Forgotten Heritage
by Andy Fox (landru@minn.net)+ + + + + +
Andy awoke to the sound of something barely audible. His large, pointed ears twitched as they picked up sounds throughout the house. They heard Slappy down on the back deck reading a book, and they heard Skippy playing darts downstairs in one of the game rooms. It made Andy happy to hear these sounds. For decades his home had only one permanent resident. Now it will full of the sounds of others. Neither of the sounds from the two squirrels, however, was the sound that had caught his attention. It was another faint sound that the fox had noticed. Stretching, he smiled as he finally realized that the sound was coming from a television in another corner of the mansion where another new resident of the house could often be found.
After performing his normal toiletry motions, he set off down the hallway to the source of the noise. As he went, he caught the strong smell of nut bread being toasted from down in the kitchen. His stomach began to growl.
He opened the door to Fluffy's "room" to see the giant carousel rabbit sprawled out on the couch watching television. It was a very unnatural position for a rabbit, yet Fluffy appeared to be quite comfortable. Upon seeing Andy, however, he began to meekly remove himself from the couch and relinquish the piece of furniture to the fox. Andy quickly raised a paw.
"Don't bother," he began. "This is your room too." He glanced at the television which was tuned to a local cartoon drama channel. Fluffy caught his gaze.
"I can't understand what's being said," he shrugged, speaking to the fox in his language of Rabbit, "but I like to watch it anyhow."
"Mmmm." Andy scratched his chin.
"Sometimes I wish I was smarter like other animals," Fluffy sighed, "then I'd know English and understand what everyone around me is saying."
"Yes," Andy muttered. "I've been meaning to talk to you about that." He sat down next to Fluffy. "I'm sorry if I've made you feel a bit out of place here with me. Not many of my friends can speak Rabbit, so when they come over..."
"Oh, no. It's not you," Fluffy protested hurriedly. "It's just that... well, when you're on a carousel you don't do that much talking. Oh. sure we animals would talk amongst ourselves, and we always knew what was going on in the world, But now... well..." Fluffy stammered. He pretended to examine one of his forepaws as he finished. "I can't even talk to Skippy and have him understand me."
The fox gently took one of Fluffy's hind feet and picked a piece of dirt from it. He tossed it aside where it vanished in mid-air before ever reaching the floor.
"I think he understands you well enough," Andy offered, petting the rabbit's large foot before placing it back on the couch.
"Well, you know what I mean," Fluffy argued quietly, stretching his toes. "I enjoy greatly playing with the little scamp. I just wish I could tell him that once in a while."
"Mmmm." Again the fox gave his chin a scratch. What Fluffy had failed to mention, however, was that he had had no trouble at all understanding the young toons he spent time with down at Oak Creek Park, but then again, youths, especially animal toons, don't need to confuse their thoughts with words. A simple wave, a pet, or a smile was all that was needed to convey a message, and Fluffy could certainly understand a smile.
"Well, maybe this will help," Andy spoke up after a pause. he held out his left paw in front of him, palm open. It began to crackle and glow with energy as a white ball of light formed in it. Fluffy watched the strange light intently, as if expecting it to suddenly lash out and bounce wildly around the room. He had learned about Andy's abilities since coming to live with him, but even though he knew the fox would never use them to hurt him, Fluffy couldn't help being a rabbit.
A second later the glow vanished from Andy's paw and was replaced by a small pendant.
"I've been working on this for you," he said, showing the small item to Fluffy. It contained two green stones and two white ones. The stones had been cut into triangles and arranged to form the shape of a diamond. They were set in a simple gold setting.
"What is it?" Fluffy asked, wrinkling his nose at the object.
"Something to help you communicate," Andy answered. "With it, you will be able to understand English as if it were Rabbit. And, It will also make what you say in Rabbit understandable for others who don't speak it."
Fluffy scowled. "That little thing will do all that?"
Andy nodded. Fluffy looked hard at the fox, trying to decide if he was worth believing.
"Just place it against your fur," Andy went on, seeming to ignore Fluffy's skepticism. "It will stay on until you pull it off."
Fluffy remained silent, his eyes focusing on the pendent in the fox's paw. Andy and Fluffy sat quietly on the couch, reading the other's expression.
