Acknowledgement:
I would like to thank ADeadMissionary for helping me edit this chapter. He is a wonderful author that I would recommend to anyone. You can check out his profile and stories at your own leisure.
www fanfiction net / u/ 1160012/
Disclaimer:
The following is a fan-based fiction. Zootopia and its characters are owned by Disney. The songs I reference here belong to their respective artist as well.
(The song Clint Eastwood by the Gorillaz begins to play)
Chesterization proudly presents
A Zootopia fanfiction
Wild times with Wilde: Renovated
(Song ends)
Chapter 4: The Calm Before the Storm
A sedan pulled over and parked on the side of a lonely highway. A casually dressed brown bear stepped out of the car and had a look around. He saw nothing but tall grass, artificial hills and derelict structures. He ducked so he could look back into the car. Another brown bear, his wife, sat in the passenger seat. He asked her, "Are you sure that this is the right place?"
"I think so," she said, glancing around at the unfamiliar country. She turned back to her husband. "We just need to keep looking." However, she did not sound sure. It was only a rumor that had brought them out here, after all: just words passing from one mouth to another. Words, especially those as sticky as "ice bathtub kidney thieves" or "underground amusement park for predators," were usually proven false, nothing more but urban legends.
With a grunt, the husband walked away to have a look around. He returned shortly. "I don't see anything. Should we head back?"
The female sighed, looking disheartened. She opened her mouth to say yes. However, a soft groan interrupted her. She turned to look into the back seat. Her ten year old son slept across the bench. Seeing the green light shining from his newly applied collar convinced her to keep trying. Without looking away from her boy, she spoke up. "Let's keep going."
The husband and father looked from his wife to his son. He acquiesced with a soft sigh. "Alright." He climbed into the driver seat and started them down the road.
It did not take them long before they came across a new sign. The fresh paint was a stark contrast from the decrepit surroundings. On it was a simple illustration of a fox wearing what kids jokingly called 'the collar of shame' next to a red cross. The fox pointed to a small house on the right. If not for a recently cut path, the grass would have obscured it completely; and what they could see would just be the abandoned dome behind it. The phrase PREDATORS ONLY took a significant amount of space on the sign.
Taking it as being on the right track, the husband turned the car and headed straight to the house with the word 'Clinic' painted on the wall. As they approached, parked cars hidden behind the wall of tall grass could be seen. The number of cars signaled some kind of event was being held nearby, but there was no one in sight. The husband moved the car to an empty spot and parked it.
The mother reached over her seat to gently shake her child awake. "Sweetie, we're here. We found it."
The cub awoke with a yawn, one he hastily cut short when he realized his teeth were showing. The family exited the car and had a walk around the clinic. It looked like one of those model homes rather than an actual functioning medical facility. The father tapped on the exterior wall. The sound suggested that these walls were extremely thin and cheap. With caution, the mother stepped through the front door. As she looked around, she noted it looked like any small town clinic. It had stretchers, beds, medicine cabinets, and a framed certificate framed hung high on the wall. The only difference was that the smell of antiseptics was much weaker.
"Hello?" She said.
"Yeah?" a deep voice answered. It came from behind and below the receptionist counter. Curios, the mother bear approached the counter. She shouted in surprise and her collar nearly went off when a fennec fox jumped onto the counter. His voice suggested him to be the pinnacle of masculinity, but his diminutive proportion and the pink nurse uniform gave a different impression. His name tag was way too small for anyone to read. Her family heard the yelp, and immediately came to her aid, only to stand there and look in confusion at the fox.
After about three seconds of silence, the fox said, "What? You got a problem with the outfit?"
"No! Uh, no sir. We were just passing by," the mother said.
The father then said, "I was just wondering. Is this the place predators were talking about?" He leaned in to whisper, "Wild Times?"
"Do I look like a real nurse to you?" the fox asked sarcastically. "'Course you're in the right place." The fox jumped down from the counter. "Follow me."
The bear family followed the tiny fox to the back door of the clinic. They opened the door, revealing a worn red carpet that led to the dome behind the clinic. On the outside of the door, which looked more like a warehouse to the bears, there was a shack with a sign that said 'Collar Check.' The family could hear voices mixed in with occasional roars of excitement coming from within the dome. The fox led them to the shack, which was guarded by an overweight cheetah in a security uniform. His nametag read 'B. Clawhauser'. He greeted the family with a cheerful smile, something infinitely more pleasant than what his fox colleague had done.
