There, on the hightway outside of town, the dust blew up along the road. A few scrub bushes caught the wind and hissed idly as one by one cars passed by, leaving their roar in the shivering air. Colorful Manzanita bushes divided the 4 lanes in half, two westbound and 2 eastbound on the highway. The Manzanitas served well as road dividers, their hardy branches and leaves withstanding the cruel environment of the meridian, and their thrifty roots drawing sustenance from the barest amounts of water in the hard earth.
A station wagon came shushing down the highway, westbound and standing out against the typical array of half vans, trucks, and SUVs. It was a classic model, the likes of which you might find in a reputable used car lot. A luggage bedecked, brown trimmed classic. The paint was dull, but not chipped and the engine fairly purred as it zipped down the road.
An exit sign attracted the station wagon. It said, "Rest stop next right." Turning off the road, the car approached a small cafe and gas station.
The brown car ground to a halt. A door opened and a slim lady stood quickly. Her straight shoulder length red hair hung smartly over a weathered T-shirt that draped over her slim frame. A water bottle around her shoulder, and thick, sturdy jeans, down to the flat toed hiking boots that graced her feet. Biting her lip, and whimpering, she jogged, stiff legged, to the nearest bathroom.
Again opened the door, and out stepped a man. Standing firm on cheap sandals, his khaki shorts almost reached his thick, hairy knees. A shirt covered in pastel yellow flowers tucked under the belt that held his pants up, and his proud cheerful, wide cheeked face broke into a satisfiedsmile as his squinting eyes peered under the brim of his floppy fishing hat at the rest stop.
"C'mon out gang!" he said enthusiastically. The car was silent. Then the door of the car opened and a specter of a girl stepped out. White faced, black highlights, she had an expression of complete lack of any emotion aside from mild disgust on her face. Black metal studded clothing and eternally uninterested expression best characterized her manner and poise.
"Billy won't open his door," she said tiredly.
The man grimaced. "Billy--," he leaned into the car. "Get out of the car already... please?"
"Can't dad," said the little brown haired lad with a distant look in his eyes. "Level 47." Billy continued to push buttons on a small portable video game as muted beeping noises drifted from the back of the old seats.
"Well okay," the dad said, puzzled. "If it's level 47 I guess I can't complain." He shut the door and headed over to the cafe where the red haired woman had gone.
* * *
Billy heaved a sigh of relief, tossing his head back and letting the portable video game plop on his lap.
"The Hoover Dam," he grumped. "Honestly!"
Billy stared out the window at the dull rest station, at the dull town nearby. Everything was so... dull. Especially that funny looking orange... rabbity thingy flying around the station?
As Billy watched, a most peculiar creature took a nose dive, kicking up a huge poof of dust where it landed. Shaking the dust off, it spread its wings again, flicking its tail as it lifted off and disappeared behind the roof of the cafe.
...
"Dad! Dad!", Billy shouted, running up to his father who'd since joined with the red haired lady adjusting her hip pack. Both of them were walking back to the car with a collective look of determination before they saw Billy had already started coming on his own.
"Glad you finally decided to join us," Billy's father said aloofly, turning back to the rest stop.
"Dad!" was all Billy could say. "It was-- and then... it was all furry like a huge bat! except it was a rabbit with this big ol' tail--"
"Yes, dear," his mother interrupted knowingly.
"It's true!" Billy wailed, spluttering. "I never seen anything like it!"
"We believe you son," his father said a bit snidely, putting his hand on the door to the cafe.
"Oooh!" Billy growled, clutching his hands frustratedly. Glaring at the door, he followed his parents into the cafe. Carolin trailed in silently behind.
There was a dense knot of people in the area next to the bar. They were all crowded around, and singing at a synx who was carrying a serving platter on her head. It flicked its tail playfully and tried not to spill the ice in an empty drink placed on the tray.
"I--it's right there!" Billy almost shouted, pulling on his mom's shirt and pointing fiercly.
His mom rolled her eyes. "I know dear. It was here when I walked in."
"But... but..." Billy stammered, "Why didn't you say so?"
"We did," both parents answered. Billy just gaped.
* * *
The Starling curled up on a side table.
"You were right!" it said to no one in particular. "That was fun."
Her ear twitched in the direction of the Station Wagon family, leaning back against the couchlike seat that surrounded their booth.
"What? Where?" she said, looking in the direction of her ear. Then, "Them?!"
