《The Breaking Point》 Chapter 1 There the sable sat at his wooden desk; Jack was mostly just waiting for 5:00 to strike so he could go home to his loving wife and kids and put this Friday out of its misery. ¡°Twenty-three more minutes¡­¡± he sighed, not expecting any calls between now and closing. He picked up the photo of his family with his paw and looked at them. They smiled up at him, but he wasn¡¯t returning their happiness. ¡°I can¡¯t wait for all of you to find out what a big disappointment this venture has been. I should¡¯ve taken a normal job; something stable that we all could have relied on. I shouldn¡¯t have underestimated my rival...no, he¡¯s not a rival, he¡¯s clearly my superior¡­This is what it¡¯s like to be crushed¡­¡± Jack couldn¡¯t bear to look again at his spending and earning report; it was nothing short of bleak. Sure the margin of profit this week was greater than that of the spending, but the amount was negligible. The numbers didn¡¯t appear to reflect the fifty hours he was putting in his business each week, nor all the hours his seven employees were putting in either. Jack ran a business that involved the selling of hearing aids and eyeglasses; tools designed for helping the hearing- and sight-impaired folks around the world. His heart was in the right place in wanting to help them; the only problem was that his competitor was much better at it, and much more experienced. ¡°I should¡¯ve just opened business elsewhere; somewhere where there¡¯s no competition.I wish I had thought about that before deciding to move here, but no, I just had to move everyone here because of the nice scenery and community. Stupid, stupid me!¡± Jack pounded his desk in frustration, causing one of his employees to knock on his door. ¡°Are you okay, Mr. Tyndale?¡± ¡°Yes, uh...I was just squishing a bug.¡± The employee didn¡¯t buy that story, but didn¡¯t press him any further. At 4:55, Jack was starting to pack up his things, and then his phone rang. He groaned and picked it up off the receiver. ¡°Jack¡¯s Hearing and Seeing, how can I help you?¡± He answered with as much enthusiasm as he was able to muster. ¡°Hello, this is Wallace, calling to remind you about your rent that is due next Friday.¡± ¡°Yes, I know that is due.¡± ¡°Okay, thanks. Bye.¡± ¡°Bye.¡± Jack hung up, irritated and worried. The rent for working out of this building was eating heavily into his profits, leaving him and his employees with barely enough to squeak by. He had been looking around his town for cheaper places to rent, but it was tough. The phone rang again just ten seconds after hanging up, and he picked it up with force. ¡°Jack¡¯s Hearing and Seeing, how can I help you?¡± He answered through gritted teeth. Maybe it was Wallace again calling him about the rent; after all, the guy treated him like he had short-term memory. ¡°Oh sorry, did I catch you at a bad time?¡± The voice replied. This one sounded unfamiliar. ¡°Ah, no. I, uh...just stubbed a toe and was in pain.¡± ¡°Ouch! Well, I hope I¡¯m not too late to put in an order for eyeglasses and hearing aids.¡± ¡°Oh, uh, not at all!¡± Jack¡¯s face lit up for the first time at his job in about a week. He hoped this customer was in dire need of tons and tons of his wares. ¡°How many of each would you like?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s going to be a lot, so I hope you¡¯re ready to write down these numbers. You see, I¡¯m the principal of a new school that focuses on educating students who are hearing and visual-impaired, and I¡¯m going to need a great amount of both eyeglasses and hearing aids.¡± The time was 5:00, but going home was the last thing on Jack¡¯s mind right now. His life, and his family¡¯s life, was going to change within the next minute. He could hear the person on the other line flipping through some papers, and he was getting more and more antsy each second. ¡°Let¡¯s see, I will need...ah, 186 of your Model A eyeglasses, 213 Model B, uh...97 of C¡­¡± Jack wrote down the numbers he was hearing, scared to miss a single detail. This was already more that he typically sold in a month. The mysterious stranger continued to rattle off numbers; Jack didn¡¯t even know this person¡¯s name yet, but he was already a hero in his book. ¡°And for hearing aids...I will need, uh¡­¡± Jack¡¯s heart was racing. ¡°...1,077 hearing aids. Yeah, we¡¯re a big school, as you can imagine.¡± Jack dropped his phone from sheer shock, and he quickly picked it back up. ¡°I, uh, sorry about that. D-did I hear that correctly? One-thousand and seventy-seven?¡± He repeated the number, as though it were larger than one billion. ¡°Yes, that is right. I hope that¡¯s not too many.¡± ¡°Oh, not at all!¡± Jack didn¡¯t have that many prepared, but he didn¡¯t care. ¡°I will need some time to produce all of those, uh, maybe three weeks.¡± ¡°I need them in two.¡± ¡°Hm¡­¡± Jack knew that would be hard, given his resources, but it wasn''t impossible. Plus, all the money his business would make from this was a massive motivator. ¡°I can get it done in two. I will need your name, shipping and billing address, and payment information. I will also require full payment before starting production, as that helps fund the resources I need. If I¡¯m unable to get everything to you in two weeks, you have the option of canceling the order and a full refund, or going through with it with a ten-percent refund per each week it¡¯s late...of course, I won¡¯t be late with this; much of that information was a formality. Give me a minute to calculate the payment, and I¡¯ll get back to you.¡± ¡°Okay, thanks.¡± So Jack went to work with his good friend, Algebra, to work out the cost. He knew he wasn¡¯t prepared to see the amount, as it would make his jaw drop to the desk, which would hurt. He ran up the numbers, multiplied the coefficients and variables, added in the shipping cost, and applied the bulk discount and got¡­ $1,044,000. Jack¡¯s mind went numb; that number was just impossible as far as he was concerned. To be sure, he redid the algebra, but got the same exact number. ¡°Hello?¡± The guy on the other end of the line called, not having heard from Jack in over five minutes. ¡°Oh, uh, sorry, I was just double-checking the math here. The total is,¡± he gulped, scared that the amount would be too staggering for him to afford, and thus lose this customer, ¡°A million and forty-four thousand, and this includes the shipping and bulk discount, sir.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s it? All the other businesses I contacted ran me up nearly two million; this is a really good deal!¡± No. Hecking. Way. Jack wondered if this guy had called his local competitor, but asking would¡¯ve been the epitome of stupid. He couldn¡¯t afford to blow this order; this was a once-in-a-lifetime deal. ¡°Great!¡± Jack¡¯s paw was shaking from excitement and nerves. ¡°Now I just need your information, and I can get the order started.¡± So even though Jack had gotten off of work over thirty minutes late, the delay was very, very worth it. His business had just accumulated over a million dollars, and he knew just what kind of effect this would have on him, his family, and employees. Plus, his business would receive much more notoriety, and sales would naturally improve. This was certainly an entrepreneur¡¯s dream come true. As Jack was racing home to proclaim the news to his family, his competitor was just wrapping up his own week and ready to spend time with his family. Unlike Jack¡¯s business, which raked in only five-digit figures per month, his business brought in seven figures. Jack was an ant compared to him; his business had been around longer, he sold his wares at competitive prices, and he provided more than just hearing and sight aids. He was extremely well known among the handicapped and disabled population not just in the valley, but on two continents. Despite Jack¡¯s recent order, as impressive as it was, it would still barely put him on the radar. However, maybe this order from the school principal would lead the two businessmen to interact in the future. The millionaire boss and CEO arrived at his house as the sun was setting, and his wife was there to greet him, like always. ¡°Well, Marcus, how was work?¡± Diane kissed him, and he returned it. ¡°Can¡¯t complain; operations at the warehouse are running like normal, customers are getting their orders on time, and it¡¯s looking like profits will be enough to give everyone a raise within the next couple of months.¡± The wolf replied. ¡°And how was your day? Manage to keep Ronald out of trouble this time?¡± ¡°I can hear you, dad.¡± The seventeen-year old squirrel said to him from the next room. ¡°And no, no one can keep me from trouble.¡± He stepped out from the other room to greet his father. ¡°You didn¡¯t forget, did you?¡± Diane asked Marcus. ¡°About what Ronald is doing today?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡± he thought, shaking his head shamefully, forgetting something about his own son. ¡°Oh, today¡¯s when you¡¯re starting your job! I¡¯m sorry I completely forgot.¡± ¡°Eh, it¡¯s no problem; you¡¯re busy too.¡± Ronald shrugged. ¡°But I¡¯m your father, and I¡¯m the one who pestered you the most about finding a job. It¡¯s the one you applied for at the theater, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Yeah, and the best part is, besides getting paid, of course, is that I get to see two movies for free every week.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good and all, but don¡¯t let your boss think that¡¯s why you¡¯re really there. Work hard every minute you¡¯re on the clock, and do everything with a good attitude. Remember, work as unto Christ, though your boss is in the flesh.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± ¡°Good, so what time do you start?¡± ¡°7:30, and I work until 12:30.¡± ¡°Ah, the night shift, I think you¡¯ll enjoy it. That¡¯s always the busiest time at the movies, on a Friday night, no less. How about we have dinner first and then we¡¯ll leave at seven.¡± ¡°Sounds good, and I guess mom will pick me up after?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll do that.¡± She answered. During dinner, Ronald couldn¡¯t stop thinking about work; he was excited to get started. At first, he grumbled at the fact that his millionaire dad was going to stop paying him allowance for chores, but Marcus lectured him on the importance of having a job and learning to work hard for your money. Despite being affluent, Marcus didn¡¯t want to spoil his children so much that they would learn to hate working, but told each and every one of them that he wasn¡¯t going to give them allowance forever, and that they would have to find their way into the workforce somehow. Right now, Ronald was the only one old enough to get a job; Cecilia was thirteen, and the wolf siblings were nine. They got money by doing simple chores around the house, but were told that once they were in their late teens, it¡¯d be time to find real work. So after dinner, Marcus took his son to work, and at the same time, Jack was just getting home from work. Marie didn¡¯t know what was taking her husband so long to get home, and just when she started to pace back and forth from worry, she looked out the window and saw him pulling into the driveway. She sighed at his tardiness, but thought he would have a good reason for it. She thought that, since their seventh anniversary was tomorrow, he was picking up something from the story for the occasion. ¡°Just be happy he¡¯s home,¡± she told herself, ¡°Jack must have something sweet and romantic up his sleeve.¡± When she saw him exit his car, she then saw him pull out two boxes of pizza, and a bag which she assumed contained drinks. She also saw a very excited and thrilled look on his face, as though he had caught a glimpse of heaven. She also knew that pizza was only something they got when there was something to celebrate, so she became very intrigued. She opened the door for him, and he immediately set everything down and kissed and hugged her. She returned his affection, though she knew for certain now there was something major going on. He loved her, but didn¡¯t always make a big show of it each time he saw her. ¡°So Jack, what¡¯s the news? I have a feeling there¡¯s something bigger than just our special day tomorrow.¡± She smiled.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°There could be¡­¡± he couldn¡¯t hide the huge grin on his face. ¡°Maybe something will be said during dinner; you never know!¡± Their young children, Dylan (five) and Beth (three), came in to greet their dad, but there was no time to even say hello before he scooped them up in his arms and hugged them. ¡°My lovely, crazy kids! How was your day today?¡± He asked, kissing them each on the forehead. ¡°Mommy was teaching me how to read.¡± Dylan shared, whereas Beth told him how she was learning her numbers. ¡°You¡¯re so happy.¡± Dylan commented, not used to his dad¡¯s current level of enthusiasm. ¡°I am very happy, and you know why? I have you two wonderful children to come home to, and the best wife a man could ask for. Plus, if I¡¯m being really honest, something really good happened at work today, and I¡¯m going to share it with all of you!¡± So then, Marie set out the plates and napkins while Jack set out slices of pizza for everyone. Jack was so excited to get into the news that Marie had to remind him they should pray first. ¡°Right, thanks for reminding me.¡± They held each other¡¯s paws, bowed their heads, and Jack gave thanks for his family, job, the spiritual blessings they had in Christ, and for the love of God that shined on them through every circumstance. After amen-ing at the end, the family began to eat, but Marie asked her husband right away about his good news. ¡°Well, everyone, I just want you to brace yourself.¡± He cleared his throat. ¡°What I¡¯m about to tell you isn¡¯t just any ordinary good news. Just before I was about to leave work today, I got a call from a customer, and, well...he was very, very generous.¡± Marie nodded, knowing that this would have something to do with his job. ¡°How generous was he?¡± ¡°I want you to guess first.¡± He smirked. ¡°I bet you won¡¯t get it in three tries.¡± ¡°A million billion!¡± Beth blurted out; though not asked, she was excited to spout off giant numbers since she was learning how to read them. Jack laughed. ¡°Not quite, but I love the confidence!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s see...two hundred grand?¡± Marie started, but Jack shook his head. ¡°Higher¡­¡± Marie raised her eyebrows. ¡°Huh...three hundred?¡± ¡°Nope! You get one more guess.¡± ¡°Five hundred? There¡¯s no way it¡¯s that high, is it? That would be life-changing.¡± ¡°It would be, and yet...that¡¯s still not it.¡± Jack cleared his throat again, not even prepared himself to say the number. ¡°What if I told you, that, the amount the customer is paying me, is¡­¡± Silence filled the air for a few seconds. ¡°One million, and forty-four thousand dollars.¡± The number was so much more massive than Marie was anticipating that she couldn¡¯t process it right away. She just stared at him for several seconds with mouth agape, and then she slowly shook her head. ¡°You¡¯re not serious.¡± ¡°Marie, I couldn¡¯t be more serious than I am being right now. The man who called me is the principal of a school for hearing and sight-impaired students, and he wanted devices for all of the students. I had a suspicion at first that I was being prank-called, but this man was for real. Marie, do you have any idea what this is going to do for us?¡± Neither spouse even took notice of the pizza on their plates; Marie¡¯s paws were over her mouth in utter shock and amazement. Jack reached over and took one of them with his own. ¡°Our future¡¯s going to change...big time. I didn¡¯t think, that, with Marcus and his company in our same town, we would get this lucky. I may not ever know why this customer chose to order from me instead of him, but all we can do is take the opportunity and run with it. This will means I will be much busier over the next two weeks preparing the order, but this will have profound effects on us for years to come.¡± ¡°Jack, it is very hard for me to describe just how excited I am about this; if you put that much money in my hand right now, I¡¯d barely know what to do with it. This is beyond wonderful!¡± The number itself barely registered in the kids¡¯ heads right now, choosing to dig into their pizza while mommy and daddy talked. ¡°I do have some ideas about what I will be doing with that money, but first thing on my plate will be finishing that order.¡± The two of them finally started on their pizza, though their minds were still on that towering pile of money. Plus, they were really looking forward to celebrating their anniversary, so this weekend was extra special. So while the little sable family was wrapping up their night, Ronald was just getting started on his. He was one of eight new hires, the other seven being about his age too. Their jobs consisted of working the movie projectors to start each particular movie, cleaning up the isles after each showing, taking the trash out to the dumpsters when they got full, and working the concession stand between showings. Ronald was ready to work hard for his $7.25-an-hour, and show his boss he was worth every penny. ¡°Okay, so Ronald, you¡¯re going to start rolling the movie in Room 3 at 6:00, and I¡¯ll guide you through it.¡± His supervisor, a ferret not much older than him, explained. ¡°Got it; I¡¯m ready to learn.¡± He wasn¡¯t expecting the job to be very difficult, and so he hoped there was some kind of ladder he could climb in this company to do harder work and earn more. He knew that if he proved himself as the best employee that ever lived, then he¡¯d be promoted in no time. He stewed in his thoughts while walking to Room 3, but just before he entered, he bumped into another employee who was leaving her station, a cute female squirrel who appeared his age, and he was immediately distracted. ¡°Oh hi, are you new here too?¡± She asked him. ¡°Uh, yeah¡­¡± He replied clumsily, still distracted by her cuteness. He could barely look her in the eyes. ¡°You know what, I remember seeing you at the group interview. You¡¯re Marcus¡¯ kid, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Heh, yeah.¡± He got that a lot from others. ¡°That¡¯s me.¡± ¡°Well, I think it¡¯s great that you¡¯re working here, even though your dad could give you all the money in the world.¡± ¡°Uh, I guess. It is kind of my choice to be here, but he also pushed me into finding a job.¡± He still couldn¡¯t look directly into her eyes, and he fidgeted a lot. Truth be told, he wanted to ask her out, but was nervous about doing so. ¡°Well, I like that anyways.¡± She then paused abruptly and fidgeted herself. ¡°Listen, uh, I¡¯m kinda nervous about this, but...I was wondering...are you free after work later, you know...for a date, or something? You seem like a cute and interesting guy, and all.¡± Ronald¡¯s spirits lifted; he got to go out with this cute girl, and he didn¡¯t even have to ask! He nodded quickly, maybe too quickly; it was as though she was going to vanish from his sight and go out with another guy if he didn¡¯t respond right away. ¡°I-I¡¯m Ronald, by the way. I don¡¯t think you told me your name.¡± He said. ¡°I¡¯m Ashley, and say...we¡¯ll meet in the plaza after work? I already know something fun we can do afterwards.¡± She giggled. ¡°Like what?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a surprise, but I promise it¡¯s going to be really fun.¡± ¡°Heh, alright. I guess surprises can be fun. I¡¯ll see you after work then.¡± He waved at her as he continued on to his station, and she waved back as she went on to hers. Ronald thought off-and-on about what kind of thing Ashley had in store for their little date. A walk in the park? A moonlit stroll by the lake? A friendly conversation in the plaza? He then realized a few things. ¡°Ashley wants me to do something with her in the middle of the night, and we¡¯re a boy and girl in our late teens who think the other is cute and attractive...wait¡­¡± A look of horror flashed across his face. Ashley didn¡¯t want...that, did she? Ronald knew he was a flawed person, but he knew better than to make a mistake of this size, at his age, no less. Of course, maybe she just wanted to do something innocent, and he was just assuming the worst, but then, the worst could still happen. Should he just call it off with Ashley, or try to get her to spill the beans on her plans next time he ran into her? At around 11:30 that night, Marcus was sound asleep, but Diane was up, having a cup of coffee as she waited for 12:30. Besides her, Cecilia was the only other one who was up, listening to a Tchaikovsky CD and sketching something in her notebook quietly. Xavier, Janet, and Claudia had earlier bedtimes, so they were already asleep. The phone rang, and Dinae put her mug down and answered it. ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Hey mom.¡± ¡°Oh, Ronald! Uh, you¡¯re not done already, are you? Don¡¯t you have another hour?¡± ¡°Well, I did, but I just wanted to let you know you won¡¯t need to pick me up at 12:30. You see, uh, they asked me if I could stay an extra shift to help clean up the place. It got messier than usual because there were so many people here, and they need the extra help.¡± ¡°Wait, did you agree to this? It¡¯s barely your first day.¡± ¡°I know, but they told me that they¡¯re already impressed with my hard work, and asked if I was willing to do even more. They said they were going to pay me more, and I said yes.¡± ¡°Really? Well, I¡¯m proud of you then for making a good impression on your first day. When will you be done?¡± ¡°I think, like, 6:00. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m getting a ride home.¡± ¡°From who?¡± ¡°Another coworker I¡¯m friends with.¡± ¡°Alright. Well, thanks for letting me know, and I¡¯ll see you in the morning. Please be careful, okay?¡± ¡°I will. I love you.¡± ¡°I love you too, Ronald. Good night.¡± Diane hung up, and let out a sigh of exhaustion. She hoped Ronald was telling the truth; boys his age typically liked to go out and have fun after work with other friends, and at this hour, if he were doing that, he certainly wouldn¡¯t want his mother to know. She certainly wouldn¡¯t want her son partying at this hour with strangers; that¡¯s for sure. However, maybe he was being truthful, and he really was going to stay an extra five hours to help clean trash and whatnot. But if he was getting into trouble; she¡¯d find out about it one way or another. A few hours before this, the Tyndales had finished their pizza, and Jack surprised them further with ice cream. As far as their children were concerned, this was the best day possible, just for the pizza and ice cream. ¡°Listen, kids.¡± Jack started as they were shoveling ice cream into their mouths. ¡°Firstly, don¡¯t eat like that, it¡¯s messy and gross. Secondly, your mother and I are going to be away for the night, so your Aunt Meg is going to babysit you two, since we know how much you like her.¡± The kids were thrilled; Aunt Meg always brought over fun games over for them to play, and she knew how to tell funny stories that always got them laughing. She was Marie¡¯s twin sister, and she took every opportunity she could get to look after Dylan and Beth. After Meg had arrived, a bag of goodies in her paw for the children, Jack and Marie headed out; Jack taking his own bag of goodies for the night. For the next several hours, it would just be them. They drove out to their secret little spot; not a single other soul knew where they were going. The drive took an hour, but it seemed to just breeze by. The two talked on and on about their years together; reflecting on when they first met, got engaged, got married, had Dylan, and then Beth, and how they¡¯ve been through it all together. Just for now, they wanted to talk more about each other than the million dollars. Jack pulled up into a remote area only accessible by a well-hidden back road that twisted and turned through a thick grove of cedar trees. The end of the road took them to a lakeshore, and though the shore itself didn¡¯t look too special, it was cozy and intimate. Neither of the two had ever seen anyone else here, and that was exactly how they wanted it. They could lie down and look up at the stars, and have deep, personal conversations that no one else would ever hear. As far as they were concerned, this was their plot of land. The goodies that Jack brought along were simple; there were romantic-themed chocolates (like chocolate-covered strawberries), a bottle of champagne, and a couple of glasses for that champagne. They otherwise never actually drank, but this particular drink was reserved for special occasions. ¡°Here you are,¡± Jack poured her glass first, followed by his, and he set the sweets out. ¡°Thank you, my love.¡± She picked up her glass, and they toasted each other and took a sip. ¡°Seven wonderful years; we¡¯ve done so much together, and yet it went by so fast.¡± Jack commented. ¡°And just think how much more we¡¯ll experience together.¡± Marie added. ¡°Be it all good, or be it difficult, we¡¯ll share in it as one. I am beyond thankful for this deal you struck at work, but even if it never happened, I will always be thankful that I have you in my life, and in my future. You will always be worth more to me than all the treasures in the world.¡± Their conversation began romantically like this, but the topic of the million-dollar deal sprung up eventually. Jack waxed long about his ideas; advertising, giving raises, creating and selling new products, expanding his business, investing in their children¡¯s futures, and also, perhaps, giving Marcus some serious competition. ¡°I hope you¡¯re not feeling that envious of him.¡± Marie remarked, taking a chocolate from the box. ¡°Let¡¯s be honest, I know you can be driven crazy with this whole competition thing with Marcus, and we all know what happens if you let envy guide your actions.¡± Jack nodded, also taking a chocolate. ¡°I¡¯m not envious, don¡¯t worry. I don¡¯t consider Marcus an enemy, or want him destroyed, or anything; I¡¯m just saying it¡¯ll be validating to even enter onto that wolf¡¯s radar.¡± ¡°I think you should be more focused on just doing what is best for the business than comparing yourself with others. Yes, Marcus is very successful, but so are you. You don¡¯t need to have millions of dollars to have validity; you¡¯re a loving soul who cares about disabled people, you¡¯re a terrific husband, father, and provider, and I know you care very much about the things of God, and that you want to use a lot of that money to benefit others. Good character and honor are more important than fickle riches and rivalries, and I just don¡¯t want you to lose sight of that.¡± ¡°Of course, I¡¯m sorry I get carried away with things like that.¡± ¡°Aw, there¡¯s no need to apologize for anything,¡± she nuzzled him, ¡°I¡¯m just giving you my wifely advice. Hopefully it¡¯s sound.¡± The truth was, Jack was driven a lot by competition. He knew he was the tiny underdog living in Marcus¡¯ shadow, but he also didn¡¯t want to back down if he thought there was a chance he could seriously rival the wolf. It wouldn¡¯t be now, but perhaps, in ten or so years, he would be giving the big canine a run for his money. The night progressed, and their conversation gave way to silence as they took in the night sky together. Not a single cloud was there to obscure the diamond-speckled firmament that surrounded them. Later on, the two of them decided to walk along the perimeter of the shore. They had no idea what time it was anymore, but they couldn¡¯t care less about it. For now, the night would last forever, and this moment of intimacy would never cease. Eventually, the two of them stumbled across a small, cozy cave, and that was where they spent the rest of their night. ------ At around 4 in the morning, Marie woke up from the short sleep that she had succumbed to. Jack was next to her, but not awake yet. Even though it was still dark out, she knew they should head back home right now. Their children became forefront in her mind again, and her motherly instincts wanted to make sure they were doing okay. She also didn¡¯t want to make her sister look after them longer than they agreed to. She had no idea how much time there was between now and when the sun would be coming up again, but she did promise they¡¯d be back by morning. She woke Jack up and reminded him that they should be heading back now. ¡°Are you okay to drive right now?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± He yawned. ¡°I just need to take a minute to wake up. Let me just say that tonight was the best night I¡¯ve had in so, so long. It almost feels like it was just a dream.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± She smiled and kissed him. ¡°Of course, returning to reality will be sad at first, but we gotta stay grounded. Besides, now you know you¡¯re going to have to work longer hours for the next couple of weeks to complete your order. It might be good for you to head to work today and get started on it.¡± ¡°Oh, I plan to. I¡¯ll work seven days a week if that¡¯s what it takes.¡± The two of them eventually began heading back home; Jack awake enough to keep his eyes focused on the dimly lit road. Neither of them talked very much during the drive back; mostly it was because of being tired, but Marie had another reason for her reticence. There was a chance that she could now be pregnant with their third child, and the prospect of having another baby made her excited, but also very distracted. They loved their two children to pieces, and a third one would mean more joy for Jack and Marie, even if it also came with more messes, screaming, crying, sleepless nights, and temper tantrums. They believed children were a blessing from the Lord, and Marie was hoping she was pregnant. The two of them got home past 5:00, and the sun had not risen yet. Meg was asleep on the sofa, the kids were in their respective beds, and the house was only somewhat messy. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it.¡± Marie said to her husband. ¡°Go sleep so you¡¯re rested for work.¡± ¡°Good idea.¡± He yawned. ¡°Good night.¡± ¡°Good night.¡± They kissed one last time before Jack went to bed. Marie wanted to sleep too, but the mess, combined with the potential third child on her mind, kept her restless. It took her only ten minutes to tidy everything up, and then she decided she was going to go outside and watch the sunrise before going to sleep again. The sky was just starting to light up, and she thought waiting a little longer for the sun to come up before going to bed would be worth it. She stepped outside into the cool air, and took in her surroundings. Mostly everyone was still asleep, so it was quiet, save for the chirping of some birds. It was such a peaceful morning, and she thought absolutely nothing could ruin it. And then something did. She heard a small blast in the distance, and immediately turned her head in that direction. She noticed a small light shooting upwards in the distance, and thought it was a firework at first. However, instead of exploding in the air, like a firework should, it reached its parabolic vertex, didn¡¯t blow up, and then came plummeting back to the ground. Into the forest. Marie¡¯s heart just about stopped; she was certain she was watching a bomb or a rocket hurtle downwards, and was terrified it was going to blow up and start a fire. It then impacted the ground, and though she was far enough away, she heard the explosion loud and clear. This was accompanied by an orange flash, and Marie screamed. It appeared that the object had exploded in the industrial zone, and though she knew it wasn¡¯t likely that anyone was there right now at this hour, on a Saturday (not likely, but possible), she knew what was in that zone. Jack¡¯s business. Chapter 2 Marie raced back into the house to alert her husband about what just happened, but it appeared he had heard the blast too. ¡°Did you hear that?¡± He asked, making his way outside, and she followed him. ¡°Jack, I saw it happen, and it looked like the blast happened near your work! We have to go down there!¡± Jack shouted an epithet as he looked out where the fire was. He ran back in, grabbed his keys, and got into his car. ¡°Wait, I¡¯m coming!¡± Marie quickly hopped into the passenger seat before Jack could take off. He was breaking the speed limit, and he didn¡¯t care. Meg was woken up by the shouting from earlier, but was too disoriented to realize what was happening, and so stayed back home with the sleeping kids. Those closer to the blast had already called the fire department, and there were others who had driven out to see what was going on. It wasn¡¯t actually that huge of a fire, but of course, there was always the risk of it spreading, and so had to be quenched as soon as possible. It didn¡¯t appear to nail any trees or foliage, thankfully, but would any of the buildings fare just as well? Meanwhile, Marcus had barely just woken up when he heard the blast from far away. Alarmed, he ran outside, and saw the same orange glow that Jack and Marie had seen. He was horrified; people may have gotten killed, and buildings may have been destroyed. His work was also in that direction, and while a building fire wouldn¡¯t end his whole career, it¡¯d certainly set him back. He hoped that the blast hit nothing, but knew that wasn¡¯t likely. He also had a deja vu moment, remembering how a fiery blast had destroyed the forest he lived in up until nine years ago, and how he was blamed for it (though it didn¡¯t help that he also blamed himself). He went to wake Diane up, and when he told her what was going on, she had to run out to see it for herself. In a motherly panic, she ran back inside to make sure all her children were accounted for. They were woken up by her hurried voice; hearing the panic, but not knowing why she was being like this. They were all here. Except Ronald. ¡°Ronald!¡± She poked around his room, heart racing. She couldn¡¯t find him, and her eyes began to water. He could¡¯ve been out in that fire! But then she noticed the time; 5:51am, and then remembered that he was working the extra shift at the movies until six. Her heart rate slowed down, and she wiped her eyes. He would be home soon, and she knew the movies were nowhere near that blast. The three young wolves and the older squirrel walked out to find out from their mother what was wrong. ¡°Hey, where¡¯s Ronald?