Arkansas (Wendell)
#17 of First Steps
Todd and I agreed to switch places until we hit Oklahoma. In this state, according to the GPS will only take about four hours to drive through. Doesn't sound too bad right? Let's hope so.
"Should we just go through Arkansas without stopping until we cross the border or...?" Todd asks.
"Let's wait until we get to the next state. This one's not gonna take long to get through." I say.
"What're we going to do until then?"
"You are going to drive, while I get a break from driving." It's true. I've been driving for about seven hours with only two breaks. I needed some rest, but for some reason, I can't get to sleep.
"You want to keep talking or play some kind of road trip game?" Todd asks.
"Sure." I say.
"Ok. How about 'I Spy'?"
"How do you play that?" I've never heard of this game before.
"Oh. It's simple. You just say 'I spy with my little eye...', then you have to describe what you're seeing and the other players have to guess what it is."
"Can you give me an example?" I ask. I wanted to see what the game's like.
"Ok. Uh... I spy with my little eye, something that is gray. Now you have to guess what I'm describing."
"Is it.... the concrete on the road?"
"No."
"Is it... my fur?"
"Yes. Think you got it?"
"Yeah."
"Alright. Now it's your turn."
"Ok." I look around to see what I can spy. Since we're moving at a fast pace, most of the stuff I can do is mostly in the car. But, I do see something that catches my eye. "I spy with my little eye, something that is brown."
"Brown? Is it... the mud on the sides of the roads." He motions toward where he's talking about.
"No. It's not."
"It's... the chocolate in the bag in the back?" he says.
"Nope. Try again."
"Uh... is it.... the truck that's in front of us?"
"No. Give up?"
"Yes. Just tell me." he surrenders.
"It's your cute brown eyes." I smile.
"Haha, really?" I nod. It's now his turn. He scans around for something to spy, but there's not much to use. "Ok. My turn. I spy with my little eye, something that is... red."
Red? I don't see many red things around here. "Is it... the red sky since the sun is coming up?"
"No."
"Is it... my socks?"
"No. You're wearing red socks?"
"Mhm." Can't really think of anything. Think, Wendell, think! What's red in this car? I look at the back seat, thinking Todd looked at the mirror to see something. Wait... the mirror! "Is it... the fuzzy dice hanging off the mirror I bought at the last stop?"
"Yes."
"Nice." After that, it returns to silence. I turn on the radio and fiddle with it for a few minutes. Eventually I find a station that's playing "Hot N Cold" by Katy Perry. It's pretty catchy too.
"Are you getting bored of the spying game?" Todd asks.
"Yes. I am a little. But, I love playing games with you. It's just I'm not used to playing stuff like that."
"I understand." While the music is playing, I take my phone and pull out a game. I don't know why, but I sometimes find myself playing Fruit Ninja. I'm not the best at it, but al least I can get to at least 200 points every time. I end up playing for an hour, and soon enough, my phone pops up with a "20% Battery Remaining" reminder. Shit!
"Todd, I need to borrow your phone."
"Why?"
"Because my battery is about to die. When we get to Fort Smith, we need to find a place that sells charger for our phones. Even finding just one cord would be enough for us to last."
"I don't know if my phone still works since my parents might've deactivated it."
"Maybe the apps still work." I insist. Todd reaches in his pocket and gives me his phone. I turn it on and unlock it. I open the maps app and turn on the GPS. Only a few more hours until we get to Fort Smith. We just have to stay on this highway until we get there.
I reach into the back seat and grab the bag of food that I bought back in Tennessee. I dig out a few mini Reese's Cups, unwrap them, then pop them in my mouth. I love the taste of it. I've been obsessed with this candy since I was seven. I open up a bottle and take a sip of water. We need to refuel our energy the best we can for the rest of the trip.
I rest my head on the window and watch the view pass by. After another half an hour, my brain hatches an idea: we're almost 35 minutes away from the capital of the state: Little Rock. Perhaps we can stop there and get the wires we need. However, I dismiss the thought immediately. We can't let anything slow us down. I promised Angie we'd get there as soon as we could. I really don't want this to have to take longer than three days. I close my eyes and try to get some rest, but still can't.
