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Love Is Surreal by Al Song

I sat next to Spencer in a diner booth across from our best friends Jane and Tom. The cherry red vinyl of the seat squeaked as he put his strong cervine arm around my shoulders and smiled at me. The black studded bracelet poked into my fur and arm as he squeezed my side into his black t-shirt. My gray muzzle and my bronze glasses were smothered in the stretchy fabric of the shirt, which allowed people with horns to wear t-shirts. The plaid of my mint green madras juxtaposed with the heavy metal band on his shirt looked so silly together, yet they also looked kind of perfect.

"How's it going, Joel?" the large deer asked with a slight grin and his large antlers looming over me. He always did this when things got quiet between us. I guess he liked to check up on me and make sure everything was alright, yet all three of them liked to make me feel awkward. Both red foxes smirked at me and I turned back to look at Spencer who was smirking even harder than the other two combined.

I blushed and said, "Everything's good." I struggled to sit up again and take a sip of my iced tea, which was a challenge to do gracefully between the strong grasp and the searing laser stares surrounding me.

"How's your coyo-tea?" he asked trying to look as innocent as possible and failing during every micro-second. He knew that I hated puns that had to do with me being a coyote. "Co-YO-te, what's up?" or "Don't be so coy-ote," or "I'm not trying to coyo-tease you," which all bothered me but I let Spencer get away with it.

"It tastes fine," I said staring down and trying to avoid everyone else's gaze.

"Are you okay, sweet-tea?" This time he wasn't even trying to hide his sadism and the two foxes made their own merciless vulpine chuckles.

The blood in my cheeks felt like it was boiling and the skin beneath my fur was burning like a grease fire. "It's actually a little hot tonight."

"Oh, is that right?" he asked as he lifted an eyebrow with a slight leer.

My glasses fogged up and I wiped them off with sleeves. Jane and Tom giggled as the table in front of us started to warp and sag. It dripped a tan, wooden fluid onto the speckled carpet and then the entire diner started to melt before my eyes. The menus, plates, and silverware all started to become liquefied. The windows became transparent, sugary syrup and the walls of the diner looked like ice cream that was left out for too long. Everything smelled like a candy store blew up; the burning and sweet scents combined into the smell of a candy city's Armageddon. It was an olfactory overload for my canine nose and I tried to just breathe through my mouth but I ended up tasting the scents instead. The ceiling itself was gone and the night sky shone like glittery black construction paper. I felt myself slowly sink into the marshmallow cushion that was melting with the rest of the diner. The tempo of the fifties doo wop music was slowing down to a distressing speed as if a demon were groaning painfully in my ears and then it stopped altogether. The other diners and the employees had disappeared as I looked around me. The kangaroo waiter was gone and the family of rabbits behind me was also absent. I didn't see Spencer, Tom, or Jane around me either. My body was slowly being swallowed by the multicolored ocean and only my hand was above the surface of the warm ooze.

I felt something warm grab my paw and pull me out of the goopy sea and then I saw Spencer's calm face as he pulled me into a small rowboat. I almost tipped the boat over but he kept everything balanced and stable.

"Thanks," I said and averted my eyes from him. He toweled the red mess off of me and I quickly became dry. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get the goo off of my glasses, and out of my clothes and fur, but it just evaporated away without a film or residue.

"Hey, what are friends for?" he said with another smile and threw the towel overboard. I blushed and turned my glance away again. I saw Jane and Tom making out a couple of yards away in a motor boat that was automatically speeding them off into the stark black horizon. "Look at those two always going at it. If only I had someone to have that much fun with. You know, maybe a really nice, sweet coyote."

"Heh, yeah. Beautiful night isn't it?" I asked nervously as I turned my gaze upwards a little away from Spencer.

"It is," he said still looking at me and smiling at me with that special, deviant smirk of his. He clasped my paw with his and I looked back into his eyes and cautiously smiled.

Soon I saw shooting stars and their beauty arching across the black sky. There was then a loud splash and the boat rocked. We grabbed both edges of the boat to try to steady it again. The red ocean sprayed my face and I was pleasantly surprised at the taste of cherry soda.

"Here you go." Spencer then handed me an oar out of nowhere.

"Thanks." I quickly grabbed it and looked down at the fizzy waters.

"Teamwork's a great thing," he said matter-of-factly. "Sometimes you just need a partner."

We started to paddle and avoid the little stars that shot into the sea but then a massive glowing diamond crashed near us and it created the tallest wave I had ever seen. I closed my eyes to brace myself for the impact and then I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Do you want popcorn?" Spencer asked quietly.

I opened my eyes to a large screen showing a black and white film. It had Tom and Jane playing table tennis in the background doing an infinite rally against one another. I was also in the film running on a treadmill watching an old television set with Spencer just standing there grinning at the camera. It was still that same special grin that made me feel so queasy yet so elated all at once.

