HEIS — THE DAY LAUGHTER DIED

Chip awakened from another night's sleep.

Or so he thought, for when he looked at the clock on the wall he saw that it was six o'clock in the evening.

Odd. Why did I sleep so late? he wondered. Normally, only Dale sleeps in, but never this far…

He got up and was about to shake Dale back into consciousness, but upon looking at the occupant of the top bunk, his sense of continuity was abruptly thrown out the window.

He laid his ears back in confusion.

Cheddarhead? What's he doing in Dale's bed—?

It then all came back to him, much to his regret:

Yesterday was the big day when Dale and Foxglove were to be married, only it was interrupted by Fat Cat kidnapping Foxy. Dale passed out, and they couldn't wait for him to wake up, so the Rangers left him here with all the parents that came for the wedding, Tammy, Midge the Sparrow, and Otis the Bat. Their attempt to rescue Foxglove from Fat Cat's lair went awry and they were in need of rescue themselves, but they were rescued by Dale, Midge, Otis, and several hundred other bats, and just in the nick of time, too. While the rescue had been successful, for some reason his best friend was behaving as if Foxglove had been killed.

Then, at dinner, he suddenly broke down in tears and ran out the tree, with Foxglove following. He, too, was about to follow them, but Dale's father, Pierre, asked him to leave the two of them alone.

Something had quite obviously snapped within Dale, but what?

Exhaustion had prevented him from pondering on that, and they all retired to sleep for the day, with Dale's parents, Pierre and Dalee, sleeping in the new room; his father Chap and his uncle Phinehas sleeping with Monterey and Zipper; Camembert Kate, and his mom, Nikoma, sleeping with Gadget; and Tammy and Midge on the couch.

Chip got dressed and went to the living room. There was no one there, so he went to the kitchen and saw the others, except for Kate, preparing dinner again.

Neither Dale nor Foxglove were around, however.

Again, Pierre was a tough and burly sciurid, with a black nose and buckteeth and his brown fur beginning to grey slightly, and he was now wearing a dark grey shirt.

Dalee had a red nose and straight incisors, her fur was brown like Dale's, and she was clad in an orange dress.

Chap looked exactly like Chip, except for the greying and the wrinkles, and now donned a black leather jacket.

Nikoma had green eyes and brown fur with just a touch of grey, and had chosen for her attire a plain green dress, which accentuated her eyes.

"Anyone seen Dale or Foxy?"

Pierre and Dalee stopped mixing ingredients and just looked sadly at each other, laying their ears against their heads.

Gadget padded up to Chip and replied, "No, Chip. They haven't come back yet, and we're getting worried. Maybe we should go look for—"

"No!"

Everyone stopped breathing for one second, laid back stiff ears, and looked at Dale's parents.

"Er, no," repeated Pierre, more calmly. "Dale and Foxy are goin' through…somethin'…that can only be solved by them. Please, please leave them alone until they come back."

Chip stared at Dale's father and exclaimed, "But they haven't come back, Pierre! And it's been a whole day! Also, both of them are Rescue Rangers, and as members of this team it is our duty—"

"Chip, please," interrupted Dalee, with a soft, sad voice. "We know Dale is your best friend, and we know you're worried, but, right now, this is somethin' between him and Foxy. We know, we…sorta went through the same thing."

Chip looked at Dalee for a moment, with slight suspicion.

"What?"

Pierre looked at his wife sadly for a moment, and replied, "I think we should talk about this in the morning, it's kinda long…"

A reddish light filtered through Dale's eyelids, waking him. Someone who was playing a radio a trifle too loudly just now may have also awakened him, but he wasn't too sure of that at this point. He opened his eyes to see the sun setting behind the skyline, announcing the end of the day. It was a beautiful sunset, so beautiful, it made him lay his ears back and cry.

It made him cry because in a flash, memories of the past year and the previous night landed on him like an anvil. Memories of him and Foxglove so much enjoying sunrises and sunsets, memories of them about to get married yesterday, memories of the tragic events of last night, memories of the sudden realisation of who he was and what he was getting Foxglove into, memories of the talk they had…

…oh no…no…

He noticed he was still in the tree across the clearing from the large oak he called home. He was so devastated and exhausted that he didn't bother going back, and had curled up in a crotch and cried himself to sleep. His cheeks and throat were matted from his tears, and Foxglove's, too. Her scent was still quite prevalent, emanating from his arms and torso. The pain in his chest then reappeared with full force, making him think he had a black hole where his heart used to be.

He tried to comfort himself:

I did the right thing. Foxy doesn't deserve someone so hazardous and fickle like me. She'll be safe now, safe from me.

And despite her promise to return, it was more than obvious to him that she would not be coming back, ever. And he knew she knew that, too.

His sorrow then mixed with anger. His ears remained flat, but his tail stiffened:

All this time, I never thought it would happen to me. What are we cursed or somethin'? Why do all Oakmonts have to go through this? All those stories my parents told me, they were sad, but I thought they were all coincidences. Now it happened to me. What's worse, it happened to Foxy too!

Sitting up, he looked at the oak across the clearing, and then at the sky, with one last smouldering wick of hope.

The oak remained still, and its occupants made no sign they were there. But he knew they were there, as they should also be waking up by now.

