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Growing Pains by Pent Ghelsburg

Disclaimer: The characters depicted in this work are purely fictional. Any resemblance to persons alive or dead is purely coincidental. They are the original and rightful intellectual property of their creators. I use them with permission and respect. This work contains micro/macro content involving underaged characters. You have been warned.

"Growing up is such a barbarous activity

full of inconvenience."

-JM Barrie

A long and winding path does tell tales; of travelers who traverse its paths in order to achieve some presumed lofty goals. The purpose of which remains to be told but to each who braves these harrowing journeys, it is nonetheless a worthwhile task. Each person must travel through their own treacherous path, such is the way of life. Sometimes more obvious answers lie in front of you but many times it is not quite so clear. This is even more true in our youths when such decisions are seemingly more pressing and life-changing.

Biro was your typical boy who lived in the border town of Pueblo, an older Spanish town that shared the same names as many of its other Mexican brethren. The village was a sleepy one, not quite too large nor was it too small. Nestled among the Chihuahuan desert, the city was an overly conservative one boasting dry policies that had stretched back centuries of government policy. Of course, none of this was known to the boy, for all he cared about was the small world he called home.

Biro was a fox who at 10-years of age lived in the small village with his parents. His parents both worked full time in a bigger nearby city and as such, they weren't home until late at night. As such the fox was home alone quite often. Biro was among the small group of furs who lived in the place. It was a segregated society that very much despised favored, humans. But the fox and his family did what they could to get by and ignore the issue.

The cub was very much your typical boy who loved being outdoors and pretending to be a superhero, even having his own version of "The Great Fox". The show was a children's show about a girl fox who transformed into a superhero and saved people from evildoers. His mother had even helped him make a costume, which was nothing more than a baby blue shirt with an embroidered B on it with his red and white briefs, over some jeans. The finishing touches a long red cape with a matching insignia.

The fox had a small group of friends, all of whom were fellow furs. However, his best friend was one that he'd gotten to know much better over the last year, a raccoon by the name of Biro. A boy of the same age who had moved into the town just 2 years ago. But over those 2 years, the raccoon had turned from a lonely isolated kid to one that did what he could in order to make as many friends as possible and it was all because Biro had helped him break, even if just a little bit, out of his shell.

It was the weekend, the time that all kids looked forward to. Art and Biro had been planning a trip to town for a while. Biro had organized a mission for the two of them, one that he shared only with Art. The idea was to slip into town and try a new candy bar which had been advertised all week and supposedly had the richest chocolate, imported directly from Europe. Apparently it had been a hit overseas and had even sold out when facing the unprecedented demand from the public.

One of the reasons it was so popular with the kids is that the company that produced the chocolate, was running a contest where the person who found the white bar would be rewarded with meeting any celebrity of their choice. Biro instantly wanted to win this competition as he wanted to meet the voice behind "The Great Fox" and he assumed his friend would like to see the animation behind the popular cartoon.

Of course, when Art heard about it, he was a bit hesitant. Only after Biro turned it into a game, was his friend finally into it. The fox sold it as a mission for them to accomplish. One afforded to them by the Young Detective's league. The fox promising that he'd share the task with his friend once he came over on Saturday morning. Now was that time and Art had even got dressed up for the occasion wearing a turtle-neck shirt, khaki's, and some loafer shoes. It was the closest thing he could find to what he considered to be professional.

When Art arrived at Biro's place, he was surprised to find the fox had not even bothered to put anything special on. Just a pair of fake glasses a dark gray trench coat, that dragged along the floor because it was way too big for him.

"Come on! We have no time to waste. The mission just came in on email!" The fox took his friend's paw and led him back into his room.

The raccoon had no chance to protest and was pulled along as if he were a rag doll. Within moments the two friends were in the foxes bedroom. The hum of the computer could be heard throughout the small space.

Biro pointed at the screen, knowing full well what he had written and had no need to read it again. Art's ears perked with curiosity as he shuffled over to where the desktop was situated. On the screen wasn't even email, just a letter.

