Hey there everybody! Here is the newest chapter of The Door! As always, please feel free to leave a review, and of course, please enjoy!

 

 

The Door (Chapter 18)

 

by

 

Elite Shade

 

 

 

"So Lily...," Renato said, rubbing the back of his head, looking away a little nervously as the two stood on the roof of the hospital, staring at the impressive view of the cityscape before them, all of the different buildings and environments laid out all around them, "have you given any thought to what you are going to do and where you're going to be staying once the doctor's okay your release?"

 

Lily smiled, stifling a giggle at Renato's nervousness. Back on her world, being this close to a jaguar like him would have made her more than a little nervous.

 

"Indeed I have, Renato. After the incident with the armadillo the other day, I was approached by that nice rhino officer. We started talking and he told me about a program to help those...in between jobs and/or homes..." Lily said, looking down a little sadly. "Ed insisted that I didn't need a degree from college, that he would take care of everything...it's only now that I fully grasp just how much of my life I had given over to him..."

 

"Lily..." Renato started, unsure of what to say, stopping when he saw the bright smile that had started to bring a flutter in his stomach whenever he saw it on her face. He had read many times about how someone's smile could light up a room, but it was only after watching Lily smile that very first time after she had woken up, that he finally understood just what that meant.

 

"But now, I'm going to go back to school, thanks to the Fresh Start program! I still don't know what I want to do with myself, but this way, I'll be able to get some even footing. This way...my life is mine once more." Renato smiled.

 

"I'm very happy to hear that Lily." Renato said, meaning it.

 

"Renato?" Lily asked.

 

"Yes?"

 

"May I ask you something personal?"

 

"Of course!" Renato said, blushing a little while clearing his throat, realizing that he had sounded a little too eager to say yes. Lily giggled a little before continuing.

 

"Alright. Well, you stop by every day to see me, and I was wondering why?"

 

"Why?"

 

"Please don't think that I don't enjoy your company, I really do! It's just, I can't help but be a little curious. That's something we humans tend to be."

 

Renato smiled before answering. "Well...a number of reasons to be honest...but...well...it's nice to be around someone who isn't afraid of me..."

 

"Renato, why would anyone ever be afraid of you?"

 

"...Those of us who are predators...well, we're not always looked upon favorably...and thanks to this scar...well, I guess that I must look more intimidating that normal..." Renato sighed as he motioned to the scar near his eye.

 

"Well that is just downright ridiculous!" Lily said, surprising Renato.

 

"The entire time that I have known you, you have been nothing but sweet and kind. Anyone who wouldn't take the time to get to know you would be making a big mistake! I know that I'm glad that I did." She said.

 

"Uh..." Renato said, once more dumbfounded in her presence.

 

I wonder how she feels about rainforests? He thought to himself.

 

 

West Mammalia Middle School...

 

 

"And that class is the lunch bell." Mr. Thompson said to the mass of students who were eagerly starting to stand and make their way to the door. "Of course, for homework tonight, I expect you all to read chapter sixteen, and to do the questions at the end of the chapter." The smiling puma called out, hearing the collective groan.

 

"Oh yeah, now this is riding in style!" Mike said as he laid back on top of Eli's head, making Eli and Isaac laugh at the little mouse's antics.
"He does that to me all the time, by the way." Isaac explained to the human. "So Eli, what are you?"

 

"Huh? I'm human." Eli answered a little confused.

 

"No, I mean, are you prey or predator?" The excited coyote asked, his tail wagging as the three headed for the cafeteria. So far, Eli had found that he shared all of his classes with Isaac and Mike, which made him feel much more comfortable with the stares he had been receiving since first period. No one had been openly hostile towards him, in fact, several of his classmates had been polite and courteous of him. If anything, the rest just seemed to be nervous around him.

 

"Uhm...well, I'm a-an omnivore..." Eli said, shyly, which Isaac didn't pick up on in the slightest.

 

"Cool! Alien Predators! That sounds like it could make for an awesome space horror movie!" The coyote boy said as they made their ways to an empty table, with Eli smiling a little.

 

"Once again, please forgive Isaac for his lack of tact, Eli." Mike said as he jumped down to Eli's shoulder, walking down his arm to the tabletop to sit right down.

 

"I-It's okay, really." Eli said as he and mike pulled out similar-looking lunch bags, not counting for size of course, while Isaac pulled out a little mini-cooler.

