a piece of\nturkey, and Laura kneeled down with Annabelle giddily stuffing sweets into her mouth.\n\n          \"Fourth of\nJuly! Fourth of July for everyone!\" a cheetah in vendor's attire handed out\nminiature US flags to everyone for a penny each. Mr. Lawton happily bought some\nfor all of us, even though Blink insisted he could pay for himself. \n          \"So Peter\nhere tells me you're a newsie right?\" Mr. Lawton asked curiously. \"I used to\nsell newspapers back when I was your age, but it never required me to wear an\neyepatch.\"\n          Blink's ears\nfolded as Mr. Lawton chuckled. \"I lost its in an accident, tanks ya very much,\nMista Lawton,\" he said bluntly, then chuckled when it became the human father's\nturn to look uncomfortable. \"Ah relaxes yerself, and tanks fer de invite fer de\npicnic.\" He ate the last of the chicken and rubbed his belly. \"Yer mudda's a\ngud cook Jamie.\"\n          \"Why thank\nyou Blink dear,\" Laura smiled while taking a napkin and wiping Annabelle's\ncheesy cheeks. The little girl seemed flustered, but Laura patted her head\nlightly afterward. \"Ever since we left Buffalo all those months ago, life in\nNew York has been so darn hectic. There's been moving, leaving friends and\nfamily behind, but...\" Laura glanced down at the wide-eyes Annabelle and lifted\nher chin up with a smile, \"it is good to know I have family here as well.\"\n          I caught\noutta the corner of me eye the sight of Blink's foxy tail wagging behind his\nback, and playfully nudged the hybrid with me elbow. \"What about me?\" I asked\ncheekily. \"After all, it's also me birthday today.\"\n          Mr. Lawton's\neye brows were raised. \"Really?\" he asked. \n          I grinned.\n\"Cross me heart and hope to die Mr. Lawton,\" I crossed me heart and caught\nBlink mimicking me like a bad mime. \"Hey, it's true Blink.\" James and Laura\ngiggled after whispering something to each other. \"What's so funny?\"\n          James\ngrinned and explained, \"If today's your birthday, then I guess Christmas Day is\nyour...wedding, right?\" James and Blink giggled like ninnies as I folded me ears.\n          \"I'm not lying\nJames. I swear like a drunk,\" I lowly spoke. \"Mr. and Mrs. Lawton, today I am\nturning thirteen.\" I sighed, ignoring James as if he were invisible. \"I\nwas found at me orphanage's doorstep on at 1:00 am on July 4th, and\nthe nuns back there didn't know me real birthday, so they decided to have the\nFourth of July be me birthday from now on.\" \n          \"If that's\ntrue, then why didn't you mention it to me and Laura earlier Peter?\" Mr. Lawton\nasked with human curiosity. \nLaura turned to stare at\nJames, and he quickly straightened himself out before sitting properly\ncross-legged. Even blink stopped laughing and listened in on us. \"Thank you\ndear,\" she said to her son, then asked an addition of, \"Is it because we\nwouldn't believe you?\"\nI curled me tail and sighed.\n\"Nah, it ain't because of that,\" I waved them offa me. \"I just...I ain't that\nmuch of a birthday wolf. 'cause me birthday's on Independence Day, ya can guess\npeople are more interested in the fireworks.\" It was that, and I never had a\nbirthday celebration before. I got a small chocolate bar from Hansel and Edward\nthrough the window whenever they came through me home town, but the nuns ever\nacknowledged me pleas for a cake. \n          It didn't\nmatter what they believed, because it was true. As of today since this morning,\nI was turning thirteen years old. \n          Suddenly, I\nwas surprised to find Mr. Lawton reaching over to pet my headfur, his\nscratching in between me ears causing me tail to wag and a warm feeling to glow\nin me chest like an oil lamp. \n          \"Happy\nBirthday then Peter,\" he said with a kind smile. \n          \"Thank you\nMr. Lawton,\" I said in response. Why did me tail not stop wagging, even when\nMr. Lawton sat down next to his wife?\n          The human\nacross from me shifted himself on the picnic blanket and smiled with a wave of\nhis hand. \"Oh please Peter, call me Henry,\" Henry said. \n          It wasn't\nlong before dusk came, and the sun started to sink over the trees and\nsmoke-spewing buildings in the distance. Trumpets and bands blared the music of\npatriots in the air, and a small parade of soldiers in uniform went through\nCentral Park. Children sang, families laughed, and food was eaten every minute.\n\nIt wasn't long either when\nsparklers were brought out more, causing every cub in sight to ask their\nparents for more sparklers to wave around with their miniature flags.\n          After the\npicnic was over, me and Blink got us some sparklers outta the change in our\npockets, and got one for Annabelle as well.