The house itself was definitely not a looker. From the road, the two-storey house looked just as every other farmstead did; worn out, wooden siding that was cracked and peeling, and the tin roof was oxidized and faded. The entire structure just looked tired. Nick unbuckled his seat belt and stepped out of the car. The house looked slightly better now that he wasn't looking through the window of the car, but it didn't help with improving his mood. As he approached the house, he saw that all the windows had their curtains drawn, obstructing his view into the house.
Nick turned around as his parents got out of the car. David had a huge smile across his face, while Janice made her way up the porch steps toward the front door. David caught wind of Nick's demeanor and walked over to Nick's side.
"She's not much of a looker, but wait til you see the inside," said David. Nick crossed his arms and scoffed, pacing.
"What, is there gonna yellowed wallpaper and antique furniture as well? Oh, how about a cast-iron footed tub with no shower. Better yet, how about one of those sheet-metal type ones, where you have to bring water in bucket by bucket from the well down yonder?" Nick said bitterly. David let out a little chuckle.
"Quite the active imagination you have there, Nick, but no, nothing like that," David replied. Nick opened his mouth to speak again, but stopped as his father took the lead. David walked up the stairs of the porch as he shoved a paw into his pocket. Nick ran to catch up and saw his father produce a key. Nick stopped to join his mother while David inserted the key into the lock. As he turned the key, he turned to look at Nick and beckoned him over. "Don't judge a book by its cover, Nick, come take a look inside."
Nick rolled his eyes, but stepped forward regardless. As he drew nearer, David pushed the door all the way open, allowing Nick to step inside. As soon as Nick passed through the doorway, he was blasted with a wave of cool air, a heavy contrast from the hot and humid air from outside. What Nick was greeted with upon entry had blown his expectations out of the water. The interior looked brand new, almost as if it was installed yesterday. From the entryway, Nick was able to make out an array of stainless steel appliances, which also looked brand new. Needless to say, the place had the interior of a luxury townhouse.
Nick stood in the entryway, mouth slightly agape with silent shock. The interior was a night and day contrast from the exterior. David and Janice joined Nick in the entryway, David wearing a smug grin on his face. He walked up behind his son and placed both his paws on Nick's shoulders.
"Not as bad as you'd expected, huh? Yup, this place renovated a few years back to increase the chance of someone buying, and lo ad behold, we were those buyers. Everything is modern, only the best for the Wilde clan," said David. Nick sighed.
"Okay, you got me, it's pretty nice. However, this doesn't solve all the other issues I have, such as school, friends, overall accessibility of things," Nick added. David gave an approving nod and walked deeper into the house.
"This place has all the amenities you could ask for. High-speed internet, a land line, TV, decent cell service-" David was cut off mid-sentence by an alert tone coming from his pocket. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. "See?" he added.
David excused himself from the conversation as he unlocked the device. Nick, intrigued, walked over to see what was on the screen. Nick attempted to peer over his father's shoulder, but was unable to get a clear view because David kept moving. Nick eventually gave up and walked back to join his mother. The room was eerily silent save for the keyboard clicks and the air conditioner placed somewhere else in the house. David sighed as he put his phone away.
"That was the movers. They're stuck in gridlock traffic on the four-hundred. Bumper to bumper as far as the eye can see they say. It's safe to say they're gonna be a bit late, but don't worry, they'll be here before dark for sure." Nick rolled his eyes. All of his possessions were in the back of the moving truck, meaning he wouldn't be able to set up his room for at least another few hours. "No matter, we can start unpacking what's already here," David added.
What was going to be the living room was filled with boxes containing miscellaneous items, such as family photos, random trinkets, and other space wasters. The shelving units that housed these items were lined up along the walls of the room. David, Janice, and Nick took a box each and began rummaging through its contents. The box that Nick had chosen contained nothing but old DVDs meant to be placed on the shelves that would go next to the entertainment centre. Janice dragged her box closer to Nick and peered into his box.
"What do you have there, dear?" she asked. Nick glanced into the box again.
"Old movies," he replied. "Do we even have a DVD player anymore?"
"We do. Somewhere," Janice replied. Janice watched as Nick began taking the DVD cases out of their box, looking at each one. When Nick was about halfway done with the box, Janice spoke again. "I saw you trying to sneak a peek at your father's phone, Nick." Nick sighed.
"Yeah, what of it?" he asked. Nick continued to rummage through his box.
"I was thinking that it's probably time that you get a cell phone too," she said hopefully. Nick stopped playing with the DVD cases and looked up at his mother, eyebrows raised.
"Why?" he asked simply. Janice stammered for a moment.
"Well, we're in a new place, and it's gonna be a bit more difficult to know where you are. Especially since everything is so spread apart here. Now, if you had a cell phone, we could just send you a text message and you'd be able to tell us where you were," Janice said. Nick shook his head.