All animals, including toon animals, are capable of a great deal of communication through silent means of body language and unconscious gestures. Andy had used it with Fluffy back on that warm autumn night when he had given the rabbit the power of flight. It allowed the two to sit quietly and enjoy each other's company: sharing their feelings and thoughts with each other without uttering a single word.
Andy sensed Fluffy's thoughts in the rabbit's twitching whiskers as he sat next to him on the couch. The rabbit's dark brown eyes looked back at him, then away. Andy laid his right paw on Fluffy's flank. He patted him reassuringly. "I know how you feel, but it's perfectly safe," he said in a low voice. "It's your choice, my friend."
After a pause, Fluffy came to a decision on his pondering. "I'd like to try it," he said, his voice still hinting a bit of disbelief.
Andy passed the pendant to Fluffy. The rabbit examined it briefly, then gently placed it on his chest. The pendent shimmered slightly as it affixed itself to his fur. Fluffy removed his paw. The pendent remained attached.
"Now what?" The rabbit said in a deep, sonorous and warm voice that filled the room with resonance--a voice that, until that moment, had only been heard by those who were fluent in the Lapine language.
Andy smiled to himself at hearing Fluffy's voice. He picked up the television remote and flipped to a random channel. It was showing an old science fiction movie Andy didn't recognize. Fluffy's ears twitched and he turned to the screen:
"I couldn't fight them," a man was saying to another. "There were too many."
"What happened to Stevens?" asked the second man.
"He stayed to keep watch over the invaders' camp."
Fluffy stared in astonishment at the television, his mouth gaping open as the dialog came to him crisp and clear.
"We'll need to get over to the river," said a third man.
"Take Jenkins with you. We've got to find their weakness."
"Yes, Sir."
The corners of Fluffy's mouth turned upwards and formed a smile. He began to chuckle, then laugh with triumph.
"Ha, ha!" he rumbled joyfully. "It's like they are all speaking in Rabbit!" Fluffy turned and looked excitedly at Andy. "Do you hear them? It's wonderful!"
"Quite," Andy said.
"Oh, don't be so dang smug you fox," Fluffy scoffed, playfully kicking Andy with a hind foot. "This is amazing!"
Fluffy turned back to the television. The movie had been temporarily abandoned for a commercial advertising new "bargain-priced" real estate that had just recently become available along The San Andreas Fault line. Fluffy watched it intently. "Wow."
"It's just a commercial," Andy shrugged. He stood up and walked over to stand next to Fluffy at the end of the couch. Fluffy continued to listen, then began to scowl a bit.
He turned to Andy. "What is 'mortgage'?"
"A way of paying for something," Andy answered.
Fluffy looked confused. "I didn't understand some of the words in that commercial. Are you sure this thing is working?"
Andy sighed. "It's working fine," he said dryly. "The pendent only translates, Fluffy. It doesn't do any more." The fox reached over and laid a gentle paw on the rabbit. "There are some words that just don't translate between English and Rabbit--things that just don't belong in a rabbit's world--and shouldn't really I suppose," he added, more to himself than to Fluffy. "But," he finished, "I don't think you need to worry about any of them."
He heard Fluffy give a small sigh, but it wasn't a sigh of disappointment. The rabbit had been given an unexpected ability. His world had just become much more grand and intricate. Andy only hoped that the rabbit would not lose touch with his own Lapine ways and hemisphere of thinking, now that he would be able to communicate outside of that world.
Over the years Andy had seen toons too often casting aside their own natural traits and turning into nothing more than humans in animal costumes-- driving cars and sitting at desks from nine to five with the occasional coffee break; ghosts of their true selves, he thought. He had seen it happen, and he hated it.
To Andy, animal toons were given great gifts of animal bodies and minds, and that those species traits should be respected and cherished. This included himself, and he had vowed he would to live up to his own gift and be the best fox he could be. It was for that reason that he had chosen the large piece of property containing woods and field that he now lived on. It was filled with simple animal toons with whom he had enjoyed many hours of company: rabbits, mice, raccoons, robins, tree snakes, voles, weasels, and even foxes. Some animals were natural enemies with each other, some weren't, but at least in the toon world the rules of predator/prey are not always so easily dictated. If they were, he would not now be friends with a rabbit, or be in love with a squirrel.
