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It was a normal day for him as he sat on his deck. He had no reason to cherish it any more then the ones before. He looked down upon the valley, golden from mid-fall leaves, as he sipped his coffee.

It was 5:30, half an hour before work. He planned to stop by Russel's on his way there. He slid the door open as he peered into the golden-lit living room. He looked at this room every day, it was nothing special to him. He grabbed his keys as he walked through the living room and towards the door. As he opened it he looked at the worn handle, years of use turning it from a false-brass color to its true silver. He got in his car and started his morning drive, remembering to make the stop at his friend's.

His mind often wandered as he drove. Often he wandered to times gone by, good or bad. This time his mind wandered to Russel, his close friend for so long. He wondered why he had asked him to stop by; he hadn't spoken to him for a while.

His mind was brought back to driving as he approached a rail crossing, watching as a train slowly went by. The hyena conductor glanced at him as he passed, for the first and probably only time in their lives. As the train reached its end, the gates lifted up and allowed him to continue his route.

He pulled into Russel's driveway and looked at the large willow in the front yard as he approached the door. He rang the bell and Russel answered with a smile on his face.

"Hey man, come in." They both sat down at the counter in the kitchen. "I was worried about you, Andy," Russel started. "I haven't heard from you for a while, so I wanted you to come by so I could see how you were doing. I would have come over myself but my sister has been working late for the past few weeks, and I can't exactly drive."

It had been two years since the accident; it left Russel unable to walk without crutches. Andy still blamed himself, even though he knew he couldn't have stopped it.

"Yeah, I can understand. I have been fine, just not really felt like talking," said Andy in an almost monotone voice. Russel's face changed from his previously happy expression.

"I know this time of year for you is tough, but I know you can get through it." Andy's emotion stayed unchanged.

"Thanks, it means a lot coming from you."

Andy looked at the oven clock, it read 5:45AM. "I better head to work now, thanks for asking me to stop by." Russel grabbed his crutches to follow Andy to the door.

"You know you can stop by any time if you need someone to talk to, I know what you've been through." Russel waved goodbye from the door as Andy got into his car, balancing on his crutches.

Andy drove through the gate at work; he has worked as an ISP field tech for years now. Every day he does the same thing; it becomes numbing. He punches in and goes over to look at the open tickets. From behind the central desk a voice called out.

"Delores called again, says she is sure that the kids in her neighborhood are using her wireless and wants someone to change the password." Andy sighed.

"Thanks, Sandy. I will head out there as soon as I can." Andy grabbed his gear and went outside towards the truck yard. He went over to an available truck and opened the door. Before getting into it he pulled the seat all the way back in an attempt to make enough room to sit down.

Andy had been called to Delores' multiple times, he knew the route by heart.

He arrived at the house; it was at the end of a road mostly populated by abandoned houses. As he exited the truck he could see her sitting on the porch. She opened the door to let him in, looking him up and down.

"I never will understand how a big tiger like you ended up with a job like this," she said, shutting and locking the door behind them. She was a small old raccoon who lived alone and had no family. Andy felt sad for her; he felt he was one of her few visitors. He looked around her cluttered little house and carefully walked through the living room. He accidentally knocked down a small knickknack. Delores' stare snapped to him.

"You big klutz! Can't you walk without knocking things down?" He carefully picked the small porcelain figure up and placed it back on top of the pile.

He finally made it to the computer without knocking anything else down. He pushed the chair back as far as he could, still barely making enough room for him to sit down.

"I know it's those kids," Delores snapped, "they keep using my wireless." Andy looked over at her.

"So you want the password changed?"

"Yes, change it to this," said Delores as she handed Andy a piece of paper. He looked at the piece of paper and entered the password into the computer.

"That should be it," he said, getting up from the desk.

"Thank you, now those kids will have to steal someone else's wireless," Delores said as she stood behind him. As he walked through the crowded living room, he knocked down a lamp perched on a small end-table.

"Now look what you have done!" exclaimed Delores. Andy picked up the smooth porcelain lamp and set it back onto the table.

"You know how hard it is for me to go without knocking something over here," said Andy sarcastically, almost with a smile on his face. Delores glared at him unforgivingly. As he headed for the truck Delores watched him, waiting for him to leave so she could lock the door and return to her life.

