FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Resolutions (Epilogue)

January: Endings and Beginnings

By Al Song

January 1st, 2016

Last night's New Year's party was the best one I ever had. Arvin and Geo really outdid themselves in cooking for everyone this year, and the buck decided to start wearing the lampshade on his head towards the end of the party unlike last year. Nathan and I danced badly along with our friends and I threw my self-consciousness off the balcony. Most of my friends had much better skills when it came to the art of dance, I mean one of them was double majoring in dance and theater, but they all still cheered me on when I decided to jump in feet first. We ate and drank to our stomach's content and greeted the New Year with merriment and joy.

***

I woke up in the serene, late morning with the sun's gentle rays across my tangled bedspread. I yawned and stretched my arms out wide to greet the day.

Nathan gently snored on the other side of the bed and I smiled at how peaceful he looked. We each had only one drink so we were doing fine. I ran my fingers across the dark fur of his arm and he started to stir in his sleep. He then quickly and suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me down into a big hug and covered me in a fusillade of kisses and hugs.

We headed over to the bathroom and stared at an otter with mussed up fur and a big wolf resting his chin upon the otter's head. I felt a giddy warmth as Nathan put his arms around me and kissed me on the top of my head. We showered, brushed our teeth, and flossed.

I took a tour of my apartment to see the damage and I was pleasantly surprised to see everything intact and just a small mess in the kitchen from the boxes of baked goods and pizzas along with some dishes in the sink. Most of the guests were kind enough to dispose of their paper plates and red cups properly. We also only had a couple people over. No exes, no drama, less mess. It was all great. I mean I did freak out last night but I don't feel like that actually counted as drama. I also heard the buck and the kangaroo snoring in their room, with their door open splayed on the ground. It made me smile.

Nathan and I took a swig of apple juice and a bite of cereal then we suited up in our winter clothes. I put on my lime green hoodie and the matching cap my mom bought me as Nathan mimicked noises of the dubstep genre, and threatened to buy a black light and glow sticks. I just rolled my eyes at him and he put his arm around me as we walked through the campus, which was mostly empty, but I knew this was a big step for him. My neighborhood was also pretty quiet that morning with barely any cars going through the maze of apartments.

We made our way through our chilly campus to 'Purine Café.' I rushed in due to the cold and breathed a sigh of relief as I felt the radiant warmth of the heaters around me. I was exposed to the elements longer this year since I didn't take my bike but it was definitely worth it having my wolf to walk with me and the two of us sharing our warmth made it a lot better.

The two of us picked a lab station near the window to sit at and Nathan went to order our drinks at the counter.

"You want a biscotto?" the wolf asked.

"Sure thing," I said and smiled back at him. He knew I wanted a chai but usually he got something different each time we went here. He embraced change even more than the usual person, which definitely wasn't a bad thing. With everything that he's been through change seemed to be the only constant. I then hopped onto the floor, walked up to the counter, and spoke with the skunk in goggles and a lab coat. "Actually could I have a matcha green tea latte?"

"No problem," the skunk said and Nathan paid him.

I felt bad for the employees having to work on a holiday. I also knew of other places that didn't treat the New Year as a day off, and others got the day off but were losing money since they weren't working. It was definitely an unfortunate set of circumstances.

"Getting something different this time, huh?" the wolf asked.

"Yeah, I just wanted to change things up a little," I responded.

I then started to think about how work and class were starting back up again on Monday, which meant that we only had a weekend left of winter break. The thought was stressful but I chose fun classes for winter quarter at UPNw. I picked an Italian film class centered on young adult directors and a modern French literature class. I also had a free elective so I decided upon a capoeira class that also taught the history of Brazil. To get credit for this I would have to write an eight page paper as the final project and with everything that I've been through with my classes doing that seemed like a piece of cake.

When Nathan and I sat at the large black table I took a look around again and noticed the wear and tear that affected the café. There were posters with fraying corners and faded formulas and facts on the whiteboards. It wasn't the newest café on the block but it was one of the newer ones. Compared to last year this café seemed more worn but compared to last month this place seemed to be exactly the same.

"How was your year?" Nathan asked as he slid one of the biscotti to me.

"I had a pretty good year," I said and took a bite of the cookie and thought for a second. "But it seemed like there were a lot of people who wanted the year to be over on various social media sites. There were good parts and bad parts so it's a little weird to me to objectively put positive points into different events of my year."

"True and it would be nice to have a year of just good days but it's not like that's an easy task for the world around us and for us to perceive it that way," the wolf said and took a bite of his own cookie.

"We did start dating last August, so that did set last year apart from the others. I also kept my resolutions and so did you," I said smiling at Nathan.

"This is true. Shall we make new ones for twenty-sixteen?"

"Sure," I said, "and I've been thinking a little about this one."

"Oh?" he said and perked his brow line.

"Well, I want to keep up a relatively healthy diet and keep getting exercise in my schedule but I was also thinking about learning to go with the flow of things and trying to learn how to accept things in life that I definitely can't change."

"Was that from our talk last night?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah, I mean it's inevitable that things will change and there will definitely be times when I won't be able to do anything about it. Have you thought of any resolutions for this year?"

"I was thinking about getting back in touch with my family," the wolf said and then paused. "Seeing you with your family made me miss my own and I keep thinking about the good times I had with them. I should call them more than just once a week and I should visit them sooner than later. I was also thinking about keeping a journal."

"That's cool. What sparked the idea of journaling?" I asked trying not to sound like I was being too invasive.

"I read that it can help with learning and it can also show me my own habits and why I do things. It might help with the whole coming out process."

"It's totally understandable," I said smiling up at him.

We then heard our drink orders from the front counter and Nathan hopped up and grabbed them from the counter and thanked the baristas. He gracefully brought back the two saucers with large cups and presented one with a green liquid and white foam art of a leaf on it.

"What did you get this time?" I asked.

"A London fog," he replied and took a sip.

We then heard a buzz from his phone and the wolf took it out and said, "Oh, a text from my mom, hoping that I'm doing well. It also looks like I've got some emails. Sorry I don't mean to be rude and ignore you."

"It's fine," I said reassuringly. "I don't care if you look at your phone. We've been together for months."

He then looked at his phone and tapped it a bit. His eyes darted back and forth in silence and after about a minute he looked up at me and said, "Um, I think you might want to check out your emails."

I forgot to turn on my phone when I woke up and saw that I had New Year's messages from earlier today. I also went into my email and saw one in French. It was from Université d'Ajaccio in Corsica. I read through it silently and basically it said that I was accepted into the museology program. Everything stopped for a second and I reread the first paragraph to make sure I was translating everything correctly.

"Was it from Université d'Ajaccio?" Nathan asked.

"Did you also get in?" I asked in response.

He nodded in response.

"This is... great, wonderful, I don't even know which words to use," I said loudly and then I started breathing quickly. Excitement struck through me like a jolt of lightning.

"To change?" the wolf asked and lifted up his mug.

"To change," I replied eagerly and lifted my own.

We clinked our cups and grinned at each other.