It's a dragon! it's a man! it's a...cat?
#12 of Struggle
Struggle-Chapter 13.
Graduation.
In a lonely room, sort of cheap, filled with Goodwill furniture: among them, a twin sized bed with a sky blue dragon Napping on it.
The dusk light streaking through the only window in the room only made his scales shine brighter as the tranquil atmosphere remained static, warm and cozy inside his rented apartment, dreaming about his youngest brother...
Albeit his dreams, at least those of happy memories, were rare, it had to be interrupted by his cheap digital alarm cock on the nightstand, vibrating and blaring loud music directly into the dragon's "folded back" ears.
" TRY AGAAAAAAAAAAAIN DON'T GIVE UP ~~~ DON'T STOP BELEIVINNNNGGGGGGGG~-SMASH-"
And so began the day of Tom Kursof, the sky-blue dragon, Oldest son of the Kursof family, which met its tragedy and a blessing, a traumatized young wolf, suddenly being engaged to his bro Zack, and a myriad of things happened in the summer he visited.
By the end of summer, Mary, his mother, had taken Zack and Chris into a separate house, bought with her family's inheritance, working as an accountant and still caring for the two brothers. Tom, his father who'd beaten the crap out of Zack and himself two years ago, had disappeared: nobody had seen him for the last two years.
He sighed and shook his maw, brushing the little lock of hair atop his forehead into place,, then walked into the shower, the cold water waking him up...
"Karen, Kristianson" The big, burly tauren dressed in brown suit called out, standing nearly 8 feet tall in front of the mike, a bright spotlight shining down on him, then at a vixen trotting up the little podium, next to the class president.
"With outstanding cheerleading performance, Debate team state champion, and among many others, I am honored to congratulate you on graduation!"
The crowd, obediently, cheered as the now-Bachelorette waved and stepped down,. The Class president looked down, ready to call the next name...
"Tomas Kursof"
Tom, who'd been sitting stiff among the rows in the stadium, hastily got up in his black gown/, cap in his left paw as he walked over next to his friend, Jake.
"As a recipient of our Kum Laude award with an outstanding GPA of 3.93, winning the regional Modern Warfare 2 tournament, Student Body Representative all four years, and with volunteer hours over 1800 in the last four years, I'm thrilled to call you, our new Graduate!"
Jake leaned down, smiling as he embraced his much smaller friend, smothering him in his huge arms, then waving at the myriad of cameras flashing away.
Tom smiled bashfully, chuckling as Call of Duty was mentioned, and his volunteer hours: 'wow....i didn't think I was there that much...' After receiving the diploma, he stepped down, walking out the red carpet, to the door....
To be tackled, about 10th time that day, by his little brother Chris, making him thump into the steel door as he yipped playfully.
"H....Hey! ow! Hi Chris, for about the 100th time today"
Then another, bigger mass came over and hugged them both, letting out pleasant growls as Zack looked at his older brother, no a Man, in his eyes.
"Hey Bro...Congrats....I.....well.....I didn't know you did all that! And what's up with that CoD tourney! You didn't call me?!"
The trio of brothers hugged, happy, while another black dragoness in sharp business suit took pictures of the three, somehow wiping away her tears at the same time.
"I'm so glad...Chris! Let go of your brother and stand up straight! I want this to be a portrait on the dining room. PRAX! Get in the picture! You're family for Christ sake"
She whizzed over, fussing over the flustered brown wolf, then shoving him towards the brothers, where his mate, Zack, immediately grabbed his paw and smiled broadly at the camera.
The Kodak wavered for a bit, while Mary wiped her tears off the little looking window, then gave a bright flash...
"Man I'm glad that's over, That robe was so stiff...."
Tom was sitting in his briefs, on his cheap bed, being ogled at by the trio of his brothers (Prax was "integrated" into the family) He glanced at the trio, scoffing.
"What? You've seen me naked plenty of times, Prax take that box out to the car please, Chris grab my bag, Zack, everything heavy for the brute"
He proceeded to put on his jeans and a random T he grabbed from his drawer, smiling as his brothers moved his stuff out to the car: today would be a big day.
'a Big day indeed.... For the best or worse... I have to be there for him...'
The dragon thought to himself, turning about at the door, to stare at the now-empty room, with just a bed, drawer and a table, seemingly staring back at him.
Melancholy suddenly struck Tom: he'd spent two years here, studying, completing his courses, working every spare hour he had at a local GameStop, saving up every penny, and still graduated with Major in Biomedical engineering with Cum laude award.
With a nod, he turned about, locking the apartment, hopefully, to never return...
With cars whizzing past, Tom kept his footpaw on the gas, carefully watching the busy highway for any drunkards, etc.
The snoring noises and giggles from the back seats weren't helping, but it did put him in a better mood even with 18+ hours of driving so far.
'almost there...hope he's ok...'
the little family van trudged on, and slowed down as it exited the highway and proceeded into a rather "country" area.
The much-too-old brakes squealed as the car came to a stop in front of a white-and-brown, two story house, in front of a large shed and a 2-car garage.
"we're here guys, get up!"
Only disgruntled mumbles and whines answered from the mass of blankets, fur, and scales that made up the back seat.
Tom sighed and got out of the car, stretching his wings and arms, before going back in and yanking the flimsy blanket off the three furs dozing on top of one another.
"hey, get up!"
After a few seconds, Prax was the first one to open his emerald eyes in confusion
"u..gh.......huh? mm......hey Tom....we here?"
At the dragon's nod, he nudged the two dragons, who both got up with a grumble.
"okay guys...c.....come on out. You're about to meet...uhm.........well, just come on"
a little bit nervous, sharing their brother's nervousness, the trio got out, straightening out what wrinkles in their clothing, and gasped at the house.
"wow tom....wh.....this is yours?"
"no...it's...his. I'm just going to live with him and try to develop our...relationship a little more"
at that moment, the big bulky dragon sputtered and whirled on his brother.
"hey WAIT a minute! You had a mate this whole time and never told us!?"
"well....he......he's an extremely shy guy, more so than Prax, Zack...and besides, I wasn't sure...to be honest, if it would last this long..."
Berating himself for his doubts, Tom sighed and waved a paw, turning to stare directly into a wall of pure white fur.
Dun....dun dun??
Well I haven't really developed on Tom's side of the story, nor Chris'. So I'm trying to amend that and maybe build it up
I've hit quite a writer's block what with "life" and things going on that I really shouldn't be dealing with at my age.
In any case! I will be writing a lot more now, and hopefully, Will wrap this series up sometime soon! ~~~~
-Ephy
P.S: sorry for lame-ass title. i couln't think of any X.X