"Hey, Todd?"
"Yes? What's wrong?" he says.
"Nothing. It's just, when we get to Oklahoma, we need to find someplace and just sleep for a while. I don't think I can stay awake for a few days straight."
"Then don't. Go to sleep then."
"I can't. I don't know why, but I can't rest up for some reason."
"Oh. Well, don't worry. I'll stop once we cross and then we can catch up on our sleep. 'Till then, I don't know what to tell you."
"It's fine." Really, it is. I can wait a couple more hours. I dig my phone back out and play a few more games. Right when I'm about to beat my high score in Fruit Ninja, I get a call from Bruno. I have to answer it.
"Hello?" I ask.
"Hey, Wendell. What's up?" he asks.
"I'm still on the road. Why?"
"Nothing. Me and Sarah were wondering what you were doing. Wait, you're not driving are you?"
"No. Me and Todd switched places when we went across the border."
"Oh. We'll, I thought that you'd be surprised as for where I am calling from right now." When Bruno says that, my ears perk up and I sit up in my seat.
"Bruno, where are you right now?"
"I'm on a red eye flight to Los Angeles. I'm in the bathroom right now."
"What?" I say a little too loudly. Todd perks up his ears when I say that.
"Yeah. Me and Sarah are taking a plane to Los Angeles. We wanted to surprise you once we got in LA, but we couldn't help ourselves."
"Bruno?"
"Yeah?"
"I thought you're not allowed to use phones on a plane because it's dangerous."
"Ok. You caught me. I'm really at the airport and they're about to board. Oh, gotta go. See you in a couple days." He hangs up. I look over at Todd who's giving me a strange look.
"What was that about?" he asks.
"Bruno and Sarah are coming to Los Angeles to see us." I tell him.
"Really now?"
"Yep. I guess they decided to take the early morning flight."
"Flying in a plane sounds way easier than having to drive there."
"I told you. I did not want to leave the car in Knoxville since a lot of furs hate us there and I don't want to risk anything bad happening to it." I've explained this before.
"I get it. But, at least with a plane, we'd be there by now."
"Probably."
***
I manage to get a little sleep. I have no idea if we had crossed the border yet. "Where are we?" I ask.
"About 10 miles outside of Fort Smith." Todd says.
"Good. It's about time that we got there. It feels like forever that we started this trip."
"It pretty much was forever ago. Besides, we need a break from driving."
"I know. My legs hurt like hell." I seriously think my legs are going to freeze in this position. I can barely feel my knees or my thighs.
"Really? You want me to massage them once we stop?" Oh, now he's teasing me.
"Does foxy want to get playful?"
"Maybe."
"Ok. Once we get some cords for our phones, I'll play with you a bit." Todd puts a smile on his face and I think he drives faster, but it's just my imagination. I really do love messing around with this fox. Especially when we were back in Tennessee and I was making love to his feet. I wonder what we're going to do in this state.
In about 9 or 10 minutes, we see a sign for Fort Smith. The city, according to the GPS is pretty close to the border of the state. We drive around town for a bit until we see a Target that's close by. I tell Todd to stay in the car with the doors locked while I go in to pay for our stuff.
I know what kind of charger Todd needs. It's pretty much a normal cell phone charger. I, however, need a 30-pin charger for my iPhone. I manage to find the stuff in the back. I also see a car adapter so I can charge it in the car. I grab that too.
I go to pay for our stuff. A snow leopard is manning the cash register. I hand her the money I owe, grab my bags and head out.
"Have a nice day, sir." she says when I'm about to leave.
"Let's hope so." With that, I walk out of the store. The past two days have been nothing but crazy. I open the passenger door and dig out the cords. I plug the car adapter into my car and plug in my phone using it. It immediately comes on and starts to charge. At least we won't have to worry about that for the rest of the ride there.
