Like Taking a Photo

Chapter 3: Full Circle

A dejected deer walked through the front door of the countryside home, closing the door behind him. He was dressed in the only formal outfit he has, a navy suit and pants with a red tie to match his eyes. Sulking through the home, he began to loosen his tie. He hears a voice from the couch.

"Another bad one?" came the sympathetic voice of his new roommate.

"Yeah." was all Reid could say.

"It will happen, I know it will. You just have to keep trying." Kitsy said reassuringly.

Continuing to the guest room, Reid went inside and shut the door. He undressed and put on some more comfortable clothing. A white tank-top, with dark, elastic pants. He came out and sat on the couch next to his goat friend. The two sat in silence for a while. Pretty soon the two began to feel hungry. Kitsy spoke up first.

"Hey, how about I cook lunch? I know you're still uneasy about all that after everything that happened."

Reid gave a pat on Kitsy's shoulder. "No, it's ok. I think I've put it behind me. I need to get back into it before I forget everything."

Reid stood up and went into the kitchen. He was working like he never lost a beat. He made a beautiful salad. It was picture-perfect. Him and his friend both were amazed at how it turned out. They ate their servings and needless to say, it was absolutely delicious.

After everything was cleaned up, and the dishes were washed, Reid sat on the couch looking through his phone at job listings.

"Reid, I'm off to visit my mate, I'll be back later this evening." He heard Kitsy say from behind him.

"Ok, have fun!" Reid says with faux excitement.

He wanted his friend to be happy, and he liked to be supportive, but he tends to get jealous of other people's relationships. He never was very good in that area. He has had a relationship before, but it didn't turn out well. He was just wondering when the right one will come around.

He shook those thoughts out of his head and continued looking through the job listings. So many jobs, none of which were calling out to him.

"Crap. Nope. No. Not enough pay. I've done that before. No."

Each passing job was making the deer more and more frustrated. He couldn't find a single one that was interesting, or he was qualified for. He felt as if cooking was the only thing he was good at, and the only thing close was a waiter and a dishwasher. Reid growled at the lack of progress and tossed his phone aside, which landed on the carpeted floor next to the couch. He stood up and began to pace around.

"I will never be anything. I'm just a dumb deer, who can only do one thing. Nobody wants me, nobody needs me. I'm just gonna be here, mooching off my friend forever!"

He knew he had to calm down. There was only one thing he could think of that could help calm his stress. He walked to the table and grabbed his keys. He left as quick as he could.

Reid was driving. He figured that a nice relaxing drive would help settle his mind. It was actually working. He was listening to good music, he had the window down, feeling the nice, cool breeze coming in. He felt peace finally reaching him, for the first time in a while he felt no stress at all. But he let his focus drift from the road ahead of him.

A car was stopped feet in front of the car. Reid saw it at the last second and swerved out of the way. The swerve was so abrupt, that two of the wheels lifted off the ground as the car began to tumble. 1, 2, 3, 4-times the car cartwheeled before finally resting on it's side about 20 feet from the road. The car was crumbled, smoking. He was unconscious.

"Hey! You ok?! Can you hear me?!"
"Call an ambulance!"
"If you can hear me, we're getting help! It'll be ok!"
"Is he ok?"
"I don't know. He's not talking."

LATER: Reid opened his eyes. He was laying in an unfamiliar room. It was dimly lit, and cold. He looked around and realized he was in a hospital room. He began to panic slightly, but almost immediately he was interrupted by the door opening. In walked a black fox with yellow-tipped ears, yellow nose, and glasses. He was wearing a doctor's coat so Reid assumed he was here to check in. However walking in right behind him was a surprisingly familiar face.

Coming in from behind the doctor was a brown horse. He wore a gray tank top and brown cargo pants. This was CJ, the same horse that helped when Reid ran out of gas the other day.

The doctor spoke up first. "Good evening Mr. Reid, my name is Dr. Shaggy I'm the one who has been keeping an eye on you. You were in a car accident earlier today. But luckily, you wore your seat belt. You do have a couple bruised ribs, and whiplash it seems. But other than that, nothing really to be concerned about. You're a lucky deer."

CJ Spoke next. "Hey, um ... Reid, right? I was driving by and saw a car that was flipped off the road. I stopped to help and recognized the car, and saw you inside. Someone had already called for an ambulance, and when they came to get you, I followed back here."

Reid was at a loss for words. He soon realized something. "Oh, shit. I need to call my friend to make sure he knows I'm ok."

Dr. Shaggy jumped in. "When you came in, you had nothing on you. No phone, wallet or anything."

CJ let Reid use his phone to call Kitsy. After a short conversation, he said he'd be there shortly. Reid gave the phone back to CJ.

"Thank you, CJ." Reid said slightly blushing. "I appreciate you stopping to help."

"Not a problem." CJ said.

He placed his hand on Reid's arm, causing his blush to deepen. After a while, Kitsy came through the door. He paused, seeing the strange horse standing there.

"Oh, hello." Kitsy said.

CJ waived. Reid spoke. "Hey Kit, this is CJ. He found my car and followed the ambulance here. He was the one who helped me when I ran out of gas that day."

The three talked about what happened and Dr. Shaggy interrupted after a few minutes. "Well, Mr. Reid, it looks like you are fit enough to leave. Just be careful and don't overwork yourself."

The three walked out of the hospital, slowly, as to not cause Reid any unneeded strain. They walked to Kitsy's car and helped Reid inside. The door closed once he was seated. CJ tapped Kitsy on the shoulder. He had his hand out with a small piece of paper in it.

"Give this to him, would ya?" he asked softly. Not making direct eye contact. "I wanna make sure he heals alright." He walked off to his awaiting truck.

Kitsy looked at the paper and saw a phone number. He gave a smile and stuck the paper in his pocket, before walking around to the other side of the car and getting inside. He smiled and thought to himself.

"This should be fun."

AT HOME: Kitsy helped Reid into the house, and sat him on the couch. Reid let out a sigh and let his head fall backward. What else can go wrong? At this thought, he saw an arm appear out in front of him, holding a small piece of paper.

"What's this?" He asked, taking it from Kitsy's paw.

Looking at it he saw a phone number written on it. He had a confused look. His head tilted as he stared at it.

"Umm, ok? Are you changing your number, or something?" Reid asked.

Kitsy laughed. "No, you goof. CJ told me to give this to you. I think someone likes you."

Reid stared at the number. The skin under his fur returning back to it's slightly red hue.