"If we care about our town, we must rid it of this menace! Think of the flowers! Think of the coffee cake!"

The crowd of animals murmured amongst themselves. Isabelle and Lee were now close enough to see who the protestor was.

"Annabelle, what are you doing?" Lee felt numb. He tried to sound upset, but his heart just wasn't in an accusing mood.

"Mayor! Or should I say 'Nature Killer,' what are you doing here?"

"What do you mean?"

"Just what I said! We thought you had skipped town after what you did. The flowers told me so."

"The flow—uh, anyway. . .I didn't do it! I wasn't even here! When I left for the island, the trees were still standing!" Thankfully, his voice was now willing to cooperate, letting him convey his emotions of confusion and frustration clearly.

"Likely story, Mayor. Who spends all night on an island?"

"We did!" Isabelle piped up, not wanting to be a silent observer to her boss being accused of a crime he didn't commit. "We lost track of time! There aren't any clocks on the island, you know. And, well, it was really fun and—"

"Liar!" Annabelle hopped down from the small box she had been standing on and walked directly up to Isabelle, not leaving much space between them. Isabelle felt trapped. "Everybody knows how loyal you are to your bosses, Miss Secretary." The title was spoken with no trace of respect. "You'd do anything to protect your mayor, even give a false alibi."

"Have I ever done such a thing?"

Annabelle shook her head. "For all we know, you've done this a thousand times and we just never learned of it. It's amazing what a little power can do." Her voice seemed to take on a different tone for a moment, but it quickly returned to one of accusation. "Face it, your word is about as good as my chances of being a future pop star."

"But what about the Kapp'n, hmm?" Isabelle let her voice mirror Annabelle's. She shrunk the distance between them, not wanting the orange anteater to feel she had the upper hand at intimidation. "What about him? He can vouch for us!" She was becoming aggravated. How dare you question my integrity? How dare you incriminate my boss?

"Really now? You expect his word to be any better? Pu-lease. Do you, like, really think he wouldn't be bribable?" She smirked. "The Mayor is pretty rich, after all."

"You. . .you little monster!" And with that, Isabelle thrust Annabelle to the ground, ready to rain down as many punches as her energy would let her. A few of the villagers seemed happy at the prospect of a fight, but a few looked terrified. It took both the efforts of Lee and Gladys to pull the furious shi tzu off of her victim.

"What are you doing, Isabelle?! You're not a violent person!"

"What he said! This isn't like you! It's downright out of character!" Lee cast a confused glance at Gladys, who shrugged as if she had said nothing out of the ordinary. You should've seen her on the island. It was great.

"But, but. . .she. . .I can't just let her spout lies like that!"

"Pffft. Call them whatever you want. In the end, the truth is the same—Mayor Lee doesn't deserve to stay in office." She turned back to the crowd. "And it's only fair that the good people of Vona should, like, vote on it. If you wanna kick the mayor out, raise your paws

. . .and flippers. . .and wings. . .and, well, you get the idea."

"Now, hold on just a second." Isabelle, who had regained her composure, spoke up again. "That hardly counts as a formal vote. I, uh, I need to do the paperwork on it. I need to, um, have the appropriate documents to file and report and. . .stuff." She stood proudly, and Lee and Gladys let go of her shoulders. "After all, as you pointed out, I'm the secretary. And as the secretary, I say we hold the vote this evening. It will give everyone enough time to calm down." And enough time for me to figure something out.

"No way! I don't agree to that!"

"I do." A quiet voice said from the group, a voice that belonged to Nate. "It sounds like a good idea. Plus, I'm hungry. I have fishing to do."

"I second that! Er, the part about it being a good idea, that is." Gladys added, putting her wings together and whistling happily.

"I agree as well."

"So do I."

"Me, too."

Slowly, surely, the crowd's position became unanimous. Annabelle was forced to concede. "Fine. It won't change anything, though. You're just prolonging the inevitable." Realizing that she had lost, she let her demeanor revert to its normal state. "Heehee! Well, at least now I can, like, gorge myself on candy while I wait. Hey! Would anyone like me to share some candy? I'd love to. Oh! How about I make everyone a cake before the vote? I could make a cake now. Or maybe—" she looked around. No one was left. They had gone to do whatever it was that they wanted to do. "Or maybe I won't. I don't care." She picked up her box and headed for home. I'm sorry, Mayor. There were no trees to block her path as she walked home, letting her feel cold inside and out. I didn't want to. Really, I promise. She hated owing favors. I wish I had known. Wish I had known that something so simple could have me indebted to him.


"Where are you headed to?" The gray wolf sitting in the seat across from her seemed more than willing to start a conversation with a total stranger. He wore a gray suit, though it was darker than his fur.

"Oh. Well, to, like, tell you the truth, I don't really know." The orange aardvark closed the magazine she had been reading. She, too, was more than willing to start a conversation. "I thought I was gonna be a pop star. I thought I was headed for fame. Guess I was wrong. I don't know where I'm headed now." She then realized that she hadn't answered his question. "Omigosh! I'm so sorry! Really, so, so, sooooo sorry. You didn't ask for my little pity story, did you? You meant 'where is your destination,' right? The town I'm going to. Ah! Please, do forgive me. I really am—"

"Stop talking." Though his tone was harsh, the wolf was smiling slightly, as if her babbling amused him.

"Sorry. A-anyway, I don't know where I'm going on this train, either. I sorta just hopped on at the last second. A spur of the moment thing. I left my hometown to be a singer. Then I left the next town. Then the next. So far, I haven't had much luck. I don't even have any money." She giggled, though she wasn't happy. "I'm talking too much again, aren't I?"

