Chapter 7: Spring Break
It's that time of year again that everyone living and working along Zootopia's Gold Coast either anticipates or dreads, it is College Spring Break at the beach! Our champion small surfer returns with yet another adventure.
May I suggest the song 'Back to You' by Bryan Adams?
Standing near the bow of the aging white and black painted ferry while it plowed its way across the briny water, the lean tan-furred fennec fox stared with growing excitement at the distant shoreline before him. Like many of the professional surfers, Stone Kole tried to avoid the overcrowded beaches of the Sahara Square coast during this time of year and had returned to his and Cooper's winter retreat across the strait near the quaint coastal village of Seaside. Reaching up he pulled back the hood of his burgundy, gray, and dark blue striped Baja cotton pullover. Between the hoodie and the pair of cut-off blue denim shorts, he looked every bit like a beach bum.
"I can't believe you talked me into doing this, mate!" the small wallaby standing next to him exclaimed in a thick Outback Island accent. Cooper was Stone's best friend and a fellow surfer. Unlike the fox, his clothing was much more fashionable with a light gray cardigan sweater, a blue sports shirt, and a pair of tan cargo shorts.
"Dude, it didn't take too much talking to convince you to join me on this little adventure," the fox scoffed with a smirk. "Were getting paid for this surfing demonstration and, of course, you have been dying to see Billy again."
The wallaby grinned at the mention of his boyfriend's name and glanced over at his friend. "As if you haven't been acting like a drongo over a certain sand cat?" he chuckled.
Stone's large ears shot up and his tail began wagging at the mention of Karen, his girlfriend. She worked at one of the beach's largest hotels and he hadn't seen her since the rather disastrous Halloween Party he had been paid to attend by one of his sponsors, Chip and Dale with the Honey Brown Acorn Ale Brewing Company. Stone had ended up drunkenly half-naked on the beach and fortunately one of the local cops had carried him to her family's beachfront condo instead of taking him to the nearby police station. "Well, good old Chip and Dale aren't paying us for this promo, so it is a sweet deal."
"I don't know, mate, I'm pretty sure that you haven't ever surfed in a wave pool before?"
"How hard can it be? You have a board and water just like real surfing."
"Billy was a bit disappointed that you aren't staying at his place this time," Cooper said.
"You and Billy need your privacy, besides he will be exhausted by the time he gets off of work. The Carnival will be cranking almost all night with all those bennys hogging the beach, boardwalk, and surf."
"Stoney, The Strand is a beach town and there are out-of-towners there every day of the year."
"Brah, not like during Spring Break! All those college students running loose all over the place, drinking, partying…" the fox began to huff out.
"Stoney, you are starting to sound like Reggie's dad. Just like an old meerkat," Cooper interjected while giving the fox a grin. "It seems to me that you have done more than your fair share of drinking and partying, besides we are the same age as most of those students."
"Shut up, dude!" Stone laughed and then he turned back to silently stare at the slowly approaching shoreline. His best friend just stood next to him and continued grinning.
Unlike wallabies, fennec foxes are not known for their patience and soon Stone began pacing back and forth along the walkway. "What's the matter now?" Cooper finally asked.
"Is it just me or does it seem that this old tub is taking longer than usual to get to the wharf?"
Cooper looked down at his watch before he answered, "It's just you because we are actually ahead of schedule, and don't you go bothering Captain Dan about how long the trip takes. The last time you did that, the old walrus swore to keelhaul you if you ever came up to the pilothouse again."
The small fox just frowned and continued pacing.
Hours later Stone Kole clutched his duffle bag as he frantically scurried along the wooden planks of the boardwalk, weaving around larger mammals, and even under some of their hoofs while he made his way toward a tall hotel. He almost was trodden upon by a much larger college student and the rhino only saw him just in time for her to stumble out of his way. "Hey, watch it, fox!" she bellowed out in rude anger, but Stone just kept his hurried pace. Several of the merchants waved or called out to the small surfer as he passed by, for most of the "natives" who lived year-round in the area knew the fox because he grew up in the neighborhood.
