• Contest #1:
• "The First Time" By Misty Lake
• "The Hatching" By Mischievous

• Interludes:
• "Paperwork" By Sir Talon

"The First Time"

“Amber!” Auron yelled. The young sprinter had found his most recent book, and decided to use it as a chew toy. The papers were now shredded, the story now fractured, never to be read again.

The young boy picked up the remnants of his book, and stared at it for a moment. He had been about half way through the book, when he had put it down when he went to sleep. Amber must have snatched it some time after.

“Mrrr?” Amber cooed, unsure as to why he was acting so strange.

“Get away from me!” the angry child yelled. Amber jumped back slightly, her head and tail low and unsure. Auron stood and ran out of the barn, tears running down his cheeks. He ran off to the nearby forests, leaving Amber unsure whether or not to follow him.

She slowly snuck forward, peeking out the door of the barn. She watched him run away. She took one step out into the sun, then pulled her foot back in. Auron’s form had almost disappeared in the distance now. He had yelled at her though. He had never yelled at her. The sprinter backed up and sat, whimpering slightly.

Perhaps, he’d come back soon. He just needed to calm down. He wasn’t really angry at her. That was it.

She stood and waved her tail slightly, and waited. He would come soon. She knew he would. Some leaves rustled, and her head perked up, tail waving. No one came. She sighed, putting her head down, and began to pace. Any noise, she would quickly turn and face the door, head up, and tail wagging to meet him. Still, no one came.

Sighing deeply, she laid down, watching the door. He would come. He was just exploring. He liked exploring. He’d come back for her soon. They would go exploring together. Or maybe…

She stood. She would go to him.  He might yell at her again… but she wanted to be with him.

She raised her head and tail high, stared forward with determination, and walked out of the door.

Auron sat on a hill over looking a peaceful valley. The book had been discarded, but he wasn’t ready to go back. Perhaps he was being childish, but he was still angry. Amber had always done little things, but nothing to irritate him this much. He sighed, curling up and wrapping his arms around his legs.

Suddenly he felt a slight tugging at his tail. He turned, and met the big eyes of Amber. She whimpered slightly, and nudged his shoulder.

“Amber-“ Auron began, irritated. But her eyes met his, and his heart melted. “…alright…”

Her head raised, she dropped his tail and tackled him, licking his cheek. Auron laughed and hugged her, “I’m sorry I yelled.”

“Nuuurm,” Amber purred, tail waving happily.

“Let’s go home. I’ll read you a book, so long as you don’t eat it,” there was no harsh undertone, he was happy again, all was right. They had survived their first fight.

• Jump to main Index

"The Hatching"

The summer breeze felt good as it brushed against Auron's cheek cooling the sweet that dripped down his face.

The day had grown hot and he was about to give up on staying outside in the heat that sapped his strength and made the walk to his destination slower than it should have been. His shirt was sticky with sweat and it clung to his skin uncomfortably.

He continued on anyway despite the heat, Because he was sure that today was the day that the egg would hatch, he was almost sure of it, it had been moving more and more lately, each subtle rock got his hopes up and last eve when he had left it, it had been rocking so frequently that he had not wanted to leave it alone.

He finally made it to the wooded area where the egg rested and was deeply grateful for the shade that the trees provided. He picked up his pace now that he had some respite from the heat and it did not take him long to reach the egg.

He sat down next to it seeing several tiny cracks that had not been there the day before. The egg began to shudder and rock back and forth and Auron had to restrain his urge to help the egg crack as the little sprinter had to break out on its own.

The cracks in the hardened shell became more pronounced as he watched and his heart beat faster with the excitement that raced through him.  Several minutes later the rocking ceased and Auron leaned forward watching the egg intently, half expecting the egg's occupant to burst forth in a spray of shell.  The minutes ticked by but nothing happened and he sat back again in disappointment, This had happened before at other hatching's he knew the little sprinters inside would wear themselves out and need to rest before continuing the hatching process.

Auron was becoming frustrated again, an hour had passed since the egg had stopped its movement and showed no signs of resuming either, He dearly hoped that the little creature inside had not worked itself into exhaustion. He had heard stories of this happening as well, though he had never seen it, in these cases the baby was usually too weak to stay alive without a great deal of extra care and even then it was uncertain whether it would survive or not. He continued to struggle against the temptation to break the shell, doing that would not help the little sprinter at all, in fact, he had been told that it would do it more harm than good.

Afternoon slowly faded into dusk and Auron knew that he would have to head home soon or he would be in a great deal of trouble with his family for being out so late. the wispy shreds of clouds were turning a delicate shade of pink as Auron was about to stand, his stomach was grumbling loudly that it had been far to long since his last meal, He leaned forward to touch the egg one last time before leaving. The egg Shuddered violently as his fingers touched the shell, The top shot upwards smacking Auron in the forehead and small pieces rained down on the grass as Auron sat back in shock, staring into a pair of large golden innocent eyes.