¡± Claudia asked. ¡°Still at work, but he¡¯s fine. Anyways, go look outside; you¡¯ll see why I was panicked. Your dad¡¯s out there too.¡± They ran out into the cool morning air just in time to see their father getting into his car. ¡°Dad! Where are you going?¡± Janet asked, and then she, along with her siblings, saw the fire. Cecilia gasped and screamed, also being reminded of the fire she and her brother ran from years ago, and also realizing that her father¡¯s business was in that area. ¡°I¡¯m going to see how bad it really is over there; hopefully it¡¯s not as bad as it looks.¡± ¡°Can we come?¡± Xavier asked, tail wagging, wanting to get close to danger. ¡°No, stay here¡­¡± Marcus then finally noticed who was missing after being preoccupied with the fire. ¡°Where¡¯s Ronald? Is he still asleep?¡± ¡°Mom says he¡¯s still at work; he took an extra shift.¡± Cecilia answered. Marcus raised his eyebrows, wondering if his son had either impressed his boss, or did something terribly wrong and was being punished. ¡°I see...Anyways, I want all of you to stay here, and let Ronald know where I am if he asks. Hopefully I won¡¯t be gone for long.¡± He said good-bye to them and drove away. Meanwhile, Diane kept an eye out for Ronald, as he should be getting home any minute now. Due to her emotional state right now, she was mad at him for taking another shift; she wanted him home right now, safe and sound. By 6:20, Ronald was still not home, and Diane knew the movies were only a five-minute drive from here. She looked out the window for any cars approaching the house, but the ones that did had no Ronald in them to drop off. She did not want to go down this route, but she was thinking she was going to go down to the theater herself and look for him there. She was not typically this short with him, but the fire and the blast set her on edge, and she thought it was rude of him to be out this long without letting her or Marcus know his plans. 6:30 rolled by, and since there was still no Ronald in sight, she decided she was going to drive down to his workplace and find out what was going on. She told the four children to get into the car because she wasn¡¯t going to leave them here with no adult. Meanwhile, Jack and Marie raced towards the fire, and the closer and closer they got, the more they feared the worst. The fire was starting to look like it was very close to Jack¡¯s business...if not directly consuming it. They could hear sirens blaring as fire trucks raced to the scene to extinguish the inferno. They rounded the corner onto the street where his work was...and the sight was not what they wanted to see. ¡°Jack!¡± Marie shrieked, tears filling her eyes. ¡°It can¡¯t be!¡± Their fears came true. The good news was that the fire was isolated to one structure; not spreading to other structures or trees. The bad news? The fire was consuming Jack¡¯s business...and only his business. Jack grinded to a halt as soon as he realized what was happening, and he ran out. ¡°NO! MY WORK! MY LIVELIHOOD!¡± He yelled, helplessly watching as everything he worked for slowly burned away. There were firefighters doing their best to put out the flames, but no amount of water was going to undo the damage that was already done. Jack was sobbing and clutching his stomach as the cruel fire tore away at the business he took years to get off the ground and get going. He hadn¡¯t cried in agony like this in years; he knew he was making a scene, and he couldn¡¯t possibly care less. Marie ran to his side and hugged him tightly, also crying. ¡°Jack, I know this is horrible, but...we¡¯ll get through this! We¡¯ve been hit, but we¡¯re not going down without fighting! Be strong for me, Jack¡­¡± ¡°Why me?!¡± Was all he could cry out. ¡°Not twelve hours after striking a million-dollar deal does a random, freak explosion take down ONLY my business!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know why this only happened to you, but you can¡¯t let yourself feel defeated and give up.¡± She then looked him in the eyes, but was still crying. ¡°Remember everything you told me last night about what you wanted to do with this business, and everything you wanted to get done with that money? You can still make it happen, no, WE can still make it happen! I want that future just as much as you do, and we¡¯re not going to let this fire burn it away!¡± Jack looked again at the building, and though the fire was dwindling, the destruction done to the building was mortifying. Most of the roof and most of two of the walls had been reduced to rubble and ash The smoke made it difficult to see what other damage had been done, and the acrid stench of burning chemicals made every onlooker step further back. ¡°Marie, I can¡¯t understand how you are taking it this well.¡± Jack said to her. ¡°How can you feel like a winner when our very future is in jeopardy? I know you¡¯re the one to be an idealist, but let¡¯s be real; we¡¯re not coming back from this¡­¡± Jack shook his head. ¡°Marie, I¡¯m so sorry...I wish I was as hopeful as you...but it¡¯s just not in me¡­¡± She was already devastated by this fire, but dealing with Jack¡¯s negativity compounded her frustration. ¡°Stop it, Jack. Maybe we won¡¯t get this all fixed within two weeks to do your order, but this isn¡¯t the end of your life. You have a passion for what you do, and if that¡¯s something really true to you, you¡¯re going to see to it that everything is rebuilt and back to normal. You also still have me, and you have other family and friends who will be more than happy to help you get everything back to normal. I¡¯m more than willing to fight for that wonderful future you described, and I really hope you are too.¡± They heard another car pull up; Jack and Marie knowing it was just another spectator to this infernal calamity. Fire always put on a good show, regardless if it was making anyone suffer or not. Jack didn¡¯t look, not caring about the presence of others, but Marie took a glance, and her eyebrows raised. ¡°Is that Marcus?¡± Jack turned his head, and just as Marie pointed out, there was that wolf. He was still about thirty feet away, but was also looking right at them. Why was he here? Maybe he knew about Jack all along, and came here to see his crushing defeat. ¡°Hi...this is your guys¡¯ business?¡± Marcus asked them as he approached the hurting couple. ¡°Y-yes.¡± Marie answered. ¡°We can¡¯t believe this happened, but at least it looks like no one got hurt, or worse.¡± She wiped some more moisture from her eyes. Jack wanted to comment how he wished he were dead instead of experiencing this moment, but knew Marie would bite his head off for that. ¡°Marcus,¡± Jack started, looking weakly up at him, as though standing before a titan. The wolf was tall and confident, and he was like a crumpled, limp little worm. ¡°I really don¡¯t know what made you want to even deign to speak to us, but it means a lot coming from you.¡± ¡°Uh,¡± Marcus didn¡¯t know how to react to that. ¡°I, uh, guess I really need no introduction then. I came here, firstly, to see if my own building was okay, and secondly, I wanted to see if there was anyone I could help in the meantime. What are your names?¡± ¡°This is Marie, and I¡¯m Jack.¡± ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you two, and I¡¯m so sorry about this...having this happen to my own livelihood would be unthinkable. Do you have a family you¡¯re taking care of?¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± Marie replied. ¡°And yes; we¡¯re married, and we have th-two children.¡± She nearly slipped up and said ¡°three,¡± still thinking there could be a third on the way. By now, the fire was nearly out, and the damage to the edifice was more fully realized. It was evident that, if Jack wanted to get back to work here, he was going to have to pay immensely. All he could do was hope and pray that insurance would cover this; at least it would take a little worry off of him. ¡°I hope it¡¯s not too forward of me to do this, seeing as we¡¯ve just met, but I want to help you get back on your feet, and save your job. If your insurance doesn¡¯t cover all the repair costs, I want to fund the remainder of it, and not make you have to worry about it. From one family man and entrepreneur to another, I¡¯d hate to see you, and the ones you care about, ruined.¡± Marie gasped. ¡°Th-that is so exceptionally kind. Jack, I really think you should take his offer into consideration; he¡¯s not even asking for anything in return.¡± Jack, being the competitor that was, felt very mixed about this. Would accepting help from a rival be the same as accepting defeat? Marcus would find out sooner or later what his line of work was, and he¡¯d either rescind his offer, or rub it in his face. Sure, Marcus was being all nice and everything right now, but that¡¯d surely change the moment he found out what Jack did. He then thought of a way he might be able to get out of feeling defeated by this wolf. ¡°That is so generous of you, thank you.¡± Jack said. ¡°What I should do first is tell my insurance what happened and then ask how much they¡¯ll cover. They¡¯ve been good to me before, so I¡¯m sure no one will have to pay anything.¡± ¡°Fair, do what you need to do.¡± Marcus replied. He was about to add that money was not an issue for him anyways, but thought that¡¯d come off as snobby and elitist in this particular scenario. ¡°I¡¯ll be back.¡± Jack went to his car and then drove back home to go call his insurance. 100-percent coverage would mean not just getting to pay nothing out-of-pocket, but also not letting Marcus get any foothold in his business. After all, once your rival helps you, then you may as well just throw in the towel and concede the fight. Meanwhile, Marcus and Marie were left by themselves. ¡°So the both of you own this business?¡± ¡°Only Jack does, but I guess you could say I¡¯m his support.¡± ¡°What kind of business is it?¡± Thanks to the fire, the name of the business wasn¡¯t visible anymore.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Jack produces and sells specialized eyeglasses and hearing aids, but he has plans to expand in the near future.¡± ¡°Ah, a fellow helper for the disabled. I¡¯m sorry I haven¡¯t heard of you guys before; I think it¡¯s an honorable career, and it¡¯s good to know there¡¯s someone like him in our town also helping them.¡± Marie was worried at first about mentioning what Jack¡¯s career was, seeing that Marcus did the same thing, but was relieved to hear him say those things about her husband. Marcus referred to Jack as more of a peer than a rival. ¡°Thank you, and that means a lot coming from you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m in my line of work because I want to help people have a normal life and succeed, and it makes me happy seeing others doing the same, even if there¡¯s going to be some inevitable competition in the market. Honestly, that stuff never enters my mind when I go into work; I just focus on my job, and how I can improve and help at least one other person that day get the kind of life they wanted. There should be more people like Jack in our town, and he didn¡¯t deserve for this horrible fire to destroy his business like this.¡± Marie gave the big canine a big hug; despite being top dog (or wolf) in this industry, he wanted to see others in his field succeed as well. He seemed to care more about fulfilling an important need than measuring up to someone else. The two then went on to talk about their kids, life at home, etcetera. Marie took note of how Marcus never rubbed his wealth in her face, and how the things he and his family enjoyed sounded a lot like the things most people enjoyed. If this conversation was all that she had to go on to know about Marcus, she would¡¯ve had no idea he was a millionaire. He came off as relatable, friendly, and easy to talk to. Jack came back a half-hour later, and before Marie could ask him anything, his forlorn expression said everything. ¡°Well¡­¡± He started. ¡°Are they not going to cover everything? I thought fire damage was included in the disasters covered by them, right?¡± Marie asked. ¡°Apparently¡­¡± Jack sighed. ¡°They decided to stop covering fire damage two months ago...and never told me.¡± Marie shook her head in disbelief. ¡°So that means-¡± ¡°That it all has to be paid out-of-pocket; every single penny! All they could give me was a lame ¡°sorry ¡®bout that,¡± and then they reminded me about my monthly payment before hanging up on me.¡± Jack¡¯s face was red; not with sadness or embarrassment, but with anger. Marie sighed and hugged Jack for several seconds, seeing the veins bulging in his forehead. She really did not want him to explode. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Jack,¡± she whispered calmly into his ear, ¡°you know the last thing we want is for you to be enraged again. I want you to push that insurance company out of your mind right now and pray for the peace of God to rule in your heart.¡± The concern and care in her voice was apparent, but Jack also detected a little fear, and he didn¡¯t blame her. ¡°I will; I¡¯m sorry, my dear wife.¡± ¡°I just want you and everyone around us to be okay¡­¡± Marcus couldn¡¯t hear what they were saying, but knew not to ask about it. After their private moment, Jack approached Marcus, though was too intimidated to make direct eye contact with him. ¡°Marcus¡­¡± he sighed. ¡°It turns out that, well...I¡¯ll need the help. Insurance isn¡¯t going to help at all, and paying for the repairs out-of-pocket will break my family and render us homeless. I¡¯m sorry it worked out this way.¡± ¡°There¡¯s nothing to be sorry about; insurance companies don¡¯t tend to help you when you need them most, and that¡¯s not your fault. Do you know what the estimated cost will be?¡± ¡°I talked to the landlord about this after talking to the insurance company, and after describing the damage to him, he said it¡¯ll probably be around $500,000.¡± Marie gasped; if Marcus had not shown up to help, they very well would¡¯ve ended up destitute and homeless. The amount didn¡¯t even make Marcus blink or raise an eyebrow. ¡°I see; once you get the final cost, let me know, and I¡¯ll pay the entire bill. I know these city contractors and workers don¡¯t like working the weekend, but I¡¯ll get them to do it, and I¡¯ll see to it your business starts getting rebuilt before noon today, and gets finished before this time next week.¡± ¡°Marcus, I want to ask you something in private, if you don¡¯t mind.¡± Jack said. ¡°Not at all.¡± The two of them walked far enough away to be out of Marie¡¯s earshot, and then Jack started. ¡°I am honestly more grateful than you can imagine that you¡¯ve been so magnanimous towards me any my family, and I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any possible way I¡¯d ever be able to repay you. I¡¯m just curious about something...why are you so invested in helping us? I mean, I know you are extremely wealthy, but offering to spend 500 grand for a complete stranger, I don¡¯t know, seems so unusual to me.¡± ¡°You are right, it is unusual, and that is a very generous amount to give to someone you just met. Firstly, I believe money is primarily a tool for helping others if we can, and since I have so much of it, that gives me more opportunity to be helpful with it. When I saw you and Marie standing there before your burning business, so broken and defeated, it broke my heart, and since I knew I had the means to make things better for you two, I had to take it. Secondly, Marie told me what it is you do for a living, and that just made me even more invested in seeing you get back up on your feet. You have something very good going on, and I want to see it succeed.¡± ¡°Y-you do? It really doesn¡¯t bother you that you¡¯re helping me so much when I¡¯m contending with you in the same market?¡± ¡°Maybe most people would see that as crazy, and I understand, but I also don¡¯t believe in being cold. If two people are running a race, and one stumbles and falls; it would be the logical thing for the other to keep going and not care. If he went back to help his competitor get back up and keep running, he risks losing the race, and spectators would be confused, but it was the kindhearted thing for him to do. I fully understand we are competing for dollars, but that¡¯s just not the most important thing to me; no amount of money is worth letting someone else suffer and drown when you can extend a helping hand. That is what I truly believe, and I know you¡¯d do the same for someone else if they were hurting, and you had the means to help them...even if they were your rival.¡± Jack didn¡¯t reply at first; he could only look down in shame. He was all about the competition and trying to get ahead, and Marcus was all about helping people. He practically felt like the worst person in the world right now. ¡°I have so much to learn.¡± Jack admitted. ¡°Thank you for everything, and I would really like to reciprocate some kindness back to you, even if it¡¯s not 500K.¡± ¡°Consider it a gift; I don¡¯t want you to think you need to repay anything and feel burdened.¡± ¡°At the very least, perhaps we could invite you and your family to dinner, or a picnic, or anything like that.¡± ¡°We would be happy to come if you did, and perhaps this is the start of a friendship for us. If you ask me, I like having friends more than rivals.¡± Jack was thankful his ¡°competitor¡± didn¡¯t have the attitude like one; he pretty much owed him the rest of his career and future. True to his word, Marcus was able to pay off city repair workers to work on rebuilding Jack¡¯s business before noon. Marcus, of course, didn¡¯t technically have authority over them, but then, money does talk. As if that weren¡¯t enough, after Jack had mentioned his million-dollar order he had received the previous day, Marcus agreed to allot a certain amount of his own factory space to let Jack fulfill it. On top of all of that, he did not demand so much as a single percentage of that profit as thanks, even though Jack wouldn¡¯t have minded doing so. The wolf was practically treating him as a friend, or a family member, as though Marcus were his older brother. He was starting to feel spoiled; why was Marcus being so nice? He knew he had that reputation, but he was even nicer than what people mentioned. And then Jack had a passing thought that maybe Marcus had ulterior motives. Of course, it wasn¡¯t a thought he took seriously, but there were coincidences he couldn¡¯t ignore. For one, it was very unnerving that the blast not only happened, but that it happened just hours after his million-dollar deal. Next, Marcus just happened to show up and talk to him and his wife, as though he was expecting them there. Thirdly, he starts offering himself as a hero who will save the day with all his money and big, gigantic heart. He wondered if this was all really part of a big conspiracy to take over his business and expand, and leave Jack and his family in the dust. The two were in bed, about to turn in for the night, when Jack opened the can of worms. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Marie, but there¡¯s just something bugging me about this whole thing with Marcus.¡± ¡°Really?¡± She looked over at him. ¡°How so?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a thought, so you don¡¯t have to take it seriously, but don¡¯t you think it¡¯s very strange how my business gets destroyed just hours after that deal, and then Marcus just happens to show up and shower all this kindness over us?¡± ¡°You think it¡¯s possible that this whole ordeal was somehow staged?¡± She replied, her tone itself saying she thought it was absurd. ¡°Well...yeah, but I¡¯m not saying I full-out believe that. It¡¯s just that, he and I are in the same market, and some people are willing to resort to extreme measures to stay ahead. I mean, how do you explain ONLY my business getting ruined in that whole complex, and then Marcus finding us seemingly right away, as though expecting us there?¡± ¡°Jack, I know your mind likes to go down those paths, and with what you¡¯ve gone through before, I don¡¯t blame you. You need to think this through, though. How could Marcus have possibly known about your deal, and then somehow manipulated a firework or bomb in the wee hours of morning to strike only your business? Even if he had hired someone to do that, that would be an absurd level of pyrotechnic wizardry, to craft a homing device in a few hours and then program it to perfection. Please, really think about what you¡¯re saying, and also, by no means, repeat ANY of what you said to Marcus, ever. Sometimes, bad things happen to lots of people at once, and sometimes, it¡¯s just one.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t; I promise.¡± He sighed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I said any of that. The past just haunts me sometimes, and it makes me say things that I know are wrong, but satiate my emotional hunger.¡± ¡°Your past can¡¯t make you say or do anything; you have a choice to submit to it, or ignore it.¡± She studied his restless and weary expression and body language during their talk, and it was apparent to her that he needed a respite. ¡°You know what I think would be good for all of us?¡± Marie started. ¡°A nice, relaxing vacation. We haven¡¯t gone on one since Dylan was born, and I think it would do us good, especially you. I think all of the hard work you put into your job and taking care of us is making you tired and stressed. You¡¯ve more than earned it.¡± ¡°Well, we can¡¯t do that now; I¡¯m still nowhere near finishing that order.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mean right now; of course you should do that first, but maybe after that. You could have one of your employees manage affairs in the meantime; at least, I hope you¡¯ve trained at least one person to do that, right?¡± ¡°I have, but...I don¡¯t know, I feel reluctant about going away for a long time. I mean, we already had our little getaway last night; I¡¯d feel like I¡¯m shirking my business by taking any more time to relax.¡± ¡°Last night wasn¡¯t meant to be a big vacation or getaway; it was meant to be just a celebration between you and me for one night. Just taking a few more days off of work isn¡¯t going to destroy us, and like you said, you have been training someone to take over for you if needed. I really, really think you should just take some time to get your mind off of work, bills, the rent, and get reenergized.¡± ¡°Okay...here¡¯s what I think; if I get this order out on time, then I¡¯ll feel better about taking a few days off and spending them with all of you.¡± He put his arm around her shoulders. ¡°Perhaps this could be an additional celebration, but now with the kids. I think they¡¯d love to see and experience someplace new; I think Dylan is old enough for it, at least. I don¡¯t know if Beth is old enough to remember a family trip at her age.¡± ¡°They¡¯ll love it regardless, and the best part will be that they¡¯ll be spending the time with family, whether or not they¡¯ll remember it in the future.¡± ¡°True.¡± Jack then yawned. ¡°Well, I should hit the hay; after all, there¡¯s work to be done.¡± ¡°It¡¯s going to be unusual with you not here on a Sunday, but I know it has to be done. Good night, Jack, and remember, always bring your cares and worries to the Lord.¡± They kissed each other good night, turned off the lights, and lay their heads down to sleep. For the Tyndales, Sundays typically meant going to the house of a good friend of theirs and gathering for time of fellowship and Bible study, like a little church. They had recently split off from a much larger assembly after it had become apparent they were going soft on the gospel, and sin; preaching that God was okay with it now since it was now paid for. Jack and Marie believed in forgiveness, mercy, and grace, but knew it was totally wrong for anyone to teach that sin was ever okay. The two had been going together since then, and they were planning on taking Dylan soon since they thought he was getting old enough to understand basic spiritual things. They typically left Beth with Meg, but after coming home, they¡¯d try to pass on something basic and easy to her to see if she could understand it yet. Today, only Marie and Dylan were going, as Jack would be working overtime to get his order finished. ¡°Dylan, make sure you copy everything down for me so I can read it when I get home, okay?¡± He said to his five-year old son before leaving. ¡°Okay daddy.¡± He nodded. ¡°Where are you going?¡± ¡°I gotta work today; I have some very important business to take care of, but don¡¯t you worry, I¡¯ll go with you to church soon, okay?¡± ¡°Okay.¡± He kissed his son, daughter, and then wife, good-bye. ¡°I love you, now be good, okay?¡± They said it back to him, and then he left for work. Before leaving, he thanked God for his family, and said sorry about his paranoia and worry during bad circumstances. Little did he know, he was about to make a small mistake that would wind up changing the rest of his and his family¡¯s life. Jack pulled up to his business, and as he beheld its incomplete, partially-repaired state, he hit his head lightly on the steering wheel. ¡°Stupid me, I¡¯m supposed to be getting my work done in Marcus¡¯ factory, not here! That¡¯s what happens when you¡¯re a creature of habit.¡± However, it was then he noticed another person, smaller, standing near the front door to the building. It was still taped off by a CAUTION strip due to the work still being done on it, but it was apparent this individual¡¯s presence here had to do with this building. It didn¡¯t seem like he wanted to break in and take things; more like he was waiting for someone to show up, and his body language suggested he had something urgent to say. Jack turned off his car and got out. ¡°Hello? Are you waiting for someone?¡± Jack asked him. This person looked familiar, but couldn¡¯t recall why. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± The seventeen-year old replied. ¡°I, uh, want to talk to whoever works here.¡± ¡°Well, I guess you¡¯re in luck, because that would be me.¡± Jack said. ¡°Do I know you? What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know me, but my name is Ronald. I know you¡¯ve met my dad, and, uh, after I heard about what happened, I wanted to, you know...help too, if I can.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s your dad? I can¡¯t think of any squirrels I know with a son named Ronald.¡± ¡°Oh no, my dad is Marcus. I know that¡¯s confusing, but he adopted me when I was eight. My first parents are long gone.¡± Jack was finding this all so strange; now Marcus¡¯ son was here all by himself this morning randomly wanting to do something to help? Either something fishy was going on, or this was genuinely the nicest family that lived on this planet. ¡°Well, I really appreciate that offer, honestly,¡± Jack replied, ¡°but I think your father has this all under control already; you don¡¯t need to worry about all of this. Besides, does he even know you¡¯re here right now?¡± ¡°Well, I told him I was going for a walk, but...I didn¡¯t say I was going to come here, exactly.¡± ¡°I think you should clear this with him first; if I¡¯m going to accept your help with anything, he deserves to know about it.¡± Ronald nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll do that.¡± ¡°Also, I¡¯m really not even sure what you could help with, unless you know something about rebuilding burned property.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t, but maybe I could do something like, you know, paint, or help move furniture, or just whatever needs to be done to make the place look nice again.¡± ¡°That sounds fair, but I want to make sure this is okay with your dad first. If it is, then I will accept your help, and I promise I will pay you for it.¡± ¡°Thank you, and I will talk to my dad about this.¡± ¡°Good, and thank you too. It¡¯s not typical for people to go out of their way to help strangers, but I¡¯m getting the sense that your family is not typical. I wish there were more people in the world like you and your dad. Anyways, I¡¯m going to head to your father¡¯s factory to continue my work, so go enjoy the rest of your walk, and I guess I will see you again soon.¡± Ronald nodded, and after a handshake, they parted ways. Jack didn¡¯t intend that morning to stop at his own business, but was glad he had made that small error. Ronald seemed like a good kid to him, even if his appearance seemed random and out-of-the-blue. Perhaps this would strengthen the ties between the two families, and who knows where that could lead? ¡°It¡¯s weird to think...but maybe my business getting hit was the best thing that ever happened to me; even better than just a one-off million-dollar deal. If Ronald and his dad are that sincerely nice, I really look forward to meeting the rest of that family.¡± On that thought, Jack continued on to Marcus¡¯ factory, whistling cheerfully the whole time. Chapter 3 Jack managed to get a lot of work done that day; it helped that his employees were willing to work overtime, and that the machinery they got to use that day ran faster and more efficiently than his own. Of course, as Marcus had much more money, he could afford superior technology. Speaking of Marcus, he showed up a few hours after Jack had started work. He asked the sable if he needed any additional assistance with the machinery, to which he said no; he was able to manage it just fine. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s good then. By the way, I had no idea you had spoken with Ronald this morning. He told me about what he wanted to do, and what you said as well.¡± ¡°Oh, uh, I hope I didn¡¯t do something wrong. He offered to help me; I never pressured him to do anything, and I didn¡¯t even know at first he was your son.¡± ¡°Oh no, you didn¡¯t do anything wrong. He told me he wanted to help you with your business in any way he could, and I just wanted to say I okayed the deal. In fact, you can borrow him as much as you need; just be aware that he has a night job on the weekends, and he does have a curfew. Besides that, he¡¯s all yours.¡± ¡°Thank you, both of you. Ronald seemed pretty eager to help. That was weird to me at first because he has nothing to do with this, but given how kind and generous you have been to me, I could see how your son would also be like you in that way. You have other children, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yes. Ronald has a younger sister named Cecilia, and three children with my wife who are triplets; Xavier, Janet, and Claudia. Ronald¡¯s seventeen, Cecilia is thirteen, and the others are nine.¡± The two dads talked about their own families for some time, and even though Jack was slowed down a little, he didn¡¯t mind. After about fifteen minutes, Marcus apologized for taking too much of his time, and turned to go do something else. ¡°By the way,¡± Jack stopped him. ¡°My wife and I plan on throwing together a big picnic after this as a celebration, and we would love for you and your family to join us. Maybe then we could talk a lot more casually without the pressure of work.¡± ¡°We would love to come, thank you! Yeah, I look forward to having a conversation without an immediate deadline. Until then, I will leave you to do your work. Take care, man.¡± ¡°You too.¡± The prospect of making a business friend was exciting for Jack, but was also looking forward to Marcus being a potential casual friend, like just someone he could hang out with one day and do something fun together. He liked that, despite how much money he made, he was so relatable and easy to converse with. He couldn¡¯t detect a single elitist bone in his being. Jack worked all the way until eight that night, though let his employees leave at their usual time of five. He knew his kids were wondering where he was, and that Marie was stuck having to deal with them alone for now, but he assured himself that it would be worth it. He came home that night to Marie trying to calm down Beth, who was throwing a tantrum because her mom wouldn¡¯t let her scribble on the walls with her crayons. ¡°Jack, please help me out here.¡± She greeted him; her voice sounding tired. ¡°Beth wants to draw on the walls, and is now crying because I told her they¡¯re not for drawing on.¡± ¡°Beth, come here.¡± Jack beckoned her, and she walked over to him. ¡°I have something you can draw on, but you have to promise me and your mother something first.¡± ¡°What?¡± She moaned. ¡°Promise us that you will never use your crayons to color on the walls. They¡¯re meant to hold the ceiling up, not be drawn on. That¡¯s why we have paper.¡± ¡°But the walls are so big!¡± ¡°Does that make it okay to draw on them? Mommy and daddy want the house to look nice and clean, and we bought paper so that, if you wanted to use your crayons, you could draw on all the paper you like.¡± ¡°...but I want to draw on the walls.¡± Jack sighed. This was going to be a long night. So Marie opted to prepare dinner for the both of them while Jack argued with their little Picasso. Nights like this were on the con list for Marie of having children, but she reminded herself that her children were in the process of growing up, and that no one was perfectly present as a little kid. She also reminded herself that her children were still a blessing; harder to do when one of them was threatening to draw all over her father¡¯s face. ¡°If you¡¯re not going to use your crayons the right way and respect mommy¡¯s and daddy¡¯s wishes, then maybe I should take them away.¡± ¡°No!¡± ¡°Then are you going to behave and draw on the paper instead!¡± ¡°No!¡± It was then that Dylan came to the rescue with the perfect, though unintended ruse. Mom! Dad! Beth! Look! I found something cool in the window!¡± And just like that, Beth had dropped the battle and followed her brother to their room; their parents right behind them. They hoped this would make their daughter distracted enough to forget that she wanted to ruin the walls. Dylan pointed out of his window at a funny-looking insect he¡¯d never seen before. Beth was equally confused, but intrigued. ¡°What is that?¡± She asked. ¡°That¡¯s a praying mantis.¡± her mother answered. ¡°It¡¯s praying to God?¡± Dylan asked. ¡°No, it¡¯s just called that because of the way its front legs look; it looks like it¡¯s praying.¡± The children were so awed by the unusual creature, and just like that, Beth had no more desire to desecrate the walls. Jack and Marie were thankful that Dylan found that bug, and then went on to enjoy the rest of their night in quietness. Over dinner, Marie talked to Jack about her day, which mostly consisted of what the kids were doing, and Jack talked about his day. ¡°Another weird coincidence happened this morning.