Untamable
Untamable
By Kaven Violet
I have always admired the clouds, but it's not because of the shapes they take or the way their white color stands out from the blue sky, those are reasons for everyone else to like them. I like the clouds because clouds are free, hovering miles above our heads, floating carelessly through the sky. Not the strongest man could tame them, nor the richest man claim them.
My name is James Stewart, at the time this story begins I was a typical high school student who had been living in Phoenix, Arizona for only six months. Before our move to the big city my family; consisting of me, my brother, my mom, and my dad had lived in Cegador, Arizona. Cegador was a small town consisting of one school, a supermarket, and two neighborhoods that together housed about 200 humans. When I came to Phoenix, I proverbially stepped to a whole new world made up of segregation and hatred between humans and Furs. Furs, a race of animal/human hybrids caused by a mutation in animal DNA were condemned by culture and law as second class citizens. After the move my brother and my parents were quick to embrace the popular idea of human supremacy, and just as it seemed I would follow in their footsteps, I experienced something unique, mysterious and incredible, something that changed my life and the life of another as well.
***
It was a typical 7:00AM in the city, the sun was just showing itself over the tops of the buildings, preparing to rob the city of it's cool nighttime climate. Me and my brother Jim stood outside our apartment building, beneath a white sign reading: BUS STOP (PARADA DE OMNIBUS). Another accommodation for the thousands of humans and furs in the city that spoke more Spanish than English. Me and Jim were lucky enough to live on just about the only street that the school bus didn't stop at, and since we lived almost 5 miles away from the nearest high school, our parents had bought us bus tickets to get us to and from school.
"It's late again," Jim said with an aggravated sigh.
"So?" I said, "we'll get there on time, we always do."
"Sure," Jim replied with a hint of uncertainty.
"So what are you doing after school?" I asked him.
"I don't know about today and tomorrow but Wednesday night I'll probably go see a movie, you wanna come with?"
"I guess, which movie?"
Jim ignored my question, he was looking down the street, obviously wondering where the bus was.
"Will you cool it?!" I said, "it's not like we're gonna be late or anything, we've still got like 30 minutes until school starts, and since when did you care about being late anyway?"
"I just don't like the fact that our only way to get to school is a vehicle stops every five minutes and has to wait for a bunch of old people to crawl on, have you seen how many old people we've been riding with lately, I'm surprised we're not late every day!"
"Oh, I see," I said sarcastically, "you're not concerned about being late, your amazing ability to complain about everything is kicking in."
Jim shot me a peeved look as the bus came around the corner, It came to it's normal slow, screeching halt before us. After we boarded and sat down, I took a glance out the window and saw a young Fur running up the sidewalk towards the bus, a male German Shepherd, he looked to be in his twenties, (although it's hard to tell a Fur's age just by looking). We were sitting near the back of the bus so I couldn't tell what exactly what he was saying to the bus driver. It was obvious that he needed to be somewhere soon and he was requesting a ride on the bus, but it was a lost cause, a human bus driver allowing a Fur onto his bus was about as likely as a suicide bomber getting a free plane ticket. After a short and apparently angry conversation with the driver, the Fur stepped off of the bus. Jim of course paid no attention to any of this, he had his face buried in his cell phone, no one else seemed to be to bothered by the small quarrel either. As the bus rolled away, the German Shepherd just stood there on the sidewalk, watching the humans be shuttled off to their workplaces, schools, or whatever else their busy schedules dictated. I didn't think to much of it either at the time, now I think about it almost every day.
***
It doesn't rain very often in Arizona, but when it does the storm seems to go on forever, at least that's what I was thinking when I was standing outside the movie theater with Jim on Wednesday night, waiting for the brutal summer thunderstorm to stop, watching the precipitation shift back and fourth between pouring rain and cold, hard hail.
"Do you think it's gonna stop?" I said to Jim.
"Possibly," Jim replied, "we'll probably be here for a while though."
"Should we just make a run for it?"
"No way!" Jim spat his words at me like I had just asked him to wrestle a bear, "we'd have at least two miles to cover!"
"It wouldn't take us more than an hour."
James looked at me with a doubtful look on his face.
"It's a better plan than just standing here!"
"It's nights like this I wish I'd taken that summer job and gotten a fuckin' car," Jim said with an annoyed look on his face.
"Look," I said, "we have to be home by 11:00, there is no way I'm gonna sit on my ass and stare at lightning bolts for hours just so mom and dad can ground us when we get home."
