Chapter 14: A Day with Foxes

"What's up, Doc?" Today is April 30th and Happy Birthday to Bugs Bunny! Yeah, I know that he isn't Disney but you still gotta love that wascally wabbit!

Stone spends the morning with his father, Finnick, and his father's best friend, Nick Wilde.

Recently, I listened to a metal cover version of Mungo Jerry's "In the Summertime" performed by Leo Moracchioli. It was very entertaining and you might enjoy it too.

The taller red fox was wearing a vintage black Feetwood Yak tee shirt and leaning back on a bench. He took another sip from the cup of coffee he held in his right paw while his other arm was cradled in a black sling brace. Sitting next to him was a pair of fennec foxes, with the older fox finishing a doughnut and wiping some crumbs off his black and red bowling shirt. The younger fennec fox was slumped over slightly with his paws shoved into the large pockets of his multi-colored cotton Baja hoodie, trying not to appear bored. The bench was located on the well-cared-for wooden planks of The Strand's famous Boardwalk, overlooking the sandy beach and the shimmering blue ocean beyond. "Anyway, a few weeks ago, my partner and I found a lost child crying on the side of the street. It was a cute little squirrel, so Judy tried to find out who he was and if he knew where he lived," the red fox began his story.

"Wilde, he probably lived in a tree," the older fennec fox named Finnick chuckled while giving the off-duty cop a smirk. "Did you look there first. Apparently everyone but you cops know that squirrels live in trees," he continued to tease.

"Why do I even bother talking to you?" Nick groaned with a shake of his head.

"Go ahead, Mister Wilde, and tell us what happened," The younger fennec fox named Stone interjected.

"So Judy asked the little guy his name and he only knew his first name, which apparently was Kale."

"Who would name a kid after a salad green?" the younger fox asked, his ears had shot up and his head was slightly cocked with curiosity .

"My thoughts exactly and when I brought that up, Carrots told me to be quiet. So she was on her knees talking with the little guy and when she inquired where he lived he replied, 'With my parents'," Nick answered.

"No surprise there," Finnick scoffed.

"Wait, someone named Carrots told you to be quiet when you asked why someone would name a kid Kale? Is there something going on that I don't understand? What's with all these veggie names?" Stone asked.

"Carrots is Judy's nickname since she comes from Bunnyburrow and her family grows carrots," Nick replied.

"Doesn't she find that a tad bit condescending?"

"So says the fox named after a rock," Finnick laughed before he gave his son a slight nudge.

"Shut up, Dad!"

Nick gave a long sigh before he continued his story, "When Carrots…ah…Judy asked him where his parents lived, he looked up at her and proudly answered, 'With me.' Then she patiently asked where they all lived and of course, his answer was, 'Together'."

"Makes sense," Finnick stated.

"She then asked, 'Where is your house?' to which he happily answered, 'Next to my friend Robbie's house.' I tried to help by asking if he knew where Robbie lived, and he responded, 'Next to our house, in the tree'."

"Ha! I told you that you should have looked in a tree! Most of you cops couldn't find a missing doughnut, even if it was on your own desk" Finnick sarcastically proclaimed.

Nick just glared at him for a few moments before he slowly asked, "Are...you...finished?"

The older fennec fox just grinned in reply.

"Did you ever find his parents?" Stone asked.

"Yeah, his mother showed up. She had been frantically looking for him."

"So everything turned out okay for the little guy?"

"Yep!"

"Did you ask her why she named her son after a vegetable?" Finnick interjected.

"That would be rude," Stone commented.

"Stone, you surf with guys named Sandfly, Red, Boondoggle, Chaps, and Squirt."

"Those are nicknames."

"And your nickname is what?"

"Stoney."

"How original! With friends like yours, I'm surprised they haven't come up with something more creative."

"It is just Stoney."

"So did you ask her why she named her son after a vegetable?" Finnick asked Nick once again.

"Yep!" Nick chuckled as he leaned back with a grin.

"And?"

"It turned out that his name was Kyle, he had a bit of a Southern accent." The red fox then groaned when he shifted the brace that cradled his left arm.

"Are you ever gonna tell us what happened to your arm?"

