Always Me - Chapter 1
Always Me
Chapter 1 - Happy Birthday to Me
As far back as I can remember, my life has had this way of attracting odd situations. I never try, but stuff just ends up happening to me. I'm not necessarily complaining; it always makes for a good story, but sometimes you just have to wonder 'why me?'
So, let's start out at the beginning, since that is always the best place to begin.
I probably should have known from the start of my strange luck, but I guess it just never really fazed me until my eighth birthday.
It started like most of my other birthdays, lonely and forgotten. I had learned a few years ago that if I wanted a birthday party, I'd have to do it on my own. So I'd start planning a week in advance, saving any baked goods that came my way. I once made a cake from some pita bread wrapped around a dry cookie that was most likely older than I was. That year I found a muffin in the back of the fridge and it lived in a shoe box under the porch for five days hidden from the prying claws of my siblings. It was my pride and joy for the week and I would regularly go to check up on it. Three of my brothers spread a rumor that I had gone feral and had taken a liking to using the back yard as a toilet. I could have defended myself, but it wasn't worth it.
I had my muffin, and no one was going to bring me down.
I had heard stories of the first few kits of our family having real parties on their birthdays but somewhere after the fifth, our parent's stopped caring and those things disappeared. Those were the good days. Of course, since I was number eight in the litter, they were all just stories to me, and knowing my family, they were probably never anything more than that.
But I'm getting off track, so let's get back to what actually happened.
I woke up before everyone else and the image of my muffin popped into my head the second I opened my eyes. As the smile crept across my small muzzle, I lifted my head and looked around. A field of lumps covered in patched-up faded sheets lay before me; their sides rising and falling like a giant quilted ocean with the occasional whale blast from my eldest brother as he choked on his own saliva.
As quietly as I could, I lifted myself off of my matching corrugated, Frigidaire bed set and got onto the balls of my feet. My eyes moved over the squirming masses making sure that my quiet escape was still unnoticed.
As I determined the coast to be clear, I started to slowly stand up when a bright orange blur whacked me in the side of the head. I stumbled over and fell seeing my sister's face getting closer to mine. With some quick maneuvering I managed to catch myself just above my snoring sister's snout. Her heavy breath jostled my threadbare pajama shirt as I quietly sighed and moved like a spider off of the slumbering sibling and balancing back on my feet looking around for my attacker.
I found the flying fist attached to my unconscious jock brother who slept in one of the hammocks hanging around the room. I'm not sure how I had forgotten about him; after all, I had barely survived enough chilly nights living below the slowly leaking dirigible of a fox.
I watched the large orange mass shift in the mesh as his other paw fell and swung to the other side. I'm not sure who gave a toss-and-turner a hanging sleeping arrangement, but my sore face was rather mad at them.
As I rubbed the slowly swelling lump I looked around and plotted my path. The colorful giant slugs pulsed in front of me leaving small cracks of floor between them. I took my first step off the cardboard painfully slowly. I felt the cold cement connect with one of my paw pads and I shivered. A dropped another pad to the ground and whined. With another push of bravery, I connected the rest of my foot to the frigid floor and paused. As I felt my foot slowly ice over, I picked up the other and repeated the whole thing again.
After five minutes, I had moved a whole two feet. My mind was firing rapidly as I determined the best path to take at the fork in the lumpy field. I crept towards the furthest one but as I did, the patch covered mound shifted with a growling snore and rolled onto my foot.
I slapped a paw over my mouth to keep me from yelping. My covered foe was slowly squishing my toes into the floor. The overheated mass emitted another great snarl and a large threatening claw emerged from one of its many folds.
It brainlessly felt around for my leg, tapping itself as it moved closer to me. I tried tugging my foot away, but I wasn't strong enough. The menacing paw moved closer and closer with each tap until it bumped into my shin. Its fingers wrapped around me and yanked. A loud moan erupted from what I assumed was its head as it gave a strong pull and turned. My foot slipped free and the claw released me. I reclaimed my leg and watched the orange appendage return back to the main body.
