Chapter 3: Carrot Days
A few weeks later
It was the Carrot Day Festival and the Harrington's invited the Ellison's' to go along, the parents got to enjoy a much needed day off from their respective jobs and the kids god a chance to play the games and ride the rides. Which meant Kaiden, Lily and Luke taking their stacks of tickets to enjoy the festivities, there were many other rabbit families there too numerous to count.
The rides and games were classic carnival fare, smaller more mobile versions of classic rides, tilt-a-whirl, pendulum ride, bumper cars, a drop tower, and of course no carnival would be complete without a Ferris wheel, a county favorite not so much for its excitement but offering the rare chance to see bunnyburrow from a different vantage. It was also Lily's favorite ride, because it made her feel like she could rise above it all, like an angel or so Kaiden thought.
Playing the different games the duo enjoyed their company together, Lily managed to get several smiles and even jovial laughs out of the fox, a sight she had rarely seen but thoroughly enjoyed. Seeing Kaiden laugh and smile was exactly the point of all of this, and she was glad to see that her plan was working.
He had forgotten if only for a little while the reality that lay outside the carnival grounds. If only for a little while he could just be a young fox with a world of possibilities, young and happy. It was worth her entire allowance for the last month just to see Kaiden's dashing smile and happy expression.
"So….Are you enjoying yourself?" She asked sweetly.
"I'm having a great time 'Lils'" replied Kaiden
"I appreciate all you've done for me." He added, giving her a smile
"I just think you deserve a break from things."
"So what ride do you want to go on?"
"Oh, I don't know…" she replied feigning disinterest.
"Oh come on, it's the only one we haven't been on and it's your favorite." He replied.
Lily smiled and took the fox's paw. They made their way to the ferris wheel and stood in line, when they got to the front the Rabbit operator opened the door to the rider compartment and ushered them in. Lily gave him a thumbs up and he winked back, locking the compartment door.
"What was that about" Kaiden asked a little sheepishly.
"A little surprise." She smiled.
"Uh….you know me and surprises." He stated nervously.
"But you trust me don't you?"
"Well, yeah."
"Then trust me now."
The ferris wheel rotated slowly making its way towards the top, stopping to let people on or off, as they rose, Kaiden was fixated on how things looked different. They both stood on top of the seat to look out the window. As their compartment reached the top, the Ferris wheel came to a sudden stop. The compartment lurched and swung back and forth; Lily lost her balance and fell. Quickly and without thinking, Kaiden caught her, supporting her neck with his paw.
"You ok?" he asked.
"Yeah I'm fine….thanks" she smiled, looking up at him.
Kaiden got her back on her feet.
"So was that the surprise?"
"No, silly." She batted playfully.
Lily turned Kaiden's head towards the window and pointed out into the distance.
"That is."
Kaiden looked and saw all of bunny burrow stretched out before him, field and fields, with train tracks leading off into the distance.
"Wow." Kaiden marveled
Lily came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck, nuzzled him gently on his neck, stealing a sniff of his scent. Kaiden could feel her nose tickling gently on the fur of his neck, and hear the soft puffs of air from her nose, which sent a tingle down his spine, making him smile.
"Nice, isn't it?"
"Yeah." He replied with a soft chuckle.
"I meant the view."
"Oh….yeah, it looks awesome."
"Do you know what's over the horizon?"
"No, what?"
"Zootopia, a city of big dreams and even bigger wonders."
Kaiden looked at the horizon, thinking for a moment and looked down, the smile draining from his lips. Lily tilted her head and saw from the side, Kaiden's expression.
"What's wrong, do you…..do you miss it?" she asked.
"No." he replied softly, turning his head towards Lily.
The expression she saw wasn't one of longing but fear. Kaiden realized how he must have looked because he answered the question that Lily hadn't even asked yet.
"I just know whatever is there, it's something that scared my folks, bad enough to leave and go as far away as they could."
"I don't ever want to go back." He said hugging Lily out of fear.
"No one says you do, it's alright, you can stay here." She replied petting him softly.
"Kaiden, I want you to know, I wanted you to see, that there are good things in this world, some very good things. Things worth saving and things worth keeping."
She rubbed the fox's ears, and he turned to look into her eyes, they were thick with tears.
"And you're one of those things too. Something worth saving." She smiled back at him.