¡± He started. ¡°At first, I drove to my own place out of habit, but before I could turn back, I noticed someone waiting at the front door, or at least, as close as he could get to it.¡± ¡°Huh...who was he?¡± ¡°I first asked him who he was waiting for, and he said whoever owns this business, which was me, of course. I then asked his name, which was Ronald. He was a squirrel, but get this...he¡¯s actually Marcus¡¯ son. I thought he looked vaguely familiar, and perhaps I saw him with his dad before.¡± ¡°Wow, that must not have been expected. Did he say why he was there?¡± She put down her fork and just listened. ¡°He said he wanted to help me fix up the place in any way he could. It was weird to me because he had nothing to do with this, and his dad was already helping me out, but I said that I¡¯d be okay with his help, so long as his dad was okay with it too. It¡¯s hard to believe that a family could be this nice to complete strangers, especially when that stranger is competing within your market. I think Marcus is going to win this year¡¯s ¡°Dad of the Year¡± award; I don¡¯t stand a chance.¡± ¡°Aw, well I¡¯m sure Dylan and Beth will vote for you.¡± ¡°Yeah, and Beth can scribble out my campaign signs on all the walls.¡± They laughed, and continued their conversation. ¡°That should be an encouragement to you then; demonstrate to your children what is good, right, and honorable, and they¡¯ll be likely to follow in those footsteps. Anyways, have you thought of a way for Ronald to help, that is, if his dad permitted it?¡± ¡°I plan to have him help with painting and making the interior of the building look nice with whatever else he could do. He seemed really eager to help, even if it was just picking up trash.¡± Marie nodded, as though not surprised. ¡°You know what we should do; invite him and Marcus over to dinner this week to show our appreciation for them. What do you think?¡± ¡°I agree, though I can¡¯t promise I won¡¯t be working overtime late again. If we have a dinner, it¡¯d probably be pretty late.¡± ¡°Right...maybe it can just be me with them; I can show them how much their care means to me, at least. Besides, we¡¯re still going to have that big picnic after this is all done, so this dinner won¡¯t be much in comparison; just something casual and friendly.¡± ¡°Of course, I don¡¯t mind that. I would actually be honored if they came over to our little house to eat dinner; that¡¯s like a king dining with a peon.¡± ¡°Come on, don¡¯t downplay us like that; Marcus doesn¡¯t view us that way. Anyways, want to give me his number so I can arrange this with him and Ronald?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± He found a small piece of paper and scribbled it on with a nearby pen. ¡°You know, something has been bothering me lately, and I¡¯m kind of surprised you haven¡¯t brought it up yet.¡± ¡°What is it? It better not be some conspiracy about a secret plan Marcus had, like him sending Ronald out in the middle of the night to blow up your business.¡± ¡°No no, not that. What I¡¯m bothered by is that, well, the culprit hasn¡¯t revealed him or herself yet. I called the police earlier today to ask if they had found any evidence of who the criminal is, and they still don¡¯t have anything. In fact, the forensics team hasn¡¯t even identified what the explosive even was yet. I¡¯m really, REALLY bothered that whoever did this could¡¯ve run far away by now and will never be caught.¡± Marie saw that little glint in his eye; the same thing she always saw when Jack was on his way to getting enraged. She took his paw with hers and massaged it. ¡°You don¡¯t know that, and here you are again, assuming the worst about something. Even if they¡¯ve run from here, they can¡¯t run forever. Whether the police catch them, whether they don¡¯t, God sees all things, and no sin ever escapes His notice. Worrying about this isn¡¯t going to help them catch the criminal; it¡¯s better to just let them do their job and focus on yours. Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known unto God¡­¡± ¡°...and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.¡± Jack finished the quote. It was from the fourth chapter of Philippians, and Marie dwelt on that passage so much that she rarely ever found herself worrying about much. Jack knew the passage too, though was more apt to worry. She noticed the glint in his eye disappear, and she smiled from relief. ¡°Amen to that. Keep doing what you¡¯re doing, and let everyone else do their own job. Your life will be much easier that way.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, I¡¯m sorry. Besides, it¡¯s only been a day. Crimes sometimes take a long time to solve.¡± The two of them went to bed eventually; Jack falling asleep almost right away. Marie stayed awake; not from worry and care, but from something else that was on her mind. She prayed silently for a little longer than usual, as there was a lot on her heart. After she finished, she nestled her head against Jack¡¯s shoulder and drifted to sleep. By the next night, the building was near being fully repaired, and Jack was told he would be able to go back inside the next day. It still wouldn¡¯t be work-ready, but at least he could start moving things in that direction again. He called up Marcus, and asked to speak to Ronald. ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Hey, this is Jack. How are you doing today?¡± ¡°Feeling stressed.¡± ¡°Why¡¯s that? If it¡¯s about working for me, I promise you there are a lot meaner bosses than me.¡± He joked. ¡°Well, it¡¯s, uh, school starting again soon.¡± ¡°Ah, I understand. Well, it is important, even when it stresses you out. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll do fine; just work hard, like I know you¡¯re going to work hard to help me pretty soon, which I greatly appreciate.¡± ¡°I will.¡± ¡°And speaking of which, that was why I called you. I¡¯m going to be at my work tomorrow at seven, so can I expect to see you there at that time?¡± Gross. Seven in the morning? Ronald had more important things to do at that hour, like sleep, sleep, and then sleep a little more. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll be there then.¡± ¡°And the way I¡¯ll pay you will be at the end of each day you help me. I¡¯ll give you a slightly higher wage than my employees since you¡¯re doing this out of kindness and not obligation. I was thinking...thirty-five an hour. That¡¯s also without the pesky taxes the government takes out.¡± Ronald nearly dropped the phone; it was like he was offered to work for a million dollars. Seven in the morning suddenly didn¡¯t seem so bad. ¡°W-wow! My actual job pays me pennies by comparison; maybe I should just sign up to work for you officially. I¡¯ll get started on my resume.¡± Jack laughed. ¡°I¡¯d need you to finish school up first, but this is a good start.¡± He actually didn¡¯t know what the moral boundary for that was; hiring the son of your own competitor to work for you. ¡°Someone should write a novel about that, or something.¡± ¡°Actually, I should go to bed since I¡¯ll be up early.¡± Ronald said. ¡°I¡¯ll see you tomorrow.¡± ¡°Good night, and get lots of rest.¡± ¡°Good night.¡± Cecilia overheard the conversation and she marched up to her brother; a frown on her face. ¡°Work tomorrow? Didn¡¯t you, you know, promise me something?¡± She crossed her arms. Ronald had a dumbfounded look on his face, as though she were springing something up on him at the last moment. ¡°You said you were going to go to the art store in the morning and buy me some new sketchbooks, pencils, and watercolors. Remember that deal we made, where we have one opportunity each month to ask each other for a big favor? Mine was that I helped you look for a job after dad told you to start looking. I showed you the ad for the theater, and that¡¯s the job you got. You¡¯re welcome.¡± Ronald smacked himself on the forehead. ¡°Oh poop, I forgot! I¡¯m so sorry. Uh, well, I¡¯m sure I won¡¯t be over there the entire day. How about I get all of those after I¡¯m done, and you¡¯ll have them for the night. I know you were excited to get them sooner and break into the watercolors, but it¡¯s the best I can do.¡± Cecilia dropped her frown and uncrossed her arms. The look of disappointment on her brother¡¯s face made her feel bad; he looked as though he had forever severed their relationship. ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s not a big deal! We all forget stuff sometimes; it¡¯s not the end of the world.¡± She hugged him, and he hugged her back. ¡°I know, I just feel so irresponsible when I forget a promise.¡± ¡°I understand, and I¡¯ve done it so many times too. We¡¯ve all learned to forgive each other for it. We''re family, so that¡¯s what we do.¡± ¡°Thanks, Cecilia. So, I¡¯ll get you all of those things tomorrow after work, I promise.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± He said good night to her after breaking their hug; she was going to stay up longer, but he had to get up early to help Jack. After he lay his head down to sleep, Ronald broke into a silent prayer, as he was wont to do before going to sleep. However, there was more on his heart than normal, and he kept going. The only thing that stopped him was the sleep that hit him mid-sentence. Even though Jack told Ronald to be there at seven, he himself was there an hour sooner to evaluate the situation and determine what should be done next to fix up the interior. The building itself looked brand new, as though no fire had ever grazed it. Jack teared up from seeing it back the way it was; Marcus, and the city workers he paid off did such a great job restoring what had been lost. He couldn¡¯t wait to go back inside and continue improving it. He whistled as he walked inside, and his heart sank slightly from seeing the burned furniture and machinery. It wasn¡¯t as bad as the damage done to the outside, but it was still pretty rough. He planned to call Marcus about it later to see if he would be willing to help get this stuff fixed too. Besides that, there was plenty here for Ronald to do once he got here. Marcus and Ronald showed up ten minutes before seven, and before Jack would give his list of assignments to Ronald for the day, he made his request to Marcus. ¡°Let me see the damage.¡± The wolf said, and Jack led him inside. ¡°Okay¡­¡± Marcus thought to himself as he surveyed the interior. As it was much smaller than his own factory, evaluating the situation didn¡¯t take very long. ¡°Yeah, I can help with this too; this shouldn¡¯t be too bad. I¡¯ll make a list of what needs to be replaced, and what needs a repair, put that in to your manufacturer, and get it her by, hm....probably Thursday. In the meantime, just keep using my space instead.¡± Jack had always wondered what it was like to have infinite money; he thought about asking Marcus about it sometime. ¡°And I take it you have a lot for Ronald to do?¡± ¡°Oh yes, but he¡¯s going to have helpers too, since I will need to leave for your factory today. I¡¯ll guide him for about an hour, and then the one I picked to be Ronald¡¯s supervisor the rest of the day will be here. His name is Joshua, and is a raccoon a little older than me, if you need to come here to talk to him about Ronald¡¯s work later on.¡± Marcus nodded. ¡°Thanks for letting me know.¡± He then turned to Ronald. ¡°Alright son, plan to work very hard today, and your mom will pick you up at five by the way.¡± ¡°Okay. Bye dad, I¡¯ll see you later. Have a good day.¡± ¡°You too.¡± So Marcus left for his own job, and Jack began introducing Ronald to his. Ronald was ready to work hard, but even he wasn¡¯t braced for what he was about to see. Ash and trash. Everywhere. ¡°Okay, so I know it looks horrible¡­¡± Jack said to the horrified squirrel. ¡°But I¡¯ve brought things to help make you safe while you clear out all this ash. I have a hazmat mask for you to wear so you won¡¯t breathe any of this in, and you¡¯re going to wear gloves too." ¡°Okay¡­¡± Ronald had to remind himself that he was getting thirty-five an hour for this, so he¡¯d better suck it up and do it with a good attitude.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°What you¡¯ll do is take this broom right here and sweep all the ash and debris you see outside, and I¡¯m going to have a crew from there take it all away. The idea here is that you¡¯re making it easier for them to get to the waste; hence why you¡¯re taking it outside.¡± Ronald nodded, bracing himself for hours of sweeping, and maybe weeping. ¡°After that, you¡¯re going to start helping with repainting the damaged walls, and don¡¯t worry, the supervisor I¡¯m sending will show you how it¡¯s done, if you don¡¯t know already. I¡¯m also sending in other helpers throughout the day so you don¡¯t have to feel too overwhelmed by all of this. Here, I¡¯ll get you your stuff now so you can get started.¡± ¡°Are we going to get breaks throughout the day?¡± ¡°Yes, and there¡¯s going to be food and drink provided when it¡¯s lunch. You¡¯re all going to be well-fed and strengthened throughout the day so you can keep up the hard work. I¡¯ll be here for another hour to make sure you¡¯re settled and if you have any questions, so let¡¯s go ahead and get started, shall we?¡± So Jack fetched the mask, gloves, and wide broom, and gave them to Ronald. As he put on the hazmat mask, he felt like he became 200-percent cooler, like he was now some alien from the latest sci-fi flick. ¡°Heh, I bet I could scare Cecilia with this.¡± He also put on the gloves and picked up the broom. ¡°Alright, so when you start sweeping, make sure everything goes out that door.¡± Jack pointed. ¡°In the afternoon, the hazmat crew will sweep the pile up into their truck and take it away. Do your best to get it all out today, but if not, it will just get finished up the next day.¡± ¡°I promise I¡¯ll sweep it all up today.¡± Ronald confidently vowed, even though he should¡¯ve learned by now not to throw promises around willy-nilly. Nevertheless, he started sweeping, ready to conquer all this debris. ¡°I love the attitude. Alright, so I¡¯ll leave you to it, and if you need anything, I¡¯ll be in my office over there.¡± ¡°Cool, thanks.¡± So Jack went to his office to see if there was anything in here that needed to be fixed too. Thankfully, this room hardly suffered any damage, and this was where he kept a lot of important documents like bills, orders, and receipts. ¡°Whoever advised me to make copies of all these important documents before starting this business is a life-saver. Even if this room had also burned down, I still have all the important stuff I need elsewhere¡­¡± Meanwhile, Ronald continued his work with all the gusto and enthusiasm he could muster. Now that he promised to get rid of all the debris by today, he had to do whatever he could to fulfill it. Jack seemed like a reasonable boss so far, and he hoped that Joshua would be the same. Once 8:00 rolled around, Jack announced he was leaving to work on his order, and as if on cue, Joshua showed up. Along with him came a few others, also raccoons. Could they have been family members? They all looked pretty strong and well-fed, and also a little intimidating. Ronald waved at them and kept working. Now that the sun was higher up, he was starting to feel hotter. The hazmat mask and gloves didn¡¯t help him feel any more comfortable. ¡°So that¡¯s Ronald?¡± Joshua asked. ¡°Yes, and as you can see, he¡¯s been doing a good job so far. He barely started an hour ago.¡± Jack commented, gesturing to the floor. ¡°Almost the entire floor was covered in this filth, and now it¡¯s already one-third of the way done.¡± So Jack had left, and Joshua quickly introduced himself and the others. Two of the others were his twin sons, who were eighteen, and the third was his older brother. Ronald felt small and incongruous, being the only not-raccoon here, as well as the youngest, the thinnest, and the least-muscular. ¡°Jack gave me a list of everything he¡¯d like to get done today.¡± Joshua reminded him. ¡°After the floor is cleared up, come find me and I¡¯ll tell you what¡¯s next. There will be a fifteen-minute break at nine, thirty-minute lunch at twelve, and last break will be at 2:30. Food and water will be out in the back, and make sure you use those times to rest up and reenergize. It¡¯s still summer, so it¡¯s going to get a lot hotter later.¡± During the next hour, Ronald didn¡¯t talk very much, even when one of the other brothers wanted to strike up a conversation with him. His mind was intensely focused on the work; maybe he¡¯d converse with them during break. Or maybe not. When it was time for the first break, the twin brothers suddenly didn¡¯t seem all that interested in saying anything to Ronald. Instead, they just stuck with each other and, for some reason, spoke quietly to each other. Ronald did his best to listen in on them; after all, when people were whispering around you, then it¡¯s likely you¡¯re the subject of their dialogue. ¡°That scrawny rich boy shouldn¡¯t even be here.¡± One of them said, ¡°Leave the hard work to us while you go relax on your yacht.¡± Wow, were they actually talking about him? ¡°And you know what I heard? He¡¯s getting thirty-five an hour for this! As if he needs more cash!¡± The other cussed angrily. ¡°F*#% that! We do the same work and don¡¯t even get half that!¡± Ronald was flabbergasted; how could they have known what Jack was paying him? That was information he NEVER wanted them to know! He also wasn¡¯t very flattered by the rich-boy stereotypes, but his wages being public was much more upsetting. He thought they were going to kill him before the day was over. When they returned to work, Ronald kept even more to himself and just focused on his work. Joshua thanked him on occasion for coming in to help and for working hard, and he¡¯d simply nod, say thank you, and keep going. The twins¡¯ uncle also kept to himself a lot. The twins themselves mostly stayed away from Ronald, but from what he could tell, they weren¡¯t doing anywhere near as much as he was. He noticed them talking a lot and being indolent, but chose not to let it bother him. ¡°Maybe you¡¯re not getting thirty-five an hour because you waste time and complain about others instead of actually working.¡± He wanted to tell them off. It was now noon; the temperature was 98-degrees Fahrenheit, and Ronald wanted to down all the water that was there. He was also famished and ready to scarf down something nutritious and filling. Joshua had announced earlier that he ordered them all sandwiches from a high-rated restaurant in downtown, and that made the squirrel look forward to lunch that much more. It was a restaurant he knew about, and had experienced a lot of the delicious food they served there. The sandwiches were all supposed to be in the cooler, and they were all supposed to be wrapped up and marked with their names. The sandwich Ronald requested was simple, but something he had always enjoyed since living here. The filling was ruch, dense paste made from peanuts, acorns, and hazelnuts. There was also a jelly spread that was composed of grapes, strawberries, and mango. The mango sounded unusual to him at first in conjunction with the other flavors, but when he first tried it eight years ago, he fell in love with it. It added a subtle, tropical touch that was an absolute joy to his taste buds. The bread itself was wheat bread, but infused with honey. The sandwich itself was fairly large, and he could never finish one in a single sitting. However, he knew that just half of it was going to give him the calories and energy he needed to finish the day strong. The only setback was that it was going to make him feel fat and sluggish at first, but that¡¯d wear off and give way to high-energy work. Ronald was the last one to get to the cooler, which was fine because that¡¯d make his sandwich the easiest to find. Except the cooler was empty. And now Ronald was angry. ¡°Uh, where¡¯s my lunch?¡± He asked no one in particular. ¡°There should be one more in there.¡± Joshua replied, putting down his food and walking over to help him. He also saw it was empty, and now he became mad. ¡°I swear that I brought back five, and that they all made it into the cooler.¡± Ronald looked over at the twins, fully expecting to see them splitting and eating his sandwich...except they only had their own. He also looked over at their uncle; though he had quite a gut that looked like could harbor two full-sized sandwiches, he only had one before him. ¡°I¡¯ll go back to my truck and make sure I didn¡¯t leave it in there.¡± Ronald nodded, very irritated. He believed Joshua; the older raccoon didn¡¯t seem like someone who¡¯d forget something that easy. Ronald was convinced the twins were behind this. While Joshua conducted his search, Ronald launched one of his own, suspecting that the twins took it and hid it somewhere. Joshua came back with nothing, and by now, there were only ten minutes left for lunch. Ronald was irritable and frustrated, and Joshua was flustered as well, not getting to finish his own food, and feeling like a horrible supervisor for letting one of his employees go hungry on a difficult work day. It became 12:30, and Ronald resigned himself to the fact he was going to have to work through his hunger and just look forward to a big dinner. Joshua told him it¡¯d be okay if he didn¡¯t want to work the rest of the day out of hunger, but Ronald replied that he was going to tough it out and keep going. He saw this as a chance to prove himself strong and resilient, and opted not to tell anyone else what happened, not even Jack. By last break, Ronald was feeling the pain in his stomach, and wondered if he really should just call it a day. ¡°I have no energy left...but...I just can¡¯t leave now! There¡¯s still work to be done, and I can¡¯t just leave it hanging. I promised Jack I was going to work really hard today, and that¡¯s what I¡¯m going to do.¡± Joshua checked in with him again, and despite suggesting that he should go home and eat, Ronald refused, like a wounded soldier insisting he take on a hundred more armed foes. ¡°I don¡¯t want something to happen to you; overestimating yourself can be dangerous, and not only could that risk your health and safety, but it could put my job and Jack¡¯s career on the line.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m technically Jack¡¯s employee; I came here because I wanted to. If I faint or get sick or whatever, it¡¯s totally fine if no one reports it; I don¡¯t even plan on telling anyone that I had no lunch. I¡¯m really not even that mad about it anymore; I just want to get as much work done as I can.¡± Joshua sighed, not feeling good about this at all. He couldn¡¯t, in good conscience, continue to let him work in these conditions. ¡°I have an idea...I can have you still work on something, but not something too physical if you want to break from that the rest of the day. The new furniture is arriving at three, and as you know, it¡¯s pretty heavy.¡± Should Ronald bite the bullet? He really, really wanted to be a tough guy...but he was starting to feel weak. The idea of moving furniture for two hours right now sounded awful to him. ¡°You know what...I¡¯ll do this other thing then; I¡¯ve about reached my limit with lifting and moving stuff.¡± So Joshua started to explain what he¡¯d do now, and started by asking Ronald if he was good at math, to which he replied he got a C in trigonometry and was terrified of calculus coming up. The raccoon assured him he wouldn¡¯t be doing anything close to that; mostly just a lot of adding and checking for accuracy. ¡°When the furniture arrives, they¡¯re going to give us the bills for all of it, and what you¡¯re going to do is transfer that to Jack¡¯s expense report.¡± Joshua opened a desk drawer in the office and found it at the top of a stack of other papers. It was a dark-blue folder that contained tons and tons of mathematical figures and listings. Adding was easy for Ronald, but it was dizzying seeing those towers of numbers teeter before his very eyes. Joshua turned on Jack¡¯s computer and printed out some blank templates. Ronald watched as he opened some documents and copied down some numbers onto one of the printed sheets. None of those numbers stood out, except for the ¡°$1,044,000¡± under the ¡°Customer Order¡± column. ¡°Is that the million-dollar order Jack got a couple days ago?¡± Joshua nodded. Even though his dad¡¯s company was worth around 50-million now, one-million was nothing to sneeze at. That was more than 999,000 than what he had. Joshua went on to explain what Ronald was to do with the new bills that¡¯d come in. He¡¯d copy the expenses off of each bill into a certain column, and then add it all up at the end. This was also to be done with all the paint that was going to be delivered that would be used to restore the inside color. This was nowhere near the top of Jack¡¯s list of things he wanted Ronald to do, but Joshua had to work with the situation he was handed. Ronald couldn¡¯t find much excitement in this line of work, but he understood that work wasn¡¯t always meant to be fun. Sometimes, you had to deal with monotonous drudgery if you wanted those dollars in your hands. As the furniture arrived, so did a nice stack of bills for Ronald to look over. He was left to his own devices for now, as Joshua and his family were the ones tasked with moving it all where it was supposed to go, as well as removing and discarding all the burnt furniture. Shortly before four, Joshua reminded Ronald that the hazmat crew was coming soon to remove all the ash and debris that was sweeped out, and that would be yet another bill he¡¯d have to add to the ¡°Expenses¡± column. At the end of all of this, Ronald was going to have to take the sum of all the expenses and subtract it from the company¡¯s total income, which would yield how much money in total was available to the company. Ronald noticed how the bills he was receiving today were amounting into the thousands, but that soon seemed like nothing when his eyes glanced over at the seven-digit number of salvation. ¡°With all this data entry I¡¯m doing, I feel like I should at least be wearing a tie and some rectangular glasses. I feel so much like a nine-to-five businessman.¡± Towards the end of his shift, Ronald was actually starting to enjoy what he was doing. He felt so important handling all these big numbers, and felt validated by the fact that Jack entrusted him with this at all. Granted, it wasn¡¯t difficult, but still, these were the company¡¯s financial records he was updating, and that weighed a lot. At 4:52, as Joshua was about to alert everyone to wrap things up, he walked by a random garbage can, and detected a particularly putrid and pungent smell coming from it. His nose crinkled, and he walked over to see whatever it could¡¯ve been. Ronald¡¯s sandwich. He wasn¡¯t about to take it out, of course; a family of rats had already gotten to it. ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s ours.¡± One of them said to him, ¡°We found it first.¡± ¡°Well, I did technically buy it, but consider it on the house.¡± He could only guess that one of his sons did this while he wasn¡¯t looking. He overheard a lot of the derogatory and hateful things they were saying about him, and shortly before lunch, one of them mysteriously left for the lunch area and came back a minute later. Now he knew why, and he was prepared to make them face his wrath and disappointment at home for treating Ronald this way. ¡°I should just give both their checks to Ronald; he kept to himself and worked hard, and they didn¡¯t do much except complain and spew bile about him. They had NO nerve belly-aching about his thirty-five-an-hour wage when he was actually the one working for it.¡± At a little past five, Marcus and Jack showed up; Marcus to pick up his son, and Jack to look over his business and get a briefing from Joshua about the day¡¯s work. He shook Ronald¡¯s hand and thanked him for all his help. ¡°You almost look like you¡¯re ready to pass out.¡± Jack commented. ¡°I hope you took advantage of the breaks and all the food and water.¡± ¡°I did, thank you.¡± Joshua then passed by him and gave Ronald his check. He looked over it and his mouth dropped open. It was $332.50 for a 9.5 hour day (factoring the unpaid break). ¡°Wow! Thank you!¡± He said to Jack. ¡°Of course! Anyways, you should go home and rest. I¡¯ll let you know if I want you to come tomorrow, but it¡¯s okay if you want to turn it down if you need extra time to rest. I know this was a tough day, and I don¡¯t want to overwork you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll feel good after I eat and sleep tonight; I¡¯d be happy to come in again tomorrow if you need me.¡± Before Jack could reply, Joshua broke in quickly just to ask Marcus if he could speak to him privately, before either of them had to leave. ¡°Sure.¡± Off to the side, Joshua told Marcus how impressed he was with Ronald for working hard through the whole day and not letting certain difficult circumstances get him down. He wasn¡¯t specific about the sandwich, as Ronald himself didn¡¯t feel it was important, but he extolled the young squirrel as a good worker with a good attitude. ¡°I just wanted to let you know, sir. Your son is going to go far, like his dad.¡± ¡°Thank you for letting me know all of this; that makes me really happy to hear. I¡¯ll let Ronald know what you said about him.¡± After Marcus and Ronald had left, Joshua briefed Jack on how the day went, and led the sable inside to see the difference. Jack was quite happy with the progress, and he was thinking it¡¯d only take one more day to get things back the way he had them before. Meanwhile, Ronald just remembered that he promised to do his sister a favor and buy her certain things. He asked his dad to take him to the art store, to which he obliged. ¡°You¡¯re a good employee and a good brother; I¡¯m really proud of you.¡± He said to him, and repeated to him what Joshua had said. ¡°I just did what I was supposed to do; there¡¯s nothing special about me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s honorable being a hard worker and doing what you can to be an asset to your boss and his business; don¡¯t downplay yourself like that. It made me happy to hear what Joshua told me, and you should feel good about it too.¡± Ronald took a little longer than expected, and came back to the car with more things than he expected. He was practically dragging the bag behind him. ¡°Ah, are you getting to do art as well?¡± ¡°Oh, I might; there¡¯s a lot of fun things in that store.¡± Back home, Cecilia was about to greet her father and brother when she noticed the giant bag Marcus was carrying, and it had the logo of the art store that she liked. He set it down on the floor. ¡°This is all from Ronald.¡± ¡°Wha-? Uh, Ronald, y-you didn¡¯t buy the entire story, did you? It was just a few things.¡± ¡°I know, but after looking around that place while shopping, I feel like there were a lot more things in there you would appreciate. Heck, I just might start doing art myself!¡± Cecilia was stunned, and since this was so much, she asked her dad to carry it to her room so she could open it there. It was like she was having an unscheduled birthday. Ronald joined Cecilia in her room and watched her start breaking into the bag of treasures. There were the sketchbooks, colored pencils, and watercolors...and a whole lot more. ¡°A new sharpener!¡± ¡°Yeah, I noticed that your old one sometimes ruins your pencils, so I figured you¡¯d like a better replacement. I was surprised you didn¡¯t ask for one, actually.¡± Cecilia pulled out the next thing. ¡°Wow! I¡¯ve heard this is an excellent paint set! I¡¯ve always wanted one of this brand!¡± ¡°Yeah, I noticed you always like to try new things with art, and you haven¡¯t done painting yet, so now you can give that a try. When I was browsing through different brands, the floor associate recommended this one as great for people starting out, so I picked it up.¡± It didn¡¯t end there; high-quality erasers, some tutorial books, a big portfolio to store her works, paint brushes; Cecilia was being spoiled at this point. By the time she had gone through every item, she had started to cry, and she hugged Ronald so tightly that he had to push away a bit. ¡°Ronald, this is...this is so generous; I never would¡¯ve thought you would go overboard for me like this. You¡¯re the best brother anyone could have.¡± She didn¡¯t stop hugging him. ¡°Aw, would you still say that about me if I didn¡¯t get all the extra things? ¡°Of course I would,¡± she replied without hesitation, ¡°but this just goes to prove it even more. I¡¯ve been thankful for having you as my brother ever since I could start remembering anything. One of my earliest memories was when we were running from the forest fire, and I was four. You thought our dad, well, before he became our dad, was going to eat us, and you tried to shield me from him. Even though you ended up being very wrong about him, I remember that gesture. All these extra art things are great, but they don¡¯t make me love you anymore than I already do.¡± Cecilia really didn¡¯t hope he bought all this stuff out of feeling guilt from forgetting his promise initially. She didn¡¯t tell this to him though, but instead told him that the next thing she wanted to do for him was draw him something with her new paints. Later, Marcus knocked on her door and called for Ronald. ¡°It¡¯s Jack; he wants to speak to you.¡± ¡°Okay, coming.¡± He left Cecilia with her big pile of artsy things and went to go answer the phone. ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Ronald, hey! Sorry, I meant to call you earlier, but got sidetracked with a few things at the office. Anyways, I just wanted to say thank you again for helping me out today; Joshua had a lot of good things to say about you, and I have just two regrets; one is that I didn¡¯t raise your wages even more, and secondly, for thinking Joshua¡¯s sons were going to be civil to you.¡± ¡°Oh? Uh, how did you know about that?¡± ¡°Joshua overheard a lot of hateful and wrong things they were saying about you, and that one of them even threw away your lunch.¡± ¡°So that¡¯s what happened, huh? I suspected it was them, but had no proof.¡± ¡°He found it in one of the trash cans near the end of the day, and there were rats already eating it. I¡¯m really sorry you had to deal with them; if I had known they were going to be that uncouth, I would¡¯ve found others to help.¡± ¡°Well, I was definitely pretty mad at first about that, but I managed to power through.