Fox on the Run (Part 2)

Find out how a family of foxes are helped by an old man with a pink pointed hat. He's not what he seems...

Art by Simone Ford

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The old man woke up with a yawn. He stretched his ancient bones and with a grumble jumped up from bed. I might seem old, he thought, but I've never felt younger! He smiled and with that clapped his hands. The curtains of the windows opened, letting the rays of the sun stream in and the smell of something cooking filled the air. The old man hummed and his pink monkey pajamas were replaced by a long silky pink robes and a pointed hat appeared on his white hair with pink streaks. The pink hat was in the shape of a cone and it's tip was sharp and pointed. Only certain people had hats and robes like that. The man walked down the stairs and sat down to eat a breakfast that had been prepared by invisible hands.

The foxes had been awake since dawn. Exhaustion fogged their eyes; their sleep had been plagued by nightmares of the day before. A deep hole burned their hearts, where once the small male pup had filled it. But their stomachs grumbled with hunger.

Food, the remaining pup whined, I want food. The father shushed her and they followed the vixen. They ran through the forest, following the smell of rabbits.

Slowly, the forest thinned, until the foxes found themselves in a clearing. The grass was short, as if trimmed every morning, and the stench of humans reappeared in the air. The foxes turned around to leave wanting nothing to do with the horrible beasts, when all of a sudden they saw them.

Two rabbits, plump and fresh, were hopping around innocently on the grass. They were a strange color, one that the foxes usually only saw on young strawberries and certain types of flowers. Pink. Pink rabbits. But they smelled so good.

The vixen licked her snout and crouched down. She padded softly on the grassy floor, one step at the time, until she was so close to the rabbits she could practically taste them. With a silent growl she pounced onto her prey.

In mid jump, something curious happened. The vixen froze. She was just floating there above the rabbits, not one muscle in her body able to move. A man, dressed in a similar pink to the rabbits appeared in front of her. The rabbits jumped towards him and hopped into his hat, which he had taken off his head. They disappeared through the opening and the man put the hat back on his head with a satisfied smile.

During this extraordinary event, the other two foxes started approaching the man from the back, ready to jump on him so he would let the vixen go. But before they could bite him, they too froze and became air born.

"What a funny site! An old man surrounded by floating foxes! Ha!" The old man started laughing, a clear and bright laugh that reminded you of sunlight and joy.

"Now, now. You-" he said pointing at each flying fox in turn-"Mustn't ever eat pink animals. Understood? They are under my protection. As are you, and all other animals of course, but those pink ones are special. I owe them a favor you see."

It was the most curious thing. The foxes understood his every word. They understood that he wasn't like other humans and that terrible things would happen if they harmed a pink animal.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry! I forgot you were flying and frozen. Let's see." The old man did a little shimmy and clapped his hands and the foxes dropped to the ground. They shook themselves and nuzzled each other, reassuring they were all safe and sound. The pup recovered fast and walked over to the old man. She sniffed his robes curiously, while the old man smiled broadly.

"Now. I don't believe we've met. I'm Barnaboly Scratch and I'm a forest wizard. I protect this forest and it's inhabitants. Who are you?" He crouched down so he was eye to eye with the foxes.

"I'm Warlow." said the father fox.

"I'm Krela." said the vixen.

"And I'm Flora." said excitedly the pup.

"Beautiful names, beautiful names. Now, what brings you here?" Barnaboly asked kindly.

And with that the foxes told him their story. When they finished, they stood in silence while Barnaboly looked troubled.

"I'm sorry for your loss. You're not the first to come here with a tale like this and sadly you won't be the last. There are few wizards left on this world and even less magical beings. The humans have not kept their promise to protect Earth's natural wonders. Entire forests have been burned, the ocean's are filled with garbage, and land is being destroyed for human homes. There are few humans who care for this planet. I'm so sorry." With that Barnaboly closed his eyes and lied down, facing the sun.

The foxes peered at him curiously. They decided to sit down in the sun and wait for the wizard to come back from the depths of his mind.

Suddenly, he came to life with a gasp. He sat up and the foxes stared at him.

"I can't help much with my weak powers but I can do one thing. I will make a safe haven for you foxes, where no human shall ever enter. Then, I will open it's doors to other animals like you, who have lost their home and families."

"And the humans won't mind?" Krela asked.

"Of course they will. This town is very open to strange people like me and they don't mind my pink animals but they don't like magic. So, the refuge will have to be created by the humans."

"And how ever will you achieve that?" Warlow asked, his tail raised in question.

"I know a fellow, don't you worry. Now. I'll just have to..." Barnaboly seemed to be talking to himself at this point but with a grin he clapped his hands.

The foxes were suddenly enveloped in swirls of colors, the same that flew around the forest. A strange bell-like sound filled their orange ears and then suddenly, as the sound grew louder, a bright flash filled the air, blinding the foxes. Their vision became black.

"Ah, good your back!" the old man said. The foxes got up from the ground around, blinking the black spots from their eyes. But something was wrong. They couldn't see properly. Everything was slightly blurry.

"What have you done to us?!" Krela shouted. To her surprise she wasn't speaking Fox anymore. She was talking...Human.

"What...how?" She covered her mouth with her hands. Wait. Her hands?!

"How dare you! How dare you?! You... Turned us into humans?" she yelled at the top of her lungs, menacingly.

The other two fox humans were in shock.

"Oh calm down, all of you. I've done you a favor. Now, if you look at yourselves you'll notice I've left your ears and tails. This is because they won't go away. When a wizard turns an animal into a human, according to the Wizarding Laws they must keep-" Barnaboly stopped. The foxes had stopped looking at themselves and were now growling softly at him.

"Turn us back. Now." Krela's voice had softened into a threatening poisonous tone, that sent shivers upon the pink wizard's spine.

"Now, now. I'll... I'll tell you my plan." Barnaboly said, trying not to back away from their cold gaze.

"Fine." Krela spat out the word, with the air of someone who had just encountered something revolting.

"Go on wizard. Your plan better be good." Warlow added.

And with that Barnaboly told them. When he stopped speaking, the foxes remained silent, thinking and after a while they nodded reluctantly.

"Alright then, we'll give your plan a chance. Now let's go meet this... Mr. Glumshi? Glumbarg? You humans have the oddest names." Krela said, her voice now back to her normal warm tone.

"It's Mr. Grimik." Flora added, speaking for the first time since she became human.

"Good. Follow me." Barnaboly grinned and was about to clap his hands when Krela started running away.

"Where are you going?" Barnaboly asked. "And why ever are you crawling? Humans walk on two legs."

"Oh, sorry. I thought we were going this way. These blasted, weak human limbs are completely useless!" Kreala complained.

She slowly got up on her legs, her dark reddish orange hair, the same color as her fur when she was a fox, flopped around her head. She wobbled slightly but soon managed to walk back to Barnaboly.

Warlow and Flora, also tried walking, taking longer than Krela as, according to her, she had a hunter's balance and grace.

"Now, let's go." And with a clap the wizard in pink and the three orange haired humans with fox ears disappeared in a puff of pink glitter.