Chapter 12: Park
Once Nick was home he didn't have much to do being honest. All the evidence he had collected he had with him, on his phone and at home in a file folder. He had action planned for tomorrow as well, as he was going to follow James, who was going to go to Dominic's house tomorrow where they were going to meet. Their meeting could be a pivotal moment for this case, perhaps there Nick would learn the whereabouts of Jack, who he has been looking for since the case began. The only worry swirling around in his mind was the fear that his plan would fail and he would not be able to exact his revenge. Even though he had already planned his actions, he wasn't sure if everything would go his way or if he would have to make additional arrangements. Any negative action was out of his hands, especially now that he was left alone.
Fox had been at home most of the evening, sitting in the kitchen with a cup of water staring at the sun, which was slowly but inexorably retreating behind the horizon, leaving only red streaks in its wake. The sight was incredibly beautiful, the setting sun over Zootopia was always a beautiful sight regardless of the season, whether it was winter autumn or summer. In every month, the end of the day had its five minutes. Still, for Nick, the fullness of that view was missing Judy, who would undoubtedly have made the evening even better. She would most likely have deployed her fox throughout, or simply made Nick feel better with her company. Judy undoubtedly cast a kind of charm on the fox that made him feel better as a result of her being around him. Nick himself couldn't specifically define what caused it, but he never complained about it - it made his every day successful.
Now that she was gone he felt the lack of her, he couldn't laugh with anyone or talk to anyone so honestly, he could only rely on himself and only himself. He decided about his actions alone, he could not ask anyone for advice, which he surely needed. Judy gave him a lot of advice on how to act, she often said how she would react to a situation, she was the support the fox needed.
Soon the sun completely disappeared behind the horizon, it became quite dark outside the window, it was so dark that Nick could see his sad, tired reflection of his face through it, which indicated fatigue and exhaustion. His cheeks drooped downwards, his lack of a smile, his lowered eyelids and clenched teeth clearly indicated that there was something wrong with the fox. Not surprisingly, his recent nights had not been the best in terms of sleep quality, and he had only slept a few hours at a time, which could not have been fully enough for him. Even so, he could not back out now, he was already too far gone to be able to back out of his plan, which he was slowly but surely putting into practice. Every day he was closer to solving this case and he sincerely believed, or at least wanted to believe, that everything would be alright.
After these thoughts, Nick checked that the doors to the house were locked, turned off the lights in each room, and then went to his room to rest. It had been a stressful day for him and he was mentally exhausted. By now his heart rate was elevated from adrenaline. Once the fox had checked everything out, he was ready to head to bed so he could wrap himself up in his duvet and fall asleep after a while.
The next day, Nick got up with some problems, his alarm snapped him out of sleep very early, which meant he had his comfortable sleep ruthlessly interrupted. He dreamt of the day when Judy regains consciousness and he has a chance to talk to her when it's all over. It was a day when Nick and Judy have time just for each other and can joke around like old times. Although it was a very good night's sleep, which hasn't happened too often lately, it was interrupted by the alarm clock indicating 9.00 a.m.
'Damn, I must have forgotten to mute it' thought an annoyed Nick. He turned the device off, then moved closer to the window. Like the previous day, the sun was already over the horizon sending its rays towards Zootopia, making everything around him bright and full of life. The neighbour's orchard looked very rich and lush while being bathed in sunlight, Nick had to admit that, even though he would have preferred not to comment on the nearby resident's garden. There were a lot of problems with it, when the fox wanted to rest at home, the neighbour would then take out his lawnmower, or saw, and he could spend more than a few hours tidying up the garden with these two noisy machines. This was not convenient for Nick, who several times asked the neighbour to stop for a while, but the neighbour defended himself by saying that the sooner he started the sooner he would finish. The fox was losing these battles, but with each passing day he was capable of bolder and bolder steps, which he generally refused to take.
