Edit: Hello Everyone who comes across this story. Just had to do some editing because the name I wanted to use for Zanny's boss didn't work so I changed it to Mr. Pitts . I hope you all enjoy this story I made.
Time has passed by peacefully for Zanny, since Melody came into his life and after he had moved to Louisiana. Before Melody or Louisiana, Zanny was stuck in western Kentucky with the worst job possible. He had worked in a gas station, near a not so friendly neighborhood. Sure the locals would leave the place alone because it's where to get gas for their vehicles, every so often the place he worked at would get robbed by some punk who managed to get ahold of a firearm. Zanny at first was never in the store when it was robbed because he worked the day shift, but after the last guy went insane from being held at gun point one too many times, Zanny had to take the possession.
Now Zanny has been in a hostage situation at least five times. The first time was the scariest moment in his life and he would never forget it. Three guys that had a little too much to drink and all had firearms. They were in no condition to be using guns and Zanny knew this very well. Luckily the police showed up and they were easily taken down. The other times weren't as bad as the first time, but with that kind of stress, Zanny mentally blocked those events, except the one on the day he meet Melody.
That day was the day that Zanny was saved from insanity himself. When the moment that Zanny saw the egg that contained Melody, he felt connected on an emotional level that was indescribable. He saved the egg from the raging storm and was surprised to see what Melody was. She looked like a weasel with some very odd features that shouldn't be there. The oddities were of course a shocker, but with the personality of Melody, they were easily over looked.
After the events of that day, Zanny's life has improved tremendously. He managed to leave western Kentucky behind and enter Louisiana with high hopes that it would be nothing like his life in western Kentucky.
The sound of alarm clocks or the simple shove from the one you love is what usually wakes up someone in the morning, but for some people it's none of those. The dawning sun was punching its way through the thick vegetation and the sounds of birds swept through the early morning air. It was a beautiful sight for anyone to see, but for Zanny, he sleeps right through those picture perfect mornings. When the first time Zanny had saw this, he thought it was a good way to wake up in the morning, but it became a common thing to daily life for him so he didn't think it was worth waking up for anymore.
The sun and the songs of various birds could wake up anyone in the early morning, but for Zanny, it didn't even bother him. The thing that woke Zanny up almost every single morning is what is Zanny's love and joy of his life.
The sound of claws on wood echoed throughout the small house. The sounds didn't entirely reach Zanny's ears, as his door was closed. The same sound came again and it became louder for every second. When the sound became louder, it began to cause Zanny to roll around in bed, while still sleeping. The claws against wood came to a sudden stop. There was then a new sound that came. It was a rhythm of soft thuds, but shortly followed by the clanging of metal. The handle of Zanny's door slowly moved and the door popped open. The door was opened only a little, but then suddenly slammed shut. The loud thud of door to doorframe didn't even bother Zanny at all. Soft growls, so came from the edge of Zanny's bed.
The growling is what finally got Zanny's attention. He stirred from his rather heavy sleep and rubbed his eyes. "Wha…what's with… the growling?" Zanny mumbled, then yawning with stretching his arms. He got his answer as something heavy landed on his chest. Zanny rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times to focus his vision. What was on his chest was a familiar weasel like creature that had its split tail wagging back and forth. It was Melody, giving Zanny his daily wakeup call, by coming into his room and jumping on to his chest.
"Buuiii bui bui!" Melody barked happily as she rolled over on Zanny's chest, with her tail still wagging. He chuckled at the sign of affection from Melody. He replied to her by rubbing her belly. "Moring Melody. Are you having your usual fun waking my lazy butt every morning?" He said in a sly sense of tone. "Bui bui buui buiii." Melody chirped at him in the same sly tone that Zanny just used at her.