"Mom, it's fine. There's nowhere to go out here, so I'll either be here, or at school. Besides, I always tell you when I go somewhere." Nick thought back to all the times he snuck out of the apartment to share a drink with his friends back in the city. Nick felt the need to smile, but managed to keep a neutral expression.
"Your mother's right, Nick. This place is a lot more spread out than the city. For one thing, I guarantee you will not turn into a shut-in just because you live in the country. You'll make new friends soon enough and you'll want to spend time with them. We'll need to know where you are, and more importantly, if you're safe or not more than ever before. You and I are heading into town on Saturday to pick you up a cell phone," David called from across the room.
"But-"
"No buts, you don't have a say. You are getting a cell phone and that's final." Nick groaned. He returned to the box, which was now empty. Nick picked up a few DVD cases and began placing them on the shelf nearest to where the entertainment centre would go.
Nick continued the cycle of unboxing and shelving for three boxes worth of DVDs, and took him nearly forty-five minutes to finish. Once he was done, Nick sat on the floor and watched as his mother and father slowly put the rest of the room together. This included watching them fill other shelves with objects and hanging picture frames. After half an hour of this, Nick grew bored and incredibly irritated. Janice glanced toward her son after handing David a picture frame and instantly sensed his emotions. She walked over and knelt next to Nick, who was watching his father pound a nail into the wall with utter disinterest.
"Why don't you go outside and have a look around the property, Nick?" Nick looked up at Janice and stared for a few seconds. He took a sharp breath in.
"At least it's something to do," he said blankly. Janice smiled. The two stood up in tandem and Nick stretched. Nick turned around and began walking toward the door. As soon as he closed the door he could feel the heat and humidity begin to creep up on him. It was nearing the evening, so the sun was less intense, but the mugginess of the air ensured it felt just as gross outside as it did when they arrived. Nick attempted to shield himself from the sun with his paws, but it did pretty much nothing, and he could already feel his shirt clinging to his body due to how humid it was.
Nick walked around toward the back of the house. There was a patio set on the deck, as well as a clothesline that hung from the house all the way to a dilapidated wooden shed about forty feet away. A little ways further lay a massive barn, most likely containing farming equipment, and multiple steel grain silos behind it. Nick nodded in approval.
He really went all out when he bought this place, huh. He thought.
Nick rounded the corner and began walking toward the shed. Upon getting closer, the thing was in much worse condition than it appeared. The walls were made of cheap chip-board and have rotted to the point where a decent kick would put a hole clean through it. Deciding against completely decimating the shed, Nick opted to check what was inside. He carefully opened the door, as not to cause the whole thing to collapse. Tiny rays of sunshine peered through holes on the roof, and he was able to see the dust he had disturbed floating around.
Nick stepped into the shed. The ground inside was covered in small shards of wood and tree bark, indicating that it was previously used to store firewood from when the house used to be heated by a woodstove. Nick tread carefully as not to get a splinter in his paw. Besides the wood fragments, the shed was empty. Nick turned around and began heading to the exit when a ray of sunlight reflected off of something in the corner and into his eye. Nick recoiled, rubbing his eyes. After a much more careful glance, Nick made out the shape of a pedal bike in the darkness.
Nick squinted, trying to make out more details of the bike. Nick approached the bike and touched the seat. A sizable layer of dust and wood chips covered his paw where he had touched the bike. He wiped his paw on his shorts and grabbed hold of the handlebars. Nick pulled it way from the wall and wheeled it toward the exit. He slowly pushed the bike through the doorway, trying not to damage the fragile structure. Now outside, Nick saw the bike clearly for the first time.
The bike, to Nick's surprise, was in usable condition. The only thing that seemed to plague the bike was rust, but nothing too major. In addition, the layer of dust made it look worse than it really was. Nick wiped the rest of the dust off the seat, as well as the handlebar grips with his paws. Once he was done, he walked the bike around the house and rested it against the porch steps. He climbed the steps and was greeted by his mother sitting in a chair, looking at him. She looked over his shoulder at the bike, then back to Nick.
"Where'd you find that?" she asked. Nick resisted the urge to shove his paws into his pockets, as they were still covered in dust.
"I found it in the shed in the corner of the yard; the one that the clothesline is connected to," he replied. Janice rose from the wicker chair and greeted Nick at the top of the stairs. Both foxes glanced at the bike. "It's in pretty good condition, and who knows how long it's been there for." Janice took another look at the bike and nodded her head.
"Well, looks like you have yourself a new bike." Janice made her way back to her chair and sat back down. "Hey, why don't you go for a ride around town? The city centre isn't too big, so you won't get lost. Plus, it's a good way to familiarize yourself with the area." Nick pondered his mother's suggestion for a moment.
"Well, it's better than doing nothing I suppose," he said. "I just gotta wash this dust off my paws first," he added. Nick walked past his mother and headed into the house. From the entryway, he walked through the living room and into the kitchen. He stopped in front of the sink and turned the water on. He ran his paws under the faucet for a few seconds before shutting it off and drying them on a nearby dish towel.
