The Voice
By the time Judy awoke, had breakfast and recovered her faculties well enough to hold a coherent conversation with her parents, it had become readily apparent the voice was not a by-product of the cocktail of drugs that had been pumped into her system. Despite feeling (mostly) cognisant the voice had quite on the contrary only increased in intensity and had begun telling her things. Things that troubled the pre-adolescent bunny deeply.
Ask about the farm's finances.
Bonnie and Stu Hopps observed their daughter carefully, treating her like she was some fragile porcelain vase ready to shatter under the slightest pressure. They skirted around anything that would draw Judy's attention to her present state of being. Rather, they focused instead on the outpouring of support, financial and otherwise, from family and neighbours alike.
See, there's absolutely nothing to be worried about. My parents are doing just fine.
Now, who are we fooling here? Listen carefully to what they're talking about. It's all they've been talking about for the last fifteen minutes.
Judy's eyes rolled over to the clock on the opposite side of the wall and did some mental arithmetic before coming to the conclusion that the voice was in fact correct.
"Sweetie, is something wrong?" her mother asked.
"I havea," Judy began, but she stopped midway and coughed. Though her speech had improved she still slurred words together on occasion.
You wouldn't want to tell them about me. Otherwise, they'll put you in the nut house and cram a colourful collection of happy pills down your throat.
You're right. Maybe I'll get rid of you later.
I would love to see you try.
Noting their daughter's pensiveness, the heads of the Hopps family leaned in. "How is the farm?" Judy squeaked.
"Sweetie, the farm isn't going anywhere. Why it's been in the family for way longer than anyone can count and you can bet your fluffy tail it'll still be there when you're ready to walk out," her father started hopefully. His country drawl softened by his care for his daughter. "Besides, when Cousin Manny and Violet heard about what happened they boarded the first train to Bunnyburrow to help out with the farm. It may have been years but we Hopps have got farming in our blood, even those of us that move all the way out to the city."
Ask them.
"What about the hospital bills?" Judy asked, her throat suddenly going bone dry.
Her parents exchanged worried glances.
"Should I?" her father began.
"Oh, not now Stu, she doesn't need to hear this," her mother cried, taking her husband by the sleeve.
Stu went over to the sink and retrieved a glass of water for his daughter before speaking. "I think she should. Remember our rule: no secrets from the family." turning to Judy her father huffed and placed his hands on his hips. "We've been speaking to the bank, but money's going to be tight."
Told you.
Shut up!
Judy waited, ready for whatever snide remark the voice would throw her way, but as though recognising the gravity of the situation it fell silent. It hadn't disappeared completely though, Judy was sure of that.
"Sorry Dad," Judy choked out.
"It's not your fault Sweetie. We'll make it up during the county fair and maybe it'll just be a tighter Christmas this year," her mother started hopefully.
Her mother's reassurances did not assuage her worries. Judy knew that even prior to her accident her family while not in dire financial straits were hardly made of money. Consequently, most Christmas gifts came either in the form of handmade toys or hand-me-downs from her elder siblings. Judy had, of course, never thought any less of her family for this. Besides, last year she had received a tyre rim and a stick to push it along with which turned out to be surprisingly fun.
Judy dreaded to think exactly what her parents meant by a 'tighter Christmas' and despite their best efforts her parents reassuring tones and strained smile failed to lessen the deep stab of guilt that pierced her heart. In the end, Judy yawned loudly, feigning exhaustion, giving her parents the excuse they needed to take their leave.
In the weeks of therapy following the incident, Judy showed remarkable improvement. Gradually, her slightly slurred speech disappeared altogether and soon she was walking about unaided (though she was advised to avoid stairs). Everything was proceeding smoothly and soon she would be discharged provided she completed one final hurdle between her and an uneventful discharge.
Judy heard the rustling of paper and immediately tensed up.
"This is just a formality Judy, nothing to be worried about," the psychiatrist began. "Now, let's start over from the beginning. Tell me a bit about yourself."
"Well, I ain't much. I'm your average bunny living in Bunnyburrow with my family. We're carrot farmers going back three generations though we also grow blueberries, cabbages and rhubarbs. But I don't think I want to go into the family business though."
"And why is that?" the doctor asked.
"I really want to get into the Zootopia Police Department," Judy stated hopefully.
