Ruff's Den
A Day in the Life of an Otter
A Day in the Life of an Otter
10:30.00 all is well –Coffee break-
I rolled over, and glanced at the clock on my stereo. Slowly the numbers came into focus. It was five fifteen. “Dang it.” I groaned very unenthusiastically. I rotated to sleep on my stomach, and ignored the movement I could hear from upstairs. Then my newly burned CD began playing. I opened my eyes again, and saw that it was now ten-thirty. Time to get up. The song was very fitting:
“Woke up this mornin’ to the sound, oh of an alarm clock ringin’ in my ear…” I picked up the remote, and turned it off. Turning on my lamp, I sat up, and stretched. Now to get some clothes. I stepped out of bed, and slipped from under the covers. Within minutes I had moved from my room to the bathroom, gotten clothes, and was in the shower.
At first the water was cold. Of course it was. It always is. But what bother is that to an otter? I let the water run off my fur until I could feel it had warmed. Then I pushed my paws into my fur, letting the water penetrate to my skin. I sighed. This was one of my favorite parts of the day. Showers are so relaxing, and it’s just about the only time I ever get to do something in warm water. After standing to let the water warm myself for a bit, I reached for the shampoo. Then I heard something at the door. I peaked out from behind the shower curtain to hear Christina, my roommate, thud into the door again, and groan. “Uhh, Ruffkins? You in there?”
I replied, grinning hugely, “Yes, my little Christinakins.” She laughed. We were just friends, and rarely saw each other. She worked the night shift at a potato-chip factory down the road several miles, and I was going to college for my junior year. She had graduated a year ago. “Alright, I’ll be out in a minute!” I shouted, and turned back to my shampoo. I opened it, and quickly began rubbing it into my fur. The rich lather smelled excellent, and I was soon putting another coat of it on. After applying the shampoo to a few other choice areas, I rinsed off and climbed out of the shower. I quickly put on some leopard-print boxers, and walked out into the living area of our apartment. Christina was sleeping on the couch, and I quietly crept up on her. Taking a flying leap, I landed next to her, and wrapped my wet limbs and tail around her. Her response was a loud yeiching, followed by several slaps to my chest. “Wet otter! Gross!” I laughed as she broke free, and ran into the bathroom. I hadn’t bothered to dry off of course who would? I walked to the fridge and glanced inside. I slammed it closed again when I saw its contents. Of course there was nothing good to eat. No worries. I knew where to go.
I stepped into the hall of the apartment complex, and knocked on the next-door neighbors’. There was a sleepy, “who is it?” from the other side. At this, I slapped my tail to the door, and hollered, “It’s me! ‘Ole Ruffles! I’ve brought you some potato-chips!” There was only a slight squeak as the door swung open, revealing a beautifully brown-haired tigress. I threw my arms around her and said in my most pathetic voice, “Oh, darling… Could you spare a poor young starving otter a trip to the store… or, maybe a little more if ya will!” while looking her up and down. “Ya look great, did ya sleep well?” She totally blew me off, and said, “Ferrel’s on the computer, you know where to find ‘im!” I took off at a high pace to find him.
I did find him eventually. He was sitting cross-pawed on the floor, staring at a completely blue screen. “Brutal, the blue screen of doom!” I said excitedly. I loved computers. “Oh, hey Ruff.” Ferrel said, pulling the plug on the back of the tower. “How’s life?”
“Horrible.”
“Why is that?”
“I just realized that for the 257th consecutive day in my life, I woke up to no good food.”
At this, Ferrel stood, and to his full height, towering a full foot over me. I whimpered, and turned to run. He caught me by the tail, and haled me back into one of his headlocks. I struggled to break free, but failed.
“You know, I’m sick of this.” He said, dragging me into the hall. “And I’m gonna fix it too.” As I realized where he was taking me, I began to twist and shout. He was taking me to Frank’s apartment. It was positioned diagonally from my room, across the hall. Dai opened the door, letting me in. He must have heard me coming. Frank was ready to assist too. They both looked drowsy, and bed-haggled.
