"This spot right here," Judy said, "used to be one of my favorite places to go to and just sit."
Nodding his head, the doe's fox accompaniment studied the area that they had just walked up to. Where they were located was on the top of a fairly-sized hillside that was near the end of the nature trail that they just walked through.
From where the vulpine and rabbit sat, the passageway that nature carved looked a lot smaller in their eyes. They also happened to be in the shade, too, courtesy of a tree that had grown quite tall beside them.
"I can see why this is your favorite spot," Nick remarked. "Everything's just so peaceful from up here."
"Yeah," the doe beside him replied. "It's perfect, isn't it?"
"In reality, anywhere's perfect as long as you're sitting beside me, Carrots."
The bunny giggled. "Sappy fox," she breathed, getting Nick to chuckle alongside her.
"The views are just amazing," the fox went on. "It was a pretty good climb up, but I can say that the sights are worth it."
Barely any sounds stirred from where they sat, making the entire scene serenity at its finest. Something bright and colorful swooped above the heads of both mammals, and Nick tried to look up and get a better look at what it was. Shortly afterwards, he started to hear the sounds of chirping. His ears registered that it was coming from the tall tree that was shading them, and the fox peaked his head upwards and tried to locate the source of the noise.
The particular chirp coming from above was quite familiar, a sound that Nick knew quite well. Soon enough, the sounds started to get closer and closer until both mammals could what was making all of the noise.
A lone bird appeared to be surveying its surroundings from a branch, and Nick and Judy could now both get a glimpse of it. The bird was a brilliant crimson color, with hints of black over its face and upper chest. For a quick moment, the bird turned its head looked over at the fox and rabbit, turning its head curiously before it went back to just sitting idly where it was.
"Cardinal," Judy murmured.
Nick nodded, watching silently as the bird flew up higher into the tree. It was still in their view, but not as close as it previously was.
Straightening back up and turning his head over to the rabbit, the vulpine asked, "Did you know that some believe that when you see a cardinal, it's actually a loved one visiting you?"
Judy shook her head, looking back at the fox. "No," she replied, "I never knew that."
"I don't really believe in a lot of things, Fluff, but that is one that I do." The vulpine sighed, looking back at the natural wonder encompassing him as he got ready to tell his story. "I was around five years old when my grandfather passed away. I loved him a lot and he was such a kind mammal to everyone around him, so losing him when I was that young felt terrible. My mom came in my room one night and saw that I was having some trouble falling asleep 'cause I was still sad. And that was when she told me something."
The fox paused for a moment, catching his breath. The doe beside him never looked away from him, and didn't stop listening as he continued.
"My mother explained to me," Nick proceeded, "the whole cardinal thing. She said that if I saw a red one that it meant my grandfather was coming back to visit me. So a few days later, I was just sitting outside and all of a sudden this red bird comes by, tweeting as loud as it could. I wasn't sure if it was coincidental or not, so I just whispered, 'Grandfather?' When I did, the cardinal hopped even closer to me, and normally no bird would ever let me get that close to it without it flying away."
The fox blinked, looking back up at the cardinal that was high in the tree above him and his companion. "I remember running back into the house with happy tears, hugging my mom and just exclaiming, 'You were right! He came back!'"
"That wasn't all, though," the vulpine continued. He turned his head back over to Judy. "Not even a day before I graduated from the academy, I was walking out and ended up seeing a red bird after quite some time. Mother told me they come to you in times of celebration, too, so in the back of my head I took it as my grandfather coming to congratulate me on my accomplishments. So I've had a good bit of faith in the cardinal thing ever since."
Judy simply nodded, not sure how to respond to such a story being told by her fox.
"I know I've already told you this about a million times, but I'll tell you again," Nick said. "Just… thank you, Carrots. Thank you for giving me the ability to join you and the mammals in blue." The vulpine's eyes dotted back up to the bird that was still above them after all of this time. "I'm sure that he's proud of the mammal I've become."
For quite some time, the fox and rabbit sat silently, enjoying each other's presence and gazing at the horizon. The cardinal above their heads chirping as it flew off of the tree and into the mid-afternoon sky.
Author's Note: This story was a little bit different this time around, but I hope that y'all enjoyed it. This immediately entered my head last night and I had to just get it out. The cardinal story told by Nick's mother within this is actually based off of something that I read about before, on how seeing that kind of bird means a loved one is visiting you.
Also, I want to give thanks to everybody who has been reading and keeping up with these stories of mine.
'Til next time! :D