The fox jumped on the shack's counter and took his place behind the cash register. "Twenty dollars per ticket for three. That'll be sixty dollars." The fox said. As the father handed over the cash, the cheetah pulled out a familiar, beat up collar scanner and gently opened the family members' collars. Alex had not modified the device much during the past few months. He added a new lens so that the beam could go a little further and replaced the old batteries with rechargeable ones. So far, the device had proven itself useful enough to stop there.
As the cheetah placed the collars on a rack of hooks, with each hook numbered, the fox gave the bear family three plastic tags. The tags were numbered, each matching to one of the hooks holding their collar. "Have a wonderful time." The cheetah said upon inviting them to walk through the main gate. Seeing how nervous the cub was, he then added: "Enjoy yourself, little buddy." As the family passed through the dome's main gate, it was like they entered another world.
(The song Parade by Susumu Hirasawa begins to play)
Inside looked more like a fair carnival than an amusement park, but none of the predators roaming around seemed to be bothered by that. There was very little natural light since the glass part of the ceiling had been covered with black paint. It gave the impression of an indoor stadium, though some of the midday light still pierced through cracks in the glass and corroded metal tiles. The shade provided by the roof made the brightly lit Wild Times welcome sign stand out more. Mounted lights on the walls made up for the lack of natural light. There were wooden cutouts of palm trees, mountains and the like everywhere. Although they were not a real landscape, they gave off the vibe of being surrounded by something like nature. With the budget Nick had, something like nature would do.
The bear cub looked up in awe at the lone roller coaster. The tracks slithered around the perimeter of the park, rising and falling randomly. The ride started from a raised platform decorated to look like a waterfall. Above it was a sign that read 'Roar-a-Coaster'. The attraction ended a few meter away from main the entrance. Over the last few meters of the tracks was an elaborate system of water hoses, along with a waterproof camera with a cutout of Nick saying 'Smile'. The bear family paused to watch, curious to see how the ride would play out. As the train was reaching its destination, the hoses activated. They were set to a gentle, fanned out spray, instead of the traditional forceful single stream. This made the experience of getting water on their fur similar to friends having fun with super soakers rather than a surprise assault. The splashing water was enough to generate a feeling of suddenly crashing into a river. All the predators responded to that with an amused (and caught-off-guard) yell; the camera clicked the moment that amusement reached its peak. With unbridled excitement, the bear cub said, "Mom, I want to try that!"
After reassuring her boy that they would get to it later, the cub and his family began the long and rewarding process of enjoying everything Wild times had to offer.
Underneath the starting point of the Roar-a-Coaster was an attraction called 'CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!' Alex created this by recycling an old merry-go-round. He got it surprisingly cheap because the motor was beyond repair. Instead of finding a replacement, Nick suggested that Alex turn the relic into a generator, powered by predators' energy. With the experience provided by dozens of lawnmowers generators, the cat did just that. From the outside, the ride was a glorified circle treadmill that three predators could use in one go. Three hoops suspended by bungee cords held the predators in one spot. All they to do was run to keep the floor underneath them moving. This spun the makeshift generator hidden underneath and churned out electricity to help power Wild Times. The energy created was transferred to a rack of industrial batteries hidden somewhere in the ground. To make sure the customer did not feel tricked, the amount of energy was displayed on a screen as a score. Whoever gained the highest score in the shortest amount of time would get a free souvenir. However, some customers said they could not care less about the score. Instead, the idea of an endless chase interested them more.
In a standard amusement park, the roller coaster is the highest point of the facility. However, things were a little different at Wild times. The highest point was a series of rope drawbridges connected to each other into a long racetrack. These bridges, like the ground below, were decorated with cutouts of tree and foliage, which gave the racetrack plenty of places for predators to take cover. With a name like Cheetah Run, it was obvious for whom this attraction was made for.