“Watzup?” Frank said as Ferrel hauled me into the room, and threw me on the couch, where all three of them restrained me.
“This little weasel’s up to no good.” Came the response. “And I’ve decided to let you two take care of him as his punishment.” At this remark, I began wildly to attempt to escape. Frank and Dai’s faces both stretched into smiles.
“Ahh, now Ferrel, you know we’d do that for you anytime!”
“Yes, I know.” Came the sly remark. He marched off, tail held high, laughing.
Now, I had been friends with Frank and Dai sense we had met online five years ago. They had both moved out to Colorado with Ferrel and me about four and a half years ago, and we had been living in the same apartment complex for almost two years. Ferrel and His Tigress had been married for half a year, and Dai and Frank were… well, we’ll just say they’ve been together sense they became roomies. I have nothing against the two of them yiffing, but if I have to see it, or if it gets too personal, I’m not game. It looked to me that the male fox and phoenix had been at it a little the night before. I knew that Ferrel and the tigress had been at it too. Funny thing about apartments, they’re not too sound-proof.
Lying on that couch in Dai and Frank’s apartment was probably the least stressful experience I could have possibly had. This was because they both knew I was straight, and that though they may verbally joke, they would never actually do something to make me even the slightest bit uncomfortable. I climbed off the couch, and addressed Dai.
“So… you wouldn’t happen to have anything good to eat around here would you?”
“Ahh, you see, I’m not too sure about that. We were planning on picking up some food today at the store because right now we’ve got nothing but frozen hotdogs.”
“Gross!”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Well, that’s alright. I’ll just run down and go out somewhere.”
Thanking them, I left at a quick pace. I didn’t want to miss my first class, and now should begin hurrying a little.
There was a coffee shop across the street, and I decided to get some donuts and a cappuccino. I walked in, and hailed the vixen behind the counter.
“Hey! How’s it goin’?”
“Hey Ruff! You want the usual?”
“Yes please.”
At this I was slightly baffled. Sure I had been in the store many times, but it wasn’t like a daily thing or anything… While we waited for my order to be placed, we began talking.
“So, is Ferrel still married to that tigress?”
“Yup, sure is. They go together like… well, I don’t know, but they go together.”
“Right. It’s too bad you know? A smart fox like him, going off and wasting his young life married.”
“Why, what would you have him do differently?”
“I would have had him meet me before he got married, and waste his youth married with me.”
I grinned. Conversations with Sandy were just too good. She’s one of those furs with a super-unique personality that you just can’t escape. She’s also one of those furs that is very fidgety, and is near impossible to live with for more than a week without throwing her toaster out the window. If that makes sense… It did to me, because she had been my previous roommate. However, we always managed to get over our problems within a few days. She walked over to me, and handed me my food. “Thanks.” She seemed quite distracted.
“What is it?”
“Oh, I thought I heard something, but it must have been my imagination.”
“Alright,” I said, and, having paid, I turned and walked out the door. Several Coyotes ran out of the apartment complex, one of them carrying a distraught-looking wet Christina. Throwing her in the back of the car, they peeled out leaving only black-rubber burns, and lots of choking smoke. I had been unable to cross the road. Now I sprinted through a break in traffic, and, after almost being hit by a Volkswagen, ran up behind the one car that hadn’t left. A white wolf walked out, pointed a gun at me, and fired. I quickly dodged, and ran to the nearest alleyway. Bullets ricocheted left and right. I dove headfirst behind a Dumpster, and waited for more squealing tires before coming out of hiding.
I quickly ran up the stairs to our level. Most of the doors were open, and there were an unusual number of the apartment’s inhabitants standing in the corridor. I rushed through them all, and pushed into my apartment. There, lying on the ground at my feet was Ferrel with a bloodstained shirt. I gently kneeled beside him, and asked how he was doing. He sat up, looked at his shirt, and whispered, “The fucking bastards shot me!” Before I could control him, he was on his paws. Kelly, his tigress, had been standing in the corner crying. I ran over to her, and whispered a few words before tearing off after Ferrel. I caught him on the street where the cars had been.
