This is both entry art and a story for Foxerfly #171. It's a story in pictures because this'll be a long tale and I don't want to bore the judge's eyes with a wall of text.
"You appear to be lost; here, let me show you the right path." Wildly looking around for the source of the noise you weren't expecting to hear on this deserted midnight street, your eyes fall upon a small silhouette in the darkness.
"No, I know my way around here," you lied guiltily, trembling slightly as you saw the shadowed figure approach. You gasped.
There in front of you, before your very eyes, sat a fox-like creature with a beautiful misty-blue pelt. How can this be? you thought. I must be dreaming. No fox on earth has blue fur like that, and no fox can talk outside of fantasy stories, that's for sure.
"No, you don't. You're fibbing; I can tell. I promise I won't hurt you. My only job on this earth is to guide people home to where they belong."
On this earth? As opposed to other life-supporting planets? What does he mean? you thought nervously, pulling your coat tighter around you as the mid-autumn breeze picked up, bearing a scent of smoke upon the stagnant air. A feeling of deep panic struck you.
"Where do you belong?" you said in a near whisper.
"A far-off place, one you wouldn't be familiar with," the fox said curtly, in a "don't-pursue-this-topic-because-it's-not-something-I-should-discuss" manner. "Now, do you want me to take you to your home or not?"
Not sure if you very much liked or trusted this fox, you wanted to decline, but instead, a "Yes, please" slipped out of your chapped lips. You were, after all, alone and astray, probably far from home in the dark. It wasn't like following him could make you extra-lost.
"Fine, then," he said, giving you a small smile despite his gruff reply. You sensed an air of fraudulence about him, like he was really quite sweet when not wearing his tough-guy face and masking his true self with cold words and narrowed eyes. You followed close behind him cautiously as he turned a corner. You had previously been standing in flickering lamplight, but now you struggled to see him and stick close as his black outline became blurred with the dimness enclosing you. Without warning, you tripped and fell over what must have been a crack in the sidewalk. Flailing your arms in front of you to break the fall, you came into contact with cold, solid pavement. Standing up dizzily, the fox turned around, looking at you angrily. You could almost feel the tension that clung in the air.
"Come, now, get on your feet; what are you, a mermaid?"
"No," you said heatedly, cheeks burning. What an embarrassment.
"Well, you walk just as well as one."
"How would you know? Have you seen a mermaid before?" you shot back sassily, dusting yourself off.
He didn't reply for several seconds. "Get on my back," he eventually said. "I'll carry you, before you break your nose."
He lowered himself and you clumsily got into a sitting position on the fox's back, clinging onto his luxuriously plush fur with your smarting hands, rough and stinging from where you had fallen.
"Hold tight," came his voice from somewhere in front of you, and you heeded his warning, not sure what to expect from this seemingly ethereal beast.
It was a good thing you listened, because the next thing you knew, you were rising into the air. A shimmering pair of moth-like wings that seemed to be woven with the stars themselves flicked up, one on each side of you, and began to beat gracefully as they carried the two of you into the air.
"Whoa! Put me back on the solid earth this instant!" you commanded, willing yourself not to look down as your feet left the ground.
He didn't respond. Instead, he sharply dropped several meters in just about a second like some sort of roller coaster. Taking you by surprise, you clung to his neck and nearly screamed aloud with mixed surprise and rage.
"That wasn't funny!" you yelled reproachfully as the fox once again rose, this time higher than before. Up and up you skyrocketed, over cars, lampposts, roofs, and Church towers. Soon you were level with the clouds, in what felt like next to no time at all.
"It kind of was, you have to admit!" called the voice of the fox from in front of you, chortling heartily at his little prank. "And it's going to just get crazier from here! Hold on tight!"
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, you thought, throwing your arms around the flying fox's neck and burying your clenched fists deep into his fur.
The next second, your stomach gave a horrible lurch as the fox began mounting higher in the air. His body twisted gracefully as he performed a loop-the-loop and proceeded to do a few vertical figure-eights. You were beginning to feel a bit airsick, what with being tossed around so much. Your hair fell into your face as the fox went upside-down again. He skimmed over the clouds, flapping about with a leisurely gait. You slowly reached out one hand to touch them and ran it through the soft, cottony mass, amazed. So this is what clouds felt like. You let out a whoop of excitement as the fox picked up speed, barreling straight into the cloud in front of him and emerging right through it with a satisfying "poof". Remnants of it stuck to you and you pried off the fleecy beard clinging to your chin, laughing gleefully. He then shot straight like a cork being shot out of a bottle through the air, spiraling his body at top speed so fast you thought he was exceeding the speed of sound. Your hair whipped backwards, but then flew back as he came to an abrupt halt in midair, hovering gently. "I think this is about right, if I'm not mistaken," he murmured to himself.
