New Life - Chapter 1 - Now or Never
Note â€" This has no pron in it. *gasp* Yet. I'm not sure where this story will go, but I do know it'll be dramatic as fuck. So I hope you enjoy it. Also, I have no problems with truckers, and I know they aren't all lonely, sad losers. So don't complain about that. Anyways, comments would be wonderful. :3
Eli woke violently from his sleep. He sat up and panted as he looked around his small dark
room. Everything was calm as he placed his paw on his chest feeling his racing heart.
With a sigh, the ferret quietly climbed out of his bed and walked over to his desk. He lifted a
small pile of books and pulled out a plain white envelope. He ran his finger over the crisp
edge as his mind was lost in thought. He looked back across the room to his bed. The
moonlight spilled from a crack in the curtains, sending a streak along the floor.
He looked back down to the envelope and quietly said to himself, "I can't do this anymore."
He placed the letter back on the desk and turned around walking towards his closest. He
took out a few shirts, some pants and underwear and tossed them on the bed. He dug
around as quietly as he could for the beat up old backpack he kept in the back of the messy
closet.
He stuffed his clothes into the bag and grabbed a few select items; an old wooden box, a
leather-bound book, a pad of paper, his drawing pencils, and a large roll of dollar bills he
pulled from his nightstand. As he shut the drawer, his eyes passed over the framed picture
of his last birthday party. He picked up the photo and looked at the happy faces looking
back at him.
He placed the frame back down on the nightstand, pausing before flipping it facedown.
"That was then, and they're not coming back..." he whispered as he walked to the suitcase
and shut it. He lifted the patched, old backpack and swung it over his shoulder. He walked
to the door and picked up the envelope as he did. He looked around the room once more
before sighing. He quietly twisted the door handle, opening it ajar, and listened for signs of
life. Hearing nothing, the ferret crept down the hall and into the living room. He placed the
envelope on the coffee table and continued to the front door. He silently made his way
outside and onto the patio.
As he reached the sidewalk, he paused and looked down at his feet. With a heavy breath he
started walking.
***
The glowing, yellow lines whizzed pass, a blur off to the side of the truck. It was a dark
highway with only the headlights showing the way.
An illuminated sign appeared off in the distance saying that a gas station was ahead. The
hyena looked down at the fuel gauge and flicked on his blinker as the sign for the exit
appeared from the darkness. He pulled into the truck stop and parked at the pump. He
climbed out and began to fill up the large tank.
As he watched the gallon counter spin, something caught the corner of his eye. A skinny
ferret boy was cautiously walking over to him. He watched as the rather awkward, gangly
teen, which couldn't have been much older than 17, wondered over to him and stopped.
"Can I help you?" the hyena asked.
"Uh... um... can... can I r-ride with you?" Eli asked quietly.
"What? Speak up, I'm a little deaf," the trucker said loudly.
Eli took a step forward and said a little louder "Can I ride... with you?"
"Well, we're not really supposed to take hitchhikers..." Eli's small ears dropped a little. The
hyena looked him over and smiled. "But I haven't seen another fur in days. If you promise to
entertain me, I'll let you ride."
A big smile spread across the ferret's face as he started walking closer.
"Just climb in. You can dump your bag in the back," the hyena said pointing toward the
open truck door.
Eli climbed up the large steps and into the truck. As he climbed over the well cushioned
driver seat, his nostrils caught the odor of the small cabin and he coughed.
"You'll get used to the smell soon. Roll down the window," the hyena yelled.
Eli dumped his backpack in the back section, which had a makeshift bed in it, and sat in the
passenger seat. He felt around for the crank and laboriously rolled the window down.
The hyena's face appeared over the seat cushion.
"Almost done. Just have to go pay. You wait here and I'll be back in a minute. Don't go
running off with my truck, ok?" he laughed.
Eli nodded and watched him walk to the building. As the hyena passed through the glass
door, Eli's eyes wondered around the trucks interior. There was a little picture of a female
hyena hot glued to the dashboard and a pile of empty energy drink cans all over. He listened
to the crinkling noise as he rolled one under his foot. He looked back at the makeshift bed
where there were some pillows and a badly pilled, knitted blanket. As he looked back, the
hyena was making his way back to the truck. He felt the cabin rock as he heaved himself up
in into the seat.