She nuzzled him gently not knowing how to convey what she was trying to say any better.
They stood there and hugged each other, the sun beaming through the windows. The Ferris wheel started up again. Kaiden managed to wipe away the fresh tears with his paw
"I just want to stay here in bunny burrow with you." Whispered Kaiden.
The Ferris wheel reached the bottom, and they got out. She was holding his paw as they got out. They smiled at each other. They met up with Luke and made their way back to their parents for lunch, carnival food though mostly bad for you did taste good, even soy links are bad for you when you deep fry them, though it didn't make them any less tasty.
Kaiden and Luke were sitting across from each other, the parents sitting just up the table. Lily had excused herself for a little bit to take care of something, Kaiden though initially wary, wondering if the zebra brothers, the Vancolts might take this time to make a move on Lily. He was about to get up to go looking for her when Luke wanted to talk to the fox about something.
"I was kind of hoping to get a couple of minutes with you." Stated Luke.
"Anytime. You can always talk to me." Replied Kaiden, taking a bite of his Corn Soy link.
"Well first off, I wanted to thank you for protecting my sister from Clay."
Kaiden thought back, Clay Vancolt was the older Zebra boy that he bit to protect Lily earning a cracked rib for his trouble. His younger brother Jesse had been the one who had tormented Kaiden since he moved to the burrows.
"I would do anything for her, you know that." Replied Kaiden.
"Yeah, well, I thought I should thank you just the same."
"You're welcome."
"Which brings me to something else I wanted to talk about."
Kaiden didn't say anything but twitch his tail.
"You know my sister likes you right?"
The young fox blushed as the thought.
"Yeah." He smiled to himself, as he took another bite.
"I'm just saying she likes you a lot, and I'm her brother so, I got to say this."
"Of course."
"My sister's really smart, and she can usually tell a lot about people. So the fact that she really likes you means she sees something."
"I just want to make sure you feel the same way, I mean you took one for her from Clay, so that speaks ton to your character, but I need to know that you 'like' her the same way she 'likes' you."
"I do, Luke, I 'like' her a lot, she's more than just a best friend, she's….I don't know what to call it."
"Just don't break her heart. Otherwise, I WILL have to kick your ass."
"If I do Luke, I would let you."
Luke smiled at that, and had an honest laugh.
"Well alright, you're a good kid Kaiden, out of all the backwards jerks in this town she could have latched onto, I'm glad she found you."
"Really?"
"Yeah, really, I look at some of the other boys in this town, some of their parents and I just worry."
"Why?"
"Because my sister is better than that, better than this town, she's going to be a doctor someday, and she doesn't need some guy who just wants to sit around and drink beer all day. She needs someone who's going to care, someone who…."
"Someone who will take a shot to the ribs for her?" Kaiden finished.
"Exactly." Luke pointed back
"I promise Luke, I'll watch out for her."
Luke smiled at Kaiden.
"I really do believe you when you say that."
Lily had come back from where ever she had gone, and sat down next to Kaiden, who had saved a plate of food for her.
"Aww Dandelions, my favorite." She squealed.
She cozied up next to Kaiden, who cozied right back.
"Of course, Lils, I would never forget you."
"I know you wouldn't, it's still nice of you."
The young rabbit chomped happily on her dandelions.
Several Weeks Later.
The fights had tapered somewhat. When his parents made an issue about the fact that their child was being constantly harassed and harangued by the fact that he was a Fox, the school in stereotypical ineffectual fashion did what it always did, a school assembly, on the dangers of speciesism and its ethical ramifications of bullying.
It didn't change those that thought this way, all it did to serve was a warning "We are watching now." The school yard no longer was the place to conduct Kaiden's perpetual crucible, it was the walks home that became the danger and there was nothing school administrators could do about that. Both of Kaiden's parents worked, his father working as a shipping manager for the local produce warehouse that organized the massive loads for shipment into the city and parts beyond. And his mother worked as a bookkeeper for the various businesses in town. They would worry over their son, and wonder if he was ok. Kaiden's tried to not think of this, and the guilt that it would cause, but things were different now.
Lily had borrowed her brother's free weights and helped Kaiden to work on getting stronger, and the small fox realized, if not for his sake but for hers. Being around him made her a target too, and he was going to be damned if some zebra ever laid a hoof on her again.
