Chapter 1: The Fox and the Raccoon

Melodic notes from songbirds filled the air on a warm, late-spring Saturday morning in the town of Wedgewood. Kids were heading to the park. Some were running along with their friends, Some were riding their bikes, bells ringing and chains softly grinding against the pedal sprockets. One or two younger riders were accompanied by a loud clattering or scraping sound, their training wheels keeping them upright as they cycled along the path.

Whoosh!

A lean, nine-year old fox wearing a red and black long-sleeve shirt and blue sweat pants with red and white accents shot past riding a big blue bike, seeing just how fast he could go. He squeezed the gear shifter on his left handlebar to the highest position. Then the right. It became much harder to pedal, but the fox pressed down hard with his feet and accelerated even faster. The park lay just ahead. He squeezed the gear shifters again and put them both into the middle position, coasting to a halt in front of a lamp post.

"Whoo! That must have been the fastest I've ever rode," the fox chuckled to himself as he rode up to the metal railings that surrounded the town park. He rested his bike against the railings to catch his breath. He looked to see if anyone would comment on his fast ride, but none did. Everyone passed by, focused on their own friends and adventures. The fox sighed and retrieved his bike from the railings, rolling it towards the entrance to the grassy area of the park.

"Never mind, Friendly," he told himself. The fox laid his big blue bike against a tall oak tree as he wandered over to the playground, sniffing the breeze and smiling as the gentle scent of the various trees, flowers and shrubbery all around filled his nostrils.

"Mommy! I'm gonna ride my bike now," Friendly looked over to the source of the high pitched, squeaky voice - it was a slightly chubby raccoon wearing a blue t-shirt and orange flame shorts. The fox chuckled as the watched the kindergarten-age raccoon mounting his little red bike - propped up by two black, plastic training wheels, turning his pedals and slowly riding along the tarmac path. Friendly then looked all around the flat grassland of the park. Other kids were everywhere. Some were on the swings. Some on the slide. There was a see-saw with two friends bouncing up and down and giggling at each other. Friendly smiled as he watched them all playing. There was a squirrel on the climbing frame, accompanied by a slightly chubby skunk who wasn't as confident about his climbing abilities. Friendly smiled as he saw the skunk being comforted by one of his parents. Friendly looked all around again, he noticed another raccoon and a wolf riding all around the grass on their bikes. Another wolf and a cheetah were playing on the basketball court - all of them around Friendly's age. Friendly shook his head and headed back to his bike, he didn't really want to do anything else. He mounted his bike and kept it in middle-gear as he set off down the path.

Shortly he saw the little raccoon from earlier - his bike sitting stationary with the back wheel over a pothole. It was then that Friendly noticed the little guy was turning the pedals, but the back wheel was just spinning round and round. He stopped a short ways behind the raccoon and dropped his bike onto the grass, heading over to investigate.

"Oh no!" squeaked the raccoon, as he kept turning his pedals fruitlessly. Friendly looked at the back wheel of the little raccoon's red bike, as he was pumping his pedals it just spun in midair, he was stuck. For a moment Friendly pondered what to do, he froze in place as he felt a sensation like a mild electric shock run down his spine. What if he scared this little raccoon? What if he said the wrong thing?

As the fox faced this dilemma, his nose caught new scents - the friction smell of the rubber tire as it was spinning and barely touching the ground, combined with a strong smell of laundry detergent. As the raccoon kept pumping his pedals, his shorts were making a soft squeaking noise. Momentarily Friendly found himself in a daze as he was watching the little raccoon's efforts to ride his little red bike. His thoughts were interrupted as the raccoon looked back at his back wheel, and then looked up at Friendly.

"Hey there, would you like me to give you a push, little buddy?" Friendly asked in a soft voice, giving a sympathetic smile to the little raccoon as he stopped pedaling. The answer came in the form of a nod, with a nervous squeak.

"Yes, yes please!"

Friendly smiled warmly at the raccoon and stood behind his bike. He put both of his paws on the saddle of the little raccoon's bike, just under his orange shorts and gave him a gentle push - enough to push his little red bike clear of the pothole.

"Try now," said Friendly, as he stopped pushing. The raccoon turned his pedals and he smiled happily as his bike moved by itself.