¡± It was then that Ronald realized he still hadn¡¯t eaten since that first break almost ten hours ago. His stomach made an embarrassing gurgling sound; as though on cue. It was so loud that he feared Jack heard it over the phone. ¡°Anyways, I wanted to let you know that I¡¯d like you to come tomorrow if possible as well. However, I think everything that¡¯s left could get done in a half-day, so if you want to come, you could start at noon. I¡¯m also bumping your wages up to thirty-seven if you decide to do it.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll come. What¡¯s there left?¡± ¡°Just some patches of wall that still need to be painted. There should also be a lot more people coming tomorrow to help, so you¡¯ll feel more like you¡¯re in a team. Joshua¡¯s sons also won¡¯t be there. Also, you won¡¯t need a mask or gloves this time, though I could give you a mask for the smell if it bothers you.¡± ¡°I guess we¡¯ll see.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fair. Alright, well, you have a good night, sir, and I¡¯ll see you at noon. Oh, and just have lunch before you get there; there will be a break, but just for ten minutes, and it won¡¯t be until three.¡± ¡°Got it, thanks. You have a good night too.¡± After the call, Ronald finally started on the dinner his mom made for him. Though the soup was still hot, and completely delicious, he practically downed it in one gulp. He had never gone from empty stomach to stomach-ache so fast, but at least he was now satisfied. ¡°Thanks for the dinner, it was good.¡± He went to wash his bowl. ¡°The way you made it vanish within twelve nanoseconds tells me everything.¡± She smiled. ¡°Though don¡¯t be afraid to savor it next time.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go slower next time; I was just extremely hungry.¡± He bid her good night, and she him, and he went back to his own room. It was only 7:30, but his body was aching for some Z¡¯s, as was his mind. Shortly before eight, Cecilia, who was nowhere near tired, swung by her brother¡¯s room to ask if he wanted to watch a certain movie with her. However, before she could knock on his door, she detected a very unexpected and concerning sound. Crying. She wanted to burst in and ask what was wrong, but the last time she barged in on him crying, he got mad at her, likely because he was embarrassed. She lowered her hand and decided not to knock. Maybe Ronald just wanted to be alone right now. Not far away, in the Tyndale household, Jack and Marie had put their children to bed, and were enjoying an enthralling game of Scrabble. They made their games last longer than average, as Marie was convinced that various made-up words were legitimate, and Jack always wanted to argue against them, especially if he was winning. ¡°No, ¡®rockify¡¯ is not a word.¡± ¡°Yes it is; it¡¯s to turn something into a rock, as if you were casting a magic spell on something. You read ¡°Sylvester and the Magic Pebble¡± in elementary school, didn¡¯t you? The character was turned into a rock, so he was ¡®rockified.¡¯¡± ¡°If you can show me that word from the book, then I¡¯ll give it to you.¡± He smirked. ¡°Well, I can¡¯t quite do that, so I guess that¡¯s out.¡± She sighed, unable to use all seven of her tiles for her word. Somehow, Marie had won, so her prize was that Jack had to clean the rest of the dishes. ¡°It was my turn to wash these anyways, so it was lose-lose for me.¡± ¡°Aw, it¡¯s okay, you¡¯ll do better next time.¡± She stood next to him. ¡°Goodness, those are some dirty plates. I¡¯m so sorry.¡± She taunted. After he finished, he flicked some water in her face and darted for their room, laughing. ¡°Come back here!¡± She chased him, also laughing. He jumped onto the bed, and she pounced right on him. ¡°No one flicks water at me and lives!¡± ¡°Not even your adoring husband? Ouch!¡± The two continued to wrestle and roughhouse for a few minutes before succumbing to exhaustion and laughter. ¡°Do you think we woke the kids up?¡± Marie asked, panting. ¡°Nah, they sleep through everything, unless you announce there¡¯s candy.¡± The two finally wound down enough to be able to sleep. Marie curled up beside Jack, and his arm was placed around her shoulders. They hadn¡¯t messed around like that in a long time, and Jack enjoyed it. Everything that was being done for him and his family lately was helping melt away the stress he was holding onto. He gave his wife a small kiss on the cheek before falling asleep. And then he had that dream. A common nightmare people tend to have involves being chased by a meat-eating beast. Jack¡¯s children, Marie, and Jack himself have experienced them. In his dream, Jack was running through a dark forest, but he somehow never crashed into any trees. His body was covered in scratches and scars, but that didn¡¯t slow his steps. He couldn¡¯t stop running; not with the one who gave him the scratches was still on the loose. ¡°He¡¯s going to kill me, he¡¯s going to kill me¡­¡± He said to himself over and over. And there he was; that dreaded wolverine. Oh, the wolverine himself wasn¡¯t the one chasing and hunting down Jack. Jack was the one hunting him. ¡°Not if I kill you first!¡± The wolverine turned around just in time to see Jack leap on him, and the smaller sable bit mercilessly into his neck, causing blood to spray in all directions, and get all over Jack¡¯s teeth. ¡°J-jack...n-no¡­¡± But the wolverine died as Jack ripped out his esophagus and spat it on the ground in disdain. He looked up after accomplishing his kill, and beheld Marie, Dylan, and Beth looking at him like he was a monster. ¡°Daddy¡­¡± Beth started to cry as she hid behind her mother, and Dylan did likewise. ¡°M-marie...I-¡± ¡°Get away from me!¡± Marie shouted at him. ¡°How could I ever have married you?!¡± And then Jack woke up, sweating. Marie was still sleeping, and the kids were likely still sleeping as well. Beth was woken up not much later, and though it was still dark, she understood what was going on. Her father was holding and cradling her very softly, and singing something under his breath quietly to her. She rested her little head against his chest and let him lull her back to sleep. She didn¡¯t realize it, but there were tears in his eyes. Chapter 4 Though Ronald didn¡¯t need to wake up so early today, he still did so. He tossed and turned overnight, as a lot of thoughts swirled around in his mind like a troubled cauldron. After having something to eat, he decided to go for a long walk (not without telling his parents first). At around eleven, he wound up at Jack¡¯s building, and he decided to go in and see if he was there. There were lots of people inside already who were setting up to paint, but no Jack. However, Joshua was here, and he spotted the squirrel from the office. ¡°Oh hey, you¡¯re early. Want to come in and have a seat?¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Ronald walked into the room and sat down in a comfy chair opposite of Joshua, who was doing something on the computer. ¡°More bill stuff?¡± Ronald asked. He shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m trying to come up with ideas for how Jack should spend the money he earmarked for advertising. I really want to start getting into commercials, at least on a local level.¡± ¡°I bet that¡¯s exciting. How long have you been working with Jack?¡± ¡°Almost since he started his business, so around seven years. We already knew each other as longtime friends, and since I was an Economics major, he went to me first and offered me a position as his accountant and someone to step in as supervisor whenever he wasn¡¯t going to be here.¡± ¡°How long have you been friends?¡± ¡°Oh...around twenty years, and it was actually through my older sister. Back then, she took up babysitting to make some extra money, and I¡¯d sometimes come along since I¡¯d get bored in our house by myself. She once babysat Jack and his siblings when he was seven, and though I was seventeen, being ten years older than him, we had a connection with each other that made it fun to have conversations with him. He was intelligent for his age, and as we liked a lot of the same things, we actually became friends.¡± Ronald wanted to ask about what Jack was like as a kid, but Joshua turned the conversation around before he could. ¡°So what do you like to do when you¡¯re not working?¡± ¡°Well, uh, I like going on walks, going to the movies, hanging out with friends and family, and I also like learning about different environments around the world. I think it would be fun to be a tour guide or naturalist.¡± Joshua nodded. ¡°That¡¯s really neat; it sounds like it¡¯d be an exciting job. What part of the world interests you the most?¡± ¡°The Arctic regions and deep oceans; they¡¯re so hard to get to, and I bet there are some really weird specimens and organisms waiting to be found there. I¡¯m not sure those would be popular tours though, so I would definitely pick any kind of jungle or forest with little evidence of being tampered with. I grew up in a forest, but it burned down when I was eight, and the forest we¡¯re in now is like, part trees, part buildings. I haven¡¯t experienced a real forest yet, and I understand there are many different kinds based on geography and latitudes. As a squirrel, I feel I¡¯ve been robbed of a real forest life, but there¡¯s no reason why I can¡¯t have one as an adult.¡± ¡°My favorite kind of forest is the evergreen; they don¡¯t look easy to live in, but they¡¯re incredibly scenic, especially in the winter.¡± ¡°I love that kind too, and I wouldn¡¯t mind living in one either. I also think it¡¯d work great as a tourist type of environment; a little tough, but not hostile and unbearable. I can imagine myself, in the distant future, skiing or sledding down a slope after a fresh snow, or maybe having a snowball fight with my friends, or kids. The two of them continued on until Ronald realized noon was coming up, and he had also forgotten to eat any lunch. He muttered to himself about his stupidity and then went out to join everyone else for the big job. Despite only being a half-day, and the raccoon twins not being there, Ronald found the day difficult. He had forgotten to eat lunch, and it was tiring constantly climbing up and down the ladder to get paint, dip his brush, and swipe across the wall a few times before having to repeat the process. The time till the only break of the day seemed to take forever, and Ronald spent it scarfing down some provided snacks and washing it down with copious amounts of water. The rest of the day after break was just the same, but now Ronald was in a better mood to work, and by a quarter to five, the job was all done. All that was left to do was let the paint dry, and Jack¡¯s facility would be like brand new again. After work, and being given his pay for the day, Ronald waited to be picked up by his dad, and he was going to celebrate by probably watching a movie with his family. However, instead of Marcus pulling up, it was Jack, returning from Marcus¡¯ building. ¡°Ronald, I actually have a surprise for you. As additional thanks for helping me these two days, I would like to invite you to have dinner with me and my wife. I told your parents, and they are okay with it. We just wanted it to be for you, though we are planning an additional picnic for your whole family to come to in a couple weeks.¡± ¡°That sounds like fun! Yeah, I¡¯d like to have dinner with you guys. Thanks for inviting me.¡± ¡°And thank you for being such a big help. I also hope it makes up for that delicious sandwich that got stolen from you yesterday.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know; the ordeal has left a gaping wound in my soul.¡± He answered, making Jack laugh. ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure my wife¡¯s cooking will fill it back in.¡± Jack got into his car first, and unlocked the passenger door for his special guest. Ronald got into the car and took his seat. The moment Jack turned the ignition, and the air conditioner activated, Ronald let out a sigh of satisfaction and leaned back. Few things felt this good after hours of work on a hot day. ¡°That sounds like me every Friday evening when I know the weekend is finally here again. Good news is that the work is all done, and you can relax tomorrow.¡± He exited the parking lot and left for home. ¡°Thanks for letting me work for you, and the very generous pay. I¡¯m not even family, but you¡¯re treating me as such.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not much really; I paid you for your work, and I¡¯m just inviting you over to our house as a gesture of thanks. However, maybe the friendship that forms between our houses will make us all feel more like family in the future.¡± Ronald let out a slight groan, a reaction Jack was not expecting. ¡°Maybe that was too corny, sorry.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not that. I just had a slight pain in my stomach. I would like for our families to be good friends.¡± ¡°Are you not feeling well, or is it just hunger? You can have a quick snack at our house when we get there if you want.¡± ¡°That¡¯s probably it; I didn¡¯t have lunch before starting work. I got caught up in a conversation with Joshua and totally forgot.¡± ¡°My dude, you gotta eat lunch! You missed it two days in a row, and look at you; you¡¯re practically a twig.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll catch up tomorrow by eating three lunches.¡± ¡°Well, jokes aside, make sure you¡¯re eating lunch every day. I hope the last two days were an exception.¡± ¡°They were.¡± He lied. He did skip lunch on some days even though there was more than enough food in their house. He just didn¡¯t find himself hungry as often as others. Ten minutes later, Jack was pulling up into his driveway. Ronald took a good look at the house as they got closer to it. Sure, it wasn¡¯t as fancy or big as the house he lived in, but it was inviting and well-maintained. The porch was overshadowed by eaves, and there were two poles on the left side that supported a little cot. It also had a little table on the right side with two chairs; not big enough to have a family dinner on, but somewhere cozy where you could read, or do homework, or converse with another. There was also a hedge that lined the front of the house; not too short that you couldn¡¯t notice it, but not too tall, as though to hide the windows. There were two front doors that led into the house; the first, a screen, and second, hardwood. The whole house was single-story, but the triangular roof implied an attic. ¡°Here we are, our humble abode.¡± ¡°Nice house,¡± Ronald remarked sincerely, ¡°it¡¯s definitely welcoming.¡± ¡°Thank you; we always try to keep it that way.¡± Ronald also detected a pleasant aroma wafting from the house, and it started to make him drool without realizing it. Jack opened both doors and let Ronald walk in first. The squirrel wiped his little feet on the rug first before doing so. Jack followed him in and shut only the screen door behind himself. Marie didn¡¯t come out right away to meet them, as she was preparing dinner. ¡°I¡¯ve brought over our guest.¡± He announced loudly enough for her to hear. ¡°Bring him in; I¡¯d like to say hi.¡± Ronald followed Jack into the kitchen, and there he saw his wife mixing what appeared to be a hot, delicious sauce. The oven was on, and though Ronald couldn¡¯t see what was inside, he knew it was dough, and the smell was lovely enough to transport him mentally into a bakery. ¡°This is my wife, Marie.¡± Jack introduced her to him, and they said hello and shook hands with each other ¡°Ronald,¡± she started, ¡°I¡¯m glad you could make it tonight. I¡¯m sorry dinner isn¡¯t that close to being done yet, but I guarantee you will love it.¡± ¡°It smells fantastic already; are you making a lasagna, or a pizza?¡± ¡°I am making a pizza, yes. It¡¯ll be a long wait, but there¡¯s other things to do here to kill the time. You and Jack could watch a movie, or play a game, or just shoot the breeze. We also have a backyard if you want some fresh air out there.¡± She harbored a little bit of anxiety from the thought of keeping her guest entertained. She knew he was used to a bigger house with more things to do in it, and that her house didn¡¯t have as many options. ¡°I¡¯m fine with hanging out right here.¡± He answered, taking a seat at the table. ¡°Maybe we can talk about stuff while you cook; if it¡¯s not distracting? I would feel weird bailing on you after we just met.¡± ¡°Aw, you don¡¯t have to feel bad about that! We can always talk during dinner. If there¡¯s something else you want to do, feel free!¡± Jack was about to suggest something when he heard Beth shouting at her brother. ¡°That¡¯s not fair! Meanie!¡± She cried. That made Ronald flinch and momentarily made him question having kids in the future. Jack sighed. ¡°Ugh, I¡¯m sorry about that. I¡¯ll go tell them to keep it quiet. Excuse me.¡± He got up and made his way to the back of the house. Ronald remained awkwardly silent while Marie chuckled. ¡°That would be Beth, our youngest. She¡¯s three, so she¡¯s still trying to develop the concept of an ¡®inside voice¡¯. Did she scare you?¡± ¡°It was jarring, but Jack did mention to me that he had two kids. I guess that was one of them.¡± ¡°Right, and Dylan is five. He¡¯s not as loud, but he sometimes likes to annoy his sister.¡± ¡°Ha, I can relate to that. I also have a younger sister, and I used to sometimes get a kick out of bugging her when we were younger. However, she knows how to return the favor sometimes.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, well, I actually have five siblings, and we were all born at the same time.¡± ¡°What?¡± Ronald nearly gasped. ¡°I knew that could happen, but I¡¯ve never heard of a real-life experience of that until now. Growing up must have been really interesting, if not challenging.¡± ¡°It was both of those, and imagine being my parents! At once, they had six additional mouths to feed, and since my father worked a lot, my mother was left to deal with us alone most of the time. Looking back at that time, I don¡¯t know how she managed to do it. Sometimes I struggle with dealing with one kiddo.¡± She subconsciously put a paw over her stomach, still wondering if there was a third child on the way, but it was still too soon to tell. ¡°I love them to death though, and I believe they¡¯re a beautiful blessing from God.¡± Ronald nodded. ¡°I love my siblings too, and I¡¯ve always felt this instinct in my gut to protect my sister, Cecilia. We were orphaned eleven years ago, and since then, I knew that her safety had become my responsibility.¡± ¡°That must have been horrible; accounts of someone losing their parents at such a young age always break my heart. That couldn¡¯t have been easy for you, especially back then.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t; even when we spent the first two years after in an orphanage, they weren¡¯t taking very good care of us, and my sister was usually ignored by the adults. There were several times where I had to share my meals with her because they kept overlooking her.¡± Marie was at a stage in her cooking where she could sit down for a little, and so she sat next to Ronald. ¡°That was criminal of them; good of you to be thinking of her at the time. Why was she neglected like that?¡± ¡°She was shy, so she hid herself a lot. It also didn¡¯t help that she was smaller than most of the other kids, so they often never saw her when it was time to eat. There were a few others that got passed over too, namely other rodents.¡± ¡°So how did you get out, eventually? Did Marcus and Diane find you and decide to adopt you two?¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t exactly that way; it was an unusual story. After two years in that horrible orphanage, a forest fire happened that caused so much panic that I saw it as an opportunity to escape. I urged Cecilia to run away with me and find a new home together. She was scared, like I was, but she came with me. Later that night, we got tired from running for so long, and decided to stop for a little bit. However, we got scared by a stranger¡¯s voice, and ran right into a puddle of sticky mud, leaving us trapped. The voice belonged to a wolf, who, as you can guess, was Marcus. As I had become so paranoid and disenfranchised by adults, due to the orphanage, I had automatically assumed he wanted to devour us, even though he was sentient, like us. He offered to help us out of the mud, and since Cecilia had no baggage, and no reason to distrust him, she begged him to help her out. I tried to get in front of her as a shield, just knowing he was going to try to eat her, and preferring him to kill me instead, and let her live. I was very wrong about him, of course, and when he had offered to be our dad, Cecilia couldn¡¯t have been happier to accept.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°That was so sweet, and that sounds just like something he would do. I¡¯m so happy for you and your sister that you were able to find someone to care for you after what you went through at that orphanage. I take it that he had met Diane later on?¡± ¡°That¡¯s gonna be a long story, but the short answer is yes, and no.¡± ¡°Well, you don¡¯t have to tell me everything. I didn¡¯t realize your family¡¯s experience was so fascinating and complex. Maybe when we have our big picnic later on, they could tell me that story themselves.¡± ¡°That¡¯d be best; they could tell it a lot better than I can. All I can say is that it¡¯s crazy how our lives ended up how they are now. During those two years, I was so hopeless, and never thought I would have a real family again, and that I would always have to take care of Cecilia. It just took a random fire, and some chance, to change everything.¡± ¡°Of course, you don¡¯t know if Marcus was brought into yours and your sister¡¯s life on purpose. It could¡¯ve been chance, but it also could¡¯ve been God.¡± Ronald nodded. ¡°Either way, I¡¯m so thankful for it. Being rich and having a lot is nice, but even if my dad wasn¡¯t successful, and we were living in squalor, I couldn¡¯t be more grateful for him and mom. I would rather have my whole family and have peace with God than our big house filled with everything, if I was forced to choose.¡± ¡°I like that you share those values; God and family will always be worth more than all the treasures of the world.¡± Marie sighed. ¡°I wish more people your age thought like you. You¡¯re a good kid.¡± Ronald looked down, as though embarrassed. ¡°I¡¯m nothing, really. I¡¯m not very good at all...¡± ¡°No one¡¯s perfect, but you don¡¯t have to be so hard on yourself. You seem like someone who always wants to do the right thing and take care of others, and that¡¯s a good thing.¡± Ronald was assured by her caring expression and voice, and he could see the sincerity in her eyes. His own expression saddened, as though he had let her down in some way. ¡°Are you okay? You look like you have something on your mind.¡± Ronald sighed, and after several seconds of uncomfortable silence, he opened his mouth as if to say something. Just then, Jack came back in after finally getting the kids to quiet down. The squirrel lost his train of thought, as though the other sable had aroused him from a trance. He lost his expression and turned his attention to Jack. ¡°Finally got them to quiet down.¡± He announced victoriously. ¡°What was going on with them?¡± Ronald asked. ¡°Oh, they were just playing a silly game. Dylan hid one of Beth¡¯s toys as a game, but he put it up somewhere she couldn¡¯t reach, and to her, that has been the most unjust thing to ever happen in her life.¡± ¡°To be three again.¡± Ronald commented, his voice not sounding sad now. ¡°So anyways, want to take a little walk around the backyard?¡± Ronald nodded and got up. ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°The pizza¡¯s got another hour or so, so you boys enjoy and take your time!¡± Marie said to them. The truth was she wanted to hear what Ronald had to say, but since it appeared to trouble him so much, she didn¡¯t bother him about it. Jack led Ronald through the house and into the backyard. It was much bigger than Ronald was expecting; it seemed bigger than the actual house! Jack slid open the glass door, and motioned for his guest to walk outside first. ¡°It smells really nice out here, and it¡¯s quite vast!¡± The squirrel remarked. ¡°Thank you, though Marie is more responsible for how pristine it looks. When we were looking for a house, we wanted something with a big backyard. We love being outdoors, especially in the spring, and we want lots of space for our kids to run around in and enjoy, or have family gatherings that would be too cramped if inside the house. As you can also see, we have a lovely vegetable garden in that corner. Marie has always wanted space to plant one, and now, it¡¯s where we get all our fresh veggies.¡± Jack led Ronald over to get a better look at it. There were small sections for various vegetables that depended on what season it was. Most of the garden appeared like it was in the process of growing plants, but when fall starts next month, it will, no doubt, be ready for harvesting. ¡°What¡¯s that little fence in that section?¡± Ronald pointed to a small, four-foot square parcel of soil that was fenced off from the rest of the garden. ¡°Is that, like, reserved for someone special, or for a special occasion?¡± ¡°That¡¯s something Marie came up with after being inspired by something she read in the Old Testament, about how those who grew and harvested their food were commanded not to glean the corners of their fields, so that the poor and strangers can eat too. Marie uses that corner to grow food intended for the poor and homeless around here; she fills a few baskets with it, puts in little pamphlets with the gospel on them, wraps them up, and takes them down to the food bank. We don¡¯t believe we¡¯re under the law, of course, but under grace, and yet we recognize that the law teaches righteous and merciful principles.¡± Ronald mentioned how his family were also Christians, and that he really liked Marie¡¯s idea of taking care of peoples¡¯ spiritual and physical needs in this creative way. ¡°Of course, don¡¯t go around telling people that she does this; she prefers staying under the radar.¡± Jack continued to show him around the backyard until they wound up sitting down at their patio table. Ronald looked pensive, and Jack just had to know what was on his mind. ¡°Something bugging you?¡± ¡°Well, a little.¡± He answered. ¡°You know how earlier I said me and my family were also believers?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Well, do you sometimes get the feeling, that, uh, you¡¯ve sinned too much and you don¡¯t feel like you¡¯re saved anymore? Of course, I don¡¯t believe someone can become ¡®unsaved,¡¯ but I sometimes feel like I¡¯ve done too much wrong that the angels would shake their heads upon seeing me in heaven one day.¡± ¡°Well, if you know salvation¡¯s by grace, and Christ in you is righteous, though your flesh is sinful, then no one would be upset at seeing you in heaven. I know what you¡¯re saying though; I have my fair share of bad days where all I can do is thank God he¡¯s given me grace.¡± Ronald nodded, and he contemplated saying something more to him, but Jack kept going. ¡°Maybe it comes as a surprise to you, but I do have bad anger problems sometimes, and think evil thoughts on some days about people who have hurt me in the past. I¡¯m sure everyone does that to a degree, but it¡¯s something I¡¯m not proud of at all. Whatever it is you feel bad about doing, you can be sure it¡¯s not unique, and the solution isn¡¯t to feel sad about it, but to thank God for His grace, and try to replace that sin with something good.¡± Just then, Dylan and Beth ran out into the backyard to play when they noticed Ronald. They walked up to him, curious. ¡°Who are you?¡± Dylan asked bluntly. ¡°This is a special guest and friend I invited to eat dinner with us tonight. His name is Ronald, and he helped me fix my building and made it look nice.¡± ¡°Hey.¡± Ronald greeted them with a small wave. ¡°Hi.¡± Beth replied with a shy wave of her own. ¡°Wanna see my toys?¡± Dylan excitedly offered, as there was nothing more exciting to a five-year old boy than his amazing toys. ¡°Uh, sure!¡± Ronald answered, remembering when he was five and was excited about showing off his own possessions. ¡°We¡¯ll let you know when dinner is ready.¡± Jack told Ronald as the two smaller sables led him inside. Dylan escorted Ronald quickly to his and Beth¡¯s room, as this was urgent business. ¡°Nice room, so what toys do you have?¡± Of course, Dylan was fetching his favorite toy before Ronald even asked. He dug through a pile of other toys until he pulled it out. ¡°This is an alien robot dinosaur from outer space!¡± He proudly held up his action figurine and then handed it to Ronald so he could be awed by it too. ¡°Wow, this is a pretty cool toy.¡± ¡°Yeah, and he flies all around space and shoots the aliens like this,¡± he tried to simulate holding an imaginary ray gun, ¡°pew! pew! Pew! And then, and then, he shot the big evil scary eyeball bad guy, and then threw him into a black hole! They go like this!¡± He then made a little hole-shape with one paw and then made a ¡°schwoop!¡± sound as he tried to make his other arm go through that hole. Dylan talked a mile a minute, and he acted out nearly everything he spoke. Ronald had a hard time understanding half of what he was trying to communicate, but he thought it was entertaining seeing someone this animated. ¡°He¡¯s like a cartoon character; I could picture him being a voice actor for one.¡± Dylan then pulled out some Legos, and he asked Ronald if he wanted to build something with him. Beth asked if she could join; Ronald had almost forgotten she was there, as Dylan hogged the spotlight the whole time. He was normally stingy with his Legos, but with a guest in his room, he decided to be nice to her. ¡°So Dylan, what do you like to build with your Legos?¡± Ronald started to stack them with no particular goal in mind. ¡°I like building cities.¡± ¡°Do you let your sister help you?¡± ¡°Sometimes. She¡¯s messy and the towers fall down sometimes when she makes them.¡± Speaking of which, Beth was stacking the legos in a way that was making it lean really far over. It toppled after five blocks. ¡°Why does it always fall?¡± She moaned, looking like she was about to cry. ¡°Here, let me help you.¡± Ronald took her stack apart and then showed her how to attach them so they would be stable. ¡°See, if you stack them right on top of each other like this, it¡¯ll stand. You also want to start from this base here so it can stand up nice and straight.¡± He attached the fledgling tower to the green rectangular base that came with the set, and it stood up. ¡°Oh, okay!¡± She exclaimed, as though he had just revealed a great mystery to her. ¡°Thanks Ronald.¡± Dylan wasn¡¯t paying attention to them, as he was too busy forming massive and elaborate structures. ¡°Wow Dylan, what¡¯s that building supposed to be?¡± ¡°It¡¯s my house. It¡¯s really, really, really, really, really, really BIG.¡± He then spread his arms out as widely as he could. ¡°It¡¯s as big as a city.¡± Ronald remarked, seeing as it was taking up most of the base. ¡°Yep! And when I grow up, I want a house this big! It¡¯s also going to be on the moon.¡± ¡°You sir, are very ambitious, and I would like to visit your giant metropolis of a house when you move into it.¡± ¡°Aw, I want a big house too!¡± Beth complained as she beheld her puny skyscraper. ¡°It¡¯s not fair!¡± ¡°Sheesh, you always cry about everything.¡± Dylan rolled his eyes. ¡°Here.¡± He took off a few bricks from his structure and gave them to her. She added them to hers, making her content, even though it was still much smaller. ¡°I want a house too.¡± Ronald commented. ¡°But now I have no room for my tower. Hm, maybe I¡¯ll put it here.¡± He put it on top of Dylan¡¯s structure. ¡°Hey! You can¡¯t put a house on top of a house!¡± ¡°But I just did.¡± Ronald smirked. ¡°This means I win, right?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a game.¡± Dylan laughed, and then in an unforeseen act of dominance and hostility, he plucked off Ronald¡¯s tower and lay it on its side on the floor. This was essentially declaring war. ¡°Oh really?¡± Ronald cocked an eyebrow. ¡°Well now, I have to do this.¡± He started plucking bricks off of Dylan¡¯s tower and adding them to his own. ¡°Oh yeah?!¡± Dylan started taking bricks off the bottom of Ronald¡¯s tower and adding them back to his own. Beth joined in the war and allied with Ronald, as he helped build her house. It was an absolutely silly sight to behold, and Ronald was loving it. He hadn¡¯t had so much fun since the time Marcus played with him and Cecilia during their journey together. Marcus was an alien invader who captured Cecilia, and Ronald had to bypass him to free her. Marie was just outside their door, and she heard them all laughing. She quietly brought Jack over so he could hear them too. ¡°Now I don¡¯t want to tell them that dinner is ready,¡± she whispered to him, ¡°that¡¯d break up the fun!¡± ¡°I know...but I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll find pizza just as fun.¡± He knocked on the door. ¡°Guys, the pizza is ready.¡± He then stood back to avoid the imminent stampede. Dylan thrust open the door and darted past his parents and to the table, with Beth just trailing. Ronald was the only one who thanked them before going to the table. Dylan was about to stuff a slice into his face before his mother had to yell at him. ¡°Dylan! You¡¯ll burn your mouth, and we haven¡¯t sat down yet!¡± She scowled. ¡°And I almost forgot, but you need to go wash your hands first.¡± The children did as they were told, and Ronald also went to wash up, as though she told him to as well. A minute later, everyone was seated. Jack led a quick prayer before anyone was allowed to dig in. It was just one pizza, but it was big enough to fill all of them up. Before anyone could ask, Marie explained what she used in it. It had five different kinds of cheese in it; gouda, swiss, pepperjack, cheddar, and mozzarella. She used tomato sauce, of course, but it had a hint of cilantro as well, giving it some zing. The toppings were all fresh veggies from her garden; onions, bell peppers, and zucchinis. ¡°This is REALLY good.¡± Ronald commented, finally taking a bite after letting it cool down. ¡°Thank you! It¡¯s my favorite kind of pizza to make, and I knew it would be appropriate for our guest.¡± She smiled. ¡°Will this be at the picnic too?