I sighed a breath of relief and resumed my mission at hand and took a few more steps towards the door. The whistling snores of my brothers and sisters making a howling choir beneath my feet. With each carefully planned step, I got closer and closer to my goal. I could see the crack of sunlight spreading across the floor.
I was so close; only a few more steps and freedom was mine. My feet maneuvered around the corners of blankets and peeping toes, and the memory of my muffin seemed so strong in my head that I could almost smell it. I was almost there; just a few more steps. I counted them down in my head.
Four. I passed a set of ears poking from a purple pillow. I was just too close.
Three. I crept around an outstretched arm. I could barely control myself.
Two. I felt the ankle beneath my toes.
My heart froze inside my chest and I felt every hair on my body stand on end. My breath stopped. My mind raced. And my foot sprang back. I waited there suspended in time for what would happen. I could feel beads of sweat collecting under my fur and every muscle in my body tensed.
I heard a low rumbling start and my stomach turned inside out. From the corner of my eye I saw the mass rise; a large green blob growing even larger by the second. I was telling my body to move and run, but my feet were not responding. The rumbling got louder as the monster stopped. My heart was beating in my chest, and it felt like I was floating over my body; I thought for sure I was going to die.
The green monster stood there, moaning its horrible growl and giving me its death glare with its nonexistent eyes. My legs started to shake as a side of the green goliath shifted and a thick fuzzy arm poked out. It quickly swung forward, and I jumped as it swiped past me.
The paw clasped onto the head of the beast and ripped the fabric skin from its body. The orange and white face that it revealed gazed back with glazed over eyes. The fur twisted and tangled like a horrific halo as the creature bared its teeth and growled.
I stared into the face of the devil herself, in all her smeared eyeliner and jumbled fur glory. Her mouth opened wide as her wild tongue fell down and a horrible moan filled the air. Her maw was impressive and sharp; just large enough to fit around my skull like a vice. I could see deep into her cavernous throat; expecting to witness a flame wisp up as the smell reached my nose. I quickly covered my snout to protect myself from the poisonous fumes and tried to back up but was prevented by another sibling sleeping below. With a loud snap, she closed her mouth and sat staring at me expressionless as a cadaver.
Her unfocused eyes glared back at me as I stood completely motionless. The growling stopped and my heart paused in my chest waiting for what would happen next.
After a minute of her just sitting there I took the risk and waved my paw. There was no reaction. I gently swayed where I stood, but her eyes didn't follow. I gave a more energetic wave of my hand and waited. I took a few cautious steps closer to my frozen sister, waved a paw in front of her face and jumped back.
There was no reaction.
I sighed, and turned around. There was nothing between me and the door now. My ears perked up as I heard a soft creek of floorboards. I turned my head just in time to see the unconscious fox start to fall backwards.
In a moment of fear, I leapt for the door. I heard the loud thud of a body on the floor and everything went to slow motion. My paw grabbed the door handle as I heard the first yell. I turned the brass knob and pulled with all my might.
The door opened, letting in a stream of daylight and I swung around and out. The yelp had awakened the room and the calm field of lumps had turned into a chaotic ocean of tossing blankets and jumping orange fur. I watched the fists fly to silence the noise as pillows soared in the air, only causing more yelling.
I closed the door quickly and leaned against it listening to the muffled curse words being yelled across the room. With a heavy sigh I continued on my journey to my muffin.
Fortunately for me, the rest of our small home was mostly unoccupied during the morning, and I did not have to take the same precautions getting outside. I could have probably run around butt naked doing cartwheels down the hall and have not attracted any attention. But, wanting my lovely muffin more than the liberation from my pajamas, I simply walked down the cold and silent hall fully clothed.
The morning light was pouring through the window and warming the air as I passed through the warm rays. It was one of those mornings that made life worth living, and having it be my birthday made it all the more special.