 

"So, did you pack your own lunch, or did one of your parents pack it for you?" Isaac casually asked as he opened his cooler and pulled out a soda, a sandwich in a baggie, and an apple. Mike pulled out a miniature version of all of that while Eli pulled out his fruit salad, carrot sticks, and a juice box, now looking a little more uncomfortable. Mike, picking up on this, ran over and kicked Isaac's paw.

 

"Ow! What was that for?"

 

"You gotta stop doing that Isaac." Mike said as he walked back over to where he had been sitting between the two, eyeing the lack of meat in Eli's current lunch.

 

"I thought that you said that you were an omnivore?" Isaac said as he noticed the fruit and veggie combo as well.

 

"My...my...uh...the person taking care of me is a rabbit." Eli explained.

 

"Was that her standing with you at the bus stop this morning?" Mike asked, not pressing further after Eli nodded.

 

"So is she your new mom? OW!" Isaac asked before Mike was kicking his paw again.

 

"What?!"

 

 

The remainder of lunch and one more period later...

 

 

"This is sooooo cool!" Isaac said as he jogged around Eli. "All of our classes are together!"

 

"Please stop jumping!" Mike said from atop Isaac's head this time, making Eli giggle. "It's not funny, this is going to give me motion sickness!" Mike complained as Isaac finally calmed down, just before they entered the last classroom of the day.

 

"Omph!" Eli said as he collided with a zebra girl in a red dress. "Oh, uhm, s-sorry." He apologized to her.

 

"It's okay. Hey, you're that human boy everyone's been talking about!" She said with wide eyes. Eli nodded in response.

 

"I g-guess..." Eli said, feeling a little nervous and blushing as a result.

 

"I'm Lyla." She said, holding out her hoof to shake. Eli very gingerly shook it, blushing a little more.

 

"I-I'm Eli." He said, which apparently Lyla found amusing, as she started giggling a little, before the warning bell rang, and the remaining students found their seats, with Eli sitting in between Mike and Isaac's desks.

 

"I see that you met Lyla." Mike said before a hippo in a pair of khaki slacks and a sweater vest entered.

 

"Alright everybody, I know that you're all itching to get this class over and done with so that you can all head on home, but I'm still going to need you all to focus long enough for the next fifty five minutes." He said with a smile and a deep voice. Mr. Treader Eli read on the name plaque on the teacher's desk.

 

"Okay, now everyone, get out your text books and turn to chapter twenty four." Everyone complied, pulling out their history books and turning to the appropriate pages.

 

 

Meanwhile, at Eyevory Tusks in Tundra Town...

 

 

"Ahhhh." Phyllis said as she observed Baily shuffle and lay out his spread, smiling as she heard him chant the little section of the poem.
An excellent mantra! She thought to herself.

 

"So far, your knowledge of your cards' meanings and the different spreads is impressive!" Phyllis said, stopping Baily before he could read aloud the meaning of this fifth spread she had asked him to do.

 

"What about rune stones?"

 

"I'm afraid that I haven't had the opportunity to practice with those madam." Baily said while Arnie, Chaz, and Sophia sat nearby, watching.

 

"Well, admittedly, we don't get asked to perform a rune stone reading very often, still, that's going to need to be something for you to learn more about during your training period."

 

"Yes madam." Baily said, a little nervously to the elephant fortune teller before him, making her chuckle.

 

"No need to be nervous hon. You're going to do splendidly, I can tell. Here, I have a book on how to read rune stones, and you can use the official shop pouchful for practice, alright?"

 

"Thank you!" Baily said after accepting the small paperback booklet and the satin purple pouch.

 

"Now, have you ever done a Paw Reading?" Baily quietly shook his head. "Not a problem. That's something that's easy to get the hang of. Here's another booklet. Granted, this is now officially outdated, thanks to the discovery of a mysterious new species of mammal." Phyllis said with a conspiratorial wink. "But that can be amended in the later editions that will most likely be printed soon enough. Now, tell me, how are you set with your crystal ball reading?"

 

"Uhhh..."

 

"I see, well, this one happens to be my specialty, so I'll be personally training you in it myself." Arnie rolled his eyes as his aunt pulled out a well-polished crystal ball from behind a false panel in the nearby wall.

 

Same old Aunt Phyllis. He thought with a light chuckle.

 

 

Back at ZPD Precinct 1...

 

 

"Uhh...Chief?" Clawhauser asked as he entered the open door. The massive cape buffalo waved him in as he listened to the phone.

 

"I see, thank you. Yes, please keep me informed of any other incidents. Good-bye." Bogo hanged up and looked at the cheetah before him.

 

"Were you able to pull that report Clawhauser?"