¡± He asked. ¡°We¡¯ll see; we don¡¯t know what we¡¯ll be bringing yet.¡± In the middle of dinner, Ronald noticed some pamphlets on their sofa, and he leaned a little bit over to see what they were about.¡± ¡°See something over there?¡± Marie asked him. ¡°Oh, I was just trying to read what was on those.¡± He gestured to the pamphlets. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s just for a little trip we¡¯re planning. We haven¡¯t gone on a vacation before as a family, and we were debating about where to go. With work having kept Jack so busy, and our children being so young, we haven¡¯t been able to find time for one. However, with this deal that Jack struck, and how much more free he¡¯ll be after he finishes the order, we¡¯ll have the opportunity to get away from here for a little while and go somewhere nice for a week or so..¡± ¡°Well that sounds like fun; where are you thinking about going?¡± ¡°Right now, the choices are between Crystal Palm Hills, Regal Lake, and Bluerock Forest. They¡¯re more ¡°off the grid¡± and unconventional for vacation spots, but we want something relaxing more than exciting. We just want to go somewhere far from any cities.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard of all those places, actually. Those are nice locations to relax and unwind, from what I¡¯ve read.¡± ¡°Do you have a preference out of those three?¡± Marie asked. ¡°Bluerock Forest seems the most interesting to me, since the blue-tinged soil is such an unusual phenomenon, and I also would like to live in a forest again when I¡¯m older, and one without a town or city in it.¡± The conversation continued, with Ronald mentioning how he wanted to have a career relating to nature, and how he couldn¡¯t wait to get out of high school so he could spend more time studying what he was actually interested in. He also asked them questions when he could, especially towards Marie, as he didn¡¯t know about her as well as Jack. She had mentioned that she went to college for a bit to study law in hopes of becoming a lawyer, but her desires changed when Jack proposed to her. He never told her to stop doing what she was doing, but decided for herself it would be best to put that goal on hold for now. She wanted moreso to be a wife and mother, and being a lawyer would¡¯ve taken so much time away from that. She didn¡¯t want her kids to be raised by a babysitter more than their own parents. However, she still remembered a lot of what she learned, and dazzled her guest with some interesting tidbits. ¡°In this city, did you know it is illegal to light up a cigarette within fifteen feet of a building between the hours of eight a.n. And six p,m.? It¡¯s also illegal in this city to climb up a tree during a windstorm when the wind is faster than twenty-five miles per hour, even if you¡¯re an animal who lives in it? There are other random ones I can pull out that we¡¯ve all probably broken once or twice.¡± ¡°Oh dang, that¡¯s got me nervous.¡± Ronald half-joked. ¡°But I guess some of these laws never get enforced.¡± ¡°Yeah, and if you ask me, I think it¡¯s for the better. Some of these laws are just common-sense safety issues, and shouldn¡¯t be things punishable with fines or jail.¡± Before they knew it, it was nine p.m., and Dylan and Beth were still up. It was only after Jack looked at the time that he told them to go immediately brush their teeth and go to bed. ¡°I¡¯m tired too,¡± Ronald yawned and put a paw over his tummy. ¡°And full. Thanks again for having me over, and for the great pizza. I had a lot of fun.¡± ¡°It was our pleasure.¡± Marie smiled. ¡°Jack¡¯s going to take you back home.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± He also yawned. ¡°You¡¯ll have to let me know where to go; you live close to here, right?¡± ¡°Mhm.¡± He nodded. ¡°I¡¯m just a few minutes down the street.¡± ¡°Alright. Well, let¡¯s get going, and we¡¯ll see you again at our picnic.¡± Ronald said bye to Marie, and then he was off. At home, his parents asked how it was, and he said he enjoyed himself a lot. The Tyndales seemed like a wholesome family, and he looked forward to future interactions he might have with them. Back in his room, Ronald had a hard time sleeping once again. The thing he wanted to tell Marie during their conversation, just before Jack interrupted him, was still on his mind. ¡°They think I¡¯m this really good kid, but if they knew more about me, they¡¯d think differently...I¡¯m not good at all¡­¡± At the same time Ronald was beating himself up, the phone rang, and his mom answered it. She thought it was a bit late to be receiving calls now, but remained polite. ¡°Hello, who is this?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a friend of Ronald¡¯s, from work. Sorry I¡¯m calling so late, but I was hoping to talk to him for just a few minutes.¡± ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Ashley. If he¡¯s asleep, I can just call tomorrow.¡± ¡°Let me check.¡± She tapped lightly on his door. ¡°Ronald? Are you asleep?¡± ¡°No¡­¡± He sounded sad. ¡°But I¡¯m trying to go to sleep.¡± ¡°Someone named Ashley is on the phone and says she wants to talk to you for a few minutes. Is that okay with you?¡± ¡°Uh...sure. I¡¯ll take it.¡± Ronald walked downstairs and picked up the phone. ¡°Hey Ashley¡­¡± Diane was in the next room over; she could hear her son, but not Ashley. ¡°No¡­ No I wouldn¡¯t¡­ That just sounds crazy to me¡­ Look, it seemed innocent to me at the time, but it was a huge mistake¡­ I am never doing that again¡­¡± Diane¡¯s ears were perked up; she didn¡¯t want to eavesdrop and question her own son, but there was something quite wrong with his end of the conversation. ¡°You know what? Maybe it¡¯s best I don¡¯t see you again!¡± His voice was raised. ¡°I...I can¡¯t believe you would suggest that again!... Whatever, good night.¡± He stated flatly and slammed the phone down. Diane couldn¡¯t keep herself from intervening now, and she walked right up to him. ¡°What was that? Do I need to be concerned here?¡± ¡°No, no, it¡¯s fine.¡± He answered, his tone of voice clearly lying. ¡°I could hear you from the family room; you don¡¯t sound happy with this friend of yours.¡± ¡°Oh, she¡¯s not my friend anymore. On the first night of my job, we hooked up and looked forward to going on some dates together. Biggest mistake of my life!¡± ¡°What happened? I didn¡¯t even know you had a girlfriend, even if it was for less than a week.¡± ¡°She...she led me to commit a crime during that extra shift I took¡­¡± He looked down and shook his head. ¡°I hate myself for it¡­¡± ¡°A crime?¡± Her eyes widened. ¡°Well, I haven¡¯t even seen the police stop by and ask for your arrest, so maybe you¡¯re mistaken. Surely your supervisor would¡¯ve noticed.¡± ¡°I...I stole from the concession stand while no one was looking.¡± ¡°Like, from the cash register, or the snacks?¡± ¡°The snacks¡­I know that sounds so petty, but it was theft. I got hungry after picking up so much trash, and I stole¡­¡± Diane sighed. ¡°Well, that was wrong and foolish of you to do; that could¡¯ve cost you your job, minimum. Employers could go even further and press charges if they see their employees stealing. If that was what Ashley encouraged you to do, and is still egging you on to do it again, then it was better for you to break up. A girl that¡¯s trying to get you to sin and be dishonest is not right for you; snacks may be a very small thing, but as you know, that kind of issue snowballs into worse problems. Breaking it off now was the right thing to do, but please be wiser next time.¡± ¡°I will. Sorry for being dumb.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not dumb,¡± she put a paw on his shoulder, ¡°you know what¡¯s right and wrong; you just need to make a conscious effort each time to do the right thing. Good night, Ronald, and don¡¯t let this eat you up.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t, mom. Good night, and thanks.¡± ¡°Of course, sweetie.¡± Back in his own bed, Ronald was still not at peace. In fact, he was feeling even worse. He had just lied to his own mother; there was no crime involving candy, but he was too cowardly to reveal the truth. ¡°My parents would kill me if they found out what Ashley and I did¡­¡± Ronald was starting to wish Marcus had gobbled him up nine years ago when they first met; at least he would¡¯ve been dead then instead of soon. Chapter 5 Success! Three days before Jack¡¯s order was to be shipped out, he had finished production, and was scrambling to get it all into boxes and shipped to his customer. He had never dialed a number on his phone so quickly to tell the school principal the good news. ¡°Excellent! So when can I expect them to arrive?¡± ¡°Tomorrow at the latest; you wanted the expedited shipping, so I picked the fastest carrier I could find and hired them for the job. Thank you again for choosing me to fulfill the hearing and sight needs of your students, and I hope you will consider ordering again if needed. If you find any problems with the order, please notify me as soon as you can, and I will send replacement items as needed at no extra charge.¡± ¡°I will, and thank you!¡± ¡°You have a good day, sir, and a great school year.¡± ¡°You have a great day too. Bye.¡± ¡°Bye.¡± He hung up, then turned on the radio to a jazz station, and then broke out into a celebratory dance in his office. There was nothing like finishing a massive order on time and knowing you earned every dollar of it. It was only 3:00 on Thursday, but he decided to let everyone go early and have tomorrow off. He assured them he was still going to pay them as if they were working that time because he was just that happy. There was also the big picnic they were going to have this Sunday with Marcus and his family, and he was looking forward to fortifying their friendship. After all, he couldn¡¯t have finished this order without him. The picnic was going to be held in the Tyndales¡¯ backyard, as it would easily be large enough to host everyone. One reason for Jack closing work early that week was to let his employees take an extended break since they worked overtime, but another was so that he could help his wife get everything ready. There were a couple additional tables and chairs they had to order to accommodate the two families, plus all the food. Marie also wanted to put party decorations up; not too ostentatious and distracting, but also not boring and drab. She decided to go with solid-colored streamers and balloons. There was also the matter of the food. Much to Ronald¡¯s dismay, Marie wasn¡¯t going to be making her world-famous pizza, as she decided colder food would be more appropriate for such a hot day. She wanted to keep the menu on the simple side since there were going to be eleven people in total, and she had never had to prepare so much food in her life. The fact that five of their guests were wolves added a little more stress; they were just bigger, and thus, would eat more. As for Jack, he had a special surprise gesture in store for Marcus; it was so secret that not even Marie knew about it. It was bold and risky for a business competitor to do, but as Marcus risked his standing to help Jack, the sable knew it was the right thing to return the favor. By the time Sunday morning rolled around, Ronald still wasn¡¯t feeling his best, and wasn¡¯t even sure he should come to the picnic. His mother was worried that his little brush with the law was consuming him and keeping him from moving on enjoying his life. Her concerns were verified when she noticed the hate-letter he wrote to himself the previous night just sitting on the drawer beside his bed. ¡°Why is this bothering you so much?¡± She asked him. ¡°You¡¯ve done other wrong things before, so I don¡¯t understand why this one in particular is so much worse to you than anything. I¡¯ve never seen you beat yourself up like this before, and I hate it. I want you to be happy again¡­you should want yourself to be happy again.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know...I think it¡¯s just because I stole from my boss on the first day of my job, and also that I let a pretty girl persuade me so easily. I¡¯m such a weakling, and an excuse for a man.¡± ¡°I hate to say it, but females have had a long history of doing that.¡± She said. ¡°Read Proverbs; Solomon warns his son over and over not to be enticed and allured by strange women. Having married 700 wives, he would know something about that, as they turned his heart away from God. Your situation dates back to ancient history, but it¡¯s so light compared to what could¡¯ve happened. Would you rather be guilty of turning to and worshipping false gods, or stealing some snacks?¡± Ronald nodded; the question was worded as such he didn¡¯t even need to supply a verbal response. ¡°Now please go get ready for the picnic; they¡¯re expecting us at noon.¡± Ronald went to go take a bath, but no amount of soap was going to make him feel any cleaner. He just kept the lie going with his mother; he knew it was so wrong, but he still hadn¡¯t shed his fear of telling the truth. ¡°It¡¯s going to blow up in my face sooner or later; no lie that gets this big can go undetected for long. It¡¯s just that everyone¡¯s been so happy lately, and I don¡¯t want to ruin that for everyone. I hope that when someone inevitably discovers the truth, only I get punished. It¡¯s only fair¡­¡± Well, someone else did know the truth, and that was Ashley. He knew she could easily ruin his life by blurting out the truth, but he also knew that doing so would ruin hers as well. The question was whether she¡¯d eventually promulgate it to her own detriment just to get at him for breaking up with her. He didn¡¯t think of that possibility before, but now it horrified him. ¡°I should get her a bunch of flowers and candy quickly just in case she is thinking about doing that¡­¡± He finally got ready after spending thirty minutes in the bathtub; about twenty-seven minutes more than usual. It was a good thing they had more than one bathroom in the house; he would¡¯ve held Cecilia hostage out there, and she was known for taking forever. It wasn¡¯t enough for her to be clean; she had to look perfectly pretty and presentable, with each strand of fur positioned just so. The family had gotten themselves ready just in time, and they were off to the big Sunday picnic. Ronald tried to push Ashley out of his mind, along with his other mistake, and just focus on enjoying himself today. When they arrived, Jack was at the front to greet and welcome everyone in. ¡°Welcome! I¡¯m glad all of you could make it today. Marie and the kids are out in the back, putting the finishing touches on everything.¡± Jack led them all into the backyard through the side gate. Upon seeing the yard, comments from the others were unanimous on its size and beauty. Marie warmly welcomed them all while Dylan and Beth were too busy chasing each other around the open space. She whistled at them, signaling for them to come over and meet their guests. Dylan and Beth seemed a bit shy compared to when only Ronald was there, especially when Marcus or Diane said hi to them. ¡°I hope we don¡¯t look too intimidating to them.¡± Marcus remarked. ¡°That¡¯s probably it; they¡¯ve never met fully-grown wolves before,¡± Marie replied, holding Beth, who looked like she was about to cry. Marcus and Diane were giants compared to her. Dylan was half-hiding behind his mother, not knowing if he was on the menu or not for one of the wolves. ¡°I¡¯ll put them inside for now; I¡¯m sorry about that.¡± Jack took the two children inside to talk to them and assure them their guests weren¡¯t going to eat them. Meanwhile, Marie showed everyone the tables, the food, and the drinks, and informed them that the rest of the open space in the yard was free to play around in. So the picnic got underway; the adults sat together, with Ronald, Cecilia, Dylan, and Beth at the table next to them. Their younger wolf siblings were more excited about running around in the rest of the backyard than eating for now. Dylan and Beth wanted to play, but were terrified of getting trampled by them. They were just four times bigger than them in height, but likely a hundred times heavier. The adults were having their own conversation about random stuff, and the younger ones had their own. Cecilia waxed long about how her eighth-grade year was going, and how she liked some of her classes over others, and what she thought about her teachers so far. Ronald gave his two cents when he could, warning her about certain teachers, and remarking on how nice and lenient some of the others were. It wasn¡¯t the most enthralling conversation on Ronald¡¯s tier-list of conversations, but it was enough to get his mind off of Ashley. At least this was something he and his sister shared in common and could talk about. She turned the conversation back to him, curious about what high school was like, and how he felt about being almost done with it. ¡°I honestly can¡¯t wait to get it over with; my classes are similar to what it¡¯s like getting your teeth pulled. Of course, I¡¯ve never had a tooth pulled, but I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯m not wrong. I just want to start spending more of my time studying things that are interesting to me, and ninety percent of what I¡¯ve learned in my classes so far doesn¡¯t fit the bill. If you ask me, much of it is a waste of time, and it¡¯s there to torture us.¡± Marie overheard him, and decided to jump in. ¡°Regardless of what you think about senior year, don¡¯t let yourself slack off. Maybe Calculus won¡¯t help you with being a naturalist, but getting good grades will help you get into a college that has a good nature program.¡± ¡°I know; I don¡¯t plan to not do my homework or whatever. I¡¯m going to suck it up and do my best, even though I know I¡¯ll hate it.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know that for sure, maybe you¡¯ll learn something soon that will inspire you.¡± Marie said. ¡°Don¡¯t treat the next nine months as something you just want to be over. Each day you have is a gift, even if a lot of those days are hard.¡± Ronald had a hard time just getting through today; this picnic was the only thing keeping his mind occupied, but it wouldn¡¯t last forever. ¡°She¡¯s right.¡± Marcus added. ¡°I want you to succeed. You have to accept that not every day will be a thrill ride of things you love the most, and there¡¯s no one who gets to reach the life they want without getting through the dull and tedious moments. It will all come to pass, no struggle or pain you deal with this year will last forever.¡± Ronald nodded, and that last sentence sounded applicable to his internal struggle between convenient lies and hurtful truths. ¡°You know the right thing to do, and I know you¡¯ll do it, no matter how much it hurts.¡± That sentence was also applicable, and it pricked his heart so deeply that he couldn¡¯t sweep it under the rug. ¡°Do the right thing, no matter how much it hurts¡­¡± Meanwhile, Claudia and Janet finally succumbed to hunger and decided to get something to eat from the bounty their hosts provided. ¡°Enjoy!¡± Marie said to them. ¡°Enjoying the backyard?¡± Jack asked them. ¡°We are; thanks for letting us play around in it!¡± They sat with their smaller squirrel siblings, leaving Xavier by himself. He too was hungry, but there was something else he wanted to do first. He was annoyed at seeing the smaller sables so afraid of being with his own kind, and he wanted to fix them. ¡°Dylan, Beth, wanna play with me? I won¡¯t bite.¡± He lay himself as flat as he could; head in the grass, and tail swishing back and forth. Dylan was still a little skeptical, but Beth was terrified, as if she had been asked if she wanted to be executed.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Yes, both of you should go play with him.¡± Their father urged, also annoyed that his own children were scared to interact with any of the wolves. Dylan and Beth looked at him as though he lost his mind. ¡°Come on, he¡¯s not going to eat you. Our guests are very nice people, and they¡¯re Ronald¡¯s family. Remember Ronald? You liked him when he played Legos with you.¡± They nodded. ¡°That¡¯s Ronald¡¯s brother, and he just wants to play with you too.¡± Dylan slowly got up and approached Xavier; it was a weird scene for Ronald and Cecilia. They were also smaller than their wolf siblings, but they were completely harmless. Cecilia stayed put, but Jack wasn¡¯t about to let her stay there and cater to her feeling of safety. ¡°Don¡¯t be rude, Beth. He asked you nicely.¡± He added, sounding a little more stern. ¡°I¡¯ll let you ride on my back.¡± Xavier added. The little sable finally caved, and she walked up to him, though hid behind her brother. As he promised, Xavier was gentle with them, and he let them ride on his back as well. Ronald enjoyed seeing them interact, though he knew that once the truth got out, that might disappear. He laughed as he watched Xavier roll onto his back and Dylan pounce on him and tickle his tummy. Beth climbed onto his chest and did the same thing. ¡°I¡¯m going to ruin it...I¡¯m going to ruin EVERYTHING.¡± Ronald¡¯s heart was starting to break, and his eyes became wet. The fun didn¡¯t end here, as there was still Jack¡¯s special surprise for Marcus. It was now late afternoon, and Jack had intended his reveal to be the magnificent and fitting conclusion to the day. ¡°Everyone, before you go home, I have one last surprise.¡± He turned to Marcus. ¡°In all honesty, I¡¯m positive I¡¯ll never be able to pay back in full what you¡¯ve done for me, and as a result, for my family as well. I do have a small token of appreciation and gratitude I would like to give you, but for you to see it, we must all come over to my building.¡± Marcus was not expecting an additional accolade; the casual family picnic was lovely enough. He had no idea what was in store for him, but was sure he would like it. As Jack¡¯s business, which had looked like it had never gone down in flames before, there was a big red poster board covering something on the wall, a little to the right of the front entrance. Everyone got out of their cars, and Jack stood by the poster. He waited for everyone to quiet down before starting. ¡°Before this building had suffered its fiery disaster, I was exceptionally focused on competition. Ashamed to say, but I was envious of your success, and I would let it eat at my thoughts most days. I viewed you as a rival, and I was too fixated on having more things than you one day. I didn¡¯t know that it was going to take an explosion to get me to see things differently; to gain a more mature view on life. You showed me, through the destruction of my own livelihood, that friendship, kindness, and character are more important than petty competition. You saw me down in the dirt, and instead of seeing me as one less obstacle in your way, you saw me as a partner, and a fellow man who also had a family to raise. You single-handedly saved my business, and possibly saved us from being homeless, even though you could¡¯ve just ignored me and let me flounder. As a thank you for all that you¡¯ve done, I would like to formally dedicate this building to you.¡± He removed the red poster, and there was a big, shiny, silver placard that read, ¡°This building is dedicated to Marcus Avery for his unmatched generosity, character, and dedication to helping others succeed.¡± Beside that was an engraved likeness of a wolf¡¯s head as viewed as though you were making eye contact with him. Everyone applauded, and Marcus walked up to Jack. ¡°I¡¯m very honored you would do that, Jack. This is a very meaningful gift; thank you." And in a very rare and unexpected moment for the wolf, he picked Jack up and hugged him. It was just one of those quick, buddy types that only casual friends might do, but it caught them both off-guard. He put Jack back down. ¡°Just promise me it won¡¯t burn down again. I only have so many dollars.¡± Marcus joked. ¡°I promise.¡± Jack laughed. Marie ran up to her husband and hugged him as well. ¡°I had no idea you had planned this; that was so sweet!¡± The two families eventually went their own ways; everyone¡¯s spirits lifted, as the day ended on such a positive note. It had ended so well that Ronald debated within himself whether he should forgo revealing the truth for at least another week; maybe let the positivity and euphoria subside first. But sometimes, life has other plans. At nighttime, the wolf triplets were already in bed, and the two squirrels were watching a bad movie in Ronald¡¯s room so they could make snarky comments about it along the way. Marcus and Diane were having some intimate alone time in the family room. ¡°Today was such a good day; I¡¯m really happy for that family.¡± Diane remarked and kissed Marcus. ¡°But I¡¯m even happier for marrying you.¡± ¡°It was a great day, and I¡¯m looking forward to seeing where our friendship will go. They¡¯re a good family, and they deserve not having their lives destroyed by a freak incident.¡± ¡°Speaking of which, I wonder how that even happened. From what Marie described, it sounded like it was a missile. Why anyone would be launching those around here is unfathomable to me.¡± ¡°And whoever did it apparently is still not known. If I were Jack or Marie, I would definitely want answers, if for nothing else than the sake of closure.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure they do want to know; maybe there¡¯s just too little evidence for the detectives to pin-point a suspect.¡± ¡°That is upsetting, but at least they still got everything back that they lost.¡± Meanwhile, in another house, Jack was asleep. Despite the good day that he had, that wolverine was back in his dream. ¡°You again!¡± Jack shouted, teeth bared. ¡°Haven¡¯t you ruined enough of my life!¡± ¡°You deserve it, low-life! How could you look at yourself in the mirror, knowing how pathetic and worthless you are? You didn¡¯t deserve Marcus¡¯ help; he should¡¯ve kicked you and your family to the curb.¡± ¡°I deserved it? I bet it was YOU who caused that fire! Who else could it have been? It wasn¡¯t enough that you ruined my life once, you just had to have another go at it. I thought I had put you behind me for good, but you just can¡¯t get enough of seeing me suffer, can you?¡± The wolverine smirked. ¡°Once I know the fire was your doing, I will find you and kill you.¡± ¡°I¡¯d love to see your breaking point again. You tried killing me once, and you failed miserably. Just give up and accept that I will always look for ways to hurt you.¡± Jack lunged for the wolverine¡¯s neck, but then woke up before being able to sink his teeth into it. His heart was pounding, and he got up and walked over to the family room to let himself settle down. He turned on the light and sat at the table. No matter what he tried though, he couldn¡¯t get that wolverine out of his mind. ¡°He cost me my first job; slandered me and lied about me, and somehow, he¡¯s found me again. That monster...that monster must pay!¡± Marie heard him get up and walk out here, and she followed him out. She didn¡¯t know what was wrong with him until she saw it. The glint in his eyes. ¡°Jack, no!¡± She hugged him and held him tightly, tears welling up in her eyes. ¡°It¡¯s not worth it...God loves you, your family loves you, and you have wonderful friends who care about you¡­¡± Her words and her touch slowly but surely soothed his seething soul. The glint in his eyes faded into nothing, and he hugged her back, his eyes now watery. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Marie...please forgive me.¡± Meanwhile, Marcus and Diane were finally off to bed; Marcus falling asleep first. Diane then realized she had forgotten something, and she sighed. ¡°Cecilia needs that sheet signed for her teacher; she even left it on the counter to remind me. Guess I¡¯ll sign it now before I forget in the morning.¡± She quietly got out of bed and walked downstairs, through the silent house, to the kitchen counter. She grabbed a pen and signed her name on the blank space, officially allowing her daughter to participate in all forthcoming field trips for the year. She set the pen back down and intended to go to bed...and then noticed something else on the counter. ¡°Is that...a pay stub? That¡¯s a weird thing to leave out in the open.¡± She assumed it was Ronald¡¯s, as it looked like nothing that belonged to her husband. She thought it would be best to just take it and slide it under his door, but something else caught her attention. A second sheet. Diane thought these were only supposed to be a single paper; she took a look at it, and it was a breakdown of the hours he worked. She hadn¡¯t seen something like this before, but thought it was a good record for the employee to have, so they can account for themselves every hour they were on the clock. She took an innocent look at his record, curious to see how much his overtime pay was. Except it wasn¡¯t there. She looked at his hours, and noticed something unusual and suspicious. The extra shift he said he worked on his first night was not listed; either payroll had made a glaring error, or Ronald was in a boiling pot of steaming hot water right now. ¡°Surely, Ronald would¡¯ve noticed all that missing money he should¡¯ve gotten when his check arrived two days ago, but he didn¡¯t say a thing¡­¡± She really hated that she was unable to trust her son, but it was making sense to her now. No kid would ever be so upset over stealing snacks, so upset he¡¯d write himself a hate-letter over it. He was hiding something else from her, and the snacks were a poor facade for something worse. As if on cue, she saw Ronald run down the stairs, as if he had forgotten something. He noticed her standing where he accidentally left his papers, and his heart sank. In a quick and intuitive act of survival, he went on the defensive. ¡°Why are you looking at my paystub? You don¡¯t trust me?!¡± He raised his voice. She cocked her head, acting confused. ¡°I didn¡¯t even say anything. Could you elaborate? I¡¯m just standing here enjoying some peace and quiet.¡± So that¡¯s what it was like walking right onto a landmine. Diane already figured out he had been lying to her this whole time, but he offered his neck on the chopping block before there was even an accusation and invited the axe to come swooshing down. She didn¡¯t say anything, but Ronald knew that this was the end of his life. He stayed uncomfortably silent, not looking at her and fidgeting about. ¡°I¡¯m waiting...or are you biding your time to come up with another fib?¡± By now, there was nothing he could say to save himself; he was a terrible liar, and any alibi he¡¯d concoct now would sound fake. ¡°Ronald, I don¡¯t know what¡¯s been happening with you lately, but it¡¯s scaring me. There is something you did that you are ashamed of, and you thought that stacking some lies in front of it would help you brush it away. Maybe you¡¯re never going to tell a single soul about what you did, but God already knows, and so does your conscience. Whether or not you ever tell me won¡¯t change my life, but I will say this...there is nothing worse than a seared conscience. I already know you don¡¯t have one, as I can clearly see that whatever sin you did do is eating you up on the inside, and you are clearly not proud of it. If you continue down this road though, you will slowly become more and more calloused against it, and your lying will not bother you anymore. I implore you, please get this straightened out before it¡¯s too late. I love you, and it pains me to see you go down this path¡­¡± She walked past him without a hug, a kiss, or even a ¡°good night.¡± She had rarely ever felt this hurt or scared, and when she lay back down to sleep, she wept and prayed for him. And Ronald just stood there. All that was left now was to face the music. No more hiding, no more games. No more lies. Hours later, it was early Monday morning. There was school today, but Ronald didn¡¯t care. His mind was so focused on fixing the mess he made that he couldn¡¯t care less about his truancy. He didn¡¯t get a wink of sleep; he couldn¡¯t have if he wanted to. This was pretty much going to be the most terrifying day of his life, and it could very well thrust his family¡¯s friendship with the Tyndales into jeopardy. He left the house before the sun was even up, and began his trek to the very location where the truth would finally drop. He had made the decision not to eat breakfast beforehand because he knew he¡¯d just throw it up. The morning was cold, and the sky, overcast. A slight chill also made him shiver, but that didn¡¯t matter to him. Freezing to death was a more pleasant experience than what he was about to do. Morning walkers and joggers passed by him on occasion; they¡¯d say hi to him, but he¡¯d barely even acknowledge them. This trek was a lot like marching to a scaffold; the noose was prepared for him, and the only thing he could look forward to was getting his neck snapped upon dropping down, and his lifeless corpse hanging limply for the birds to pick at. After an hour, he finally got to where he planned. Jack¡¯s car had just pulled out of the driveway and headed for work, but the sable never saw him. ¡°I should just start with telling Marie...she said I was a good kid, and she seems very sweet and understanding. I could see her taking this better than anyone¡­¡± With a heavy and mournful sigh, he marched up the walkway to their front door. He rapped on their door and announced his presence. ¡°Marie, it¡¯s Ronald...I¡¯m sorry I came without you expecting me today, and that it¡¯s so early...but I Really need to confess something to you¡­¡± ¡°Coming.¡± She replied, and she opened both doors for him. ¡°Is everything okay? You look sick.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not okay, but that¡¯s why I need to talk to you. I hope you don¡¯t mind¡­¡± ¡°Not at all, please step inside.¡± He did so, and she offered him a seat at their table. He took the same chair he sat in that night they had pizza. ¡°Want me to make you some coffee? You looked like you haven¡¯t slept at all.¡± He shook his head, not wanting to eat or drink anything until this matter was settled. ¡°Thank you though, but I really need to get something off my chest once-and-for-all.¡± She sat across from him. ¡°Go ahead.¡± Ronald felt like he was about to burst into tears, but he was here now, and there was no turning back. She walked over and hugged him. ¡°I won¡¯t judge you or think differently of you for whatever it is you have to say. Remember we¡¯re friends now?