The Library
#1 of Bookends
The smell of musky books was always the first strong assault on sensitive feline nostrils in a library as large and as old as the Universities' main campus library. Despite the hustle of many furs all around, the species, the stress of exams and the perspiration from climbing an endless marble staircase, the books still held the central olfactory position to the cougar, if only to him.
Looking for a private desk in a secluded unused portion of the poetry section, a favorite hiding, reading, and sometimes napping spot for the brown feline, Tyler swished his tail in rhythm to the passing stacks. Passing others and the loud whirr of whispers that always accompanied exam time at the library due to small study groups all around the main tables speaking in sharp harsh breathy words that screamed a mix of procrastination and desperation, he shook his head to himself thinking what a pity that such wonderful knowledge must be crammed so quickly that like a spring over-compacted in a box, would burst forth and be lost forever after the exams concluded. That was cram session, in his opinion, a cramming of a powerful coil of knowledge in a box, a compartmentalized, with cheap tape, in hopes of keeping it contained for a few days or a few hours inevitably though to be lost in a moment of kinetic energy bursting the confines and lost forever in the frenzy.
The secret, he knew, was not to contain the coil, but to ride it. That is the secret, how you rise up in your mind and the world; you must bounce on the powerful springs of wisdom and not box them up temporarily. Passing a louder hush of whispers and into the usually calm and quiet books of old poetry so little used, he found a big comfy chair in the back with a lamp. Flopping softly down, no dust flew up. Any other chair in the library might produce a cloud of dirt, but not this chair. It was to often used during the year by its biggest patron who now lazily enjoyed a moment of pleasure from the soft hugging of the well-worn cushions.
In preparation for an English Literature final, Tyler, the name of the lounging brown cat, opened a large volume of writing compiled and titled "Major works of the 20th Century", a great compendium of short stories, novellas, news articles, magazine articles, screenplays, and poems. Suddenly what little noise penetrated his hiding place from the active frantic students faded into the background as the ever-present dusk-like feeling of the yellow lights inside the austere building lulled the cougar into the world of fiction, hugging him on one side, the chair hugging the other. Time passed unknown in those moments, transported through reading to anywhere but the campus library; however, soon the cougar could not knowingly resist the call of another form of escape. With lids drooping and finally closing, Tyler succumbed to a battle destined to be lost as his breathing became steady.
Walking along the bookshelves, a white rabbit, young and eyes wide in a mix of knowing-preparedness and worry over exams said that he was not unready to be tested, but lacked the confidence in his preparation. Looking also for a quite spot to further study for an introductory literature class. Walking past dusty shelves on carpet with less wear than around the front tables, he came upon a large chair unused and walking softly around the front was startled to see slouched down, only visible from the front, a male cougar sleeping, rather peacefully in appearance, blanketed in a large volume. Almost turning away to continue his search, the white rabbit brushed blond bangs back and noticed the title of the work still held slightly by brown paws of a cat. Reading and thinking it was not a class he saw available then realizing it must be a graduate level class.
"If English grad-students are as cute as he is, I'm not going to study very well," Jessica, the rabbit, mused to himself. Suddenly the cougar made a sharp intake of breath and kicked a foot; startled and fearing the cougar might awaken to a starting bunny boy, a freshman no less, white paws moved quickly backwards not having noticed a shelf of books directly behind the flicking flattened white cotton tail. With a hard bump, the rabbit banged into the case. A dusty hardback knocked loosed fell silently but heavily, hitting the rabbit right on top of the head before the awakening cats eyes.
Sprinting up, the "Major Works of the 20th Century" hitting the floor dully, the cat fell to his knees beside the knocked out rabbit, moving a floppy ear from his face, the brown cat was at least relieved to see the boys chest rising and falling and brushed blond fur from the young man's face and rubbed the rabbits arm while saying in a frenzied whisper, "Hello? Hello? Are you ok? Are you still with us?"
With a loud cough that echoed off the caverns of books, "Ah, oww, I kn-knocked that book off"
"Shh. You'll be okay. Those books on the upper shelves are much too precariously balanced anyway. It was bound to happen; I'm so sorry it had to happen to you." Only then did he notice how striking the young man was and splayed on the floor beside the fellow student was a textbook unmistakably belonging to an introductory literature course for English majors only, a less watered down book of literature than that for course required of any other majors to meet their English requirement.
Helping the rabbit up by supporting the rabbit's soft white arms, the cougar assisted the stubborn student who was insistent on trying to right himself of his own volition.
