CHAPTER 9

My eyes slowly open, and as soon as I catch sight on my roof, it hits me.

"It's the Harvest Festival!" I scream excitedly. I jump out of bed without a minutes hesitation. I put on my horn hat as well as a paw shirt - a yellow shirt with a brown paw in the middle. My hat turns the same pattern, and I run outside. I don't bother picking any fruit from trees - I'll be able to eat plenty soon enough.

I jog across the two wooden bridges over the river, turn and run down a hill - the same one with my experience with Rollo. I shudder at the memory and finish my dash down. And that's when I see it. The wishing well is a small fountain with a continuous stream running from it. It sits against a large tree that looks much older than me… older than the mayor! Sprawled around the tree is a large circle of concrete flooring.

Besides that, there's the actual festival. There's cheery music playing, and there're three tables surrounding the large tree. I advance to the table in front of the fountain. It's white, with a small orange table cloth on it, lying out like a diamond. On it sits a large plate with a flower pattern surrounding it. It's the type of plate where a turkey or ham would go. Beside it sits a red-handled fork and knife - probably for carving the meat. In the corner of the table is what looks like two wine bottles, but they could be juice. In front of the two bottles and a stack of white and blue paper cups.

I advance to the second - the one to the left of the tree. This one isn't as wide as the last one, but it has the same table cloth. On the bottom right sits a large basket of fruit. It contains the reddest of apples, as well as a group of grapes of green and purple. Next to the basket is a large plate of sandwiches cut into squares. They're on top of a thin bed of lettuce and have thick slices of tomato beside them as decoration. Behind the plate and the basket are the same bottles from the previous table.

The last table has the same layout. Two bottles, a basket of apples and grapes, and a plate of sandwiches - although these ones are cut into triangles. I walk to the front table and take a paper cup, and fill it with the liquid from the green bottle. It smells sweet and it's purple. When I bring it to my lips, it's as I thought: grape juice. I then walk to the second table again and pull a couple grapes from each bunch. I pop a couple into my mouth and nod at an upcoming Mitzi.

"Hello, Decco! Enjoying the festival so far, mew?"

I try to say "very much" but my mouth is full of grapes, causing Mitzi to laugh.

"Don't eat so fast, mew." She says.

I swallow. "Sorry," I say. She walks over and pulls a few grapes too, and I select an apple and sink my teeth into it, and pull off its skin. Chewing, I ask "How long have these festivals been going on for?"

"I'm not sure. As far back as I can remember, mew."

I bite more of the red fruit. "So, what do we do?"

"Well, first we get to eat all the appetizers, then the main course comes - it's usually turkey. Then we do stuff like dancing and some games, mew!"

I take a swig of juice. "Coolio."

Mitzi nods. "Well, I'll see you later Decco. I'm gonna talk to some others."

"See ya." I say.

Then she leaves.

Throughout the day, I just sort of lean up against the table, nodding at people who come to greet me. I eventually take a sandwich and eat it as I leave. It's ham with a thick slice of cheddar cheese with some lettuce and chunks of tomato in it. The bread it also really fluffy, too.

As I walk through the series of trees, I spot a turkey. He's black and pink and wears yellow overalls and a matching yellow hat. He's hiding behind a tree, peeking out occasionally, almost like he's hiding from something. I slowly approach him, and call out, "You okay, man?"

He turns around.

"Yaaaaah! Whuh-whuh-what? What're you doin' here? What do you want? Relax, OK? OK? We can talk this out, right? There's no need for violence!" He's clearly panicked.

"What are you talking about!?" I whisper loudly.

"Huh? What was that? You... You're not here to catch me?"

I shake my head.

"Why didn't you say so? For cryin' out loud! You tryin' to scare me to death? C'mon, level with me... What is up with this village?" He sees my confused look. "The letter I got from your Mayor Tortimer -the invitation? Did you see it? No? I've got it memorized!"

'We cordially invite you to be the main guest at our annual Harvest Festival. Heh hehh hehhh hoorf'

"What's wrong with it?" I ask.

"What's wrong with it?! I can even see where the word 'dish' was erased and then replaced with 'guest'! I should never have come. I should have stayed at home and locked the doors. And your neighbors! They can't keep their paws off me! Patting me here, squeezing me there… Then there's the banquet table! Nothing but side dishes! What's that big empty platter for? Huh? Huh? Imagine my surprise when I meet your ancient tortoise of a mayor, and the first words out his mouth are...

'How delectable- I mean delightful. How delightful to see you. A slip of the tongue. Put it out of your head. Don't want you getting tough. Tense! I meant don't you have a seat? Take off your feathers and have some bread crumbs. Heh hehh hehhh hoorf.'"

I'm shocked. How could Tortimer do something like this…

"That kind of thing makes me nervous!" He yells quietly. Then he looks at me.

"You... You look harmless enough. But those other guys! They're all thinking with their stomachs! I've gotta do something. This could end very badly for me. If only I were an eagle or a penguin even! OK. First things first. The table setting...the knives and the forks and...the knives! Those have got to go! Easy enough to say, but...I can't get anywhere near that table. The danger... Ooh, now I'm getting a migraine."

"Easy man!" I interrupt. "Don't worry, I'll get them for you."

"What!? Really!?"

I nod. I'm on his side, and he can see this. Even though those villagers back there are my friends, this is just plain wrong.

"Thank you so very much!" He says joyfully.

"I'll be right back." Then I run off.

When I get back to the festival, it's a bit busier than before. I spot the front table containing the large fork and knife. I could only imagine the sharp blades piercing through Franklin's cooked flesh, cutting through it, and tearing chunks out, then my friends consuming it.

I bring my hand to my mouth, forcing myself from vomiting. One of those people eating would've been me, and I wouldn't have even realized it! I slowly approach the cursed objects. Sweat begins to drip from my face as I continue to picture all of us gutting and consuming the poor bird like animals. But we are! That's the way of the world. But there's nothing wrong with me feeling terrible about it...

I got to play my cards carefully. Steal the knives. Steal the forks. Steal the knives! It should be so easy, but it's so not. It's not going to be easy at all - I can be seen from every direction.

Animals glance over at me every once in a while, and I start to get really anxious. I feel as though they know I'm playing a part in their missing main course.

My vision goes three-sixty. Nobody's looking now. They're too caught up in the food or what they had for dinner last night, or what clothes they're wearing.

Then I just run. Two seconds, I grab the utensils and shove them in my pocket. I then immediately stand casually beside the table. Nobody saw it, nothing to see here. I start to move my legs, wanting to just sprint back, but that'd cause some attention to wander.

So I'm slow - casual. My heart is pounding, pretending that I'm one of them. I'm actually glad some anxiety kicked in my way, as it's working in my favor. Instead of the real reason, the animals think I'm just impatient about dinner. I continue to walk over to the sandwich table and select one. That draws no attention. But if people knew it was for their main course cowering behind a tree, I'd be part of that course.

Then those thoughts came. Claws puncturing my belly and tearing it open like it's chewing gum. Their arms inside me, pulling out my intestines like a spool of string being unraveled. My friends arguing over who got my liver and kidneys and others brawling over my severed arms and legs.

I run to a tree and vomit at its roots.

Then I laugh at my idiocy. They wouldn't really eat me…right? Right?

I sprint into the clearing without any more hesitation, erasing those evil thoughts from my head with every panicked step.