"Ready to roll?" he said putting the keys into the ignition.
Eli nodded as the truck growled to life. The large truck meandered back onto the highway
and soon was zooming past on the dark highway.
"So, I assume you're running away?" the hyena said.
"No... why would you assume that?"
"You can't be more than 17, you've got a backpack, and you're asking complete strangers
for rides. You sure look like you're running away."
"Well, I'm not. Besides, I'm 18... in a few days."
"Ahh, well, you clearly have it all figured out then."
"What does that mean? You think I don't have a plan?"
"You didn't even ask where I was going, kid."
Eli was silent.
"Look, I know what you're going through. I was a kid once, and I ran away. But soon you'll
start to miss you family, and all your friends..."
"I don't have friends," Eli snapped.
"What do you mean? Everyone's got friends."
"Well not me."
"You sound a little bitter for your age, you know that?"
"Don't judge me." Eli looked at the dimly lit silhouette of the trucker.
"Fine."
There was a long silence. Eli watched the barely visible horizon ahead of them, deep in
thought.
"Just to warn you, I plan to make a pit stop and rest in a few hours," the hyena said breaking
the silence."
"That's fine."
"You know, our agreement was that you'd entertain me for letting you ride."
"What, do you want me to dance or something?"
"No, but some conversation would be nice; minus the ‘tude."
"Fine. Nice weather, isn't it?"
"Yes, very nice indeed. You know, I once had to drive through a hurricane. I swear the truck
actually lifted off the..."
"Do you get lonely as a truck driver?" Eli interrupted.
"...Yes. That is why I agreed to letting you tag along. Furs aren't meant to be alone, kid."
"What about her?" Eli pointed to the picture on the dashboard.
The hyena was silent for a while. "... She was my sister."
"Oh... I'm sorry."
"It's ok. She was a really lovely person. The only one I could ever really trust."
There was another long silence as Eli watched the trucker wipe a tear from his eyes.
"But to answer your question again, yes it is very lonely. And I know what you're thinking."
"What am I thinking?"
"You're thinking that you should become a truck driver, because you don't need friends."
Eli looked out the window.
"It's better to get out, kid. My life went downhill, but I'm old. You're still young; you can do
better. You have friends out there."
"I did, once."
"Want to talk about it?"
"Not really."
"That's ok. You like music?"
"Yeah," Eli said perking up a little.
"Good. Radio's broken!" the hyena laughed loudly.
Eli gave a sympathy chuckle.
"Oh, cheer up kid. You're way too young to be an old, sad fart like me."
"Sorry..."
"Pick a topic, any topic."
"I don't know... video games?"
"Well, I don't know much about the fancy ones you kids've got now, but I grew up with pong.
It sucked."
Eli laughed.
"But that didn't stop me from playing it for hours on end. I used to be the best pong-er
around. I would hold big tournaments with my friends. Called them King-Pong Balls."
Eli laughed a little harder.
"That's more like it. You should laugh more, it's good for you."
Eli and the trucker continue talking and laughing for a while until Eli could barely hold his
eyes open anymore. After a particularly large yawn from the ferret, the trucker suggested he
go take a nap in the back.
"I've still got a few hours before we reach the truck stop, so go ahead."
"But you said I had to entertain you."
"Well, I've never found yawning particularly entertaining, so you're not doing me much good
anyways. Go take a nap, and I'll catch you when you're a little more refreshed.
Eli rubbed his weary eyes and nodded as he unbuckled and moved to the back. He rested
his head on the pillow and wrapped himself in the warm, thick blanket as the rocking of the
truck quickly put him to sleep. The last thing he remembered was the trucker wishing him a
good night.
***
Eli woke up as the morning sun glared on his face. His paw moved to wipe his muzzle as he
noticed something wrapped around him. He looked down to find a pair of arms around his
chest. His heart raced as he moved, but the arms only wrapped around him tighter.