Jim just stared at me with that same unconvinced look.
"I'm heading home and if you don't wanna come than you can just stay here all by your fucking lonesome."
Jim said nothing, instead he sat down on the curb and folded his arms in his lap.
Ten minutes later I found myself walking alone down the cold, dark, and now wet lengths of 3rd Street, I had been living in Phoenix for two months now, however after half a year I still had trouble finding my way, on this particular night I was trying to find the fastest way home. I retrieved my cell phone from my pocked and flipped it open, 10:44, and I was still nowhere near my home. This part of the city was empty at this time of night. At the end of the street I found myself at a lifeless four way intersection, the stop lights switching uselessly between green and red with no cars to direct. I figured that I would just keep heading East and turned left. I was now on Jackson Street, (although I didn't know any of these street names at the time), I was walking briskly now, still hoping to make my 11:00 deadline. The rain had now joined forces with the wind to more effectively make my night miserable, I reached another intersection, according to the signs I was at the juncture of Jackson and 12th Street. 12th Street, the bus I rode on took 12th every morning, there was a convenient store/gas station across the street from me: "Cazador's Come n' Go." I knew exactly where I was now, nowhere near my apartment.
"YOU'VE GOTTA BE FUCKIN' SHITTING ME!" The words erupted from my mouth with no conscious effort whatsoever.
Not that I minded swearing, I was tiered, wet, angry, and there was no one around to hear me. I was lost in the middle of my own city
What could possibly be more degrading! I thought to myself as I paced in angry circles on the street corner.
It's amazing how the emotions work, one second you might be filled to the brim with anger, and you think to yourself you'll never be rid of it, and in as little as a second, something happens and your emotions are blasted away to make way for new ones, maybe you heard a friend laughing, or you finally found your lost contact lens on the floor of your car.
In my case I heard the horrible sound of a woman screaming, and my anger left me without so much as a goodbye. At first the hairs on the back of my neck stood erect, and I instinctively pivoted my whole body to face in the direction of the noise, I wasn't sure what to think, and then I heard the same voice again, only this time it produced a scream that was softer, more in pain than in fear. I froze up, body and mind right there on the street corner, I wasn't sure what to do. The sound had come from an alleyway back in the direction I had came, slowly I walked forward, scared at a level I had never reached before, my heart felt like it wanted to beat it's way out of my chest. Despite the sound of rain and hail on the pavement, the street was once again quiet. As if I was trying to pull myself forward, I grabbed the corner of the building's brickwork as I turned slowly into the alleyway. I laid my eyes on the silhouette of a person lying motionless in the middle of the alley, I looked up just in time to see a dark-haired human running around the corner at the opposite side of the alley, away from the body. I advanced on the lifeless figure, my mind was telling me that the person was dead, but something else, perhaps my smart side (more likely my dumb side), told me it was worth checking out. I was still terrified as I bent down to examine the person, I reached out with a shaky hand, now not knowing what to expect, I rolled the figure over and was surprised to se a young female Fur. She appeared to be a red fox, but it was hard to tell, her fur was covered in dirt and blood, I couldn't tell where she was bleeding from, she had been hit on the head somewhere. She was alive too, I could see her chest rising and falling, and I could hear the strained sound of her breathing, her eyes were open also, not by much though, she was fighting for consciousness. I wasn't sure what to do, I could call 911, but the chances of an ambulance coming for a Fur were slim, of course I could lie and say she was human, but they would probably leave once they found out she was a Fur, I remembered hearing on the news about a Fur who broke his leg when he fell off his bike on the way to work, he had called 911 on his cell phone, (it had happened before Furs were banned from carrying mobile phones), when he was asked his species he lied and said he was human, he ended up arrested instead getting taken to a hospital. I thought about going back to the gas station, maybe there was someone there who would help, but what if the black-haired man came back, what if he wasn't finished and I had scared him away.
"HELP!" I screamed, hoping someone would hear me, "CAN ANYBODY HELP!"
I waited there for a few minutes, my breathing as incredibly fast and sharp as hers was slow and strained.
Oh god, what do I do? I thought to myself. I had never been I a situation like this before, part of me wished I had just stayed at the movie theater with Jim, another part of me was thinking about getting up and making a dash from the scene right then and there, but the the other side of me, (the smart/dumb side I was talking about earlier) told me to stay, but nothing I had inside me was telling me witch side to listen to, I had gone from being lost in the streets of Phoenix to being lost within my own psyche.