'Jump and Stick' was an idea that the Wild Times employees (all four of them) doubted at first, but once put in motion, only three were skeptical about it. It was essentially a trampoline laid in front of a giant crash mat wheel covered in Velcro. When asked, Suzy, a seven year old customer, described the experience as, "Instead of the stuff stick to your fur, you stick to the stuff." Nick painted a bullseye on the wheel, making the game essentially mammal-sized darts. To give some form of variation to the attraction, Alex installed within it a bigger version of his university project: The Infinite Wheel. At its core, the wheel had the structure of a slightly adjusted bicycle wheel with multiple moving iron balls at different locations. As the wheel began to turn, so were the balls. Since the balls were at different locations at all times, their weights would constantly be shifting around. This along with the balls' momentums became the force that kept the wheel turning forever. With only four employees and one president, an attraction that could run itself was welcome.
The attraction that gave the Wild Times crew the most trouble was called Go Fishing. A predator would step on a few stones in the middle of a huge lake and waited for rubber fish to shoot up from the water. The goal was to simply, catch as many fish as one could. This seemingly simple concept took the crew a full week to complete. Creating compressed air cannons to shoot rubber fish was hard enough, but laid those cannons underneath the water and had a reloading mechanic to top it off was near impossible. If not for Nick's constant encouragement, the crew would not have completed it. In the end, Nick was right for keeping this idea going, for it was one of the attractions that predator enjoyed the most. Even if predators were just mucking about, slapping at the fish instead of catching them.
'Upstream' was much simpler by comparison. A predator would only need to run on a log placed above a shallow pond. As the log turned, it triggered a system of cogs and gears that tossed the rubber fish toward the predator. The challenge of the attraction came automatically with its design. The predator needed to achieve a certain speed for the fish to start flying. As they picked up speed, so did the fish. Catching the fish, running along on top of the log, maintaining speed and keeping balance on a slippery surface were all things you had to do and it became harder and harder for anyone to juggle all the tasks at once. Only those who could master these tasks and do them simultaneously would earn a picture of themselves on the Wall of Fame and a free souvenir.
Of course, not everything in Wild times could be big and grandiose. With the shoestring budget and the tight deadline provided by Koslov, Nick had to cut some corners and create some relatively low-tech attractions. Some of these attractions were even self-sufficient and required little to no supervision.
One of these attractions was the 'Scratch and Sniff', which was a collection of tall palm trees nailed to the ground. Many predators (mostly bears) would use these trees as a way to scratch their backs.
There was also the 'Nocturnal Maze', which was self-explanatory. It was the only attraction with no light source, except for the title sign.
There was also a carnival style strong mammal test called 'Bite Me'. Instead of slamming down a hammer and ringing the bell on top, predators big and small would bite on a mock burger made of hard rubber and wood. The bell then determined whether you have the force of the mightiest of predators or a teeny tiny house cat. Apparently, Nick's fennec fox friend was the former.
There were a few attractions for those in the cat family as well. These included the 'Ball of Yarn Pit' (again, very literal and concrete with its name) and 'Laser Tag' (not the painless paintball kind but the cat chase after a laser dot kind). Because of the lack of smaller cats in the city, the top customers for these attractions were all larger cats like lions and tigers.
Wild times also had a small arcade section, filled with machines that Nick's gang salvaged and Alex repaired. The most popular machine was the So You Think You Can Prance?, a modified version of the traditional arcade dance game. The old exploitations of 'frustration become coins' and 'competition becomes coins' were still in use in this area.
And of course, no amusement park would be complete without a souvenir shop. Being the second place with a cash register, it was supervised at all time by a badger with the nametag Honey. A glare was eternally affixed to her face that said she did not want anyone or anything to bother her and most visiting predators respected her space. The shop had everything you might expect: there were clocks with Nick's sly mug on it; snowglobes with miniature Wild Times; key chains and the like. On the shop's wall there were three signs with messages on them. The first sign read, 'Keep a part of Wild Times with you' written by hand, like most other signs in the park. Next to it were two signs that were obviously printed electronically in a rigid, bold Bodoni font: 'Just remember not to show it to the police' and 'No seriously, just don't'.
Walking in between these attractions was Nick, president of Wild Times. He was on his way to reset the park's latest attraction, 'Howl Along'. The name was just a fancier (not to mention shorter) title for a karaoke-stage-for-wolves-and-howling-enthusiasts. The stage was in front of a few rows of recycled cushioned seats. On the sides were two speakers and two TV screens. Nick stepped on the stage and gathered all the wolves (and howling enthusiasts) attention. "Alright everyone! Wolf or not, it's time." With a tap on his phone, he dimmed the light around the stage and lowered a model of the moon which was actually a disco ball covered in papier-mâché, paint, and industrial glue. He pressed replay on the DVD player, making the text 'Ohhhhh! Ohhhhh! Ohhhhhhhhh!' with some night mountains background appeared on the screen.