Lately, however, Andy had began to wonder how much of a fox he had really been: living in a mansion rather than a den, and he did work at a desk, sometimes from nine to five. Though he was unaware of it, Fluffy's presence had begun to stir up some very old feelings in him--feelings that he hadn't thought of in a long time.
"I'll leave you to get use it," Andy said. He patted Fluffy and walked over to the door. "Whenever you have had enough of English, just take the pendent off." He continued, sounding just a bit morose. "Sometimes words can be a terrible distraction to one's true self, Fluffy. There's nothing wrong with speaking only Rabbit. Please, don't ever forget what you are--so many toons do."
He headed out of the room. Half-way through the door he stopped and added, "Oh, and by the way, Fluffy, you are a very smart animal. I don't ever want to hear you speak otherwise about yourself again."
"Andy?" came Fluffy's hesitant voice after a pause.
"Yes, Fluffy?"
"Thank you."
The rabbit looked back at Andy in a way that said that he had understood the fox's concerns exactly.
Andy smiled. "I'll be downstairs," he called as he disappeared down the hall, leaving Fluffy to his privacy.
by Andy Fox (landru@minn.net)
Posted between March and December, 2003
This story and any accompanying art is available online at www1.minn.net/~landru/book.
This is a PG-rated story.
All commercially licensed cartoon characters are copyright and trademarks of their respective companies. All the rest are unique characters of Andy Fox.
Fluffy's voice provided by Joss Ackland
Sasha Raccoon's voice provided by Janet Wright
Phillip Sandal played by Keith David
...the rest are up to you!
Translation of Fluffy's dialog in chapter one provided by "Acme's English Toon Rabbit dictionary, 5th Edition".
This is a work of pure fiction based upon the Andy Fox Chronicles storyline, but not to the point where they are required reading for this story. Any similarities between the events depicted in this story to actual ones in Toonity is purely coincidental.
--
From the bookjacket:
Andy Fox hasn't been feeling himself lately. Since bringing Fluffy home to live with him, he has been at odds with his animal spirit within, feeling he has somehow abandoned it by his modern lifestyle. This feeling is enhanced as he gives a lecture to the Tiny Toons about animal heritage near their graduation from Acme Looniversity. The situation is further complicated as two lab mice take up an unexpected journey.
Helped along by some unexpected friends, Andy makes the decision of taking a very ancient toon ritual to re-unite himself with his fox heritage, even though it means leaving Slappy and Skippy, and abandoning everything he knows for an unknown future.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER 1: A World Expands
"Pinky?"
"Yes, Brain?"
"Are you ready?"
"Um... ready for what, Brain?"
*whack*
"Ouch! Hahaha! Zort!"
Two white lab mice stood precariously upon a small round dais. The shorter of the two held a large remote control in a paw. He pressed a few buttons on it, causing a wild arc of energy to dance and play around the two mice and illuminate the entire lab. The mouse held the remote above him triumphantly. "Finally, Pinky! We are about to rule the world!"
The mouse depressed a large red button on the remote. The thunderous crash of a gigantic energy bolt filled the room with sound and dazzling light, and then--complete silence. The energy bolt fizzed into nothingness, and a thin wisp of charred fur rose up from the now empty dais.
Andy awoke to the sound of something barely audible. His large, pointed ears twitched as they picked up sounds throughout the house. They heard Slappy down on the back deck reading a book, and they heard Skippy playing darts downstairs in one of the game rooms. It made Andy happy to hear these sounds. For decades his home had only one permanent resident. Now it will full of the sounds of others. Neither of the sounds from the two squirrels, however, was the sound that had caught his attention. It was another faint sound that the fox had noticed. Stretching, he smiled as he finally realized that the sound was coming from a television in another corner of the mansion where another new resident of the house could often be found.
After performing his normal toiletry motions, he set off down the hallway to the source of the noise. As he went, he caught the strong smell of nut bread being toasted from down in the kitchen. His stomach began to growl.
He opened the door to Fluffy's "room" to see the giant carousel rabbit sprawled out on the couch watching television. It was a very unnatural position for a rabbit, yet Fluffy appeared to be quite comfortable. Upon seeing Andy, however, he began to meekly remove himself from the couch and relinquish the piece of furniture to the fox. Andy quickly raised a paw.
