Chapter 2

Wednesday, 08/22/18

 

Beeep, Beeep, Beeep, Beeep, Beeep - Vulprex's alarm clock sounded off.

 

Morning time... I wonder if humans out there hate mornings as much as I do, I also wonder if they have devices like this to wake them up in the morning. Devices so obnoxious and annoying that just keep ringing and ringing and- 'She finally spoke out from her slumber giving a loud shout "JUST WONT SHUT THE HELL UP!!" She slammed her fist onto the top of her alarm clock multiple times shouting "Shut up, Shut up, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!" Her clenched paw finally found the 'Sleep' button, the noise coming to a halt. She gave off a sigh relaxing back into her pillow - then Ms. Gurniak's voice rang over the receiver.'

"Vulprex are you up?... I heard yelling.." Ms. Gurniak asked.

'Vulprex's eyes shot open before throwing her blanket off herself sending it to the floor beside her bed giving off a frustrated grunt.'

'Ms. Gurniak spoke again "Is everything okay in there? Vulprex?"'

'Giving off a sigh as she slowly wiggled her feet left to right staring up at the ceiling, Vulprex turned her head to the receiver.'

 

Remember, invite her into your room and hang out - I didn't realize today would come this fast... Maybe I shouldn't respond. I could always wait till later..say 1pm? No.. because then I wouldn't want to.. Is she still out there?.. Why is she so persistent on talking to me?.. Why do I resent her so much?.. Maybe she sees something in me that I don't?..  Mayb-

"Vulprex, I'm starting to worry now, usually you tell me to 'go away' or 'leave you alone,' am I not even worth that anymore?" Ms. Gurniak interrupted sounding as if she may start crying.

'Vulprex sat up, hanging her legs off the side of her bed. She put her hands to her chest as she adjusted her bra speaking to herself "Mornin' girls." She looked over to the receiver once more taking a deep breath. "Okay... I can do this." Placing her hand onto the button speaking into the microphone "C-come in.." her voice choked up a bit.'

"Oh.. Okay- WAIT WHAT?! REALLY?!" The lady shouted out in shock. "Do you really mean it?!"

'Vulprex rolled her eyes and looked to the floor giving off a sigh "Yes, yes.. don't make me change my mind. Also when you come in, note that i'm in my underwear and bra.. I don't think they dropped off my clothes yet from the wash."

"Well lucky for you-" The woman cut herself off then unlocked the door making her way into the room before restarting her sentence. "Well lucky for you, I have your clothes right here. I washed them.. personally.. at my house.."

'Vulprex stared at her cautiously before reaching her arms outwards for them "Thanks?.. I guess?.."'

"Oh it's no problem at all!" The woman quickly handed over the clothes. "I didn't want you to have to smell like the boring laundry detergent they use here, I don't even think it has a name besides 'Laundry Detergent'" The woman slightly laughed.

'Vulprex wiggled herself into the shirt. "You don't nor didn't have to do that, you know? I probably wouldn't notice the difference anyways."

But I do notice the difference... this actually smells amazing... Better than what they use here... I hope the others don't get jealous that i'm getting some kind of special treatment..

"Vulprex, my laundry detergent, is your laundry detergent. It's no problem at all.. buuut-" She looked at Vulprex concerned. "Aren't you tired of only having one shirt and one pair of pants?"

'Vulprex popped her head out of the hole in the shirt. "Extremely tired, actually. I see online so many different clothes people have from looking really cool or just really crappy.. I'm sure you can assume which side my clothes are on, heck i'm still trying to figure out what Nike is telling me to 'Just Do' what is 'It?' What do they mean?"

'The woman laughed before speaking up. "It's a slogan, Vulprex. It's not telling you to do anything in particular. A lot of places and things have slogans.. like Burger king - 'Have it your way' or McDonald's 'I'm Lovin' It. Have you never heard of a slogan before?"'