Tasci regarded the family. The mother was looking positively redheaded and radiant, while the dad beamed his proud, thick faced smile and thumped his paunch contentedly.
* * *
Carolin stared moodily at her empty plate. She wasn't sure whether to inwardly cheer at the fact that it had gone, or whether to inwardly groan at what sat in her stomach right now. Oh well, at least she had enough sense not to order the "Super Slam" like Billy did not.
"Whats a matter?" Billy whispered in her direction. "It got up and crawled away?" He indicated her food.
"Yes, onto your plate as a matter of fact," she said stolidly. "I think they're mating."
Billy looked at his own heaping plate in horror as somebody (...) kicked the table, causing the pile of food-like substance to jump up briefly and wobble.
"Eyah!" Billy shrieked, ducking under the table. Carolin's mouth crept up in a small satisfied smile.
As Billy finally moved to eat, a synx fluttered down to perch on the back of the booth he was resting against. It made a little prrrp sound.
Billy inhaled forcefully, almost choking as he scooted away from the cat sized creature peering at him wide eyed.
"Calm down Billy," his father said, gently chiding. "It's just that ...orange cat thing they have here. You hear me Billy? ...Billy?"
"Breath," Carolin prompted snappishly. Billy gasped, breathing in deep gulps of air.
"Friendly little guy," the dad chuckled as the synx made rounds across the boothback.
"It probably just wants our food," the mom said, raising a disapproving eyebrow.
"Not in a million years," Billy whispered, staring at his processed glop.
"What was that son?" the dad asked pleasantly.
"I uh... I wonder where they got it," Billy covered. "Thing. It, that... thing. I wonder where they got."
"Oh, it's not ours," the waitress cut in taking their empty plates and cups. The purse mouthed lady's skinny fingers expertly tucked away the empty plates, pausing only momentarily over Billy's still full plate.
"It just popped in about a week ago," said the waitress, indicating the synx now seated above Carolin's head making quiet trilling noises. "The patrons love 'er, but we're still trying to figure out whose she is."
* * *
Carolin was the only one who noticed Billy's sigh of relief as his plate left the table, but she kept it to herself.
"Serves him right, ordering the Super special," she muttered. "You never order any kind of special at places like these."
Carolin turned as the creature moved in a place where she could see it, resting on the wood divider between their booth and the next. Whatever it was, it was no cat, that Carolin was sure of. The fur was orange, with a white underbelly. Around its huge hind feet, a long, thickly furred tail was touched off by a swatch of white wrapped over its paws.
It bore a frightening beauty, something beyond its unnaturally calm exterior. As the creature breathed deeper, sleepier, Carolin watched the uniformly colored fur rise and fall. Flashes of black appeared briefly where it stood up in tufts at points of tension. The head was tri-colored, with a wooly looking patch of dark red fur resting on the top and down the nape of the neck. On either side of the patch extremely long triangular ears almost flopped down, covered in a downy fur the same dark red as the ...ruff for lack of a better term.
Its eyes were closed now, a soft mrring sound issuing every now and then from its short muzzle, topped off with a black nose. Carolin tried to make out more of the lower parts but beyond what she saw, it looked like a big orange ball of fur.
Now, Tasci.
Just then, the synx opened almost iridescent green eyes, flecked with gold. Pupils widening like a cat's, Carolin's hand came to her mouth when it slowly, and deliberately winked at her.
Billy's giggle snapped Carolin out of her reverie.
"You two wanna check out a room?" he asked sweetly.
"Grow up, Billy," she said flat-faced. "You'll die sooner and make room for the rest of us."
* * *
"But really Jim," the mom went on, "The state of the union just isn't the most important issue here." She was speaking to her husband over a cooling cup of coffee.
"And why not?" Jim countered. "How many people have any idea what America stands for? It's important, we have to think of the children. There are sights to see out there, and it's important for us to see them. A good vacation will keep us aware of our country's landmarks, what everything means," he finished with a statisfied chuckle.
"What's so funny all of a sudden?" she asked him curiously.
"Oh, just us arguing like a couple of school kids," he said. "Remember Becca? How we used to in college..."
* * *
Billy was squirmingly distracted, and even Carolin managed to look even less interested than usual.
"Here," she said jabbing a napkin at Billy. "Think of something creative."
He took the napkin, thought a moment, then wadded it into a tight ball. Flicking lightly, he sent it spinning lightly to bop the synx on the nose.
