An Unexpected Journey: Chapter 1 - Getting Ready
#1 of An Unexpected Journey
Hey everyone! Thank you for reading my first story on SoFurry! It is my first time taking a stab at writing my own story so don't be too critical! I will forewarn that the first few chapters will focus more on character and plot development but it will pick up after that. The next chapters will be longer! I will have the next chapter out in the next few days. Feel free to sound off in the comments section!
It was almost here, my high school 5-year reunion. I was not particularly looking forward to this event, but I figure it is a good chance to see what my old classmates were up to. Obviously I am prepared for the typical over dramatization of job titles and responsibilities. The last person I met to do this said she was an "administrative manager of daily tasks"... AKA a secretary... I actually found these job title names to be quite creative and amusing. It makes for an interesting conversation.
So many thoughts were racing through my head. What if my old classmates have better jobs than me? What if they are married and have kids? What if I am one of the only ones that has never dated before?
"Jeremy! Are you almost ready?!" I heard a familiar voice shout from outside my apartment door.
"Yeah! I'll be there in a second!" I exclaimed, startled by the interruption of my thoughts. I finished putting on my grey and beige argyle sweater, followed by a dab of my finest cologne. I ran over to the door excited to see who has arrived.
The door came flying open as I turned the nob. "HOW THE HELL ARE YA?!" Rachel yelled as she gave me an enormous hug.
"Oh ya know... living the dream," I replied sarcastically.
"Come on at least you have a job! That's more than I have."
"But you're still finishing up your undergrad classes. You have time to figure out your life."
"True..." she mumbled, "ah come on don't ruin the mood!"
"Fine..." I trailed off. I began thinking about my accomplishments thus far in my life. I've never been in a legitimate relationship, I can't land a job I am passionate about, and worst of all I don't think I am being honest with myself...
"JER-E-MY," Rachel said as if I was not paying attention to her. Which, well, I wasn't.
"huh?"
"Get. It. Together." She said dauntingly.
"Got it! Let's go," I smiled
I felt uneasy as Rachel drove us away in her '97 Corolla. I couldn't help but think someone was following us... "eh I'm just being paranoid" I thought.
"I'm taking a short cut! Do you mind??" Rachel questioned as if she really cared about what my answer was.
"I don't care! I'm not driving the car... you are..." I said with a hint of sarcasm in my voice.
"Good!" Rachel exclaimed as the car made a sudden turn down an old street which lead to a less than reputable part of town.
The vehicle started to slow down as we approached a red light. That's when I saw it... a Lion... in the middle of town? Stricken by fear all I could do was question how on Earth this lion got here. Did it escape from the zoo? A million thoughts were racing through my head. I was worried if I made a noise it would attract the lion in our direction so I decided to stay quiet and hope for the light to turn green as soon as possible.
Intrigued, I starred at the lion. It was a little dark out but it just looked like a regular lion, sitting on all fours, huge furry light brown mane, and a long light brown tail. Like one I had seen at the zoo the summer before.
I finally looked away from the lion and just starred at the stoplight. Hoping, praying it would turn green. After what felt like an eternity, the light went from red to green and I let out a sigh of relief. As the car slowly accelerated the lion glanced over in my direction. We both caught eyes and as I was about to turn away I noticed the lion get up, wink, and walk in the opposite direction... strutting its butt from side to side...
"What on Earth..." I trailed off.
"What has you so mesmerized bro?" Rachel giggled, apparently amused by the face I was making.
"Are you kidding?? You didn't see it?"
"See what?" she questioned.
"That huge ass lion back there! You really didn't see it?"
"What?! No! Why didn't you point it out or call 911?" she retorted.
"I was afraid of making noise that might have attracted the lion in our direction," I explained.
"Shouldn't we call someone?"
"I don't know," I responded stupidly, "I'm sure the zoo knows it's missing and it started walking away...so it's probably long gone by now."
After a few moments passed without Rachel or me saying a word to each other. Finally Rachel broke the silence.
"Well this is a sign that tonight is going to be epic!" She smirked
"Hell yeah," I smiled back, worried about what the rest of the night may have in store for us.