He gently lowered himself to the ground and soon you were greeted by your home.
It wasn't much at all. You lived in an alley, making your living amongst the overturned garbage bins and broken soda bottles. It was damp and dingy and often smelled of the pizza from the shop next door. The occasional rat crawled about and it frequently rained, but still, it was home to you and you somewhat liked it, despite the undesirable conditions.
"So, th-this is really where you live?" the fox said. The pity in his crackling voice was unmistakable.
"Yep," you said bluntly, crawling into your sleeping area: a small pile of newspapers and old, neglected, itchy sweaters underneath the hinged lid of a dumpster you had flipped over to form a small, sheltered spot. The fox sat down opposite you warily, brushing aside a crushed and mangled soda can.
"H-how do you even stand it here?"
You shrugged.
The fox-like being sighed, flattening his ears and looking about the place with a sullen frown creasing his snout.
"It's not right," he whispered, as you flattened out a corner of newspaper awkwardly.
"What's your name?" he asked next.
You responded and he nodded. "I see. Well, I'm Neverland. Um- d-do you want to come with me?"
"To where?" you asked curiously through a mouthful of chicken, which you had found on the ground while he was talking. Disgusted, you spat it out. Too cold.
"M-my home. Far, far away, where you never grow up."
"Never grow up? You mean, you can live forever?"
He nodded solemnly. "It's not because I'm being generous or anything," he said abruptly, flattening his ears defensively and snapping out of his soft tone of voice, returning to his forced rough growl. You looked taken aback.
He turned around, hiding his actions from your view, curling his tail around him. From a satchel tied to it he withdrew a silver whistle, gleaming even in the dim lamplight with a just-polished sheen. He put it to his lips and blew, but no sound came out.
"Grab hold of my tail," he said quickly, hurriedly replacing the whistle into the satchel and flicking his tail around behind him so it was extended towards you.
"What?"
"Just do it. Now." He snarled the last word and you did as you were told. A second later you were experiencing an odd tingling sensation, starting with your feet, like pins-and-needles. It soon crept through your whole body until you felt like you were vibrating. The surroundings all of a sudden changed in the blink of the eye from a run-down alleyway to a sandy expanse of beach. As soon as this occurred, your body stopped prickling all at once, rather than the gradual start it had received.
"We're here," said the beast named Neverland unnecessarily; it was obvious you had been transported somewhere very unlike the alley from thirty seconds ago.
You gasped. You had never seen any place like this before in your life. You were surrounded by a gorgeous view of white beach. Behind you, you could hear the crashing of breaking waves, and turned towards the sound, to be greeted by a sparkling, sapphire-blue ocean, crested with white foam. A rainbow arced overhead in the blissfully blue sky and the horizon kissed the water. Off in the distance behind the sandy dunes were green mountains, ready for climbing.
Neverland gave you a minute to look around and take in the beauty of his home.
"Neverland, it's beautiful!" you cried, overwhelmed with this paradise.
"And it's your new home, if you want it to be," he said, not even bothering to hide his shy grin this time.
You sprinted to the fox and hugged him. He had saved you from your abysmal existence, and you couldn't be happier. "Oh, yes!" you cried. "Neverland, thank you!"
He then circled you, sizing you up. "I think you'd make a good addition to the Lost Boy crew," he said after a moment's inspection. "Are you ready for adventure?"
"Oh, of course!"
"Well, you'll find it here around every corner. There's always something to do here," he said. "Come with me. We'll go see Peter."
"Peter?" you said inquisitively, catching up to the fox at a run and then falling into stride beside him. "You mean Peter Pan? Like in the movies and books?"
"The very same," said Neverland proudly. "Bet you thought that was just a fantasy tale, didn't you?"
You nodded.
Later that night, a grand party was thrown to celebrate your arrival. There was cheering, dancing, and laughter galore, and your shouts pierced the crisp night air. You had celebrated far into the night, and were growing tired, so Peter and Neverland, who seemed to be as close as brothers, lit a bonfire and had everyone sit around it.