'Vulprex gave her a look of interest as she maneuvered her arms through the sleeves. "Slogans?.. No, I haven't. and what is McDonald's? or Burger king was it? What's that?"'

"You don't know what McDonald's is?! or Burger King?! You really need to get... out.. more..." The woman lowered her gaze as it finally occurred to her that maybe THAT is the reason Vulprex doesn't care for anyone, she isn't happy being trapped in a room, trapped with her thoughts.

'Vulprex dropped her eyes to the floor as well. "I would if I could.. and i'd make every second of it count."

"That's a good way of thinking Vulprex... A-Anyways, They are restaurants.. Well, fast food restaurants. Food that is good- but not good for you, mostly." Gurniak informed her erratically.

"Ms. gurniak-"

"Lola.. call me Lola." She interrupted.

"Right. Lola... What is it like when you go home? Out there. Dr. Shinnigan told me that I should ask you about things and ask if you could show me what girls my age should do or how they should act." Vulprex spoke out curiously as she sat on her bed poking her feet into the ripped up blue jeans. "What do you do when you go home? Where do you live?"

'Lola pulled the chair away from the wall and set it near the bed, having a seat. "Where do I live? I actually live nearby, I'll pull it up on my phone in a sec. I live off Waltz Road and ON South Huron Road. I'm really close to the facility, Actually - come here." She stood up from the chair and moved to the window across the room. "I live over that way." She pointed North-West out the window as she pinpointed the location of her house on Google Maps.'

'Vulprex tugged the pants up to her waist moving over to the window as she fiddled with the button and zipper. "Oh, okay.. Too bad I can't see anything.."'

"Yeah.. but see?" She held out the phone to Vulprex. "Here's the facility, and if we move up here to the left, there is my house. Right there."

"Oh yeah.. you are pretty close to the facility. That's crazy.. I would've never expected that." Vulprex spoke as she gave the phone a lifeless stare before moving away back to her bed.

"Now as for what I do? Uh.. not much really. I park my car - get out of my car - go inside my house -  kick off my shoes and kinda just relax. I'll check what bills I still gotta pay, count up all my money in total after I get a paycheck.. oh! I have geese, wanna see them?" She looked at Vulprex eagerly as she opened up the gallery on her phone.

"Aren't geese those annoying birds I see outside my window on the roof over there? and they make that annoying 'Auuuoogh!' sound?" Vulprex gave a small grin pointing towards a lowered roof section outside of her window.

"You might be thinking of Canadian geese" Lola chuckled at Vulprex's impression. "And what was that sound?! Ha Ha. Yeah, those ones are everywhere. Especially at parks - they basically hang around like dogs begging for food. My geese however - are White Geese I think, they're all white with an orange beak. See?" Lola sat down beside Vulprex tilting the screen towards her as she scrolled through a bunch of photos. "This one is my favorite, his name is Bill. He's one of the more friendly ones, the other ones chase me sometimes if I get too close, so usually I approach with a long stick or a broom to kinda nudge them away or get them to move."

'Vulprex analyzed each and every picture, taking in the surroundings - as if it were important that she memorize them.'

"Vulprex..." Lola looking at the side of her head until she met her eyes.

"Yeah?" Vulprex slowly turned her head instantly becoming frozen as Lola stared her in the eyes.

"What do you like to do? Honestly. I hear what you say.. you say you sit here and self-loathe and a bunch of other depressing things, but what do you really do? what do you like? There's no doubt in my mind that you go on YouTube on your laptop. We know you use it."

"W-what do I like?..uh..you know..just normal stuff.." Vulprex looked to the floor a bit nervous.

"Come on, there's gotta be something special that you like. A lot of us humans like Art, Music, Sports -  A ton of stuff. What do you usually watch on YouTube? I know pranks are real popular, even though they usually suck but what do you watch on YouTube? Pranks?" Lola nudged her arm. "I'm here if you want someone to talk to you and to be a friend to you, Vulprex. You can tell me anything. I'm not gonna shut down your hopes and dreams like Mr. Shinnigan and all these other doctors. I know that you're very conscious of your own interests and personal beliefs. I'm not gonna think you're weird for liking something. Here, i'll tell you something I like. I like coloring. You know, like coloring books? Most people would look at that and think it's childish, I say Who cares? I like it."

