Linda felt a rising sensation of pure excitement as the taxi pulled up to the main entrance of Bunnyburrow Airfield. It was a small airport with a single runway, and the only passenger service it offered was the seasonal Zootopia-Bunnyburrow route operated by Aero Metro.

At the beginning of the century, Bunnyburrow was an insignificant farm community. When business tycoons from Zootopia began to arrive, they bought up much of the property and went on to setup commercial farms with electricity and modern equipment. They upgraded the train station to facilitate the heavy industrial cargo being sent from the city and built small airstrip to handle crop-dusting aircraft. Before long, Bunnyburrow Airstrip was upgraded to handle airline passenger service and became Bunnyburrow Airfield.

The taxi screeched to a halt and Linda handed the driver her fee.

"Have a good trip," the driver said as he accepted the cash.

"Thank you, I will." Linda exited the car and closed the door, producing a sound similar to a creaky garbage can lid shutting.

The driver dutifully retrieved Linda's luggage from the trunk and quickly drove off to his next client. Because this was a small airport with a single passenger carrier in operation, the terminal was a one story building with a modest lobby and a small thrift store. As a domestic airport, it lacked customs and immigration areas. Therefore, passengers only needed to check in and sit in the small waiting room. With a confident grin, Linda strode into the building and headed for the check-in counter. Standing at the counter was a middle-aged pig by the name of Gretchen Wilbur. She was dressed in the standard Aero Metro uniform, which consisted of a navy blue long-sleeved blouse and skirt with yellow trimming. Gretchen was staring despondently into space when she caught sight of the approaching Linda.

The sow quickly broke out into a big smile and left the counter to give Linda a friendly embrace. "Oh, Linda, you look gorgeous!"

When she loosened her hug, Gretchen looked down at Linda with playful envy. "It's so swell you're finally going! I am so jealous; I haven't had a decent vacation in years!"

Linda laughed. "I'm sure your time will come soon."

Gretchen nodded. "Don't forget to send me a postcard, you hear?"

"Don't worry, I won't forget," Linda replied as she reached into her purse to hand her free ticket to Gretchen.

Gretchen glanced at the ticket and tore off the stub. She proceeded to staple the ticket onto a boarding pass which she pulled out from behind the counter.

She handed Linda the pass and said with a smile, "Here you are. Have a nice flight!"

Linda handed Gretchen her duffle bag and suitcase, keeping her purse and small travel pack. "I will. Thank you!"

Gretchen tagged the bags and set them in the luggage pile to be hauled off by the bag boys. With a skip in her stride, Linda made her way to the sitting area, which was already occupied by several other passengers. She plopped down onto an unused couch positioned beneath the window looking out to the apron. She picked a Dogue magazine off the coffee table in front of her and began skimming through it. Halfway, she momentarily looked up from her magazine to look at the other mammals. There was a zebra mother sitting on a couch at the far end of the area with her son. Standing by the window was a young badger couple talking about their future together. Seated in a club chair in the corner was a ram with black wool, who was writing on a notepad and paying no mind to his surroundings. With about an hour left before boarding, Linda realized that it was likely that more passengers would arrive. With a sigh, she returned to her magazine and quickly became immersed in its pages.

She was unsure how long it had been when a masculine, Jersey accented voice pulled her out of her reading trance. "Is this seat taken?"

Without taking her eyes off her magazine, Linda replied, "No, go ahead."

The figure took a seat in the club chair on the other side of the coffee table and grabbed a magazine of his own. Linda continued with her reading for the next fifteen minutes, during which time several more passengers entered the waiting room.

"Aero Metro Flight 44 from Zootopia, now arriving at Gate 1." Gretchen announced over the PA system.

Linda heard the approaching aircraft's twin piston engines from other side the observation window. She turned and spotted the ground crew guiding the plane into position and also noticed the pilots peering over the nose of the tail-dragger plane to follow the instructions being signaled to them. The pilots parked the plane squarely onto the apron and, at the command of the signalmammal, shut off the engines to allow the passengers to disembark. Linda turned back around and for the first time saw that the mammal sitting in front of her was a fox. He was dressed in a clean, white long-sleeved shirt with a brown waistcoat over it. His pants were also brown, as was his slightly outdated newsboy cap. The fox was absorbed in his Polar Mechanics magazine and didn't seem to be paying any attention to her. Still, Linda felt uncomfortable being so close to a fox and was preparing to find another seat. But it was at that moment the fox chose to look up from his reading and try to start a conversation.

With a friendly smile, the fox asked, "You fly often, Doll?"

Linda managed to produce an awkward grin. "Well…um… actually yes. I'm a stewardess, but I'm on leave."

Seemingly oblivious to Linda's uneasiness, the fox continued, "That sounds like a fun job."

Linda thought she had detected a note of sarcasm in the fox's compliment. To her relief, the fox seemed to turn his attention back to his magazine.

Linda was again getting ready to leave when the fox looked up from his reading a second time and introduced himself. "The name's Kenneth Reynard. I'm a professional pool player, myself."

Despite Kenneth's cordial behavior, Linda still wondered if she should simply ignore him, or make up some excuse to leave.

Before she could make up her mind, Kenneth set his magazine down and casually leaned back in his club chair. "So, you've been to Zootopia before?"

Linda nodded, "Yes, but only while serving flights. This is the first time I will actually be vacationing there."

Kenneth crossed his legs. "I grew up in Happytown. My father owned a pool hall there and I learned everything I know by watching the patrons play. When I was 8 or 9, I decided to join in and that's how I ended up…um…"earning" money."

There was something about the way Kenneth chose his words that made Linda suspicious. "You're a hustler, aren't you?"

Kenneth laughed, "Well, I used to be. I gave it all up for my girl. From now on, my income comes from sponsorships and winning tournaments."

Linda was still weary of Kenneth, but no longer felt like she was in any kind of danger. She found it strange that a fox would be boarding a plane at all. Though air travel was quickly becoming more commonplace, it was still extremely expensive and only business travelers and the wealthy could afford it. The only reason Aero Metro offered a passenger service to Bunnyburrow was because there were enough wealthy developers willing to pay the airfare. Most foxes had low incomes, as that was the practical reality of the world. So Linda assumed that Kenneth had purchased his ticket with his "earnings" from playing pool, though she wasn't convinced that his income was entirely pure. Still, she was interested in what sort of girl would so intrigue Kenneth that he would willingly give up a lucrative life of hustling.

"Who's your girlfriend?" Linda asked through a drawn out sigh.

A look of distant sorrow appeared on Kenneth's face. "Her name's Janet Wilde. She's…"

Kenneth stopped short, evidently at a loss for words and regretful that he had even brought Janet up. Linda hid her surprise, but was curious as to why Kenneth, who just moments before seemed so laidback, would suddenly shy-down at the thought of the girl who had supposedly encouraged him to give up hustling. Kenneth picked the Polar Mechanics magazine back up and did not say another word for the rest of the wait.