I reached the oversized hall we called a living room and walked to the door. I unhitched the lock and stepped outside. There was a light breeze that gently brushed against my fur. I took a deep breath of the freshness and walked down the wooden steps and onto the soft grass.
The grass poked between my toes like thousands of pointy green daggers and the warmth from the dark leaves sitting in the sun was quickly countered by the cold wetness of the dirt beneath as I stepped down. My young eyes wondered around the world displayed before me and I stared up at the sky. The pure blue silk of the universe lay before me, unending and miraculous, as soft whippy clouds meandered through their idle paths.
A butterfly fluttered past my vision and I started running after it. It jumbled itself in the air just out of my reach as it lead me all around the yard until I saw a small rock out of the corner of my eye that reminded me of my muffin. So I let the butterfly run away from me and I made my way back to the porch. I lifted up the loose wooden panel and crawled inside.
It was my secret place. It was large enough for me to comfortable crawl around in, but small enough to keep my older siblings and parent's out. The place was littered with old boxes containing long forgotten treasures and treats from my life.
I crawled through the dusty dirt until I came upon the bright red box that held my muffin. With a big smile across my muzzle I lifted the lid and looked down at my glorious muffin.
But to my surprise my eyes were met with those of a cockroach who had perched itself at the very top of my birthday treat. My head reeled back and I stared at the little intruder. He waved his long antennae at me and I decided he didn't mean any harm, so I placed my finger down and let him crawl onto it. I lifted him up and got a better look at him.
"Hello there, would you like to go to my birthday party?" I asked.
He twitched his little antennas again and I took it as a yes. I smiled and with my other hand grabbed the muffin and shimmied back out of the wooden secret cave with my new friend. As the sunlight hit the cockroach, he twitched and quickly ran up my arm and into the sleeve of my shirt.
I squirmed as I felt the little legs craw over my back and giggled. I looked around the yard for a good place to have my little birthday cake. A large flat rock on the very edge of our property caught my eye and I wondered over.
The butterfly fluttered past once again, calling for me to follow, but not wanting to hold up the other guest of my party further, I let him pass on his merry way.
When I reached the rock I brushed off a few leaves that had fallen upon it and placed my muffin proudly in the center. I gave a little shimmy of my shoulder and stuck my paw down the back of my shirt. I pulled out my new friend and placed him down next to the muffin. I plopped myself down at the opposite end and looked down past my muffin to the crawling cockroach.
"I'm so glad you could make it. I haven't had this many guests at one of my parties since I can remember!"
His antennas flicked at me.
"And on such a lovely day too!"
I looked around past the yard on the quiet morning and then turned and looked into the woods that bordered our yard. The rock was only a few feet from the line which had been made blurry from bad yard maintenance. I peered through the trees that were well lit in the bright morning sun.
My family lived in a sparsely populated town that was mostly trees with a few furs far and few between. I didn't leave the house much, and when I did, I didn't often go much farther than the yard. I didn't know if we had neighbors or if the woods just kept on forever, but I had never been curious enough to find out.
I looked back down at my muffin which had my new friend resting on top of it again. I laughed.
"I understand; it is a delicious muffin."
I carefully ripped off a chunk of the muffin and was about to stick it in my mouth when I heard a rustling in the woods. I quickly turned my head and saw two oddly dressed males stumble through the foliage. When they reached the clearing of my yard they wobbled to a standing position and stared. From the looks of it, one was a very skinny lemur and the other, a rather large warthog.
They seemed not to notice me at first, looking at the yard and house, but their eyes quickly moved to me, and then my muffin.
One of them yelled something that I didn't understand and the lemur lunged for my birthday cake. I leapt back as the dirty paws clasped down on the pastry. The cockroach stood on top of the captured treat, and the lemur just looked at him. Without any pause, he lifted his paw and flicked my friend off.
I watched the little guy fly through the air and land in the grass, and crawl away into the woods.
