Pass It Along: May

Oh, to be a little doggie Scarfox in a big big world. Well, that was not the sort of thing that London had to worry about. For London was just that, a little doggie like Scarfox in a big big world that was not built for them, but they enjoyed their time anyway. It was early spring in the city of Foxington, and the place was a light with life as it usually was.

London didn’t live here, oh no, but they were visiting because they had heard that there was going to be a big party in the center most park of the city. The name escaped London for the moment, but they would figure it out as they went along. They were fairly resourceful like that, and it was something of a point of pride for them.

They were a country fox through and through. The rural areas of the Scarfoox Realm were something else entirely, but London craved adventure like it was nobody’s business, and made it a point to travel far and wide to experience different kinds of places and people.

It was true, however, that they were a little scared of traveling alone. After all, they were a Mini fox, and it was well known that the world was not really built for a fox their size. Mini foxes could only get to about three and half feet tall before they were considered standard, and even then, the average fox was around six feet tall. So the world was built for foxes of that size. It made getting up and down stairs particularly challenging, and London was eagerly awaiting the day that they wouldn’t have to hop up each step like they were performing at the Realm Olympics.

To get into Foxington from the country, London had to take a train. It was an efficient thing, and they did enjoy sitting by the window to watch the trees and fields turn into quintessential marks of industry. The small lonely roads turned into highways over the hours it took to get from their concrete slab of a train station into Foxington proper, but it was a fascinating transition to watch regardless.

They had been so excited that they had completely forgotten to stop by the dinner car on the way in, so that was going to be the first stop on London’s city adventure. A bite to eat. Probably from a hotdog stand. They’s heard so much about those back home, and while London wouldn’t necessarily consider themself a fan of the hotted dog, they figured that a very good one could change their mind.

As the train pulled into the station, London grabbed their overnight bag, hopped out of their seat and exited the train, welcoming the warmth of the air. They hadn’t even realized how cold it was on the train until they had stepped off. It took a second for them to adjust as other foxes bustled around them, but they were determined to have a good time.

And off they went!

---

As soon as London had made it above ground - crazy how the whole train station was below the cement in its own little cave - they made a beeline for the first reasonably priced hotdog stand they could find. They had made the consorted effort to figure out which direction they were supposed to be going in before picking a hotdog stand, for it would have made little sense for them to walk in the complete opposite direction of where they were trying to go. Even if it would have allowed for more adventures along the way. Foxington was already big enough and they couldn’t afford to get lost lest they be late to the big gathering in the central most park.

It occurred to them to ask what the name of said park was if they had the opportunity to. Or they would keep their eyes peeled for a sign or a banner or something. It seemed to make sense to them for there to be some kind of banner or advertisement. This place was huge! Bigger than huge. It was like its own monster in a way. A hulking creature that squatted in one place and never moved, but also seemed to move of its own accord.

London was enthralled, but not enough to really think about moving there. They’d seen that in movies plenty of times. The country folk deciding to move into the big city to make a career out of a special talent. London’s special talent was held close to the chest, just in case they changed their mind over the course of their life. Figured it made sense considering how much time that could have been. London didn’t think it made sense to devote one’s life to a single thing because that would leave no room for being able to see and experience new places and people.

Maybe that could have been their special talent, though not really something to make a career out of. Might have sucked the fun out of it all to be completely honest. As mentioned previously, London was here for fun.

They also desperately wanted a hotdog, so they finally located a hotdog stand at a reasonable price and stood in the long line. It seemed kind of silly to have such a long line for a hotdog when there were so many other stands. London figured it might have been because the price was so good.

And when they finally had gotten their hands on one, it made a lot more sense. Not only was it more affordable, but it was easily the best hotdog London had ever had and it was honestly surprising given how sullen and out of touch the rest of the customers looked. Maybe they were in a trance?

Anyway, after London had finished their hotdog, they had deposited the trash into the nearest can, hopping up to toss it in and they continued on their way to the park, making a noteto probably come back and get another hot dog when they could.

---

Well, it had finally happened. London was lost. They could have sworn that they had followed the instructions they had written down to the letter. They had double checked all the signs and instructions and landmarks and streets, and yet they had still ended up in the wrong place. It was still early enough in the day for them to not be too too concerned about it, but if they were lost for too long, they knew they would miss out on all of the best activities at the park.

London stood on the edge of the sidewalk, staring into the convoluted map they had picked up from a souvenir stand, flipping it and folding it and trying and failing to read it properly. When they were lost, their mind got a little scrambled, and it made them start to shake a little bit, even though they had been lost before. Though to be honest, they hadn’t been lost in a city as big as this before.

This was a whole different ball game, though they were determined to get themself oriented.

After all, what was a little dog fox going to do in this big wide world if they couldn’t make their way to where they were going? As they shook, the tassels along their arms quivered as well, and they blinked a lot more than usual. Made their already spotty fur feel even more spotty with how delirious they were getting from the circumstances. Maybe it had been the hotdog from earlier.