"Do you think a bunny really could be a cop?"
"Well, we can. The mammal inclusion act signed into law just two months ago. It's just like the article says. Prey is ninety percent of the population, but in certain professions like the police force, we're really underrepresented. So, it's high time things started changing for the better."
"You're certainly a very ambitious young lady," the doctor noted scribbling down his notes.
That's polite talk for saying you're delusional.
Judy did her best not to respond to the voice in her head. It was harder than she realised but she found ignoring it would usually cause it to grow 'bored' and it would retreat to wherever it lurked when it wasn't bothering her.
"What can you tell me about your family?"
"Well, there are my parents Bonnie and Stu Hopps, then there are my siblings, Anthony, Allison, Alex, Alvin, Anna, Aubrey, then we move on to my b-siblings."
"I think I'll just say no long-term memory loss," the doctor interrupted.
"You do that, sir."
"I understand this may be traumatic but I need to ask you about events surrounding your accident. Do you feel alright telling me a little about what happened at the school play?"
"I left for the school fair early since I had one of the lead roles."
"Which role was that?"
"It a bit of a long story, you sure you want me to ramble on that much?"
"This is an important part of your assessment, so I believe so." The psychiatrist replied, resigning himself into his chair and readying his note pad and pen.
Judy slowly forced open her eyelids. The nascent rays of dawn came all too quickly for the pre-adolescent as she found herself wiping away the exhaustion from her eyes. Once again, she tried to reassure herself that as far as elementary school events went the play was simple enough. Still, she found herself being haunted by dreams of inadequacy that had amounted to a night of tossing and turning between bouts of restless sleep.
Taking care not to awaken any of her siblings she slid from her bunk bed, Judy trod lightly on the wooden floor and slid down the bannisters with nary a squeak to mark her approach. Satisfied, She inhaled deeply only to be greeted by a wonderful smell: home-cooked food. She could recognise her mother's cooking anywhere.
Judy shook her head, still trying to shake off the haze from her restless night. Walking through the doorway to a modest kitchenette, she found her mother, busily fashioning stack after stack of pancakes for her siblings and herself. She'd already produced quite a number.
"Mom, what are you doing up so early?"
Bonnie Hopps smiled "Well, it's our baby's big day. We can't have our girl going hungry, can we? Now get out of here and go sit down. I got this covered."
"Thanks, Mum. That really means a lot to me."
Judy blushed and swiftly found her usual spot at the table which would ordinarily have been swamped but now save for her Dad and a couple of her unmarried elder siblings, now working as farmhands. Minutes later, her mother emerged with a large tray and carefully set the tray before each of the early-risers. Judy carefully appraised the contents of each: Piping hot oatmeal, a bowl of fresh fruit for herself, cereal for her father and brothers.
As soon as the cereal was sat on the table, her father not looking up from the morning paper took a spoonful and attempted to speak through the crunching, "Sho wat 'bout the play?"
"Ugh, Dad. Don't talk with your mouth full."
He quickly swallowed and smiled. "Heh, sorry. So, are you all confident about the play there' Judy?"
Judy tapped the side of her head.
"Got it all right up there, huh," her father chuckled upon swallowing.
"Yeah, I guess so," she smirked and looked over her bowl, expecting to get a rise out of her father and was somewhat disappointed when he failed to take the bait. "It's a beloved classic. The fox and the lion. It's just so lucky that the Grey's chipped in so that the school could run a longer show rather than that dinky Predator and Prey thing the school's always been running. We've got the works now, local musicians and more props than you can make a stick at. The whole shebang." She felt a sense of warmth inside her as she related all of the work that went into the play, but it passed when she noticed that her father hadn't been paying attention.
"Sounds good," her father said taking his bowl to the kitchen.
"Well, that's not just it. We've had new roles to dish out. A whole new script to rehearse," Judy paused her long ears pressed flat against her head. She wanted to say more. She wanted to be noticed.
Standing out among two hundred and seventy-six siblings wasn't hard; all she had to do was be a delinquent, stay out after dark for instance. Being noticed for excellence was challenging, especially on affairs that had little to do with carrot farming.
Judy pursed her lips and pressed her long ears flat against her face. "I landed one of the lead roles," she squeaked just as her father was about to leave for the day.
"Which one?" Asked the doctor, suddenly snapping Judy back to the present.