“It’s too late, they already left.” I said, noticing his disappointed look.
“I know where to find them.” He replied.
“Not now, wait until we get to the room, okay?”
He had no response, and together we slowly walked back to the room.
11:00.00 dire times arrive –First class of the day-
Back in the room, Ferrel explained it all. I already knew that Christina had been running drugs for two malicious drug dealers, and I also knew she had been hard up for cash. What I didn’t know is that she had been taking the liberty to save over 15% of all the drugs she ran so she could sell them herself. Neither had the drug dealer on the receiving end, until recently anyway. Apparently they also knew she lived with a roommate, but didn’t know of what species. Naturally they thought Ferrel was I when they broke into my apartment to take Christina. This presented problems. The ‘ransom note’ had been left with Ferrel, not me. And there was more. Thanks to an anonymous call from the gang, the cops were now notified of Christina’s drug dealings, and so were also on the lookout for her. They would present no help in Christina’s safe return. The only choice was to give into their demands, or risk life and limb to get her back.
“Well, either option presents grave danger.” Dai said glumly. “And why would you want to risk life and limb for a mere roomie?”
I had no immediate response for this other then: “Well, I don’t know, it just seems like the right thing to do.” At this, Frankie spoke out.
“Aww, common now! You know you have feelings for her!”
There was no denying it. I did. I had watched my friends, all of them mind you, grow attached to someone, fall in love, and get married. (Except for Frank and Dai mind you, and they couldn’t exactly get married). Also, all of them were still happy mates. I on the other paw had yet to go on a true date. It wasn’t that I wasn’t attractive to females, even though I’m not exactly studly either, it’s that I never met someone I truly had feelings for. Well, for more then friend that is. Now that I finally met someone I had a few feelings for, I wasn’t about to let the happiness of having a possible mate escape me.
“Alright then, how are we gonna do this?” I asked.
“With planning.” Came Ferrel’s reply, “And, I happen to have a plan.”
“…and?”
“You.” Said Ferrel, pointing at Dai and Frank. “You will stay here, ready to answer the phone and look up information on the net if we need it.” Dai and Frank nodded, and left the room.
“Now, we’re gonna BS this whole money thing. I’m gonna bring ‘em a decoy, and get the girl back. You’re gonna be my cover.”
I was outraged. “No, she’s my girl, or she’s gonna be anyway, and you’re not gonna risk yourself to get me outta this one.”
“Yes, but you see, it’s personal now,” Ferrel said, pointing at his freshly bandaged shoulder. “and they said only I was to deliver it. If they saw you, they’d know a third person was involved, and that would be bad.”
He had a point. If I showed up to deliver the money, he would know that Ferrel was either there, or Had made an anonymous call to the police. That would be no good.
“So, how much money did they want, anyway?”
“More then enough to make up for the stolen goods.”
“Right. So then, how’s this gonna go down?”
“Well, first we’re gonna go check out the drop site. Then we’ll go from there.”
12:15.00 preparation –study hour—
We arrived at the site after acquiring a few weapons. I owned a rifle, and knew how to shoot it well enough to use it effectively. Ferrel owned a __________(I know nothing of guns.. he has a choice, and I haven't gotten it from 'im yet... err, remeber, this story is still being edited!!!), his gun, and a Baretta m92, which he gave to me along with two twelve round clips. “Sorry, it’s all I’ve got, but you shouldn’t get in a situation that you’d need more then that anyway, so don’t worry about it.”
We found ourselves in a small basketball court back in an alleyway. It was the perfect spot for a drop, especially if you wanted a sniper to keep an eye on things. I eyed the buildings around me. They were all apartment buildings, with the exception of the building to the south, which was an abandoned-looking old folk’s home. Then I got a feeling. “Quick, Ferrs, we need to get outta here.”