The hotel lobby was packed with all sorts of mammals, large and small and the fox skidded to a halt when he saw her in the lobby. The feline looked frazzled while patiently listening to an older couple of mice complaining about the loud music going on outside on the beach. The pretty sand cat was wearing her usual uniform of a white blouse and a dark blue midlength skirt, she tried not to frown while she explained to the angry couple that it was a public beach and it was spring break. "Karen!" Stone called out to her from across the crowded room but she did not hear him over the din and returned to the reception desk.
"She is busy working and doesn't have time for you, so go away," someone said in a condescending tone from behind him and the fox turned and looked up at a rotund porcupine standing there in a blue suit with his arms crossed, it was Mister Quill. The hotel manager did not like surfers in general, but he seemed to especially not like him. "As you can see we are busy with customers and don't have time for some beach bum from off the streets, now get your tail out of here."
"That isn't any way to talk to a customer!" Stone shot back while giving the manager a smirk.
"You have a room here?" the question was stated in an incredulous manner.
"My reservation was made by Reggie Belafonte and I confirmed it online a few weeks ago."
Mister Quill rushed over to the reception desk and almost frantically typed on the keyboards. Karen glanced over to see what was going on and her eyes widened when she saw Stone standing there. "Ah yes, it seems that you did have a reservation but it was canceled. My goodness, why it seems that was done just hours before any late cancellation fees could be charged," the porcupine said in what could be considered a jubilant manner.
Stone stood there shocked for a moment, his ears flat against his back and his tail tucked between his legs. "I just spoke with Mister Belafonte this morning and he said nothing about my room being canceled?"
"Not my problem, so good day!" the porcupine snapped before now ignoring the surprised fox and turning his attention to another guest.
"Stone, what are you doing here?" Karen called out.
"Miss Southpaw, you have guests waiting…" Mister Quill sternly began to say, but he didn't finish when he saw the scowl that the cat was giving him and that her hackles had risen.
"I had a reservation to stay here while I was doing a surfing demonstration at Wildrider's Water Park, but it seems that there was a mistake and my reservation got canceled," Stone answered with a small smile. "I wanted to surprise you."
"Well I am surprised," the sand cat said before she hugged the fox.
"I figured if I got a room here at your hotel, we might have some time together."
"Oh that's so sweet, but Stoney this is Spring Break and…"
"Miss Southpaw, you have guests waiting!" Mister Quill called out.
Karen ignored the porcupine while she asked, "Are you going to stay at your mom's place?"
"I don't want to intrude on her, since she and my father, Finnick, have just been reunited after all these years. That wouldn't be fair to either of them."
"What about Billy's place?"
"He and Cooper need their own romantic time alone and I would be in their way."
"Then you can stay at my place, I mean my family's condo!" Karen hurriedly said, glancing back at her now agitated boss. She giggled when the fox's large ears shot up and his tail began wagging. "You can sleep on the couch," she quickly added.
The fox's ears drooped again before Stone said, "Thank you!"
"Miss Southpaw, you really need to get back to work!" Mister Quill now demanded. "You can talk to Stone Kole after you get off of work!"
"Stone Kole, the champion surfer, is here?" someone in the waiting crowd called out and many of the students now excitedly surged towards the small fox who waved at his fans.
The next morning Stone Kole stood in front of a sea otter in a white suit and blue silk shirt, for some reason, the slightly taller promoter was wearing a strange-looking toupee of brown fur that stuck straight up on the top of his head. "I'm sorry Stoney, it was a misunderstanding and my assistant must have canceled your hotel room by mistake," Reggie Belafonte lied. "How can I make it up to you?"
"You can bloody well give him a bonus!" Cooper snapped, the wallaby was giving the fast-talking otter a skeptical look.
"Sure…sure…how about a coupon for a free ride?" Reggie offered.
"No!" Stone replied.
