Hoppers Story - Chapter Three
#3 of (ZOO) - Hoppers Story
Hopper becomes an offical member of the sanctuary, with his own paw print/photo identification, so he may come and go at will. His relationship slowly builds with Miss Blackwood, and even though he is still very afraid, she continues to gain the frightened young Buck's trust - but Miss Blackwood knows, it won't be easy. Hopper is introduced to his first 'patient' - a feral Whiptail Doe, who is kept in a dim room, so as to calm her and eep her from stress induced cardio-myopathy - a very frequent cause of death amongst feral wallabies, when they're over-stressed. Hopper spends hours at the doe's side, dipping his paws into a bowl of water and holding it to her muzzle, trying to encourage her to drink - eventually, resorting to a method he never wanted to do - and risks his newly earned position in the sanctuary -
Hoppers Story Chapter Three © Cederwyn Whitefurr 10th February, 2012 All Rights Reserved
Hopper lay in the recovery ward for three hours, until he felt strong enough to stand, and he weakly climbed to his feet and wobbled uncertainly. Miss Blackwood reached out to help him, but Hopper flinched away and took and experimental hop for a few paces, before shuddering and laying on the floor, stretching his leg muscles one at a time, his short, narrow feet extended stiffly out and curling his middle toe experimentally. Miss Blackwood watched in interest, never having had the chance to see a wallaby stretching, and Hopper glanced at her, then smiled shyly - holding his paws out in the first genuine show of trust...
Miss Blackwood was surprised at Hopper's show of trust, and she gently took his paws in her hands and helped him to stand, as he shivered and let his paws lay in her grasp for a few minutes, before he quivered and pulled them out of her gentle grasp.
"Thank you Miss Blackwood - " Hopper whispered, glancing shyly at her.
"Please - Hopper...call me Katy - its my name. Miss Blackwood - it...it sounds so formal. We're not at school Hopper - its okay to call me by my name - please, I'd prefer it."
"Miss..." Hopper began, then stammered and favoured Katy with a shy smile. "Katy..."
Katy smiled back, then led Hopper back to the surgery, taking another door and down even more numerous hallways.
"Since you're going to be working with us - well - primarily...with me - " Katy told him, as Hopper followed at a distance of five feet - a small improvement, but one Katy was happy with. "You will need an identification card made up...and we'll see if we can't find you something more appropriate to wear...shall we?
Hopper glanced fearfully from side to side, occasionally glancing through windows into other labs, where he saw humans and anthro's working side by side on various things that defied his comprehension, and he shyly crept closer to Katy. She noticed him closing the distance and sent mental strength to Hopper - but wether he received her good intentions, she would never know. Hopper was led into a small room, where Katy gently gestured him towards a white wall and she took the position behind a camera.
"Hopper, please look directly at the light here - now - this will make a painfully bright flash - please don't blink when it does. I know it'll hurt your eyes, but please - its important we get a photo ID for you, so you can come and go from the sanctuary, and not have staff or the guards stop you. Just show your ID and you'll be okay, I promise." Katy told him, then as Hopper blinked, she pressed the button and the blinding white flash washed the world out of Hopper's gaze.
He flinched and cried out in fear, his eyes watering and purple splotches blinding him, as Katy quickly moved close and touched his paw. At first, Hopper pulled away, then stumbled into the cubicle wall - but Katy touched his forearm, and he turned towards her, the tears trickling down his muzzle and dribbling off his whiskers.
"Hopper...just...just breathe sweety - take a deep breath - its alright...the flash effects only last a few seconds..." Katy comforted him with her soft, feminine voice, as Hopper clung tightly to her hands with his small black paws.
Sure enough, after about nearly a minute, Hopper blinked and wiped at his eyes with the back of his paws, before he squinted and blinked again, the painful purple blotches fading as he shook his head and sniffled. Katy watched him, then turned her attention to the machine that beeped at her, telling her the photograph was ready. As hopper sat, Katy busied herself with preparing Hopper's ID photo, then she come back to him and smiled, holding his small passport sized photograph, and a small black pad, that made Hopper's nostrils twitch, the smelly highly noxious to his sensitive nose.
"Hopper? I need your paw print please - it...its like a fingerprint on a human - all paw prints on your kind are unique, only to you. Its just another security precaution - but I doubt anyone would mistake you...but its a necessary step, if you want to work here with us."
Fearfully, Hopper reached out his paw, then splayed his fingers apart, before Katy shook her head and held her own palm up, the fingers together.
"Like this please - " Katy whispered to him.
Hopper frowned, but put his fingers back together, then felt Katy gently press his paw to the ink pad, then onto the card she held in her hand. Hopper flinched at her touch, but he didn't pull away - which further reassured Katy that Hopper might, just might, be beginning to trust her."
"Thank you." Katy replied.