Today the scuffle didn't last long this time, a well-timed right cross knocked out one of the beaver children, and it made the Vancolts realize that he could fight back now. They backed off quickly, allowing Kaiden and Lily to escape. They made it to her farm and the barn, sitting on a couple crates near the open door, she had used her first aid kit to treat his cuts and bruises.
"Ah." He yelped as she was trying to push the blood out of the swollen eyebrow.
"Sorry…sorry." She apologized.
"It's ok, I know you're just trying to help." He replied, sucking air through his teeth as he could feel the pain.
"Unfortunately, you're going to get a black eye this time." She explained.
"I know, it'll heal."
"Are you ok?" he asked
"Physically, I'm fine." She replied back, as she moistened a towel with cool water and dabbed his face.
The cool water felt good, it took away the intense and almost itchy feeling of the hot blood from the swelling areas. She would dab for a bit, then soak, then dab again. Kaiden reached up and held her wrist after the third round of dabbing when he realized the meaning of her words.
"Wait, what do you mean?"
She stared into his concerned eyes, she felt flattered that he was so worried about her wellbeing instead of his own. But it was his well-being that was at the forefront of her mind.
"You know it hurts me to see them do this to you. It's unfair."
"It's okay."
"No, it's not, Kaiden it's not. It needs to stop."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Stop holding back." She fired back.
The little fox was surprised, such fire from a small rabbit.
"I know you hold yourself back." She admitted.
"I see it, you pull your punches."
Kaiden huffed and looked down.
"That obvious, huh?"
Lily tilted his head back up with her paw.
"Next time, don't hold back, and don't stop till they leave you alone."
"My dad says 'knock them down till they stop getting up if you have to.' Because bullies won't get the message until they know you can do more than just hurt them back."
"Lily, I can't believe you suggesting that I….that I."
"Kaiden, this is your life, you have to protect it, no matter what."
"Protect yourself. Because I don't want you to get hurt or worse….I can't lose you." She stammered.
"Lily, you'll never lose me." Kaiden smiled back.
"Well good." She smiled back.
After Lily finished treating Kaiden's last cut she got up and went into the barn and came back with a small black box in her paw and sat back down next to him.
"You remember the carrot day festival last month."
"Yeah, I remember you staring at me the whole time." Kaiden grinned.
"Well yeah, I wanted to see your reaction to it, since you've never been before."
"We did have a good time."
"Yeah we did." She gleefully chuckled.
"Well while I was there I got something, something for both of us."
She held the box and one paw and snapped up the lid with the other, inside was a small heart necklace which had a zigzagging cut through the middle so the whole can be snapped into two, each piece having a separate eyelet for a necklace or chain.
"Oh I've seen these before, they are those BFF necklaces people have."
"Look closer." She suggested with a smile.
The small fox looked at the necklace, there was something inscribed it, expecting to see the words "Best Friends Forever" he blinked and smiled when he has something else entirely was written on it just one word. "Love" with the letter 'K' on one half and 'L' on the other. She took out the pendant and held it by the half that had the letter 'L' on it, offering the other half to Kaiden. The two looked at each other as they snapped it, smiling at each other. Lily had used her smaller paws to thread both necklaces and offered to put Kaiden's on for him, to which he bowed forward slightly.
Lily leaned over to put the necklace on him, his half had a ball and chain design for the necklace, the kind you have on ID tags, she reached her paws around to snap it together in the back of his neck. Her cheek rubbed his and his heart skipped a beat when he felt her breath from her nose tickle the hairs on his neck. Tilting his head to look at her, their eyes met, and there was a moment there time seemed to freeze. She felt it too, the feeling of joy and warm comfort, like as if it was a blanket that she could wrap herself in.
After she put it on him, she gave him the other necklace and offered her neck. Hers had a soft lace that attached with a small metal ring to the eyelet. He mirrored her movements, putting on the necklace, which fit closely around her neck, he fumbled a bit but managed to get the clasp to shut, it was dark blue lace and her half dangled proudly from it.
"Thank you." Kaiden smiled, fingering his half with his paw, almost petting it.
"You're welcome." She smiled.
They were so lost in the moment they hadn't heard the distant sounds of sirens in the distance coming in their direction or the smoke. When the distant horn blasted, it snapped them out of their moment, they turned to look into the direction of the sound, it was the siren and horn of a fire truck racing to a call. They caught the aroma of smoke on the air. A plume of black was in the distance, they both stood up, double checking their bearings and looking back at the plume.
