White As Night
Prologue
Mayor Bisonhorn sat at his desk, examining the paper. Aviary Inclusion Act read the paper. The city council, the news stations, and the press surrounded him, catching his every move on camera.
Several years ago, when Bisonhorn was running for mayor, population of all different kinds of birds had been found about 375 miles from Zootopia, almost as evolved as mammals. Mayor Bisonhorn vividly remembered the public exploding with different reactions to the birds. Some of the animals felt sympathy for the birds, while other demanded that bison mayor turn them away. Feralbook, Tweeter, and Impalagram were flooded with different animals opnions on the birds.
Now, years after finding the birds, he was about to sign a bill allowing the feathered animals to become 'official' members of Zootopia. 'Official' meant they could have all the jobs of the mammals, give them the ability to cast a vote, and have all the perks that the mammals have.
Bisonhorn once again swept his gaze over the paper once more. A blank line at the bottom awaited his signature. He looked at the camera with a News5 logo on it,
"On this day," He said, his regal, strong voice echoing in the room, "We shall allow Avian animals to live in peace with the mammals of Zootopia. Today, we make history!"
He signed the bottom of the paper.
25 years later
"Ok everybody. As you know, today is Bring Your Parent To School day." Mrs. Henspeck said, while writing a 'Welcome Parents' on the white board.
Seanix, the tiny white peachick, was squirming happily in his seat. His father was sitting to the side of the room with the rest of his parents, and whenever Seanix looked over at him, he would smile and wave at him.
"Who would like to go first?" The hen clucked, and smiled as several of the first graders raised the paws, hooves, and feathers in the air. "How about you, Seanix?" She pointed at the peachick, whose feathers were waving in the air.
The chick beamed. Leaping from his seat, he ran over to his dad, and dragging him to the front of the classroom.
"Now, how about you introduce yourself and your parent?" His teacher suggested.
"Hi everybody! I'm Seanix, and this is my dad! He is a ... um.." Seanix hesitated. What did his father do at work?
"Well, everyone," His father answered, "My name is Kevin Featherworthy. I am a pharmacist. I help people get medicine when they are sick." His father answered. A small brown wolf in the back raised his paw. His father pointed at him.
"Do you work at a doctor'th offithe?" He asked, his lisp showing.
"I work at a hospital. Whenever someone is sick or needs medicine, they will come to the hospital and talk to me, so they can get medicine to make them feel better."
"Wait a minute!" A young moose calf called out, "If Seanix is a white peacock, and Mr. Featherworthy is a blue and green peacock, why is Seanix white?"
"Oh my gosh you can't just ask peacocks why there are white!" A tiger cub growled from the side.
"I may be blue and green," His father answered, "But Seanix's mother is a white peahen. So, Seanix is white."
The kids continued to ask and Seanix's father answer their questions, even spreading his tail feathers when the kids demanding to see his tail feathers. Evantually the other parents went, but Seanix thought his dad was the best.
As Seanix was riding home in his car seat, he barraged his father with questions about what he could be when he grew up.
"Seanix..look. There are a lot of things you can be. You have a whole bunch of time to think about it."
"What about a conductor for the train! That would be fun." Seanix clucked, looking out the window and seeing the train station.
"That would be pretty cool, bud." His father answered.
"Dad..What if I want to be a police officer?" Seanix asked, while viciously pitting two action figures in a fight.
Hearing this, his father almost stopped the car. Kevin looked back at his son;
"That's going to be a hard thing to go after. They just hire big strong animals, like lions and tigers. Big carnivores like that."
"Are you sure?" Seanix asked, looking up from his toys, "I heard that they have a police academy. What if I go. Will they hire me?"
"Maybe... But that will be extremely hard, Seanix. I have a buddy who went there, and it was really tough. They wake you up before the sun is the sky. You train for crazy amounts of time. I also heard the food wasn't too good."
"Oh.." Seanix looked out the window.
"Ok buddy. We are almost home! I think Mom is cooking something special for dinner!" His father smiled.
"Yay!" Seanix's mood instantly brightened, and as they pulled up to the apartment complex, he leapt out of the car and ran into the building, his father following soon after.
Seanix looked out his bedroom window, his tail feathers flowing out behind him. His mother walked into his bedroom.