"Thank you!" squeaked the raccoon, happily.

Friendly smiled and sat on the nearby park bench. He sighed, and looked all around again, thinking about what to do. Maybe he could talk to the wolf and cheetah who were playing basketball, they looked like they were around his age; or maybe he could find the other raccoon and wolf who were riding their bikes. He looked all around, but they were all gone. The fox sighed and closed his eyes, maybe he'd have to come back later. Just then, Friendly felt someone sit on the bench with him. He opened his eyes, and there was the chubby little raccoon he'd helped out of the pothole - sitting next to him!

"Hi!" squeaked the raccoon.

"Oh, hello," said Friendly, smiling at his visitor.

"Thanks for helping me,"

"You're welcome. My name's Friendly," said the fox.

"Friendly?" repeated the raccoon.

"Yeah, it's what I like to be called,"

"My name's Timothy,"

Friendly looked at Timothy. He had white ears; he had thick, brown headfur, and he had hazel eyes. He then glanced down at Timothy's shorts, vibrant orange swimming trunks with white and blue flames on the legs, accompanied by a blue chopper motorcycle print on each side. As Friendly breathed in deeply, he caught scent of Timothy's fur, which had a green apple scent.

"How old are you?" asked Timothy.

"Me? Oh... I'm nine," answered Friendly.

"I'm gonna be six, soon!" replied Timothy, wrapping his long ringed tail around the fox.

Friendly was a little surprised at how trusting the little raccoon was, but he didn't say anything.

"So, when's your birthday?" asked the fox.

"My birthday's in September," said Timothy.

"Mine is too!" yapped Friendly.

"Really? Wow!" cried Timothy.

Friendly grinned at the raccoon, for the first time he felt like he was with a true friend.

"Are you here with your parents?" asked the fox.

"I'm here with my mom. My dad's a bus driver, he's at work today,"

"Oh, okay," said Friendly, "You like riding your bike, huh?"

Timothy nodded. "I do, but I wish I had some friends to ride with,"

"I'm looking to make friends..." began Friendly, though he wasn't sure given how much younger the raccoon was.

"You'd make a great friend!" piped up Timothy.

Friendly smiled and wagged his brush, softly, "You said you're here with your mom, would you like to introduce me to her?"

"Okay!" said Timothy, pushing himself off the bench and sitting on his little red bike. He turned his pedals and rode along the path, his training wheels scraping along noisily on the tarmac. Friendly grinned as he watched his new friend riding along the path gleefully.

"Wait for me!" chuckled Friendly, picking up his bike and strolling along to keep up with Timothy.

-

Soon, the fox and the little raccoon arrived back by the big oak tree, an adult female raccoon sat on a red and white checkered picnic cloth with a one-year old baby raccoon in her lap.

"Mom! Mom! I've made a new friend!" squeaked Timothy excitedly, leaving his bike on the dirt verge of the path and sitting on the edge of the picnic cloth.

Friendly looked at Timothy's forgotten bike and pushed it through the grass, so it sat by the tree-trunk. He then positioned his own bike leaning against the trunk of the tall oak tree. He then joined Timothy at the edge of the tablecloth.

"Is that your little brother?" asked Friendly, noticing the baby raccoon.

"No, that's my little cousin Justin." said Timothy, "This is my mom!"

"Hi." said Friendly, anxiously. Sitting on the edge of the picnic cloth.

"My name's Sally, and this is Timothy's little cousin Justin," Timothy's Mom introduced herself. Justin giggled and tried to grab the fox's tail as it swished back and forth. "Come here, you little scamp." chuckled Sally, picking Justin up and bouncing him softly on her knee.

Suddenly, Friendly noticed his parents walking along the path. "I guess I've got to go home," said Friendly, standing up.

"Can't you stay? We're gonna have some food!" squeaked Timothy.

"I'll ask, but I don't know," answered Friendly, walking over to the path.

"Oh, hey Friendly," said his Dad, "Hi Sally,"

"Hi Mr. Brush," said Sally.

"Mr. Brush?" repeated Friendly, a little confused, "Do you know each other?"

"Yes, your dad owns the restaurant I work at, part-time," said Sally.

"Oh!" Friendly answered, smiling.

