Shownotes
Things are always getting better, but it happens in fits and starts, as a happy vulpine couple finds at a diner.
Today’s story is “Milkshakes and Foxes” by Madison Scott-Clary, who is an author and editor in the Pacific Northwest. She’s published four books with a fifth on the way. Her most recent, ally, comes out June 1st, and you can learn more at ally.id/book. You can find more of her stories on her website, makyo.ink.
Read for you by Khaki, your faithful fireside companion.
Transcripts
You’re listening to The Voice of Dog.
Speaker:I’m Khaki, your faithful fireside companion,
Speaker:and today’s story is
Speaker:“Milkshakes and Foxes” by Madison Scott-Clary,
Speaker:who is an author and editor in the Pacific Northwest.
Speaker:She’s published four books with a fifth on the way.
Speaker:Her most recent, ally,
Speaker:comes out June 1st,
Speaker:and you can learn more at ally.id/book.
Speaker:You can find more of her stories on her website,
Speaker:makyo.ink. Please enjoy:
Speaker:“Milkshakes and Foxes”
Speaker:by Madison Scott-Clary
Speaker:Two foxes walked into a bar.
Speaker:Well, okay, a diner.
Speaker:But most of those middle-American diners are outfitted with a bar type area, complete with red-and-chrome stools - you know the sort -
Speaker:which is close enough.
Speaker:Both were full of giggles,
Speaker:outfitted with grins
Speaker:and their most casual of “nice” clothes.
Speaker:Somehow managing to look similar without being related, the two got along as though they were brothers.
Speaker:One was taller than
Speaker:the other, and though both were thin,
Speaker:he came off as lanky,
Speaker:whereas the the shorter fox seemed more waifish -
Speaker:more of a track runner than his friend, the basketball player.
Speaker:Although the restaurant was nearly empty -
Speaker:its only other customer being one of those
Speaker:old hound dogs who sits at the bar,
Speaker:nursing his second cup of coffee while staring at the gold flakes on the formica counter as if they might
Speaker:somehow swirl into formation,
Speaker:revealing the deepest secrets of the universe
Speaker:or the solutions to all his problems -
Speaker:the two jovial friends made their way to the corner booth
Speaker:and plopped down across from each other.
Speaker:Their animated discussion,
Speaker:more gossip than anything,
Speaker:was interrupted by a cat on roller skates popping her gum loudly by the table.
Speaker:The foxes grinned up to the waitress,
Speaker:who had picked up on the jovial mood
Speaker:and was beaming down at them. “What’ll
Speaker:it be, you two?”
Speaker:Straightening up, the larger of the foxes proclaimed, well rehearsed,
Speaker:“A vanilla milkshake, please,
Speaker:and a couple of spoons.”
Speaker:The waitress’ eyes flicked between the two,
Speaker:but she said nothing,
Speaker:simply taking down the order before rather pointedly asking the other fox what he’d like.
Speaker:The smaller of the two stammered for a second,
Speaker:caught off guard,
Speaker:“Uh.. c-coffee, please.”
Speaker:The rollercat nodded and skated on off,
Speaker:leaving the two foxes to glance at each other,
Speaker:nervous, unsure as to whether they’d committed some sort
Speaker:of faux pas. Each shrugged at each other at the same time and both giggled,
Speaker:slipping back into their animated chatter.
Speaker:The feline rolled smoothly up to the table again,
Speaker:this time with a tray holding a shake,
Speaker:two mugs, and a carafe of coffee.
Speaker:Setting the shake in the middle and the two mugs in front of each fox,
Speaker:she poured them both a cup of coffee before zooming back to the kitchen with the kick of a skate.
Speaker:The coffee sat ignored by both foxes
Speaker:as each grabbed a spoon from the shake,
Speaker:pulling it out to get that first bite:
Speaker:that one where the spoon’s already covered with a liberal coating of shake,
Speaker:whipped cream, and chocolate sauce.
Speaker:Coated spoons made their way into waiting muzzles
Speaker:and subsequently licked clean by attentive tongues.
Speaker:With much laughter,
Speaker:the conversation continued,
Speaker:drifting from teachers to
Speaker:movies, parents to homework.
Speaker:Slowly, carefully, the shake was diminished,
Speaker:each taking care to leave the maraschino cherry standing in the middle of the glass atop a pillar
Speaker:of sagging whipped cream.
Speaker:The talking wound down
Speaker:until the two were eating in silence,
Speaker:the taller of the foxes
Speaker:apparently lost in thought as he stared out the window,
Speaker:while the smaller watched his friend with tilted head.
Speaker:“Whaaat?” asked the larger vulpine when he caught the other’s gaze,
Speaker:muzzle lifted with a half grin.
Speaker:Laughing, the fox shrugged and dipped his spoon in the slowly melting desert,
Speaker:holding it out to the taller fox.
Speaker:Giggling quietly,
Speaker:he leaned forward to take the proffered bite.
Speaker:Resting his chin on his paws, he smiled happily
Speaker:as he let his friend feed him another few bites of the treat.
Speaker:Smiling just as much,
Speaker:the shorter of the two fished around in the glass with his spoon
Speaker:to get at the cherry,
Speaker:bright red. Picking it up delicately by the stem,
Speaker:he offered that as the next bite,
Speaker:his movements slow
Speaker:and deliberate. Leaning forward a little further,
Speaker:the larger fox delicate picked the
Speaker:almost-too-sweet fruit from the stem,
Speaker:eyes locked with the other’s.