At the exact same time, a young wolf named Filipe Cazador was in his convenient store collecting change from the cash register, it was the very same store I had been looking at when I had heard the girl scream. Philipe heard the door open, it wasn't uncommon to have small handful customers at this hour, so he didn't look up until he heard my voice.
"You!" I yelled at him, "I need your help now!"
I was carrying the girl in my arms, I hadn't been able to think of another option than to move her someplace safe.
"Hijo-de-a-perra!" the wolf said in shock as he came to assist me. "What happened to her?"
"No clue," I replied, "I just found her like this"
The wolf bent down and placed a hand to her head, he sighed and looked at me, "Bring her here señor"
He pronounced "bring" more like "bling", of course that thought didn't cross my mind at the time, his accent was in a long line behind a thousand other thoughts that were much more important. He led me to the back of the store and stopped to unlock a door beside the long row of refrigerators filled with soda and energy drinks, that line of refrigerators seemed to be a standard issue in convenient stores. Stopping only to flick the light on, he quickly led me into the storage room. Beneath two florescent lights I examined a room filled on one side with crates and cardboard boxes; bulk versions of various items I had seen in the store. On the other side, a small cot positioned longways against the wall, a large stack of books sat on one side of the makeshift bed, I wondered of the fur actually lived here.
"Put her here," the wolf said, and pointed to the cot.
I laid the fox girl down as the wolf told me to.
"What's your name señor?" the wolf asked me.
"James" I replied.
"James." He paused for a moment to look down at the injured fox, and then back to me, "I am Filipe."
Philipe reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of wide rimmed glasses, he fitted them to his face and then placed a hand on my shoulder as if to say, "Let me handle this." I took a step back and watched as the wolf knelt down before the cot and examined the fox girl carefully, he put his furred hand to her head and shifted through her hair with his fingers, searching for the source of the bleeding. I watched closely as he did this, he stopped and sighed once he found the wound, she had a large tear in the flesh in the back of her head. Filipe turned around to look at me.
"I can fix de wound James," he said, "my uncle was a medic in the military, I will bling him here tomorrow to see her, you should go, you say you don't know her, so der is no need for you to be here."
"Are you sure?" I wasn't sure if he could actually fix it or if he just wanted the human out of his home, I assumed it was his his home at least.
"Si James," he said in a voice that was much more calm than the one I had heard before. "Go home."
I decided to take his word for it and head home. I felt a little reluctant and at the same time a little bit shunned, but Filipe seemed like a good enough guy; after all, he had taken the girl in without even asking who she was.
I got home just after midnight, my parents ran me through a lecture and then grounded me. James had even gotten home before me, he asked where I had been, I told him I had gotten lost, I guess that wasn't too far from the truth.
***
The next day the weather conditions drifted back to the typical hot and dry August climate. I didn't tell anybody about the night before, going out of one's way to help a Fur was not something to be proud of. I still thought about the fox girl all night and all day, no matter where I was or what I was doing I felt in a strange way that she was there with me. I visited the bathroom between every class, not to relieve myself but to wash off the blood that I could still feel dripping down my hands. I had decided early on today that I would not be taking the bus home, instead I planned on taking a walk down to the convenient store on Jackson and 12th, I wanted do make sure she was all right, maybe if I did that the blood would go away.
I got lost again on my way there, I took a wrong turn off of Jefferson Street, but I found my way again with minimal frustration, I guess I was just getting used to being lost.
When I arrived at the store I took a look around for Philipe, the only person I saw was a human cashier and another man in the back browsing the liquor selection. I walked up to the cashier, preparing to ask a painfully strange question.
"Excuse me, do you know where I can find fur who runs the graveyard shift here?"
The cashier stared at me with what I could best describe as a quizzical frown, "Yeah, he owns the place, usually he's out but you're in luck, he's been in the back all day."
"Thanks," I said simply and made way for the door in the back.
"He said not to bother him!" the cashier yelled at me.
"Maybe he'll make an exception," I yelled back without turning around.
I knocked on the door back by the refrigerators, a few seconds later the door opened up and I was greeted by Filipe.
"James?"
"Yeah, it's me, I wanted to see how she's doing"
"Of course, come in señor."
I cold see the man browsing liquor out of the corner of my eye, he gave me a nasty look as the wolf ushered me inside.
"She has woken up a few times today," Filipe told me once we were inside the back room. "I fixed her head last night, my uncle finished de job dis morning, he told me that she took a hard hit to the head, but she will be better in two days or less, something about swelling in de brain."