¡± ¡°I...I¡¯m not sure that will be true after today¡­¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know that; your assumptions might be much worse than reality. Come on, you can tell me what¡¯s on your mind.¡± She sat back down and let him take his time. ¡°Well¡­¡± he wiped his eyes, ¡°I...I know who b-burned down Jack¡¯s business,,,and I never said anything this whole t-time. I was af-fraid of what would happen if I blabbed¡­¡± She nodded slowly. ¡°You did? Please tell me.¡± ¡°It was...it was¡­¡± And then he looked down and shook his head. ¡°....me.¡± He was expecting Marie to gasp or exclaim something...but there was only silence from her. He slowly looked back up at her, and though she looked sad, she didn¡¯t seem terribly upset or surprised. ¡°Uh...that¡¯s it? Please tell me you¡¯re mad, or hurt. Anything!¡± She looked him in the eyes; her expression neutral. ¡°Ronald...thank you for coming out and being honest about this¡­¡± ¡°...but what I did was so horrible! Come on, you can¡¯t tell me you¡¯re not angry about this! I could¡¯ve KILLED someone!¡± ¡°Ronald, I have something to confess too, and maybe it¡¯ll help my lack of emotional reaction make sense to you.¡± Ronald just stared at her, not knowing if he should be relieved or terrified. ¡°Ronald,¡± she sighed, and paused, as though nervous herself. She put her paw over his, and said, with her voice lowered. ¡°...I already knew you did it.¡± Chapter 6 Ronald felt like he was suspended from a cliff; the ledge was safe, and there was life on it. On the other side was a bottomless pit; falling into it would ensure he would never get out and experience life again. A hand was holding his, and that hand was Marie¡¯s. She had the power to lift him back onto the ledge and restore him to safety...or she could release her grip and wave a vengeful goodbye as the pit swallowed him up. He was about to find out what she would do. Questions buzzed around in his mind like a swarm of angry bees, and he had no idea which one should come out of his mouth first. ¡°Ronald, I knew that would leave you speechless, so let me start by saying a few things. First, I have absolutely no intention of reporting you, or personally retaliating against you, or doing anything that would destroy your reputation. I said we would still remain friends, and I stand by it.¡± ¡°But...why? Why not report me? How can you just gloss over what I¡¯ve done? Actually, what I want to know first is how you even knew it was me. When Ashley and I launched that firework, we were sure nobody was around.¡± ¡°Nope, you weren¡¯t as alone as you thought you were. Right after I heard that firework go off, I looked at the source, and saw you clear as day with another squirrel. I knew who you were, as you¡¯re MArcus¡¯ son, but I didn¡¯t know who the other one was. Anyways, after that firework blasted upwards, you two took off. I take it that your launch did not go the way you wanted. You looked so panicked.¡± ¡°You are right about that, but I still don¡¯t get how you saw me.¡± ¡°I noticed you through the gaps in the bushes in front of our house. Seeing you was no problem, but you weren¡¯t likely to see me. Anyways, before I answer any more of your questions, I would like to know why you did this in the first place. I knew about how nice and responsible your family was, so what you did came off as a surprise to me.¡± ¡°Well, this is going to sound pathetic, but that girl you saw me with, Ashley, pressured me into doing it. Just hours before that, we were both working at our jobs, and we agreed to go on a date afterwards. I thought she just wanted to do something casual since we had just met, but she claimed she had something more ¡°exciting¡± she wanted to do with me. I first worried that she wanted to take this down the road of promiscuity because I know that would¡¯ve been very wrong. She assured me that wasn¡¯t the case, but even then, I shouldn¡¯t have agreed to go out with her. At her house, she had illegal fireworks-¡± Marie quickly interrupted him. ¡°They¡¯re all illegal, actually, but go on.¡± ¡°Oh...well, she had fireworks stashed at her house. She claimed they were her older brother¡¯s, but told me he wouldn¡¯t care if you took and used some of them. I warned her that using them near the forest would be a bad idea, but then she started calling me a wimp and a coward, and a goody-two-shoes. That didn¡¯t bother me at first, but then she started to threaten me. She said that if I didn¡¯t use them and have fun with them, then she was going to use them herself and then frame me for any damages caused. I-I panicked from her threat, and...and I launched the firework...I¡¯m so sorry...I was put in a position of ¡°damned if I do, and damned if I don¡¯t.¡± Going out with that...that person was the worst mistake of my life.¡± He clearly wanted to use a different word for her, but didn¡¯t want to cuss in front of Marie. ¡°Well, hindsight is 20/20, but going with letting her do it herself would¡¯ve been better on your part, even if that defective firework was still going to hit my husband¡¯s building. If she started framing you for its destruction, you could¡¯ve accused her with slander. A court would ask her to prove her accusation, and since she wouldn¡¯t have been able to, she would¡¯ve been guilty of smearing your name, and you would¡¯ve gotten compensation. Whether or not that¡¯s something you would¡¯ve gone all the way with, there still would¡¯ve been no way for a court or detective to prove you guilty.¡± This only made him even more upset; the thought that the police could uncover the evidence any day now and place it on him was tragic. If only he had used his brain. ¡°If you¡¯re worried about evidence against you being found, then I wouldn¡¯t worry about it. In crimes like this, it¡¯s very, very difficult to find out who performed the launch. Believe me, if the evidence was there, it would¡¯ve been found already. You actually committed the perfect crime, though I know that¡¯s not something you¡¯d want on a certificate or anything. ¡°That¡¯s weirdly relieving and sad¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s so hard because the evidence literally blows up and becomes impossible to find. They would have to locate your DNA somewhere amidst all that residue, and since it got swept away and discarded, there¡¯s an almost zero-percent chance anyone can prove it was you. The only real way to prove it would be if there were multiple eyewitnesses, but there¡¯s only me, and one witness alone isn¡¯t enough to prove anyone guilty in this case. You are very, very lucky that not one surveillance camera was on you; otherwise even I couldn¡¯t have helped you out.¡± ¡°Do you, uh...do you think I should report myself? I know I should be honest¡­¡± Marie shook her head emphatically. ¡°No, do not do that. I don¡¯t think you know how serious the punishment is for the crime you committed. Illegal fireworks in other places only result in fines, or a little jail time, but that¡¯s not the case here. Since we live in a forest, the punishment for launching a firework or any type of pyrotechnic is VERY severe.¡± she paused for effect. ¡°If you had been caught and convicted, you would¡¯ve been in prison for at least fifteen years. I wouldn¡¯t want that for my worst enemy.¡± Ronald put his paws over his mouth and gasped; to think he could¡¯ve been behind bars until he was thirty-two, and maybe more if someone had been killed. Tears welled up in his eyes, as he couldn¡¯t fathom dealing with that. Marie noticed him about to go into a panic attack, and she got up to go comfort him. ¡°Shhh, it¡¯s alright, Ronald...nothing¡¯s going to happen to you, and like I said, I am not going to tell this to anyone, ever. That punishment alone was a huge reason why I kept my mouth shut; you¡¯re young, and you have so much of your life left to go. What you did was beyond foolish and stupid, but even then, I knew you were better than what you did that morning, and you don¡¯t deserve to be locked away for so long. I wanted to give you another chance to live your life, and not let it be wasted because of a terrible lapse in judgment.¡± ¡°Something still doesn¡¯t make sense to me.¡± He finally said after calming down. ¡°How come you didn¡¯t confront me about it sooner? On that night you made us pizza, you could¡¯ve taken me aside and made me admit it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because I wanted you to make that decision on your own. I wanted you to make the decision to do the right thing and not let someone else do it for you. At the very moment I heard about how you wanted to help Jack rebuild his business, I immediately knew that was your conscience at work. I¡¯m not saying you¡¯re not a genuinely nice and caring person, because I believe you are, but you can¡¯t tell me that your decision to get up that early and help him was completely altruistic. You felt guilty about what you did, and you wanted to do something to alleviate and assuage that conviction. When you were at our house for the pizza, I took note of how your demeanor and body language changed after I said you were ¡°a good kid,¡± and how you said you weren¡¯t good at all. I did that on purpose; I wanted to prick your conscience just slightly so you¡¯d get to this point. It¡¯s not good for you to keep something like that unconfessed and secret; it makes your spirit rot and decay. Remember how the wages of sin is death? That can also be said about how it can kill you on the inside if you don¡¯t do something about it. When you confess it to the ones you offended, which would include God, it¡¯s liberating. I wanted you so badly to get that point, and seeing you here makes me so happy.¡± Ronald couldn¡¯t believe his ears; she hadn¡¯t known him for very long, and was able to read him like a book. That night they had pizza together wasn¡¯t just a friendly get-together, it was about one person trying to help another come clean and restore his soul. Maybe another person would¡¯ve been angry; feeling played and manipulated, and accuse Marie of scripting her civility, but Ronald didn¡¯t believe that. He didn¡¯t believe her words were shallow and scripted, but rather, the opposite. She was genuinely thoughtful and quick to praise others, and she said what she said not just out of niceness, but also to act as a needle to poke at his heart so he¡¯d do the right and honest thing. ¡°You are far, far nicer than I deserve...I feel like you should at least be a little angry. I mean, I did destroy Jack¡¯s business and caused you and everyone else unneeded stress. It doesn¡¯t seem right for me to just get off totally scot-free. I actually WANT some kind of punishment...just not the fifteen years in jail, of course.¡± ¡°I laud your sense of justice and fairness, but it¡¯s not my place to inflict that on you. If this is something you want to settle in your own heart, then telling your own parents would make more sense. They¡¯re the ones responsible for teaching and guiding you, and only they have a right to punish you as they deem fit. Besides, I think the guilt you were experiencing was punishment enough; the sadness I noticed in your face at times during our dinner and the picnic told me everything. I actually feel bad that you couldn¡¯t fully enjoy your time with us, but maybe, now that you¡¯ve let it out of the bag, we can have another gathering in the future where you won¡¯t feel bad.¡± ¡°Ooh, what about that trip you were planning? The one with the brochures?¡± ¡°Oh, well, we did intend that just for us. Actually, more for Jack so he could take some time to relax. However, we¡¯d be happy to have you, and maybe another of your siblings over for dinner again on a Friday or Saturday night. Dylan and Beth actually talk about you a lot; they loved it when you came to play legos with them, and they keep asking me if you¡¯re going to come over again. Next time you feel bad about yourself, just remember you have at least two adoring fans! Of course, I¡¯m a fan too; you¡¯re a good kid, and I mean that.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a flattering way to put it; I can¡¯t imagine having ¡°fans,¡± but thank you. I hope my parents won¡¯t think any less of me after I tell them; I know my dad was okay with spending his own money to help Jack, but I don¡¯t know how well he¡¯d take it if he found out it was because of my stupidity. I cost my dad over $500,000¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure they will be very upset at you, and that¡¯s just something you¡¯re going to have to face up to. They are your parents though, and they¡¯re not going to hate or disown you for this.¡± ¡°Yeah, but I also kept lying to mom in the process. She caught on to the fact that I was hiding something, and then I lied about what it was. I also lied to her about being at my job when I was actually out with my ex-girlfriend. It was like I was already standing in my grave, but then decided to make the hole deeper just to ensure I couldn¡¯t get out. ¡°That¡¯s how lying works; you engender one to cover up another, and then a third lie to cover the second, and soon you have an unbearable mess that might be impossible to fix...or not impossible, but costly.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to get the grounding of a lifetime, but...it¡¯s only fair. I¡¯m also not looking forward to telling Jack himself. To let me work for him for those two days, pay me all that money for it, and then to let me eat at his table...and then find out what I did to him?¡± Marie¡¯s eyes bulged a little and her voice became uncharacteristically panicked. ¡°You are not going to tell him a thing.¡± ¡°It¡¯s only right, though¡­¡± She shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s enough that you told me; it is much better for Jack if he never finds out, trust me on this one.¡± Ronald had never seen her so scared, and now he became concerned. ¡°May I ask why¡­?¡± She sighed, clearly wishing the conversation hadn¡¯t wound up here. ¡°Yes...but I will warn you that you¡¯re not going to see Jack the same way anymore. I¡¯m actually very glad you told me that you were going to tell him; it gives me the chance to warn you.¡± ¡°Warn? I mean, what could he possibly do to me? Jack¡¯s very chill-¡± ¡°Ronald, he¡¯ll literally KILL you if he finds out.¡± She stated bluntly; not a hint of sarcasm in her voice. ¡°If you value your life, you will not utter a peep to him about what you did. I am being completely serious right now.¡± Ronald didn¡¯t know what to say. This morning was just filled with plot twists, but this one was the worst. ¡°Ronald, I really, really did not want to tell any of this to you, or anyone else, ever. Please promise me this one thing; that you are not going to repeat any of what I¡¯m about to tell you to another soul. This is solely for your self-preservation.¡± He simply nodded, starting to wonder if he was actually dreaming. ¡°Thank you.¡± She got up and went to close all the blinds and curtains, as well as the windows. It got noticeably darker inside, and much quieter...too quiet. The only souls in that house right now were Ronald and Marie. She then told him they were going to go to a room in the back of the house, away from the front door. He followed her, feeling like he was just transported into a psychological horror movie. They walked into her bedroom, and she locked the door. ¡°So¡­¡± Marie took a deep breath, ¡°I think we¡¯re completely safe from being overheard now. I know you are alarmed, and I know you didn¡¯t come here expecting to hear something this frightening. I am sorry about it, but your safety is important, and you telling Jack what you did will jeopardize it.¡± ¡°So why is that? I haven¡¯t seen so much as an ounce of anger in him.¡± Ronald replied, and then he recalled how back on pizza night, while he and Jack were conversing, that Jack mentioned he suffered from an anger problem, and sometimes thought evil things about people who hurt him in the past. Ronald didn¡¯t think much of it at first, as he thought anger was a common problem; he didn¡¯t think it was going to be something that might end his life. It was also alarming to him how Jack admitted to being a Christian, and yet had the potential to kill someone. ¡°I guess anyone has the power to kill someone, even believers...I just never thought Jack would fit that description¡­¡± ¡°The way Jack experiences it is very different from normal people, and it¡¯s due to a painful event that happened to him nine years ago. Everyone around him is usually safe, but there is a very specific trigger that will set him off into an uncontrollable rage. I should explain what happened to him first so that the catalyst makes sense to you.¡± Ronald didn¡¯t know what to expect, but he listened carefully so he could learn how to avoid pulling that trigger on Jack. Marie cleared her throat, and began. ¡°Two years before starting his own business, and before we were married, Jack worked for a boss who also produced and sold technology for the disabled. This was a world he was passionate about, and getting this job was the most exciting thing for him at the time. He worked hard, learning from his boss as much as possible, and staying overtime whenever needed. Even when his boss suggested he go home and take a break, he insisted on staying at least another hour to clear up some unfinished business.¡± ¡°He sounds like a good worker and admirable employee; he seems to be in a great situation.¡± ¡°Just like how today was for you, Ronald, with unforeseen twists; Jack¡¯s life has had them too. What happened to him was something he couldn¡¯t have seen coming. After just one month on the job, everything changed for the worse. He came into work one Monday morning, expecting everything to be the same, only to find that his entire desk had been cleared. He was fired with no prior warning and just told to go home. Of course, the boss himself wasn¡¯t there, but one of his supervisors was, and he simply told Jack that his boss was done with him.¡± ¡°Huh? Why?!¡± ¡°When the supervisor relayed the boss¡¯ message to Jack, he said that he was lazy, incompetent, a goof-off, and constantly late, so he had to be let go.¡± Ronald couldn¡¯t believe his ears, and for a moment, couldn¡¯t blame Jack for wanting to kill someone. He replied with a cuss word, kind of wishing he could at least throw a punch at that liar. That didn¡¯t describe Jack at all. ¡°They were all lies, and before Jack could defend himself and request a personal meeting with the boss, he was escorted by security and not allowed back in. At least they had the courtesy to dump all his personal effects out with him.¡± ¡°I hope Jack got to confront that slanderer and give him a piece of his mind, and then sue him.¡± ¡°Jack was so hurt by what had happened that he didn¡¯t even want to look at his boss...at least not right away. He was constantly very down on himself and hopeless; I had to do everything I could to validate him as a person, and future husband. One day, he told me he finally wanted to confront his boss, and get closure. He didn¡¯t seem at all angry to me, but...he looked very stoic. His face was neutral, as though he had only one job to do, and wouldn¡¯t return to his normal self until it was done. I haven¡¯t seen him like that before, and vague expressions like that scare me. The only movement on his face was the little sparkle in his eye, and it made me think I was getting a look at something going on in his brain. I told him to go ahead with it, but I followed him from afar. I didn¡¯t want him to do something foolish or dangerous; I didn¡¯t know if he planned on forgiving his boss, or getting revenge on him. It was when he saw his boss leaving the office for the day...that¡¯s when..¡± Her eyes started watering. ¡°...I got my answer.¡± Ronald just listened. ¡°He ran towards him at full speed, yelling that he was going to tear out that wolverine¡¯s throat. Jack didn¡¯t want to get any answers, or any closure...he just wanted his boss dead.¡± She wiped her eyes, and Ronald was dumbstruck. ¡°His boss locked himself back inside the building just in time, and I pounced on Jack, screaming at him to stop. I held him tightly, not from any affection, but to just restrain him. He turned back towards me, and I was horrified by the emptiness in his eyes. I didn¡¯t know what was happening, but this wasn¡¯t the man I was going to marry and have children with; this was some devil that was controlling him, or some other nightmarish enigma that was consuming him from the inside. Whatever it was, his brain had broken, and I continued to hold onto him tightly. I sobbed, begging Jack that I wanted the real him back right now; I wanted to see that man that I loved, not this monstrosity from hell. He slowly calmed back down, and when he returned to normal, he asked me how he had gotten here. This confirmed for me that, at the very least, his brain was not functioning as it should¡¯ve during his episode. It makes me think he might have a multiple-personality disorder, or some kind of trauma disorder that stemmed from his being smeared so suddenly and callously for seemingly no reason. I happen to think that his boss did that out of envy, as Jack was a brilliant and outstanding employee, but we¡¯ll never know now. As for that wolverine, he never called the police on him for some reason, even though Jack could¡¯ve easily gotten decades in the slammer for that. My theory is that the wolverine himself may have had skeletons in the closet of his own, not the very least being his slander against Jack, and he wouldn¡¯t have wanted the police to find those, so he did nothing.¡± ¡°I...I never would¡¯ve guessed any of this about Jack...Do you think there¡¯s any cure for him? I¡¯m scared of him now, but I feel bad for him too. He doesn¡¯t deserve to suffer like that just because of some...jerk.¡± He struggled to find a not-cuss word. ¡°I wish I knew what to do, but now I¡¯m terrified of interacting with him.¡± ¡°As long as you just act like yourself, you have nothing to worry about, and it¡¯s not like you¡¯ve seen him do anything crazy lately, right? He only gets this way when he feels like he¡¯s been cruelly mistreated in some way. There have been a few nights where he¡¯d wake up from a bad dream, and he¡¯d have that spark, or glint in his eye. He always got that when his dream had his former boss in it, and he always tells me how much he hates it and just wishes it would stop. He feels like he¡¯s in a prison, and can¡¯t get that wolverine out of his mind. When I show affection towards him, it goes away, but it¡¯s never permanent. Thankfully, he¡¯s been able to act normally the vast majority of the time, and not one person has ever sensed that he was harboring this problem, but it worries me that he could still snap. Ronald, I¡¯m afraid that if you tell him anything, then you will now be that wolverine, and you won¡¯t live to tell about it.¡± So even though Ronald would likely remain safe around Jack, the thought that he could end his life in seconds horrified him. Marie was right, he was probably never going to see him the same way ever again, and that was depressing, considering how innocent he thought he was. ¡°What I¡¯m really hoping is that this upcoming trip will take his mind off of wanting to know who the culprit is; even with his business better off than it was before, it still makes him very upset that the guilty party hasn¡¯t fessed up. I know it hurts you now that you can¡¯t do the right thing with him and confess, but trust me, you¡¯re better off saying nothing.¡± Ronald nodded, getting a lot more this morning than what he expected. He almost wished that Marie had just simply yelled at him and told him to leave instead of finding out Jack¡¯s dark secret. ¡°So¡­¡± Marie wanted to change the subject. ¡°Don¡¯t you have school today?¡± ¡°Yeah, but I was so distracted and anxious over confessing to you that I knew going today would¡¯ve been pointless. I¡¯ll just copy down my friends¡¯ notes tomorrow and get caught up that way.¡± ¡°I understand, I just don¡¯t want you to fall too far behind. Anyways, if you¡¯re not planning on doing anything else right now, you can stay here for a little while; maybe we can find some more light-hearted things to talk about over coffee. I don¡¯t want to talk about this issue with my husband anymore; it¡¯s soul-crushing.¡±The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Ronald nodded and accepted her offer. He respected her even more now than he did before; starting a family and remaining married to a husband who could fly off the handle at any moment. She didn¡¯t see him as a monster, as others would¡¯ve; she saw him as the one she wanted to spend the rest of her life with and raise children with. Jack was a normal person who just wanted a normal life for himself and his family, but he fell victim to a set of circumstances that created something in him neither of them wanted, but can¡¯t seem to do away with. The two enjoyed some coffee and snacks together, and the conversation never turned to Jack the rest of the morning, aside from her mentioning they were going to go to Bluerock Forest after all, and that they were going to leave two Fridays from now. The rest of the time was spent in small talk, and at around lunchtime, Ronald announced he was going to go now and talk to his parents. He didn¡¯t appear too nervous about it, knowing that at least they weren¡¯t going to kill him. ¡°Take care, Ronald.¡± She gave him a hug. ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re deciding to do this after all, but make sure to remind them not to tell Jack.¡± ¡°Right¡­well, our family¡¯s friendship was fun while it lasted.¡± He sighed. ¡°It doesn¡¯t need to end; you¡¯ve been able to sympathize with my husband and see him as a normal person, and I believe your parents will, too.¡± ¡°I hope so; I really don¡¯t want to lose what we have, and I would hate to be the reason why our friendship dies.¡± ¡°I know your parents will do the right thing, and I believe we¡¯ll get through this okay. As long as we just talk and act the way we¡¯ve always been doing, nothing bad will happen.¡± The two said good-bye to each other, and Ronald started his journey back home. When he returned, his mom questioned why he was back from school so early. ¡°Did you have a minimum day today?¡± Ronald shook his head. ¡°No, I actually went over to talk to Marie about something that was weighing on my heart, and it¡¯s something I need to talk to you and dad about too.¡± ¡°Hm, do you want to wait for him to come home and tell us both at once, or do you just want ot get it off your chest now?¡± ¡°The sooner, the better, so I¡¯m just going to tell you first. To start off with, I am so sorry I¡¯ve been such a liar to you lately; I didn¡¯t work any extra shift that night, and there was no theft on mine or Ashley¡¯s part. I¡¯m just going to tell you the whole truth, and I¡¯m going to warn you that it will be very ugly. If you and dad wind up grounding me for the rest of my life, I wouldn¡¯t blame you.¡± ¡°Wow, that serious? Unless you murdered someone, I can¡¯t think of what you would¡¯ve done to deserve lifelong punishment. Thanks for telling me the truth though about the extra shift; at least you¡¯re getting on the right foot again.¡± ¡°I should¡¯ve done it sooner, but I guess now is better than later. Anyways, just brace yourself for this¡­¡± He cleared his throat. ¡°I¡¯m the one who burned down Jack¡¯s business. Ashley and I were playing with fireworks, and though I knew it was wrong, I was a wimp and let her push me around. I launched one myself, just thinking it was going to explode in the air, like it should¡¯ve, but it was defective, and instead, blew up on the ground...right where Jack¡¯s business was. I realized I could¡¯ve killed someone, and I know this is going to haunt me the rest of my life. I am horribly disgusted with myself, and I deserve to be locked away for life. I¡¯m so sorry for my thoughtlessness¡­¡± His mother didn¡¯t gasp or scream, but there was a look of utter pain and betrayal on her face. ¡°I...I wish you had just stolen some snacks¡­I have no words, Ronald...None...¡± And just like that, she walked away from him without any further words, went into her room, and slammed the door. That was it. Ronald wished a defective firework would just fall on top of him right now and disintegrate him into a pile of ashes. This was about how he expected her to react, and it was as painful as he knew it would be. He collapsed into the nearest chair and sobbed; the weight of his transgressions crushing his guilty conscience. He never liked making his parents feel so disappointed and hurt, especially as they had the kindness to take him and his sister in as their own children. They gave him a special kind of grace that not every orphan gets to experience, and then to just turn around and hurt them like this was the epitome of backstabbing. And he also still had to tell his dad. The next time Ronald¡¯s mother made an appearance was when Marcus came back home from work. She did not look happy at all. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Her husband asked her. ¡°Let Ronald tell you.¡± Marcus turned his attention to the squirrel, who looked so weak and fragile. Cecilia and the three pups were within earshot, and now they were curious about what Ronald had to say. They moved in closer and took a seat. ¡°Well...now that everyone is here, I think now¡¯s a good time to put this out in the open.¡± He sighed, already feeling sick again. ¡°The one who burned down Jack¡¯s building was me¡­¡± He repeated the same account as he did with his mother, and added that Marie knew all along. Their stares and expressions of shock were what he had expected; the only difference was Marcus, who, for the first time in years, was growling at his own son. ¡°There is NO excuse for this, Ronald!¡± He barked. ¡°For heaven¡¯s sake, you¡¯re practically an adult, and you go and do this horribly stupid and reckless thing?! What¡¯s the matter with you?!¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± ¡°You could¡¯ve burned down a lot more than just that one building; that fire could have destroyed so much more, and even ended a few lives!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like I wanted that to happen! I know it was stupid, but if I knew it was defective, I would have never launched it.¡± ¡°That is besides the point; you shouldn¡¯t have even been around those fireworks to begin with! I expected so much better from you, Ronald. Your mother and I didn¡¯t raise you to be this irresponsible; we want all of you to be good, honest, and caring people. I don¡¯t want any son or daughter of mine to be a lawbreaker, and I pray that this is the only time we ever have this conversation.¡± ¡°We won¡¯t; I promise I won¡¯t ever do anything like this again....I just...I want to ask you and mom to forgive me...I never wanted to hurt you like this..¡± ¡°We do, son.¡± His mother stood before him. ¡°No matter what you do, that doesn¡¯t change the fact that you¡¯re our child. We still love you, as heartbroken as we are.¡± ¡°This also won¡¯t change the repercussions of your actions.¡± His father added. ¡°I am thankful that the police won¡¯t find you out and take you away, but Jack and Marie will always be affected by what you did, even though they have everything back to normal. You should be thanking Marie every day for her forgiving attitude; to know that about you all along and still call you a friend. Of course, you are going to tell Jack about this, and then I am going to ground you.¡± That reminded Ronald. ¡°Uh...I¡¯m afraid that I can¡¯t do that, and if you don¡¯t believe me, you can call Marie and ask her yourself. It¡¯s better that Jack never knows about this.¡± And this was the part Ronald dreaded talking about more than his actual confession. He related to them much of what Marie said, and as he did, he felt like he was driving a dagger right into Jack¡¯s heart. He knew Marie wanted him to tell them this for the sake of his own life, as it¡¯d stop them from mentioning it to Jack and endangering their son¡¯s life. However, it was like he was murdering Jack¡¯s reputation and portraying him as an absolute psycho. ¡°I also know this doesn¡¯t deflect anything off of me, and I still should be grounded, but this is just so you don¡¯t accidentally say anything to him about it and send him into a blind rage. I...I hope you don¡¯t think of him differently for it...I like the bond that our families have, and I believe we can maintain it as long as he never knows. He¡¯s a good husband to Marie, and father to their children, and he should still be treated like and thought of as so.¡± ¡°That is insane...I haven¡¯t seen any trace of murderer in him,¡± Marcus said. ¡°I still trust him because I don¡¯t think for one second that a murderer is what he really is, but that is a terrifying thought. We will not tell him anything, and we¡¯ll treat him like we always have been. However, it might be best to keep your distance for a while, until someone finds a way to help Jack¡¯s condition.¡± ¡°I also will not tell Jack anything,¡± his mother promised, ¡°even if he didn¡¯t have this problem, I would still leave that up to you; it¡¯s your responsibility to confess your own crimes, not ours.¡± ¡°Your mother is right. With that said, we are going to think of a punishment for you, but it¡¯s also fair to commend you for finally speaking up about it and going to Marie, even though it meant you skipped school. I also commend you for trying to do something good for Jack in wanting to help him, but we can¡¯t ignore the wrong you¡¯ve done either.¡± Marcus still looked stern and displeased, but at least he wasn¡¯t growling anymore. ¡°I understand, and I think it would be fair if I tried to pay back what you spent for Jack, since you still would¡¯ve kept that money if not for me.¡± ¡°What I spent to help him is vastly more than you¡¯ll ever make at the movies; it does irk me that this was because of you, but I¡¯m not going to cry over money. We¡¯re still extremely well-off, and it won¡¯t take very long to replenish what I did spend. Besides, we did get a genuine friendship out of this, so I can¡¯t be too mad. Ironically, your destruction led to that.