"Detectives,

I have a job for you. The Police tell us that candy bars are going missing! Every day the boxes, they just poof. The nice lady has no idea where they are. Can you please look into this? We need chocolate and now!

B"

When Art turned back around, the fox had a magnifying glass in his paw and was looking through it. "Well?"

Art nodded happily, seeming keen with the idea. The fox smiled back and both of them exited the room.

"To the police car!" Biro pointed to his bike and ran to it with unparalleled excitement.

They mounted the bike together with Biro manning the wheel and sounding the best siren he could. "Eee-ooo-Eee-ooo" Repeating it over and over.

They made their way into town, with a few adults giving them wary looks as they made their entrance into the city proper. Neither of them seemed to care about attracting wayward attention.

"Screeech!!!" The fox made the best stopping sound he could imitate.

They were now at the spot of the "crime." The candy shop or Old Gretta's as it was called was owned by an older woman who had operated the place for several decades now. It wasn't often that she was actually there and had since sub-contracted the work out to her grandkids, so there was pretty much a different person operating the place every single day. Biro pulled in the bike into the rack and didn't bother locking it. No one seemed to be around and it was the last thing on his mind.

When they entered the old building, the door creaked a bit.

"Police!" Biro chirped as if he was officially with the precinct.

The store proctor overheard the voice and immediately lept into action. After all, such a claim was not to be taken. Even going as far as to jump over the counter in an effort to see what the deal was. But when she found it was just a raccoon and fox boy, she couldn't help but smile.

She leaned down to be more on an eye-level with them. "May I help you, boys?"

The woman was a tall and lanky pitch-black siamese cat, her tail curling onto the floor as she leaned down.

"We're not boys! We're detectives!" Biro stomped his feet in protest, Art folding his arms defensively.

"Oh, how could I be so silly." She bowed deeply to show them deference. "Come right this way, detectives."

"That's better!" The fox had naively expected her to play along even know she had no idea what they were doing.

The feline made her way into a loft in a side room with a small lamp on a nightstand next to a reclining chair. She got comfortable and sat down on it before crossing her legs.

The cat began tapping her left paw on her leg expectantly. "How might I help you, detectives?"

"Well, we heard that some chocolate was going missing and we want to help!" Biro wasted no time and got straight to the point.

"Is that so?" The woman raised her left paw and scratched her head as if deep in thought. "Go on?"

"Come on, you must know about it!" The fox stamped his foot again showing his obvious frustration. Art had pulled out a notepad to take some notes.

The cat was at a loss for words. She had no idea what the boy was walking about and yet didn't want to upset him. Thinking about it for a moment, she remembered they had recently gotten in a shipment of new sweets. Recalling that one of them was an expensive European brand of chocolate, that was promoting a children's series of the show. Perhaps that's what he was here for? She decided to roll along with it and see how it went.

She leaned forward and looked directly into the foxes eyes. "You must mean the BIG bar huh?"

Recently the chocolate had sold out due to the sheer demand of the product. So it would make sense that it went "missing" according to the boy.

"Is that the one with the Great Fox on it? Biro's tail wagged behind him softly, hoping they were talking about the same thing.

She thought to herself for a moment. She did recall cartoon fox stickers plastered all over the box, and it had even companied with a cardboard cutout of the hero.

She smirked at the boy. " remember those. We did report them going missing. Are you here to look for them? Oh, Thank you, Mr. Detective!"

"Yes! Any clues?" The frown on Biro's face had been replaced by a huge smile. Art stepped closer as if to get a better idea of any hints.

The raccoon had listened intently the entire time and was diligently taking notes in his notebook without saying a word. Eventually, the bell on the door could be heard, which meant another customer had come in the store.

"You guys can have a look around...Just clean up when you are done." She had enjoyed playing along but had a job to tend to after all.