“Yeah, I know, I feel it too.” He said, and we turned to leave. We got back to the car safely, and decided to return to the apartment. We had seen what we had come to see.
12:45.00 lunch break –Lunch break—
Frank, Dai, Ferrel, and I were all in my apartment living area. We sat sullenly, pondering what the future would bring. The drop was to be made at seven o’clock, and none of us were looking forward to the occasion. Being unable to eat, I stood, and walked into the third bedroom. Christina and I had split the cost of the three-bedroom apartment two to three. I was paying for the extra room; it had become the display room for my extensive sword collection. I walked to the far end of the room and opened a dresser. This is where I kept my swords that weren’t just for display. I selected my favorite blade— a Japanese saber with a black wrapped double-paw grip, and a slightly convex curved blade. It was an extremely sharp and had a well balanced blade. I slid its shining mass into the black half-blade scabbard, and carried it into the living area. Re-seating myself at the table, I brought out a whetstone and began moving it in circular patterns over the edge of the blade. No one took a second notice of my efforts. They all knew I’d chose a sword over a gun in any situation. Ferrel sat across from me, guns disassembled on the table before him. He loaded a clip into the baretta, and slid it across the table to me. “There ya go. It’s loaded. All’s ya gotta do to shoot ‘er is turn the safty off.”
“Thanks Ferrs.” I said, laying the gun next to my scabbard. Dai, who had been outfitting my gun with a scope, now placed it on the table as well. “And you, too. Thanks.”
I glanced at Frank. He winked at me. “When you make it though this, I’m gonna have you over for a sleep-over.”
“Err, thanks Frank,” I said, trying to sound interested, “that sounds… fun.”
We spent the rest of the afternoon talking, laughing, and doing just about anything to take our minds off of what was soon to come. When the time came, we had a quick group hug. Then I was off.
18:00.00 Final Preparation –Recreational fun--
I parked a half-mile from the court, and stepped out of my black YJ. Throwing on a dark-blue Air-Force trench coat, I picked up a brown duffel bag and slung it over my shoulder. Then I took off at a quick trot to the abandoned old folk’s home.
Getting to the top was absolutely no problem. There was a window that had been poorly boarded up. It was the work of seconds to be undone. Then it was the simple matter of walking up the stairs. Once on the roof, I opened the duffel bag, and turned it upside down. The contents spilled onto the floor. I picked up the sword, and tied it to my belt. Next, I picked up the 9mm pistol, and strapped it to the back of my belt. Next I placed my rifle on my knee, and loaded it. Then I checked to make sure the blade I had fastened to my ankle was secure. I was ready for action. I picked up the rife, and walked to the edge of the roof. There was no wall at edge, only a gutter that ended in a five-story drop-off. I set up a bipod, balanced the gun, and pointed it into the dark alleyway. Turning on the night-vision mode, I looked through the scope, and focused on some kids playing a basketball game. It was perfect. Thanks to Dai’s loaning of the scope, I didn’t have to worry about giving my position away. Originally I had planned on using the old-school method of taping a laser pointer to my gun barrel. Now I had complete stealth. Now what to do while I waited? I unsheathed my sword, and tested its sharpness against my paw, then silently swore as it cut though my glove almost piercing my skin. This would be an interesting night.
19:00.00 The drop –the game room—
I started getting nervous when I saw the coyotes begin to scout the area, but even more nervous when the white wolf showed up holding a gun to Christina’s head. Ferrel showed up right on time. We were unable to communicate, but I had seen him arrive in his dark-green ’97 Jeep Wrangler. He stepped out, and brought a backpack with him. When I had recommended that we use a briefcase, he had said that it was “too easy”. Whatever that meant. I watched him pick his way along the alley, making sure not to fall over any badly positioned trashcans, or boxes. Finally I saw him reach the center where the basketball court was located, and zoomed in on him through the scope. Then I moved north, and there he was. The white wolf walked slowly forward, now holding the gun to Christina’s muzzle. When at arm’s length, Ferrel slid the backpack on the ground to the wolf’s paws. He jerked his head sideways, and a coyote ran over, picked up the bag, and began opening it.
