HUMAN

Chapter 6 - Chopsticks

06:34

"Jack! Let Mom and Dad know I'll be going out with Vannie and Gina, alright?" I knocked on my brother's room and got a groan as a reply. He must've stayed all night talking with his friends, I guess. I pulled out my phone to receive a recent text message from Gina.

"u coming to the noodle shop?"

"Yeah, I'll be there soon. Just trying to find my jacket right now."

"siccckk. i've got some things to tell u that you I reckon you might like." She sent a smiley emoji.

"Cool. I'll see you later!"

"cya girl."

I slid my phone into my pocket and took out the toast that popped out. Ruggedly spreading some jam on it, I chewed it up and headed outside the house. I tucked my hands into my pocket and pulled up my collar as it was a chilly morning.

Mr. Bennett doesn't seem to be inside his house. I jumped over his fence and landed on his well-maintained lawn. I turned on the sprinkler, jumped over to his front yard, and did the same.

Mr. Bennett is one of the few Anthro herbivores around this town. He's been around since before my mom and dad moved out of the city while Valentine, my older sister, was still a baby. We've gotten along well with him since, and I would occasionally take care of his plants and lawn whenever he is away from Fridays to Wednesdays.

He pays a good buck, too, but that isn't my primary motivation for doing what I'm doing. He is genuinely a nice Anthro, and he was persistent in paying me when I told him multiple times that I'd do it for free.

Jogging throughout the neighborhood, I found some friends playing soccer on the local oval, a game created by humans. Although we do not know much about the exact rules, we kind of just make up our own.

We know that you only use your foot to kick the ball around and shoot it through the goal. The goalie is an exception, though. They're able to use their hands to block the ball from getting into the goal. "Ayo Abi! You up for a quick round?" One of them called out. "Maybe later this evening!" I shouted back.

I jogged to the other side of the town before almost running into one of the store owners bringing out fruit and vegetable baskets. "Sorry!" I sped past them. I finally made it to the store that they were talking about. Although the sign was still being placed up, it was a large place, but almost everyone around here knew about this place.

A good thing about having a small town is a sense of familiarity among the other residents. If you've lost your wrench somewhere at work, you'll most likely find it on your porch the next day.

Oh, and something was happening in the forest somewhere near us. However, my brother was vague on what exactly happened despite claiming that he started it.

I still don't believe him, though, because he's my brother.

I walked into the store, and the scent of noodles and spices was strong coming from the kitchen. Construction workers to receptionists seemed to be using this place as a quick breakfast meal to start the day as there were different Anthros with distinct types of jobs on each table—both dining in and taking out.

Sitting on the far corner by the window were Vannie and Gina, close friends of Valentine and me. They both spotted me and motioned me to come over.

I rushed over to the table. "So, what's the invitation for?" My tail wagged gently. "Well," Gina said, "You told us your friends have been talking about what was happening in the forest near this town, right?" I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, what about it?"