¡± Later that night, Ronald felt like he was able to sleep much more easily than the night before. The challenge of confession was now over with, his punishment was in the process of being decided, and now he didn¡¯t need to tell another soul about this ever again. Of course, the possibility of Jack murdering him was in the back of his mind, and as awful as it was, he could avoid it by simply not telling him. He spent more time thinking about how good of a boss he was, and the normal, wholesome way he treated his family. ¡°Maybe he¡¯s not too different from anyone else; who doesn¡¯t have their deep, dark secrets that can be activated by a singular trigger? Jack¡¯s may be extreme, but I think anyone could relate to harboring a troubled spirit. After all, just one trigger for me caused me to destroy a man¡¯s business, and yet that was something I thought I¡¯d never, ever do. I don¡¯t need to be afraid of Jack...he¡¯s just a normal guy¡­¡± Over the course of the week, Ronald was able to focus on school again, and the fact that Jack was not barging into his classroom or house to rip out his throat was proof everyone was holding true to their word. However, Ronald was feeling hesitant about seeing Jack again, at least for now. He would be at home, doing his homework, and he¡¯d sometimes drift off and imagine Jack pounding on his door and screaming at him to open so he could tear him to shreds. Cecilia, being one to look out for her brother¡¯s well-being, asked him all the time how he was doing; if he was being weighed down with the dread of being murdered. He kept saying no, but that was because he didn¡¯t want to make her more alarmed than she already was. She also kept saying she didn¡¯t believe him, but there was nothing she could do if he didn¡¯t want any consolation. On the Friday night following that school week, Ronald offered to go with his mother grocery shopping. Sure, she could afford a servant to do that for her, but that would take the fun out of shopping. Besides, Ronald wanted to make an effort to be on good terms with her again, and he wanted to be more helpful. She accepted his offer and let him accompany her; she had mellowed out by now, and was happy to have him here with her. ¡°Your father and I have been talking,¡± she said to him in the car, ¡°and we think it would be fitting if you did some community service. I know you see the value in helping others, but we¡¯re thinking it¡¯ll be over the weekend, during your free time. As for the money, don¡¯t worry about it. Save up what you earn because you¡¯ll need it for your own expenses in the future.¡± Ronald nodded; he was hoping something tangible of his would just be taken away instead of his Saturday, but considering everything, this was much better than he deserved. ¡°There are homeless shelters, food kitchens, community clean-up programs, hospices, and more; there¡¯s a lot for you to choose from, and even though we¡¯re phrasing this as a punishment, there are folks who would genuinely love having your help.¡± ¡°I admit I don¡¯t look forward to losing my Saturdays, but this beats going to prison for fifteen years.¡± The store was fairly busy that evening, as everyone was doing their weekend shopping. He offered to pick up items from the lower shelves for her since he was considerably shorter, and look out for items his mom was hunting for. The two were almost done when she realized she forgot something. ¡°Shoot, I forgot something.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s for Claudia¡¯s school project. I¡¯ll be back; just stay here with the cart.¡± Not one second after she left did Ronald hear a familiar voice behind him. "Oh, hello, Ronald.¡± As soon as he recognized it as Jack¡¯s voice, he dove under the bottom shelf and hid there. A few others saw this and were very confused. ¡°It¡¯s only me.¡± Jack laughed, looking under the shelf at him. This would be a useful place to hide from Jack if he was on a murdering spree, as Jack was twice Ronald¡¯s size, and thus, couldn¡¯t fit under this shelf. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize you were so skittish; sorry I scared you.¡± Ronald slowly crawled back out to face the normal-looking, not-killing, Jack. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, I-I was just, you know, uh, lost in thought and then I suddenly heard someone call my name, and I jumped. So, uh...how are you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m doing fine, though you don¡¯t seem fine yourself. Why are you so nervous? You don¡¯t seem comfortable talking to me for some reason.¡± ¡°Oh, well, I¡¯m actually just nervous about, uh, tomorrow. I have to retake a math test tomorrow since I didn¡¯t do so well, but I¡¯m scared I still won¡¯t pass.¡± Here we go again with the lying. ¡°Maybe a study buddy might help; I had one in school when I took Physics, and we helped each other pass. Even if you don¡¯t do too well, at least there¡¯s the rest of the year.¡± ¡°Yeah...So, uh, what brings you here?¡± He asked, even though he could clearly see the items in his cart. ¡°Ah, well, my wife normally likes to do the shopping, but I offered to do it for her tonight since she told me she wasn¡¯t feeling well. I¡¯m just picking up dinner for the next few nights, and some medication for Dylan, since he actually is sick.¡± ¡°Oh really? I¡¯m sorry to hear that. I hope he gets well soon.¡± ¡°Thanks. It¡¯s weird; he somehow looks totally fine and normal just by looking at his face, you wouldn¡¯t have been able to tell he had a problem just by looking at him. It¡¯s interesting how life¡¯s that way sometimes; someone could look fine on the outside and be hurting on the inside¡­¡± Ronald¡¯s eyes widened, wondering if Jack was setting himself up. He was so afraid about slipping up, but then his mother came back. ¡°Oh! Uh, hey Jack.¡± She froze for a second when she saw him with her son; worry flashing across her face for a second before realizing the sable was doing nothing wrong. ¡°Hi, Diane. I just bumped into Ronald here and were just talking.¡± The two engaged in some brief small talk as well; Diane noticing the things in his cart and finding out that his wife and son weren¡¯t feeling well. She did a much better job of talking to him like a normal person than Ronald did. ¡°Well, it was nice seeing you again.¡± Diane said. ¡°Take care, and tell Marie and Dylan I send them my well-wishes.¡± ¡°I will, thank you. Take care!¡± Back in the car, Diane commented how it broke her heart that Jack loved and cared for his family in these simple ways, and yet he was tortured and marred on the inside. The fact that he appeared like a completely normal person in all his other mannerisms made the existence of the psychotic beast inside much harder to believe. She couldn¡¯t picture him harming anything, not even a housefly. Ronald also told her how Jack and Marie were both Christians, and how sincere Jack seemed about it when they both talked that one pizza night. ¡°There¡¯s nothing stopping a saved soul from dealing with horrible struggles like that.¡± Diane commented. ¡°We¡¯re still people who have to work through our own problems with the tools God has given us. We should pray for Jack that he finds a way to rest in God¡¯s grace when he starts feeling the urge to act on his extreme aggression. Your father and I have been doing that, and you should be too.¡± ¡°I have been, though I¡¯m also praying that I not be scared of him anymore. We¡¯re not supposed to live in fear.¡± ¡°Also good, and I¡¯ll remember that too when I pray tonight.¡± ¡°And maybe that nice trip they¡¯ll be taking soon will help Jack relax. Maybe the stress and pressure of his job is part of the problem; if he got away from it for a little bit, maybe he¡¯ll feel a lot better. Marie told me they haven¡¯t taken a family vacation in a long time, and perhaps his soul is secretly yearning for one.¡± ¡°I hope you¡¯re right.¡± Meanwhile, Jack was back at home, treating all three of his family members. Beth had caught whatever her brother had, and needed in on the medicine too. He prepared them all dinner, and after giving his children some medicine (which, according to Beth, tasted ¡°yucky!¡±), he sent them off to bed. Marie seemed to have something else, but told Jack she didn¡¯t quite know what it was. The truth was that she felt a cramp in her stomach, and it meant that she might be pregnant again. She knew it was likely, but didn¡¯t want to tell Jack yet. If she was carrying their third child, then she wanted to spring it on him after they got back from their trip. She wouldn¡¯t have too much longer after that, as the baby would grow, and it¡¯d be a secret to no one any longer. After the kids were sent to bed, the couple stayed up in the family room and conversed about how much they were looking forward to the trip. ¡°So, you ¡®ve never been to Bluerock Forest?¡± Marie asked her husband, feeling a little disoriented and distracted. ¡°I haven¡¯t, but it looks very pleasant in the brochure. It sounds like you could really use the trip too, though you wanted it more for me. You seem either sick, stressed, or just a little unfocused.¡± ¡°That could be it; we¡¯ve gone through a lot over the last couple of weeks.¡± ¡°It has been interesting, to say the least. I gotta say, even though money¡¯s just a temporary thing that can vanish in a moment¡¯s notice, it is rather nice having so much of it now. Pesky things like rent and bills aren¡¯t even a worry on our minds anymore. Plus, I¡¯ve given all my employees a 25%-raise, so now they can have a bit more financial security too.¡± ¡°Definitely a great way to keep them working for you, and you told me that you wanted to expand too and sell other kinds of items as well.¡± ¡°Yes; I want to try to develop technology that can help with speech, smelling, and tasting in the future. It¡¯s not enough to provide help for only two of the functions that we use our heads for; I want to go up to five.¡± ¡°Oh wow, people would really love that, especially the speech one. Are you thinking of something that might help the mute, or just for people with speech impediments?¡± ¡°Helping the mute to speak sounds way too complicated and impossible, but I think helping people with speech problems, like stammering, is doable. For now, though, I want to just focus on the next few weeks, and spending quality time with my family in a quiet, serene place. Work can wait.¡± ¡°I agree¡­¡± she looked into his eyes and held his paw. ¡°I love you.¡± ¡°I love you too, my sweet, darling Marie.¡± he said and then kissed her. He decided to get up and dim the lights to set up a quiet, intimate mood between them. ¡°I¡¯ll go put on some music.¡± Marie said, and she went to go put on a CD with soothing, Baroque-era music. It was classy, and perfect for a husband and wife who just wanted to spend some quiet time together. Marie was feeling emotional; she was likely going to become a mother for the third time, and she was going to spend a solid week with just her family, with no one else around in a beautiful, azure-hued forest. She also strongly believed it was going to help her husband along the way to getting cured of his disorder. He needed to be away from work, and anything else that might remind him of that wolverine. She wanted him all to herself for a long, uninterrupted period of time, as she wanted that time to let him know how much he was loved and appreciated by his family. Maybe that wolverine, and what he represented, wouldn¡¯t be so much of a bother to him if he put more thought and energy into those who did care about him. People have hurt her as well, but she didn¡¯t let them live rent-free in her head; her God, her family, and her friends were more worth her time than the people who didn¡¯t care about her. She wanted to kick that wolverine out of his head so badly, but he was going to have to be the one to perform that eviction. If he managed to do so, then the murderous beast inside him might finally die, and indirectly, Ronald would have nothing to fear about him anymore. As they sat beside each other, Marie lovingly massaged the back of his neck. ¡°I hope you are truly happy with having us in your life¡­¡± ¡°Of course I am; why wouldn¡¯t I be?¡± ¡°Part of the reason I really wanted us to have some alone time together, as a family, is to get certain unwanted guests out of your mind. You know who I¡¯m talking about, and I want him out once and for all. If I had to guess, constantly being at work, and working with the same things you did at your old job, hasn¡¯t helped you get him out of your head, and I just want our little vacation to help put you at peace, and take you away from that environment for a little bit.¡± ¡°I want him out too...and it¡¯s normally not so bad when I¡¯m with you, but when he strikes in my dreams, his face and form seem so real to me that it makes my blood boil. I really hate scaring you like that at night, and I wish I...I didn¡¯t have this psychotic monster inside of me¡­¡± ¡°I do too, and perhaps our trip will help put him away for good. It will only be us; your family, and no one else. No work obligations, no schedules, no...anything; just us¡­¡± She kissed him lightly. ¡°I want to give you the gift of spending uninterrupted time with us, in perfect peace¡­¡± Even the thought of that eased Jack¡¯s mind. Ever since starting his current job, spending time with his family, or quiet time in prayer or the word of God, has not been easy. This vacation just may be the start to healing his soul. ¡°Oh...I wish we were there right now.¡± Jack said. ¡°The way you put it sounds heavenly¡­¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s not heaven, but I really want you to have some peace again.¡± ¡°It almost makes me wish our good friends were coming along.¡± ¡°Maybe another time; I just want this to be us¡­¡± The two were already picturing themselves there, and were starting to fall into a dreamlike trance where they weren¡¯t paying too much attention to their words. ¡°That¡¯s fair¡­¡± Jack replied, zoning out. The combination of the low lights and soft music lulling him deeper into that dream. ¡°But yeah...they should come with us sometime...Marcus...Diane...Ronald¡­¡± She listed their names. ¡°They¡¯re good people; our friends...they deserve a good time too.¡± ¡°Yeah, they all do.¡± ¡°Especially Marcus and Ronald; they¡¯re heroes in their own right.¡± ¡°He couldn¡¯t have raised a better son, despite everything.¡± ¡°Yeah...wait, what?¡± It took a few seconds for Marie to recollect what she just said, but as she repeated it in her head, she wished she could take back those last two words. This was the Freudian Slip of the century. ¡°What do you mean?¡± She asked, acting like she didn¡¯t understand him. ¡°What did you mean by ¡®despite everything¡¯?¡± ¡°Oh, nothing, just a slip of the tongue.¡± ¡°But why those words?¡± He asked, the music now turning into background noise. ¡°Did one of them do something I¡¯m not aware of? It sounds like you¡¯re either criticizing Marcus as a father, or Ronald as a son.¡± ¡°I think you¡¯re reading too much into my words.¡± ¡°Come on, Marie, words just don¡¯t slip out randomly, even when you¡¯re dreaming, or drunk. If there¡¯s a problem I should know about, then let me hear it. If I had to guess, it sounds pretty significant.¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing, that¡¯s all. It was just, uh, a remark about how I think Ronald doesn¡¯t take school seriously enough.¡± ¡°...Really? I don¡¯t buy that. Why would that warrant a ¡®despite everything¡¯? Lots of students his age don¡¯t; who cares?¡± Like Ronald, Marie was a terrible liar, and she was hating herself for letting her tongue slip and endangering his life. ¡°Marie, please don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re hiding something from me.¡± He frowned. ¡°You¡¯ve had nothing but good things to say about Ronald and Marcus, and suddenly this random ¡®despite everything?¡¯ I¡¯m not dropping the subject until you tell me. One of them did something that you know about, and I don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Oh Jack¡­¡± Marie¡¯s eyes were starting to water, and she took hold of his paws and looked into his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, I...I do know something, but before I tell you, I need you to make me a promise; a promise more serious than our wedding vows¡­¡± As Marie was pleading with Jack, he recalled his strange encounter with Ronald earlier that evening. He dove under the lowest shelf when he greeted him; something he had never, ever done before. That¡¯s something you¡¯d only do if you were scared...so scared that you thought you were going to die if you weren¡¯t fast enough. ¡°Ronald...he acted like he was terrified of me today at the store...do you know something about this?¡± ¡°Jack¡­¡± ¡°The only one who would have any reason to be terrified of me is that wolverine, after I had nearly killed him...Ronald wouldn¡¯t act that way unless he thought I was going to hurt him¡­¡± He glowered at his wife. ¡°You told him something, didn¡¯t you.¡± He stated as matter-of-fact, not question. ¡°Jack, just please calm down, and let me explain. I made a terrible mistake, but I beg of you, for the love and grace of God, to not impugn Ronald. H-he did something totally reckless, and I just want you to promise you will do him no harm. It was an accident-¡± ¡°He¡¯s the one who burned down my business, isn¡¯t he.¡± He finished for her, also stating this as fact. This was it; Marie now had blood on her hands. Unless Jack miraculously changed right now, Ronald was as good as dead. With great heaviness of heart, she spilled the beans; every last one of them. She emphasized the part about it being an accident several times, as well as how much he helped him rebuild, and how remorseful he was when he confessed to her. She did everything possible to lift up Ronald¡¯s character. Despite everything. ¡°I see...You know...I am sorry that I was starting to think I couldn¡¯t trust you, but you had a valid reason. I can¡¯t believe Ronald did this...but he¡¯s not a bad kid; he just got screwed up by the wrong crowd. I am angry he did this, believe me, but if you thought I was going to go after him like I did my former boss, you would be wrong. He screwed me over on purpose, and Ronald was just being negligent.¡± ¡°So...you won¡¯t come after him?¡± A glint appeared in her eyes; a glint of hope. Jack shook his head. ¡°I won¡¯t; our families are friends now, and friends don¡¯t kill each other¡­If that was what you wanted me to promise, consider it done.¡± Marie embraced him and cried. Maybe she was wrong about him all along, and she threw Ronald into a state of fear for no reason. ¡°I think we should just go to bed now and put the night behind us.¡± Jack said. ¡°You¡¯re right, and again, I¡¯m so sorry I was being secretive and not trusting your character.¡± ¡°I forgive you,¡± he kissed her, ¡°and I don¡¯t blame you for any of that. You just wanted Ronald to be safe. You can rest assured that I will not lay a finger on him, okay? That killer only lives in my dreams now; he won¡¯t come out again in real life.¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t have heard happier words.¡± She kissed him back. ¡°Good night, my love.¡± ¡°Good night.¡± The two held each other¡¯s paws as they drifted to sleep. Marie felt so bad for misunderstanding her husband, and Jack felt bad about distrusting his wife, but they knew how to reconcile with each other, no matter the fight. She curled up beside her husband and rested her head against his chest; Jack putting his other arm around her into a gentle hug. ¡°I have my husband back...finally¡­¡± Chapter 7 Sunday night; the perfect night to get all your homework done in time for Monday morning, at least if you were Ronald. He still couldn¡¯t bring himself to care that much about it, and him doing it right now was an improvement over the norm; him not doing it at all. He was the kind of kid who understood the material pretty well, and thus, didn¡¯t want to waste his time doing busy work on content he already mastered. ¡°Oh come on, you¡¯re doing that now?¡± Cecilia asked him as she was busy enjoying the free time she had, as she finished all her homework by Friday night. ¡°It¡¯s like, you do this every weekend.¡± ¡°Give me a break; you don¡¯t need to lecture me on doing my homework. Let me do things my way, and you just do things your way. Sound good? Besides, I¡¯m doing community service starting next weekend, so I want to get used to finishing this stuff late.¡± ¡°I¡¯m your sister; I¡¯m supposed to lecture you.¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s mom¡¯s job.¡± Speaking of mom and dad, the two wolves were out on a little date that evening, leaving the five young ones at home for now. He didn¡¯t like being the babysitter, but he also took it as a sign that they trusted him and thought he was responsible enough for it, so he couldn¡¯t complain. ¡°Hey Ron, wanna watch a movie with us?¡± Xavier came into the room, tail wagging. ¡°Ugh, I have to finish this language arts stuff first. It should take me, like, maybe twenty more minutes?¡± ¡°We can wait.¡± Ronald was actually feeling very secure and easy-going right now; Jack had called him the previous day and calmly explained to him that he found out what he did. Ronald was paralyzed with fear, ready to run, but Jack told him that he had nothing to worry about, and that he forgives him for it. Ronald apologized to him profusely, of course, but he felt like there was absolutely no more stress in his life anymore. The parties involved knew about his crime, forgave him for it, and his parents got angry at him and were now punishing him. Things were back to normal, and he could finally focus more on his goals and normal seventeen-year old things. The phone started to ring, and as Ronald was the closest one to it, he was obligated to answer it. He was expecting it to be his language arts ¡°study buddy,¡± asking for help, but it was actually Marie. She sounded mortified. ¡°Ronald, you have to run! NOW!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Jack¡¯s heading over right now to KILL you! You have to get out of there!¡± ¡°But Jack-¡± ¡°DROP THE PHONE AND RUN!¡± She just about screamed in his ear. He could hear her crying on the other end; it was clear this was not a joke. Just then, Ronald heard a car roar up onto the driveway, like a horrible beast hungry for blood, screeching to a halt. He just about went to the bathroom right there, and he bounded away to his room. No time for questions, no time for answers, and no time for good-byes. Outside his window was a tall tree that would lead him to the ground; that would likely be his only escape. Cecilia was the first to see Jack¡¯s car pull up into the driveway, and she saw him storm out of his car and slam the door; he looked possessed, like he had no soul. His eyes were fixed squarely on the front door; his teeth were bared, and mouth formed into a wretched scowl. ¡°Come out here, Ronald!¡± He ran up to the door and pounded on it. Cecilia screamed, and she told the pups to go hide in one of the bathrooms and lock the door while she called the police. She didn¡¯t see Ronald around, but if he didn¡¯t know what was happening, she¡¯d have to warn him to lock himself away too. ¡°I see you in there, Cecilia! Open the door!¡± He yelled at her. ¡°I¡¯m calling the police!¡± ¡°Ronald needs to DIE!¡± She ran to the phone and hurriedly dialed 9-1-1; her paws shaking so much that she misdialed three times before getting it. However, just as she managed to get an answer, she heard a window shatter, and she screamed and dropped the phone. Heart racing and adrenaline pounding through her body, she tried to flee. However, Jack snatched her just before she could slip away. ¡°Let me go!¡± She swiped at him. ¡°I¡¯m not after you; I¡¯m after your brother. Tell me where he is.¡± ¡°No, you monster! Ronald even told me you forgave him!¡± ¡°Not anymore.¡± He growled. ¡°I want to rip his throat out and tear him to pieces!¡± The three pups were locked in one of the upstairs bathrooms, and they were shaking and crying; tails tucked between their legs. They didn¡¯t know where Ronald was, but could only hope he was safe. Meanwhile, Ronald was darting down the trunk of the tree outside his window. As soon as his little hands and feet made contact with the ground, he bounded for the police station. Were his siblings safe? He didn¡¯t know, and there wasn¡¯t a way he could¡¯ve protected them if they weren¡¯t. Jack was bigger and stronger than him, and the fact that his teeth were sharper made him that much more formidable. The only thing he could hope was that they locked themselves in a safe room and called the police. Jack had no intention of hurting Cecilia, but he kept his grip on her to keep her from contacting the police. Since she couldn¡¯t escape, and wasn¡¯t strong enough to overcome him, she started screaming as loudly as she could, knowing someone outside was bound to hear her. He dropped her and decided to just keep looking for his victim. In the meantime, she called the police again and hastily told them what was happening. To her chagrin, Marie was doing likewise. She had hoped this day would never come, but with her husband on a murderous rampage, she had no choice. She didn¡¯t know why his mind had changed overnight, from forgiving Ronald, to wanting him dead. Whether or not he succeeded in his barbaric mission wasn¡¯t going to help him avoid heavy prison-time. Sure, he could plead ¡®insanity,¡¯ and it¡¯d be true, but he was still going to be locked away for a long time, even if Ronald survived. She described him to the police, and where he was headed, through the tears streaming down her face. Dylan and Beth were hidden under their beds, also crying. When they heard their father start yelling and threatening to kill Ronald, they cowered away in their room in a level of terror they¡¯ve never experienced. Ronald saw the police station just a little further down the street. He picked up his pace and cried out for help as he did. ¡°Help! I¡¯m being chased!¡± A car then raced up beside him, and Ronald stopped, thinking it was help. But it was Jack. He pulled up and positioned his car to block Ronald from escape, and dove out through his window and landed in front of him, blocking his route to the station. He didn¡¯t know what was more frightening; Jack¡¯s sharp, gritted teeth, or the soulless, lifeless eyes that bore into his own. Jack made a lunge for the neck with jaws poised for snapping down on it, but Ronald narrowly avoided him and kept running. He could¡¯ve dashed under the car and kept running to the station, but didn¡¯t want to risk crossing Jack again, so he darted to the side and scurried into an area with dense canopy cover and low-lighting to make hiding easier. Perhaps if he baited Jack out, he could circumvent him and make a clear run to the station. It looked to be his only hope. Jack pursued him into the trees, doing his best not to lose sight of his bushy tail. The darkness was a problem, and it got worse as they ran further into the woods, and away from the buildings. Ronald also kept up his pace, but was too scared to look back and see if Jack was still on his tail. He clambered up one of the trees to see if he could successfully hide amongst the leaves for now, but his plan was ruined when he accidentally disturbed a bird¡¯s nest. ¡°Hey! We¡¯re trying to sleep here!¡± The mama pigeon scolded the squirrel. ¡°Sorry!¡± Jack heard Ronald¡¯s voice, and changed course to line up with his location. ¡°You¡¯re dead, Ronald!¡± Ronald shouted some four-letter words in his mind and continued his run to safety. Each step he took brought him further away from the police station. In the distance, far behind him, he could hear sirens. He also remembered that Jack left his car right there on the sidewalk, so that¡¯d make it easier for them to find him, at least slightly. Ronald wasn¡¯t too sure how far he would have to go before winding up among city lights again, but it couldn¡¯t have been absurdly far. According to his recollection, there were warehouses and various industrial buildings beyond this stretch of forest. He didn¡¯t know how much that would help him, but as long as there were phones, or maybe pallets of freight to ensconce himself behind, then it could be good. To Jack¡¯s dismay, he had lost sight of Ronald, but as he also heard the sirens behind him, he was sane enough to know turning back would be a mistake. He knew it better to just keep running and at least make it to the industrial complex, where there was better lighting. ¡°I know you¡¯re out there, Ronald! You¡¯re not going to get away from me!¡± Ronald heard his shouting, and he was able to gauge how far away he was from Jack. ¡°Yeah, keep yelling; that¡¯s only going to help me...and the police.¡± Ronald began to see some lights sporadically speckled through the woods, and the scent in the air gradually changed from woodsy and natural to oily and metallic. It was a welcome change. He ran out a little bit further, and found himself in a massive truck yard. As it was getting late, there weren¡¯t too many trucks pulling in with vendors¡¯ products, but there were a plethora of trailers parked and ready to be used the next morning. The warehouse associated with this truck yard seemed quite far away; at least a half-mile. There surely must have been phones there, but if he made a run for it, Jack would certainly spot him amidst all this open space. So for now, he scrambled to find a trailer that was left open, and as soon as he did, he leapt into it and dove into the shadows in the back. Jack eventually emerged onto the same truck yard, and he growled angrily, unable to spot his prey anywhere. ¡°He must be hiding amongst the trailers, or maybe inside one of them. Silly boy, you¡¯ve only cornered yourself!¡± Jack, learning now that he should be a little quieter, crept along, trying to pick up Ronald¡¯s scent. Meanwhile, Ronald held his position in the back-shadows of trailer FD5097. He was hoping and praying that he¡¯d get some kind of sign that Jack had passed him by, but being so far back inside the trailer meant that his vision was severely restricted. Jack could¡¯ve been right outside, and he would¡¯ve been invisible to the squirrel. ¡°I think I¡¯ve made a terrible mistake...¡± He decided he should creep quietly towards the trailer entrance to increase his range of vision, but each step he took made noise against the metallic surface, and added risk to his getting caught. Jack was nowhere to be seen, but he could¡¯ve been very close by. If that sable decided to leap in here suddenly, he¡¯d have Ronald cornered, and it would be game over. Suddenly, Ronald heard the sound of something beeping, like a nearby vehicle backing up. He crept even closer to the entrance, and to his horror, a yard switcher was backing up his truck to hook up to the trailer he was hiding in! If he didn¡¯t get out soon, he would be trapped inside. However, just before he would¡¯ve made the leap, he saw Jack! He had seconds to decide whether he should let himself get trapped inside the trailer and stay safe from Jack, or escape the trailer, and put himself in danger of letting Jack kill him. While the squirrel was thinking about his next move, Jack spotted him, and made a bee-line for him. The sable saw the truck closing in on the trailer, so he picked up his pace. Even if he got trapped in there along with Ronald, at least it would mean an easy kill. Ronald¡¯s eyes bulged as he saw Jack darting towards him, and he knew staying in the trailer would be his only option. His life now depended on how quickly the switcher could back up and seal off the opening. ¡°No no no no no!¡± Ronald¡¯s heart was about to leap out from his throat. Both Jack and the truck got closer and closer, and the fate of Ronald¡¯s existence was about to be decided. Jack saw his opening getting narrower and narrower, and it crossed his mind that he could get squashed between the truck and the trailer if he made the leap, but his bloodlust overpowered his survival instinct. And he made the leap. Ronald backed away and tried to shield himself from the bloodthirsty sable, but the truck slammed against the trailer just in the nick of time. Jack smashed his face against the truck, breaking his nose, and sending him to the ground. He yelled, but not so much in pain, but more because Ronald escaped him. The adrenaline coursing through every fiber of his being numbed the pain for now, and he opted to hide under the trailer for now in hopes that the truck would leave the trailer right here. Blood was seeping out from his nostrils, but he wiped it away, seeing it as more of an annoyance than a concern. Meanwhile, Ronald was sealed inside a massive metallic box that nearly became his coffin. His new sense of relief was marginal, as he now had no idea what was going to happen with the trailer. Was it going to be hooked up to the warehouse and loaded with freight? If so, that¡¯d give him access to a phone, and some added safety and security. He then heard two voices outside; he guessed that one of them was the switcher, and the other was perhaps a supervisor.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Yeah, this trailer is not in the right yard; here¡¯s the paperwork.¡± ¡°Hm...crap. It¡¯s supposed to go to our facility in Clover.¡± The other replied, and then there was some dialogue over the radio about moving it to another zone to be hooked up to another truck that would then drive it down to Clover. Jack also listened, and he growled, hating how the situation was turning out. Once the truck drove off with the trailer, he¡¯d be exposed, and he wouldn¡¯t be fast enough to catch up to it. He had to slip out the other side quickly and just watch for his next move. Meanwhile, Ronald didn¡¯t know if he should be relieved or not. The good news was that he was safe from Jack. The bad news? Clover was fifty miles away, and he¡¯d have no idea how to get back home from there, unless he hitchhiked, or called for his parents to pick him up from there. Speaking of his parents, they were rendered speechless as they beheld their shattered window, and the four police cars that were parked in front of their house. Cecilia and the pups ran out to hug them, each of them crying. ¡°Jack¡¯s trying to kill Ronald!¡± Janet sobbed. ¡°And we don¡¯t know where he is!¡± ¡°Did Jack hurt any of you?¡± Their father asked, getting a good look at each one of them. The pups reported that they all hid in the bathroom and locked it, and that Jack didn¡¯t hurt them. ¡°Jack grabbed me with his paws.¡± Cecilia answered. ¡°He didn¡¯t hurt me, but he threatened that he wouldn¡¯t let me go if I didn¡¯t tell him where Ronald was hiding. I threatened him back that I¡¯d call the police, and I ended up having to scream as loudly as I could in case it would get anyone else¡¯s attention. That¡¯s when he dropped me and went to pursue Ronald...I already told this to the police, and they¡¯re out to find him and Jack.¡± ¡°You all did great,¡± Marcus told them, ¡°the last thing I want any of you to do now is panic, and whatever the police asks you to do, follow along.