After Zanny was done spoiling her by rubbing her belly, she rolled over back on her belly and scampered off Zanny's chest. She hopped off the bed, on to the floor and ran out the bed room door. Zanny watched as she bolted from the door, down the hall, and taking a turn into the Kitchen. Zanny slowly started to get out of bed, after minute of Melody bolting to the kitchen. He sat at the edge of his bed, looking out the window that allowed nature light into his room. It was always nice to have a beautiful view to look at every morning. He then turned his attention to the mirror that hung upon his wall. He looked at himself in the mirror for a moment, seeing that he still had yet to change out of his white t-shirt and a simple pair of gym shorts. He then looked down at his right leg and saw the scar that ran across the side of his leg. It was from that bullet that nearly hit him on the day that Melody came into his life. He smiled at how everything after that day has gotten better since then, even though the pain from the memories of the days before Melody still stung like a fresh wound.
Those thought were soon interrupted by a sudden shriek. "BUIII BUUUUIIIIII!" From that unexpected scream, Zanny jumped to his feet. "I'm coming, I'm coming!" Zanny yelled back. He had forgotten for a moment that the one thing he had learned over the past several months with Melody is that you don't mess with her and food. Zanny had learned his lesson months ago when it comes to food and Melody.
The day Zanny learned his lesson was when he kept teasing Melody with her favorite food, fresh salmon meat. Zanny teased her by holding the meat high above his head and making Melody jump for it. Melody found the teasing amusing for the first few minutes, but the fun eventually wore thin has the desire for the delicious soon took over. She stopped jumping and started to growl. Zanny played lightly with her growling and continued to tease her. Melody's response was that she got some distance between her and Zanny. She jumped in the air and wiped her tail at Zanny. What happened next took Zanny completely off guard. There was a sudden window shattering crack in the air and Zanny felt something powerful hitting his chest, knocking him down on his chest. When he finally was able to sit up, he was utterly speechless at what just happened. Melody was sitting happily on the floor, eating her well-earned treat, but around was what was grabbing Zanny's attention. All the windows were shattered and behind Zanny, part of the wall looked like an axe was just taken to it.
The best way Zanny could describe what had happened that day was Melody somehow made a powerful sonic boom. The damage to the house was easily fixed and luckily Zanny didn't have to deal with any neighbors on what Melody did. He knew Melody was special and one of a kind, but after that incident with the fish meat, he knew that there was more to Melody than what her appearance let on.
Zanny, now finished changing from his sleeping wear to his day cloths, which consisted of shorts and a normal plain gray t-shirt, he ran down the hall and entered the kitchen. He instantly saw Melody with her arms crossed, a frown upon her face, and her tapping her paw on the floor impatiently. Zanny tried not to laugh, but it to him it was really cute to see her acting like a little child. Zanny did find it interesting that Melody, if she wanted she could walk around on her rear-legs and not even be bothered not having her fore-legs for balance. It was weird to Zanny that she could walk around like a human, but he guessed it was from her watching him walk all the time and she just want to imitate him the best way she could. After a while Zanny gave up on trying to figure out how she did it.
Melody let out a soft growl as her patients for her really started to run thin. "Ok I get. You're hungry; I'm getting your food right now." Zanny said as he opened the fridge. The opening of the fridge instantly eliminated Melody's anger and she began to get excited as Zanny pulled out her breakfast. "Bui bui bui buuuii bui!" Melody barked excitedly, as she jumped up and down next Zanny.
Zanny placed Melody's breakfast on the counter and began to open the package. Melody's breakfast was of course fish, because that's the only thing Zanny knows that she likes. Zanny finished taking the raw fish meat out of the package and placed the meat in Melody's bowl. He then placed the bowl on the floor and let Melody dive into her food. She consumed the meat rather quickly and then pranced over to her bed. The bed was like one of those dog beds. Her bed was in the small living room next to the couch. She stepped into her bed and circled around a few times, before plopping down, falling asleep instantly.