"Alright, Alright.. I'll tell you but you better not laugh at me. I like..Dancing.. If you laugh, I swear I will kick you out of my room so fast.." Vulprex eyed her down giving her an intimidating stare.

"Oooo, what kind of dancing? do you know how to dance?" Lola giggled as she asked out curiously.

"I heard that giggle!.. and yes. Well, I know how to dance a little bit. The style of dance I know how to do, and do pretty well - If I say so myself - is called 'Shuffle.' It's basically like running in place but your feet seem to move almost seamlessly, like you're sliding but you control the movement and don't fall and bust your buns on the ground. Your feet kinda just glide. There is also 'Jumpstyle' Which is basically just advanced jumping. It's not hard, almost anyone could probably do it. Just jump around, kick your legs and you'll be good." Vulprex spoke informatively and almost passionately.

'Lola looked at her puzzled and asked "Shuffle like as in 'Everyday i'm shuffling?' That song by LMFAO? like that? Have you even heard that song?"'

"Yes I have, and also yes, kinda like that..  except their movement is more edged, they have a more rigid and bouncy kind of leg movement. I can do that too but I prefer to go more smoothly, however I was like that when I first started to get it down; but you really just gotta experiment with it and try to perfect your own style, how your dancing represents YOU." Vulprex elaborated while nodding.

"Can I see something? or are you too nervous to dance publicly? I'd really like to see how you do it. Do you need music? I can pull up YouTube on my phone." Lola turned towards her extremely intrigued.

'Vulprex's eyes lit up as she consented. "I'm not nervous at all, in fact I dream of dancing on a stage in front of crowds of people. If I was able to get out of this place i'd offer to perform at various places so I could try and earn enough money to enroll in some dancing classes. That's my dream scenario. And yes, I'd need music but i'll just go on YouTube on my laptop so it'll be louder. I wish I had speakers, bigger speakers.. I love hearing the bass and feeling it in my head when I have earbuds in, because you know.. A pair of headphones on my head doesn't work the way it does for humans. Your ears are on the side of your head. These panda ears of mine are more towards the top, but oh well."

'Lola laughed then quickly shifted to another question. "Oh speaking of you being like a mix between a panda and a human? Have you ever heard of or seen what a f-"

"What a furry is?" Vulprex interrupted.

"Yeah, what is your take on that?.. How does that affect you? I personally don't know much about it, I just know of it." Lola tilted her head a bit watching Vulprex.

'Vulprex knelt down pulling her laptop from a small space under her nightstand drawer. "How does it affect me? I mean it's almost beguiling, you know? I have the full consciousness of a human yet I am - by all means - partial giant panda. The furry fanbase is basically full of types of my kind, like in the furry category. There are shark furries, fox furries and whole trove of other ones and people who are interested in that type of stuff, I'm sure they hope and pray that they can meet someone like me, or meet their 'Fursonas' in person. It's a hard question to answer, I almost feel scared?.. or nervous? but I also feel kind of amazed and starstruck that I'm by all means and quite literally - One of a kind. I don't hate the furry community or fanbase, it's just at times it's a little cringe-worthy, even for my taste and I quite literally fit the bill for being a furry. Lola, you promise me that if someone writes a book about me or something, it better not be cringe-worthy or like too overly fantasized. I don't want some glowing green eyes or glowing parts of my body.. No futa either! If you don't know what that is, good. Don't look into it. It's some weird stuff, but to really sum up an answer to your question as to how it affects me, I'd have to say the effect it gives is that it's kinda scary but also kind of amazing. If you lived in a world of furries and you were created and they had a 'humans' or 'homo sapiens' community, how do you think you'd feel or cope with it? It's strange."