She blew gently on the wet paw print ink, gently drying it, then returning to the strange machine. Inserting his new ID card, the machine laminated it, then she punched a hole up near the top, before clipping a lanyard onto it. Setting the ID aside, Katy gestured to Hopper and led him over to the sink. Seeing as the poor Wallaby barely come to the height of the sink, Katy began to realise, just how short Hopper really was. How he managed to do most things in a human society, she honestly didn't know. Taking a towel, she soaked it in water, then handed it to him - he took it and frowned, before Katy smiled and made a hand-washing gesture. Hopper rubbed his ink-stained paw-pads against the towel, only getting a little of the ink off, but mainly - it would stop him from leaving wet, ink-stained paw prints on anything Hopper accidentally touched.
"Hopper - are you - I mean...are your kind digigrade or plantigrade?" Katy asked, as the laminated card cooled on the counter.
"Both Miss - "Hopper replied, then swallowed.
"Katy...my name is Katy...remember?" Katy smiled and chuckled quietly. "I thought so...I've always been fascinated with the Anthropomorphic kangaroo's and wallabies - you can both hop...yet walk almost normally - albeit using all of your foot, rather than just the toes, like when you hop. Its remarkable...."
Hopper frowned, never having ever thought about it - he has always preferred hopping over walking, as Katy didn't know, most Kangaroo anthropomorphic creatures, and their smaller wallaby cousins, preferred to hop over walking. Walking put an unnatural strain on their powerful leg tendons, often leading to agonising cramps for the afflicted person. Some, but not many, could even drop to their paws and like their feral ancestors, crawl slowly along - but not many did this, preferring to act as 'normal' as they could, not wishing to reinforce the human stereotype that surrounded their kind. His reminisces were disrupted, as Katy smiled then held out a pale blue lanyard, from which swung Hopper's new photo ID and paw print.
"Congratulations Hopper - you're now a registered worker here at the sanctuary...." Katy chuckled. "Of course, there are many 'off-limits' areas you're not allowed to go into, but for you - I think - that won't be a problem. Now...lets go meet this doe - she's very frightened still, and weak - so please, be as gentle as you can - but I'm hoping you can at least get her to drink some water - it'd mean a lot to myself, and the other staff."
Hopper frowned, looking at his photograph, before Katy took the lanyard from his quivering paws, then with one smooth stroke, lay it around his neck. Hopper flinched as he fingers touched his neck, and she sighed, forgetting for a moment, just how skittish this anthropomorphic wallaby really was...
*
Hopper held a tray in his slender paws, on which sat a bowl of what Katy had called 'Kangaroo Mix' - to Hopper, it smelt disgusting - he saw multiple grains, some lucerne, wheat chaff and other things he understood, but some of it only wafted its combined aroma into his nostrils, and he sneezed delicately, tilting his head away as he did so, in a distinctly human-like gesture that Katy noted on a clipboard.
"Go on Hopper - she's inside that dark room - she should be ling down on a thin mattress, near the back wall - we'll keep the lighting very dark, so we don't stress her any-more - just knock - or scratch - at the door when you're done, and I'll be right outside, so there's no need to be afraid - I'll be able to see you through the glass here...okay?"
Hopper trembled, then waited as the door was slid open, before carefully walking into the barely lit room, his ears twitching violently and nostrils flaring. His eyes quickly adapted to the low-lighting conditions, and he seen the doe, as promised, lying on the thin mattress. She weakly lifted her head when Hopper approached, and uttered a short, weak cough. Hopper froze, then the two bowls on the tray began rattling, as he trembled with fear and anxiety. Placing the tray on the floor, Hopper crouched onto his paws, and like a feral wallaby, he nervously crept closer to where the doe lay, sniffing her scent, as he knew she inhaled his. Shyly, he leaned his head closer, then sniffed her muzzle, and the doe blinked, before touching her nose to his - and hopper inhaled her breath, as she inhaled his own.
Behind the glass, in an equally dim room, Katy blinked in surprise, never having watched a wallaby greeting gesture before. Hopper seemed to be trembling - and she could understand why - he was frightened and unsure, but the doe didn't seem to respond to Hoppers nervousness, with the same reaction. Usually, one Wallaby who was scared - would infect the next, and the next, until they all just panicked and ran in all directions, but the doe merely sniffed Hopper's muzzle again, then lay her head back down. Hopper sighed and glanced at the bowl of fresh water, then dipped his paw into it, before placing the paw against the doe's furred lips and watching the water trickle off her whiskers. Again, Hopper dipped his paw into the bowl, then held the dripping paw against the doe's lips, and she just blinked and stared at him, her ears flat against her neck.
This went on for hours upon hours, and Katy grew increasingly frustrated, as the doe refused to drink every time. Hopper didn't seem to mind, as he repeatedly offered his wet paw to the doe - the paw, Katy idly noticed, that wasn't stained with ink - yet she still refused to drink. Katy was just about to give up, when she heard via the hidden microphone's they had in the dark room, Hopper utter a series of low grunts, clicks and growls, before he snorted and too Katy's surprise, clutch the doe's left ear in his paws...then bit down...hard...
To Be Continued...