Where am I? Part 1
#1 of Where am I?
Aaron woke up in the same way he always did, by the beeping of an irritated alarm clock and his mother outside his room yowling for him to turn it off. Aaron walked over to the mirror and stared at his reflection in disgust. The mirror reflected an image of a black cat, short and scrawny, with large orange eyes and a dark purple mohawk. That was him; however the mirror also showed the things that were not. To Aaron's distaste his reflection showed the unbefitting lumps that were growing from his chest like large cancer tumors and instead of a sheath there was a terribly shriveled version of what should have been there and a hole that cut into him. This was his body and he sighed, fixing his head fur and heading over to the dresser.
He pulled out a black tank top, a black shirt, an ace bandage, some purple skinny jeans, a pair of briefs, a pair of boxers, and finally his homemade sheath. It didn't look real, being made of plastic and trimmings of his own fur, but it served its purpose. Using safety pins he attached the sheath to the too-small briefs and but those on to keep it in place. Next were the boxers and the pants. After that he took the medical wrap and tied it around his chest until it was flat. He fell to his knees, gasping for breath. This happened every morning because it was difficult for him to breath during the transition between sleeping and having to face the world when his chest once again became flat. Managing to stand up he threw on his tank top and shirt and ran out to where his mom was waiting with breakfast.
His mom looked just like him except she was a little shorter than he was and had long glossy hair to match her fur. She had already put the things on the table and his older sister and younger brother were at the table. He purred as the sent reached him and immediately took the seat next to his brother. "Thanks Mom this looks great!" He was off to a happy start but as soon as he took a bite of fried potatoes his sister stood up, glaring at him. He knew what was coming, he looked over at his mother but she was oblivious.
Her fur was gray and white but her eyes stared fire into him. Aaron sank back in his seat trying to escape what was happening. "I will NOT eat at a table with strangers Aaron. You are not my brother and I will eat here when you bring me back my little sister." Her words were calmed and controlled but they left scars in him. He knew he couldn't change, but sometimes he wished he could if it meant having his sister back. They were always so close but then she had started developing resentment toward him and what she termed 'his disease.' He watched as her tail flicked irritably as she rushed away from him.
He came to his senses again as his mom was stroking the fur on his shoulder. "Now don't be too upset, she will come around." He didn't look up at her but shrugged her off. The situation would never change and they both knew it, he thought that she wanted to say 'when you do' after her previous comment but didn't push it. His little brother pulled on his tail, which was probably twitching, and smiled at him. His name was Zach and he was only four but accepted him more than anyone else in the family.
Thinking had made him loose his appetite so he took a few bites, waited till his mom was distracted and snuck outside to go to work early. He wanted to enjoy the time he had with just himself. When he was alone like this he never had to worry about his walk, his voice, or anyone even talking to him and it was the most peaceful time he could ever remember. Feeling the cement under his pads chilled him but he wasn't fazed as he put his paws in the familiar prints he had all but indented into the sidewalk. A pair of canines sat on a bench talking quietly among themselves, a young squirrel played in a nearby park with her parents watching her very proud, and a crowd was standing at a nearby bus stop. They didn't notice Aaron as he passed, or even when he stopped and watch as the stories of their lives unfold in stories he didn't know the beginning or ending to, he was invisible to the world outside of his own.
He stopped and looked up. He was at work, earlier than he had planned though. Maybe the incident with his sister caused him to walk faster. The building was a worn and torn coffee shop that you couldn't seem to find unless you already knew where it was. Pushing on the door open, the bell went off announcing his arrival. He was no longer invisible.
"Sorry we're not open yet. Oh, Aaron you sure are here early." The wolf behind the counter looked up at him only briefly as she continued cleaning. She was small for a wolf and had rusty long fur with eyes to match, her name was Emily and she was the only other worker at the shop, its manager, and his boss.
He shrugged, "Things were getting rough at home so I decided to leave. Need me to do anything?" He felt at odds just standing there while the shop was empty, this was his second home of sorts.
"Actually yes, I was running late today and haven't got the tables ready yet." Emily loved this shop; she built it from the ground up and did most of everything herself. He went into the back and started gathering the cleaner, rags and silverware. The clock read 6:50, no wonder she was in a rush when it was ten minutes till opening! Doing his own share he soon had the three tables they had cleared and set and the stuff put away, walking out of the back room right as the buzzer went off to activate their electric sign to say that they were open.
The first customers came in and sat at the far table, it was a male lion and his daughter, also known as Al and Lisa that were regulars in the shop, first to arrive almost every morning. Aaron walked over to them with his paper and pen, though he knew that he didn't need it. "The usual Al? Large dark roast coffee mixed with a quarter French vanilla cappuccino and a cinnamon bagel with cream cheese?"
Al laughed as his daughter crawled under the table to play with Aaron's tail. Aaron purred at her innocence as Al added, "You know me so well Aaron. And she said she wanted the large apple bear claw today. Well get to it boy!" He was only joking of course and Aaron picked up Lisa to put her back in her fathers lap before going to tell Emily their order. She was the one baking everything and was never seen in front. He fixed up the coffee himself right as she handed him the now warm products and brought them over to the lion.
The day continued as normal, most everyone was a regular and those who weren't got there things to go. Aaron never got a break but he loved his job and his customers were a lot better than his family.
"Excuse me ma'am." The neck fur on Aaron's neck bristled out. He wasn't meant to get this at work; work was the place where everyone knew him as male. After a moment of grinding his teeth together in embarrassment and humiliation he turned to face the voice. Relaxing a little when he saw that it was only a small skunk that had called him that, he smiled at her. "Well youngster I'm no woman but I can help you none the less." Looking up at the older skunk holding her he added, "What will it be?"
The skunk sat down on one of the free counter stools and ordered a latte and a small hot chocolate. He made up the order, not bothering Emily because nothing backed was required. Aaron walked over to the skunks, handing them their order. "You new around here? I haven't seen anyone except the regulars sit in here." It was true and he was very curious why he sat at the booth rather then the free table, usually only those really familiar with Aaron sat there.
The skunk didn't have the time to answer as a new customer came in and Aaron had to attend to them. Walking back to Emily to give her the new order of three chocolate doughnuts she smiled at him. "Well Aaron nice going, you seem to have found yourself an admirer." Aaron opened his mouth but was silenced as Emily flicked her tail toward the skunk he was talking to earlier.
Fear ran through his head, Shit! His daughter called me ma'am and... and he must not have believed me that I wasn't a girl. And now he's going to hit on me thinking that. He didn't know what about to do it and as he turned to look at him the skunk smiled at him and waved him over. Aaron no longer wanted to be there, he wished he could become invisible again as he forced himself to walk back over there to him.
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