“Give me the girl.” Ferrel growled. The coyote held up the bag which was filled with blank cut typing paper. The wolf shook his head, “Did you honesty think I’d be that stupid?” Ferrel grunted. The white wolf pushed the girl forward just far enough to shoot her in the leg. She let out a yelp and before she could be pulled back, Ferrel jumped into action.
“You shouldn’t a done that!” He growled, kicking the gun from the wolf’s paw. The wolf threw Christina to the ground, and leapt on Ferrel. Ferrel never had a chance to act. The wolf ripped into his already damaged shoulder pinning him to the ground. Ferrel quickly tossed up his rear foot paws throwing the wolf to the ground. He placed a paw on each side of the wolf’s stomach, and drew his gun placing it firmly against the wolf’s chest. I never had a clear shot, but Ferrel seemed to have things under control. Then a shot rang out. The wolf went still, and through the scope I could see a dark round spot that could only be blood oozing from the gunshot wound. Ferrel stood, wiped his paws, and turned his gun to face the distraught looking coyote that was still clutching the backpack. He slowly began making his way over to Christina. Then it happened. Another gunshot rang out, and I saw Ferrel’s frame wrench to the side. There was a brief flash of red, and I knew what had happened. There was another sniper. Damn it, why hadn’t I ever considered the possibility? I swung the barrel of my gun up, and could clearly see the laser’s source. The sniper was lining up for another shot. It was quick and painless. My shot penetrated the offender’s head cleanly, instantly dropping my enemy. Then I swung down to the other coyote. I was as mirthless with this foe as I had been the last one. One shot was all it took. Then I had dropped my gun, and was rushing to Ferrel’s side. Funny, later I wouldn’t be able to even remember coming from the roof to the ground, but sometime during those short moments someone ran off with Christina, again.
I kneeled next to Ferrel for the second time today. The gunshot had hit him, once again, in the arm, lower down this time, then struck him in the side. Blood was gushing from both wounds, and his shoulder had been re-torn. I felt him for a pulse, and found it. Good, he was still alive. Quickly I removed the shirt under my trench coat, and tore it into strips, bandaging first his side, then his arm, and then his shoulder. By the time I had finished he was conscious. “Where’d they go?” He asked.
“Don’t worry, I took care of the rest of them. Did you see where Christina went?”
Ferrel grunted, and pointed towards an alleyway. It was the same that he had entered through. I helped him to his paws, and he stood without my support. We returned to his Jeep as quickly as possible, then I left him. If I knew Ferrel, which I did, he would go home, and sleep it off.
“Ferrel, you’re going to the hospital now, okay?” I said, trying to sound firm.
“Oh, no shit.” Was his response. “I kinda know that when you get shot multiple times in one day it’s smart to go to the hospital.” Just when he had climbed into the Jeep, a car screeched out from around the corner. Its windows seemed infested with ‘yotes, all grinning widely and holding rather nasty looking sawed-off shotguns.
“Go!” I yelled, slamming the door to the Jeep and diving underneath a nearby car. Ferrel took off in the Jeep at an alarming rate. Jeeps, even four cylinder ones, have more power than they should. As the ‘yotes drove by, I heard numerous shots ricocheting around me. As soon as they had left, I began pondering where the other white wolf had gone with Christina. As if to answer my question, he came hobbling around the turn the coyotes had just come from. He saw me, and immediately turned to run. Christina was putting up quite the fight I had noticed. The wolf brought the butt of his pistol down hard on the back of her neck, instantly ending her struggle. It made my blood boil. He left her limp body on the sidewalk, and ran. I didn’t give him the chance to escape.