"Your son helped Timothy when his bike got stuck," said Sally, "I think they'd be great friends,"

"Yeah! We can do all sorts of stuff together!" said Timothy, grinning happily as Friendly sat down next to him.

"Can we join you?" asked Friendly's mom. "Of course! There's enough food to go around," said Sally, gesturing for all of them to sit down and eat.

"Mmmmm, you're such a great cook Sally," said Friendly's dad, licking his lips as he devoured a chicken drumstick.

"We're so glad we took you on as a chef;" said Friendly's mom, "Business has gone up since we hired you, word's getting around."

"Thank you," said Sally, smiling.

As Friendly finished off a cheese sandwich he shuffled to sit closer to Timothy. He sniffed the breeze again and smiled softly as he liked the green apple smell coming from Timothy's fur. He put his paw on the back wheel of the motorcycle print on the left leg of Timothy's orange shorts. Timothy looked up at Friendly with his mouth full of sandwich, but didn't say anything. He just grinned at the fox. When he swallowed the mouthful, he said, "These are my favourite shorts!"

"They are very vibrant," commented Friendly, "I like how well they go with your blue shirt,"

Timothy shuffled and sat on his toes to finish his sandwich. Friendly lay back in the grass and enjoyed the atmosphere that lay all around him, breathing deeply. As he looked at Timothy's shorts he caught a glance of something white peeking between the raccoon's shirt and shorts, with red sides. He shrugged and turned his eyes up to face the sky again, looking up at a jet plane that was flying east, leaving a long condensation trail behind. The fox sighed as he remembered home, his family, his favourite pastime of watching the trains go by. He sighed and closed his eyes.

"Hey, why not try some of these! They're my favourite," Timothy said in his squeaky voice, holding a package of tablet sweets and inadvertently dropping some onto Friendly's shirt. The fox opened his eyes and looked, recognizing them he smiled and grabbed a yellow one, a red one and a purple one.

"Thanks, Timothy. I like these too," The fox smiled as he ate the yellow one and then the red one. They didn't taste quite the same as they did at home, but at least they were very similar. Then came the purple one.

"This my favourite flavour," Friendly smiled at Timothy and popped it into his mouth. However, something was wrong. As the fox savoured the sweet it tasted nothing like he was expecting, having a very sour and strong taste instead of the sweet sensation he was expecting. He screwed up his face and stuck out his tongue, removing the now pale coloured tablet and shaking his head.

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"What's wrong, Friendly?" Timothy asked, innocently.

"This isn't Blackcurrant flavour!" Friendly cried.

"What's 'Blackcurrant'?" asked Timothy, "Purple ones are grape flavour,"

"Yuck! No wonder why I don't like it," Friendly answered, frowning as he set the unwanted sweet down in the grass.

"I'm sorry, Friendly!" Timothy cried, trembling a little. Friendly noticed that Timothy looked upset and he gave him a reassuring smile. "It's okay. I still have lots to get used to. I only moved here a week ago,"

-

After mostly enjoying their food, Friendly and Timothy set off on their bikes again. The fox set his big blue bike into the lowest gear so his younger friend could keep up with him, chuckling as the chubby little raccoon rode in front of him astride his little red bike, with his little black training wheels faithfully keeping him balanced and scraping along behind him. The sound of Timothy's training wheels gave Friendly a funny tingling sensation above his forehead, for the most part it was an enjoyable sensation apart from Friendly wondering why this was. As they rode along, the paved pathway came to an end, giving way to an unpaved trail with fine gravel. Timothy pedaled nonchalently, doing the same motions as he had done on the paved path. Friendly then noticed that the sounds had changed, Timothy's training wheels were crunching along the path instead of their scraping sound. This gave Friendly an even stronger sense of tingling on top of his head and he pulled over to try and give his head a scratch and see if that would make it go away. The path had changed again to a dirt trail in these few seconds, and at that exact moment, the back wheel of Timothy's bike spun out and the raccoon stalled, his back wheel spinning again as he pedaled and pedaled.

"Friendly, help!" Timothy cried in his squeaky little voice.