Speaker:With his co-conspirator in shake enjoyment still leaning forward like that,
Speaker:it didn’t take much for the smaller fox,
Speaker:still moving deliberately,
Speaker:to press toward him across the table.
Speaker:It was fairly clear what he intended to happen next.
Speaker:Clear even to the waitress, who had rolled up at this inopportune moment to refill the untouched coffees.
Speaker:With a snap of her gum and a grumpy look,
Speaker:she jotted something on the check, slapped down on the table,
Speaker:grumbled, “I should’ve known,”
Speaker:and pushed off towards the kitchen.
Speaker:The two foxes sat in stunned silence for several seconds
Speaker:as the insides of each of their ears blushed a matching shade of pink.
Speaker:The larger fox’s shaky paws
Speaker:fiddled with the check for lack of anything better to do,
Speaker:while the smaller fox sat still,
Speaker:eyes wide and welling up with frightened tears.
Speaker:The check had “get a room”
Speaker:scrawled across it,
Speaker:and “on the house”
Speaker:scribbled hastily at the bottom.
Speaker:Taking that as their cue to leave,
Speaker:the pair made a clumsy escape from the diner,
Speaker:followed by the disdainful gaze of the rollercat.
Speaker:Once they had made it out onto the curb,
Speaker:the warm evening air a welcome change after the spreading coldness from the shared milkshake,
Speaker:the two foxes gave a cautious look back through the glass into the diner.
Speaker:The waitress was still watching them from behind the counter.
Speaker:They decided on home instead.
Speaker:The two walked slowly down the street toward the larger fox’s house, the closer of the two homes,
Speaker:in silence. The taller of the foxes kicked at the sidewalk,
Speaker:more trudging than walking,
Speaker:and the smaller fox gave his friend a few glances with apologetic eyes.
Speaker:“I didn’t think… I mean,
Speaker:I guess I shouldn’t have done that…”
Speaker:Nothing. “I’m sorry,
Speaker:I guess I forgot…”
Speaker:he trailed off once more.
Speaker:Still nothing. The larger fox was looking down at his shoes as they scuffed along the concrete,
Speaker:his paws stuffed deep within his pockets.
Speaker:“I think we should call off the rest of the night.”
Speaker:He walked in silence for a few more steps,
Speaker:brow furrowed, before repeating,
Speaker:“We should call off the rest of the night.
Speaker:See you tomorrow?”
Speaker:The shorter fox, stunned,
Speaker:stood still for a moment before hurrying to catch up with his friend,
Speaker:grabbing lightly at his elbow,
Speaker:“No, wait.” The taller fox stopped,
Speaker:but would not meet his friend’s gaze,
Speaker:frozen in place. “I’m sorry,
Speaker:don’t go,” continued the smaller fox.
Speaker:The taller of the foxes turned slowly and unhooked his friend’s paw from his elbow,
Speaker:taking it in his own,
Speaker:slipping his other paw free of his pocket to hold both of his friends in his own.
Speaker:“I just feel weird about things, you know?”
Speaker:“Well, shucks, I do too, but,”
Speaker:he paused, then gave a defeated shrug.
Speaker:“It was still a nice night,
Speaker:wasn’t it?” A smile tickled at the corner of the taller fox’s mouth
Speaker:and the tenseness in his shoulders and posture softened.
Speaker:“Yeah,” he said at last,
Speaker:nodding. “Yeah, it was still a nice night.
Speaker:Thank you.” They smiled shyly to each other
Speaker:then both looked down the street
Speaker:to where the larger fox’s home lay,
Speaker:the soft glow of the porch light.
Speaker:The larger of the vulpines turned to look back his friend,
Speaker:grunting in surprise when his muzzle met with another,
Speaker:one which had been aiming to give him a kiss on the cheek.
Speaker:Both blushing foxes mumbled an apology at the same time,
Speaker:giggled together,
Speaker:and pressed into an awkward kiss,
Speaker:noses mushed together
Speaker:and lips not quite hitting their mark.
Speaker:Two foxes stood on the sidewalk,
Speaker:half in light and half in darkness,
Speaker:working out the logistics of their first,
Speaker:vanilla-flavored kiss:
Speaker:all the little things that make foxkissing nice,
Speaker:like tilting muzzles just slightly so that the nose is out of the way
Speaker:and standing on tiptoes,
Speaker:exploring new intimacies.
Speaker:Ears laid back and tails all atwitch,
Speaker:still holding hands, the couple relaxed back from the kiss
Speaker:and smiled at each other before averting their eyes bashfully.
Speaker:Still blushing, still grinning,
Speaker:still paw in paw,
Speaker:they continued on their way to the taller fox’s house.
Speaker:“Times are changing,”
Speaker:the smaller vulpine observed
Speaker:as they neared the low-slung suburban home.
Speaker:“I think they’re getting better, don’t you?”
Speaker:The other fox was slow to smile,
Speaker:but it was an earnest one.
Speaker:“Yeah,” he offered, nodding slowly, as though his mind was still churning away.
Speaker:“I take back what I said earlier.
Speaker:Do you…do you want to come in for a while?”
Speaker:This was “Milkshakes and Foxes” by Madison Scott-Clary,
Speaker:read for you by Khaki,
Speaker:your faithful fireside companion.
Speaker:For more stories you can find us wherever you get your podcasts,
Speaker:or on the web at thevoice.dog.
Speaker:Thank you for listening
Speaker:to The Voice of Dog