"Hello Seanix! How was Bring Your Parent To School day?"
"It was great, Mom!" Seanix turned and smiled. "But I don't know what I want to be when I grow up. I want to be a police officer, but Dad said it would be hard."
His mother sat him on her lap, her feathered face soft,
"Your father is right. Being a police officer is hard. But you know what?"
"What?" Seanix asked, twitching his tail feathers excitedly.
"If you want to be a police officer, go ahead. I will be here for you. And so will the cookies I have in the oven for you."
"You're making cookies? Yay!" Seanix leapt off of his mother's lap, and dashed to the kitchen, eagerly looking at the oven and smelling the cookies.
A few weeks later
Seanix was playing with his action toys in his room when suddenly his mother walked in. Seanix turned around, and instantly he knew something was wrong.
"Seanix, baby, we need to talk." He was placed on his mothers lap.
"What's wrong, Mommy? Where's Dad?"
"Your father..well." His mother drew a shaky breath, "He was in a car accident. He's in the hospital. Get on some shoes; we are going to see him in a few minutes."
"What.." Seanix began to panic, and his sapphire blue eyes widened.
"I got a call a few minutes ago. A car hit.." His mother began to break into sobs, and held Seanix close to her. Seanix began to hug his mother, his mind racing.
As Seanix and his mother entered the hospital room; the tiny white peachick froze in his tracks. His father was bruised and had bandages wrapped across his right shoulder and wing. The heart rate monitor beeped in regular intervals, and two deer nurses were off to the side, running tests on some of his blood.
His mother gasped, covering her beak with her wings. She hurried to her husbands side, Seanix slowly following behind.
"Kevin.." His mother breathed, holding his wing in hers.
He must've heard her or felt her wing, because his father blinked open his jade green eyes.
"Sweetie.." He breathed. The two does turned and began to adjust blood bag above him and left to leave the family in peace.
"Kevin..I'm.." His mother broke down into sobs again, clutching the wing that wasn't broken. Seanix crawled onto his father's lap, looking at him with horror and sadness in his deep blue eyes.
"Sea..Seanix. If you want to be a... police officer. Go ahead." His father smiled. "Now..Can I have some private time with Mommy?"
He nodded, and left the room. Seanix hopped onto a chair, and pulled out his action toys. A young snow leopard nurse walked up to him,
"Would you like something to drink or eat sweetheart?" She asked, her tail swishing underneath her nurse coat and pants.
"Yeah..Water.." He frowned. The nurse left and Seanix stared at his action toys. Even though he brought his toys, he felt no need, or want, to play.
Seanix looked back towards the door that his father was in. Was he going to die? His vision became blurry. No..He couldn't cry. He had to be strong.
Just as the nurse returned with his water and some cheese and crackers, a wail came from the room. Seanix leapt from his chair in surprise. A zebra doctor ran into the room, three nurses following him. Seanix looked around in confusion,
"What's going on?! Is Daddy OK?!" He cried, trying to look in the room. Then the door opened and his mother slowly walked out, sobbing into a handkerchief.
"Seanix.." His mother breathed, "Seanix..we need to go shopping..find you some," his mother sobbed, "black clothes.."
A few days later
Seanix looked around. The pews were filled with different animals, most of them relatives or friends. And in front of the peachick was the dreaded coffin. As he and his mother walked down the aisle to the front row, he glanced at the wreathes and flowers accompanying the coffin. There were many blue, green and white flowers around the coffin itself.
His mother walked up to the coffin, and Seanix sat down in a seat on the front row. He didn't want to see his dad- he was convinced he would cry the moment he laid eyes on him. Seanix looked at his mother, who was standing by his Aunt Felicia and Grandma Dorothy.
As Seanix pulled out his two action figures, his deep blue eyes narrowed. He remembered his mothers words. His father was killed by a car accident, when another car T-Boned his. And, thanks to eavesdropping skills, he learned the driver was drunk. There were about six animals in the car. The driver was killed, but the others were severely injured. They didn't die.
{I have to become a police officer.} Seanix looked at one of his toys. {If I become a police officer, I can bring people like this to justice.}
With that, Seanix stood, dusted off his black coat, and walked over to his family. It wouldn't do him any good if he went through this by himself.