I dropped to my knees in front of the cot where she lay asleep, either she or someone else had cleaned her fur. I had been right, she was indeed a red fox, but it looked like she had some dingo in her as well.
"Her name is Lilly," Filipe said, "she will probably wake up in an hour or so, feel free to stay."
I did stay, me and Filipe sat in the back room and talked, I told him about the night before and the mysterious dark-haired human, I also told him a little about myself. Filipe told me about himself too, the fur wasn't much older than I was, only 19. He had immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico two years ago to be with his family in Phoenix. Once here he had worked several odd jobs to help out his family, he couldn't even get a steady job until his grandfather died and left him the store. I guessed that made him the youngest self-employed person in the city.
Finally at 6:00 Philipe had to go and manage the store, he left me alone with Lilly. Filipe liked to read books, he must have told me a dozen times while we were talking, after a few minutes without him in the back room I got bored so I started sifting through his stash of reading material. The wolf was a Michael Crichton fan for sure, with a little bit of Stephen King, Peter Straub, and some other various authors. I pulled out Duma Key, by Stephen King, a book I had been putting off reading for ages, but before I could start reading I was interrupted by a soft voice from across the room.
"Filipe?" Lilly called out for the wolf in a weak, tired voice.
After a moment I replied, startled by her sudden alertness, "It's not Filipe."
I put the book down and once again dropped to my knees beside her bed. "My name is James."
"James?" Lilly looked up at me with a powerfully beautiful set of emerald green eyes and smiled, "he told me about you."
Ironic, after waiting by her side for two hours I had no idea what to say to her. I had wanted to see I she was alright and she was obviously in good condition, so what now? Lilly broke the silence before I had a chance to respond...
"What are you doing here?"
Obviously she was confused as to why a human would care about her well being, I had been asking myself the same question all day and had been unable to give myself an answer, but I still felt like I owed her an explanation, and I was just drawing blanks, how do I answer that? Do I tell her that I was imagining blood on my hands all day? Or maybe I could tell her that I had felt her presence for the last 18 hours, that wouldn't disturb anyone!
"I... I just thought Filipe might need some help."
Worst answer ever.
"Don't worry, I'm light baggage," she told me with a hint of sarcasm. "It's nice to meet you, I guess."
It sounded like having a conversation with a human was a bit awkward for Lilly, I was feeling the exact same way about talking to her. I wanted to ask her about the night before, about the dark haired human and what had happened to her, but I fought back the urge to bring up the subject, such a conversation might cause more trouble than it would be worth.
"You're younger than I thought you'd be, and..." She interrupted herself with an exhausted sigh, "Jesus i'm tired." Her voice was getting softer, "Filipe's uncle said that was normal though."
I could tell she was having trouble staying awake, her body was beckoning her to back to unconsciousness, she said one last thing to me that night, It took me a while to riddle it out, but eventually I figured out that she had said, "Thank you James" and then she was out like a light.
On my way out I met Filipe counting change at the cash register.
"Did she wake James?"
"Yeah, for a minute or so."
"Good, de girl is making progress, will you come back tomorrow?"
"I guess so."
"Well den, see you tomorrow, good night James." He went back to counting quarters.
"Good night Filipe."
I turned to walk out the door, but before I got there I turned back to the wolf...
"Filipe, why are you doing this for her?"
The wolf just smiled and laughed, "This store was a blessing James, everything I have is a blessing, I am lucky to be alive, we all are, this is my way of earning what has been given to me."
I wasn't sure how to respond, but I didn't have to...
"You earned a few of your blessings last night James, remember that."
I just nodded a little bit and retreated through the doorway.
I returned home that night with Filipe's words hot on my mind. To my liking the blood was gone, but Lilly was still there, perhaps even more so than the day before, her soft, tired voice echoing in my thoughts.
***
The next day was Friday, usually on Fridays I had a lengthy line up of things on my to-do list, but today I only had one simple task, go and see Lilly. When I got to the store and made my way to the back room, I expected the same sight as yesterday, Filipe sitting on the ground reading beside an unconscious Lilly on the cot, but when I opened the door to the back room I was surprised to see the room empty, neither Filipe nor Lilly were there. A little confused, I made my way out the back door in search of the furs. Behind the store was a small space between the back of the building and one of the large drainage canals that ran through the city, instead of being dry as usual the canal was filled with water from the rainstorm two nights ago. I shut the door behind me and took a look around, there wasn't a soul in sight. I figured I would go inside and ask the cashier where his boss was, but before I could turn around I was interrupted by a voice that I couldn't have ignored in a crowd of people screaming at the tops of their lungs.
