Chapter 11 : Friends Are Like A Magic Trick

Sunil slowly approached the fire hydrant. He had left Vinnie behind. If he was going to prove that he wasn't scared Sunil had to do this on his own. He shivered as he got closer. The fear caused his fur to stand on end and his tail to twitch. He intinctively began to reach for it but stopped himself before he could grasp the fidgeting tail. His brow began to sweat so he wiped it away with a handkerchief he pulled out of his magician hat. Sunil always felt braver when he had it on. It made him feel a little better, but not much.

Slowly he lifted a paw towards the hydrant and knocked on the wall. When he heard no response, he timidly stuck his head inside of the fire hydrant. His eyes needed to adjust to the darkness for a few seconds before he was able to see what was inside.

Mango lifted her head. She had heard someone knock on the wall. Her heart lifted as she waited for someone to come inside. The sad wolf did not feel like being out of the hydrant yet and was sure that if the pet had come to her they would not mind talking to her inside. Her eyes twinkled as she speculated over who it could be. Was it Pepper? Come to apologize for the jokes and be friends again? Once she saw the blue figure outside her head dropped, it was just the mongoose. Although she had helped him with his magic trick, Mango did not think that they had formed any special bond.

Sunil looked around until he could see Mango's eyes glowing. Wow, they really are golden. Sunil thought as he stepped inside. He chuckled nervously when he saw the downcast expression on the maned wolf's face.

He slowly walked over to Mango and sat down in front of her. Twiddling his thumbs, Sunil opened his mouth slightly before closing it. He figured that if she wanted to talk she would start. If she didn't at least he could leave and tell Vinnie he had went inside. He calmly set down his hat and waited for Mango to begin.

Mango groaned inwardly. Time for him to go on and on about how he was sorry and how the other pets were sorry and how everyone in the world was sorry and how he knew what she was going through and blah blah blah. She hated when someone said 'I know how you feel' because most of the time they didn't. It was all just words meant to make the problem go away. Right now she was the problem.

She was surprised when instead of talking to her, he just sat down and waited. She raised her eyebrow. Was he waiting for her to start? She couldn't tell whether he was being considerate or just mocking her. Sighing and desperate, she decided to go for the first option.

"Why are you here?" Mango began softly.

Sunil jumped as Mango spoke. She had spoken so quietly that at first he was not sure whether or not she had spoken at all. He hadn't expected her to begin so quickly. That was good. It meant that she was willing to talk. But now he wasn't sure what to say. Sunil just said the first thing that popped to his head.

"To talk about why you are here." He flinched after he spoke. Mango was upset and defensive, he was not sure she would appreciate such an honest answer.

Mango wasn't expecting what the mongoose answered. Her eyes shined as she saw a chance to let go of all her horrible feelings. Taking a deep breath she prepared to rant. However, when she looked into his eyes she released her breath.

His eyes were so golden. They shined in the dim light of the fire hydrant. He seemed to stare right into her very soul. When she looked into them she felt better. They seemed so caring. They actually cared. He actually cared. She wasn't willing to go off on someone with those sensitive eyes.

"I am here because everyone is scared of me." She began again. She looked down so she would not see fear in those gold eyes.

Sunil was shocked. He had expected yelling. Grinning, he went with the new turn of events. Taking a deep breath, he made sure he was calm before answering.

"I am not."

Sunil was shocked to find out that the words were true. He was not afraid.

Mango looked up. He truly wasn't. He was not afraid of her.

"Everyone else is, they all turned on me so quickly." Her anger rose up again and she did not stop it. It wouldn't scare him away. "I hate when this happens. Perfect Mango, that's what I am. Oh look she did this so perfectly. She is so perfect. Everything she does is perfect. Well, I'm NOT perfect. All that does is make me have to do everything perfectly! But I CAN'T! All I can do is let everyone down the first time I don't do something perfectly! But if that's not enough, once I'm a wolf I'm not perfect little Mango anymore! I'm a big, stupid, ugly, ferocious beast who can't think or feel! I'm not Mango then either! I never am! Why can't I ever just be-" Mango broke off and burst into tears. She felt so bad. All her fears had just been spoken. Until then she had been trying to ignore them. Now she knew they were true.

She felt two warm, arms wrap around her. Mango shuddered but didn't push them away. They were all she had left to hold on to.

Sunil watched as Mango burst into tears. Now he understood. She was so wrapped up in being what everybody else saw that she had no chance to be what she saw. Everyone saw a perfect little pet so she felt like she had to be perfect, but once everyone saw a beast Mango believed that they were right. Sunil sympathised with her. He too sometimes had trouble being what he wanted to be. He would tell her. But for now she just needed someone to care.

He slowly wrapped his arms around her. Sunil tensed, not sure how she would react. To his relief she didn't push him away.

Mango wasn't sure how long she cried. It was only a few minutes but to her it felt like hours. She had released all her stress but now she wasn't sure what to do. Mango glanced up to see Sunil smiling at her. She smiled back and wiped her eyes with a trembling paw.

"Doesn't that feel better?" Sunil said with a grin. His eyes looked down at her.

"You are not the only one with these problems. I have had my share of challenges. For instance, I love to do magic. Not everyone thinks I should. They complain and put me down sometimes. But do I listen? NO!" Sunil put on his hat with a flourish.

That earned a giggle from Mango, which encouraged him to go on.

"I keep doing what I love and being me! I know that someday I will show them all what I can do! Friends are like a magic trick. Sometimes they blow up in your face, but other times they come through. It is during those times that you feel the magic." He pulled a bouquet of flowers from his hat and handed them to Mango. Sunil felt his heart flutter when she accepted them.