The little Sprinter stared back at Auron, its red and purple skin glistened wetly in the fading light, he reached out almost hesitantly to gently caress its head, the little creature did not resist the touch but rather leaned into it in pleasure. He smiled and became more confident as he stroked the still slick skin of the newly hatched sprinter.  The little creature broke the rest of the shell that still contained it, It pretty much fell into his lap from there since the egg had practically been there anyway.

She..Yes it was definitely a she, lay there exhausted from her efforts.  Sunset faded into darkening twilight as Auron stared in wonder at the new life that lay content in his lap, her hide drying in the warm night air.  He knew that he would probably be in trouble for staying out but he also knew that he be able to leave the little sprinter alone, and even if he could he still wouldn't.

"Goodnight Amber." He murmured as the stars sparkled over head. Everything was wonderful.

• Jump to main Index

"Paperwork"

“Growf?”

“Amber, I already said I was sorry for letting you sleep in harness last night,” Auron said for the third time, as they made their way through narrow streets of the old town.  The red sprinter lipped Auron’s tail again, leaving a cheerful trail of slime.  “Yech!  Stop that already!  Let’s just get your paperwork in order before we get stopped by another constable.”

“Rao-oh.”  Amber let go of his tail and they kept walking, until they arrived a modern office building, made of concrete and steel, instead of the stone and brick structures more common in the older part of town.  “Stay out here, Amber.”  The spinter let out an annoyed chuff, but at least didn’t try to follow Auron into the building.  A quick check of the handwritten directory pointed him towards the Ministry of Agriculture office, which was where he needed to go, since in the purest technical sense sprinters were considered work animals, instead of pets.  Though the idea of Amber ever doing anything that resembled “work” was enough to make Auron smile with amusement.

“Good morning, sir,” the young lapine manning the office front desk greeted him when he entered, “how may we help you today?”

“I brought my sprinter back into town, ah, recently and I was looking to get her re-registered,” Auron said.

“Certainly.”  The lapine brought up her terminal and had him plug his handcomp in a data dock.  “May I have your name, sir?”

“Auron Hollow.”

She looked him up and down, obviously trying to classify him, as he stood there with a tail, chalk white skin, red eyes and elf-like mobile ears.  “And, er, your race?”

“Undetermined.”  He smiled at her benignly, in a way that suggested making an issue of that might not be the best way to complete their transaction.

“Okaaaay.”  Her terminal made an annoyedblip and she gave it a sharp rap.  “Let me just enter an override.  Ah, that’s better.  And what is the name of your spinter, Master Hollow?”

“Amber.”

“Amber, all right.  Eye color?”

“Amber.”

“Amber.”  The lapine tapped this into her terminal, muttering, “Creative fellow.  That’s fine, and what’s her breed?”

“She’s a red runner.”

The lapine’s ears perked up in surprise.  “Beg pardon?

“Amber is a red runner,” he repeated, taking a deep breath and counting to ten backwards in his head.

“Sir, really, red runners are practically untamable.  You can’t possibly have ridden one into town.”

“Actually I tend to walk with her a lot of the time.”

“Can we be serious a moment?  I’ll accept that you’ve got a reddish sprinter, there are a lot of mixed breeds like that out there, but you can’t possibly have a… red…”  The bureaucrat’s mini-tirade came to a stop as Auron felt a familiar chuff tickle the hair on the back of his neck.  He turned slowy to look Amber in the eye.

“You were supposed to stay outside,” Auron told her, folding his arms across his chest and glaring at her.

“Grrworf!”

“How did you make it up the elevator, anyway?”

“Raa-woof!”

“Um, Mister Hollow, sir, you really can’t have that b--, um, your sprinter in the building,” the lapine sputtered.

“I know.  Tell you what,” he said, smiling in his best do what I want I’ll leave your life forever expression, “why don’t we finish up with her paperwork and I can take her back outside, okay?”

“Okay,” the lapine agreed hurriedly.  She starting tapping rapidly into her terminal.  “Breed: Red Runner.  Coloration: Red & Purple.  Horn: single, four notched.”  She hit the enter key and said triumphantly, “There!  That’ll be two hundred local units for the year.”

“Two hundred?” Auron said, trying to let his eyes bug out.

“The fee went up two months ago, sir.”

“Two hundred, right.”  He looked at her hopefully as he took out his wallet.  “I don’t suppose you take bank credit, do you?”

She smiled back at him, “Cash only, sir.”

Auron and Amber both let out a mutual moan of dismay as he pulled out the cash from his wallet and handed over the requested amount in local units.  The lapine bureaucrat tapped another command into her terminal, then removed his hand comp from the interface and handed it back to him.  “There you go, Mister Hollow.  Now have a nice day and please remove your… Amber from the building.”

“Thank you.  Come one, Amber, let’s get out of here,” Auron said.   He placed one hand on the pommel of her saddle and guided her back to the elevator.  When they entered the lift, he told her, “You know, you’re more trouble than you’re worth sometimes.”

Amber let out a cheerful, “Growf!” and gummed his tail again.

“Let’s get back to the market.  At least nothing else can go wrong today.”

The End

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