He broke left down Maple Street, and I was quick to follow. My sword was beginning to feel awkward, and I knew that soon it would come into use. Without slowing my pace, I drew the sword with my right paw in one graceful swift movement. Moving it to my right side, I let it almost ‘drag’ behind me, the blade hovering only inches off the ground. Now the wolf ran to the right, into the old business district of town. I had tailed him maybe two blocks when he ducked into a large office building between a bank, and a bookstore. I pulled the blade up next to my body in my coat, just in case this building happened to be running business.
Upon entering the building, I knew that it had been a good idea that I had hidden my blade. There was some sort of convention taking place. It looked to be one of those CCG conventions. There were booths set up everywhere, some selling products, some just displaying them. And in the center there were several tables that appeared to be hosting tournaments. There was the wolf, grinning evilly standing near a pair of security guards. The wolf reached into a bag he was carrying, and brought out one of Christina’s undergarments.
“She’s quite the lady you know. If I were you, I’d a tried something while you had the chance. She’s great.”
This was too much. I strode casually up to the guards, and quickly swung out my blade noiselessly knocking them both to the ground. Then I brought the blade to the astonished-looking wolf’s throat.
“Let’s settle this outside.” I said menacingly.
The wolf summed up his courage, and spat in my face.
“Go ahead, kill me now, or take this outside where you know you can run away, coward.”
I had lost my patience.
19:00.00 !DUEL! –a little sword practice—
I removed my blade from the offender’s throat, and backed off, making sure not to turn my back to him. When I was several feet away, I stole a quick peek behind me to make sure the majority of the room had cleared for us. It had. I was not expecting anyone to try to stop us either. There were all hard RPGers, and I, having been one, was sure they’d either stick around for the fight, or they’d run away when we started, especially if the wolf had a gun stashed somewhere on him. I threw off my trench coat, then kicked a few tables out of the center of the room, sending cards, marker chips, and other items flying. Tightening my paws around the bound double-pawed grip I eyed the wolf.
“Alright wolf, you ready?” I asked. I was not about to kill in cold blood.
“Of course I’m ready. No puny who thinks he can use a little sword against me is gonna do anything, especially when I have this.” He pulled out a colt .45 revolver, and pointed it at my head. I quickly dropped as a shot was released into the air. I rolled behind a line of tables, then stood, and began sprinting down the side of the room. He fired off four more shots, but all of the shots mercilessly buried themselves in the drywall spraying plaster fragments everywhere. When I had reached the end of the room, I leapt out straight towards the wolf. He fired, and I felt the angrily heated wasp penetrate my left wrist. I fell, rolling into a table and breaking the legs of a chair clean off. When I had come to a stop, I tried to move, and realized that the wind had been knocked out of me. I looked up, and saw the wolf was reloading his revolver, grinning widely. “What did I tell you, otter?” He asked, now reaching for my blade. “Hmm, how ironic.”