"Welcome," said Neverland and Peter warmly, "to Neverland, where you never grow up!"
"You appear to be lost; here, let me show you the right path." Wildly looking around for the source of the noise you weren't expecting to hear on this deserted midnight street, your eyes fall upon a small silhouette in the darkness.
"No, I know my way around here," you lied guiltily, trembling slightly as you saw the shadowed figure approach. You gasped.
There in front of you, before your very eyes, sat a fox-like creature with a beautiful misty-blue pelt. How can this be? you thought. I must be dreaming. No fox on earth has blue fur like that, and no fox can talk outside of fantasy stories, that's for sure.
"No, you don't. You're fibbing; I can tell. I promise I won't hurt you. My only job on this earth is to guide people home to where they belong."
On this earth? As opposed to other life-supporting planets? What does he mean? you thought nervously, pulling your coat tighter around you as the mid-autumn breeze picked up, bearing a scent of smoke upon the stagnant air. A feeling of deep panic struck you.
"Where do you belong?" you said in a near whisper.
"A far-off place, one you wouldn't be familiar with," the fox said curtly, in a "don't-pursue-this-topic-because-it's-not-something-I-should-discuss" manner. "Now, do you want me to take you to your home or not?"
Not sure if you very much liked or trusted this fox, you wanted to decline, but instead, a "Yes, please" slipped out of your chapped lips. You were, after all, alone and astray, probably far from home in the dark. It wasn't like following him could make you extra-lost.
"Fine, then," he said, giving you a small smile despite his gruff reply. You sensed an air of fraudulence about him, like he was really quite sweet when not wearing his tough-guy face and masking his true self with cold words and narrowed eyes. You followed close behind him cautiously as he turned a corner. You had previously been standing in flickering lamplight, but now you struggled to see him and stick close as his black outline became blurred with the dimness enclosing you. Without warning, you tripped and fell over what must have been a crack in the sidewalk. Flailing your arms in front of you to break the fall, you came into contact with cold, solid pavement. Standing up dizzily, the fox turned around, looking at you angrily. You could almost feel the tension that clung in the air.
"Come, now, get on your feet; what are you, a mermaid?"
"No," you said heatedly, cheeks burning. What an embarrassment.
"Well, you walk just as well as one."
"How would you know? Have you seen a mermaid before?" you shot back sassily, dusting yourself off.
He didn't reply for several seconds. "Get on my back," he eventually said. "I'll carry you, before you break your nose."
He lowered himself and you clumsily got into a sitting position on the fox's back, clinging onto his luxuriously plush fur with your smarting hands, rough and stinging from where you had fallen.
"Hold tight," came his voice from somewhere in front of you, and you heeded his warning, not sure what to expect from this seemingly ethereal beast.
It was a good thing you listened, because the next thing you knew, you were rising into the air. A shimmering pair of moth-like wings that seemed to be woven with the stars themselves flicked up, one on each side of you, and began to beat gracefully as they carried the two of you into the air.
"Whoa! Put me back on the solid earth this instant!" you commanded, willing yourself not to look down as your feet left the ground.
He didn't respond. Instead, he sharply dropped several meters in just about a second like some sort of roller coaster. Taking you by surprise, you clung to his neck and nearly screamed aloud with mixed surprise and rage.
"That wasn't funny!" you yelled reproachfully as the fox once again rose, this time higher than before. Up and up you skyrocketed, over cars, lampposts, roofs, and Church towers. Soon you were level with the clouds, in what felt like next to no time at all.
"It kind of was, you have to admit!" called the voice of the fox from in front of you, chortling heartily at his little prank. "And it's going to just get crazier from here! Hold on tight!"
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, you thought, throwing your arms around the flying fox's neck and burying your clenched fists deep into his fur.
The next second, your stomach gave a horrible lurch as the fox began mounting higher in the air. His body twisted gracefully as he performed a loop-the-loop and proceeded to do a few vertical figure-eights. You were beginning to feel a bit airsick, what with being tossed around so much. Your hair fell into your face as the fox went upside-down again. He skimmed over the clouds, flapping about with a leisurely gait. You slowly reached out one hand to touch them and ran it through the soft, cottony mass, amazed. So this is what clouds felt like. You let out a whoop of excitement as the fox picked up speed, barreling straight into the cloud in front of him and emerging right through it with a satisfying "poof". Remnants of it stuck to you and you pried off the fleecy beard clinging to your chin, laughing gleefully. He then shot straight like a cork being shot out of a bottle through the air, spiraling his body at top speed so fast you thought he was exceeding the speed of sound. Your hair whipped backwards, but then flew back as he came to an abrupt halt in midair, hovering gently. "I think this is about right, if I'm not mistaken," he murmured to himself.