"I partially dislocated my shoulder at work…" Nick began to answer but he stopped when a pair of cute twenty-something-year-old arctic fox vixens strutted by in matching sky-blue colored bikinis. All three tods stared at the pair with their ears erect and tails wagging.

"Dad! Stop gawking, what would Mom say if she caught you?" the younger fennec fox whispered as he gave his father a nudge.

Finnick grinned at his son and answered, "I was only imagining what their fathers would say if they saw them dressed like that?"

"Sure you were," Nick laughed.

"Shut up and tell us what happened to your shoulder." the older fennec fox snapped.

"Yesterday, I was assigned a new partner, Francine, as Judy was helping Detective Oats on a case. It was a challenging day for me as to keep up with an elephant. I had to take three or four steps for every step she made, and by noon, I was already worn out."

"Don't tell me she stepped on you!"

"No, but we were on patrol downtown when we got a call that this idiot hyena robbed a convenience store nearby and Francine began charging down the sidewalk with me running after her."

"Did you catch the robber?" Stone asked.

Nick ignored the young fox's question when the two very attractive arctic foxes once again passed by, this time the vixens stopped to whisper to each other while glancing back at the bench full of foxes before they continued down the Boardwalk. Nick wondered, "Do you think they are trying to get our attention?" None of the fennec foxes answered, and after a few moments, the red fox shook his head and replied to the previous question, "We saw him, and he ran across the road. The next thing I knew, Francine grabbed me with her trunk and threw me at the hyena. I had no idea what was happening, I just remember flying through the air and then colliding with the robber's back, causing both of us to fall."

"Ouch!" Finnick commented.

"Needless to say, I was a bit dizzy and by the time I wobbled to my hindpaws, Francine had cuffed the guy. I looked up at her and asked her why she did that?"

"Seems like a reasonable question."

"She cringed and then explained that she and Judy had this tactic they called a speedball, where she throws Judy at a fleeing perp and she kicks him in the back of the head. Judy is very flexible."

"I'm sure she is," Finnick guffawed.

"Huh?" Stone looked at his father and then at Nick in confusion.

"Not like that, pervert!" Nick scoffed before slightly elbowing Finnick.

"Huh? Oh? Ohhhh!" Stone whispered in an embarrassed tone when he realized what his father was alluding to.

"So anyway, that is how I partially dislocated my shoulder," Nick finished his story.

"I messed up my shoulder once while surfing," Stone said. "I wiped out and the only thing I remember is flying through the air before I hit the water and…" He stopped when suddenly the two cute arctic foxes returned and approached him.

"Are you Stone Kole, the champion surfer?" one of the white-furred vixens bashfully asked.

"I just loved you in the movie Beach Spyjinks!" gushed the other vixen.

"Ladieeees, whatz up?" Stone answered with a grin as he jumped up on the bench.

"Please say the words!" one of the vixens begged. "The words you say in the movie's trailer!"

"What words?" Nick whispered to Finnick, who just answered with a shrug.

"Dude, the Sahara coast is always cranking. They're always coming at me, like 'Raaahh', and I'm amped in the pit. And then I'm like 'Boom, boom, boom! Shaaaaaah!' They're the most awesome-possum waves in Zootopia. Paws down, dude. Paws down!" Stone proclaimed as he stood on the bench with his paws on his hips.

"Yes! Yes!" one of the vixens excitedly cried out as she jumped in glee.

"Can we have your autograph?" the other vixen sighed out.

"I don't have a pen," Stone replied.

"Here," Nick slightly chuckled as he passed a pen to the younger fennec fox.

"Do you have any paper?" the surfer asked.

The vixens looked at each other and then at the two older foxes. "Wilde, do you got anything? I've got nothing," Finnick scoffed.

The red fox shook his head.

"Wait!" one of the vixens had found a piece of scrap paper. "You can sign this!"

Stone quickly signed and watched when the smiling vixen clutched the autograph to her chest.

"My turn!" her friend called out but instead of digging in the trash, she stepped closer to the surfer.

"You don't have any paper..." Stone muttered.

"Can you sign this?" the vixen coyly asked as she pointed to her bathing suit top.

"I'm in the wrong business!" Nick whispered to Finnick while they watched the now blushing younger fennec fox while he carefully tried to scribble his name.

The words that Stone says are borrowed from the Official Zootopia Handbook.