After watching for a while, Nick headed to the kitchen to get something to eat. Admittedly there is some time until James and Dominic's meeting, but Nick knew that breakfast was the most important meal to give you energy for the day. For breakfast he had the classic toast, it was his one of the staple breakfast dishes that he ate, due to the fact that he often had little time first thing in the morning and needed something quick to eat. When he didn't want toast he replaced it with cereal, which was just as tasty as toast, but was less filling, and gave much less energy than sandwiches. Therefore, cereal only occurred when he had more time, when he had time to prepare something else later. At breakfast time he turned on the radio and listened to the morning news, which apart from the weather forecast contained nothing in particular to listen to. Apart from the weather, Nick liked to listen to the sports news from time to time, depending on whether the topics were interesting.
In between eating breakfast Nick listened to the weather, a phrase from the radio presenter popped firmly into his head: "What a beautiful day to go for a walk in the park". Then he remembered the nearby park, which was less than 3 kilometres from his house. Although the park was in a suburb of Zootopia, it was one of the largest in the area, and was larger than some that were in the metropolitan area.
Fox needed a break from the issues that were weighing heavily on his mind, causing his sleep to not be as good as it should be. Nick himself was feeling the effects of this and felt that he needed a moment of pleasure, a moment where no one or nothing would distract or annoy him. Since starting the investigation on his own, his relief was only at night, when he slept and dreamt about various things that were also partly related to Judy. This solidly reassured the fox that he wanted some time to himself, he needed a moment to himself.
"All in all why not" thought Nick finically. He got up from his chair and started getting ready to go out, changing into something other than his night clothes. He chose a white polo shirt this time and navy blue short shorts, which would be perfect for this sunny, undoubtedly warm weather. As he left the house and approached the car he noticed a badge and a gun on the side seat. Nick was a little startled by this sight, he had completely forgotten to take these things out and to put them away, he was lucky that no one curious had approached his car during the darkness. When he got into the car the first thing he did was to put these items in the glove compartment of the car so that he could have quick access to these items when he needed them. After packing his belongings, he was ready to set off for the park where he would relax.
The park Nick was heading to was one of the larger ones around Zootopia. The only larger wooded area that separated the city from a natural resting place was the central park located in the centre of Zootopia. That place was built specifically to meet the needs of the residents, as a lot of people complained that they didn't have access to a natural place to rest. Although the metropolis was full of cinemas, restaurants and bars, there were also people who wanted to walk through the woods in peace and quiet. The park Nick was heading for was called the "Open Forest Park", the name mainly came from the fact that it belonged to an open area and there were several naturally grown trees that formed a natural protection from the attacking sun. There was a free car park in front of the small forest, which Nick parked in as soon as he got there.
He parked at the entrance, locked the car, then walked through the large iron brane on which the name of the park was written.
"Ah, this is just what I needed" sighed Nick with relief as he crossed the gate. There were about a dozen people in the park, quietly strolling along the stone paths looking at the natural wonders around them. Nick immediately felt a sense of peace and tranquility as he strolled through this peaceful and quiet place. The only sounds were the rustling of trees being moved by the light breeze and the birdsong that came every few seconds causing the fox to relax. The light breeze surrounding the nearby area gently hit the fox's head causing him to feel refreshed, it had been a long time since he had felt such a light, pleasant feeling of wind on his smooth face. He had never strolled through the park of his own accord before to be honest. He did it mainly because Judy often asked for it, and he didn't have the heart to refuse for her, so he agreed, even though he would have been most happy to go somewhere else entirely. But now, he really appreciated the existence of this peaceful and vibrant place that offered peace and solace. Although Nick had all his thoughts in the back of his mind all the time, he didn't worry about them as much, he felt relaxed, but at the same time he still had his hand on the pulse. After walking for a while, the fox decided it was a good idea to find a spot and sit still. His legs were starting to get a little numb from walking, and he needed to be ready for the evening, then he starts the next part of his plan.
There were black and brown benches set up in every alley, inviting people to sit on them. Nick chose a bench that was under a large oak tree that spread its shade for several metres, causing it to be warm and the sun not to attack his head. After choosing a comfortable position, Nick closed his emerald eyes and took in the sounds of nature around him.