Biro nodded softly to his friend and the two began looking around the store. Neither really had any idea what they were looking for. The fox had his magnifying glass out and continued to look around on the floor as if expecting to find footprints or something like that. Art was a little more diligent in looking all around the store, both up and down as he traveled through the thin aisles. Eventually, he came onto the giant cardboard cutout of the Great Fox in her casual outfit on one half and her hero outfit on the other.

The raccoon began to squeak happily trying to get his friend's attention. Biro heard it but was much too engaged looking at some shoe prints created by the most recent customers. Art grunted as he rushed over to where his friend was and pulled him over to the cardboard cutout. Once the fox saw it, his face lit up with glee. His tail wagging behind him a kilometer a minute. The woman holding a representation of the chocolate in her paws with the logo of the company written across it in big letters. Underneath it...the contest details that they had heard so much about.

This was it...the chocolate they heard about so much. At the base of the cutout was a display with several boxes of the sweets. Each of the boxes had a different flavor and despite the name of the product, they didn't seem to be big at all. Neither of them seemed to care but both of them picked their favorite flavor with Biro picking milk chocolate and Art picking dark. Now it was time to show their success to the nice lady who had since returned to the cash register behind the counter.

Art and Biro made their way to the counter, with the raccoon taking the lead and presenting the two treats to the woman to be paid for.

"Oh, I see you have found the lost candy then? She smiled at the cub hoping she had made their day a little better.

Art nodded happily and Biro chirped a cheery response. "Uhuh!"

"Well, since you guys did such a good job. Those two bars are on the house!" The cat figured giving a few away wouldn't hurt since there was a buy one get one free promotion going on currently.

Art looked over at his friend shocked and Biro looked back with a dumbfounded gaze. "Really?"

"Yup." The woman's face sported a huge grin.

The raccoon jumped up and down in glee. "Thanks, nice lady! Biro rotated around and presented his bar as if it were some grand prize.

"Just promise to come back again and tell all your friends, okay?" The woman figured that word of mouth was the best advertisement she could ask for.

Art nodded and the two made their exit from the building with their treats in hand. The door chiming again as they exited.

Biro's face was beaming with excitement. "A job well done! Let's celebrate."

The two sat down together on a wooden bench which had been situated just outside the building. Art hugged his friend and immediately began peeling back the wrapper of the chocolate. The fox wasn't far behind. Both of them gorging themselves on the candy bar without delay. Within moments the small chocolate treat was gone. Biro licking his lips, showing that he'd enjoyed the confection. The raccoon was much slower and methodical about enjoying his treat. When they were done, Art took both boys wrappers and disposed of it in a nearby garbage.

"Hicc" A gasp of air left Biro's lungs as he hiccuped.

Biro was feeling a little tingly and light-headed all of the sudden but he wasn't about to let that stop him having fun.

"Want to go to the park or something?" As the fox stood up he realized his clothing was feeling tighter on him.

Art simply nodded and returned to his friend's side. Standing next to his friend, Biro found he can suddenly see over the raccoon head, something he wasn't used to. All he wanted to do was have fun and wasn't worried about anything else.

Soon they returned to the bike and made their way to the bike. It wasn't far from the candy shop and it was a beautiful day out. The sun was shining and the breeze was quite prevalent despite being in the middle of a desert climate. After about 10 minutes they reached the park. Biro was careful this time and locked his bike up. He knew that humans were likely about and he certainly didn't trust them after how they had treated both himself and Art in the past.

After the bike was locked, they were ready to go. Biro was antsy to go out and play and feeling rather energetic.

"Wanna play tag?" Biro was chomping at the bit for some type of activity.

Art didn't need to be asked twice to play a game of tag as it was one of his favorite things to do. Immediately he began running away from Biro. The fox decided to give the other cub a head start and be fair since he knew was the faster of the tow.

"Hicc..." Another gasp of air escaped Biro as he sat there idly.

