Chapter 129: Spring Fling

The citizens of Happy Town celebrate spring.

"The Daffodil Day Parade to celebrate Spring is today and I suggested that Judy should be this year's new parade grand marshall," Jake said to the taller lean fox standing next to him. "I felt it would have been appropriate since she was in charge of the investigation which has led to the parade's previous marshall, Aldermammal Svenic, to be arrested for taking bribes."

"Maybe we can get markings for the side of her police car like they used to do with the fighter planes during the last war?" Nick answered." She has brought down two mayors, a police commissioner, and now an aldermammal, one more politician arrested and she will be an ace."

"The city has a few more crooks at city hall who are doing business under the table."

"Well I'm sure that Carrots understood when they decided that the parade's grand marshalls will be a popular boy band instead."

"The Wailing Wallabys aren't exactly a boy band anymore, they had their last hit song back when I was a teen."

"So are you going to, as they say, toss your hat into the ring and run in the special election to fill Svenic's now vacant seat?" Nick asked as he gave the raccoon a sideways glance.

"Me? Who would vote for me?"

"You've got a lot of friends in Happy Town, like the coyotes. Heck, I'd even consider voting for you." The fox chuckled.

"Only consider? You're my best friend and you would only consider voting for me?" The raccoon asked while he stood there with is arms crossed and stared in disbelief at his slightly larger friend.

"Jake?"

"After all these years, you still don't trust me?"

"Jake!"

"I even named my first born after you and …."

"JAKE!" the fox yelled.

"WHAT?" the raccoon yelled back.

The fox reached over and hugged the raccoon. "I was just teasing you, buddy. Of course I trust you!"

"Then you would vote for me after all?" Jake softly asked in an embarrassed tone, his ears are blushing.

"Of course I would!"

"Good…so can you let me go? We are being stared at." Several of the nearby animals were indeed watching them and grinning at the sight of the fox hugging the raccoon.

The fox quickly released the raccoon and stepped back.

Jake adjusted his shirt collar before he looked around. "Come on, I want you to see a float. The two friends walked along the street looking at all the parade participants lining up, there was the local high school marching band, a coyote dance group in their traditional outfits, tall steeds dressed in knightly armor, and several Junior Ranger Scout troops. The floats too were lined up, most were simply made on the back of trucks or trailers, a far cry from the professionally designed floats used in the city's downtown larger and more extravagant parade.

"There it is! " Jake proclaimed when they came to a float. "That's the float!"

"Jake, is that a huge paper mache sculpture of your head?" Nick replied as he stood back and looked at it the float. "At least it looks somewhat like your head. Why did someone have it made?"

"It's a float celebrating the successful graduates of Happy Town High. It was made by the students."

"Then that explains why there are only six other heads besides yours."

"Yeah, there hasn't been too many successful graduates from the old alma mater."

"There haven't been that many graduates period. Until a few years ago, the dropout rate was close to sixty percent."

"That makes sense because most of the folks around here are what you might call the working poor, blue collar job holders living on one paycheck to the next and their children drop out at sixteen to get a employment" the raccoon said.

"Or are idiotic enough to run away from home and become street hustlers," Nick sadly added.

The two friends came to an abrupt halt when they saw Judy standing there in her parade costume. "Don't either of you two say a word, I promised Nicky and Freddie I would march with them and their school's theme is fairytales!" the rabbit snapped as she stood there dressed like a large egg. "It was either being Humpty Dumpty or dressing like Peter Cottontail and no self-respecting rabbit would dress up as a mythical bunny who hides eggs."

"Snort!" the fox made that funny noise while he tried not to bust out laughing.

The raccoon seemed to be chewing on his tongue in an attempt to stay silent. "So…so…" Jake finally began speaking, but his words were jumbled while he tried not to chuckle. "Who is dressing as Peter Cottontail?"

"The costume is too little for Nick, so that leaves a certain raccoon…"

"No way! There is no way that I am doing that!"

"We are doing this for the boys" Nick snickered out. "They would be terribly disappointed if their father didn't do it."

"Don 't worry Slick, we've got something for you to wear. After all, we didn't want you feeling left out," Judy quickly said as she pointed towards a nearby costume.

The fox's ears flattened and his tail drooped when he saw it was a dress and white feathers.

"Someone has to be Mother Goose!" Jake laughed.

Unbeknownst to them, a familiar shady looking weasel was slipping into a duckling costume while he fugitively looked around.

Later that afternoon a news reporter did a story about the day's event, "Spring parades took place throughout the city today, the largest of which was downtown where hundreds of revelers donned their colorful costumes…," the fox and raccoon watched while pictures of huge floats were shown on the television screen.

"…but in Happy Town, things took a strange turn when a thief dressed like the Ugly Duckling snatched a purse and was chased by Humpty Dumpty. The dastardly duck climbed up onto a wall and Humpty Dumpty was in hot pursuit," the reporter momentarily paused and tried not to laugh before she continued. "Unfortunately Humpty Dumpty lost her footing and had a great fall."

The camera zoomed in on the costumed rabbit laying on the ground with several of the knightly armor clad stallions trying to help her. "Although Police Lieutenant Judy Hopps-Wilde was unharmed, her costume however…giggle…well, let's just say that all the king's horses couldn't put Humpty Dumpty back together again."

The camera flashed back to the now grinning reporter. "But the devious duckling was quickly apprehended by…giggle, giggle…Mother Goose."