Zanny smiled at this because she would do this every morning and it looked darn cute to him. By now he was getting his breakfast together, which was just a simple bowl of cereal and a glass of milk. After getting his food ready, he sat down at tiny table meant for two people only and began to eat his cereal. While eating, Zanny's eyes keep looking towards Melody, who was now in a deep sleep. Looking over Melody, Zanny knew that she has gotten bigger since the day he found her. When first getting her, she was about fifteen pounds and maybe ten inched from nose to tail or split tail. Now over the several months that Zanny has owned her, she was gained weight up to sixty pounds and was little over two feet from nose to tail. She was in fact bigger than she used to be and with that weight, her jumping on him hurts and when she wants to be picked up, it becomes difficult. But truly, Zanny didn't mind at all because she shows that she cares about him and that makes up for all the faults that Melody has.
After finishing his breakfast, he placed his and Melody's dishes in the sink and began to get ready for work. He got himself cleaned up and got his boots on. He walked to the door, but stopped and went over to Melody. He kneed down and petted her head. This of course woke her up and her eyes opened up slightly. Zanny smiled. "Sorry Melody, but I have to go to work now, so don't get into any trouble while I'm gone." Melody's response was just a mumble, then she closed her eyes again, falling back to sleep again.
Zanny stood up and went back to the front door. He stopped and looked at the door. On the door was a doggy door. It was there so that Melody could get out of the house and run free for a bit. He knew that the waters around his house could have hidden dangers that could potentially harm Melody, but he had no worries. With the time he has been with Melody, He's learn that she was built for swimming and that she could fight off anything in the waters around his house. Zanny's confidence comes from an event that happened not long after moving into this house. One night, an alligator managed to get in. This thing was huge and it had broken the door down. It came looking for a meal and instantly spotted Melody. That was a big mistake on the alligator's part. During that night Zanny was sleeping, but a sudden loud cracking sound had woken him up. When he got to the living room and turned the lights on, he was speechless. In front of him was Melody, wagging her tail with an alligator right behind her that was knocked out. That night was of course a shocker, but it gave Zanny some reassurance that Melody would be fine on her own at home
Zanny opened the front door, making sure it was locked, and stepped out on to his deck. He closed the door behind him and began to walk to his car. He crossed the little walk way that connected his house to shore and walked down the gravel path that lead to the simple garage that had his car. He opened the garage door and looked at his car. He had one of those 1970's muscle cars; he couldn't remember what kind it was, but knew it was need for where he lived. The path to his house is mostly mud and he needed a car that had the power to get out of the mud. Sure a truck would do just fine, but Zanny never really liked trucks for some reason.
He got into his car, put the key into the ignition, and pulled out of the garage. He then began to drive down the dirt road to his job. The one thing that Zanny didn't notice when pulling out of the garage is that he had an unknown passenger in his car. Melody had managed to sneak behind Zanny and hopped into the back seat without him knowing. Zanny never took Melody to work with him and she never got to meet new people to play with. Her curiosity and wanting to meet new people drove her to secretly join Zanny to work. She knew he was going to be surprised and mad, but she didn't care because she wanted to play.
Zanny continued to drive down the dirt road, completely unaware that Melody was under the passenger seat. His job was alright, but not as bad as his previous one. He worked at a bait shop, but to him it was more of a fishing store. The owner insisted it was a bait shop and nothing more, despite the fact that they sold other stuff to help people fish and hunt the diversity of creatures in the swamp.
The drive from Zanny's house and his work place wasn't that long at all, just a 30 minute car drive. Zanny pulled out from the road and drove into the gravel parking lot that surrounded the bait shop. Zanny opened his car door and got out of the car. He stood there for a moment, resting his arm on the door. He was staring at the place he worked at. It wasn't that too large of a building. It was probably the size a convent store, which now that Zanny thought about it the building did look like it had use to a convent store. It was actually the only building for some distance. The reason for that is the owner wanted the place to be close to the swamp for convenience for the people who fished in the swamp.
