Arctic Dogs: Metamorphosis

Chapter 16 - I Lived

The Second Week of November 2017

Saturday, 12th Week of SwiftyTV's Senior Year

Mengcheng University of Science and Technology's Dormitory Complex

9.30am

The first thing Swifty knew that he passed out was when he opened his eyes. Immediately, he recognised the house he was in: it was Duke's house inside the complex. The second thing he noticed was the fragrance coming from the kitchenette as someone was cooking breakfast. Third and finally...

He was sleeping on a couch, his jacket used as a makeshift blanket.

The arctic fox got up from the couch and he witnessed Duke cooking breakfast. Jade was already awake, perhaps also sleeping inside the house to make sure he was alright. The smell of coffee lured Swifty to the table.

"Rise and shine, you sleepy cloud," Jade kissed Swifty in the forehead. A morning kiss, how new.

"Did I pass out from the alcohol?" Swifty knew the answer already. Rather than agreeing directly, Jade replied, "Maybe it must be the crap beer Duke bought for us."

They both laughed. The beer they drank was nearly undrinkable, but they still drank that yellow crap, anyway.

Duke served Swifty and Jade a stack of four pancakes each. "My hangover cure," Duke poured copious amounts of maple syrup onto each of their stacks. Swifty and Jade gobbled down the fluffy cakes with ease and washed down the sweetness with their cup of black coffee. Soon, Swifty started to feel better from last night's hangover.

"Thanks for organising the party, Duke," Swifty felt grateful for his mate. The husky accepted the compliments and told him the rest of his crew had left. "They got back to the apartment via taxi. PB notified me when they got home," Duke washed up the plates before taking off his apron.

Duke planned to drive Swifty and Jade back to the apartment, but Jade suggested they had a walk within the complex first. A morning stroll should aid in their digestion.

Five minutes later, they got out of Duke's dorm and took a walk around the complex. Winter was about to come, and the weather was feeling chilly. Most of the leaves had turned orange and fell onto the ground as the groundskeeper swept the leaves away from the cobblestone pathways. It had been two years since they left the place where Swifty and his team created SwiftyTV as a change in the new direction of Swifty's old channel. That was back when they spend their money on cheap, frozen meals, textbooks and dreams. Now, times had changed for the better and they can afford fresher food and technology needed to get their channel going.

They soon arrived outside of what used to be the SwiftyTV's house. Duke excused himself as he headed to the carpark to start up his sedan's engine. Swifty and Duke settled in on a wooden bench that faced their old house.

(Song: "Good Enough" by Annica Milan and Kimmo Blom)

They watched the dorm-mates inside their old house enjoying their morning coffee together. "Don't you remember those times together?" Jade started talking.

"Yeah, the good old times. Why do we have to bring this up again?"

"Swifty, those are splendid memories."