Colby waited patiently for his door to be opened from the outside, even though his vibrating phone was being very tempting in a lull such as this. “Thank you very much, sir,” he said brightly when he was finally set free.
Officer Ryans gave him a genuine smile back, feeling bittersweet. It wasn’t often he got to see a case end with a smiling child on its way to being reunited with both parents. He was going to cherish the memory of this one. “It’s my pleasure.”
Colby’s enthusiasm did drain considerably while the officer rapped at his front door. He told himself he’d accept any punishment his parents thought fit, especially if it meant he could help Nat out, and endure whatever duration of grounding they thought fit without a single growl. Wait, did parents usually berate kidnapped children?
It was his mom that answered the door. She wore a neon yellow sweatshirt and sweatpants to match, contrasting horribly with her rich red fur. Her spiked tail swished in and out of view, just another unnecessary indicator of her constant dynamism. “Oh, hello, Officer. Hey Colb.” The right side of her face suddenly convulsed at the same time her vibrant blue eyes crossed. She almost blew a gum bubble into his face, Colby realized, unsuccessfully smothering a giggle while she patted his head affectionately. Her farrago of dangle earrings jingled as her ears flattened with simple contentment, but she didn’t seem in any hurry to express her undying gratitude for her son’s safe return.
“Nola.” Then his father’s arms were around him and swinging him into the ultimate bear hug… from a fox. Colby blissfully inhaled a snoutful of his father’s inimitable scent- just the right mix of Old Spice, seaweed, dough, old books, lobster bait barrels, and unconditional love.
When Colby opened his eyes, he saw that Dad was wearing Colby’s favorite shirt of his- a soft blue chambray with embroidered vines blithely twirling up the sleeves. He’d left it unbuttoned at the top, leaving a puff of silvery gray fluff loose. His father was the gray fox of the family and accordingly smaller than Nola in build. Height-wise, though, no one really knew who reigned. Their medical files both read exactly 5’7”. Some days it was Mom, others it was Dad. It depended exclusively on the shoes.
“Stellan. Stellan Thomas.” Colby felt his bulk being shifted into his father’s right arm in order for Stellan to warmly extend his paw for a hearty shake. “Thank you ever so much for what you and the entire force has done for us.”
“Sam Ryans,” Officer Ryans returned, never having lost the smile he’d caught when they’d first pulled up. “It’s our pleasure. We’re just really glad to be get these guys back home where they belong.” He motioned at the bulky plastic folder he was holding, almost awkwardly. “I just have a few release forms, if you don’t mind…?”
Stellan gently set Colby down, who wandered over to the nearest couch- the scratchy one where no one ever dared sit- and dazedly collapsed into it.
After signing until his wrist smoked, Stellan sent Officer Ryans off with a few thousand more expressions of gratitude. Then he too plopped down beside Colby on the Couch of Terminal Butt Doom™.
His mother, on the other paw, flounced out of the impossibly bright kitchenette and straddled the arm of the preferred leather sofa, intensely chewing her gum to make up for the lapse during the officer’s condemning presence.
They both regarded Colby for a very long second.
Of course, Mom was the one to shatter the perfectly comfortable silence. “I still don't get it. You weren't ever at Nat's?"
“Have you ever been at Nat's?" Dad lifted his wayfarer glasses off the bridge of his black nose with a claw, as if he would be able to better scrutinize Colby without them. He then reached up to scratch between his ears with his free hand. “Is Nat even a real person?"
Colby couldn't help from facepalming, despite the insolence it implied. "Dad, how could Nat not be real?"
“At this point, I don’t even know what to believe.” A lopsided smile cancelled out Stellan’s pensive frown. “We’re lost without you, kiddo.”
A swirling pink bubble began growing from Nola’s muzzle in agreement.
Colby awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah, I’m…really sorry about all this.”
“We all are.” His father’s slender arms folded across his chest. “Especially Natalie.”
Colby groaned and planted his forehead into his palms. “It wasn’t her fault.” He looked up, putting nothing but desperate sincerity in his eyes. “It…wasn’t mine either.”
“We know,” Stellan assented quietly. “Colby, you were kidnapped.”
“No.” The fervent protest erupted from Colby’s muzzle before he could even think it over. “No, Dad. I wasn’t. Actually, I… I had the adventure of a lifetime.”
“Alright, kiddo.” Colby only had to glance into his father’s sad brown eyes to see how much this turn in their conversation was scaring him. “Want to talk about this later? A nap could probably do you some serious good.”
From the sudden flatlining in Stellan’s tone, Colby knew that there was no room for contention on that. “Okay Dad.”
On his way across the berber carpet toward the stairs, it was his mom’s arms that gave him the parting embrace. “Love you, bud.” He turned to see a similar degree of concern in Nola’s wild eyes, which was far more jarring than seeing Dad distressed. Colby nodded mutely, not trusting himself to say anything.
She gave him one last pat on the back and then followed Dad into the kitchen, where he heard ever so distinctly, “Do knock-out drugs do that?”
He sighed with resignation and trotted upstairs.
Upon entering his room, his phone began screeching out the chaotic metal ringtone he’d set for none other than Nat herself.
But when he slid the green answer icon across the screen, it was somehow worse.
He was forced to hold the phone at arm's length while Nat screamed her way through a tirade so furious that not a single word was intelligible. Colby’s stomach turned hard when he picked up on a sob in the midst of it all. Then, immediately afterward, her shrieking seemed to amplify itself by two, if that was possible. Yeah, uh, maybe he’d misheard that. ”You done?"
Nat sucked in a breath loud enough that it generated that painful crackling static. “Wooooo, touché Colby. Never thought I'd see the day where it came to this."
"Yeah, yeah, well, I've been around some bad influences lately." Colby grabbed his favorite stuffed animal -a fuzzy harbor seal pup- and hugged it tight to his chest. Yeah. He was totally rotten to the core.
Nat gasped so hard she choked. “Woah, they've gotta be worse than me if they actually affected you."
"Pffft, no one's worse than you."
"Tell that to all the years you managed to be sweeter than confectionary sugar with me as your bestie." He could almost feel her shoulder nudging into his ribs.
"Fine." The telltale bang that suddenly erupted out of his phone and sounded simultaneously with the slam of his own front door warned him. He quickly got up off of his bed and slid behind his ajar door in preparation for a completely unorthodox scare. "But they were the best bad influences ever."
It seemed fitting for him. XD
BYC Software Update 2025
Anyone trained their dog to stay away from chickens like this?