"Wait, isn't that in the direction of…." Lily pointed toward the plume.
"Home." Kaiden finished.
The two went wide eyed and began running towards Kaiden's house as fast as they could.
Minutes Later…
Kaiden and Lily made it to his house just in time to see the fire department spraying down the house. The fire finally out, all that was left was the charred skeleton of the house, the smoke and steam rising like a specter into the air. The paramedics were putting the remains into body bags and placing them in the ambulance. The scene took on a surreal quality. Kaiden rushed towards the paramedics.
"Mom! Dad!" he called reaching towards bags.
A tiger firefighter caught the boy keeping him from seeing the charred remains.
"Wait! What are they doing home? They're supposed to be at work!"
The firefighter knelt down, looking at Kaiden sadly.
"I'm sorry, son."
"How did this happen?!" he shouted.
"Your parents…." The tiger starting to tear up.
"The gas line ruptured, old pipes, it was….an accident. I'm sorry."
Kaiden fell to his knees and sobbed, Lily crouched down and held him, petting him, crying with him. It seemed like an utter eternity they sat there.
The events after played out like a blur, but Lily wouldn't leave his side. She had gone to the hospital with Kaiden, sitting in the waiting room with him, people passing, walking doctors, surgeons, blue scrubs, green scrubs, red scrubs. It became a mélange of color moving in the background like a picture show at the carnival.
It wasn't until mammals in dark suits showed up that the pair finally took notice of the events around them. The dark suited mammals showed some kind of ID and paperwork to the charge nurse who in turn took it to the attending physician. A number of glances Kaiden's way, Lily's ears and awareness perked, all of sudden for a reason she couldn't explain her heart started beating fast. After a short conversation and a pawshake and a thanks for cooperation, the two imposing mammals both panthers approached Kaiden and Lily.
"Are you Kaiden Ellison?" asked one of the panthers.
The fox looked up at the imposing felines, the fur around his eyes soaked with tears, his expression exhausted by the last few hours from the sheer grief. In the span of those hours he went from on top of the world with Lily to an orphan. Little did he know that this was just beginning.
"Yes." He answered honestly.
"Come with us please."
"Who are you?"
"We're here to take you to your new home." Replied the panther.
"What do you mean, I am home, this IS my home."
"Not anymore, son. With you parents…gone, you're officially a ward of the state."
"What does that mean?"
"It means that, the state will now take care of you."
"Can't I just stay with Lily's family?"
"No you cannot. Now say your goodbyes. We'll give you five minutes."
The panthers stepped back a few feet, but still kept a watchful eye on the young fox in case he tried to run for it.
Kaiden turned to Lily, fresh hot tears flowing.
"Why does this keep happening?" he sobbed.
"Why is it every time I find a place, find people that I love I have to leave."
"I don't know" she replied, sobbing back.
The two young mammals held each other and sobbed, for several minutes.
"I don't want to go." He offered.
"And I don't want you to go."
"I'm sorry that if I brought you any grief."
"Never. You are the best thing that's happened to me. The very best."
"I'm going to miss you."
"Don't talk like that, We'll find a way Kaiden, we'll find a way."
The panthers interrupted, stepping forward.
"It's time."
Kaiden sadly sat up and went with them, Lily following behind, about 10 feet from the rear passenger door of a black sedan one of the panthers stopped, and spun around, his paw blocking Lily's path.
"Sorry, Miss."
The other panther opened the door and ushered Kaiden into the seat, buckling him in and waited for his partner to get into the driver's side and start the car. The young fox had turned to look at her, their eyes locked onto each other in a gaze, just as the car door shut, the panther getting in on the other side.
Lily and Kaiden stared through the window at each other; she would never forget the expression on his face, of a trapped animal, the horror and fear on his young face, convinced that he was never going to see her again.
He put his small paw on the glass and mouthed something a moment before the car started to drive away, she couldn't make it out. Lily ran after the car, keeping up with it at first but it outpaced her and started to speed away. She stopped and collapsed to her knees and sobbed loudly into her paws.
The car driving practically silent as it took the straightest route out of bunny burrow, leaving a small dust cloud in its wake. And just like that, he was gone.