Never Too Late

Past

11 years ago...

Tom felt his whole body begin to shiver as the cold raindrops dripped beneath his chin. It was raining, heavily. And the old umbrella that Nook found in a dump wasn't doing him any favors with all the holes it had. He looked up at the city sky, not a single star in sight. And just like that, he started to miss home once again. It was as if there wasn't a single day Tom didn't miss his home town and of course, his best friend. 

As Tom made his way down the street the sound of scratching and whining stopped the raccoon in his tracks. He turned his head, noticing a cardboard box in the nearby alleyway. Tom gulped as he slowly made his way towards the noise, his fur sticking up as a chill ran down his spine. As he got closer, he finally got a good look as to what was in the box and gasped at the sight in front of him.

Two little raccoons were in there, one of them was knawing at the carboard while the other was bawling their eyes out. Without thinking, Tom took off his coat and hovered the umbrella over the box as it was slowly starting to fill up with water from the rain. So many things were running through his mind at once that the only thing Tom thought of doing was holding the two baby raccoons in his arms and telling them everything was going to be okay. And that's exactly what he did.

Dropping the umbrella, Tom grabbed both of them and held them tightly in his arms, wrapping his coat around them both. One of them was still crying while the other stared at Tom with fear, not recognizing the older raccoon's face. Nook looked around, wanting to know who these two little raccoons belonged to. But there was no one in sight. Tom felt his blood boil with rage. He couldn't believe that someone would just leave two little helpless kids all alone in the cold. 

Tom looked back at the carboard box filled with water and kicked it only to watch all the water spill out as well as a note. His eyes widened as he carefully picked it up, not wanting to drop the boys in his arms. The letter was soaked, and most if not all the ink was washed away, making it impossible to read. Tom sighed, if the letter did have any information as to where these raccoons came from, he certainly wouldn't be able to read it. Then again, it wasn't like he'd take them back to any kind of parent that would put them in a situation like this. 

But as Tom stared at the letter a little bit longer he realized that he was able to make out two words.

Timothy and Thomas

Tom knew that this definitely had to be their names no doubt. But as to which one was which, he had no idea. Not like it mattered, it was obvious that they were both too young to even know their names themselves. 

As Tom stood there for what seemed like hours he finally got an idea of what to do and started to make his way back to his place. 

"Don't worry guys," Tom whispered to the raccoons, "I'll take care of you." Both of them were finally silent and relaxed in Nooks arms as he carried the two of them back home.

~~~

Tom knew that Redd was totally going to be against this. But he also knew, or at least hoped, that Redd would also look deep in his art to find the courtesy of helping Timmy and Tommy. Tom had been working with Redd for a bit over three months, and needless to say, he hated every second of it. But with Tom coming to the city with nothing but the clothes on his back and a dream. Him staying and working with Redd was probably the best option he could afford at the moment. 

Nook entered the back of the art gallery and placed the shivering raccoons on the carpeted floor. Tom got a good long look at them and felt a pain in his heart. They were both so frail, so small. He knew that he needed to get them some food fast. Not to mention a nice warm bath as well.