The fox lay down his bike and squatted behind Timothy. As the chubby little raccoon sat propped up on his training wheels, the back wheel spun and spun. His shorts made their soft squeaking noise. The back wheel groaned and gave off its familiar rubbery smell as it spun. Friendly found himself looking up at the saddle and the seat of Timothy's shorts, noticing the white garment peeking between his shirt and shorts again. Faintly, Friendly could hear a crinkling sound. This gave him another sense of tingling in his head, but as he saw Timothy was on the verge of tears he shook his head and stood up, putting his paw on Timothy's shoulder.

"How about we head back? We can go play on the playground," suggested Friendly.

Timothy sobbed, but as he looked into Friendly's blue eyes he gave his older fox companion a nod and turned his handlebars, so Friendly could push him back onto the paved path.

"Training wheels are for babies!"

"Little baby Timothy on Training Wheels!"

Timothy gasped as he heard the voices and pumped his pedals again, "Hurry, Friendly!"

The fox had also heard the taunting remarks and put both paws on the saddle of Timothy's bike, pushing him until he had turned completely around. Timothy then tore down the path as fast as he could, puffing and panting as he rolled along.

"Timothy, wait!" Friendly cried, as he picked up his bike and mounted it, hurriedly putting his bike into a higher gear to catch up with his little raccoon friend.

Timothy didn't stop pedaling until he reached the playground. He looked back to see Friendly riding as fast as he could. Tears in his eyes, Timothy wiped his cheek and sniffled as Friendly came to a halt next to him.

"What's wrong, Timothy?" Friendly inquired, sensing Timothy had been frightened by whomever had taunted him.

"T...they go to my class at school. They bully me," the raccoon sobbed, "W...will you keep me safe?"

As Friendly looked into Timothy's watery, hazel eyes, he smiled sympathetically and put his paw on Timothy's shoulder again.

"Absolutely, my little buddy,"

As Timothy dismounted his bike, Friendly dismounted his. Before Friendly could balance his bike against the wooden playground apparatus, he felt himself being hugged by Timothy. The fox was taken aback, but before he found the words to protest he suddenly realised he liked being Timothy's big brother figure, and he sighed, hugging Timothy back. For those precious few moments, nobody else existed except the fox and the raccoon. Timothy sniffled but relaxed in the embrace of the older fox. Friendly's paw softly patted the material of Timothy's blue shirt. He then reached down with his other paw, feeling something made of smooth, thin plastic. He retracted his paw and cleared his throat. He noticed Timothy glaring at him and apologized. "Sorry Timothy, my paw slipped,"

Again Friendly felt the awful electric shock feeling running up his spine. It was genuinely an accident. Timothy breathed in and sighed, tugging at the elastic waistband of his shorts and looking down at his blue laces. After this he relaxed his posture and smiled up at Friendly.

"Would you like to come over to my house?"

Friendly beamed at the invitation and wagged his brush, nodding in reply.

"Yay!" Timothy exclaimed in excitement. He hurriedly mounted his bike and trundled down the path to where his Mom was clearing up the tablecloth and picnic spread. Friendly picked up his bike and walked it along the path behind Timothy.

"Mommy? Can Friendly come over to play for a bit?"

"I don't see why not," Sally replied, smiling at Friendly, "Can you help me carry this basket home? I can carry Justin,"

"Okay," agreed Friendly, as he took hold of the picnic basket and fixed it onto one of his bicycle handlebars.

-

About half an hour later, Timothy and Friendly made their way up a pleasant street. The little raccoon trundled along the sidewalk astride his little red bike, with the bigger fox pacing along with his big blue bike held up by his paws.

"Here we are," said Sally, as she took out the keys for the front door and led the way up an almost-level concrete driveway to the big, white front door on the blue and cream house, "You can put your bikes in the garage when I open it up,"

With that, Sally disappeared inside the house and gently shut the door. Friendly waited outside with Timothy for the garage door to open. As the motor whirred and the big garage door lifted up, Timothy and Friendly put their bikes inside by the washing machine. Friendly leaned his against the wall, while Timothy left his sitting propped up on the training wheels about a foot away. Timothy then led the way inside, beckoning Friendly to follow him. Friendly sniffed and found himself enjoying a soft auroma of sweet scents, mostly lavender combined with a couple of others he didn't recognize.