"You look a little lost," Lilly said.
A little surprised, I turned around to see Lilly sitting up on the roof of the store with a warm smile on her face.
"Looking for Filipe?" she asked me.
"Either him or you."
"Well you found me, get up here."
I took her invitation and climbed a dumpster against the wall of the store, I lifted myself onto the roof and took a seat next to Lilly. The store wasn't even two stories high, but it was amazing just how far across the city you could see from the roof. Across the waterway there was an immense cluster of houses, housing for the city's wealthy human families. After the houses came the freeway, a network of overpasses and turnpikes leading in, out, and throughout the city. Finally, beyond the roads and past a few more neighborhoods, was the never-ending Arizona desert, stretching to the horizon and then some.
"I was hoping you'd come back," said Lilly, still looking out over the city, "I wanted to talk to you more yesterday but I guess I dozed off again, getting clubbed in the head really takes It out of you."
I hadn't planned on asking her about Wednesday night, but since she had just made a joke about it I decided to go for it.
"So what happened to you that night?" I asked her.
"My dad left town a few weeks ago, so I dropped out of school and tried to get a job to pay the rent, but nothing came up. Wednesday night the landlord came asking for the money, and when I told him I couldn't pay he didn't take too well, I think he was a little drunk too. He hit me on the head a few times with something, I think the first time it was a beer bottle but after that I can't remember, he must have thrown me out into the alleyway after that, the next thing I remember was waking up here yesterday morning."
"Is your dad coming back?"
"I doubt it, he hasn't been able to keep a job for more than two weeks since we came to Phoenix, he's probably just given up and moved on."
"And he left you behind?"
"Doesn't surprise me, I ranked pretty high on his list of problems, I don't blame him though, I wouldn't want to raise a daughter if I couldn't even keep myself afloat."
"It sounds like you're having a bad month."
"Yeah, well, at least I didn't bleed to death in that alleyway, thanks to you." She looked at me and smiled.
Even though Lilly was a Fur, I couldn't help examining her. She had long, black hair highlighted with strips of red, around her slender body she was wearing the same Jeans and black tank top I had found her in Wednesday night, only the dirt and blood had been washed away, probably Filipe's doing. Like so many Furs, she wore no shoes to confine her already padded feet. Her whole body was covered in a sandy-orange fur, except for the black fur covering the bottom half of her arms and legs, and the line of white that ran from her chin to her belly (and probably a little farther). Her tail, tipped with white fur, swooshed around playfully as she looked at me with the same emerald eyes that had captured me the day before. There was no denying that Lilly was absolutely beautiful.
We sat there for a few seconds just staring at each other, once again it was my turn to say something and I had nothing to say, I was too preoccupied with her to think about our conversation. Luckily I didn't have to, I was saved by my cell phone ring. Lilly went back to looking out at the city as I retrieved the phone from my pocket and answered the call, it was Jim.
"Hey James, me and Riley are gonna go see Silent Yelling tonight, wanna come with?"
"I dunno, I've got... plans," I told him, taking a glance at Lilly.
"Well then bring your plans with you man! You've been talking about this movie for months, you don't wanna go see it alone do you?"
"No, I guess not but..."
"No buts man, you're meeting us at the theater in half an hour."
"Look I'm sorry Jim but I just can't be there."
"Are you kidding me! What could possibly be more important to you than this?"
"I'll explain later, I gotta go," I said, hanging up on him.
"So what was that all about?" Lilly asked me.
"Oh nothing, my brother want's me to go see Silent Yelling with him."
"Is he a Michael Forest fan?"
"Not really, but I am, I've made him watch the last four movies Forrest made."
Lilly's eyes lit up with excitement.
"Shifting South, The Uphill, Jack's Mallet, and Traveling," she recited the films to me faster than I could have done myself, "I love Michael Forest! When I was fourteen I went to live with my aunt, she would show me one of his movies every Saturday night, we went to see Traveling the week before my dad took me back."
"No way!" I said, "I've never met anyone who was a Michael Forest fan before! What's your favorite movie by him?"
"Shifting South, all the way."
"Mine too!"
It was one hell of a coincidence, but I had miraculously met someone who loved Michael Forest as much as I did. We sat there on our perch for a while and talked about nothing but master filmmaker Michael Forest. We talked about him, his movies, and just about everything to do with them.
"You know," I said, "The movie starts in about twenty minutes, we could probably make it if we hurry."
