The Fox, Red

001 - Who is The Fox, Red?

All my life I worked hard, in school, in life, at home, and in the world. Hell, I had my first job at 16 working in my high school science department cleaning up, setting up, and tearing down labs after classes were done for the day. Minimum wage with minimum hours yet oddly satisfying. It got my feet into the workforce I would be sent into one day.

Even so, it still didn't feel like it was for me. There are plenty of opportunities out there to find what I want to do. Science was my strongest subject throughout school. I destroyed chemistry throughout the full year I took it. I'm not a straight-A student but the high marks sure looked good standing out against the rest.

I did take a few creative electives as I went through. I loved one of the literature classes I chose to take. It was focused on myths and legends of Greco-Roman culture. It was very interesting how the stories they told were woven together to create this greater narrative. It pulled a lot of my attention for a while. Something about the myths and legends resonated with me. If I had to describe it, I would say it seemed to hit close.

They emphasized the struggles of man against these all-powerful beings they called gods as they called their powers. It struck me as strange how these beings used their powers though. Sure, there were uses against what was perceived as evil but it seemed a lot of it was for their purposes anyway.

I kept with the class for a long while. It went through a lot of different cultures of legends. Norse, Asian, European, and South American; there were a lot and some were hard to keep up with.

Even so! I made it through high school. Graduation day came and went with its song and dance of everyone dressed up in a gown with parents looking on with a sense of pride for their child.

I feel like I missed out on a few things though. I made friends, no problem, but I didn't do much more than that socially. Never really went out, never got into trouble, and didn't have a girlfriend either. I watched a lot of my friends find others they were interested in and a lot of those relationships failed. But they learned! They got an experience that they learned from. I look at that and can only think to myself "What if I got to experience that?"

I'm not a bad-looking dude. I think. 5' 10", active but not built. I keep it casual most of the time with clothes that are just comfortable. Shorts when it's warm, long jeans when it's not. Simple shirts with some type of print and my best friend in the cold is a thick hoodie that matches my fur color. For a fox though, I'm pretty plain. I would lose myself in a crowd if I had to find myself.

So where am I now in life? Well, finished high school, and the first major hurdle of life is getting out of the public school system. My grades were good enough that I could easily get into a decent college of my choice and pursue just about anything I wanted.

Science seemed to be the most obvious one. I did so well with all the classes presented to me yet the literature classes still followed me. The legends just felt like a home for my imagination. Could I be a writer? Should I go into science and engineering?

I think that making a decision now would be too much. Graduation just happened a few hours ago. My graduation gown isn't even cold from me wearing it. I'm just glad it was done early in the morning. It leaves the rest of the day for parties and students to hang out with one another. I have my own plans though.

I didn't get to celebrate it because of finals and preparations for graduation but I turned 18 a few weeks ago. My good neighbor remembered though and she said if I made it through the ceremony she would treat me to something for my birthday.

She and I have known each other for a long time. Her parents moved here from India to start a new life. They're doing well for themselves. Her father started in a sales position and did well with it quickly working up the company ladder to a high place. Her mother did something more creative and designed dresses based on a mix of clothing from their home country and the style they saw when they first arrived here 30 years ago.