"How about half off on a season ticket?" the otter quickly countered while swinging his arms wide while giving the surfers a fake smile. "Just look at all these fun water rides and think about how much fun you will…"
"No!" Cooper almost growled. "How about four hundred bucks, that is much less than the hotel room was going to cost you for two nights?"
"Twenty!"
"Three seventy-five!"
"Fifty!"
The otter and the wallaby haggled for a few more minutes before they finally settled at an additional ninety-nine bucks and ninety-nine cents, but Cooper demanded that before they did anything they had to be paid first in cash. "His check probably would have bounced," the wallaby whispered to the fox. "I'm pretty sure that this is the bloke who once tried to teach penguins how to surf."
"I don't care if he did, because he is the bloke who is going to pay us to surf," Stone whispered back.
Reggie returned from a backroom and reluctantly handed over their payment, he then shoved two sets of clothing into their paws. "You are going to wear these," he curtly stated. It turned out to be a bright yellow muscle shirt with the otter's face printed on it along with the park's name and a pair of cheap, ill-fitting, green swim shorts.
Stone had to admit that Reggie Belafonte could stir up a crowd and by the time he and Cooper had dressed, the otter had worked the students into an excited frenzy, chanting "STONE…STONE…STONE!"
Grabbing up one of the boogie boards, the fox stepped out of the back room and into the sunlight. "DUDES…Whazup!" he yelled to the cheering crowd while he waved, Cooper was right behind him.
"Mate, I'm not sure about this, that surf pool looks pretty cheaply made?" the wallaby whispered.
"It will be fine," Stone whispered back as he yanked off the tee shirt and tossed it aside. "Cowabunga!" he barked out before he stepped into the water and onto the surfboard, after a few moments he gained his balance and began to cut back and forth through the artificial waves to the cheers of the crowd. Once he was confident, he began to do some simple tricks on the board.
"Crank it up!" Reggie roared into his microphone and the water flowed faster. The small fox grinned when the waves grew larger. Soon he showed more moves and tricks to the cheering crowd, for today Stone Kole was showing his fans why he was the undisputed Prince of Surfing! "Crank it up even more!" Reggie commanded. The waves grew in size and then the small fox slipped, he plunged into the now foamy raging water. He heard Reggie call "Wipeout!" over the speakers even as he desperately tried to right himself, but the torrent of water dragged him back and downward. Finally, he freed himself from whatever was entangling his legs and with an auditable gasp gripped the edge of the pool. With a grunt, the small fox pulled himself out of the water and stood up while jubilantly raising both his fist towards the cobalt blue sky above before he enthusiastically yowled out "Dudes...THAT WAS TOTALLY AWESOME!"
His ears drooped slightly when he realized that instead of clapping and cheering, there were gasps, giggling, and laughter coming from the crowd in front of him.
"Stoney!" Cooper urgently called out from behind him.
"OH, MY!" Reggie uttered into the microphone.
Karen was definitely in love with this fox for even though it was very late that evening, he had waited up for her to get off of work and greeted her with a kiss when she returned to her family's condo. Now she was dressed in her pajamas and had crashed on the couch with a cold glass of white wine. Stone was sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of her, dressed only in a pair of cherry red running shorts, and was massaging her aching right footpaw while he told her his story. "So what happened?" the sand cat contently purred out.
Stone looked up at her and she realized that he was blushing. "I guess you can say that I had a wardrobe malfunction, those cheap swim shorts which Mister Belafonte had us wear came undone," he hesitated for a few moments. "I…I…I didn't know that the rushing water had pulled them off and I was standing there before everyone with my paws upstretched and I was totally naked."
"Oh, no!"
"Yep, everyone saw everything."
"Oh, Stoney!"
Reggie Belafonte is the sleazy promoter from the Sony Pictures Animation movie Surf's Up. I do not own the rights to the movie Surf's Up or any of its characters. This story was written solely for the reader's enjoyment and without any profitable purposes. The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this story are fictitious.