"I was Sir Lancelot," Judy replied.
"Isn't that the lead male role?"
"I volunteered for it. Besides, it's a school play, everyone just played loose with casting choices."
Judy's candidness earned her a chuckle from the doctor. "I remembered seeing the play in Zootopia's District One, pricey but worth every penny," he smiled scribbling down more (largely incomprehensible) notes in spidery handwriting.
He's checking for memory loss, brain damage. That sort of thing.
I know that. Stop telling me what I already know.
Don't blow a gasket on me. I'm not the one who got us into this mess.
The paper scratching came to a stop and Judy looked up just in time to witness the doctor's soft brown eyes. "That was interesting. So, what do you think of the play itself then?"
The entire theatre complex was abuzz with the voices of hundreds of excited people. Judy peeked out carefully from behind the stage curtain. Rows upon rows of people sat amongst the stands or moved between them to get to their assigned seat. The stands were abuzz with noise as the adults chatted while they waited or bought snacks and beverages before the show. She glanced to the left and saw the musicians already set up in the makeshift orchestra pits in front of the stage.
Seeing such a big crowd gathered made Judy a bit nervous, her eyes scanned the assembled audience and fell upon the section where her parents and siblings were seated. Judy swallowed nervously and ducked back behind the curtains, hoping nobody had seen her.
Cold sweat broken across Judy's brow, she had worked so hard on this for weeks and it would be tragic if something were to go wrong now. Judy scanned her surroundings making sure everything was in order. The stage she noted was divided into sections, each painstakingly decorated with a collection of beautifully handcrafted props; donations from a local theatre. This way, they didn't need a transition to change the décor between each act. Efficiency, that was something Judy could admire.
"Alright students," her teacher spoke, snapping Judy from her thoughts. "Let me just run you through the steps one last time."
There was much groaning to be heard across the room. Nonetheless, Judy listened intently.
"Always remember, if you forget the lines, just improvise. If someone skips their lines don't try to correct them. Remember, we may notice if somebody doesn't follow the script, but the audience won't as long as you keep the dialogue flowing. Try and pick up from where your partner has left off."
Judy nodded and her teacher smiled back at the eager young faces facing her.
"Good, now get ready. I have to see to the opening of the show, so be ready and on set in no more than ten minutes."
Judy wasted no time donning her highly stylised white armour costume. She took a moment to admire how heroic and charming she looked before scrambling into her assigned position to wait for her cue with bated breath. Already, the musicians, most of whom were volunteers were beginning to play and at once the chatter from the audience died down as the show began. Despite the curtains being partially open the darkness behind revealed nothing to the audience. The music stopped and her teacher's voice took over, ringing out crystal clear throughout the enormous room from its acoustics.
"Now without adieu allow me to present for the first time ever in Bunnyburrow: The lion and the fox!"
A spotlight illuminated a young ram dressed in the clothes of a stereotypical medieval courtier complete with a feather cap. Clearing his throat the ram narrated: "Eons ago, when the world was new, all prey was ruled over by two rulers; a fearsome lion reined on one end and a sly fox on the other. Each desired to defeat their rival in power, but neither side could prevail until one day."
The music exploded into a crescendo as the curtains parted way revealing a darkened stage with nought but darkness. The music died down as the spotlight turned off and the main lights flooded the stage revealing a rather stylised lion costume manned by the actors underneath, standing amidst what passed for a royal court.
A bunny bound up on stage dressed in the getup of a diplomat's gown which earned him the attention of both the 'lion' and his assembled court. Unfurling a long scroll, the bunny began to read: "To the illustrious King Goldenmane, your rival the fox has issued forth a challenge to you on who shall rule the prey. It shall be settled by proxy: a trial of combat between champions with the loser forfeiting his life."
A cold sweat broke across Judy's brow; she had after all the most lines and simply wouldn't know what to do if her fellow actors didn't follow theirs. Luckily, her luck had held out and she heaved a sigh of relief when her fellow actor got the words right even if the tone had sounded very strange from the mouth of a messenger, to be sure.
"But my liege, I beg of you to reconsider, the fox would surely lie," spoke another bunny dressed in the robes of a stereotypical court mage, complete with pointy hat.
