Chapter 34: Bad Date Night

Stone has a miserable date with Karen and tries to tell his friends what happened.

Jack Johnson is a legendary figure in the world of surf music. After a serious injury ended his professional surfing career, he transitioned to music and is well-known for singing one of my favorite songs, "Better Together."

Stone Kole entered the campground and wearily plopped onto a picnic bench next to a small wallaby who was playing checkers with a meerkat. The fennec fox was unusually dressed in a nice polo shirt and a pair of khaki pants, a far cry from the typical free surfing product logo t-shirts and board shorts he usually wore. He slumped down, resting his head on his crossed arms. His large ears were flattened, and his fluffy tail twitched back and forth in agitation.

"Dude, it's only eight o'clock, isn't it a bit early to be back from a date night?" the meerkat said before moving his black checker piece.

"Reggie, Karen was being a total bummer. She was mad at me and the date was a wipeout," Stone answered and then gave a long sigh.

"What did you do this time, mate?" the wallaby asked before he jumped his red checker over the meerkat's and with a grin snatched up his opponent's piece.

"Cooper, I..." the fox started to respond, glancing at his best friend. His paw idly played with the blue sea glass stud earring in his left ear, a habit he had picked up after getting his ear pierced one night while he had too much to drink. The earring, along with a matching glass bead strung on a woven hemp cord necklace that hung around his tan furry neck, was a birthday gift from Karen.

"Don't tell me that you were late, again!" Reggie interrupted. "You're always late to everything, you should buy a watch."

"No, I..."

"Don't tell me that you ran out of bloomin' money, again?" Cooper groaned. "You're always broke. If you need to borrow a few bilkies, you could have asked."

"No, I..."

"Don't tell me that you started flirting with some fans, again!" the meerkat said as he stared first at Stone and then the chessboard. "I'm losing this game, aren't I?" he grumbled to Cooper.

"No, I..."

"Yes, you are losing, now king my piece" the wallaby answered the meerkat and then he turned his attention back to the fennec fox. "Don't tell me that you were ignoring her when she was talking, again."

"No, I..."

"Don't tell me that you forgot that it was some special anniversary, again," Reggie said, frowning down at the board before he tentatively moved another checker piece. "Girls always have some kind of anniversary, you know, like a first date, a first kiss, or the first time you made out. How is a guy supposed to remember all of that?"

"No, I..."

"Blimey, you're lucky if you even remember what you ate for lunch," the wallaby chuckled to the meerkat. Looking back at the fox, he started to ask, "Don't tell me that you..."

"Will you two shut up!" the fox growled.

"Well, I'm not the one being so mysterious about why my girlfriend is mad at me," Reggie said as he held up his paws as if surrendering.

"Yeah, mate, just tell us what's wrong," Cooper added.

The fox just sat there frowning at his two friends.

"Do you even know why Karen is mad at you?" Reggie asked.

"Come on, brah! Of course I do!" Stone snapped. "She said that I was mean to her!"

"I'll bet that he was condescending to her," Reggie stated.

"No, I..."

"I'll bet that he wasn't paying attention to her," Cooper added.

"No, I... Will you both be QUIET!" Stone growled again as he stood up and began pacing in agitation. "Dudes, I didn't do anything! She claimed that I was mean to her in a dream last night." He threw his paws up in despair.

"Oh?" the meerkat replied. "Don't tell me that you were late in her dream."

"Don't tell me that you ran out of money in her dream," the wallaby added.

"Would you two STOP!" the fox howled.

"Gee, Stoney, anytime one of my girlfriends tells me about her dreams, they are usually pretty hot," Reggie said with a shrug. "How about you, Coop?"

"The dreams Billy has told me about usually involve the two of us in a hot tub in Tundratown, with some flowers, and a lot of romance," the wallaby responded.

"What should I do?" Stone whined.

"If I was you, I'd buy her some flowers and apologize," Cooper replied.

"Hey, I wonder if there is a way for Stoney to deliver those flowers in her dreams?" Reggie pretended to ponder.

"You two are not helping," grumbled the fox. He suddenly paused pacing and excitingly exclaimed, "WAIT! Giving her flowers is a great idea, Coop. I'll climb into her bedroom window tonight and leave some flowers!"

"Stoney, she lives on the third floor," the wallaby immediately stated.

"I could climb up using the balconies."

"And spend the night in the city's graybar hotel if you get caught."

"What the heck is a graybar hotel?" Reggie asked the wallaby.

"Jail," Cooper answered.

"Then why didn't you just say that?"

"Dudes, what am I going to do?" the fox whined yet again.

"There's not much you can do," the meerkat said with a shake of his head.

"Stop being such a sook and chill out, I'm sure things will be better in the morning," Cooper added.

The next afternoon, Mandy paused while pushing the laundry cart when she noticed Karen standing at the hotel's reception desk. "Someone seems to be in a good mood today," the taller whitetail deer doe in a maid's smock greeted the attractive sand cat. "I take it you had a good time with Stoney last night."

"I kind of ruined the date," Karen said. "You know how tired and grumpy I was yesterday."

"Don't tell me that you told him about your stupid dream!"

"I did and I got snappy at him."

"Poor guy. Then why are you so happy today?"

"Stoney arrived early this morning to apologize. He brought me flowers and a doughnut."

"He didn't have anything to apologize about, did he?"

"I know, he said he was sorry about being so mean in my dream."

"That's nice, but he still didn't do anything wrong."

"So I made us some coffee and we shared the doughnut while we talked."

"Aw, that's so sweet."

"After that, since I am working the evening shift today and didn't have to come in until noon, we went back to bed."

"I'm happy to hear that you two worked things out..." Mandy began, but she suddenly hestitated and looked down at her best friend in suprise before she asked, "Did you just say 'we'?"

The cat just blushed and grinned in reply.

Stone got his ear pierced in Chapter 2: The Morning After.