"Don't bother," he began. "This is your room too." He glanced at the television which was tuned to a local cartoon drama channel. Fluffy caught his gaze.
"I can't understand what's being said," he shrugged, speaking to the fox in his language of Rabbit, "but I like to watch it anyhow."
"Mmmm." Andy scratched his chin.
"Sometimes I wish I was smarter like other animals," Fluffy sighed, "then I'd know English and understand what everyone around me is saying."
"Yes," Andy muttered. "I've been meaning to talk to you about that." He sat down next to Fluffy. "I'm sorry if I've made you feel a bit out of place here with me. Not many of my friends can speak Rabbit, so when they come over..."
"Oh, no. It's not you," Fluffy protested hurriedly. "It's just that... well, when you're on a carousel you don't do that much talking. Oh. sure we animals would talk amongst ourselves, and we always knew what was going on in the world, But now... well..." Fluffy stammered. He pretended to examine one of his forepaws as he finished. "I can't even talk to Skippy and have him understand me."
The fox gently took one of Fluffy's hind feet and picked a piece of dirt from it. He tossed it aside where it vanished in mid-air before ever reaching the floor.
"I think he understands you well enough," Andy offered, petting the rabbit's large foot before placing it back on the couch.
"Well, you know what I mean," Fluffy argued quietly, stretching his toes. "I enjoy greatly playing with the little scamp. I just wish I could tell him that once in a while."
"Mmmm." Again the fox gave his chin a scratch. What Fluffy had failed to mention, however, was that he had had no trouble at all understanding the young toons he spent time with down at Oak Creek Park, but then again, youths, especially animal toons, don't need to confuse their thoughts with words. A simple wave, a pet, or a smile was all that was needed to convey a message, and Fluffy could certainly understand a smile.
"Well, maybe this will help," Andy spoke up after a pause. he held out his left paw in front of him, palm open. It began to crackle and glow with energy as a white ball of light formed in it. Fluffy watched the strange light intently, as if expecting it to suddenly lash out and bounce wildly around the room. He had learned about Andy's abilities since coming to live with him, but even though he knew the fox would never use them to hurt him, Fluffy couldn't help being a rabbit.
A second later the glow vanished from Andy's paw and was replaced by a small pendant.
"I've been working on this for you," he said, showing the small item to Fluffy. It contained two green stones and two white ones. The stones had been cut into triangles and arranged to form the shape of a diamond. They were set in a simple gold setting.
"What is it?" Fluffy asked, wrinkling his nose at the object.
"Something to help you communicate," Andy answered. "With it, you will be able to understand English as if it were Rabbit. And, It will also make what you say in Rabbit understandable for others who don't speak it."
Fluffy scowled. "That little thing will do all that?"
Andy nodded. Fluffy looked hard at the fox, trying to decide if he was worth believing.
"Just place it against your fur," Andy went on, seeming to ignore Fluffy's skepticism. "It will stay on until you pull it off."
Fluffy remained silent, his eyes focusing on the pendent in the fox's paw. Andy and Fluffy sat quietly on the couch, reading the other's expression.
All animals, including toon animals, are capable of a great deal of communication through silent means of body language and unconscious gestures. Andy had used it with Fluffy back on that warm autumn night when he had given the rabbit the power of flight. It allowed the two to sit quietly and enjoy each other's company: sharing their feelings and thoughts with each other without uttering a single word.
Andy sensed Fluffy's thoughts in the rabbit's twitching whiskers as he sat next to him on the couch. The rabbit's dark brown eyes looked back at him, then away. Andy laid his right paw on Fluffy's flank. He patted him reassuringly. "I know how you feel, but it's perfectly safe," he said in a low voice. "It's your choice, my friend."
After a pause, Fluffy came to a decision on his pondering. "I'd like to try it," he said, his voice still hinting a bit of disbelief.
Andy passed the pendant to Fluffy. The rabbit examined it briefly, then gently placed it on his chest. The pendent shimmered slightly as it affixed itself to his fur. Fluffy removed his paw. The pendent remained attached.
"Now what?" The rabbit said in a deep, sonorous and warm voice that filled the room with resonance--a voice that, until that moment, had only been heard by those who were fluent in the Lapine language.