Nick then said, "On three. One, two, three, howl!"
The wolves (and howling enthusiasts), did what their instincts and the screens told them to. The sound of howling started to rival that of the Roar-a-Coaster.
Nick shouted, pouring all of his energy into his next encouragement, "C'mon! You guys can do better than that!"
Pouring in everything they had, the group managed to howl a little louder, but still could not top the roar from afar.
Nick applauded anyway, then gave everyone a thumb up, "That was amazing! You guys should be proud of yourselves."
(Song end)
The mock clinic's back door swung open as Alex dragged himself in, the familiar gym bag not far behind. The plastic takeout bags in his free hand had increased in size these past few months.
"Hey, look at what the cat dragged in." The fennec fox commented on Alex's torturous trek to the Collar Check shack.
Alex fake laughed in harmony with his heavy breathing. "Ha. Ha. Ha. That one will never stop being funny." Finally reaching his goal, he laid the plastic bag on the counter. "Good day, Finnick. Ben." He took a deep breath. "I brought lunch, like always."
Clawhauser said, "Thank you! I was starving."
While Clawhauser began to tear into his Bug Burger, Finnick said, "Kid, you need to sit down. You look like hell."
Alex smirked sarcastically through a grimace. "There's a compliment if I've ever heard one." He hopped up and sat on the counter, then proceeded to lay flat on his back with his legs dangling over the edge. Feeling his back loosened up somewhat, his pinched expression relaxed. "Yeah, maybe that's a good idea,"
Finnick tapped the kid in the side of his head with his foot. "Why do you keep working for the wherever place anyway? We already have Nick's little show to worry about."
Alex chuckled. "It's complicated. Let's just say I worked really hard to get that early shift job. It would be kinda wasteful to just quit. Thanks for the concern, though. Now, would you excuse me, I gotta get back to work." Alex then sprang up and got his feet back on the ground. He then grabbed the plastic bag with only two boxes remained.
He walked through the lake of predators in Wild times and headed for the gift shop. The early shift had always drained him so much that he felt virtually no urge to be involved in Laser Tag and Ball of Yarn Pit. However, the sight of his own kind and some species of big cats enjoying those kinds of attractions always brought a smile to his face.
There was a family of five cats standing in front of the gift shop. He could see Honey as she passed a snow globe to a small kitten that could not have been more than six years old. The thing was much larger than her hand, so it was no surprise to when the globe went tumbling to the ground. The souvenir rolled and stopped at Alex's feet. He picked up the snow globe and shook it about a little. The fake snow reminded him of the days he used to live in a mega cheap apartment in Tundra Town. When he saw the girl's image through the globe, he stopped staring at it and knelt down. He clasped the globe with two hands, with the girl instantly mimicking him. He then gently placed it in her palms. The little kitten smiled brightly, showing off her missing tooth. Then she surprised him by speaking a language that was foreign to Zootopia, but which he knew. She said, "Cam on chu." [Thank you, uncle]
It had been awhile since he had heard his mother tongue. Thankfully, he still remembered how to respond. "Khong co chi," [You're welcome], he said before giving the kid a pat on the head. Then he stood, giving the cat family his friendliest smile and wave as they walked away.
He walked behind the gift shop counter, leaving a box on it as he went. Honey's number one policy was 'care for nothing' so Alex did not waste time trying to make small talk with her. With the last box in the bag, he searched for Nick. After a few minutes, he spotted the fox as he climbed the ramp up to the starting platform of the Roar-a-Coaster. Following after him, he found Nick in the middle of manually resetting the ride. After Nick had finished, Alex gave him a light tap on the shoulder. Nick turned around. "Hey, Nick, how is everything going?" Alex asked him.
The fox shrugged, "Pretty good, like always. You?"
"Just..." Alex paused a bit "...dandy." He tried to smile, but it came out as a grin so manic that it looked like he was about punch Nick in the face.
"Uh huh, with that face, I doubt it."