"Easy now. No hurry. Some people talk about college course's pounding the knowledge into your head, but I think they mean that metaphorically." The cougar smiled wide to find the rabbit in good enough spirits to give a laugh. "Here, sit in the chair for a moment." The cougar eased the boy into the chair and picked up the textbook thumbing through it. "You are an English major?"
"Yea," said Jessica while rubbing the sore and swelling spot on his head.
"I'm getting my master's right now. I used this book a few semesters back when I had to take intro lit. I'd be glad to help you study. It's the least I could for a fellow so dedicated to their students as to try and insert poetry so directly into their psyche." Happily, Tyler elicited another smile to his satisfaction. "Besides, what kind of good Samaritan would I be if I didn't help a fellow English student in need."? Before allowing for a response, "Who do you have?"
Taken off guard, "Dr. Carthage"
"Ouch. Well I know how he tests now that I've taken him myself. You'll do great but," Tyler stopped to look at his watch and blushes slightly at his sleeping, "the library will close by the time we get into the rhythm and I'm sorry but I can't allow you to be alone until we know that head wont be giving you any trouble."
Nervous at the stranger and slightly by his cuteness, "Oh, please, its nothing, just a bump, I'll be fine and I don't have my own apartment or anything. My roommates will provide no hope academic atmosphere suited for study."
"No no, I insist. Well, we can go to the coffee shop to get juices flowing in our veins and our brains and then you can stop by my studio apartment for a study party!"
Without a moment to rebuttal the proposal, a warm brown paw wrapped around the soft white paw of the rabbit and helped him up again. "Remember to take it easy, that was a big bonk on the head you just received. Are you feeling alright?"
"I'm fine really, you needn't put yourself to all this."
"Its none problem at all, I can't get enough talking about literature anyway. Consider it doing a favor for me as much as for you."
The rabbit blushed red through the white fur very innocently and cutely, not beyond the notice of the cougar who's heart beat a little too fast for normal as he played his plan, his plan to get to talk a little longer with the rabbit, fast and loose.
Arriving and the java-bean scented shop, the warmth flowed from under the door to meet the noses of any passerby. Walking to a free table, "You can sit here, I'll get some refreshments." In a flash, the cougar left the white bunny to look around the room. Tyler's nerves showed, for those who knew him well, in the wrapping of his tail around his thigh as he stepped to the counter. "Two hot chocolates, please," he said to the weasel in a smock behind the counter. "I'm such a loser; he must think I'm trying to kidnap him or something. I really didn't even let him agree to come with me to study. I just got so carried away-", interrupted in thought by the weasel passing the drinks across the counter. The cougar took a deep breath before taking both cups and turning with a smile to the corner table. Relieved that instead of looking terrified the rabbit had opened his book and was reading.
"Here we are, nothing like hot chocolate on a study night. I hope you don't mind me having ordered for you."
Blushing back, Jessica replied, "No, I actually love hot chocolate. I haven't had it in a long time. Hot chocolate and Virgil's crème soda are two of my favorite drinks though." The rabbit seemed surprisingly at ease, which made the cougar think perhaps the bump on the head was worse than appeared; however, that was just the cat's sense of paranoia.
The two seemed to be old friends as the faces changed among the crowds among tables around them. A constant presence of ever-changing furs coming and going around them, but neither Tyler nor Jessica taking any notice. Tyler couldn't help take in the soft familiar scent of the rabbit even though they just met. It was a smell the cougar was quickly going to become accustomed to and would need in the future thinking with his tail starting to wrap around his thigh, coiling tightly like a snake. The rabbit unconsciously, scooted closer and closer to the slightly older cougar to better hear his animated and excited discussion of the material over the noise of the surrounding conversations. The cappuccino machines making loud noises over top of the crowd ever so often added to the atmosphere of a coffee shop near campus in a college town.
Suddenly lightning struck the cougar speechless. Though the night was cloudless the rabbit had scooted a little closer and suddenly the pressure, non-barometric as it was, of a thigh against his sent electricity coursing through his extremities causing the hairs on his neck to stand, hopefully un-noticed. Calling on all of his willpower, Tyler resisted the urge to put his arm around the slender white neck. Blushing, hidden thankful below his brown pelt, Tyler could feel the warmth emanating by the attractive fur at his side.
Tyler was thoroughly enjoying the active conversation on the text and finding that unlike a lot of freshman he had met, Jessica could talk about the text without doing the "freshman-trap", which is what professors and grad students call a dry repeating of the plot, as if critically thinking about a text is no more than an Amazon.com plot summation.