"Hell yeah! I'll go write a note to leave for Filipe."
"Where is he anyway?"
"He's visiting his Grandmother on the other side of town," she said, and hopped down off the roof with the graceful agility that her species gave her.
"Earning his blessings I guess," I said to myself, and stumbled down after her.
On our way to the theater we talked about ourselves a little more. Lilly had never met her mother, she had lived alone with her father most of her life, with the exception of a relative once and a while. She had lived in cities all over the western United States, Sacramento, Taos, even Las Vegas. In return I told her the few things I had to tell about my overly boring life. Before we got there I got another call from Jim...
"Hey James, turns out it's supposed to rain again tonight, what are the odds right! We decided not to go, I don't wanna end up waiting for it to stop and then get grounded again. If I were you I'd head home too."
"Don't worry about me, I'll head home as soon as the movies over."
"Whatever, your funeral man," Jim said, hanging up with a dull click.
When we got to the theater Lilly stopped and looked at me, she knew that if she tried to buy a ticket she would be simply told that the show was sold out.
"Don't worry, I got this" I told her.
She stayed behind as I went and bought tickets for both of us, after I had them I nodded my head, signaling to her that we were in business. On our way into the theater I turned to see the woman I bought the tickets from shooting us an angry look. I turned back to Lilly and was shocked to see her looking back at the woman with a smirk on her face.
"I owe you big time James," she said.
I stole a few glances at the fox before the movie, I don't think that mischievous smile ever left her face.
Silent Yelling turned out to be one hell of a movie, on our way out we both agreed that it was Forrest's best film since Shifting South. We raced out of the theater and into the rain, dodging glances from almost everyone in sight.
"Are you gonna head home?" she asked me.
"I guess," I said, "Filipe's is on the way, I'll drop you off first."
The thunder and lightning made their performance in the sky as we ran our way through the pouring rain. I was about to make the turn at Jackson and 3rd when Lilly stopped looked back.
"I know a faster way," she said, and motioned me to follow her.
She ran down the street a little ways and then turned into an alleyway, there we were met with a tall chain-link fence and a sign reading: CONSTRUCTION SITE, KEEP OUT (GUARDIA HACIA FUERA). Without hesitating, Lilly jumped on the fence and began to climb, when she got to the top she stopped and turned back to me.
"Come on slowpoke!"
"Lilly, are you sure this is worth it?"
"Absolutely," she said as she continued to climb.
Unsure what I was doing, I climbed up after her. She dropped down on the other side and waited for me to clumsily make my way over and back down.
Sure enough, less than two minutes later we ended up on Jackson street about a block away from Filipe's. Lilly was a little ways ahead of me, looking back periodically to make sure I was still there, suddenly she turned off of the street and dove into an alleyway. Confused, I followed her, as I turned the corner I immediately recognized my surroundings, it was the same place I had found her in Wednesday night. Lilly was standing there, waiting for me.
"Are you afraid of heights?" she asked me.
"Huh?" I replied, still confused as to why she had brought me here.
"Are you afraid of heights?"
"Not really, it depends on how high, why would...?"
"Good enough," she said, "follow me, I want to show you something."
With that she jumped up and grabbed hold of a fire escape ladder, once again I followed her. I was never good at gymnastics but I did my best to pull myself up onto the ladder, which started about eight feet off the ground and was slick with rain water. Once on the first level started to I follow Lilly as she dashed up the rusty metal stairs of the fire escape. The fox was a free spirit when she was on the move, she took no time to look down, she only glanced back to make sure I was still there, I even saw her drop to all fours on occasion as she flew up the stairs. We must have been eight stories off the ground when we reached the top, Lilly climbed up onto the roof and waited for me as I stopped to catch my breath at the top of the stairs.
"This is my apartment building," she yelled down to me, raising her voice over the howling wind and thunder, "I've never shown this to anyone before, you'll see why."
I climbed up onto the roof to join her and was greeted with a barrage rain driven by the raging winds, I rubbed my eyes with one hand and shielded my face with the other.
"I can't really see anything," I told her.
"Other way silly."
I turned around so that the wind was at my back, and I immediately knew what she was talking about. I was looking at everything, all of the houses and roads I could see from Filipe's store were gone and replaced with a glistening network of lights floating in a cloud of mist created by the rain. And beyond that, the desert, more wide and vast than I had ever seen it before, illuminated by a sea of lighting in the clouds that stretched as far as the desert itself did. I can't think of better words to describe it, but I wish I could, a once dry and barren wasteland rendered alive by the force of a rare but powerful Arizona thunderstorm. It was like staring a miracle in the face; I'll never forget it as long as I live. We stood quietly for a minute or so, observing the rooftop wonder. Noticing my astonishment, Lilly broke the silence...
