Age of Innocence: The Beginning of a Friendship
#1 of Age of Innocence
Ok, I've got good news and bad news. The bad news is, I'll be working on Winter Break privately from now on; I won't be posting any more chapters. The good news is, it will be replaced by this, "Age of Innocence" which will be posted as it's finished. Here's the first chapter, The Beginning of a Friendship.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Age of Innocence: The Beginning of a Friendship
"Duke! Come on inside, honey!" a petite arctic fox woman called from the front door of a house. This was Duke's mother. Duke's father, a large white wolf, was out of town at the time. Duke was an eight year-old Arctic White Folf with a black tipped tail and black hand and foot paws. "Come on. You've been playing all day! It's time for lunch."
"But, mom!" Duke called back.
"No buts! Get in here."
"Aw. Alright." Duke kicked up some dust and started slowly walking toward the house when he heard something. It was a moving van, driving up the street. He stopped and watched it drive toward him and pass his house. The van pulled into the driveway of the house next to his. He stood and watched it a bit, then two big huskies stepped out. They walked around to the back of the van, opened the doors, and stated pulling out boxes. He heard another noise. This one was a black car. It pulled into the same driveway as the van. Two cheetahs, a man and a woman stepped out of the front seats of the car, and out of the back, their 8 year old cub. Duke saw the cub and ran over to introduce himself.
"Hi! I'm Duke!" he spoke to the cheetah cub.
"I'm Dasher. It's nice to meet you."
Duke had a big grin on his face. It wasn't often he found friends living in such a small town. He'd been home schooled all of his life, so he couldn't make any school friends.
Duke turned to see his mom talking to the cheetah parents, "Hey, mom. Can I show Dasher around? Please!"
"Oh, I suppose. Just be careful!"
Duke and Dasher had started running off as soon as they got the OK from their parents, "Ok mom! We will!"
Behind the houses, there was a small forest that Duke loved to play in. He took Dasher in to it, so they could explore.
"Hey, Dasher! Come on! It's this way!" Duke called.
"What's this way? Where are we going?"
"Don't ask questions, just come on!"
Dasher obeyed and followed the folf. They crossed a small, make-shift bridge that spanned about 5 feet across a small vein of water. After walking for a few more minutes, they came to a large arch of trees, about 15 feet high. Dasher simply followed his friends' silhouette, into a big, green, wide opening.
"Wow." Dasher uttered to himself, amazed at the sight.
"Pretty cool, huh?" Duke started, "I like to come out here and play sometimes. I usually just do it by myself. But, now I have a friend!" Duke had a smile on his face, and a brightness in his clear blue eyes.
Dasher giggled, "Yeah. So do I!"
Duke had brought a Frisbee with him, which the two threw back and forth for hours, Duke, occasionally, catching it in his mouth. This made Dasher laugh every time, which, in turn, made Duke happy. Neither of them had ever had a friend. Dasher had moved from New York, and was always a bit of an outcast at his school. Now he was in a new place, where no one knew him. They absolutely loved being in each other's company.
The sun was starting to set.
"Hey, Duke. We should probably get back. Our parents are probably worried about us."
"Aw! I don't wanna go!"
"Come on. I'll race ya'! I bet I'll win." Dasher had a cocky grin on his face.
"Ha! You wish." Duke ran up to his friend, and the two lined up their footpaws, "Ready." Duke started.
"Get set."
"GO!"
They started sprinting away, toward the tree arch. Duke was ahead by about a yard. He passed through the archway first. They dodged through trees and jumped over bushes. They got to the small bridge and easily passed over. Dasher was starting to catch up with Duke, who was now heavily panting. Dasher caught up, and passed the ever more fatigued folf. They saw the houses in the distance.
"I'm gonna beat you!" Dasher huffed.
"No... No way!" Duke panted in return. He started to pick up his speed, his little legs moving in a blur now. He flew by the last remaining trees, tongue hanging out. The final forest opening finally came.
Both kids dove out of the forest. It was a tie!
The two laid on the cool grass, panting and gasping for air, "G-good race." Duke panted.
"Hehe. Yeah. You're really fast!" Dasher huffed in return.
Duke turned to lie on his side, facing the cheetah. With a big smile on his face, he replied, "Thanks! So are you!"
Dasher turned as well, touching their noses together, and gave a big smile, "I AM a cheetah."
They laid there on the grass for a few minutes, laughing and talking.
"Hey... Dash?"
"Yeah?"
"Wanna know a secret?"
"Sure."