"Mrp?" it said, waking up at this unruly disturbance. Looking slowly from Billy, waiting there eagerly, to the ball of paper in front of her nose, Tasci's paw snaked out to tap at it.
*crinkle*
Tasci stomped it, rising up straight legged, then bending her head down to examine the wrinkled corner of the napkin trapped underneath her paw. She leaned forward to pick it up, but it slipped out of her snap of teeth. Pouncing sideways, she intercepted the roll of paper just as she and the paper went tumbling down into the empty booth below.
There was silence. Then a furry head popped up, napkin in mouth. Billy giggled and she hopped up to the boothback. There she sat on her haunches and purred, crinkling the napkin delightedly.
Billy smiled with a satisfied air and turned back to the table. A rolled up paper napkin hit him on the side of the head.
Carolin allowed a thing smile as Billy looked in outrage at the oh, so innocent synx, now without a napkin for some reason. He threw the napkin back at the synx who batted it out of the air, waiting for him to look away again.
Grinning craftily, Billy pretended to start to look away then let fly with a hidden napkin he'd rolled up under the table. Tasci ducked, not soon enough, and the paper caromed soundly on her left ear. Tossing the paper she had snagged at Billy, Tasci dove after the other one, vanishing as she followed it underneath the table.
Shuffle shuffle. *crinkle*
Billy peered down between his legs into the darkness underneath the table as a rolled up paper napkin shot out from the darkness, striking him soundly across the jaw. Spluttering, Billy tossed his paper at Tasci who returned it a bit too quickly, missing Billy entirely. It headed in a slow arc toward Carolin who caught it with a quick movement of one hand. Carolin was still smiling.
Both Carolin and Billy volleyed their napkins at the same time, causing frenzied sounds of bouncing, meeping and crinkling paper. Carolin grabbed another napkin, but Tasci hopped up onto the seat of the booth, the back of the booth, then onto Billy's head, wielding a rolled up paper napkin threateningly.
"We have a hostage situation," Billy said with muffled authority into his rolled up paper napkin. "An' I'm the hostage!"
Carolin's disgusted rolled up paper napkin beaned Billy on the cheek.
"Ah!" he said to Carolin, toppling like a log. "Lieutenant! Treachery!" he enunciated, falling to his side and forcing Tasci to jump back to the stable safety of the booth's back.
Tasci threw her paper at Carolin who recovered it, gloating. "Ah hah, now that I control the resources you will bow--"
"WILL YOU KIDS ZIP IT?" both parents exclaimed capital-letter-istically.
Sighing as thought she knew all along it wasn't going to last, Carolin pushed the wadded up pieces of paper into a neat pile, and pulled out a black compact, looking appraisingly into the mirror.
Billy was unrepentant. "Can we keep her dad?" he said. "She's so much fun!"
"Absolutely not," his mother said. "And not another word," his father added.
Several minutes later, far too many minutes for Billy who was looking to squirm all the way into the next dimension, the family pushed their chairs aside and slowly made their way out of the small restaurant. They did not notice that the spot where the synx once lay was unoccupied.
* * *
The car was strangely silent. "C'mon gang!" Jim said. "Let's make things a bit more lively."
The family began to sing a simple melody. "Great green gobs of greasy grimy gopher guts..."
In the back seat, Billy sang thinly but enthusiastically. The words died in his throat as the sounds of the others faded from his attention into ghostly whispers. His eyes shifted slowly to the right, though he dared not move his head. Something behind him... moved. Delicate insect legs tickled the back of his neck...
"Eyaaaah!" Billy screamed, turning as far as his seatbelt would allow. A curious, bewhiskered nose vanished underneath the blankets over the luggage in the back. "That's not how the song goes!" his dad called. "Eighteen eyeballs rolling down..."
Throwing the blanket aside like a billowing cloak, Billy came face to face with that creature they saw at the rest stop. It licked his nose.
Billy ewwed, shrinking back and wiping at his nose while a tall thin lump in the seat next to him, recently covered by a blanket said, "Billy, you are so dead."
* * *
Tasci chuckled inwardly as the uneasy atmosphere popped when Billy went "Eww!" The boy fell back, wiping at his nose even as his blanket covered sister said, "Billy, you are so dead."
"What's goin' on back there?" the dad shouted congenially.
