Walk in the Snow
#1 of Stories
Walk in the Snow
_ "Heartbeat, heartbeat
take it so hard it's.
Heartbreak, heartbreak
you tell me goodbye."_
As the song finished Red lifted his head from the flashing bars on his mp3 screen. It was dark out already, but not a lonely dark. The kind of dark you get at three o'clock on a winters day, when the soft hug of streetlights warms you up despite the cold winds that nip through your coat. That's what Red thought anyways, but that's just Red. He didn't mind the cold, especially today of all days. He was too distracted and his mind was off on it's own. Off thinking about his day, his life. What was he? Was the question that racked his mind as his padded panda feet crunched through the soft white snow.
He stopped for a moment and turned to look at himself in the nearest shop window. What was he looking at? He could barely tell you that himself. His reflection to be sure, but that didn't mean that much to him. He gazed deep into his dark grey eyes, hoping to find something. No such luck. He smiled his melancholy smile.
"Damn mirror." He sighed "Why don't you show me something nice for a change."
It's not that his reflection wasn't nice, far from it. It's what everyone would want in a young panda such as himself. His sleek slender figure complimented his deep red fur. Standing 5'1" he considered himself tall, exemplified only by his tail that came only a few inches short of his head, and his ears that stood like small fans above it. His shoulders however pushed tight against his dark-blue pea-coat, and his legs felt lost in the jeans they should have filled. His make-up softly brushed across his fur and gently curling his eyelashes.
"It's no good, since when do us furs get a say in what we become?" He muttered on the brink of tears as he pressed his hand against the cold lifeless reflection that was his own.
He felt no love, no comfort from the cruel twisted shape that stood before him. That wasn't him, that wasn't what he wanted. The masculine figure in the mirror did nothing to comfort him, and most certainly didn't want to change for him. No matter how much he willed it, the same face would always stand before him. The same male stranger from days gone by. He never wanted to be a man, he never wanted to grow strong like his father, and his father before him. Red wanted to be grace. He wanted his soft touch to be met by the soft glow only the most feminine can carry. He knew that would never happen though, his mere existence defied nature, how would he be able to deal with that.
He looked up at his reflection, trying to see through the cold eyes that mocked him, and then his tears on top of that. After a while he realized he was starring into a candy store, and right at the fox standing behind the counter. He tried to look away as though nothing happened, as though he wasn't just crying in a from of the store owner. It was no use though, the fox just starred back, barely even blinking. Red was just about to run away when the clerk came out from behind the counter and walked to the door.
"You're gonna sick if you stay out there too long Hun!" He said as he opened the door, welcoming him in.
Red didn't know what to do. He couldn't just leave, but he also couldn't stand to go in after all that happened. Better judgement got the better of him as he walked towards the door and the fox welcomed him, smiling with his hand forward, and finally closing the door shut behind them.
"So what'll it be for today?" The fox asked, barely giving Red the time to catch his breath and wipe his tears away.
"I dunno" squeaked Red "I haven't been to a candy store in ages."
"Well you're gonna need something to wipe all those tears off that pretty little face of yours." The fox replied with a giggle. "Choose whatever you want! It's on me after all."
"Oh, I Couldn't ask you too-
"No complaining!" Snapped the fox "I'm getting to the end of a six-hour shift, I think that's more than the buck or two I'd need to put a smile on your face." He said as he giggled.
"I guess so..." Replied Red, cracking his first smile since he walked into the store.
"Good, now get looking." He snapped in his odd motherly tone.
Red looks throughout the store for anything he might like, or for starters something he's actually heard of before. None of it seemed familiar though, somehow everything managed to change since he was a kid. It was all happier when he was a kid, no worrying about things like "zero calories" or "zero trans fats". Back when candy was for kids, that's what he remembered.
He snapped out of his reminiscent trance and quickly grabbed the first thing he could find. Pocky it was. He brought it up and placed it on the front counter. Waiting patiently for the fox to come back and pay for it.
"mmmmmm, Pocky, good choice!" He said as he scanned it through and paid. "Take these too" He said as he pulled some kleenex out of it's box and handed them over. "You might wanna fix your make-up, it kinda looks like you got hit by a bus."
"Thanks" He said as he wiped his face completely, leaving no signs of any makeup whatsoever.
"You're ever so welcome little one. I'm just gonna have to kick you out now seeing as it's time to close and all" The fox replied
"Ok..." Replied Red.
"Now you have a good night ma'am." He said with a sneaky little wink.
"You too sir" Red replied with a wink of his own, as he left the store.
He wasn't sure if the wink was the best thing to do, but he was sure that it made him feel like he did something right. That fox sure did, that's for sure. That's what he remembered, and that's what kept a smile on his face the rest of the night. All the way home. Alone again, if it weren't for the warm hug of streetlights and the soft white snow to keep him company.
*The End *