"No!" the 'lion' commanded. "A champion must be found from among my subjects and cleave in twain the champion of the fox. Send for Sir Lancelot the Brave. Entrust onto him this task, slay the fox's champion so that I may rid myself of my rival forevermore."
Judy, sensing her cue, stepped enthusiastically on scene. "Have no fear my liege, I'll find the champion of the wretched fox and bring her to justice!"
The lights went out for a short moment, and when they were turned back on Judy was the only one still on stage. The lion's courtroom stood deserted with less lighting focused on that area than before. Judy, now alone hopped about with a spear in hand.
Judy strode across the stage, taking roundabout routes around props and pieces of décor till at last, she came up to a part of the stage that quite obviously represented a mountain with a mine entrance leading into it. Looking one way then the next Judy exclaimed: "This here is the Wildlands. Of that, there can be no doubt. But will the champion of the fox be about? They say that he's as sly as his master but true as that may be, he'll never outwit the likes of me."
Suddenly, a small figure whose face was obscured by a shawl suddenly emerged on the scene and casually intersected the path Sir Lancelot was currently on. "Halt!" Judy declared jabbing her lance toward the stranger. "I, Ju-ehem-Sir Lancelot have come to put an end to the fox's champion: Reginald the Sly. Are you he?" Judy demanded.
"Forgive me, chivalrous knight. I am but a poor widow living in the mountains yonder," the robed figure replied as she motioned towards the mountains in the distance.
Judy scoffed and raised her chin. "Verily, for one as stringy as thee wouldn't be much of a challenge. Now tell me quick, have you heard of the whereabouts of Reginald the sly?"
"Ah, you are indeed fortunate, brave knight. The villain you seek has made his lair in this very cave." The robed figure motioned at the mine entrance with a nod of his head.
"You're sure of this?" Judy asked as she peered inside.
"Of course, would I lie?" Spoke the robed figure, "Beware, brave knight, for Reginald has chosen his refuge well. In his cave there are many narrow passages, a fine weapon such as yours will surely be caught."
Judy threw the stranger a few scrutinizing glances, then looked straight at the audience with a shrug sliding the pointy prop spear down a trapdoor and replacing it with a foam sword. Looking at the hooded stranger who jumped back with visible surprise. "How else will us prey succeed? With tooth or claw? I think not. A knight must always come well prepared."
Without warning, the hooded figure whipped out a plastic toy crossbolt and shot Judy in the arm with a foam bolt. "Poison!" She moaned in mock pain before dropping to one knee. Slowly, Judy rose to her feet and pointed her foam sword at the stranger with her remaining good arm. "What is this trickery? Show yourself villain and let the justice of King Goldenmane come down upon your head, whoever ye may be!"
The hooded figure let out a diabolical laugh as she stepped off to one side simultaneously addressing Judy and the collective audience. "Whoever I may be? Why you're thicker than I thought. It is, of course, I, Reginald the Sly." The hooded figure drew back her hood to reveal a young ewe. "Did you think I wouldn't recognise the 'Great' Sir Lancelot," she declared drawing a foam sword of her own.
Judy made a show of indignation as she paced about the ewe, clutching a 'paralysed' arm "You heathen! You devil, it'll be off with your head!"
"Have at thee!" the ewe declared swinging her foam sword in wide and exaggerated swings. Judy parried with her sword arm and delivered a riposte of her own as the pair danced about each other in a choreographed fight sequence.
However, as the fight wore on it was clear that the 'poison' was taking its effect on Sir Lancelot. Judy's swings became slower enabling her foe to land several blows on her armour. Eventually, panting and barely able to stand Sir Lancelot was knocked down with one swift blow from the pommel of the ewe's blade.
"Brave Sir Lancelot, the poison will wear off in a few hours, for I'm no murderer. But I must have your lance as proof of your demise to the fox. Then he'll release my family from his clutches." With that, the ewe took off with the prop spear, leaving behind a 'paralysed' Sir Lancelot.
The lighting dimmed and Judy swiftly rose from her supine position before shuffling over to her next assigned spot. On cue, a crescendo of music erupted from the seated musicians, fast-paced in comparison to the lion. A spotlight flicked on and illuminated a fox costume manned by multiple performers beneath came into view. It slinked about the décor making repeated circles about the young ewe before coming to an abrupt stop along with the music,
Reginald immediately knelt before the 'fox', spear in hand.