"I see what you mean, and I'd probably have the same answer you just gave me. It'd be awkward and i'd feel kind of awkward but also maybe honored because i'd be one of a kind, as you said yourself." Lola nodded in agreement.

"Alright, Let's see.. YouTube... I need a song that is really pumping, has a nice beat to it. Shuffle is usually danced to like EDM or House music, I do it to any kind of song that has a nice steady beat I can move my feet to or just really gets my body going, you know? I have to thank your species - humans, for making music and songs that just take over your bones, it's crazy what music does to the mind. So lets see... I have some songs in my liked videos, we can have a look there. Alright, Liked Videos.. let's see here - I Need Air? no.. Castles in the Sky?..no.. Invaders- no, that's dubstep.. I'm into a lot of Techno, Electronic, Electronic Dance Music-esque type music. So like Daft Punk, Pendulum, Bag Raiders and a whole bunch more. I can't seem to find a song that would be good for me to show you though.. let me think for a second.. I have a notebook file of songs I like because we can't really download things on these computers, so I had to create a text file containing the names of each song I hear that I like, on my desktop. Thanks MICSG." She said annoyed after explaining her interests.

"Oh it's fine, take you're time. I was told Mr. Shinnigan would cover for me today, so I can pretty much take it easy... not like him to cover for me though. He's your designated doctor, do you know what that's all about?" She asked as if she knew that the 'Vulprex No friends' scenario was the reason being.

"That he is." Vulprex responded as she surveyed the list of song names and bands typed in her text file. "As to why he covered for you though... I.. I'm not sure why he covered for you. Your guess is as good as mine." Vulprex looked at her and lightly shook her head, her cheek pulling at the left corner of her lips giving a sort of 'I don't know' expression.

I know exactly why he covered for her, he wanted me to invite her in.. Now what if I didn't invite her in? What would have happened then? Would she have just gone home? Well, I guess it's a good thing I did let her in and I gotta say... I.. She's not too bad.. I.. I really enjoy this.. but just because I enjoy this doesn't mean that I think of her as a friend. I just enjoy being able to talk to someone and actually share what I like in a friend-like fashion is all.

"Hmm... odd." Lola responded as she looked away.

"I know a song, a really good song too; to show you my dancing at least. Okay let's see here, Never Ever feat. Susanne Sundfør by Röyksopp... There it is! Oh snap, it's the George Orb Remix!" Vulprex chuckled as she found the video, then sat the laptop next to Lola.

"Click on the first one." Vulprex pointed then began to stretch as she got prepared.

"Alright, just tell me when." Lola looked at the computer screen moving the mouse cursor over the video.

"Good thing I don't have my shoes on or else it'd be extremely squeaky because of the floor being so smooth.. but it'll be somewhat easier to do it in socks anyways so it's not really that big of an issue so as long as I don't do it for an extended period of time - Alright, go for it.. click it." Vulprex pulled up her socks then motioned her hand, pointing to the screen.

Alright.. let's do this.

'Lola clicked on the video, only to first be met by an ad.'

"Oxi-Clean can pull the toughest stains out - like this grease stain on this dress-" The ad let out.

"Stupid ads!" Vulprex looked at the screen then rolled her eyes.

"I got it, I can skip it." Lola moved the cursor to and clicked 'Skip Ad.'

Okay.. Now let's do this..

(Song starts playing)

'Vulprex closes her eyes and starts to move her body slowly to the intro taking a deep breath before it breaks off to a deeper stream of beats as she slowly opened her eyes moving her feet in a static walking movement.

'Lola watched in awe as her eyes grew wider with amazement, even bouncing her own foot to the beat. She watched Vulprex's feet gliding across the smooth tile floor becoming mesmerized as the panda seemed to almost slide around the room, walking yet going nowhere unless she wanted to.'