The sky was a swath of blue and red, and a hint of dark blue off in the eastern horizon. A crescent moon hung just above the southwestern horizon, and an occasional bird fluttered through the sky.

There was an airplane now and then, but no bats.

She would not be coming back.

…a tear quenched that smouldering wick…

If she knows what's good for her, she will stay away from me. From us. From our enemies.

For a moment, he thought that since Foxglove was gone, he should reinstate the competition between him and Chip over Gadget, but he quickly removed that thought from his mind.

No. Chip loves Gadget, maybe more than I loved Foxy. If he's willin' to go through what Foxy and I went through, then he deserves her more than anybody. He's no klutz, so he'll probably make a better husband and father than me. If Gadget hasn't realised that yet, then maybe I should talk to her. She's blowin' the chance of a lifetime—

He began sobbing uncontrollably again at this point, the unbelievable sorrow and grief and pain and anger within him overriding his desperate need for food.

But no more. No more Goof-up, no more Klutz, no more Clown, no more Comedian, no more goofin' off, no more foolin' around, no more…gettin' girlfriends…in danger…no more gettin' your hormones and emotions in the way of duty! I'm a Crime-fighter for cryin' out loud! Crime-fighters and Comedians don't mix! No more…no more…no…more…

Exhausted from his emotional disturbance and lack of nourishment, he cried himself to sleep again, with those words echoing all over his spirit, mind, and body, announcing the decision he had made:

No more, no more, no more…

The sunlight filtered through the western windows of the steeple, illuminating the painting of Noah's Ark. A breathtaking sight, so breathless, it made Foxglove cry; her tears flowing up her forehead, down to her ear tips, and dripping to the floor below. A radio that had apparently been playing a trifle loudly outside awakened her shortly before the spectacle began, and upon seeing the painting, she too, was hit full-force with memories that, more than fresh, were downright freezing.

How she wished Dale were here, to see this just one more time with her!

How she wished she didn't have to throw a stone at the window, (which had been replaced) in order to come in here again!

How she wished she could have said something that would have made Dale change his mind!

How she wished she had never fallen for Fat Cat's trick!

How she wished Dale had just a slightly different echolocation profile, so that she would not have detected him so easily!

How she wished she had never picked up Dale on her sonar and fallen head over heels in love with him in the first place!

How she wished Winifred had succeeded in becoming a full-fledged witch, and then turned her into a completely evil animal, incapable of feeling affection for anyone!

How she wished Bud had never captured her!

How she wished she had never fallen from her mother as she flew!

HOW SHE WISHED SHE HAD NEVER BEEN BORN—!

Her train of thought was derailed at that last wish, and she also began sobbing uncontrollably.

A few minutes later, she saw the blurred image of Noah's Ark start darkening as the night set in.

She told him she would return, eventually, but those were just words. He had released her, and she could not go back to him, ever. He wanted what was best for her, and he obviously thought he wasn't the best, and would never be. And with enemies all around, she, and whatever cubs they had, would never be safe.

Looking down at the floor, she saw the spots her tears had made on the thin dust, mingled with pieces of broken glass, and the stone that she threw last night. Her tears were mixed with Dale's; they were on the floor too, as well as on her face. His woody/nutty/bubble-gummy/chocolaty scent was still mingled with her own. That final good-bye hurt, and it hurt so much, she actually reconsidered her threat of finding Fat Cat and feeding herself to him—

No.

She told Dale she would try living with other bats; she at least owed that to him, as that was his parting wish.

Besides, it was obvious that Fat Cat and his cronies had most definitely removed chiropterids from their diet list after last night's saliva fest.

If she did not like her new life, then she would try something else, and if not, then she would try over and over until she found a lifestyle that would satisfy her, but the one thing she would not do was to fall in love again. The pain was too extreme. No chipmunks, no bats, either, no male of no species would have her heart offered to him ever again.

"But if you do find someone else…drop me a line. I will feel better knowin' you are finally out of danger."

She would drop him a line: a note left on his doorstep in the middle of the night, a piece of paper with a lie written on it, a lie that would tell Dale that she was happily married and with two pups, with her and her fictitious family in no danger whatsoever, so maybe Dale would then forget her and try to find someone he truly deserved.

Instinct set in at this point and she released herself from her perch, flew out the window (the opening was large enough for her to fly through), and headed in a direction well away from the park.

As she rode the air currents, her sonar picked up two distressingly familiar signals: up ahead were two bats, and their flight paths were converging.

Well, I guess my social life with bats begins now.

Catching up to them, she detected that both were female—

—and one was carrying a pup.

The hexagonal knot in her throat connected with the black hole in her chest, causing her ears to droop somewhat.

Unable to speak, she tried not to look at or echosound at the pup. They did not say anything to her either, or to each other. Perhaps they were not among the chiropterids that attacked Fat Cat last night and thus did not recognise her.

Well and good.

They were headed for Staten Island, occasionally catching a few mosquitoes; perhaps there they would reach a larger feeding ground. Hopefully, no one there would recognise her, either.

She calmed down, gradually, as the distance between her and Dale increased with each flap of her wings.

And how she wished that right now, instead of being so far apart, she and Dale were as close as husband and wife could be, enjoying each other on their magical first time…