"Nick, am I… really this terrible of a mammal?" Judy asked him, sounding as if she were trying her best to hold back tears.
The question that came from the gray doe broke the fox's heart. "I think we both know that the answer is no. You have never been and never will be. A terrible mammal wouldn't make keeping the city safe their top priority. Why would you think that, Carrots?"
As Nick stepped forward, Judy showed the words that were displayed on the glowing screen of her iPaw. The vulpine started to read what she had been looking at prior to her making that inquiry, and he felt his heart sink.
With every mammal that does something to receive huge amounts of positive remarks, there is always at least one thing that is said negatively about them. And being the most notable police officers at the ZPD was no exception. While most of what was said about them was praise for their heroic actions, there was still a good amount of mammals out there that said the opposite.
The ability to say anything one wants to about someone, freely sharing the opinions on any given matter to the world, was a universal thing thanks to technology. However, not everybody used such an ability to make good changes to their world. Some mammals, instead, used it as a proverbial weapon, spreading hurtful words without even considering the impact it might have on who sees them. Nick understood quite well that certain mammals did this, and he was seeing yet another example of it as he read what Judy was upset about.
If some of the hurtful things they called her weren't enough, there were several others responding to it in agreement with what the mammal that wrote the thing said, adding onto it with their own remarks.
"Who would ever feel good about themselves wishing these terrible things on somebody?" Nick muttered to himself, setting the bunny's phone back on the table. "It's horrible."
"I know you said not to let them get to me," Judy said, "but sometimes they do. Makes me feel that I'm not worthy of my special place at the ZPD."
Nick decided to grab a chair from nearby and bring it over right next to where she was sitting. Taking a seat, he said, "I think it's a good time to tell you a story from when I was growing up."
Judy turned herself around and looked over at him with eyes watery from the tears she tried to hold back earlier. "Okay…"
"You already know that my father was a pastor at the church down the street from where I grew up," the fox started to tell her. "He was always such a good at speaking to groups, and he was one of the wisest mammals I've ever known. Before he passed away, he taught me this great lesson that I'll never forget."
"What was that?" the doe next to him asked softly.
The tod continued, "I came from school one day and was pretty upset. My father saw me crying and asked me what was wrong, and I told him about this one kit that always picked on me because I was a fox, telling me that I wasn't worthy of his trust 'cause I looked like a crook. So my dad took me into the other room and got out his wallet."
Judy listened to the story about his father, nodding her head attentively.
"And from his wallet," Nick carried on, "he pulled out a ten dollar bill, asking me if I was interested in it. Instinctively, I said yes. He said to wait because he had to do something to it first, then started to crumple it up in his paw before unfolding it again. He asked me again if I would still want it, and I nodded my head. He then dropped the bill to the ground and crumpled it around against the floor, picking it up again and asking if I still wanted it another time. I said yes once again, but I wasn't exactly sure where he was going with this. That was when he told me an important lesson."
"And that was about worth…" Judy responded.
The vulpine nodded. "Exactly," he said to her. "My dad explained to me that no matter what he did to that ten-dollar bill, I still was interested in it because it didn't decrease in value. No matter what, it was still going to be worth the same amount of money. He said that we might feel worthless because of what others say to us, but no matter how hard they try to crumple us like he did to the bill with their words, making us feel like we weren't worthy of anything, we still hold our value in this world. I can remember him to this day smiling at me as he told me this. I might've been too young to take those words to heart back then, but as I got older they really stuck with me. Every time somebody's thrown their harsh words in my direction, I think back to that."
Judy remained silent for a brief moment, the story that Nick just told her making her feel less upset now. She made note of the lesson that was within his late father's words, and she reached over and placed her paw against his. "Nick?" she murmured.
"Yes, Fluff?" the fox asked in reply.
The doe nodded and said, "Thank you."
"No problem." Nick replied as he started to smile back at her, glad he was able to share that story with the bunny he loved.
Author's Note: This was a s tory I've had in mind for a couple days now, and I finally got around to putting the finishing touches on it. This one, I know, has a bit more of a serious tone to it, but I still hope that you enjoyed reading it. As I've depicted in a couple of other stories here, I always imagine that whenever Judy is upset about something, her fox would always be there to make her feel better or cheer her up.