(The beats die out to Tones and Lyrics)

"You really gotta condition yourself for this." Vulprex laughed a bit. "Or else you're gonna hurt the hell out of your feet. From what I've seen with this type of dance; for me at least - you'll tend to put your feet down really hard and it'll hurt like hell if you do it TOO much. I'm seasoned so it's not as bad as it was when I was beginning, however I usually wear my slippers though, because my shoes are too dang squeaky. No shoes takes away the possible cushioning it can give your feet though, so you'll be sitting there beating the soles of your feet into the floor and that's no fun. People I see on YouTube who dance like this and give tutorials recommend you wear comfortable shoes." She said as she moved back to the bed sitting down, pulling her foot up onto her knee to massage it through the sock.

'Lola looked at her and asked out in curiosity. "Why didn't you just put your slippers on then? where are they?" She looked around then leaned over to look under the bed.'

"Don't worry about them!" Vulprex quickly stopped her, grabbing her by the shoulders.

Phew.. She already wants to be my friend... I can't let her know I have bunny slippers too.. it's too soon for that.. Way too soon.

"Why what's-" She stared back at Vulprex. "..Wrong with them?..."

"Nothing! They uh... stink.. yeah that's it, they stink. Very badly.. I dance in them A LOT. It'd be embarrassing for you to have to smell it.." Vulprex smiled at her nervously.

"Oh, well alright. That's fine." Lola smiled back and changed the subject. "How long did it take you to learn how do that dance? It was amazing.. If you were able to get out of here i'm sure you'd be able to fulfill that dream of yours for sure! Performing on a stage and whatnot. Apple Vallee's down the road from where I live is looking for performers for this year's October too.. They usually have bands and stuff that perform there but i'm sure you would fit right in! I love their Apple cider and Cinnamon doughnuts though, but if you don't dip the doughnut in the cider.. it's like a crime.. it's frowned upon ha!"

'Vulprex stared at her as Lola went on about her spiel. "Ah... It didn't take me too long to get the dance down, I also don't have human feet like you do. I don't know if that makes a difference but I kept practicing for about a month, then began to refine it to my taste. I've been doing this dance for about maybe 3 years now? I saw a video of it on YouTube and I was like 'Wow, That dance is pretty freaking cool. I wish I could do that.' So I looked into it and started learning from tutorials. I love it personally, your feet look like you're walking on ice, and I think it's really cool."

"Lola Gurniak, Please come to the front desk. Lola Gurniak- Come to the front desk please. Thank you." A voice over the PA system spoke.

"Oh, looks like that's my cue to head out. I wonder why they're calling for me though.. hmm, Oh well. Can I expect to hang out with you again some day Vulprex? I had fun."

"I.. actually had fun too.. I haven't been able to show my dancing skills to anyone before and you actually let me share that side of me.. I'd like to take tomorrow to kind of sum up this experience though. I'll definitely get back to you on my birthday or some other day." Vulprex smiled to her and went to shake her hand.

'Lola looked at Vulprex's hand and laughed. "Vulprex, friends don't shake hands; We hug!" She ignored Vulprex's extended arm and threw her arms around her hugging her tightly.'

'Vulprex's eyes widened as she was pulled into a tight embrace. "I.. uh.. Okay.."'

'Lola pulled away and ran to the door. "Alright, i'm off to go see what they want." Halfway out the door Lola poked her head back in and said "Oh, and sorry for getting you the bunny slippers.. there weren't anymore normal ones that I could see but bunny ones fit what your foot size was at the time so I thought it would be the thought that counted.. So yeah, Later!" She quickly moved out of the door locking it back up.'

'Vulprex sat there in shock at what she was last told.'

SHE BOUGHT ME THEM?! SO THAT'S WHAT THE 'LG' STOOD FOR ON THE CARD! It wasn't 'LG' it was 'L.G.' 'Lola Gurniak!' Did that really fly over my head for so long?... I remember they were just sitting in my Easter Basket, I never knew who they came from.. Until now.. I don't know how to feel about this.. I feel dirty.. like I need a shower.. Yeah, I'm gonna take a shower.