Biro suddenly felt a bit cramped up. His body was achy and he was finding it difficult to move. Bit by bit his clothing was becoming tighter. His shoes..soon were becoming rather uncomfortable on his feet as well. All he wanted to do was sit down and take them off. Luckily for him, the feeling subsided before long and he plopped on his behind in an effort to take the pressure off his knees. The fox couldn't help but try to unlace his shoes.

His paws hurt...he wanted them off and sooner rather than later. Biro undid the knot on both shoes but found he was unable to pull them off, even after pulling with all his might several times. Eventually, he decided to entirely undo the lacework from the shoes. Soon he was able to finally get them off. Once he did, the relief he experienced was instantaneous. Strangely his entire body was warm and his entire wardrobe was tight on him, stretched to its max.

Still...his playful attitude presided and he picked himself up. He knew Art had to be around and all he wanted to do was catch him. Biro still had socks on and picked himself up, wobbling a bit as he tried to stand. Eventually managing to carry a stride as he took longer but more careful steps. As his pace began to pick up, he overheard a loud ripping sound. The fox came to a complete stop. A breeze could be felt from behind...Eventually, he could feel it right on his bum and as he did it became apparent where the rip had happened.

Biro's face turned blood red. Even though his red and black fur one could see it. Luckily for him, no one was really around. The fox began to search for somewhere to hide forgetting all about the game. Art was becoming worried at this point, wondering where his friend had gotten. It wasn't normal for the other cub to take this long. He knew he had to make sure Biro was alright. After all, if the fox was hurt, he would feel bad if he didn't offer assistance.

The raccoon felt as if he was one that was it now. The game now seemed more similar to hide and seek than tag, but that didn't matter now. Art eventually found his friend huddled up by a lake. But something seemed different about him now. He seemed bigger than Art remembered. As he approached the other boy, the obvious becomes more evidently true. Biro had huddled near a lake, seeming upset about him.

Art motioned himself next to the bigger cub, even sitting down the boy was almost as big as he was now. He had quite the growth spurt it seemed. The raccoon pointed in the body of water as if to signal he wanted to go for a swim. The smaller boy sitting down to the left of his friend began taking off his shoes. Placing his bare paws right next to Biro's realizing just how much bigger they were. Not saying a word, he just looked up at his friend with a smile.

After stripping down to his tighty whities Art dove face-first into the lake, seeming not to worry about the depth of the water. Biro watched as his friend swam around, and felt almost envious of his carelessness. Biro stood up slowly. His whole body still ached but once again he just wanted to have fun. His clothing wasn't even comfortable anymore, so he took one of his claws and ripped the remainder of his shirt off. Still feeling vain about his own nudity, he decided to skip taking off his pants.

Soon Biro joined his friend, though he was much slower to get in the water. The cool nature of the pond made him feel a little bit better than before. Eventually, it allowed him to relax, especially once he was able to submerge himself in the water.

"Oh, this is nice..." The fox's muscles relaxed as the water soothed him.

Art began doggy paddling around the fox's larger body. Biro found himself able to stand up in the water.

Biro was feeling rather playful and began pushing water towards his friend. Pushing small waves of water towards Art. The raccoon spat out water from his maw as it crashed into him, looking rather sour about it. Soon retaliating by sending his own streams of water, only managing to get a bit above the mid-region of his chest as it descended further into the deeper ends of the water. Soon the familiar cramping feeling returned to Biro, making him stop the fun and games in his track.

Art watched as his friend's face twinged a bit. Immediately he began to worry for his well being as the fox wrapped his arms around his body in an effort to comfort himself. Bit by bit the kit's body steadily rose out of the water. Biro's form was achy and tense all over, he couldn't move. His paws dug into the sand and pushed himself further up...bigger and bigger. The raccoon's face gaped in awe as his friend grew right before his eyes. The remainder of his pants ripping into shreds as they could contain his waistline nor his legs no longer.

The feeling soon subsided. Energy replaced the pain inside of Biro's form. The sensation seeming to dissipate as he opened his eyes. Looking around, everything looked different. He could see the bottom of the top of the canopy of the trees despite being in the water. Looking up at his friend Art was shocked to see his old buddy a giant.