Carolin pulled the blanket over her head in one swift move. She remained silent, her glare speaking volumes of future retribution to Billy. Billy looked fearfully at Tasci, then gulped nervously. After a moment of thought, he said, "Uh... n-nothing dad."
"Can't have a good rousing car song these days..." Jim grumbled.
"Don't worry dear," his wife Rebecca reassured him. "At least nothing exploded."
Billy whewed. Tasci whewed.
"Billy, what was that noise?" his mom asked dangerously.
* * *
The car listed to the side of the road then came screeching to a halt. The door opened and Jim stalked out of the side after Billy burst free of his own back door, stumbling to a halt with a defensive stare towards his father. Tasci hopped out, followed by Carolin, who stood aside warily.
"Look, kids." John sighed. "We've been through this before. We can't just pick up animals off the side of the road."
"But dad..." Billy complained.
"Wild animals are not toys!" Rebecca cut curtly, joining the side of Jim. "It might bite you or--"
"Like Adder?" Carolin mentioned carefully.
"Yes like--no not like Adder! He's a harmless *gopher* snake, wouldn't hurt us at all." Rebecca combed her hand through her hair exasperatedly.
"And Mr. Tuffles?"
"Carolin, Mr. Tuffles is the sweetest, most spoiled hamster to walk the planet," her mother exclaimed. "I'm ashamed you think just because we rescued him from that discarded cage on the--"
"The side of the road," Carolin continued directly. "They were both picked up on the side of the road."
"That is a wild animal," Jim proclaimed. "It's dangerous. You should never have snuck it out of the cafe."
"We didn't--" Carolin started to say, cut off as Jim continued his tirade.
"Now we're going to have to take her all the way back to the rest stop," he said chidingly.
"They don't _own_ her!" Billy protested. "They said so."
Jim thumped his chest emphatically. "No sir, absolutely not!"
* * *
Jim drove, bemusedly listening to the strange little critter bustling about the back of their car. He couldn't remember for the life of him how the kids had talked him into this.
"She'll probably run away," he thought. "Most critters we pick up do that anyway." John continued driving forward, to the water, to the city, to home.
Carolin was puzzled before, now she was positively worried. Never had she or Billy convinced their parents to "rescue" anything larger than a rat. Certainly not a creature so odd and mysterious as this one. She looked out the window thoughtfully, frowning in concentration.
How had it happened? Carolin tried to recall the last she remembered of the scene...
Jim thumped his chest emphatically. "No sir, absolutely not! It's a dangerous animal." Jim was clearly flustered. He sighed putting his fingers to his eyebrows.
"She /won't/ hurt us." Billy demanded. "She's nice!"
"Look kids," the dad pleaded. "I'd love to bring her along but we just can't take her away..."
He looked down as Tasci nosed his foot then looked up towards him soulfully.
"See dad," Billy said eagerly. "She likes you!"
"...she is kinda cute," he said, bending down to rub the fur on her back while Tasci crooned happily.
"Dear!" his wife said, outraged. She took a deep breath to berate him his weak will, then paused for a moment before relaxing into helpless laughter.
"So is that a yes?" Jim asked, smiling as well.
"John, we already know the outcome of this argument," she smiled, shrugging her shoulders. "We might as well not fight about it."
* * *
"What is that thing anyway?" Carolin asked herself. But try as she might, Carolin could not remember ever seeing anything like it before. A tiny weight landed in her lap.
She stared, frozen, down at it. The creature was light, so light... not half what it should have weighed. Taking a closer look, she could see that it was male, definitely a mammal, but those wings.... Carolin put out a trembling hand and it raised its head up to caress her pale skin soothingly. Then it curled up in a soft ball in her lap, all without the slightest note of alarm. Billy started to say something, but Carolin fiercely shushed him.
It wasn't too dirty, certainly smelling of dust, but not too gamey. There was another odor, something like cinnamon, but Carolin couldn't place it. With more confidence, she ran her hand down the head, and down to the wings. Teasing at the tips poking out of the otherwise featureless fur, she caught her breath when the wing spread fully, but a soft, downy, orange membrane between delicate batlike wing bones.
Carolin was not feeling comfortable at this point. The thing had wings, by Erde! Nothing had wings /and/ all four legs. Not even bats or birds. The wing slipped back as Carolin removed her hands. Gently pushing the creature off her lap, it hopped down to the foot area, then looked at Carolin with a long, sideways glance. She shivered despite herself.
Last Updated: Sun Dec 1 2002 08:26:18