The Visitor
"Gah! That was close", exclaimed Lucy as she just barely made it into the recreation center just as another wave of hard rain hit. "The one time I forget my umbrella at the dorm…" she sighed as she shook the water off her fur and backpack.
The transition from high school to college wasn't an easy one for her. Nearly all of her friends from last year were attending school at Choccolocoo University or working, while she was stuck at Columiana Community College. She was no stranger to starting over, but Lucy really needed help leaning the ropes during her freshman year, and the freak weather simply made things worse for her. She was slowly becoming familiar with the ins and outs of basically just making it through the day as a college freshman.
After shaking the water out of her thick fur, Lucy made her way to the cafeteria to get dinner. She was glad the area inside was carpeted; the carpet would help dry the water still on the bottoms of her paws, as well as keep her from slipping.
At least it's taco day. They make such good tacos, she thought as she looked at the menu listing the day's options. She wasn't fond of the lemon chicken or the spaghetti that nearly everyone she talked to liked. Her mouth watered as she walked up to the buffet style serving area with the tacos.
A little more meat…a tad more sauce…just a little more-
"Tacos again?" said a familiar voice behind her.
Lucy quickly turns to see an American short-hair standing behind her with a look of mock disappointment on her face. "You sure you don't wanna try the chicken?" she continued pointing to her tray with lemon chicken.
"Hey Melanie! You're a sight for sore eyes. And, no, I think I'll pass" responded Lucy.
"Rough day sweetie? Come on; let's go sit down and talk about it. Griping about it always helped me when I had a bad day."
"…then he gives us an assignment to do over the break. Like, why can't we just get time off from school without needing extra shit to make up for it?!" moaned Lucy with a half-eaten taco still on her plate.
"Yeah, professors tend to do that. They think the time away from classes gives more time to do a better job on the projects they give out. It's just something you get used to…Oh! Speaking of which, did Lily get that job helping the IT nerds?" asked Melanie with a spark of curiosity in her eye.
"Yeah, despite technically being a pet, they said she was so knowledgeable and good at explaining things- and above all patient- that they wanted to give her the job. Last I heard she was taking the phone-ins and helping with database stuff," beamed Lucy.
"That's good for her," said Melanie as she looked out the window. "It's starting to get late. We better head out before the rain picks up again. You did bring an umbrella right?" The look on Lucy's face told her all she needed to know. "Here you have a farther walk than me," she said as she held out her umbrella.
"You sure?" asked Lucy reluctantly. "Doesn't your fur soak up water like a sponge?"
"Don't worry about me," she said with a smile, "I needed a shower anyway."
Hurrying through the rain, Lucy held out her friend's rainbow umbrella against the driving rain. There's a pavilion up ahead, I need to take a rest after running through this storm, she thought as she neared the covered structure built next to the city's recreational park. This place is getting quite overgrown. They really need to trim the bushes here, she observed as she sat down on the bench for a moment to catch her breathe.
Let's see…tomorrow is that quiz in Chem I…I should be ready for that one. The essay for English- she was thinking when some movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention. Quickly turning her head, she saw a creature she had never seen before around campus. The creature was like a slender fox but with longer legs and grey fur that seemed to melt into the background of the poorly lit overgrowth. It gave Lucy a quick glance with its glowing yellow eyes, then quickly disappeared into the forest.
"What the hell was that?" Lucy asked the rain pouring around her. When the rain refused to answer her, she picked up her backpack and made ready to make the last leg to her dorm room. The rain had let up enough for her to get home without getting much more wet.
After entering the dorm room she shared with Lily and another roommate, Lucy dropped her backpack off by the door and made her way to kitchen for a glass of water and a snack. "Hey Lucy, you're home at last," said Lily from the TV room. "I take it you had fun out in the storm with your new umbrella," she joked turning her attention to Lucy.
"Melanie was kind enough to lend me it on the way home; she has been so helpful this year I really need to find a way to thank her for all she's done," sighed Lucy. "I think I'll just take a shower and go to bed."
"I'll probably be in bed before you get out, so good night dear," said Lily.
Lucy is suddenly torn from a shallow sleep by a peal of thunder that rattled the windows. Adrenaline still flowing through her system, she franticly looked around the room. As her eyes adjusted to the world around her she heard what sounded like humming but different somehow. Silhouetted by the lightning at the window was Lily, staring out the window as if in a trance.
The humming was coming from Lily! Lily was humming to the storm. "Lily, what are you-"
"Finally, a reply," interrupted Lily as she jumped down from the window and made her way quickly to the door.
"Wait, come back!" Lucy whispered after Lily. As Lily seem to ignore her, Lucy quickly jumped out of bed and hurriedly put on her coat as she raced after Lily. The corridors were eerily empty at this time of night. The heavy carpet masked their footprints increasing the dream-like nature of the chase. Even at a full run, Lucy wasn't able to catch Lily.
After nearly taking the dorm's front door off its hinge in her haste to open it, Lucy quickly looked around for any sign of which way Lily had gone. Looking to the right, she barely caught what looked like a hedgehog sized shadow dart into the nearby hedges toward the direction of the forest. The fuck are you up to?! She thought running headlong into the hedges after the shadow.
The storm had picked up since she had gone to bed; like that really mattered anyway with the thick forest canopy offering partial protection against the driving rain. Realizing what she was doing at this time of night, Lucy came to a stop near a tree to catch her breathe before she headed back. This has to be a dream, right? This is so unlike her…and stupid of me. I would so get sick from this if it was real life.
She listened to the night as she rested by the old tree. The rain on the leaves; the water dripping into a nearby puddle; the unearthly hum. The hum! She thought as her ear perked up in the direction of the sound. Exhaustion forgotten, Lucy scrambled in the direction she thought she heard the hum from. Jumping over a downed tree, she landed in a clearing and looked up just in time to see that odd fox thing from earlier dart into cover leaving Lily and Lucy the only ones in the pouring rain.
"THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!" turned Lily, nearly screaming to her over the now deafening rain. "YOU SHOULDN'T BE HERE!"
"LIKE YOU HAVE A BETTER REASON, WHAT THE SHIT WAS THAT THING? YOU NEED TO TELL ME AT-" Lucy's response was cut short as a bolt of lightning hit nearby blinding Lucy.
A crash of thunder rattled the windows in the dorm. Lucy sat straight up in bed and looked around in the darkness. She pushed the button on her phone to see what time of night it was. The phone glared 2:30 A.M., nearly blinding Lucy in the process. She frantically looked at where Lily normally slept, only to find she wasn't there.
"Lily, Lily!?" she whispered into the darkness. As she waited for a reply, she realized the light in the kitchen was on. A shadow in the beam of light moved toward the illuminated doorway. The shadow turned into Lily holding a glass of water. "Are you ok Lucy? You sounded like you were having a nightmare," replied the little thing in her ever sweet voice.
"Well, I, we…never mind," sighed Lucy as the situation donned on her. Turning over in her bed to go back to sleep, she once again tried to let sweet sleep take her off to wherever it would take her.
As Lily finished her water, she thought about what Lucy's confusion could have meant. After putting the glass away, she quickly turned off the light and went back to bed; with a knowing smile on her face.