The rest of his day was uneventful; the same calls, slightly varied. 6:30PM comes almost quickly, but not quick enough. He put his gear back into his locker and clocked out.

"Bye, Andy!" Sandy yelled as Andy walked out the door. Andy didn't reply, but it didn't bother her; he hadn't replied for a while.

Andy's trip back home was the same as the trip to work; his mind drifted to other subjects.

After pulling into his driveway, Andy unlocked the door and walked into the house. He took off his work clothes and headed to bed; he fell asleep to the thoughts of his wandering mind. He expected to wake up the next morning and repeat the same old ritual he had been doing for so long; he had no reason not to.

---

The next morning Andy woke up and started his day like he always would.

He walked into the bathroom and stared into the mirror. He was a tiger, muscular in build. He always said he was six-foot, even though his actual height was an inch short of that. His face looked tired, not that any sleep could fix it.

Andy made himself coffee, barely putting any thought into the task as he completed it. He put on his work uniform, grabbed a mug of coffee, and sat on the deck to enjoy the early morning sun before work.

He never watched the sun in the past; he never saw anything special about it.

At 6:30 he headed to work, taking the same route he had been taking for years.

He got to work and clocked in. He looked at the open tickets and took one of them.

Sandy quietly watched as he went through the office. She wished Andy would treat her like more than a coworker; she used to be more than that.

He went to the truck yard and took a truck to go out and start his day.

Around 1:00PM Andy got a text on his phone. He pulled it out of his pocket and read it.

I think you should come back here, it's important. -Sandy.

He wasn't sure what to think about the text, but he knew Sandy wouldn't say something like that unless she meant it. He started driving back, wondering what could be wrong.

Andy walked into the building and navigated his way to Sandy's desk. Her eyes met him with a concerned look as he entered the room.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Her attention was immediately drawn to something behind him. He turned around to see two officers standing behind him.

"Andrew Bradford?" asked the smaller of the two officers.

"Yeah, what's going on?" asked Andy, visibly worried at this point.

"You are going to have to come with us. We have a few questions for you." He turned around and looked at Sandy. Her look gave no answers, just concern.

He rode in the back of the cruiser to the police station. Nobody talked during the ride; the air was tense.

When they got to the station the officers escorted Andy into the building. They took him into an interrogation room; Andy knew this couldn't be good.

A detective sat down across from him, flipped open a folder, and started reading.

"Andrew Bradford, age 34. Born and raised right here in PA." Andy nodded, confirming his identity. "Do you know this woman?" the detective asked as he slid a small photo across the table. Andy looked at the photo. He immediately recognized the old raccoon in the photo; it was Delores.

"Yeah, I know her. I have been called to her place multiple times on service calls. Why?" Andy said sliding the photo back to the detective.

"She was found beaten to death in her home yesterday. Most of her valuables had been taken," said the detective, sliding the photo back into the folder.

"I'm a suspect?" Andy asked as concern started to grow on his face. The detective sighed as he started to talk.

"We found your prints on several items in the home. It wouldn't mean anything, as you have a legitimate reason for them being there, but it was what we found them on that concerns us." The detective slid another photo over. It was of a lamp, stained with blood. "This was the murder weapon. We found your prints on it," said the detective.

Andy stared at the photo.

"I was at the house yesterday on a service call. While I was there I knocked that lamp over. My prints must have gotten there when I picked it back up," Andy said sliding the photo back. The detective placed the photo back into the folder and started talking again.

"Would you mind if we searched your property then?"

Andy looked at the detective, the question caught him off guard. "Sure, I don't know what you plan to find though." The detective almost looked surprised at Andy's answer.

"I think we're done here. Just make sure you stay in town or notify us if you-"

The detective was cut off as an officer entered the room. "Excuse us a moment," the detective said, leaving the room with the officer. A few minutes went by as Andy waited alone in the room. The buzz of the lights left him unable to hear their conversation outside the room. They reentered the room; this time the detective's look was different. The officer approached Andy from behind.

"Andrew Bradford," the Detective started, "you are under arrest for the murder of Delores Catalinas." Andy's heart sunk, he felt like time stopped. Before he could fully comprehend what was going on, the officer had put the cuffs onto his hands. The officer, a large rhino, was even bigger than Andy. He pulled Andy towards the door while reading him his rights. The detective watched quietly as Andy was led out of the room.