\n          \"Sparkly!\nSparkly!\" she giggled with it in her feeble hands. Laura happily picked her up\nand walked with the human girl as she tumbled along the grass. Compared to the\ndarkened park, Annabelle was a firefly in the sea of blackness, along with\nlamps families brought. \n          After my\nlast one burned out, me legs were starting to get tired and the mosquitoes\nstarted kissing me skin. I eventually sat down on the picnic blanket and\nswatted them away. I spotted Henry kissing Laura with Annabelle playing with\nJames and their flickering sparklers like swords. God, the sight of so many twinkling\nlights made me feel like I were in the dark me entire life.\n          \"Ah, whata\nnight,\" Blink curled his tail onto his lap as he sat next to me. The hybrid\nfurson was breathing deeply, like he ran from here to New Jersey. \"I 'aven't\nhad dis much fun since de day I were born.\" Blink chuckled lightly nd nudged me\nleft shoulder. \n          I smiled and\nwagged me tail with delight at the night. \"Yeah...\" I replied. In me opinion, I\ncouldn't wait for the-\n          \"Can you\nbelieve the sight Mary?\" a gentlewolf whispered behind me back, even though I\ncould hear him like a harp. \"A wolf furson sitting with a family of pinkies. Ugh, the sight.\"\n          \"And a\nfilthy newsie hybrid at that,\" she\nreplied in a 'low' whisper.\n          Me ears\nperked at said trash. I rapidly turned me muzzle around to see an aging\nblack-furred gentlewolf and his lady sitting a couple of yards far from me.\nThey were dressed respectively, but that was the least I coulda said about\ntheir grimaces at me. \n          \"Excuse me?\"\nI asked with a kind smile. \"I thought I misheard ya, sir?\"\n          The old\ngentlewolf's eyes were auburn yellow, and staring t m intently as I shifted me\nnervous tail. \"Why do you associate yourself with them, the pinkies and the\nnewsboys?\" he asked, turning not only to the Lawtons in the dark, then at me\nfriend next to me. \n          I heard a\nlowly growl come from Blink's throat, and widened me eyes at Blink showing his\ncanines. \"Hey dere!\" he said crossly. \"Whatcha talking about me friens like\ndat, mista?\" \n          \"I wasn't\nreferring to you, young boy,' the gentlewolf said, then looked back to me. \"I\nwas speaking to him, newsboy.\" He spoke the last word with a hint of venom,\nmaking me grab a hold of Blink's left paw to keep him from having us spend the\nnight in a cell.\n          I let go and\nlifted me paws, shrugging nonchalantly. \"Hey, the only prejudice I have is for\npeople who think the world revolves around their hindquarters,\" I grinned at\nthe aging gentlewolf without a care in the city. \"People like you for example.\"\n          His wife\ngasped, and whispered something to the gentlewolf. \"How rude,\" he huffed.\n\"Lovely, let's get away from these brats.\" She nodded to him, and they stood up\nfrom their picnic blanket. \"Bring the basket too, or else they'll steal\neverything.\n          Ouch. \"With\nour clothes, whatcha expecting? A schoolboy?\" I asked as the gentlewolf and his\nlady got up, probably to get away from us. \n          As soon as\nthey were outta earshot, me and Blink turned to each other with expressionless\nlooks on our muzzles. For a minute, we were silent, the next we howled with\nlaughter till our stomachs hurt. \n          \"Oh good\nLord, didja see de look on his muzzle Peter?!\" Blink fell over on his tail and\nrolled onto his back. \"I was sure he'd hit ya wita rulla me frien.\"\n          Suddenly, it\nhappened. An explosion of color lit the night sky. It was soon followed by\nanother, and an entire rainbow covered the darkness amid trumpets and drums.\n          A minute\nlater, the Lawtons returned to the picnic basket and we sat watching the entire\nthing. We oohed and ahhed as rockets flew above the park and lit New York City\nlike a candle in the world. Everyone cheered at the music and the spectacle\nwith wonder. Annabelle curled up with an exhausted and mesmerized James, Henry\nhugged Laura in his buff arms, Blink stared with his single eye at the\nfireworks like a little cub, and I sat in between by meself. \n          However,\nunder the rainbows and flares and bombs bursting in the air, under the red the\nwhites and the blues lighting Central Park, I knew one thing. \n          I wasn't alone.","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/875358-the-adventures-of-peter-gray-chapter-16-fun-in-the-sun.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/887764-the-adventures-of-peter-gray-chapter-18-kid-blink-on-the-brooklyn-bridge.json"}