Duke moved his muzzle to Dasher's ear, and whispered, "You're my best friend." then pulled back and gave a warm smile.
Dasher had a slightly shocked look on his face, "I-I am?" his eyes started to well up. A tear fell from his cheek, and on to the grass.
"Why are you crying?" Duke said, confused.
"It's nothing." Dasher answered, wiping away a tear.
"Oh, come on. People don't just cry for nothing. Tell me."
"It-it's just... I've never had a friend before... Duke... You're my best friend too!"
Overcome with happiness, Duke gave his friend a big hug.
They laid on the grass for a few more minutes, until their parents came out of the houses to call them in for supper. They said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.
"So, wanna play again tomorrow?"
"Of course!"
"Ok! See ya' later. Best friend!"
"Forever, best friends."
They walked into their houses to eat dinner, and go to bed.
~~~~~The next Morning~~~~~
Duke heard his mother's voice, "Duke. Duke, wake up honey. It's Saturday. Don't you want to go out and play with Dasher?"
He began to wake up, dazed. When he heard Dasher's name, he sprang out of bed. "Yeah!" He ran to the bathroom to brush his teeth and pee. Then he went downstairs to eat some pancakes. He got on his clothes, grabbed his Frisbee, and ran outside. Dasher was already there waiting by his mom's car.
"Hey! Dasher! You goin' somewhere?"
Dasher replied, "Yeah! We're going to see the mountains. My mom said you could come if you wanted."
Duke replied with an excited nod, and ran inside to ask his mom if it would be ok, to which she replied with the answer he wanted to hear. He got his coat on, and sprinted outside and to his friend.
"Ok, I'm ready to go."
"Cool, we just have to wait for my parents to get ready."
The two waited, impatiently for the parent cheetahs to get outside. When they finally did, the kids got in the back seats of the car and buckled their seatbelts. The adults got in the front seats, the mother driving. The father turned his head to face the kids, "You two ready to go?"
"Yeah!" they replied in unison.
The mother turned the ignition key, and started the car.
~~~~~~~
The mountains were absolutely beautiful, breathtaking even. The cool, crisp snow on the needles of the pine trees. The ground almost completely white with the magical powder.
The car came to a stop near the tip of one of the smaller mountain peaks. Everyone exited the car and zipped up their jackets. The two youngsters went off to play, while the cheetah parents stayed at the car to enjoy the sights, and talk about their sons new friend.
"I'm glad Dasher found a new friend." the mother said, taking a sip of coffee.
"Yes," the father replied, "it's good to see him so happy again."
"Hey, Dasher!" Duke called.
Dasher whirled around, only to be hit in the face with a ball of frozen powder. After shaking it off, he scooped up some snow of his own, "Oh, you're going to get it!" he yelled with a laugh. He hurled the snowball as hard as he could, only for Duke to dodge it and throw one back, hitting Dash in the chest.
"Ha! How's that working out for you?" he laughed, overconfidently.
Dasher started turning red in the face out of anger. He scooped up more snow, and, while Duke was laughing, chucked it, hitting Duke in the crotch. "Ha! Direct hit!"
Duke started sinking to the ground, "That... was a cheap shot..." he fell down on the ground, and laid on his back, pretending to be dead.
Dasher stopped laughing, and ran to his friend, "Duke? Duke?? Wake up!" He knelt down on top of the folf and started lightly smacking him, "Duke! Please! Wake up!"
Duke suddenly grabbed Dasher by the shoulders and threw him to the ground, then quickly climbed on top of the cheetah, "Ha! I got ya! I was just pretending." Duke had a cocky, arrogant grin on his face, looking down at his "prey".
"You scared me! You're mean!"
Duke's grin had grown to a full-blown toothy smile, which quickly faded at the sound of Dasher's parent calling for them to get back to the car. Duke stood up, and held out a paw for Dasher, which he accepted. The two then started walking back up to the old station wagon. When they finally got home, it was almost dark; near their bed times.
"I'll see you later Dash," Duke spoke, climbing out of the car.
"See you Duke."
"Have a good night, dear," Dasher's mother threw in.
"Thanks Mrs. Dasher's mom. And thank for taking me with you."
"Oh, no problem sweetie. We're just glad Dasher found such a good friend."
Duke smiled and closed the door, then began walking to his front door.
The lights of the houses in the neighborhood began to turn off. Everyone was going to bed, getting ready for the start of the new day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That was the first chapter of my newest series, Age of Innocence.
Enjoy, rate, comment, watch, blah, blah, blah.
Live, Laugh, Love,
Dukie Mutt