"Did you get a cord for me too?" Todd asks.
"Yes. I made sure it matches your phone." I pull the cord out of the bag to show him and then put it back in. I yawn, stretch my arms out, then turn to face him. My tail's wagging. I reach out a paw and caress his shoulder. I get the same in return.
"Thanks for the charger, Wendell."
"It's ok. Thanks for agreeing to come with me. I couldn't bear the thought of being alone on this." I say.
"I know. I wanted to come with you. I love you too much to be that far away from you." he leans across and kisses me. He's so adorable. I let him climb over to my seat and he sits on my lap. I just hold him close to me. Todd rests his head on my chest. It's been awhile since we got to cuddle. It feels like forever.
"Do you want to have some fun or do you want to keep cuddling?" I ask after a while.
"Sure. Let's have a little fun before we get back on the road." Todd turns around and kisses me. Within seconds, I'm pushing my tongue in his muzzle and he happily accepts it. He even does it right back to me. I gently pull his shirt over his head and take it off, revealing his rainbow stomach. I caress both of his sides.
"You have such beautiful fur, Todd." I say.
"Thanks, but mine isn't as soft or as cute as yours." he flirts.
"Oh yes it is." I run my paw through his stomach fur, feeling every inch of it's softness. "See how nice and soft you feel?" I say playfully.
"You're soft too." Todd grabs the hem of my shirt and pulls it over my head. He caresses my stomach fur. Thank goodness I'm not ticklish. But I love the feel of Todd's paws. His tail wags a bit. I would wag mine, but I'm sitting down.
"I'm so happy with you." Todd says.
"I'm happier with you." I play with his tail for a moment. We kiss again and I rub his back.
"What do you want to do now?"
"Get some sleep. I'll wake you up in a few hours."
"You sure?"
"Of course." Todd lays his head on my chest and dozes off. I keep my arms wrapped around him. Soon enough, I'm sleeping too.
***
When I wake up, my eyes feel like they're refusing to open. Todd's still fast asleep in my arms. I smile. He looks so cute when he's sleeping. I pet his head a bit. He just holds me tighter. I play with his ears a bit, and as if on cue, his tail starts to wag a bit. I look over at the clock, it's almost four in the afternoon.
"Hey, Todd." I whisper in his ear and it twitches. "It's time to wake up. We've gotta go."
"Can we just stay for another five minutes? I love being held by you." Todd says, half awake.
"I love cuddling with you too, but we've got to keep going."
"Fine. But you're driving."
"That's fine." Todd stretches his arms and yawns. I hand his a candy bar and some water and I climb over to the driver's seat. I reach into the bag and grab a 5-hour energy. I drink the whole bottle. I can't be tired while I'm driving. Todd drinks some of his water and eats some of his food.
Woah! Suddenly I have a rush of energy! I start to shake a little bit.
"Wendell?" Todd asks.
"What is it, Todd?" I say a little rushed.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah. I'm fine. Never better. Why you ask?"
"You're shaking like crazy, you're talking too fast, and you're twitching. How much of that 5-hour energy did you drink?"
"The whole bottle."
"Dude! You're not supposed to do that! That's it. I have to drive." He takes off his seatbelt and comes over to my door. He opens the door, reaches over and takes off my seatbelt. He pulls me out and leads me over to the passenger side. He puts his seatbelt on me. I'm still shaking a bit. Todd goes over and takes the driver's seat. Why is he shirtless? Oh yeah, we took each other's shirts off before we slept.
"What're you doing Todd?" I ask,
"I'm driving until that energy drink wears off. Let's hope that 5 hours isn't too much." he starts the car and drives out of the parking lot. In a few minutes, we're on some highway.
"We're are we going?" I ask.
"To California. To see your cousin." Oh, that's right. Angie.
"Oh yeah, now I remember. Guess that energy drink is really getting to me." I say fast.
"You think?" Todd says sarcastically.
DISTANCE TO LA: 1,509 Mi.
CURRENT TIME: 4:13 P.M.