Presto - Chapter 8
_All the hidden stuff_. Well, that said everything, didn't it? Arden took another pawful of cereal, dry from the box, munching it as he pondered the progress he had made. Why was this so difficult? Because it had to be perfect? Just like every other...
Presto - Chapter 7
_Perfect little conundrum you laid for yourself, wolf._ Arden berated himself as he turned the desk lamp away from the reflective desktop. It had started to make him feel like one of those suspects in a Pricklee Quillane novel, the hard-boiled...
Presto - Chapter 6
_If they never know for sure, they can't make judgments_. Arden walked to the window to look out of the box he lived in, and as he had for years, saw nothing but the wall of the building next to his. _A fitting metaphor, no_? All boxed in,...
Presto - Chapter 5
Arden poured himself a sparkling water, and glanced back over his writing. It would have been so much faster if he had a computer, but then, if he had the budget for that, he would probably have been able to afford a larger apartment. His heart was...
Presto - Chapter 4
Arden sat back in his small chair, in his small apartment, so many conflicting thoughts running through his head. He had completely lost touch with Dan. Why though? They seemed to get along well, the cat was funny, and smart, and had a nice girlfriend....
Presto - Chapter 3
Arden didn't have much time to ponder the events of that day, however, as the next day he got confirmation that he had indeed been selected for the magic campaign. The next week was a whirlwind of orientation meetings, etiquette instructions, and...
Presto - Chapter 2
Bright and early Saturday morning, Arden pulled his old car up to the curb in a quiet cul-de-sac in the Valley. The heat had abated somewhat in the last couple of days in most of Los Angeles, but evidently the Valley wasn't given the forecast. He...
Presto - Chapter 1
Cattle calls are a fabled phenomenon in Hollywood. They are the great equalizer, where starlet and stevedore alike have an equal shot at stardom. That's what the entertainment magazines like to portray, anyway. In reality, cattle calls...
Presto - Prologue
Arden leaned back in the uncomfortable wooden desk chair, and pinched the bridge of his muzzle, rubbing the corners of his tired, bloodshot eyes. The fur around them was slightly matted, as it always was when he had been crying - something he seemed to...
Presto - Epilogue
Arden brushed his teeth while trying to pat down that unruly thatch of fur between his ears, trying to ignore the headache knocking on the back of his skull. He only had a few minutes before he had to be out the door, and he had one more quick thing to...
Presto - Chapter 14
Arden pushed himself away from his desk, rubbing his cramped paw, and wandered over to the sad, under-counter refrigerator that passed for his sole 'major' appliance. Taking out a bottle of water, he drank deep, too lost in thought to even cry...
Presto - Chapter 13
As the holidays rolled around, Arden noticed that, once again, David seemed to be less responsive than normal. This time though, he didn't wait months to hear from the fox. After a couple of weeks with no contact, he once again drove out to the house...