"Ho ho, what do we have here?" the 'fox' exclaimed.
"Now that I have done as we agreed. Free my family."
"And give up and easy meal? I think not," the 'fox' spat.
"Unhand the innocent villain," Judy cried out.
The 'fox' looked one way then the next trying to discern the source of the voice, as did the audience. The spotlight shot over to where Judy stood, foam sword in hand. Stupefied, the fox stood its ground and consequently took repeated blows from Judy's foam sword. Reginald soon joined in the assault and the wounded 'fox' was eventually driven behind a piece of décor where Judy dealt the 'finishing blow' with her spear. Splattered in entrails of ketchup stained toilet paper Judy emerged victorious with the fox costume and wore it about her neck like some neolithic hunter-gatherer.
"Verily you have done me a favour, Sir Lancelot," Reginald said to her nemesis.
"Not so fast villain," Judy demanded shifting into an aggressive stance. "You have fooled me once but not again."
"Then bind me," the ewe offered with both her arms extended. "Take both the fox and me as proof of your victory to King Goldenmane."
Judy looked at the ewe then to the audience, shrugged and did as instructed, binding her prisoner with a length of rope about both her outstretched arms and bringing her along till the lion's court.
"My liege," Sir Lancelot declared dropping to one knee.
The actors beneath the lion costume took a step back at the sight of the fox costume wrapped about Judy's neck. "Sir Lancelot has taken care of the fox all by herself and wishes to do the same for you," Reginald declared.
Looking one way then the next, the 'lion' trembled before backing up and darting behind a set of props where it failed to re-emerge. Sir Lancelot made a show of looking for her liege behind the props before apparently giving up, freeing her rival and giving the ewe a big hug before bowing to the audience.
The spotlight then shot over to the courtier who upon clearing the throat "And the lion was never heard from forevermore and prey and prey lived in harmony from then on."
"Judy?" spoke the doctor.
"What?" she shot back.
"I think you spaced out there."
"Oh, I did? Is that bad?"
"Not at all. It's normal to take a minute. Can I ask what you thought of the play?"
Judy rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "The prey tolerated the predators above them since they offered protection from the other. But in the end, both of them got the prey to do the fighting for them so that protection meant diddly-squat," Judy looked up, shaking her head. "The worst part is they got away with it. They got away doing that for a really long time since none of the prey would stand up to them even though they could and really should."
"But they got their dues, in the end, didn't they?" the doctor asked.
"Not really, I mean only the fox really did. The lion got away."
"Have you ever considered the allegories the play was referring to?"
"Like what?"
"Hmm, how do I put it. The writers intended it to be satire. The fox was cunning but double-crossed the wrong person. The lion was strong but was a coward at heart and feared being exposed for it which he ultimately was," the doctor suggested.
"I guess that's one way of looking at it," Judy mumbled.
"Alright, moving on, after that your friends said you were in an altercation involving Gideon Grey. What can you tell me about that?"
Still basking in the warm afterglow of the rapturous applause from the audience, Judy found herself outside enjoying the midsummer sun. Unfortunately, a sudden commotion snapped her from her daydream.
Swivelling her long ears to the source of the voice she found herself slipping away from her parent's stall toward a secluded spot on the school grounds where she found none other than Gideon Grey harassing a group of her classmates over their prize tickets for the school fair.
Judy saw Gideon snatch a handful of tickets from Sharla, a young ewe and shoved her to the ground with a malicious laugh.
At this Judy could stay an observer no longer. "Hey, leave her alone," she demanded; taking long strides over to the fox where he stood.
Gideon swiftly stuffed the collection of tickets into his set of overalls "What are you gonna do about it? It's just like you said in yer little stage-play. Us predators used to rule over prey. It's in our dunna."
"I think you mean DNA?" corrected a nearby weasel that appeared to be Gideon's cohort.
"Don't tell me what I know, Travis." Gideon snapped at his lackey, sounding for all the world like the 'fox' from the play.
Adopting the persona of a confident knight in shiny white armour, Judy extended her hand. "Kindly return my friend's tickets, please."
"Or what?" Gideon demanded, giving Judy a shove, causing her to stagger. "What silly little world are you living in where you think a little bunny like you can be a hero."