 

"Y-Yes sir!" Benjamin said as he extended a folder to the Chief, who took it in his hooves and started leafing through it.

 

"You confirmed this?" He asked while looking up.

 

"Yes sir. Twice!"

 

"I see..." Bogo then started to scratch his chin. "From here on out, you are to keep quiet about what you've learned, understood?"

 

"Yes sir, but..."

 

"But what?"

 

"Why can't we tell anyone else?"

 

"Well, for starters, the truth is more than likely going to be revealed sooner or later. We have to remain objective is all, therefore, no comments to the press about any of this just yet. After what I heard from a few friends of mine from other precincts, and what I've read here, it's clear that whatever this is, this is not an invasion by the human species. If anything, this is more like a refugee situation, considering the conditions all of the other ones around the world have, so far, been found in."

 

"H-How many more have been found?" Benjamin asked in awe.

 

"With this report here, that confirms just over three dozen in total. And I'm still waiting several calls back. I don't know why this isn't already headline news, but we have to be careful how we act, understood. If we want to make sure that these mammals aren't put in any further risk, we have to get in front of this news with confirmed facts, and maybe a few more interviews. Until then, I want you at your post, working as usual, and keeping me informed of any more humans that might be found the moment you hear any kind of report of one, understood?"

 

"Yes sir!" Clawhauser saluted with resolve, making the Chief crack a slight smile.

 

"Get back to it then!" Clawhauser nodded and excitedly scurried away.

 

 

Back on the school bus...

 

 

Mike was gently snoring on Eli's head as Eli sat down in an empty seat on the bus, followed by Isaac, shortly before the bus took off.

 

"He stayed up late last night watching a marathon of this cartoon about these four kids in some mountain town. My folks won't let me watch it because it can be a little graphic," Isaac said while making air-quotes while rolling his eyes, "but the few episodes I have seen were hilarious!"

 

"Really, what's it called?"

 

"The Parks of the South. Weird name I know." Eli smiled as he and Isaac chatted until they got to Isaac's stop. He had learned that the reason Isaac wasn't on the bus tonight was because he caught a ride with his older brother that morning, on his brother's way to work. All too soon, they were pulling up to Eli's stop.

 

"Gotta phone?" Isaac asked, his tail wagging when Eli pulled his phone out. Isaac took it from him for a few moments, entering his number into it before handing it back. "There ya go! Now we can chat some more. I know that this is probably pretty primitive compared to what your people are used to." Isaac said as Eli stood up to leave.

 

"Not really." Eli said as he was soon pushed forward by the surging kids quickly making their way off the bus.

 

 

At the Hopps residence...

 

 

Nick smirked as he played a racing game, watching Judy pace back and forth nervously, occasionally looking up at the clock.

 

"I don't think that I've ever seen you this nervous before, carrots." Nick said before taking a sip from his soda.

 

"So I'm a little worried about Eli's first day of school." Judy defended. Nick was about to say something but stopped when they both heard the front door open, and saw Eli walk in, a little surprised to see the two of them right there in the living room.

 

"I-I'm back." He said.

 

"Welcome home sweetie!" Judy said rushing over to hug his legs. Eli blushed, and smiled, as he bent down to hug his rabbit caretaker back. They stayed like that for a few moments before they ended the hug.

 

"So how was your day?" She asked as she led him over to the couch, Eli taking his backpack off and setting it right next himself.

 

"It was...really nice..." Eli said, smiling a little, seeing the bright smile on Judy's face at the news.

 

"Really? That's wonderful sweetie!"

 

"I was a little nervous, but..."

 

"But what?"

 

"I...I think that I might have made some...friends today..."

 

"Oh, that's amazing hon!" Judy gushed, before she looked over to the sound if a loud throat clearing coming from the fox on her couch, who was looking at her with one raised eyebrow.

 

Right...I'm not going to chicken out... Judy said as she squared her shoulders.

 

"Uhm...Eli..." She said, now feeling even more nervous than before, "there is something that I've been needing to ask you..."
"What is it Judy?" Eli asked, now starting to feel nervous himself.

 

Judy took a breath and pressed on. "Eli...w-well...firstly, you don't need to answer me right away...I was just...I mean...what do you think about the idea of...me...officially...adopting you...?" The room was silent as Eli sat there. Before he could answer, though, he was interrupted by a loud yawn.

 

"Hey Eli, we at your stop yet?" Mike asked, from atop of Eli's head, who just now remembered the mouse sleeping up there on the bus.

 

 

I sure do hope that you enjoyed this newest chapter!