Living on Borrowing

"How could this happen!?" Sam muttered to himself as he navigated the titanic landscape that was a kitchen countertop. The human's eyes frantically scanned for a place to hide from the predators that pursued him. Though he didn't have much to work with, he found a small space between a large chrome toaster and the wall. Nearly falling over in an effort to change direction mid stride, Sam made for the toaster. He scrambled to get into the small gap, pressing himself as far back as he could. After a few tense moments passed, he sank to a sitting position and hugged his knees to his chest.


"I'm going to check the kitchen!" A distant female voice called out.


Sam's heart began to flutter about in his chest as the thought of one of those giant creatures searching for him nearby made him uncomfortable to say the least, not a small feat as there was very little that unsettled him. Broken bones, dislocated joints, explosions, even gunfire hadn't been able to phase him... but this was a whole new ball game. He could hear the sound of heavy footsteps entering the kitchen as one of the creatures set into the task of searching the kitchen.


"Where could you be hiding?" The owner of the voice mused as she moved about the kitchen. With each passing moment the human's worry grew as he heard his pursuer opening cabinets and moving bowls as she searched the kitchen. "I know you must be terrified of us, but we won't hurt you. We just want to know more about you, that's all."


Sam remained silent as he tried his best to control his breathing. He wasn't sure if her hearing was that good, but he didn't want to the chance that it wasn't.


A muffled shout came from another room in the house. The giant in the room with him sighed before calling back, "No luck yet!"


The human withdrew to the confines of his mind wondering what he missed. At some point there must've been something he missed. Obviously she'd noticed him... but when? She played it off so well, pretending not to notice that he was there until she could get everything in place to catch him. She'd even enlisted the help of her friends. It had happened so fast, initially he'd made his daily run to the breadbox. He slipped in through the little crack where the door didn't quite close all the way. He unfastened the tie with care and great effort to access the bread, tearing off a few small pieces to eat before replacing the tie to the best of his ability and returning to his hole in the wall. He looked both ways and made sure it was safe to return. He left no traces behind, and yet he found his hole had been crudely sealed by a cardboard box the size of a house. At first it seemed to been bad timing and coincidence, but it was a bit too convenient for Sam to be so naive so as to believe such a notion. Chills ran down his spine as his eyes teared up when a large shadow fell over him and eclipsed the artificial lighting from above.


"Wow... he really is real..." a male voice noted in disbelief.


Sam turned to face the shadow, time seemed to slow as he stared up at a giant fox. The fox though, shared humanoid traits with Sam. He stood upright and was clothed in grey cargo pants and a plain green t-shirt. A canine snout protruded from his face while pointed fox ears poked out atop either side of his head. As befitting a fox his fur was colored as such with orange being the dominating color. The underside of his chin, muzzle and neck were white while the ends of his hands were black. His fur was a little unkempt, but he stood with confidence and he seemed to be the type that kept in shape, though not to an overbearing extent.


Sam remained silent and frozen in place until the fox began to inch closer. Rather than wait to see what his intentions were, he opted to run. He scampered off away from the giant creature and rounded the corner where he skidded to a stop once again to find another titan looking for him, this one being a raccoon. Though she had her back to him at the moment she was the only one he recognized as the house was owned by her. She wore a pink tank top and a pair of loose fitting denim jeans. She had shoulder length black hair and a cream colored muzzle. Just below the waistline of her jeans was a long furry black and brown striped tail that swayed in a relaxed manner as she scanned the living room with her hand raised to her muzzle as she tapped a finger to her chin in thought. Two wide, pointed ears covered in black fur sat on top of her head. She was rather slender in form, her muscles well toned and her fur groomed to match. Sam started to back away from the Raccoon when the fox came barreling around the corner.


"Shelly, he's behind you!" The fox called excitedly.


The raccoon froze and turned to face the small human. Time seemed to stop as her teal eyes locked onto him the black 'mask' of fur around them seemed to highlight Eire color. The fox held his ground behind Sam to block his escape while the raccoon crouched down and moved closer to make an attempt at grabbing him. Sam knew that he only had one chance to get out of reach, and it required perfect timing.


"Easy there little guy," The 'coon whispered as she got down on her knees. Her expression was a mixture of wonder, excitement and curiosity. She slowly began to reach for Sam prompting him to step back. But in his mind he knew if he went too far back he'd be within striking distance of the fox. Shelly began to crawl forward on her hands and knees. Unable to back up any further Sam held his ground as the enormous raccoon began to take up his field of vision. She extended her arm out even further towards him. So close was her hand that he was able to make out the teal painted claws on the ends of her fingers. It took every ounce of willpower that he had not to run until the time was right. Just as her fingers reached him, Sam dashed forward and sprinted underneath her catching both the raccoon and fox off guard. "Hey, Wait!" Shelly cried as Sam passed between her knees and ran past her feet.


The fox was the first to react and dove forward to catch the fleeing human, but in his excitement he only managed to crash into Shelly and topple her over. Shelly looked over at the fox irritably while the fox was scanning the floor frantically in search of their lost quarry.


Since then Sam had managed to scale the side of the kitchen counter and now here he was. The confused human was torn from his thoughts when four clawed digits wrapped around the side of the toaster and scooted it away from the wall.


"There you are!" Shelly beamed as light flooded in to Sam's hiding place and backlit the Raccoon.