"Come on, Friendly! My bedroom's upstairs!" Timothy said in his squeaky little voice.

Friendly followed Timothy upstairs, bypassing the kitchen and living room and walking by the bathroom, his sensitive nose finding more lavender scent and a hint of lemon too. As Friendly turned to face Timothy, he saw the little raccoon gasp and hurriedly go into his bedroom, shutting the door abruptly and the sound of the raccoon hurriedly putting things away.

"Are you okay, Timothy? Is something wrong?"

"Don't come in yet!" cried Timothy, as a muffled crinkling sound could be heard and then a closet door squeaking as it closed.

"O-okay! You can come in now!" Friendly turned the doorknob and entered, pushing the door back behind him but leaving it ajar. Timothy was now going through a light-brown wooden dresser, finding a bunch of toy cars and offering one to Friendly. "Thanks," Friendly took in a breath and caught a pleasant scent of pine, which was particularly strong. Another pleasant scent was the laundry detergent that he had sniffed earlier coming from a similar pair of sweatpants to his own and a squeaky pair of snowpants that accompanied them, strewn across an open drawer of the pine dresser. A burgundy shirt accompanied them and a dark green pair of shorts.

"I don't really like those clothes... I only wear them when my favourite shirt and shorts are in the wash," commented Timothy, as he saw Friendly looking at the shirt and shorts.

"I don't think you'll need these for a while either," Friendly answered, as he picked up the smooth, thick snowpants and smiled as the material squeaked against his paws, "I'll put these in the closet,"

Timothy nodded, but as Friendly opened the closet door he gasped again and cried, "No! Don't open it!" Moving at a speed that the fox didn't even think was possible, Timothy blocked the door from opening and snatched the snowpants from Friendly. "Please don't..." Friendly however had an even stronger sensation of that electric shock running down his spine and he screwed up his face, he breathed in sharply through his teeth as he put his paw on his forehead.

"Friendly?" Timothy inquired.

The sensation faded and Friendly breathed normally again, shaking his head. "I... I don't like being shouted at,"

Timothy relaxed and lay his snowpants on his bed. "I... I just don't want the closet door opened. That's all,"

"Okay, sorry Timothy," Friendly apologized.

"Shall we lay down for a while? I'd like to hear all about where you came from!" Timothy perked up.

The fox smiled in agreement and watched as Timothy clambered up onto his bed, laying on top of his thick duvet. Friendly joined him, laying on his side next to Timothy, who lay on his tummy. Friendly told him all about his favourite places, his memories and favourite things to do. Watching the trains down at the station where he used to live. Being taken on rides on steam trains on railways further away. Even the excitement of seeing very fast trains roaring past a station he had been taken to when he was Timothy's age, and several other times since.

"I hope I get to go with you, someday!"

"I'd love to have you with me," Friendly replied, "It's a long, long way away though. I was on a plane for a long time,"

"Then I can try that, um, what was it called again?"

"What?"

"The flavour you thought wasn't grape,"

"Oh, Blackcurrant," Friendly answered, "Yeah, it's such a sweet taste,"

"Sweeter than Cherry?"

"Almost the same, but yeah,"

"Wow!" Timothy commented in his squeaky little voice. He fidgeted to reposition himself closer to Friendly, his shorts squeaking as he did so.

Friendly smiled as he looked at Timothy, "I always wanted a little brother, just like you,"

Timothy giggled and then answered back, "I always kinda wanted a big brother like you!"

-

A few hours later, Friendly's parents arrived to take him home. He waved goodbye to Timothy as he fetched his bicycle from the garage and began to follow his parents.

"Did you have fun at Timothy's house, Friendly?" asked Mr. Brush.

"It was so much fun! Timothy is like the little brother I always wanted," Friendly answered.

Mrs. Brush smiled softly and spoke, "You'll be going to the same school as Timothy, next week. Here the schools go up to seventh year before moving on to high school,"

Friendly smiled happily at this news. He hadn't been looking forward to having to go back to school after the move, but now he felt a little better about it.

"While you were playing with Timothy, we found a store with lots of food from home. We picked up some things for you,"

"Oh! That's wonderful!" Friendly answered, "I can't wait to see!"

 

-- END OF CHAPTER ONE --

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