Alex whispered under his breath. "Gosh darn foxes." He then said aloud, "Anyhow, I'll take my shift now. Just go take a break or sort out the finances or something."
"Are you sure you can take it? You look really beaten down."
"Pft! This is just my natural state of being. I feel like a good for nothing bum if my hands are not moving."
"Okay. You're in charge." Nick gave him a pat on the shoulder.
"What's up with the formality? We have this conversation every day." Alex then handed Nick his gym bag. "Can you leave my bag at my workplace? I can't be bothered with it today."
"Sure, no problem." Nick took the gym bag and headed away.
Alex was left in control. His job only needed him to repeat the same tasks as Nick. Open this gate, pull this lever, turn this knob, trigger this, replace that, reload this. All simple tasks. The only different was that his levels of enthusiasm and energy were much lower than Nick. However, as long as the attractions were functioning and the lines were moving, Alex was good enough. "Thank you and please enjoy the ride," Alex repeated the same line (with some variation depending on the attraction) throughout the rest of the afternoon. Sometimes, his work was shaken up a bit when one of the machines had issues. However, he and everyone else wished instances like happened as scarcely as possible.
Despite the job being tedious, boring and not feeling all that world changing, the happy faces he and the gang (as Nick called them) received made it all worthwhile. When closing time was coming, Alex's greeting line suddenly changed to, "Oh, Master Koslov! What a surprise!"
Koslov loomed over him, a threatening shadow. "The feeling is mutual, Harry, or should I say, Alex. I never knew that you were interested in the entertainment business."
Knew that his cover had been blown, he just pretend a cheeky smile and shifted the subject away. "Well, you know, gotta put food on any-available-surface somehow. This guy was hiring anybody so why not?" Alex looked around for a way to escape. "What brings you here sir? Our president told us that he had taken care of all the payment and debts a few months ago." Alex then turned to the left. A quick way to escape Koslov's judging eyes and an attempt to tell the line behind Koslov to wait for one cycle. The self-made rollercoaster could only hold one Mr. Big. However, Alex realized the Koslov was the only customer in line.
Koslov said, with his hand on his chest. "He is not wrong, but that is not why I am here. I have heard that this place is an amusement for all predators. Am I… not welcome here?"
Alex's spine stiffened. "No sir, absolutely not!" Noticing how loud that answer was, Alex lowered his tone. "Sorry, sir, it's just a- ah-," his eyes started shifting "quite a sight to- to see someone of your stature- I mean status!- visit a place like ours."
Koslov put his paw on Alex's shoulder. Though it was a gentle pat for Koslov, the force on Alex's shoulder made him fight down a wince, hard. "Son, you need to calm down. I might be Mr. Big to you, but here, I'm just like any other predator. No need to be so alarmed. I just want to relax, like everyone else."
"Yes, sir. I'll get the rollercoaster ready in a minute."
Alex opened the gate and allowed Koslov to step into the cart. He then snapped the seatbelt as quickly as he could. Before he could escape the cart, Koslov said, "Thank you, Alexander." Koslov's accent was still as thick as a tank shell, but Alex could feel it soften up a little.
Dumbstruck by his words, Alex said "Your welcome, sir." through an awkward smile.
As Alex walked to the control panel, the huge polar bear popped a few knuckles and said, "All right, let's see how wild your little park can be."
Alex would be lying if he said he did not feel some sense of satisfaction upon clutching that lever. "Let's find out, sir." With a genuine smile, he pulled the lever.
Koslov's enthusiastic hollering was so loud that the remaining customers decided that they had had enough for one day. With a distinct lack of customers, the gang gathered around the number one (and now only) source of sound in the place.
Seeing a humongous polar bear with his hands in the air while yelling at the top of his lungs, Clawhauser commented, "Don't know if I should find that disturbing or adorable."
Nick approached them and asked. "Huh. Can anyone tell me why Koslov is riding the Roar-a-Coaster?"
"He's a paying customer, I know that much," Finnick answered.
Clawhauser, apparently, could not let his question go unanswered. "Guys, do you think it's disturbing or adorable?"
Honey kept her stoic expression and said, "Let's vote on it. All for adorable, raise your hand." Only the cheetah raised his. "Disturbing." Honey and the two foxes raised their arms. "The vote is complete. And like anything a government might do, it changes nothing."