"What?" I asked as I turned to Spencer, who was wearing 3D glasses. The bright red and blue plastic and the white paper frame looked silly against the tough masculinity of his outfit. Then again they probably didn't go with any outfit I could think of. I then realized that everything around me except the 3D glasses was colored in a grayscale tone. My green plaid was mostly a dusty color and the seats were also an ashy shade.

"Want popcorn?" he asked again.

"Sure," I said quietly and was shushed by Tom and Jane, who were wearing 3D glasses too. "Sorry," I apologized in a quiet tone. The four of us were the only ones in the theater as I looked around. We were sitting in the best spots which were near the back and in the center.

Spencer inserted a quarter into the arm rest and popcorn started to rain on me. After a couple of seconds I was covered in the buttery, salty kernels. I caught a handful and popped one in my mouth. Spencer then nudged me as he offered me his drink. I took it from him and I smiled as the iced tea hit my tongue.

"Thanks," I said trying to be even quieter during this silent film. I was then hushed again by Jane and Tom and everyone on the screen except for the Spencer in the television set and the one next to me. The 'me' on the screen angrily grimaced and reached out of the screen. I then realized I was wearing my regular glasses, not 3D ones, as I was grabbed by the large gray paw. I was flung by myself towards the sky and again the ceiling had disappeared.

I screamed as I flew through the atmosphere not knowing where I would land but the Earth below me looked so beautiful that it calmed me down. I couldn't help but smile at the sight below me. The rushing scene was amazing and everything was in color again. I hadn't seen such a wonderful spectacle like this before.

I braced myself as I neared the ground. I skidded back onto the Earth with a maw full of sand. I coughed some out and then realized from the aftertaste that it consisted of brown sugar and cinnamon. I dusted it off my clothes as I stood up and kicked it off my sneakers.

"Joel, over here!" the deer called from the foot of a large Ferris wheel in the distance on the beach. I noticed that Jane was making a sand castle the size of a mansion. It was detailed down to each brick line and vine growing on the façade. There was also a moat near where Tom was trying to win a fox plush toy by shooting arrows at water balloons. The attendant in the booth was a white, plastic mannequin in the shape of a kangaroo wearing a carny uniform.

I ran over to Spencer and hugged him as I nuzzled his chest. We quickly shuffled into one of the seats. It automatically took us to the top and once again we looked up at the stars which were now swirling in circles and dancing with one another. We looked down at the twinkling lights of the egg-shaped city buildings and the red water as it reflected the moonlight.

I felt at ease even though I was high in the air and then Spencer embraced me. He accidently rocked the seat back and forth, but it soon stabilized and we were balanced again.

I relaxed again as I took in his earthy scent. He was so warm and it felt so cozy and safe in his arms. I looked up to his blue eyes and smiled at him. I closed my eyes and tilted my head to the right and kissed him. His lips were soft but passionate and he tasted like the hazelnut coffee that he would always drink. My thoughts were swirling and rocketing around in my mind. It felt like I was on a rollercoaster and when we parted our kiss I realized we were actually on one. Everything surrounding us was white with black ink that created the tracks and the cart. We rushed down the initial slope and all around me calculus symbols and problems appeared but soon we were going to crash into a wall with a limit sign on it.

I woke up with a gasp and it felt like sparks were going through my head. I yawned and sighed, and then picked up my phone which told me it was half past midnight. I rubbed my eyes as I flipped through the pictures of Tom, Jane, Spencer and me. The images jogged my memory of these times I spent with them. There were some with us in that small diner when we spilt ice cream everywhere, the lake where our boat almost tipped over and I was the only one that fell out, the time we went to a movie premier of an art film we paid too much to get into, a lot of pictures from our trip to Hawaii, the state fair where I went on a rollercoaster for the first time and a ruined selfie from our calculus class last year that Spencer photobombed.

They all made me grin and made me think about my feelings for Spencer. I was nervous about coming out and but he helped me through it. He was always there for me and he was always so sweet. I was also nervous about having a boyfriend but he waited until I was ready to have one. I know he teases me sometimes, okay maybe he teases me a lot, but I know that he cares about me.

I've been through a lot with him and there are only a few weeks before I have to leave for college in Berlin. He got a scholarship to the University of the Pacific Northwest and I know I won't be able to see him until winter break.

I went to the screen with of Spencer's contact information and called him. After a few rings he picked up and said, "Hey, what's up? Don't you usually go to bed at eleven?"

"Hey, I know it's late but I have to tell you something," I responded.

"What is it? Are you okay?" he asked. His concern for me was so endearing.

"Well, I..." I paused for a while.

"Yeah? You what?" he eventually asked.

"I love you."

"I love you too."