"Yeah, that's how I reacted the first time I saw it."
"Lilly, it's absolutely beautiful," I said, still mesmerized.
"I came up here every time there was weather, it's been my secret pastime since we moved here."
"You mean you've never told anyone about this before?"
"Not a soul."
"Why not? this is incredible!"
I turned around to look at her, she was staring me straight in the face, her smile faded as she spoke to me in a new tone of voice...
"You're a human, but you saved my life, you're a human, but you came back to see me, twice. I was able to tell you things that I can never tell anyone and I didn't even think twice. You're a human, but you look at me and talk to me, like I'm human too. I don't quite understand why, but I never told anyone about this because I never had anyone worth telling until you."
I hadn't expecting that, but by then I understood what had bothering me for the last few days, and some things just had to be said...
"It was the blood," I told her, "When I found you in the alleyway, that experience was more real than anything, you weren't a Fur, and I wasn't a human. When I found you, when I saw you, it felt like I was bleeding too, and after I left you with Filipe the feeling didn't go away, but when I met you the next day and saw you were all right, I felt alright too, but I still felt different, and that's why I came back again, to find out why."
"And did you figure it out?"
I looked back out at the storm and replied...
"I did figure it out, I couldn't forget you because when I looked you in the eye, I saw something like this."
She didn't say anything in return, instead, taking me by surprise once more, she grabbed my arm, swung me around, and planted a kiss on my lips. At first I was shocked out of my mind, but soon enough I put my arms around her, one hand around her waist and the other gripped the soaking wet fur on the back of her neck as I returned the favor by slipping my tongue into her mouth and licking her teeth one by one. We stood there for what I wished was forever, untouched by the rampage of the wind and oblivious to the cracks of thunder lightning that filled the sky over our loving embrace.
Neither of us said a word after we broke our kiss, I think we were both a little confused as to what exactly was happening between us, we slowly and silently made our way back down the fire escape and continued to Filipe's, side by side, hand in hand. When we got there she gave me a short lick-kiss on the face, and I returned the favor with a peck behind her ear.
"I'll see you tomorrow," she whispered in my ear, "You know where to find me."
And with that we went our separate ways. The walk home, while long, was not nearly long enough for me to contemplate what had just happened. I got home late that night again; I'm sure my parent's gave me some sort of lecture, but nothing they said registered to me that night, all of my thought was focused on the fox girl that (although I didn't know it at the time), had changed my life forever.
***
Once again Filipe was nowhere in sight when I returned the next morning, I entered the back room and found only Lilly lying sound asleep on the cot, curled-up in the natural sleeping position for her species. I silently made my way over to her, not wanting to wake her just yet.
"Surprise!" Lilly shouted, she jumped up and grabbed me with both arms, pulling me down to the bed with her on top of me, "How's my human doing this morning?"
Normally getting pinned down to a bed would have made me slightly uncomfortable, but by that time I was getting used to Lilly's surprises.
"Exceptional." I replied.
We kissed again, an exchange of passion that felt like a gratuity compared to the events of last night.
"How's your head?" I asked her.
"The pain comes and goes, but it gets weaker every day, it's all behind me now." replied Lilly.
"How long is Filipe gonna let you stay here?"
"Funny you ask, I told him about my situation this morning, and he said that I could stay here with him and help manage the store."
I couldn't have found a better place to take her that night than the convenient store on Jackson and 12th. To this day I still have yet to met someone as selfless as Filipe Cazador.
"That's great!" I told her, "Where is he now? Not visiting his grandma again is he?"
"No, I told him I'd take his 5:00 shift, so he decided to go see some friends."
"That was nice of you."
"Oh, I'm not doing it for him."
"Then why are you doing it?"
"Simple, so we could have the place to ourselves all morning."
Lilly gave me a lick on the face and smiled the same mischievous smile I had become all to familiar with the night before, and with that I realized exactly what she was telling me.
"Lilly, are you sure you...?"
