Eternity
I know I normally put a foreword here, but the only thing I can think of is to recommend the song "Eternity" by Big n' Rich on the album "Between Rasin' Hell and Amazing Grace". It was my inspiration.
Eternity
Life on the streets is hard.
Anyone telling you otherwise has not had to dig through garbage bins looking for scraps of food. They haven't tried to sleep in an alleyway with only your clothes and your fur for warmth, and only cardboard or, if you're lucky, garbage bags to keep the elements at bay.
My life had not gone very well. I was on the streets due to a long streak of bad luck, combined with my own vices. I admit I had a drinking problem, along with a gambling problem. Add to that the fact that my parents died shortly after I graduated from college and my house burned to the ground, well, it's not that hard to imagine how I ended up with my only possessions being the clothes on my back and a few cardboard boxes.
I suppose it's not all bad. I wasn't very popular in normal society. After hitting rock bottom, there were quite a few furs who could sympathize with my plight. I quickly made several friends, better friends than the ones I had before, who all abandoned me when I lost everything. I don't have to worry about being who other furs want me to be, I can just be good old Frank Gobstone.
I have had to change my view on life. You can't survive on the streets, living off of the pity of others unless you do. I never gave a thought to the homeless when I had one, I thought they deserved what happened to them, and they should just get a job, or go to a shelter. After spending one night in a homeless shelter, I never want to repeat that experience. I have heard that some places are better than others, but I don't want to spend much time figuring out which ones are good. As for a job, I can only get day labor, enough to maybe get me a meal, but not anything I can live off of.
Today is like any other day. I woke up in my cardboard shed, shivering from the autumn night. I got up and crawled out the trash bag flap that kept out the worst of the cold wind. I slept in my clothes, as usual, so I just made sure that my cap was pulled low enough that the base of my ears were covered, and set off to beg for the day.
I found a scrap of cardboard in a dumpster in one of the alleyways off the street that led to the freeway. I took a piece of charred coal from a pocket in my long coat and wrote a simple message on the cardboard. "Work or Change/ Whatever You Can Spare," was all I wrote. Nothing more was needed to be said. I continued on to the freeway offramp. I knew of a rock that served pretty well for a chair, and the sun was still sitting on the horizon, which means I can still catch the morning rush hour and the spot should still be open.
I got to the freeway offramp and saw that I was right on both counts. I set up the sign to sit by the rock, setting a few smaller rocks to make sure it wouldn't fall or be blown over. I then went through some exercises. I may have lost my livelihood, but I still like to stay in shape. It's not so much about staying thin, I hardly eat enough to stay healthy, but more about keeping my muscle mass. I was never buff, but anyone that ever doubted my strength in a fight was in for a surprise. I like to keep it that way. You never know when a fight may break out over even the smallest scrap of food. After fifty jumping-jacks and a couple dozen push-ups and sit-ups, I settle on top of the rock. Just in time, as I could see the traffic picking up on the freeway.
A few hours pass, and the day so far is not quite as good as usual. I may have to do with one meal today, I think to myself. Truth be told, I guess I am not so different than the business-furs in their BMW's and Mercedes Benz's. We both hinge on the whim of those with more than we do. They still have a backup, though, which is the main difference.
When the morning rush hour started to die down, a blue Mini Cooper comes off the freeway. It gets caught by the changing traffic light, and is sitting next to my rock. The passenger side door opens, and I try to look my best. This could be a job offering. The hope is quickly dashed, though, when a fur gets out, thanking the driver. The female closes the door just as the light turns green, the Mini Cooper moving along, getting lost in the hustle and bustle of traffic.
The vixen, who I would guess to be in her early twenties, stood there on the edge of the road, not five feet in front of me. She watched the Mini Cooper drive off, and then watched the traffic for a few minutes. I was entranced by her, I had never seen such a beauty. Her fur was a mixture of purple and black hairs, except for the tell tale streak down her front, which was purple and white, and only had a yellow belly shirt and dark blue jogger's pants covering it.
I was about to ask her name when she spoke first. "So... What's there to do for fun around here?" I was taken aback by her question. Who would ask a despot about tourist attractions? I just stared, until she repeated her question, adding a comment about my hearing. I replied with my thoughts, but she only scoffed. "You do have fun, though, right? Everyone should have fun, it should be a law."
"Well, I guess I just watch. Watch furs going about their busy lives, watch nature go on about her course, watch whatever there is to see." I muse aloud. There was little more to do, besides socialize with the society of the alleyway, but they would most likely be out begging then, and I didn't think she wanted to wait for the fun to start.
"Oh, that sounds grand. Mind if I join you? I find fun more fun with company." She said, sitting down on the patch of grass next to the rock. I grunt, not really caring if she stayed. I doubt she really cared about having me around, she just wanted someone to have some fun with.