The rabbit was getting visibly tired but still interested in the pleasant conversation that didn't feel like studying at all. Though he was finding it more difficult to concentrate thinking of both sleep and how to extricate himself for the night from the presence of the feline but ensuring they he may get to see the handsome cougar again.
Taking notice the slowly slouching posture of his floppy-eared companion and guessing it was legitimate sleepiness rather than boredom or mental exhaustion, the cougar felt strongly his desire to see the rabbit again in the near future.
"If it's alright, Jessica, I'd like to walk you home since I kept you up so late and you hurt your head."
Blushing, a common theme for the bunny since meeting the cougar which threatened he worried to make some think he was a red hair, the rabbit replied, "oh, uhm, okay. I think my head hurts worse from trying to cram all that information in it b-but you made it much more interesting than the professor." The rabbit turned even redder as his cheeks and ears belied the blush beneath at his unexpected compliment towards the cougar.
"You point the way then"
"Its on Foster Ave, 1543."
The cougar took the lead then, having lived in the city for a few years now. Silence fell between the two, content to walk together on both their minds as well as a looming sadness at the proposition of inevitable parting. Though neither knew the other was interested so much in seeing the other again. Neither would allow the thought that the other might be interested to solidify in their imaginations.
Arriving at the door, Tyler said, "I-If you would like to have help studying in the future, give me a call." He was glad the cloudy night concealed his blush and nervousness as well as the moon on the mild evening. "Good luck on the exam!"
Before he could say anything to embarrass himself or risk the rabbit realizing the request was as much a date as a study session, the cat had turned on his heels and walked briskly down the street with his paws in his pockets, a burning at the tip of his ears and his tail starting to wrap around his thigh.
Tyler thought perhaps Jessica might think I'm really just an interested student that likes to talk about books. We both like that. He doesn't have to think it is anything more than a mutual interest in words and books. He bit his lower hip softly, white fangs gliding through brown muzzle fur as he thought how much he would like it to be a mutual interest in each other rather than just books.
He had turned and walked away, fading into the darkness not turning back to see the rabbit watching him disappear into the night then stare for just as long at the small piece of paper with a scrawled number before being consumed in the darkness beyond the doorway.
Nearly a week passed since the incident in the library. Tyler had thought a lot about Jessica. In class he was dazed and was caught off guard more than once by a question while his mind had been far from the subject of discussion. "Mr. Cougar, if you are physically in this classroom, I would appreciate you making every effort to be here mentally as well," the older skunk with a graying muzzle said with a tone of patience wearing thin.
Concentration and focus returned slowly after two nights of sulking once the realization occurred that what he had shared was just one night and there was no longer any hope to stretch the magic from a moment to a lifetime. Sulking was a better alternative to stalking, even if his species was known for the skill, it felt presumably pathetic to chase down an unwilling participant for a relationship or even a second-ish date. His idle thoughts turning their first meeting into a first date if he ever had the chance to have a second. He thought these things with a tailed wrapped tightly around his thigh, as happened when he was sad or nervous a telltale sign of his tail which he could not by conscious stop.
One night while making dinner in his apartment, both a small affair -the meal and the living space--the phone suddenly pierced the silence of the space with no less effect than a sword piecing Tyler's side as a pan nearly flew in the air making it a historic moment as a pig flew, even if the pig was in bacon form already. The unexpected intrusion, not unwelcome, was stopped when a brown paw picked up the phone with a very inquisitive, "Hello?"
"uhm...h-hi, this is Jessica from the other night?"
Words that might once have flowed like a river were stopped, the unsuspecting cougar's endless well of words ran dry and the bucket once dropped returned laden with air and a ring of dirt around the bottom. Socrates spoke an oration upon toasting his death but a white rabbit calling the cougar might well have chopped out his tongue as his mind tumbled hard into the silence unable to right it self and give voice to thought.
"Hello?" the word of the rabbit thinking the phone may have disconnected reached out through the mist, broke the dame and refilled the well. Like a paw reaching his and pulling the cougar into the light and finding his tongue had returned to his mouth and was for want of using.
"Hi! How do you feel you did on your exam?"
"I did really well. I got an A and I feel that I would never have gotten above a B without your coaching."
"You know more than your fair share compared to the other students. I'm sure you earned it on your own."
The silence extended right up to the moment Tyler almost said something but the rabbit squeaked out quickly. "I don't really know anyone in town and I would really like to celebrate and since you helped me earn the A and all," again the silence interrupted like an annoying party go-er that doesn't realize a two-person conversation could not easily allow a late joiner, "Would you like to go eat something Friday night?"
[To be Continued]