With Koslov being the last satisfied customer to leave, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and closed up the main gate of Wild Times. On any usual Friday night, they would bring a respectable amount of alcohol (enough for a nice buzz and a tolerable hangover the next day) and two soda bottles for Alex. That night, however, they brought a little more. Maybe it was because of Koslov or maybe it was because they had kept Wild Times running for so long. Either way, one of them was not going to work tomorrow. They gathered around Nick's old work table and started to cover its surface with beverages. As Nick was about to make the first toast, he received a call. After a quick look at the screen, he said, "You guys go on ahead. I need to take this one." He then headed for his office upstairs, which was originally the control room of the factory.
The remaining mammals did not bother with the toast. It was something Nick liked to do and none of them felt comfortable doing it in his absence. Instead, they took the opportunity to drink individually. Alex popped a bottle of soda and drank half of it in a single, long quaff. He pulled the bottle away with a satisfied "Ahhh," enjoying the mild sizzle of carbonation in his throat.
Finnick, who had already finished a bottle of beer on his own, said: "C'mon kid, there are times in your life when you need to mammal the hell up and get some booze in your system."
"Finnick, I have told you a hundred of times: Cats have very low tolerance for alcohol."
Honey stepped in, putting some peer pressure on him. Usually, when Nick was around, he would shelter the kid from the harder drinking members of the group. Might as well have fun with it, she thought. With a stern face, she said. "That's a load of hogwash. You know who say that a lot? Politicians. Do you know why? Because drunks are the most honest of animals. What do you have to hide, Alex?"
Alex glared at them. With an I'll show you! spirit and pure grit, he grabbed a beer bottle. Juggling eye contact between Honey and Finnick, he popped the bottle open, letting the foam erupt. Alex shut his eyes tight, bit down on the lip of the bottle and quite literally made the bottom go up. He started drinking down the cold, heavy liquid as fast as he could. At the half waypoint, his gag reflex kicked in, but he kept on going until there was nothing left in the bottle. He yanked the empty bottle out and started coughing. The back of his throat was now truly on fire; he could feel it stinging and swelling up.
Finnick slapped Alex in the back. "There we go! That's wasn't so hard isn't it?"
Alex nodded and picked up another bottle of beer and repeated the process. Just like that, he had downed another bottle.
Clawhauser looked concerned and tried to speak up. "Woah, slow down there little buddy! You're going to-"
Honey silenced him. "Shush, Clawhauser, he's just proving himself. C'mon, don't be shy. Let's see what you are made of."
Alex took that as a dare and gladly accepted it. He struggled a bit with this bottle; it took him much longer to finish it. Alex heart rate was telling him to stop, but his rapidly clouding mind, Finnick, and Honey were saying otherwise. Soon, another bottle was done, then another. For a moment, the world around Alex turned to this static comic of black and white, as if the alcohol had washed away all the colors. Without warning, he fell from the chair and laid flat on the ground.
Clawhauser said. "Eh, is he, supposes to do that?"
Honey said before getting back to her drink. "Heh, maybe he was telling the truth after all."
Clawhauser said, clearly concerned, "Should we get him to a hospital?"
Honey said, "Well, Nick is the doctor here. He'll check on the kid later. How about you, Nurse Finnick? What are your thoughts?"
Finnick jumped down and checked on Alex's vitals. He was still breathing normally. It was a typical case of drinking too quick and too many: Something Finnick knew about all too well. "My official diagnosis: The kid will wake up with some actual hair on his chest! Also, it looks like he is not working tomorrow."
Nick stepped into his office. He closed the door to shut out the noise from the party below. However, he forgot to lock the door again (a terrible habit that Alex claimed he would regret one day). Nick had missed the first call, but soon, another one came. He swiped to answer. He said in his traditional tone. "Heyyy, Carrots! How are you doing?" He waited for a reply, but what he got was strange watery sound. "Eh, Judy, are you crying?"
It took a while for her to respond. "No- hic!- I'm- I'm just freaking out right now. hic!"
"Okay, that's not better." Nick locked the door of his office. "Tell me what happened."
Judy suddenly screamed, "NO YOU TWO SHUT UP!". The bunny's fury rattled Nick's eardrum.
After the ringing sound in his ear had subsided, he asked, "Uh, who was that?"
"My neighbors."