"Name's Grace Pierson, by the way. What's your name, kitty?"
"Frank Gobstone. And please, don't call me kitty."
We sat at the freeway off ramp until about noon, far later than when I normally stay, but I found Grace's presence intoxicating. I was more open with her than I had been with any fur I could remember. I told her about the fire that burned my house down, then getting fired from my job, of how my once friends wouldn't help me out. "Sounds like a bum deal." She told me after I was done with my tale.
"I could use a bite to eat, how about you?" She asked after we sat there for a few more minutes. My stomach answered for me with a timely growl. "Sounds like a yes to me. C'mon, my treat." She pulled me to my feet, then down the road. "There's some fast food this way, right?" I name off several places to eat, and when she asks where I would like to eat, I chose the cheapest one I could think of. I didn't want to burden her wallet more than I had to.
We walk to the hamburger stand, a local restaurant, and we both order a double cheeseburger, fries, and a soft drink. We sit in a booth, next to a large window looking out to the street and the park across it. Our food is delivered by a mink in a white and red checkered uniform from the sixties. The small talk between us was put to a halt by the methodical nature which we both used to eat our Americana fare.
After the pause we shared to eat, Grace asked, "I know this may seem like an odd question, but do you believe in fate?"
"What brings this up, so suddenly?" I asked, expecting some sort of joke, or something.
"Well, I was hoping to get to Seattle, but the driver dropped me here the suburbs. Not that I'm complaining. Meeting you has been the most enjoyable experience I have had in years. I believe it was fate that led me to you."
Taken aback, I struggled to come up with a reply. "I...I guess if anything, I would have to say today has proven to be fateful. I have never been attracted to anyone more than I am attracted to you. I have been able to open up and share my life with you, who I just met today."
Her smile as I reply lit up the whole city block, "Glad to hear it." We go back to small talk, sitting in the diner until the waitress has to ask us to leave as the table was needed for other patrons. We decide to spend some time in the park across the street, still continuing our conversation. I talk about my parent's deaths, getting hit by a drunk driver during an evening out on the town. My dad died at the wheel, while my mother made it a few days in the hospital before she passed on.
We sat on a bench, and I finally asked about her. She said she was traveling the country, had been for five years. Hitchhiking whenever she could, getting money by begging or day jobs. She said she hadn't stayed in any one place for more than a week since she started traveling. I asked why she started traveling, but she said she wasn't ready to tell me that.
Then, Grace asked, "What do you think of me?"
I paused, trying to think how to answer, but then I just said, "I think you are a beautiful vixen who knows what she wants and what she is doing. I think that if I had to chose anyone to spend my life with, it would be you." I was surprised I had said such a thing, but I also knew it to be true. "What about you? What do you think of me?"
She didn't waste any time thinking, "You are a kind soul, who wouldn't harm a fly if he could help it. If anyone would need your help, you wouldn't hesitate. You may have had a poor lot in life, but you have not been unfortunate. I feel like I could do anything if you were at my side." She said, barely above a whisper.
I don't know what compelled me, but I moved my head forward, locking our lips in a kiss. The moment our mouths connected, I let out a purr, but it was quickly overwhelmed by her murr. The contact only lasted a few seconds, but I felt myself get lost in the hours that we kissed. When our lips parted, I could see fireworks.
I had closed my eyes to better savor the feelings of moment, and when I had opened them, I was shocked to see tears shining in Grace's eyes. I move a paw up to her cheek to wipe at the moist fur. I ask her what is bothering her, and it takes her a moment to answer.
"Five years ago, I was a normal high-school student. I went to class, flirted with any boy willing to sit next to me, and hung out with friends. Then one night, I had a dream. I saw a place, a city, where all the hassles of life and society that we know are gone. I walked the streets, knowing everyone I saw, even though it was as crowded as New York. I knew that whatever I needed I could get, and I couldn't be happier.
"When I woke up, I just packed my bags and left. I didn't even say goodbye to my parents. You are the first fur I that I would call my friend in five years. I haven't found my paradise, but I feel one step closer now that I have found you.
"Sometimes I have felt that I may never see my paradise, my eternity. I have looked for so long. I know I have little right to ask this of you, but would you come with me? I don't think I can carry on without you."
I took a moment to think. This was not a simple question, nor was it a simple answer. I couldn't come up with a reason to go, or any reason to stay. My place here was a limbo, barely getting by each day. Yet life here was reasonably safe and stable. I looked in her eyes, though, and had my answer. "I will follow you to the ends of the Earth and wherever else to find your eternity. Life is meaningless for me without you."
Our lips join in another kiss. A kiss to join two souls in the bonds of love, for all time, unto eternity.