Nick glanced into the living room as he made his way back to the door. He saw his father putting the finishing touches on the living room with what he had, as some pieces of furniture were still missing. Nick left the house and walked down the porch to where the bike still lay. Nick picked it up and walked it to the end of the driveway. He looked down the road. The road was long, flat, and straight both ways. To the left, the way they came, there was pretty much nothing. Nothing besides more farmsteads and farmland. To the right, in the distance, was the city centre of Bunnyburrow.
Nick hopped onto the bike. He noticed that the seat was about an inch too high, but that didn't matter too much at the moment. He would have time to work on it by the week's end. He put his paws on the pedals and looked down the road ahead of him. He could see his mother out of the corner of his eye waving at him. She called out to him to be home before dark, and soon afterwards, Nick was off toward the city.
The sensation of riding a bicycle was one that Nick hadn't felt in a long time. The last time he had ridden a bike was when he was just a kit, and his father had insisted that he learn how. He recalled the days in which Nick received the bike as a gift, and how excited he was. He and his father would go down to the parking lot and Nick would ride around in circles for hours upon hours. He remembered the day that his father removed the training wheels, and how many times he had fallen. He and his father practised for days and days until Nick was able to ride around the parking lot just as he did with the training wheels on. It was one of the better memories he had of living in the city.
He eventually grew out of that bike, and his parents got him a new one for Christmas. Nick rode the bike every other day, but as he grew older, he lost interest in biking to video games and spending time with his friends. He didn't remember what his parents did with that bike. All he remembered was that one day, he just stopped riding.
Nick had a reasonable pace going, he spent the first half of the journey finding the best gear settings to go as fast as possible while using the least amount of energy. During this time, he found out that the bike couldn't shift into its highest gear. Nick decided he would take a look at that at a later date. The landscape was incredibly flat, and even more boring to look at. Thankfully, Nick was approaching the city centre, and he wouldn't have to stare at run-down farmhouses and fields upon fields of wheat or some other cash crop.
Upon entering the city centre, Nick immediately noticed something. There wasn't a high-rise building in sight anywhere in the city. Most of the buildings were old brick structures, each one home to a local business of sorts. As he continued down the main street, he couldn't make out a single brand name, save for a few convenience stores and service providers. Nick rode continued down the main street until he encountered a comfortable looking park. Nick changed his course and began to slow down.
Nick stopped the bike at a wooden bench near the back of the park that faced the road. He leaned the bike against the side of the bench and took a seat. Nick sat and watched the cars on the street drive by. He watched as mammals, coincidentally all bunnies, walk the sidewalks in front of the park. Some of them shot quick glances at him, while others blatantly stared at him as they passed. It must've been a rare occasion for a fox to go on bike ride and rest in the park in this town.
Nick placed his paws behind his head and continued to watch the citizens of Bunnyburrow go about their evening. Nick's ears peaked at the sound of rustling grass behind him. He didn't turn around because he assumed that since it was a public park, that it was just someone playing in the open space behind him. What made him jump however, was when he felt a sharp tapping on his left shoulder. Nick stood up and turned around. A group of mammals stood behind the bench, surprisingly enough, none of them were bunnies. Nick performed a quick head count. There were two foxes, a weasel, a coyote, and a wolf. One of the foxes, the larger of the two, extended a paw to Nick.
"Sorry to spook you. My name's Gideon, you must be new in town," he said. Nick shook Gideon's paw and crossed his arms afterwards.
"I'm Nick...how'd you know I was new in town?" Gideon rolled his eyes.
"You don't exactly see too many other mammals who aren't bunnies 'round here, do you?" Gideon replied. Nick glanced back toward the street. He turned back to the group and shook his head.
"No, I guess not." Nick scratched his neck and stared at the grass. "Hey, why'd you approach me right away?" he asked. Gideon took a step closer, almost to make sure that the others wouldn't hear what he was about to say.
"Because mammals like us need to stick together. You see, if you're not a bunny, you don't get treated with the same respect as bunnies do. I don't know what your folks were thinkin' when they dragged you here, they must not've done their research." Nick's eyes narrowed.
"What are you trying to say here?" Nick asked.
"What I'm gettin' at is, since you and I aren't bunnies, we're gonna be facin' some hardships that bunnies don't gotta deal with," Gideon said quietly. Nick began to piece the puzzle together.
"So... the bunnies are discriminatory towards us?" Nick asked. He hoped that what Gideon was telling him wasn't true.
"That's right, Nick," Gideon replied. Nick's heart sank. Gideon put a paw on Nick's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. He let his paw slip off as he went to join the rest of his small group of mammals. "C'mon. Get your bike and walk with us back to my place. I'll introduce you to everyone on the way there." The group began walking deeper into the park. Nick grabbed the bike and walked to catch up with them.
Chapter two complete. Nick encounters Gideon and a group of unnamed mammals and gets invited to Gideon's. Thanks to those who followed/favourited. Opinions & constructive criticism appreciated. For those reading my other story, a chapter is in the works. -Prince