Chapter 1-Simply Furry

Chapter 1-Beginnings

Just beyond the assorted trees east of a peaceful village, a black sky turns to orange; the sun inching it's way up above the horizon. Light lays upon the land before it, shining between the trees and in all the eastern windows. All but one. Curtains pulled down halt the intruding sunlight. Moments pass before the paper-like curtains flick up unexpectedly with a snap, letting the bright light shine upon the face of the lonely pastor Mikey. Groaning, the annoyed pastor rolls westward, folding his pillow to block the light from touching his black fur.
More moments of silence pass in the house before a knock at the front door widens the pastor's eyes. Unrolling the pillow, he sits up in his wooden bed and rubs his eyes. Finally opening his eyes, Mikey grabs his square spectacles and puts them on his triangular fox nose. Mikey leaves his bed and walks to his front door, wearing but a mere white tank top, stained with sweat. Opening the front door shoes his friends, LazLow and R*lax.
LazLow, a spiffily-dressed, yellow-furred fox stands alongside the brown cat dressed more casually. "Oh, ugh, you Pastor. Sinful as always," LazLow states. "Get dressed. You promised to take R and me shopping." Showing sleepiness in both his white and his green eye, Mikey yawns, saying, "Yeah, yeah, ok. Sit and wait, I'll be out soon." He leads them inside, continuing into his wardrobe to pick out the day's outfit. Church bells signal nine in the morning. Mikey comes out into the den, dressed in a black t-shirt too large for him and a black jeans that fit just right. "Come on. We'll go to Garden Proper, followed by Take Note, then Zotor's."
Pushing open the glass front door of Murray's Garden Proper, the friends walk into the small store. Lights are off, but sunshine fills the room; jumping in through the shop front windows. A ferret's fuzzy tail peaks from over the counter. "Good morning. Ask me if you need anything." Mikey and LazLow look at R, but he's already looking down an isle at seeds. "Do you happen to have any behind-the-counter seeds?"
"We have morphing seeds, flower seeds, Q seeds, uh...."
LazLow, looking confused, questions Murray, "Q?"
"Yeah, Q."
"Q as in---"
"Q."
"Uh-huh." LazLow walks outside. "I'm done." Mikey watches carefully, then looks at R. "Don't you work here?" R elbows him. "Shut. Up." The two follow LazLow out and to the next store, Take Note Musical Outlet. Opening the front door, a bell dings above. Beautiful decor and vinyl covers are scattered across the walls. The overhead lights shine and Juke Box Hero by Foreigner plays quietly in the background. A friendly male voice sounds from behind the counter, saying, "Welcome, newcomers! Please feel free to look around!" A blonde-furred wolf stands shortly beyond the counter space ahead of him. His eyes of two different colors sparkle with innocence as he brings service with a smile. Dressed in a neat light blue dress shirt and tattered blue jeans, his name tag identifies him as 'Love.' R elbows Mikey. "Say , don't you work here?" Mikey replies, "No, that's LazLow."
"Shut. Up. I'm done." And LazLow walks out.
A pale yellow bunny, her fur littered with little pink hearts, stares from behind a row of baskets containing 12" Vinyl. She is dressed similarly to Love, but her name tag says 'Jordyn Taylor.' "H-h-hey there..." She says shyly, smiling slightly. "Can I be of service? Looking for anything in particular?" She continues. R replies happily, "No thanks, but thank you for asking!" And smiles at her. She returns a similar, yet shy smile. Songs change overhead. Don't You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds plays.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey!"
"Man, I need a montage," Mikey mumbles, heading to the door. "I'm off to work." Before he can exit the building, Love calls out to him. "Hey, don't forget about tonight's concert at the fountain! I'm performing!" Mikey chuckles, "I can't miss it," And leaves, adding, "If you need me, I'll be at the library, teaching employees."
Shoving the double doors open, Mikey walks in, looking around. He takes a seat behind his desk, propping his feet up on the desk and using his long black hair to hide his eyes. "Ahem, excuse me..." A shy, female voice speaks calmly from beyond his desk. "You must be Mikey? Pastor Mikey?" Looking up and revealing his eyes to the genderfluid jaguar looking at him.
"Chariot? Chariot Koura?"
Chariot responds with a calm nod. Mikey hides his eyes again. "Sit." A chair beside him was calling Chariot's name, that is, according to Mikey. "Sit," he repeats. "Relax." Chariot sits down in the chair, eyeballing Mikey. "Don't you have a job to do?" Mikey grins, not even bothering to look. "Don't you have a job to do?" Chariot looks away, rolling her eyes about his previous behavior. She clears her throat, simply responding with: "That stack of books. Why don't you organize them? Shelf them?" Mikey looks up at the stack of books consisting of various famous titles, ranging from Fahrenheit 451 to Romeo and Juliet to Rainbow Drive. "You are the assistant. Aren't you paid to help me? You shelf them yourself." Chariot snaps. "Excuse me? What are you paid for!? Sleeping on the job!? Why don't you make yourself useful for once in your life and put the books away?"
Mikey growls, looking at her, the lights shine on his glasses. He flicks the reflection off a nearby mirror at Chariot. It blinds her momentarily. She covers her eyes and whines, "Stop it, stop it!" Mikey continues reflecting his evil glare. "Put the books back. Now. Or else." Chariot grabs the books with one hand and covers her eyes with the other, making her way to the back room. "Loser." Mikey chuckles to himself and goes back to his afternoon nap. The nap leads into the evening.
Chariot shoves him off the chair around eight. "Get up! Your shift is over. I'll take control the night!" Mikey looks up at her. LazLow comes through the front double doors. "Come on. It's time for the concert."
"Riiiiight," Mikey complains, full of sarcastic joy. They leave to head to the center fountain. "This better be good."