"You don't scare me, Gideon," Judy started adamantly, taking another confident stride forward to face her tormentor. Unfortunately, Judy's defiance didn't go unpunished. Without warning, Judy found herself on her back; the wind knocked right out of her. Shaking her head to regain her senses, Judy found herself staring directly at row upon row of razor-sharp incisors.
"Look at that twitching Bunny nose," Travis commented with a forced snigger to please his master.
Spurred on by his sycophant, Gideon Grey took another step forward. "What's the matter little bunny, " he chided. "Are you gonna –"
That was as far as he got before Judy lashed out with both her hind legs, straight into the fox's face. Gideon staggered back rubbing his face more out of surprise than pain.
"You don't know when to quit do ya," Gideon growled before he lashed out. Judy yelped as claws raked her face, just above the eye. "I want you to remember this anytime you think you're more than a stupid, dumb, carrot farming dumb bunny," Gideon declared before marching away, leaving Judy curled up in a ball.
Her classmates ran up to her. "Are you okay Judy?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Here you go," Judy declared holding up a fistful of tickets she retrieved from Gideon's pocket.
"You're bleeding Judy," her classmate commented and sure enough as soon as Judy had reached up to her forehead, she felt a sharp stinging sensation and noticed a trickle of blood smeared across her arm.
"Looks bad. I'll just head back to the school, gotta find something to stop the bleeding. If my folks ask for me just say I forgot something."
"It was just an argument that got out of hand, nothing more," Judy asserted to the doctor.
"Are you sure? That's not what your friends were saying. They said he assaulted you. Another few inches and he could've taken out your eye."
Judy kept silent.
He wants something to work with.
Like what? What should I tell him?
Tell him something he wants to hear.
"Look, in the Hopps family, we're a big believer of second chances. Whatever wrong thing Gideon did. That was in the past. I'm not angry at him so I don't see why anyone else should be. Besides, it's like you said he saved my life. So, I can certainly cut him some slack if just for that."
"Hmm, I see," the doctor mumbled. "Do you remember anything immediately before the incident?"
Nursing her injured face, Judy returned to the school auditorium which stood eerily empty, with most of its former occupants outside enjoying the school fair. Ordinarily, it would have been rather well lit from the skylights above but the props onstage cast plenty of shadows giving it a somewhat sinister appearance. Undeterred, Judy clambered on stage before searching for the trapdoor that led to the first aid supplies.
She had gotten midway when she heard a floorboard creak.
Judy froze and stopped breathing. She looked one way then the other, but there were plenty of hiding spots amid the stage props. Her long ears swivelled every which way as she stepped in. However, they failed to detect any more noise besides the thumping of her heart.
Satisfied that the noise had been a figment of her overactive imagination, Judy breathed and felt the tightness around her chest lighten, but it also brought about a renewed throb of pain from her forehead which reminded Judy of what she had set out to accomplish.
Judy worked on her hands and knees and eventually her search proved fruitful. Her wandering hands soon found the trapdoor entrance and she pulled it open revealing nought but inky blackness. Reaching through the hole, she tried looking for the pull cord for the lights and once again she heard the floorboards creak behind her.
"Here here little bunny," Gideon's distinctive tone rang out from behind her and Judy spun around just in time to make out the silhouette of a foot hurtling into her side before falling into the blackness.
"Take your time Judy, what do you remember?" Asked the doctor; snapping Judy back to the morning light that shone through the cream white shades that graced the psychologist's office.
"It was dark, I was looking for bandages. I tripped and fell down a trapdoor. That's all I remembered." Judy stated, hoping that her obfuscation would drive the topic away.
"This is a very serious matter Judy, are you absolutely sure no one pushed you?"
"Yes, no one else was there."
"Judy, what you say here is confidential. Hippocratic oath and all that." mentioned the doctor.
Judy was rather taken aback by that. Her interviewer was more perceptive than she thought. She hated underestimating people like that. Judy paused, sensing she wasn't going to get away from this without providing a satisfactory answer.
"It's like this: Gideon Grey's father runs the town and I can't risk my parent's livelihoods making accusations like this. I fell by myself down the trapdoor and I saw no one. That's all."
A/N: On a side note, I'm opening up my story for OCs for some of the residents of Bunnyburrow and for Judy's other family members (beside the named ones). If I like your characters I'll try and incorporate them within the story and offer full acknowledgement for them.
Toodles!