Andy smiled to himself at hearing Fluffy's voice. He picked up the television remote and flipped to a random channel. It was showing an old science fiction movie Andy didn't recognize. Fluffy's ears twitched and he turned to the screen:
"I couldn't fight them," a man was saying to another. "There were too many."
"What happened to Stevens?" asked the second man.
"He stayed to keep watch over the invaders' camp."
Fluffy stared in astonishment at the television, his mouth gaping open as the dialog came to him crisp and clear.
"We'll need to get over to the river," said a third man.
"Take Jenkins with you. We've got to find their weakness."
"Yes, Sir."
The corners of Fluffy's mouth turned upwards and formed a smile. He began to chuckle, then laugh with triumph.
"Ha, ha!" he rumbled joyfully. "It's like they are all speaking in Rabbit!" Fluffy turned and looked excitedly at Andy. "Do you hear them? It's wonderful!"
"Quite," Andy said.
"Oh, don't be so dang smug you fox," Fluffy scoffed, playfully kicking Andy with a hind foot. "This is amazing!"
Fluffy turned back to the television. The movie had been temporarily abandoned for a commercial advertising new "bargain-priced" real estate that had just recently become available along The San Andreas Fault line. Fluffy watched it intently. "Wow."
"It's just a commercial," Andy shrugged. He stood up and walked over to stand next to Fluffy at the end of the couch. Fluffy continued to listen, then began to scowl a bit.
He turned to Andy. "What is 'mortgage'?"
"A way of paying for something," Andy answered.
Fluffy looked confused. "I didn't understand some of the words in that commercial. Are you sure this thing is working?"
Andy sighed. "It's working fine," he said dryly. "The pendent only translates, Fluffy. It doesn't do any more." The fox reached over and laid a gentle paw on the rabbit. "There are some words that just don't translate between English and Rabbit--things that just don't belong in a rabbit's world--and shouldn't really I suppose," he added, more to himself than to Fluffy. "But," he finished, "I don't think you need to worry about any of them."
He heard Fluffy give a small sigh, but it wasn't a sigh of disappointment. The rabbit had been given an unexpected ability. His world had just become much more grand and intricate. Andy only hoped that the rabbit would not lose touch with his own Lapine ways and hemisphere of thinking, now that he would be able to communicate outside of that world.
Over the years Andy had seen toons too often casting aside their own natural traits and turning into nothing more than humans in animal costumes-- driving cars and sitting at desks from nine to five with the occasional coffee break; ghosts of their true selves, he thought. He had seen it happen, and he hated it.
To Andy, animal toons were given great gifts of animal bodies and minds, and that those species traits should be respected and cherished. This included himself, and he had vowed he would to live up to his own gift and be the best fox he could be. It was for that reason that he had chosen the large piece of property containing woods and field that he now lived on. It was filled with simple animal toons with whom he had enjoyed many hours of company: rabbits, mice, raccoons, robins, tree snakes, voles, weasels, and even foxes. Some animals were natural enemies with each other, some weren't, but at least in the toon world the rules of predator/prey are not always so easily dictated. If they were, he would not now be friends with a rabbit, or be in love with a squirrel.
Lately, however, Andy had began to wonder how much of a fox he had really been: living in a mansion rather than a den, and he did work at a desk, sometimes from nine to five. Though he was unaware of it, Fluffy's presence had begun to stir up some very old feelings in him--feelings that he hadn't thought of in a long time.
"I'll leave you to get use it," Andy said. He patted Fluffy and walked over to the door. "Whenever you have had enough of English, just take the pendent off." He continued, sounding just a bit morose. "Sometimes words can be a terrible distraction to one's true self, Fluffy. There's nothing wrong with speaking only Rabbit. Please, don't ever forget what you are--so many toons do."
He headed out of the room. Half-way through the door he stopped and added, "Oh, and by the way, Fluffy, you are a very smart animal. I don't ever want to hear you speak otherwise about yourself again."
"Andy?" came Fluffy's hesitant voice after a pause.
"Yes, Fluffy?"
"Thank you."
The rabbit looked back at Andy in a way that said that he had understood the fox's concerns exactly.
Andy smiled. "I'll be downstairs," he called as he disappeared down the hall, leaving Fluffy to his privacy.