She didn't wait for me to finish my sentence, instead she kissed me again, this time stronger and deeper than ever before, as if to tell me that she had made her decision, and she wouldn't change her mind in a million years. She didn't let up either, her tongue dancing with and caressing my own, stopping only to let me return the favor. It was obvious to me that we were both extremely aroused, I reached up and cupped one of her breasts. Though still covered with her tank top, I could still feel her rapidly hardening nipple through the concealing fabric. Desperately wanting more, I reached down with both hands and grabbed hold of the end of her top, Lilly was all too happy to oblige and lifted up her arms as I slid the garment off of her body, revealing her perfect pair of furred breasts. The fox moaned and purred as I squeezed and caressed her tits, I loved every second of the precious contact, her nipples now fully erect in my hands. It wasn't long before she motioned to remove my t-shirt, and I quickly shed the piece of clothing in compliance. Next came the pants, Lilly kissed me again as she unbuttoned my jeans while I simultaneously did the same for hers. After we had both discarded our pants I quickly got rid of my underwear, revealing my now half-erect member. I wrapped both my arms around Lilly as she reached down and squeezed my testicles, completing my erection in mere seconds. The fully naked fox positioned herself over me as I felt every part of her body as I possibly could, absolutely loving the feel of her soft, warm fur in my hands. Lilly brushed some of the hair out of her eyes and took a long, loving look down at me, her tail, previously wagging wildly with excitement, slowed to a stop as she lowered herself onto my throbbing shaft. Her breathing quickened, as did mine while my member slowly penetrated the opening of her pussy. She smiled at me and let out a playful growl, a sure sign that the fox was ready to get on with it. I took hold of her thighs and pushed myself the rest of the way into her, in return, she started to rock back and fourth, taking the both of us to an intoxicating level of pleasure. I reached up with both hands and took hold of her sexy breasts once more. I was feeling more excitement than I had felt in my entire life, and the feeling grew stronger by the second.
"Oh god James, I love you!" said lilly; it was the one small, beautiful thing she could say in her deep and fast breathing.
"I love you too Lilly," I managed to say, "I'll never let anything change that!"
Exhaustion, adrenaline, and total, undeniable love were the three things that I felt as I prepared to climax. Lilly was getting close to, she took hold of my shoulders and dug her claws into my skin as she let out a low whine and then screamed out loud as she reached the pinnacle of her exhilaration and her feminine juices burst from deep within her. The release of fluids sent me over the edge as well and I released my seed inside of Lilly's vagina, my shaft throbbing wildly as the fox was filled with my warm cum. Lilly dropped down on top of me, her breathing and heartbeat were both as fast and as intense as my own. We laid there for a long while, maybe even an hour; eventually Lilly arose, got dressed, and exited the room through the back door; after resting for a few more minutes I threw my clothes back on and followed her out back. I found her just as I had found her the day before, perched up on the roof of the store and gazing out at the city, there were clouds in the sky that day, little souvenirs left over from the week's heavy weather. Lilly obviously knew I was there, but she didn't look at me, she was too busy admiring the beautiful view through her beautiful eyes, the eyes that had captured the power of a dozen storms, and then used it to draw me in. Lilly looked down at me and gave me a smile that only she could produce.
"What's up sleepy head?" she asked me.
"You," I replied, and climbed up to join her.
We sat out on top of the store for a few hours, holding each other tightly, talking about anything and everything we could think of. Eventually Lilly had to leave to run errands for Filipe, we kissed once again before she gracefully dropped from the roof and left me there alone.
I stayed up on the roof for a while longer, taken in by the beautiful clouds that covered Phoenix that day. Finally I decided to go home, as I exited the back room and made my way for the door I was stopped from behind by a familiar voice.
"Quite de girl, eh James?" Filipe said, "an untamable spirit, as my grandfather would say."
"Yeah," I replied, "That she is, see you later Filipe."
"Adiós James."
I took a few detours on the way home, slowly realizing that it wasn't much of a home for me anymore. That night I thought about nothing but Lilly, a free spirit, waltzing carelessly through her life and now mine, not the strongest man could tame her, nor the richest man claim her.
Seven months later I graduated and moved out of my parents house, leaving them and my brother behind for a new life with Lilly. The two of us moved to San Francisco, where we are now living on our own and studying filmmaking together. We still travel back to Phoenix regularly to see Filipe, he himself is working towards a business degree at a local college. I am writing this story for two reasons: To prep my writing skills for the screenplay I plan to write in the coming months, and to tell a simple story of love beyond reason. I believe that everyone has their own version of this story. Most of people haven't written it down, some people don't even realize it yet, but it's there, undying, irrational love, a perfectly imperfect feeling that can forever guide us down the never-ending street of life.
All we need do is set it free.