In a whisper by his ear, he heard the hyena say "Please, I get so lonely..." One of his paws
moved lower, while still firmly holding on to him. It slid over his crotch as he felt something
hard press against his backside.
His heart and mind raced as he thrashed around trying to free himself. As the hyena cupped
him, and he started to yell for help.
His other paw moved over Eli's muzzle while he begged him to be quiet.
Eli managed to free his arm and elbowed the hyena in the chest, jumping from his grip. He
grabbed his backpack and shot towards the door. He was stopped as a paw wrapped
around his ankle, making him trip down between the seats, landing roughly on the floor. He
looked up at the naked and aroused trucker and tried to kick his ankle free.
The Hyena continued to plead with him to stop yelling, but Eli was practically screaming and
trying to kick anything his foot could find. The hyena tried to get a better hold on his ankle
and leaned forward. Eli kicked the hyenas jaw as hard as he could, knocking him back as
he scrambled to get out of the truck. He opened the wide door, threw his backpack out and
jumped as he felt the hyena grab for his shirt.
He fell from the grip, grabbed the back pack and ran for his life into a nearby corn field. Once
he was in the sanctuary of the tall plants he took a look back. He could see the hyena
leaning out of the door, holding his bleeding jaw.
Eli could hear the faint yelling over his pounding heart as he watched the door close and the
large truck drive away. When the pounding in his ears stopped, and he couldn't see the
truck anymore, he emerged from the field. He looked around. There wasn't much but a large
empty parking lot, and a small hut with bathrooms in it.
He wondered inside and washed his face fur trying to calm himself down.
He looked at his still shaking self in the mirror before drying off and sitting on a toilet.
"Calm down, Eli. That was a freak accident. How could you have known? You got away...
you got away. Everything is going to be fine."
The ferret pulled his legs up to his body and sat on the dirty toilet as he started to wonder
what he would do next. He had no idea where he was, or how far away from home he was.
He didn't even know what direction he was in. There wasn't even someone he could ask.
His mind continued to think as he rocked slightly. His thoughts turned to his family waking
up and finding the note he left. He wondered how they would react. Would they call the
police? Would they even care? He started to cry and dug his face into his knees.
"What am I going to do?" he said to himself through his tears.
As he sat there feeling the warm liquid soak through his pants, he heard the bathroom door
open. He jumped and quickly shut the stall door and crawled back onto the toilet.
"Someone in here?" he heard a voice say.
Eli stayed dead silent as he heard the footsteps cross the bathroom. He heard a zipper and
the sound of the fur using the urinal. He heard a flush and the footsteps walk across the
bathroom again. Once the door slammed shut, he let himself relax from his tense pose.
He wiped his eyes and stood up. He opened the door and took a paper towel to dry off his
face fur a bit. He looked at his pathetic mug in the mirror and sighed.
"What have I done?" he said to himself looking down at the filthy drain in the sink.
"Done what?" he heard as his head shot up and he turned around.
A raccoon's face was poking out from behind the door.
"Whoa, calm down, I'm not going to hurt you. I thought I heard someone in here. Are you
alright?"
Eli nodded. "I'm just fine."
"Then why are you holding on to that sink like you're on the side of a tall building?"
Eli looked down at his clinging paws. He let go and looked back up at the raccoon who had
emerged all the way from behind the door.
"I... I..."
"Are you lost? There isn't another car in the parking lot."
"No. I'm just..." Eli trialed off.
"Do you need a ride somewhere? I'm sure my wife wouldn't mind a little detour."
"No, I'm fine."
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
"Well... ok."
The raccoon slowly opened the door and started to walk out, but not before giving Eli another
look over. Then he disappeared leaving Eli alone in the quiet room
Eli turned around and looked back at the mirror, then at his back pack. With a sigh, he
grabbed it, and ran out. He saw a little red car starting to drive away and stop as it saw
him. He ran up to it.
"Reconsider my offer?" the raccoon said.
Eli nodded. He heard the car unlock and he opened the back door and got inside, hoping
that this wouldn't end up being another mistake.
To be continued.