(In case you've never heard of 'chakats', their tails never stop growing, so the longer to tail the older the chakat. the very elderly are honored as longtails, though not all honor them the same way …)
Longtails
By Allen Fesler
A Chakat Universe tall tale (Chakat Universe the creation of Bernard ‘Goldfur’ Doove)
"You all have your lists?" a foxtaur vixen asked the group around her. As all the mumbles and nods were positive she said, "We have five hours, so get your chores done and you’ll have a little time for looking around before we lift at midnight local time."
"Where’s Dad?" an almost pure black chakat of about six or seven asked.
"You know him," another, slightly older chakat youth told hir, " ‘Around’ here, somewhere ..."
"Freetrail – stop!" a very elderly chakat half cried – half whimpered as shi didn’t quite collapse to one side of the main thoroughfare leading from the landing pad they had just left to the main terminal, road shuttles and PTV parking where they were heading. "I’m sorry, but I have to rest," shi told another, equally old chakat, though this one’s fur still held traces of hir original dark brown coloring.
"Hunter, I told you we should have caught our breath in the departure area before trying to walk across the terminal," Freetrail told hir old friend. Neither of them had said it, but they both knew that this had been their very last trip to Chakona. They couldn’t get around like they used to, and if their current state after such a short walk was any indication, they soon wouldn’t be getting around at all. Shi mentioned none of this as shi sank down next to hir friend of many years, wondering if either would be able to get up without having to take off their saddlebags.
"You two look like you could use some help," a voice said from behind them.
Turning, they found they were blocking the path of a heavily loaded trolley. The human that had brought it to a stop behind them wore dark glasses and his red hair was mostly hidden by a yellow and black baseball type cap that read, ‘I don’t avoid confusion – I create it!’ A dark blue shirt, black pants and orange flip-flops completed his ensemble.
"We’re fine; just need to rest a minute," Freetrail assured him.
"Bullshit," he replied in a low yet gentle tone. "I saw how hard it was for you to get this far – you won’t make it to the next break area without collapsing again."
"Really, we’ll be fine," Hunter told him.
"Yeah, right. You’re in worse shape than shi is. Just a second," he said as he dug into the luggage on his trolley. "Ah!" he exclaimed as he pulled out two large bottles of cloudy liquid. He gave them each a good shake before bringing them over. "Drink," he didn’t quite order as he thrust one into each of their hands. Watching Freetrail take a tentative sniff, he added, "It’s just an energy drink; you two look like you could use one," he said as he went back and started shifting around some of the luggage on his trolley. He then came over and released Hunter’s saddlebags.
"Hey!" Hunter protested as he quickly added them to his trolley.
"Hay is for horses," the human quipped back, "though I do swear that some of you chakats are part mule." He also took Freetrail’s saddlebags, but shi only raised an eyebrow at him as shi finished the drink.
"Now that you’ve taken our belongings, what are you going to do to us?" Hunter asked.
Patting the top of his now fairly flat trolley load, he said, "Give you a ride to wherever you’re heading."
" Uh, no. Thank you, but we’ll walk," Freetrail told him.
"Bullshit again," he chuckled. "All three of us know you two won’t make it, so your choices are let me help you – or I alert the station to two frail, invalid travelers and let them help you."