No, they had to steel themself, which they did manage to do. After reorienting themself and checking their map once, twice, three times more, London had finally figured out where they had gone wrong. They had made a wrong turn at the last intersection and were now walking perpendicular to the park, but more than a handful of avenues over. Confident that they were back on the right track, London turned around, their little tail wagging in relief and skipped back a couple blocks to right the wrongs.

And it had worked out, because not long after, they had put themselves back on track and had arrived at the park! The park was massive. A nestled sanctuary in the middle of a giant city, and the hustle and bustle died down shortly after passing the first line of trees. The tranquility was nice, and it really put into perspective just how loud Foxington really was. London had been so swept up into it all that it hadn’t really occurred to them how loud the city was until it was relatively quiet.

That wasn’t going to last much longer, for they had found the banners and the signs and were making their way to the big field where all the festivities were happening. They could hear it before they could see it. Lots of foxes playing in the grass with balloons and streams set up all over the place.

London ran into the fray to find the first thing they would partake in.

---

The first activity that London ran into was some kind of sack race. There was a sign up sheet for partners that were already decided - things like families and school trips and and the like - and sign up sheet for single people who still wanted to participate. Every single time there was an odd number of people in a group, one of the single people would be called to round out the numbers. And it looked like it was going to be a lot of fun.

London immediately signed up as a single fox, and went to look around at the other types of activities to participate in while they waited. It looked like there was apple bobbing and baseball and tag. There was a barbeque starting up a little deeper into the park, which London could smell the beginning of the coals firing up. It seemed a bit early in the day to start up a bunch of grills, but they supposed that it would have made sense for the sheer number of foxes that had come to the event so far. If it was going to be an all day affair, then they would probably be cooking for a while.

It honestly kind of reminded them of a fun summer festival that had happened the year prior out by a place called the Hidden Garden. They hadn’t been able to attend that festival last year, but maybe if they played their cards right, they would be able to attend this year. They’d heard that it had been a wild time, and that was something that London would have definitely liked to experience at least once.

It took only a few more minutes for their name to be called and they had made their way over as fast as they could as to not miss out on the race. They had been handed an appropriately sized potato sack, lined up with the rest of the contestants, which looked to be a fairly large family of seven foxes, and were told the rules quickly. London had barely been able to get it all in before a referee was calling for the ready sets. London hooked their fingers under the rolled up potato sack, arched their back, and as soon as they heard the cry, they started hopping.

It was something they were fairly good at, considering they had to hop a lot in their every day life. While the larger foxes had bigger hops, they hopped a lot more slowly, and it didn’t take long for London and another Mini to take the lead in the race. All around them were shouts and cheers, other witnesses having a great old time as London and this other fox raced for the finish line. They were neck and neck, toe to toe, nose to nose! But there could be only one winner.

London pulled ahead at the last moment and claimed victory to loud cheers and congratulations. They won a rubber ducky that looked like it was holding a baseball bat.

A fine prize indeed.

---

With their prize won, London had made a day of enjoying every single activity they could squeeze in time for. They were only staying for one night in the city, and they wanted to make the most of the time they had. It was a blast to dunk their head in refreshing water to bob for apples and play a few baseball games. It was fun to run and play with other foxes and try out different types of food and drinks. There had been this nice strawberry mint flavored drink that was very strong but so crisp and clean.

They had made a whole bunch of friends. They took pictures and joked and raced and ate together. London hadn’t had this much fun in a long long time. They didn’t get to travel to cities like this very often, mainly because of how expensive it was and all the responsibilities they had out in the country.

But they did start to understand what the movies were trying to convey. Maybe it wasn't the claims to fame or the promise of a long and fulfilling career that really brought in foxes from all over. Maybe it was the joy that could come from entering a situation as total strangers and leaving the same day as friends. London really did understand what made the city so special.

Once they had had the last of their snacks and drinks and had played their last game of ring toss, it was unfortunately time to start wrapping things up. The day had been jam packed with stuff to do, but London was admittedly tired and didn’t have unlimited energy as much as they would have liked to. They were staying at a hotel for tonight.

After saying tearful goodbyes to all their new friends, London checked and double checked and triple checked their map to get to their hotel. They had deliberately picked one that wasn’t that far away from the park just because they knew that they would be tired after a long day of fun.

Once they had gotten to the hotel, they had checked in and had bathed and brushed their spotty fur, cleaned the little tag on the collar they wore around their neck, and had dried off. Exhausted, London crawled into the soft blankets and sheets and grabbed as many extra pillows as they could to get nice and comfortable. It was heaven to them to be able to rest so peacefully. They were definitely going to sleep in as much as they could before they had to get back to the train to head home.

And as they were dozing off, it flashed in their mind.

On no! They had forgotten to look for the signs with the name of the central most park! Once they realized this, they laughed a bit, slapping their forehead, but what could be done now. They were tired and the map was in their bag and they needed to sleep.

So London decided they would just do it in the morning.