Night In The Woods

||•Home Again°||

(I'll be honest, I was thinking of not continuing this book. ((And sorry for not uploading this chapter nearly as fast. Family problems got in the way. Like... A lot.))But then I saw the crazy huge support it got, so here are all four of our favorite characters back together again. Thank you guys. So much.)

That morning was slightly important. And destilled. Calm.

     Reluctantly, Mae opened her eyes to the odd Possum Springs home she knew so very well. The small attic room was filled with warm morning light, and she seemed to truly be safe.

     Nothing was just shapes.

     It'd been a while since she felt like that. She stood up and lightly opened the door to her room. The hallway was quite blue compared to her room. Which had an orange and red glow about it every morning, and dark blue and purple hue about it at night.

     She went down the stairs, which came in a set of two, and before she even hit the bottom, she heard a sweet and calm voice she hadn't heard in what felt like years.

     "Honey?"

    A glance at the kitchen behind her, made her realize something, and she answered as calmly as she could. She didn't know why she wanted too, but she did. 

     "Yeah?"

     "Come see me in the kitchen before you leave!"

     "Okay!" Mae exclaimed happily. No longer control on her voice.

     Happily, Mae jumped down the last few stairs and flicked her tail wonderously. She turned and jogged into the kitchen, where her mom sat at the table reading a red covered book. The kitchen, like most the rest of the house, was pretty much blue with a few colors here and there. Her mother had the same midnight fur as Mae, yet her eyes we're much more calm. And a darker red. More like crimson.

    Mae jumped up on the counter and swung her legs occasionally as she greeted her mother. 

     "Welcome home, sweetie!"

     Mae's ears perked up as she smiled at her mom.

     "Thanks for not changing the locks!"

    "Sorry we mixed up the day you were coming back, it was such short notice!"

     "It's okay Mom."

    There was a small pause before Mae's mother finally said something.

     "Mae honey?" Her mother asked. She seemed worried about something. Mae kept her smile. "Yeah?" She asked.

     "I just wanted to ask if everything was okay." She said softly. Her green shirt shined through the window as sunshine poured on it.

     "What do you mean?" Mae asked. She had never seen her Mom so worried.
     "Did something happen?" Asked Mae's mother. Mae raised an eyebrow.

     "I just....needed to come home." She said partly honest. Her mother nodded slowly. "Well, I think you can understand my worry," She started.
     "That's not usually something a college sophomore just go and does."

     "I know." Mae said prepared to hear her mothers words. She flickered her tail and scratched her ear slightly.

     "It's just...honey, you know you can tell me if something happened." Her mother said. She had a shaking seriousness to her voice.

     "Mom. I'm fine. Really." Reassured Mae. "Can we talk about this another time?" She asked softly.

     "Sure honey, it's okay." Her mother said sweetly.
     Mae smiled. "Thanks mom." Her mother nodded happily. "I bet your old friends will be happy to see you!" She insisted, thankfully changing the subject. "Yeah. Hey, you wouldnt happen to know where Gregg is, would you?"

     "I'm pretty sure Gregg works at the Snack Falcon now. Up in town centre west, by the Clik Clak." She said remembering as much as she could. 

     "I think I'll run over and say hey." Mae said. She was both talking to her mother, and herself.

     "Well, have a good time out there!" Exclaims her mother. "Explore around a little. Lots has changed."

     Mae smiles. "I will."

     "And make sure to watch out for all the construction sweetie!" Her mom reminds her. 

     "Well it wouldn't be fall in Possum Springs without loads of construction." Mae points out. Her mother smiles. "It's so festive, honey." Mae nodded. "I'll be back later!" She called hopping off the counter.
     "Bye, sweetie!" Her mother called as she opened the front door.

     Mae waved to her mom and her nose twiched as she smelled that weird.... Possum Springs smell. The kind that told you, you were definitely in Possum Springs.

     While outside, Mae sketched a little picture of her mom and dad on the next few pages. She smiled at the picture and closed the notebook.

     Possum Springs was a warm and inviting place at most. Orange and red leaves we're scattered across the sidewalk, and the sky was a soft yellow color. A few cars passed by Mae as the breeze ruffled her fur a small bit.

     She looked around at all the people she used to know. They all seemed so odd now. But she had a mission. It wasn't an important one by any means. But meeting Gregg was crazy important. She ran down the sidewalk and heard leaves kick up behind her. She ran down and stopped when she saw an old friend.

     She(?) had on a hot pink sweater. The chestnut colored fur matched with her ruffled up look quite well. "Selmers!" Exclaimed Mae. Selmers shoved her paws in her pockets. "Oh hey Mae. What are you doing home?" Selmers asked.

     "Dropped out!" Mae exclaimed. "Wow." Selmers said. Mae couldn't tell if it was sarcasm or genuine surprise. "Yeah I guess." Mae answered simply.
     "So, like, you just don't go back?" Sellers asked. Mae thought maybe she was even the littlest bit interested in Mae's drop out of college

     "That's about it." Mae answers. "Weird." Selmers responds.

     Mae felt the conversation was a bit awkward after that. There was a long pause before Selmers or Mae said much else. "See ya around, Selmers." Mae says. "Alright." Selmers responds.

     Mae shivers off the awkward tenstion and runs off. She runs up the hill

     "Mae Borowski. That's her." Selmers mumbles as she runs off

                         ■ ⓣⓘⓜⓔⓢⓚⓘⓟ◆

     Mae walked downtown to the pretzel stand. She went to the front window and stopped by the dog who worked there.
     "Hey, I just got back in town,  and the one thing I missed the most was-"

     "Hey! I remember you!"

     Mae smiled and waved. "Hello!"

     "Theif!"

      "Oh, come on. That was years ago." Her eyes narrowed at the person in the pretzel stand. "Once a thief, always a thief." The dog responded. Mae scowled slightly.

     "Alright, you know what? This isnt even a restaurant!" She said. Her eyes narrowing again. "It's a crappy food stand in a hole!"
    
     "This establishment has been in business for 50 years!" The dog responds.

     "50 crappy years! In a hole!!" Mae snaps back. "And you wanna know what else has been in a hole for 50 years? Dead people from the 60's!" She says throwing her hands in the air.

     "No respect! No respect this one!" The dog mutters.

     "You can keep your hole pretzels. And your damp pierogis!"

     "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Go jump in the river."

      Another..               ■ ⓣⓘⓜⓔⓢⓚⓘⓟ◆

     Mae had decided to stop running once she got near some weird Pickaxe store. She never really liked that place. Once Snack Falcon was in sight, she beamed and sprinted straight towards it.