"Yes. It's fine, though." The wolf reached into his suit pocket and pulled out several large sacks of bells. The anteater's eyes nearly popped out of her skull in amazement. "Oh, this? This is nothing. I have connections in more than one business world. This should be enough to get you on your feet."

"Th-this is, l-like, more than enough! A-are you sure? Positive? Like, for realzies?" She could feel her pep bubbling up like the delicious soda she loved so much. The wolf nodded.

"If you like, you can consider it payment for entertaining me so much. I don't get much of that in my field."

"That stinks! Hey, you could always come with me. We could form a band! You look like you'd be great at guitar or something. Ooh, or maybe drums! Oh! What about the bassoon? Or. . .oh. . .sorry."

He chuckled lightly. "My place is here. You want to be a star, correct? So do I. I want to be a leader. Sadly, it doesn't look like I'll be doing much leading of any real importance any time soon. I'm headed to a little town by the name of Vona at the moment. An old friend called me up and said he needed a replacement. Shame, really. If he wanted to retire, the town must not be good enough to keep his attention. Or mine."

"Oh! So is that where this train is headed?" Curious, she got up from her seat and went to ask the driver. Well, I can't fault her for a lack of boldness. The wolf thought to himself. The anteater returned, a distraught look written on her face. "Bad news. This isn't the train to Vona. That left two hours ago. I'm sorry."

"What?!"

"I-I'm sorry! If I had known, I woulda told you! P-please don't be mad!" She danced from foot to foot, sweating nervously. Seeing the distress he was causing the poor girl, the wolf took a deep breath, calming himself.

"It's not your fault. These things happen. I'll just ride the train back to the city."

"Oh, you live in the city? Ooooooh, do you ever shop at GracieGrace? Oh, wait, she's more into the small town scene these days. Eep! Sorry! Didn't mean to bring up small towns. Ah! I did it again!"

"Stop that. It's getting on my nerves." Despite her hyperactive personality, he found that she was easy to talk to. "No, I don't live there. It's also not the city you're thinking of."

"There's another city?"

"Of course there is. And it's the city where I do most of my business. I've got multiple people who work for me, people who respect me. What's more, I'm the only animal of my kind."

"What?! Wait, so you work with. . .those people?"

"Yes. Imagine that. Such a thing is truly remarkable, isn't it?"

"Yeah! Wow, I thought you were cool before, but now you're, like, practically a superstar! You're amazing!" She stuck out her paw. "I'm Annabelle."

"Xavier." He shook her paw, further entertained by her fast-friendship forming ways. Wait, is that what this is? I don't believe that we are—

"Wanna be friends?"

Oh. I guess we are.

"Oh, not just because you're, like, a super-cool business guy that got himself a good reputation with humans. I just really like you." She smiled so widely that her eyes closed. "You're neat, Mister Xavier. I wanna call you my friend. Is that okay with you?"

"Fast, aren't you?" He thought for a few moments. Well, chances are, I'll never see you again. No need to worry much about you getting in the way. "Alright. If it will make you happy."

"Yaaaaaaaay! Omigosh, I'm soooo happy!" She put her paws together and whistled. He smiled. Such a strange little display of happiness some of my people have.

"Now arriving in Wildfire. Wildfire Station!" The voice announced over the PA system. Annabelle smushed her face against the glass and was met with a strange sight. Xavier echoed her thoughts.

"That kid really needs to wear a shirt."

"No kidding! Plus, he's one of. . .those."

"I didn't take you for a racist."

"I'm not! Okay, fine. Maybe I am. Just a little. Isn't everyone?" Xavier rolled his eyes at her. "Bah. Whatever. I think I'll keep looking for a new town.

"Suite yourself. You won't get far in life if you avoid them, though."

"I can try."

With that, Annabelle went back to her seat. She and Xavier (mostly she) continued to talk about nothing in particular for the remainder of the train's journey back to its origin point.

"Hey, wake up!"

"Hmm?"

She shook his shoulder lightly.

"Oh. Have we arrived already?"

"Yeah! Wakey wakey!"

"I'm awake."

"Oh. Right. Hehe. Sorry." She handed him the briefcase at his feet.

"Thank you." She looked out the window at all the trains. They seemed to stretch on forever. One of them would be taking her new friend back to his city. Back to his boring little world.

"Wait!" She ran to catch up with him and nearly ran into him. "Here! Take this with you!"

"A paint set? Why did you have a paint set with you?"

"I dunno. I kinda just like to carry random stuff around with me." She shrugged. "Besides, it's helpful! I can give gifts to my friends on the spur of the moment."

"Those kinds of decisions seem to be your specialty."

"Yep!" She made yet another one and hugged his waist, which left him a bit stunned. "Promise not to forget me, okay?"

"U-uh. . .sure. S-sure, I promise." Putting his shock behind him, be stepped off the train. He raised a paw in farewell and Annabelle did the same, waving hers at a high speed. You really are strange. He walked past several trains before finally reaching the one he would be getting on. I can't say I'm completely opposed to that.

"Don't forget me." Annabelle muttered to herself once her friend was out of sight.


Annabelle sighed, unlocking the door to her unwelcoming home. Looks like he didn't. If only I had known that he would want me to behave like this. I would have never answered him. She put away some of her spy equipment, hoping that the vote this evening would make it so that she never had to use it again. I guess I finally know where I'm headed. She sat on the box and placed her head in her paws. I can't say I'm happy about that.