He picked up the blade, and moved it to my exposed chest. With a slight movement I realized how sharp I had really made the blade. He had sliced me, only slightly, forcing blood to ooze out into my dyed-black fur. Now I had caught my breath, and knew I had to do something. He stood over me, sword raised, and swung at my neck. I grabbed the blade from my ankle, and brought it up to parry the attack. There was a small cling! Sound as the sword stuck my small 5 inch throwing blade which broke right off. The wolf, however, not expecting any deflection of any sort, let the sword slip from his paws. It imbedded it’s tip in the floor next to my head. I reached for the handle, and he realized what was happening. Quickly he grabbed it, and swung it high over his head, yet again. I was out of I ideas. Then it hit me, I still had the pistol Ferrel had given me. I wrenched it from my back belt, and held it with my paw on the trigger, catching the blade in the ‘L’ of the gun. Of course, sense the gun was upside-down, I had no way to aim. As the wolf threw his weight into the blade, I forced myself to my knees. Slowly I began moving my gun in a half circle motion, positioning the gun right side up. I pointed the gun directly at the wolf’s face and grinned. “Sorry, end of the line!” I grunted out, then pulled the trigger. I expected a loud bang and recoil accompanied by the gruesome picture of the wolf’s facial features being pulled in side out from being shot at point blank. What really happened scared me even more. The trigger wouldn’t squeeze far enough to make the gun discharge. I let my face fall, and tried again. Nothing. Then I remembered what Ferrel said about the safety. When the wolf saw the look on my face, he removed one paw from the handle of my blade, and began reaching for his own gun. I took the chance, and threw all my weight into the gun, forcing him off me. He fell to the ground backward, the katana rattling onto the floor next to him. I dropped my gun and reached for it. He kicked it spinning across the room before I could get it. I spun back around and grabbed the gun again, this time dislodging the safety. I spun back to a black barrel point. So did the wolf. We stood facing each other’s gunpoints. I shot first… or so I thought. Once again, the trigger failed to squeeze shut. I swore as I saw the wolf’s finger pull back the trigger. Click. He had not loaded all the shells in the gun when I had had the wind knocked out of me! I didn’t hesitate. I kicked the gun from his paw, and retreated to the corner of the room. I removed the safety, and shot. The gun discharged. I was in business. The wolf retrieved his gun. We were standing parallel to each other when we began exchanging crossfire. I was a horrible shot. I decided to give the wolf a moving target, and began running down the room. Everyone had left the second the wolf had drawn his gun. We ran in perfectly straight parallel lines emptying round after round, chamber upon chamber upon each other. He ran out of ammunition, and reloaded while running. I ran out of bullets as well, and dropped my gun. This was it. I had made it to my blade. I grabbed it, and leapt over a countertop, and was charging my enemy. Several shots rang out, but I felt no pain. I had reached my enemy, and now he was going to die. I brought my blade down swiftly. He tried to parry with his gun as I had, but it was in vein. The blade cut though him with an indescribable ease. He collapsed to the floor, where I would shortly join him.
12.31:55 Wedding day –Wedding day—
“I do.” With those two words I had been joined in marriage with Christina Lloyd Cagnus. She was beautifully dressed, and looked more than wonderful. I kissed her, blocking out the all the sounds I could hear, especially those of Ferrel, Kelly, Dai, and Frank. All of us still lived very near each other, and were the best of friends.
After that day, I came to realize the true value of friends in my life. Ferrel, Christina, and I had all been hospitalized that night. Christina was released the next morning, and Ferrel the day after that. I was doomed to the hospital for a full week. I had been shot multiple time in the final few seconds of the duel. One of the bullets had skimmed my spinal cord, and I had been in a wheel chair for almost three years for recuperation. However, that day had been over ten years ago, and now I bas back on my paws doing everything regularly.
Ferrel and Kelly were still best mates. They were planning a trip to Alaska for their 11th anniversary, which occurred in less then a month. I had never seen them fight, and were so good for each other. After the incident, Ferrel had been hospitalized from a car wreck. He had passed out behind the wheel of his Jeep due to loss of blood. Somehow he had managed to run all the gangsters off the road before fainting only two blocks from his apartment. His tigress had been at his side the whole time.
Frank and Dai were still together too. They had had a brief fight and not talked for almost a full week. Then they were living together, again. They both had good jobs and spent all of their free time having as much fun as possible. They had never grown out of their college fun phase, but then again, they had no reason to.
Christina and I had hit it right off. Once I shared my true feelings for her, I discovered she had felt the same, but was afraid I was attracted to the vixen in the coffee shop, and wouldn’t be interested in a seemingly self-absorbed raccoon like herself. I told her she was not at all self-absorbed, and that I had thrown the vixen’s toaster out the window, and that for crying out loud if that wasn’t enough to keep us apart, I didn’t know what was! She had laughed, and planted a kiss on the side of my muzzle, and careful not to hurt my bandaged chest in the process. Then she pushed me out for dinner and a cake. Ever sense, things had been wonderful.
I broke my kiss, and turned to wave to everyone. Life surly was a wonderful thing.