Chapter 6: The Wrong Board!
This time the little fox finds himself on the wrong side of the city's climate-controlling wall.
May I suggest the song 'Cold Ain't for Me' by Oceans?
There was a crackling sound made by the burning wood in the nearby stone fireplace and the noisy conversations from the many animals enjoying the majestic-looking ski lodge's warmth and their refreshing drinks. Outside of the building, the snow was lazily falling and there was happy chatter from winter coat-clad skiers and snowboarders who were coming in and out of the building.
"Dudes!" the small long-eared fennec fox protested when the slightly larger meerkat near him burst out laughing at what was showing on the television screen above the bar. "It isn't funny!"
"Come on Stoney, that was classic!" another surfer named Reggie laughed out loud, around them giggles and laughter were coming from the other patrons at the fox's expense.
This was the third day of the Winter Xtreme Games and the highlight was the snowboarders competing in the superpipe event.
Just why was the warm weather-loving fox now on the "wrong side" of the weather wall? The answer was simple, he was being paid to be there by the broadcasting company that was airing the games. They wanted to bring someone unique, someone, who was famous for a sport that had nothing to do with any winter sport and had a great on-camera personality, to bring a unique spin to the show. They also wanted someone who would do it rather cheaply and that led them to the city's champion small board surfer Stone Kole.
The fox had started the day just like usual, on his surfboard riding the ocean waves along the sunny warm beaches of Sahara Square's famous Gold Coast. Now he was bundled up in a borrowed oversized sweater and tucked under a wool blanket next to a blazing wood fireplace in the bar at a ski lodge located in the northern part of Tundratown. He was shivering while watching himself enthusiastically spouting off on the nearby television.
"It's like totally rad up here Paul!" he watched himself saying to the host. He was standing on a huge podium so he could talk to the much larger moose next to him. "Dude, look at all the snow. It's like totally bodacious!"
"Totally bodacious, you actually said that on television?" an arctic fox snickered as he glanced over at the smaller vulpine.
"Come on, brah! Seeing all this white is a bit overwhelming, plus my ears were already frozen!" Stone defensively replied.
"Dude, how hard can it be? I surf all the time," a familiar voice was now boasting and he looked up to see himself now standing next to a champion snowboarder. "You have a board and water, just like we have on the coast…except your water is like totally frozen."
"Do you want to give it a try?" the pretty stoat in a sky-blue ski jacket asked while she handed a snowboard to the fox.
"Let's go for it!" his camera image answered.
"Here it comes!" someone hooted.
The small fox pulled his blanket over his head in embarrassment. "DUUUUUDDEE!" he heard his own voice saying.
So there he stood on the side of a snow-covered mountain slope, wearing a dark blue ski jacket that had the logo of the Xtreme Games stitched onto the backside, watching while the pretty stoat began to try to teach him how to snowboard. Stone peeked from under the blanket because he knew what was going to happen and although it was filmed earlier today, it was now being broadcast worldwide. "First I'm going to teach you about what we call skating and gliding. She had buckled her right footpaw into the front strap on the board and then she began to gently push herself using her other foot, it looked simple enough to the fox. "Now I step up onto the board with my other paw and just slowly glide along the snow."
The crowd in the bar applauded when the small fox on the screen followed her example. "Awesome!" he heard himself say.
"Now are you ready to glide?" She asked and he nodded. The small fox began to slide on the board across the icy snow. "Put your weight on your front footpaw!" she yelled. "Now step off." The fox's paws wildly waved as he tumbled over.
"That's hard!" he exclaimed while he sat there on the snow. "We lean back on our footpaw for bottom turning on a wave. This is like totally the opposite."
The fox's lessons continued throughout the day, with segments that had been filmed scattered between the various competitions and the commercials. Since it had been prerecorded, the patrons at the bar were able to go from one segment to the next and watch while Stone learned about such moves as ollies, garlands, and C-turns.
Then it happened. He was trying to do a c-turn while going down the small slope and with flailing arms he lost control and crashed.
"Are you okay, Stone?" the stoat's concerned voice was asking on the screen.
"Like…ooowww!" was the fox's muffled reply. The fox was sprawled muzzle first in the snow. "Brah, is my arm supposed to twist that way?" his image on the television screen meekly asked.
There were groans and chuckles from the crowd in the bar when the fox said those words on the screen.
"Wipeout!" the meerkat cried out. His comment was met by laughter from the bar full of skiers and snowboarders.
"I told you, dudes, that wasn't very funny!" the small fox by the fire huffed out while he scowled at the others around him. "It hurt!" He held up the white cast on his arm for everyone to see.
A slightly larger white-furred snow bunny sat down and cuddled against him while she played with his long sandy-colored ears. "Do you want me to kiss it and make it better?" she sarcastically giggled.
"No, I want you to sign my cast just like the others already have," Stone sullenly replied. "But I wouldn't object to a kiss either!"
"She has a boyfriend, fox!" a voice grumbled from nearby and an arctic hare lobbed his drink's olive at the two of them.
"I only meant a kiss on the arm," the fox snickered back. He snapped his teeth at the oncoming green object and grinned while he chewed on it.
"You better have meant that!" a familiar female voice suddenly said from behind them, causing the fox's ears to shoot up straight and his tail to bristle in surprise. When the rabbit doe sat up, he looked behind him and saw a sand cat standing there in a lavender ski jacket.
"Karen…?" was all he could say.
"Is it me or has it just got a lot colder in here?" Reggie whispered to the skier next to him.
The wolf nodded in agreement.
"I hurried up here when I heard that you have been hurt and what do I find?" the cat continued while she put her paws on her hips and looked down at the fox who was now trying to hide under the blanket.
"Aw come on, I was just teasing him!" the snow bunny objected. "It was just a little bit of harmless flirting."
"Keep your paws off my fox's ears!" the cat playfully hissed. "I've heard about you rabbits."
"But, Karen!" Stone began to object yet again.
"He's all yours, tiger!" the doe giggled as she hopped up and walked over to sit in her boyfriend's lap.
The cat pulled off her jacket before she slipped into the seat next to the fox. "So Stoney, where does it hurt?" she whispered in his ear while she snuggled under the blanket. "Where exactly is it that you need a kiss?"
The fox began to hold up his injured arm but hesitated and then grinned while he used his good paw to point toward his lips. "Here!"