While Zanny stared at his work place, Melody snuck out of the back seat and passed by Zanny, who was too deep in thought to have noticed her. Melody ran to the rear of the car, while keeping an eye on Zanny. She didn't want to reveal that she was here, just yet. She wanted to surprise him and see the joy on his face. She smiled at the thought of making Zanny happy. She could never figure out why, but whenever he was happy, she was happy. When Zanny was sad, she was to. It was something unexplainable that drove herself to make Zanny's life the best.
After spending a few minutes staring at his work place, Zanny finally shut his car door and walked to the front door of the Bait Shop. He went up the door and pulled out the key to the shop. The key that he was using was given to him by the owner because Zanny would always show up earlier than anyone else and the owner knew Zanny was trust worthy. He soon placed the key in the lock, turned it, and went inside the shop. Melody was watching Zanny enter the shop; she was going to knock on the door to surprise him, but an aroma had caught her noise. She wandered off; sniffing the ground, for whatever was cause that delicious smell.
When Zanny entered the shop, he immediately turned on the lights and headed to the checkout area. He walked behind the counter and sat on the stool he was provided. It was just like his old job, but the difference was that wasn't going to be someone shooting at him and the fact that he had something to go home to and take care of. He sat back in his stool, with a magazine at hand. There was also a radio playing. It wasn't loud, but just loud enough to hear it through the store. There wasn't much else to do in the store, besides sit and wait to see if a customer came by.
The boredom of sitting on that stool was broken, when the bell above the front door was rung. Zanny didn't notice that a man who was around the age of sixty or seventy had just entered the store. The man was wearing overalls with a normal t-shirt, and a trucker hat. The man had this oversized white beard that made Santa clause's beard look like peach fuzz. The Man looked around the store and then over to Zanny. He smirked at Zanny as he has yet to notice that the old man was there. "Morning Zackary. You enjoy your time reading?"
Zanny looked up from his magazine then back down. It took him a second to realize who he just ignored. His eyes widen and he nearly knocked over his stool as he stood up. "Oh! Morning, Mr.…Uh…umm. Uh hi boss." Zanny said weakly while giving an even weaker smile to his boss.
The old man started to crack up and laugh at Zanny for forgetting his name. Zanny started to feel embarrassed and began to feel his checks were turning red. This made his boss laugh even harder to the point breathing was becoming difficult. The old man coughed a few time after a few times and then cleared his throat. "hee he *cough* hee he ha ha… Oh that *cough* that was too funny. I haven't laughed like that in a long time. Oh and boy Mr. Pitts it's not boss. I ain't some ring leader."
"Uh…sorry for not being ready for you or any customer that could of come." Zanny said in an apologetic tone. Zanny looked down at his feet at the embarrassment he was feeling. Zanny's embarrassment made laugh even more.
After Mr. Pitts' second moment of laughter, he wiped a tear from his eye. He chuckled a few more times before finally stop laughing. "That's no problem Zackary, just don't do it when a real customer. I'll be in my office, so do some good today." Mr. Pitts said.
Mr. Pitts left Zanny to go to his office, which was in the back in the store. Zanny sat back down in his stool, still feeling rather embarrassed still. He picked up his magazine and started to read again. "I hope I don't make a fool of myself again in front of a customer." Zanny said to himself as he turned the page of his magazine.
While Zanny was dealing with embarrassment from his seventy year old boss, Melody was sniffing the ground furiously to find the source of that delicious smell. She moved her head back and forth, sniffing the ground. Getting the trail of the scent was difficult, but Melody's desire for food was driving her forward. The scent of food Melody was following lead her around the building that Zanny had went inside earlier. She came to the back of the building and looked up from the ground to see if there was any food around. Melody saw that there was an open door to the back of the building that Zanny went into earlier. The delicious aroma was coming from that door and Melody couldn't help herself, but to run into the building. She sprinted into the door and found that she was in a room full of boxes that all smelled wonderful. The room was dimly lit by one light bulb and that all these boxes were stacked on top of each other, expect a few that were open. She was practically drooling over all these boxes that must have food with in them. She wandered up to one of the boxes. She climbed up on a chair that was conveniently and looked what was inside the box. Melody's eyes widen at what she saw that was inside the box. There were pre-packaged chicken breasts in the box and just the sight of the chicken was bringing on the waterworks in Melody's mouth.