"Ohhhhhhkay. How about we get to the core of the problem before too many animals get involved in this?" He took a seat behind his desk and asked, "So, again, what's the matter?"
"I don't know, Nick. Just everything."
He winced, "Um, I know it's a bit much to ask, but can you be specific?"
"It's just so- Everything is just so hard. I keep telling myself to stay strong- hic!- and everything is going to be okay. Baby steps, you know. Climb that ladder. But it just doesn't work. I have been working as a meter maid for over six months. Six months Nick! Six months and I am at square one. That and everyone hates me."
"Oh c'mon Carrots, it can't be that bad. I don't hate you."
There was a long pause, mixed in with some sobbing. "Thanks, Nick. What I meant is all the mammals on the force hate me, and Chief Bogo just despises me. Anyone who got a ticket detests me and- hic!- some even threaten me. Your friend's reaction was tame compared to some of them and they were preys. It has been six months, and nothing's changed. Same streets, same hateful animals in and outside headquarters."
"Wait, inside the force? Don't they have, like, a Mammal Resources department for that? You can sue them."
"No, it's not that kind of hate Nick. They just either turn a blind eye to me or give me that look. No one bothers talking or listen to me. It's like I don't exist to them. As if I'm just a piece of furniture that was not supposed to be there."
"Judy, maybe."
"I can deal with skeptics, heck, even my parent are skeptics. I can get through that. Just. FINE! But- but, I have not done anything, but stick tickets to mammals' cars and just make their day a little worse. That's all I have done during the past six months." Her voice was slowly drowned back in tears. "My parents said they were coming over next week." She took short gasps for air. "I can't tell them that their little daughter, who used their hard-earned money to go to the police academy, is a meter maid living in a rundown apartment with neighbors constantly screaming at her. I can't, Nick. I can't tell them that the dream I have been working so hard toward- hic!- is actually worse than being a carrot farmer." Nick could hear some slamming sound. Something told him that was not the neighbor banging on a table. "I should have just quit when I was ahead."
Nick stepped on the ice, despite knowing how thin it was, "Sorry, but I got to stop you right there." Nick gave her a few seconds, just to confirm that she was listening to him. "It's okay, Judy. It's okay."
"No, it's not, Nick! I'm just- I'm falling apart. I can't keep this up."
"No, I understand, I'm not going to tell you to hold on to your dream and sing a pop song about it. You are talking to a guy that has given up on a dream he shared with his father. But, I can see you are getting- er, what's the word?- Emotionally exhausted. I feel you. It's hard, yes, but, it's going to be much harder if you are tired and all worked up. Freaking out is only making everything worse. Now, breathe."
"Okay. Okay," Judy said. Nick could hear her take in some deep breaths.
"So, before you decide to give up on your dream or doing anything else, have a rest. And NO, not a quick nap or anything. Have an ACTUAL rest. Sleep in for once, call a sick day. I'm sure the world is not going to blow up without a few parking tickets. Maybe when your body is strong, and your mind is clear, you will be able to think it through."
"I don't know, Nick, I can't do it on my own. I have tried similar things. I'll just fall back to this state again."
"I see. So..." He opened up a notebook on his desk. "How about I take you out to dinner tomorrow?"
There was another long pause. "You mean, like a date?"
"Woah, woah, woah! Gotta slow down there, Carrots. No, it's more like a counseling session. Instead of with an expensive old guy taking notes on you and your relationship with your mother, you have a friend listen to you and help you figure things out. I can't do that on the phone right now and well, with you all soaked in tears like this. So, what do you say?"
"I think- hic!- it's a great idea. I don't know what to say."
"Then don't say anything. Just rest, okay?"
"Uh huh."
"In that case, I will see you tomorrow. Are you still sobbing?" After a moment of guilty silence over the phone, he sighed. "I have to go now. Bye."
"Goodbye, Nick. Thanks again."
Author note:
Thank you so much for reading. If you enjoyed what you have just read and wished to see more, please follow or leave a review. They would give me the motivation to write more for everyone. All feedbacks will be appreciated. If you find anything lacking or flawed in my story (grammar, word use, etc.), please tell me in the reviews as well. I shall do my best to update these chapters sooner and make them more polished. This is one of my first stories so please forgive possible mistakes in the future and help me fix them.
Thanks again and have a pleasant day.
