Never Fully Gone (A Straight Furry Story)

Changing Times

As I pull up to my dads house I again glance at all the gear I just purchased. "Wow, I really did that. I dropped over $500 on riding gear for one day. I know I make poor financial choices but this has gotta compete for the top dog of impulse purchases." I load my arms with my stuff and head into the house to get changed. Dropping everything on the bed I pull out my phone and fire up Pandora. I scroll carefully through all of my radio choices, looking for the best metal pump up station. "Aw yeah, Rainbow In The Dark Radio, the big daddy of classic metal stations!" The level of hype that I'd had previously compared with the music meant that it only took me about 3 minutes to completely undress and re-dress into my very own wearable pride parade. Taking a quick glance in the mirror on the way out, I realize that I look far more professional than I will ever be able to ride. "Look pro ride slow gang here I come!" I must've sat on the bike for around 7 minutes before starting it, just becoming reacquainted with the height of the suspension, width and grip of the bars and grips, cushion of the seat (still very, very stiff), and the feel of the brakes. "Alright, pre-start procedures. Gas, check. Engine oil, check. Clutch lever, check. Chain lubricated, check. Throttle twist, check. Plastics and wheels secure and functional, check. Tires aired up, check. Exhaust clear, check. Alright, looks like she's good to go." I grab the rear fender of the bike, picking it off the stand and setting it to the side of its former resting place. Slowly I lift my leg over the motorcycle, making this moment as dramatic as possible, despite me being my only onlooker. I lean over pull the kick starter out of its tucked position. I ready my stance to start the bike, one foot paw on the lever and my paw ready to twist the gas. With a quick snap I kick the lever down, giving the throttle a small amount of fuel. Nothing. Again. And again. Repeating the process 2 more times. "Odd, it seems to have lost compression. Either that or my legs are hella strong." I set the bike back on the stand and look around it for a second. "Nothing seems out of the ordinar...ohhhh, gotcha bitch!" I exclaim, seeing that the spark plug has been removed, replaced with tape to keep particles out of the engine. I rush over to the bench looking for a plug, not wanting to wait any longer to refresh myself in the way of the dirt bike. After a minute of searching I find one in a small drawer. "If I had more time and was more patient, I would check to make sure this was the right type and gapped plug required for this particular vehicle...but it's the only one in here so it's gotta be close enough." I reason with myself, shrugging off whatever doubt I had. "Yes!!" I yell, giving a very extra fist pump. "Perfect fit! Now, to tighten it in and make sure there aren't any other important parts missing." After one more thorough look-over I decided it was once again good to go. "Alright, here's to all the good times." I go through my initial procedure again. With no hesitation I kick the starter and give the throttle gas, same as I had before, but this time there was a lot more compression. One more kick and the bike revved to life! I sat for a minute, letting the engine warm, white two stroke exhaust shooting aggressively out of the muffler. All the memories came flooding in, and I didn't want to wait to go any longer. I pin the throttle and dump the clutch, doing a half backflip, sending the bike out of the shed and me hard on my ass. "Shit!" I screech in surprise. I lay on the ground for a couple seconds trying to comprehend what the heck just happened. "Welp, alright. Clearly it has more power and grip than I remember. I can work with that." I get on my feet, dust off my uniform, and pick up the bike, ready for attempt number two. "This time we're gonna ease out the clutch." And that's what I did. I took the first lap slow, checking for any damage in the track, making sure everything was operating properly, and mostly just getting my feel back for riding. After I had assessed that everything was clear I picked up the pace...to a mere 5 miles per hour faster. "I might not be setting any speed records, but I never claimed that I would be great after taking 4 years off." After a couple hours I put the Yamaha away and closed up the shed, ready for dinner. "Dad! What did you do to that bike? It runs different than I remember!" I shout, before realizing a note on the kitchen counter. "Jupiter, I saw that you were busy getting back on the bike so I decided I'd go get your Christmas present, since I won't be around to get it to you when the holiday rolls around. See ya in a bit!" "Looks like I have some time to burn then. Wonder what it is that it couldn't wait." I grabbed a new set of clothes out of my bag and went into the bathroom to take a shower and change. After I got out I dried off and got dressed, but before I could leave the bathroom I found myself getting lost in my reflection. I could see how all of me had changed from the last time I really took a good, long look at myself. It's mesmerizing to think about how you change, not only physically, but your mentality as well. I finally snapped out of my trance when I heard a crash from upstairs. "What the hell?" I move cautiously down the hall and up the stairs, peeking my head in every door, looking for the source of the noise. I make it to the end of the upstairs hall and look into my brothers room. "Josh? Is everything okay?" I ask. Nothing. I look a little deeper and see his closet door had knocked the stuff off his bed side table, leaving a broken lamp and several books on the floor. Just as I turned to look into the closet I see his lifeless form dangling, suspended by a belt. "JOSH!!!" Quickly I lift his body and take his head out of the belt and set him on the ground. I put my ear next to his nose to hear or feel if he's breathing. Nothing. I begin CPR, trying everything I can think to get some form of life from him. Nothing. "Come on!! Why would you do this??" Several minutes pass and it's too late. "What the FUCK!" I scream, standing up and punching a hole in the wall so deep my paw went through to the other room. I sit down on his bed and start crying heavily, still infuriated that he would do that. "What happened here?" I look up to see my dad standing in the doorway.

Update!
I know it has been so very long since I've updated this story, and I am so very sorry for that! I obviously couldn't write for 8 weeks during basic training, but I didn't think I'd put off writing for this long! If it wasn't for the comments telling me to keep going I would have given up and left it unfinished. I have no excuses for my lack of motivation, but thanks for getting me to finally write another chapter! I will try to do a much better job of writing more as we go, I just needed to get back into it. I'm sorry for the sad ending to this chapter, I was in a pretty dark place mentally when I was planning how it would go all those months ago. Thanks for reading and for the constructive feedback!