"bui buuui." Melody said as she pulled one of the packages out of the box. She stared at the chicken as drool ran down the side of her muzzle. What made Melody drool so much over the chicken was that it was her favorite raw food, besides fresh salmon. Her eagerness finally won over and she grabbed the closest package to her. She bit into the package, ripping it open, and scarfing down the meat in an instant. She started to wag her split tail back forth after eating the delicious meat. She purred from how delicious the meat is and couldn't help herself but eat another.
After about ten to twenty packages of chicken, Melody hopped off from the chair and stumbled towards the exit while on her two rear paws. There was the sudden sound of another door being opened up.
An old man came through the door with a flashlight. "What the hell is that humming sound?" The old man grumbled as he started to shin the light around the dimly lit room.
Melody at this point started to panic as she never really dealt with another person besides Zanny. She crouched on all fours and began to back up towards the exit. She really didn't know what to do and was just going with her gut. When the light shunned upon her, she hissed and ran out the door.
"What the hell is that thing!?" The old man yelled as he fell back onto some empty boxes.
After being embarrassed, Zanny was just chilling on his stool, reading a magazine. Everything in the store was quite, until there was a muffled shout and then a thud. Zanny stood up when he heard that sound. It sounds like it came from the storage area. Zanny thought to himself. Zanny immediately walked toward the door to the storage room. He grabbed the door handle, opened the door, and walked into the room.
When Zanny got in the storage room, he saw an old man with a flashlight, lying on the ground with some boxes around him. "Mr. Pitts what happened to you!?" Zanny said as he ran to his boss's side, kneeing down to him and helping him up.
Mr. Pitts rubbed the back of his head. "Son of bitch, it was big ass rat that scared the hell out of me. The thing was huge and it managed to eat some of the gator bait." Mr. Pitts said.
"Well do you need me to set the rat traps again, sir?" Zanny said. He still felt concern over the seventy year old.
Mr. Pitts grunted and spat on the ground. "Hell to the no Zackary. That beast of a rat won't go down by a simple rat trap. It'll take a rifle to kill it." Mr. Pitts frowned as he thought for a moment, before speaking again. "But since this place is near other people's hunting grounds, we aren't allowed to kill the beast."
Mr. Pitts sighed in frustration. "Zackary, just go back to work and forget about the filthy beast. I know I won't forget about it though." Mr. Pitts soon left the storage, cursing the beast that came in and devoured some of the inventory.
Zanny did what he was told and headed back to his spot. He sat in his stool, but didn't return to reading a magazine. He thought about this so called filthy beast. There were in fact a lot of creatures in the swamp, but Zanny knew that Mr. Pitts has lived here for a very long time and shouldn't be scared by a simple rat. Zanny felt that it was something else. Something that was not natural to this place or even to this world. Zanny's mine instantly went to Melody. That thought made him laugh. "Yeah like Melody followed me all the way here and scared my boss." Zanny laughed a bit more before finally shrugging off that thought of the unknown beast. He returned to his job and continued to work.
Melody was scared out of her mine and had bolted into the swamp, after being scared by that old man. She ran through the swamp as fast as she could and wouldn't stop, no matter what. After running for who knows how long, Melody had finally came to a stop to take a breather. She was breathing heavily and was still shaking from accidently scaring and causing that old man to fall. She felt terrible, not just from running for her life, but mentally from scaring that old man. She's never scared anyone before and caused them to fall on the ground. The only thing she could do was hope that Zanny had heard the old man scream.