¡± Meanwhile, Diane went inside to call Marie on the phone and let her know what was happening. The distraught wife had told her she also called the police and told them what was happening. She had never felt so sick in her life. Diane could also hear the kids crying in the background; asking where daddy was, and if the police were going to find him and take him back home. Diane¡¯s heart broke as she heard those words coming from the three-year old. As this was all happening, Ronald was simply being carried about in this large, empty trailer, figuring he may as well try to enjoy the ride. The switcher changed out trucks to hook one up that was more suitable for highway travel, and after the switch was complete, it was off to the town of Clover for Ronald. It was cold and dark inside, but at least he felt secure. He didn¡¯t think there was any way Jack could catch him now and somehow find him fifty miles away in a random town. The only way that could happen if he somehow wound up on another truck going int the same direction. It was unlikely. But not impossible. After the trailer had left earlier, the supervisor noticed a trail consisting of drops of blood, and it led into a grove of trees on the western perimeter of the yard. Curious and concerned, he followed it, and made a call on his radio to keep an eye out for someone who may have been injured and was bleeding. At around midnight, Ronald had arrived in the town of Clower. There was no forest around, and it was set at the base of a 16,000-foot mountain. The elevation was also a little higher than that of home, and with it being in the dead of night, Ronald was shivering. The driver parked in another yard, and after he opened the doors, Ronald immediately hopped out, scaring the driver half-to-death. ¡°What the-?!¡± He nearly fell backwards. ¡°I¡¯m s-sorry...I was h-hiding in there from a k-killer. I-I j-just want to use a ph-phone to call my f-family, please¡­¡± The driver, though on the clock, had pity for the terror-stricken squirrel, and he took the time to guide him to the guard shack to let him use the phone. ¡°Th-thank you¡­¡± With numb fingers and forearms, he struggled to punch in the numbered keys that would grant him access to contact his parents. He got after four misses, and held the phone up to his ear. It rang a few times. ¡°Come on, please¡­¡± No one answered, and Ronald tried again. He called three more times, but no one picked up. ¡°No, please no¡­¡± A couple tears dropped from his eyes; the thought crossing his mind that Jack could¡¯ve gone back from pursuing him and killed his family. He tried once more, asking God repeatedly that someone would just pick up. ¡°Hello?¡± Came the voice of his mother on the other end, and Ronald practically exhaled everything out of his lungs with the biggest sigh he ever gave. ¡°M-mom, it¡¯s me.¡± ¡°Ronald! Oh thank God you¡¯re alive! Where are you? Is Jack still chasing you?¡± Marcus and the rest of Ronald¡¯s siblings listened in. Cecilia was the one crying the most out of them all, as she was the one closest to her brother. Hearing that he was okay made her want to rush up and grab the phone and talk to him right now. Xavier hugged her and let her cry onto his fur. ¡°I¡¯m at a warehouse in Clover; I wound up on a truck and ended up over here. I think I lost Jack, even though he almost got me a few times.¡± ¡°Okay, just stay there, and we¡¯ll come and get you. Call the police in that town while you wait so that they know to keep watch for Jack, should he also be there. What¡¯s the address of this place?¡± Ronald had to ask the guard on duty what the address was, and then he repeated it to his mother. After some discussion on the other end of the line, Marcus made the decision that he was going to pick up Ronald while Diane stayed and made sure the kids were okay and safe. They were all still shaken up by the intrusion, especially Cecilia. Jack could¡¯ve easily killed her had she been his target, and she thought at that time that he was actually going to do it. ¡°It sounds like Ronald is safe where he is; he hopped on a trailer and wound up fifty miles down the highway. It¡¯s far, but at least Jack isn¡¯t likely to find him. I¡¯m going to pick him up and bring him right back; I should be back in under two hours.¡± Marcus kissed his wife and children goodbye, saying to them individually that he loved them, and went out to start his journey to Clover. However, he didn¡¯t get very far when he noticed Marie, running towards their house. Did she want something? Marcus stopped and asked her. ¡°Marcus! I-is your family okay? Is Ronald okay? I would¡¯ve called, but I wanted to see them in-person...I feel so awful for them; it¡¯s all my fault¡­¡± ¡°They¡¯re shaken up, but other than that, no one is hurt. I was just on my way to get Ronald; he just called and told us where he was. As far as Jack¡¯s location, no one knows, but he¡¯s likely far away from Ronald. He managed to escape on a trailer to Clover.¡± ¡°Oh, thank heaven¡­¡± She put her paw to her heart. ¡°Who¡¯s watching the kids?¡± ¡°Two of my brothers and my sister are there right now; they heard what happened, and they wanted to be with us.¡± Marcus got an idea. ¡°Want to come along? Ronald is expecting only me, but I think he would also be happy to see you. Also, if we somehow run into Jack along the way, perhaps you can talk sense back into him.¡± Marie wasn¡¯t totally sure Ronald would be thrilled to see her, considering she accidentally blabbed about his crime, but if Jack was hot on his tail, then at least she could still help him. She may still have the chance to save both of them. She accepted, and got into the passenger seat, and as soon as she buckled up, Marcus sped off to save his son. Ronald was allowed to sit in the guard shack and wait for his dad. He did call the police, described what was happening, and after they had gotten verification from the police in Ronald¡¯s own town that Jack was a legitimately hostile threat, they sent some of their own force to watch the entrance to the truck yard. Surely, this would be a good way to catch Jack should he somehow wind up at this entrance. But should he get here on another trailer, then he would go undetected...but that wasn¡¯t likely¡­ Was it? Well, after Jack had watched and heard where Ronald was headed, he figured it wouldn¡¯t be hard to sneak a ride on another trailer to the same location. The good news for him was that all the trailers that were in this particular zone in the yard were scheduled to go there, according to dialogue he eavesdropped upon. All he had to do was figure out which trailer would leave next, and as he saw one of the switchers backing up his vehicle to hook to the trailer, he made a beeline for it. He slipped in just in time, and just one hour after Ronald left for Clover, so too did Jack. Ronald still had the potential to get home safely...if Marcus could get here before Jack. Ronald remained in the guard shack, scanning his surroundings for any sign of his dad¡¯s car. It would be close to an hour¡¯s wait, but as long as Jack didn¡¯t also catch a ride up here, he was safe. He watched other trailers pull in every so often, and the driver and guard exchanging paperwork. It wasn¡¯t very exciting, but after the last couple of hours, he could use some boring. Little did Ronald know, Jack was inside one of the trailers that pulled in about fifty minutes after he himself got there. He paid it no attention, holding onto the hope that his dad would get here very soon. The trailer pulled into a space near the guard shack, and it was positioned so that once the truck detached from the trailer, Jack would have a clear shot at Ronald. Meanwhile, Marcus found himself breaking the speed limit, and he didn¡¯t care. Neither he nor Marie spotted Jack along the way, but they knew he was going to be found one way or another; by them, or by the law. Marcus kept trying to assure her that this wasn¡¯t her fault, but she insisted it was. She couldn¡¯t get over the fact that, if she had just kept her mouth shut, none of this would¡¯ve been happening. In reality, she, Ronald, and Jack all had contributed to this fiasco, but now wasn¡¯t the time to play the blame game. At the yard, Ronald was so focused on spotting his dad¡¯s car that he paid no heed to the trailers that were being parked. He also didn¡¯t notice when the truck unhooked and pulled away from trailer F5322, Jack¡¯s presence was now revealed. His nose was off-center from the injury, and there was a crust of deep red under it. He wasted no time; hopping off the trailer and sniffing around for that squirrel he wanted dead. If only the police had realized he was right behind them. ¡°There it is; that¡¯s the place.¡± Marcus pointed out to Marie, though the police cars at the entrance helped give it away. ¡°I just hope he¡¯ll be able to forgive me.¡± However, just as Marcus was about to pull in, the police cars¡¯ sirens started to blare with their blue-and-red cacophony, and they took off down the road, and towards the mountain. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Marcus said to himself as he pulled into the truck yard. He found the nearest yard worker he could, and since he was on Marie¡¯s side, Marcus asked her to roll her window down and ask him if he knew where Ronald was. ¡°Excuse me, sir?¡± ¡°Hi ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°We were told that Ronald was hiding here and waiting for his father to come and pick him up. He¡¯s the one next to me. Do you know where he is?¡± ¡°Oh...is he the one being chased by the psycho killer I heard about an hour ago?¡± Marie frowned, not wanting her husband spoken about that way, but she didn¡¯t stop to rant about it. ¡°Yes, he is being hunted by another sable, like me, except he¡¯s black-and-white. Where is he?¡± ¡°The squirrel ran off that way, towards the mountains down the highway, and people saw that sable running after him. I didn¡¯t see them myself, but some of the other drivers did, and now the police are out to find them.¡± ¡°Got it, thanks.¡± Marie replied, and Marcus immediately did a u-turn, left the yard, and sped down the dimly-lit highway. Neither of them wanted to admit it, but their hopes of finding either Ronald or Jack here were not very high. Meanwhile, Ronald diverted from the main road and into the wilderness. Objects to hide behind were sparse, but at least he was not in the light. He was now starting to believe he was not going to survive to see the sunrise. There was nothing out here in this bleak and cold environment to keep him safe from Jack, save only if he made it to the mountain and found a secret crevasse to hide himself in. Because of the sound his rapid footsteps were making against the hard, infertile dirt, he had no way of hearing how close Jack was. For now, he concentrated on bobbing and weaving between the various patches of foliage; just for the sake of not giving away his position, as well as not tripping over himself. He asked God several times that he would live through the night, but as his escape waxed longer, he started to ask God that he be ready to accept death should Jack prevail. He thanked God for the life he had, and should it end tonight, he at least ended it with confessing the truth. He ran for practically the entire night; all his energy coming from the adrenaline, as he had eaten nothing since the snack he had while doing his homework. His little feet had carried him up a little ways up the base of the mountain, and the weather was getting colder and foggier. The ground had gotten harder too, obviously. The freezing stone surface of this mountain was killing his feet, but he knew he¡¯d rather have dead feet than a dead body. Amidst the fog and mist, Ronald had spotted a small tunnel that looked to bore through the side of the mountain; it went in for a little before exiting back along a tall ledge. He decided to go to that ledge; if he could see Jack from there, that might help him plan an escape route back to Clover. He stood atop the ledge and surveyed his surroundings. It was difficult to make anything out through this fog, but if he had a hard time seeing, so would Jack. With chattering teeth and folded arms, he kept watch for any movement. ¡°The run from the forest fire nine years ago wasn¡¯t this bad; at least the fire didn¡¯t chase us!¡± After fifteen minutes of standing there, which felt more like fifteen hours to the freezing rodent, he detected movement; a large dark object, and a smaller, lighter object. He also thought he saw some faint red and blue lights lower down. ¡°The police!¡± ¡°Ronald!¡± The squirrel heard his father¡¯s voice. ¡°Dad!¡± He was more than euphoric to learn that the dark figure was in fact, him. He guessed that the smaller, lighter figure was Marie ¡°I¡¯m up here!¡± He waved his little arms. ¡°We see you! Are you able to get down from there?¡± ¡°Yeah! Just give me a minute!¡± There were few happier things in life than the reunion of family, and though this was neither Ronald¡¯s nor Marcus¡¯ first time experiencing it, it was just as sweet now as it was then. Ronald¡¯s limbs were numb, but he powered through the tunnel with them. He couldn¡¯t stop smiling, thinking about being warm again, and with family, and safe from Jack. He knew this would undoubtedly put an end to their family friendship, but at this point, that was the best possible outcome. The effects of last night and today were going to last their whole lives, no matter how this all ended. The day was not done with Ronald though, as it decided to place Jack right in his way as he exited the tunnel. The squirrel rammed him in the side; the sable appearing like he was coming back down the mountain in search of his victim. Jack fell over despite Ronald¡¯s smaller frame. ¡°YOU!¡± He growled. ¡°Come back here!¡± Ronald immediately picked himself back up and scurried back the way he came. Marie heard Jack¡¯s voice, and she called up to him as loudly as her voice would allow. ¡°JACK! Stop this, NOW!¡± She yelled, and Jack stopped, but just for a second. ¡°The boy must DIE!¡± He roared, resuming his chase. "You FORGAVE him, remember?! Please! Come back to me right now and stop this savagery!¡± She replied, tears starting to run down her eyes. Marcus decided he should give chase; he was twice as big as Jack, and much stronger and heavier. If Jack was not going to listen to his wife, then perhaps only brute force would stop him. Jack ignored her, gaining ground on Ronald. The squirrel quickly turned his head about, and saw Jack just meters behind him. He had a good run, but this was the end of the road for him. Figuratively and literally. He noticed a chasm not much further ahead, and the only way off of this ledge was to either turn back...or jump over it. Ronald knew that if he either stopped to think, or turned around, Jack would snag him and tear him to shreds. He also knew that the drop down from the ledge was too great for him to survive. However, there was more ground on the opposite side, and it was the only safety he could spot. He had to jump. Without stopping to analyze the measurement of the gap, he picked up his speed and accelerated towards it. With as much power as he could muster in his hind legs, he propelled himself upward and made his way across the gap. For those few seconds, 217 feet separated him from the ground below. Marie gasped when she saw him do that; he narrowly made it; a jump that was twelve-inches shorter would¡¯ve ended in tragedy. Jack stopped short of the ledge; not from a change of heart, but from an instinctual desire to see if he could make that jump too. He was bigger and stronger than that squirrel; surely, this wouldn¡¯t be a problem. Meanwhile, Ronald found himself in some rather hot water. The ledge he was now standing on was, in fact, a dead-end. Going any further would¡¯ve taken him into a granite wall, and off to the sides were also steep drops. He actually had nowhere to go, but back to where Jack was poised. He was officially done; unless Marcus managed to reach Jack in time and stop him, Ronald¡¯s entrails and organs would likely wind up strewn here and there, and his body food for the resident vultures. ¡°JACK!¡± Marie screamed. ¡°Don¡¯t even try! You¡¯ll get yourself killed!¡± ¡°He¡¯s right there!¡± He yelled back at her. ¡°I¡¯ve pursued him all night long, and I¡¯m NOT going to let it end here!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want you to die!¡± She screamed, her voice even more intense; her throat starting to hurt, and eyes becoming red. ¡°I love you, Jack!¡± He turned to look at her, and for a brief moment, the glint in his eye subsided. ¡°I love you! We all love you! STOP letting that wolverine control you like this! STOP letting him hold my husband captive! STOP dragging me through this nightmare; I just want my husband back! Your friends want you back! Your children want you back!¡± Jack¡¯s eyes started to water; he looked back and forth between his wife of seven years, and Ronald. The squirrel gazed back at him with pleading eyes. ¡°I...can¡¯t!¡± Jack cried. ¡°H-he¡¯s a pawn of that wolverine! I...I can¡¯t let him live! He will just come back to destroy me!¡± ¡°That¡¯s just in your dreams! LET. THEM. GO! He¡¯s out of your life! He¡¯s gone! Ronald is your FRIEND! What he did was an accident, and he helped you rebuild! WHY must you kill? This is not you! You¡¯re a kind, loving man, and a good boss. I have loved and enjoyed all our years together, and I want many more with you! I want us to see our kids grow up! I want to see your business grow even more! I want us to grow old together! Please...don¡¯t take this away from us¡­¡± Jack¡¯s demeanor seemed to soften, but as he looked back at Ronald, his evil thoughts came back. He pictured his former boss, controlling Ronald, just like in his last dream. Without backing up for speed or acceleration, Jack bared his teeth at Ronald and went in for the kill. He attempted the jump, and it was clear from that moment forward that one of them was not going to survive. If Jack cleared the gap, Ronald would die a gory death, and if Jack didn¡¯t make it, he would die a gory death. For those few seconds, time seemed to stand still, and Marie could not avert her gaze of stunned disbelief. As she saw him reach the peak of his jump, she knew one thing was certain¡­ He wasn¡¯t going to make it. Jack¡¯s face smashed against the side of the ledge, resulting in an audible CRACK, the impact snapped his neck, and his body tumbled all 217 feet down to the stony ground. ¡°NOOO!¡± She screamed and ran to him. He landed on his back with a horrible thud; his face was a bloody mess, and his body was limp and lifeless. Their time together had come to an end. ¡°JACK! MY LOVE!¡± She screamed, her tears hot and soaking her husband¡¯s torso. She held his body in her arms and wept bitterly. She would scream in pain intermittently as she sobbed, and also repeated his name over and over. She gripped his paw in her own, and she kissed his face repeatedly and lovingly, just wishing she could feel his kiss against her face one more time. Ronald looked down at her; feeling like his heart had been ripped out. Marcus reached the ledge just a few minutes too late, and hearing Marie in agony, he remained speechless. The police had finally arrived, but as the terrain gave them trouble, they too were too late. They were ready to bind Jack and escort Ronald to safety, but were met with an inconsolable Marie weeping over her husband. She knew they were there, but didn¡¯t acknowledge them. ¡°Thank you for providing for us, Jack...I know you can¡¯t hear me, but I will always remember our good, happy moments together¡­¡± She whispered, not leaving his side. She knew that, eventually, they¡¯d have to take his body away, but she didn¡¯t want to part ways until she had said everything in her heart she wanted to say to him. In the meantime, a helicopter was sent to rescue Ronald from the ledge, and Marcus made his way back down. They stayed with her as long as she stayed with Jack¡¯s body, and they said their own parting words. Somehow, Ronald didn¡¯t feel any anger towards him; sure, Jack absolutely terrorized him for the last several hours, but he didn¡¯t think for a second that was really him. He thanked Jack for the good moments, and regretted that there would be no more between them. Those last several hours were surreal, and Ronald was positive he was going to need counseling for it in the future. Eventually, the police did have to notify her that they needed to take the body down to the morgue before the decay and stench got worse. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t mean to be cold...¡± The officer told her. Marie wiped her eyes. ¡°It¡¯s okay; I understand...you can take him now...I¡¯ve said what I wanted to say...thank you¡­¡± The three of them walked back to the car; it was exactly where Marcus left it. It was stopped just short of where the road ended, and the path got too rocky for a car to use. Marcus let Marie in first, and they were soon headed back home¡­ ...where nothing would ever be the same for either family again. Chapter 8 TEXT HERE TO AVOID THUMBNAIL SPOILER TEXT HERE TO AVOID THUMBNAIL SPOILER Jack''s memorial service was going to be held the Sunday following his death. It was the most miserable week of Marie¡¯s life, as it was Dylan¡¯s and Beth¡¯s. Telling them that they weren¡¯t going to see their daddy again was almost as gut-wrenching as witnessing her own husband fall to his doom. She also got confirmation that week that she was, in fact, pregnant again. She was going to have another girl, and she thought it appropriate to name her Jacquelyn, resembling the name of the baby¡¯s father. As for the business, it had fallen into Marie¡¯s hands, as she was the wife of the owner. She wanted Joshua to run it, but he admitted he wasn¡¯t very well-versed in the technology involved in producing the devices Jack used to, so he had to decline. It appeared that she was going to have to sell it and let the city decide what to do with it, but Marcus intervened, and offered to buy the business himself, and just annex it with his own business. He promised he would not change its name, or erase Jack¡¯s memory from it. He also promised Marie that she would get a large portion of the profits made from that building to sustain her, at least until she decided she would get a job for herself, or marry again in the future. She appreciated his offer, and accepted. On the other hand, the media portrayed Jack as a psychotic nutcase, and even included interviews with people saying they were glad he was gone for good. Marie didn¡¯t bother to watch any of it, and she even sent a letter to various local news outlets to stop portraying her late husband this way, and that he was a good boss, husband, and father who fell victim to a disorder. They ignored her; portraying someone as a villain brought in better ratings after all. However, Marcus ran an ad for his own business that included his new annex, and spent time vouching for Jack¡¯s character himself, and saying he deserved to be remembered for the good that he did. With these words coming from a ¡°big-shot¡± millionaire, a lot of the townspeople changed their mind about Jack. ¡°Marcus, you have been spoiling me,¡± Marie said to him as they waited for the service to start. ¡°You have had every reason to curse Jack, but you¡¯ve been nothing but gracious to me, and to his memory. I don¡¯t deserve you.¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t deserve to go out that way, and he doesn¡¯t deserve to be treated so callously by the media. You¡¯re still my friend, Marie, and friends help each other.¡± It was then that Marie noticed Ronald was missing. She asked around if anyone saw him, and it was Claudia who told her he stepped outside not too long ago. ¡°I see, thank you.¡± Marie went out herself. ¡°Ronald? Are you out here?¡± Are you alright?¡± ¡°No¡­¡± He replied, hiding behind one of the bushes. ¡°I want to die¡­¡± Marie found him and hugged him. ¡°Ronald, don¡¯t say that¡­¡± ¡°This is all my fault...Jack would still be here if I never went out with Ashley¡­¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t intend for this Ronald, and if you want to go down that route...it¡¯s also my fault. My tongue slipped during an emotional moment, and I couldn¡¯t stop Jack from there. I never wanted this to happen, but accidents are real, and once they happen, you have to deal with them and move on¡­¡± ¡°Maybe I will, someday¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s going to take some time, but we have each other to lean on and get strength from. Get encouragement from the apostle Paul, he could tell you about forgetting those things which are behind and pressing towards the high calling of God, in Christ. Remember, he actually murdered people directly before meeting Christ face-to-face.¡± ¡°I wish I was strong enough to move on¡­¡± ¡°You ARE strong enough, Ronald, because Jesus dwells in your heart. Remember when Paul said, ¡°I can do all things through Him which strengtheneth me?¡± He was talking about how to abound, and how to abased. Right now, we¡¯ve both been abased, but God¡¯s grace gives us the power to live through it and still have joy and peace in our hearts. It¡¯s available to you, Ronald; you just have to let grace put your guilt to death.¡± Ronald nodded. ¡°Thanks for the encouragement; it¡¯s strange that you¡¯re the one suffering more, but I¡¯m the one crying for strength.¡± ¡°I said that all to myself as much as I said it to you.¡± She turned to go back in. ¡°Let¡¯s go inside; it¡¯s going to start soon...I¡¯ll need my tissues ready¡­¡± It was hard for Marie not to cry upon seeing the image of her husband at the front; it was the picture she took of him on the day he started his business. He looked so happy and youthful, and it was how she wanted to remember him the rest of her life. ¡°And to think...we were supposed to be in Bluerock Forest today...We were supposed to all be together and enjoying each other¡¯s company¡­¡± One of her brothers sat next to her, and he held her paw. He offered her a tissue and wiped her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m crying before we¡¯re even starting; I¡¯m going to run out of tissues five minutes in¡­¡± She commented to him, feeling comfortable enough to at least make a little bit of humor. He indulged her and made a small chuckle. ¡°There¡¯s no shame in it; if you run out, you can use my arm.¡±If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The service wasn¡¯t long, and it was mostly positive. Marie¡¯s sister had put a slideshow together of Jack¡¯ all pictures ranging from his birth to as late as a few weeks ago. He barely made it to twenty-nine, and yet he seemed to do so much within that time-frame. Some of them were cute and funny, and others sweet and cheerful. It was during the pictures involving her and their children that pained her heart the most. Beth and Dylan were sitting on her other side, and she leaned slightly to kiss them both on the head. Most of the people that came up to speak kind things about Jack were from his own family, though Joshua also said something, as did Marcus. The speeches ranged from humorous little anecdotes to poignant, touching scenes. Just before the service was to close, though, Ronald was moved to get up and talk, too. He was handed the microphone and just spoke from where he stood. Some of the people felt uncomfortable, as they knew he was the one Jack tried to kill during his last moments. ¡°Jack was a good friend to our family, and I can attest that he was a good boss. He was someone who cared about providing for others and helping those who were less fortunate. I know that,¡± he hesitated, nervous, ¡°I¡¯ve been the elephant in the room thanks to the news, and Jack hasn¡¯t been treated fairly by them, but I will remember him as someone who treated his employees like family,¡± he nodded to Joshua, ¡°he loved his wife and children like crazy,¡± he looked in Marie¡¯s direction, ¡°and I believe his faith and trust in God were sincere and strong. I¡¯ve felt like family to him enough to say that, and I will remember him for those things¡­¡± He gave the microphone back, and his mother hugged him. ¡°That was sweet.¡± She said softly to him. ¡°Jack was a good guy,¡± he replied, ¡°I just wish he could¡¯ve gotten over his problems before it was too late¡­¡± In the following months, Ronald did the best he could in school, and graduated with a 3.3 GPA; not valedictorian, but he was just happy to get out of there. He applied for a college that emphasized nature-study and geography, and got accepted. The campus, however, was nearly 2,000 miles away, so he was going to have to live over there. Cecilia would be starting high school the next fall, and of course, she would be taking as many art classes as possible. The triplets were moving on to fourth grade, just a year more until getting to be top dogs at school. Ronald¡¯s term would be starting in two weeks, but he wanted to get there a little early so he could familiarize himself with the campus and the surrounding town. He would be rooming with two other friends from school who were interested in the same kind of study. He was going to leave tomorrow, and his dad was going to take him to the airport. ¡°I painted this for you,¡± Cecilia unveiled a watercolor painting she made of a serene pine forest, with majestic mountains in the background. ¡°Since it¡¯s your favorite kind of environment.¡± ¡°Thank you; this looks nice! It¡¯s so big though that I don¡¯t know if I can fit this in my luggage.¡± ¡°You should keep it here anyways; you don¡¯t want those luggage-handlers ruining it and breaking it.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Cecilia sighed. ¡°But promise me you¡¯re going to visit.¡± ¡°I already plan to; it¡¯s not like the college will be my permanent residence. By the way, I have something to give you too.¡± He ran off to his room and came back with two boxes. ¡°Is that-¡± ¡°It most definitely is.¡± Ronald concluded. ¡°It¡¯s that digital art program you kept saying you wanted, and also a tablet and pen so you don¡¯t have to keep using the mouse.¡± Cecilia had no time to rave over her gift, as Ronald went back to get something for his triplet siblings right after. ¡°Since you¡¯re still young, your interests are still all over the place, so I got gift certificates for all of you. I¡¯m sorry it¡¯s not more personal.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t complain; money is money!¡± Xavier was the first to pick him up, and the two sisters joined and made it a group hug. ¡°Haha, okay, okay! Go easy on me; I¡¯m still a twig!¡± The slim Ronald laughed, smothered by three towering wolves. For his parents, Ronald got one of their recent family pictures a really nice frame, and also enlarged. They hugged him too; Diane particularly touched by the gesture. ¡°So even when I¡¯m away, you¡¯ll always remember we¡¯re together.¡± Ronald said, not meaning to sound so corny. Diane cried and hugged him again. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize it was that bad.¡± ¡°No, no, I¡¯m crying because I¡¯m going to miss you. It¡¯s what mothers do¡­¡± Marcus also felt sad, but also thrilled to see his son taking off and pursuing something he had a passion for. ¡°Oh, and before we go, there are four more people I want to say bye to¡­¡± A few minutes later, Marie noticed Ronald outside her window. She set Jacquelyn down gently into her crib, and went to open the door. She was expecting to see him today, as she knew he was leaving tomorrow. She unlocked the door for him. ¡°Ronald,¡± she greeted him with a smile, ¡°come in.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± He walked inside. ¡°I, uh, I just really came to say good-bye. I know it¡¯s late, so I¡¯ll be quick.¡± ¡°I understand; you have an early flight, right?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± He found Dylan and Beth playing in their room; the door was ajar, but he knocked anyways. ¡°Ronald!¡± Beth exclaimed excitedly. ¡°Wanna play legos with us?¡± The hospitable Dylan asked. ¡°I¡¯d love to, but I really came just to say good-bye. I¡¯m going far away to another school.¡± Neither of them knew what that meant, but they weren¡¯t happy to hear it. He hugged them both, and promised that he¡¯d play with them next time he visited. Next, he asked Marie if she was fine with him picking up Jacquelyn, and she gave him the okay. He picked up the three-month old, though Marie had to gently adjust his arms so he would hold her correctly. The baby sable looked up at him with confusion. ¡°I know, I¡¯m not a sable, and you probably have no idea who I am, but I just wanted to say good-bye to you too. Maybe we¡¯ll also play legos in the future.¡± He set her back down the way he found her, and then turned to Marie. This time, no words were said before they hugged each other. ¡°I¡¯m going to miss you, Ronald.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to miss you too, Marie. Thanks for being a good friend¡­¡± ¡°Thank you too, and I hope we can still stay in touch, even while you¡¯re there.¡± ¡°We will, though I can¡¯t promise my teachers will go easy on me with the homework and study.¡± ¡°Put that first, but if you get any free time, and need a friend to talk to, I¡¯m here.¡± ¡°Thanks...I am going to feel alone, I¡¯m sure, so I might be calling back home a lot.¡± ¡°Loneliness is hard, as I¡¯ve been learning, so if you start to feel homesick, I¡¯ll be right here, and I¡¯m sure your own family would love to hear from you too.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Ronald said, and then, after looking at the time, he knew he had to wrap this up now. ¡°Goodbye, Marie¡­¡± ¡°Goodbye, Ronald¡­¡± With that, they let each other go, and Ronald made his way back to the front door. On the wall beside it hung a picture of Jack. It was the same picture that was displayed at the front of the chapel where the memorial service took place. Ronald stopped and faced it. ¡°I know I said goodbye a long time ago, but it was an untimely and unhappy goodbye.¡± He sighed, but smiled. ¡°I want to give a more proper goodbye; one where we¡¯re both happy, so...goodbye, Jack.¡± A small tear rolled down from his eye as he opened the door and walked out to his dad¡¯s car. Marie wiped a tear from her own eye, and then went to prepare dinner for herself and her kids. Yes, life would never be normal again with Jack being here. But Marie still smiled, knowing that she would always have things to be grateful for. Despite everything...she was blessed. THE END.