Sam shook his in disbelief as he backed away from Shelly and was about to turn and run yet again when a glass came down from above and sealed him in place. The sudden appearance of the clear cylinder seemed to shock Shelly too. A grey clawed hand was clasped around the side of the glass. Following the hand up to its owner, Sam found his current captor to be a shark. With an angular snout, piercing gold eyes and bluish grey skin, it was hard to imagine her as being anything else. She wore a red t shirt that said 'shark week' across her breasts. The faintest trace of gills on either side of her neck could be made out. Her hair was long and black with purple highlights. She had it tied back in a ponytail, allowing it to flow down her back out from a sky blue bandanna.


"Great job Mako!" Shelly grinned as she gave the shark a thumbs up. The shark smiled warmly back at Shelly before turning her attention back to you. She eyed her captive with curiosity but kept her distance, unlike Shelly who nearly had her face pressed against the side of the cup trying to take in Sam's every detail.


Before long he found himself sitting on a tabletop under a glass in the center of these three giants who regarded him with curiosity and amazement.


"Any idea what it is?" Shelly asked the other two.


Mako shook her head, "None, though I have to admit that it seems intelligent."


"Clearly," The Fox agreed, "But I've never seen anything like it."


Shelly seemed to withdraw within the recesses of her mind for a few moments while Mako and the fox; who was named in conversation as Theo, continued to speculate.


Sam continued to sit quietly before deciding that he had to be the one to make the next move. He stood up and moved as far as the glass would allow. He pressed his hands against he glass and stared up at each of the three creatures, but only Shelly seemed to regard him as the other two were still speculating about the human. Her teal eyes peered at him. As she gazed at him she could read the intelligence behind his expression, she then realized the maybe they'd been going about this all wrong. They had been speculating, theorizing and assuming, but the one thing they did not do... was ask...


Shelly leaned forward so that he tip of her nose was near the glass, "Can you... understand me?" She asked with hesitance. To her surprise Sam responded with a nod. By now Mako and Theo had stopped conversion, their eyes were glued on the tiny creature that had demonstrated sentience behind its actions. "Can you talk?" Shelly asked, her eyes seeming to glow with hope while Theo and Mako watched with baited breath.


The question hung in the air for what seemed an hour as Sam debated on whether to press further and actually identify himself as a human being, a species that was apparently alien to them. His thoughts shifted and bubbled as he argued with himself. What would they do if they found out he could speak and was capable of complex thought? Would they dissect him, turn him over to some sort of university for study? Would they play with him like some sort disposable toy?


While Sam mentally wrestled with his fear and rationality to predict the possible outcomes, the light in Shelly's eyes died as her ears began to droop a little. "I guess that was a bit too much to hope for, huh?" She asked as she smiled sadly.


"Yes," Sam replied, "I can talk."


Shelly's ears perked up as her jaw hung slightly open. Sure, she had hoped for a response and maybe even expected one to an extent. But that didn't make it any less spectacular.


"What are you?" Shelly asked.


"I'm a human," Sam replied.


Theo put a hand to his chin, "Human..." He muttered to himself.


"How long have you been here?" Shelly asked, "I first noticed you about two weeks ago." Shelly noticed that he seemed hesitant to reply. At first she wondered why and then it hit her like a brick over the head; he was afraid that she'd see him as a thieving little pest that had been stealing food from her. "It's alright, I won't be mad. You had to eat and you needed a place to stay. If your guilty for needing those things then we all are."


"It's been hard to keep track of time... but seven weeks by my estimate," Sam replied.


"Seven weeks!?" Mako and Shelly exclaimed.


"And you're alone?" Theo asked.


It was then that a pang of loneliness struck out against Sam's heart. He'd been so worried about survival and staying healthy and clean that he hadn't had time to realize that he was completely and totally alone.


"Yes..." Sam replied absently as tears began to form in his eyes, "As far as I know I'm the only one of my kind here and I've been alone since a got here...."


The giant faces that loomed above and had been painted colorfully with excitement and joy were now filled with concern and sorrow.


"So..." Mako started, "You've had to live in these walls on your own, hiding in the darkness and sneaking food with nobody to talk to for two months?"


The human nodded in response as tears began to flow down his cheeks and drip down onto the wooden surface he stood on as he realized for the first time, the emotional burden and stress he had been carrying. It was as though he'd been in some horrible accident days ago and none of the pain or trauma had caught up with him up until now. Like a sonic boom following a fighter jet, the pain had finally caught up with Sam and hit him all at once.


"That must have been rough," Theo murmured.


Shelly reached forward and removed the glass from over Sam. She the gently took him into her hands. The small human had barely even registered that he was no longer on the table. With his face a tangled mess of emotion, he looked up at Shelly.


The raccoon smiled, "Its okay now. We'll take good care of you. You don't have to be scared and lonely anymore."


With those three sentences, Shelly had managed to release Sam from the crushing and overwhelming surge of emotions he was caught up in. He realized now that he was safe, he didn't have to be brave anymore... he could relax. And with that realization, the human broke down and began sobbing uncontrollably in Shelly's hand as the mental dam that held the torrent of mixed emotions at bay broke.


Shelly rubbed his back with her thumb as he fell to pieces in her hands, "Shh... it's okay," She whispered, "Just let it all out..."


After his emotional outburst and all the events of the day, Sam found himself exhausted. His tiredness coupled with Shelly's warm hands made him drowsy. In a matter of seconds, sleep overcame him.


"So what now?" Mako asked.


"Now we make him comfortable," Theo stated, "I'm sure he's not ready to completely trust us yet. But I know he didn't just stroll in here one night and decide to start living in the walls here for the fun of it. He's got a story to tell, and we can't help him until he tells it. But he won't tell it unless we make him feel safe and like he can trust us."


"I think we can handle that," Shelly smiled as she looked down on Sam's sleeping form.


To Be Continued.....