Melody's eyes widen at the thought of Zanny. She looked around to see where she was, but saw that she was in unfamiliar territory. She felt fear build up inside her at the thought of not being with Zanny. She never liked not being with him. Zanny going to work was understandable as she knew he would be back, but this time was different. She was now the one who was away from him and not Zanny away from her. The fear in her started to make her panic and she bolted the way she came. The day was starting to come to an end and Melody knew it as the sky turned orange with the sun setting. Luckily her paw prints where still fresh in the swampy mud. She ran the path that she had just used. Her ear twitched and she suddenly stopped. She turned her head and followed the sound. When she found the source of the sound, it had lead Melody to an asphalt road.
On the other side of the road was a cream colored sedan. There was a man looking at a map, leaning against the car. He looked about the same height of Zanny, but he looked a bit skinnier. The man was also well dressed and really out of place in this area. Melody just stared for a moment, looking at the poor man who seemed to be lost. She only stared at the man for moment, but then something caught her attention. Right next to the man's legs was a strange looking fox. It had gray fur and some bits of red fur around its paws and on parts of its head. The strange fox barked at the man, which caught his attention. The man looked down at the fox. "Not now Oval. I'm trying to figure out the way to get out of this swamp."
The fox barked again, with a little bit of a growl at the end. The Man sighed and folded the map up. "Well it looks like we have to go back to that motel and spend another night there. We'll go by that bait shop tomorrow and ask for directions." The man then bent down and petted the fox on the head. "Oval, looks like you have to put on your disguise again for now."
The fox yapped with joy. The fox that was called Oval, jumped into the air, turning into a purple ball. The ball soon disappeared as did the fox. In the place of the fox and that ball was a little girl who looked to be about seven. The girl smiled and hopped into the back seat of the sedan. The sedan soon took off and drove down the road.
While the girl got into the car, Melody saw that fluffy tail from the fox on the girl's rear-end. Melody was of course in shock, as was the old man was that she had scared. It took a moment for her to collect herself, before heading back to Zanny's car. Melody did manage to hear that one guy say something about a bait shop. When Melody thought about it, she knew that bait shop that was mention was the place where Zanny worked. If that man was going to be at Zanny's work place, so was that transforming fox. Melody thought about that fox for a moment and then decided that she should talk to the fox. The fox seemed to be unique as Melody was, with strange abilities.
After spotting the strange fox, Melody had managed to get back to the bait shop and just in time to. Zanny was in his thoughts again with his car door open. Melody used this chance and bolted into his car without him noticing. She hid in the same spot that she had used earlier, under the passenger seat. Zanny got into the car, started it up, and drove home. He was still completely unaware that the thing that he cared for most was in his back seat, mere inches away.
When getting home, Zanny opened the car door, but stopping to look at the sun set. Melody used Zanny's ability to be completely unaware what's around him to her advantage. She bolted towards the home, going through the doggy door, and heading to her bed. When she reached her bed, she circled around it for a moment and then plopped right down. The sound of the front door opening caught Melody's attention. She knew it was Zanny, but it was a habit of her to look up and to see who came in.
Zanny came walking by Melody, with a smile on his face. He walked pass her, going to the kitchen. He placed his car keys on the counter. He opened the fridge and grabbed something to drink. He then looked up from the fridge, over to Melody who was still staring at him. He chuckled as he pulled out a coke. "Oh Melody, today wasn't the same as all the others. Some interesting things happened today. I bet it was better than yours Melody."
Melody shook her head back and forth, before resting it on her fluffy bed. "Buui bui bui buiiii." Melody soon yawned, before falling asleep. Zanny smiled at her, before going to his bed. "Good night my catching tune of life." Zanny said as he close his bedroom door. What Zanny didn't know was that Melody said something that could easily describe their future. Yeah I know, but tomorrow is going to be more interesting than today.