He gently lowered himself to the ground and soon you were greeted by your home.
It wasn't much at all. You lived in an alley, making your living amongst the overturned garbage bins and broken soda bottles. It was damp and dingy and often smelled of the pizza from the shop next door. The occasional rat crawled about and it frequently rained, but still, it was home to you and you somewhat liked it, despite the undesirable conditions.
"So, th-this is really where you live?" the fox said. The pity in his crackling voice was unmistakable.
"Yep," you said bluntly, crawling into your sleeping area: a small pile of newspapers and old, neglected, itchy sweaters underneath the hinged lid of a dumpster you had flipped over to form a small, sheltered spot. The fox sat down opposite you warily, brushing aside a crushed and mangled soda can.
"H-how do you even stand it here?"
You shrugged.
The fox-like being sighed, flattening his ears and looking about the place with a sullen frown creasing his snout.
"It's not right," he whispered, as you flattened out a corner of newspaper awkwardly.
"What's your name?" he asked next.
You responded and he nodded. "I see. Well, I'm Neverland. Um- d-do you want to come with me?"
"To where?" you asked curiously through a mouthful of chicken, which you had found on the ground while he was talking. Disgusted, you spat it out. Too cold.
"M-my home. Far, far away, where you never grow up."
"Never grow up? You mean, you can live forever?"
He nodded solemnly. "It's not because I'm being generous or anything," he said abruptly, flattening his ears defensively and snapping out of his soft tone of voice, returning to his forced rough growl. You looked taken aback.
He turned around, hiding his actions from your view, curling his tail around him. From a satchel tied to it he withdrew a silver whistle, gleaming even in the dim lamplight with a just-polished sheen. He put it to his lips and blew, but no sound came out.
"Grab hold of my tail," he said quickly, hurriedly replacing the whistle into the satchel and flicking his tail around behind him so it was extended towards you.
"What?"
"Just do it. Now." He snarled the last word and you did as you were told. A second later you were experiencing an odd tingling sensation, starting with your feet, like pins-and-needles. It soon crept through your whole body until you felt like you were vibrating. The surroundings all of a sudden changed in the blink of the eye from a run-down alleyway to a sandy expanse of beach. As soon as this occurred, your body stopped prickling all at once, rather than the gradual start it had received.
"We're here," said the beast named Neverland unnecessarily; it was obvious you had been transported somewhere very unlike the alley from thirty seconds ago.
You gasped. You had never seen any place like this before in your life. You were surrounded by a gorgeous view of white beach. Behind you, you could hear the crashing of breaking waves, and turned towards the sound, to be greeted by a sparkling, sapphire-blue ocean, crested with white foam. A rainbow arced overhead in the blissfully blue sky and the horizon kissed the water. Off in the distance behind the sandy dunes were green mountains, ready for climbing.
Neverland gave you a minute to look around and take in the beauty of his home.
"Neverland, it's beautiful!" you cried, overwhelmed with this paradise.
"And it's your new home, if you want it to be," he said, not even bothering to hide his shy grin this time.
You sprinted to the fox and hugged him. He had saved you from your abysmal existence, and you couldn't be happier. "Oh, yes!" you cried. "Neverland, thank you!"
He then circled you, sizing you up. "I think you'd make a good addition to the Lost Boy crew," he said after a moment's inspection. "Are you ready for adventure?"
"Oh, of course!"
"Well, you'll find it here around every corner. There's always something to do here," he said. "Come with me. We'll go see Peter."
"Peter?" you said inquisitively, catching up to the fox at a run and then falling into stride beside him. "You mean Peter Pan? Like in the movies and books?"
"The very same," said Neverland proudly. "Bet you thought that was just a fantasy tale, didn't you?"
You nodded.
Later that night, a grand party was thrown to celebrate your arrival. There was cheering, dancing, and laughter galore, and your shouts pierced the crisp night air. You had celebrated far into the night, and were growing tired, so Peter and Neverland, who seemed to be as close as brothers, lit a bonfire and had everyone sit around it.
"Welcome," said Neverland and Peter warmly, "to Neverland, where you never grow up!"