"Wow...I got so big...what happened to me?" Biro looked at his hands and then back down at his friend.

Art had backed himself into a corner of the lake in order to avoid being stepped on.

The fox knelt down and laid his paw flat so that the raccoon could get onto it. After a little bit of hesitation, Art crawled onto the now giant paw before him.

Once he was on board, Art found himself hard-pressed to stand upright. Biro's paw wasn't exactly solid and he was moving it a bit upward ever so slowly. Eventually, he was brought to the fox's shoulder. The raccoon finding a nice sitting spot near his neck, using it to latch onto. Soon the cub began to move. With each elongated step, Art's entire body was roused and shook to its very core. He continued clutching as hard as he could to Biro's neck.

Eventually, the now giant fox made his way back into the park. Some woodby onlookers screaming and then running for their lives as the fox made his trek through the park.

"Roar!" Biro gave his best Godzilla impression, enjoying this perhaps more than he should.

Each step he took brought the cub closer to the city. Some news choppers had noticed him and now circled around him to get the best possible footage for their clips. Soon Biro noticed and grabbed one as if it were a toy.

The people inside shrieked in terror. "Zoom...Zoom!" Biro guided the thing around like it was a model.

Biro spun it around in a circle once over before taking it up and down. The people on board hurling and holding on for dear life. Once they were set down, the pilot wasted on time in fleeing the situation going as far as to report it to the police.

The fox soon found himself face to face with the town itself. It was a sleepy town and yet even with its a small population, they were out and about trying to avoid the terror of this seemingly giant fox boy. Biro stood at the entry to the town itself, only smaller than some of the biggest buildings in the city. Feeling rather giddy about it as he pounded his chest acting as if he were king kong. Art was shaking a bit, afraid his friend might hurt someone.

Biro was just having too much fun. Near his bare paws, he saw some abandoned cars, kneeling in order to grab them. Taking one in his right paw and putting it through a barrel roll. The car was lightweight to him and he spun it around like it was a roller coaster. He thought about putting Art inside but knew his friend wasn't much for thrill rides. Eventually, he grew tired of it and dropped the car back on the floor looking for his next object of interest.

He could overhear sirens, unaware that the police were on their way. Biro looked at the largest building in the area and began scaling it. Using his claws to scrape up the building as the parts of the building crumbled each time he moved his feet up. It wasn't that big of a building, so he could hug it in order to get a grasp so he could get upward motion on it. Eventually, he found his way on top of the building and rested himself near the tip.

Soon jets appeared and began to circle him. A loudspeaker could be heard on the horizon.

"You will get off the building now. Show your paws or else!" A commanding voice threatened over the megaphone.

Biro's heartbeat began to pick up, a little afraid for his own well being. Of course, he didn't want to get in trouble so he complied. Art was hiding behind the fox's neck scruff, hoping to not be noticed. Of course, he was much too small, in comparison, for him to be picked out.

The fox descended back down, some of the scrap metal and sheetrock had piled down by the base of the building. Biro couldn't help but feel a little bad about what he'd done, even if it was unintentional. Soon the police surrounded him with cars on all sides.

"Sit down...paws up!" The same voice commanded him to comply again.

Soon the police were out of their cars. All of their guns pointed towards the boy. Biro did was he was told and was deathly afraid, panting and heaving. The fox closing his eyes hoping it would be over soon.

The vision soon ended as Biro awoke in his bed. His breathing was rapid and his head was hot. His mother sitting to his side with a rag over his head.

"Shh...it will be okay. It was just a nightmare...go back to sleep." His mother tried to coax him back to sleep.

Biro tried to settle back down. It had been so real. Having his mother right next to him was reassuring and was glad it was just a dream. Though it had been super cool to experience. He certainly didn't want to hurt anyone, nor get in trouble. Eventually falling back to sleep in deep slumber...