The thin lemur stared shoving the muffin into his mouth and the warthog jumped on him. The two wrestled on the ground, yelling in the strange language as little hunks of muffin went flying. The fight ended as the warthog grabbed the lemur's fist holding the mangled remains of the muffin, and shoved it into his mouth. The lemur pulled his hand free and looked at the saliva and crumb covered hand and glared at the satisfied warthog
The lemur wiped his hand off on his green and blue stripped overalls and looked back at me. I jumped a little as he walked up to me and kneeled down.
He started speaking to me in the strange language and put his hand on my shoulder. I could tell he was asking me a question, but I had no idea what it was about. I noticed that his fur looked like it has been painted on long ago, but had been rubbed away leaving the matted chunks of white and blue. A pungent smell entered my snout and made my eyes tear a little. I just shrugged and shook my head at the foreign stranger.
I could see the look of disappointment on his face as he looked over at his warthog friend. He turned his head again and looked me over.
He asked another question, but this time with a slightly lighter tone as if he wasn't sure if he should be asking it. I just looked at him strangely and then at the warthog, who had a big grin on and was nodding his head enthusiastically.
I started to slowly nod my head with him unsure of what was going on. I looked back at the lemur who had an equally large smile now. He clapped his hands together and stood up stating something happily.
As I looked up as confused as can be, he swopped down and tossed me up on his shoulders. I yipped at the shock of it and waited for him to put me down. But instead he turned around and started walking back into the woods.
Unsure of what to do, I started to tap on his shoulder. He didn't seem to notice, so I started tapping a little harder. One of his paws came up and brushed my hand away as he said something calmly. As I watched my home slowly disappear in the trees, I started gently hitting him with my fist, to which his paw moved and grabbed onto mine and he said the word again only a little more sternly. Fearing that I would never see my home again, I started to hit with my other fist and kick my legs. With a loud grunt I felt his paws wrap around my middle and lift me up above him in the air.
I was surprised that his thin arms could support me like they did. He shook me a little to get me to stop squirming and I looked into his face with an irritated expression.
He yelled something at me and looked at back towards my house and shook his head.
I started squirming again, and he shook me harder and yelled louder. My tears started to well up and I began crying. Through my watery eyes I could see his face change to a look of concern and he placed me down on the ground with a firm grip on my shoulder so I couldn't run away.
He knelt down again and looked into my eyes. He spoke to me in the weird language again and pointed towards my home and shook his head. Then he pointed off into the woods and nodded. The tears wouldn't stop. I didn't want to leave my home forever.
The lemur sighed and looked over at the warthog and whispered something. The warthog nodded and pulled out a leather flask from one of the many pockets he had on his vest. He uncorked it and handed it to the lemur.
He held up the flask to me and encouraged me to drink. I didn't want to and I pushed it away, but he put it in my face again and gave me a serious look. My nose picked up a strong singing sweetness and I shook my head again.
The lemur kept on trying to get me to drink from the flask, and even took a few sips himself showing how good it was.
I watched the lemur lick his lips and my thirst instantly became apparent as I remembered that I had skipped my morning glass of orange juice, so I gave in and took the flask from him. I brought the lip of the bottle to my lips and took a sip. The liquid poured onto my tongue and stung, and I pulled back in disgust, but before I could, the lemur pushed it back to my mouth and turned the flask upside down, filling my muzzle with the burning drink, I had to option but to swallow. It spilled down my cheeks and onto my chest, but most of it was now dripping down to my stomach, heating up my insides.
The lemur pulled back the flask and stood up. I felt really funny and my body started feeling unnaturally heavy as the heat from the fire blazed inside of me. I tried to lift my arms, but they just fell to my sides. As if that weren't enough, the ground started moving and the trees tilted in all different directions. I lost my balance on the moving earth and fell down. Or was it up? I couldn't tell anymore. As I tried to hang on to the ground for dear life, I remember seeing the grinning warthog nodding and putting the leather flask back in his pocket before my eyelids got too heavy to keep open.
I gripped the leaves around me hoping that I wouldn't fall away into the sky as my mind slowly escaped from me. I was lost in the spinning word of darkness that I had been so carelessly tossed into.