Though Ronald didn’t need to wake up so early today, he still did so. He tossed and turned overnight, as a lot of thoughts swirled around in his mind like a troubled cauldron.

After having something to eat, he decided to go for a long walk (not without telling his parents first). At around eleven, he wound up at Jack’s building, and he decided to go in and see if he was there. There were lots of people inside already who were setting up to paint, but no Jack. However, Joshua was here, and he spotted the squirrel from the office.

“Oh hey, you’re early. Want to come in and have a seat?”

“Alright.”

Ronald walked into the room and sat down in a comfy chair opposite of Joshua, who was doing something on the computer.

“More bill stuff?” Ronald asked.

He shook his head. “I’m trying to come up with ideas for how Jack should spend the money he earmarked for advertising. I really want to start getting into commercials, at least on a local level.”

“I bet that’s exciting. How long have you been working with Jack?”

“Almost since he started his business, so around seven years. We already knew each other as longtime friends, and since I was an Economics major, he went to me first and offered me a position as his accountant and someone to step in as supervisor whenever he wasn’t going to be here.”

“How long have you been friends?”

“Oh...around twenty years, and it was actually through my older sister. Back then, she took up babysitting to make some extra money, and I’d sometimes come along since I’d get bored in our house by myself. She once babysat Jack and his siblings when he was seven, and though I was seventeen, being ten years older than him, we had a connection with each other that made it fun to have conversations with him. He was intelligent for his age, and as we liked a lot of the same things, we actually became friends.”

Ronald wanted to ask about what Jack was like as a kid, but Joshua turned the conversation around before he could.

“So what do you like to do when you’re not working?”

“Well, uh, I like going on walks, going to the movies, hanging out with friends and family, and I also like learning about different environments around the world. I think it would be fun to be a tour guide or naturalist.”

Joshua nodded. “That’s really neat; it sounds like it’d be an exciting job. What part of the world interests you the most?”

“The Arctic regions and deep oceans; they’re so hard to get to, and I bet there are some really weird specimens and organisms waiting to be found there. I’m not sure those would be popular tours though, so I would definitely pick any kind of jungle or forest with little evidence of being tampered with. I grew up in a forest, but it burned down when I was eight, and the forest we’re in now is like, part trees, part buildings. I haven’t experienced a real forest yet, and I understand there are many different kinds based on geography and latitudes. As a squirrel, I feel I’ve been robbed of a real forest life, but there’s no reason why I can’t have one as an adult.”

“My favorite kind of forest is the evergreen; they don’t look easy to live in, but they’re incredibly scenic, especially in the winter.”

“I love that kind too, and I wouldn’t mind living in one either. I also think it’d work great as a tourist type of environment; a little tough, but not hostile and unbearable. I can imagine myself, in the distant future, skiing or sledding down a slope after a fresh snow, or maybe having a snowball fight with my friends, or kids.

The two of them continued on until Ronald realized noon was coming up, and he had also forgotten to eat any lunch. He muttered to himself about his stupidity and then went out to join everyone else for the big job.

Despite only being a half-day, and the raccoon twins not being there, Ronald found the day difficult. He had forgotten to eat lunch, and it was tiring constantly climbing up and down the ladder to get paint, dip his brush, and swipe across the wall a few times before having to repeat the process. The time till the only break of the day seemed to take forever, and Ronald spent it scarfing down some provided snacks and washing it down with copious amounts of water.

The rest of the day after break was just the same, but now Ronald was in a better mood to work, and by a quarter to five, the job was all done. All that was left to do was let the paint dry, and Jack’s facility would be like brand new again.

After work, and being given his pay for the day, Ronald waited to be picked up by his dad, and he was going to celebrate by probably watching a movie with his family. However, instead of Marcus pulling up, it was Jack, returning from Marcus’ building.

“Ronald, I actually have a surprise for you. As additional thanks for helping me these two days, I would like to invite you to have dinner with me and my wife. I told your parents, and they are okay with it. We just wanted it to be for you, though we are planning an additional picnic for your whole family to come to in a couple weeks.”

“That sounds like fun! Yeah, I’d like to have dinner with you guys. Thanks for inviting me.”

“And thank you for being such a big help. I also hope it makes up for that delicious sandwich that got stolen from you yesterday.”

“I don’t know; the ordeal has left a gaping wound in my soul.” He answered, making Jack laugh.

“Well, I’m sure my wife’s cooking will fill it back in.”

Jack got into his car first, and unlocked the passenger door for his special guest. Ronald got into the car and took his seat. The moment Jack turned the ignition, and the air conditioner activated, Ronald let out a sigh of satisfaction and leaned back. Few things felt this good after hours of work on a hot day.

“That sounds like me every Friday evening when I know the weekend is finally here again. Good news is that the work is all done, and you can relax tomorrow.” He exited the parking lot and left for home.

“Thanks for letting me work for you, and the very generous pay. I’m not even family, but you’re treating me as such.”

“It’s not much really; I paid you for your work, and I’m just inviting you over to our house as a gesture of thanks. However, maybe the friendship that forms between our houses will make us all feel more like family in the future.”

Ronald let out a slight groan, a reaction Jack was not expecting.

“Maybe that was too corny, sorry.”

“No, it’s not that. I just had a slight pain in my stomach. I would like for our families to be good friends.”

“Are you not feeling well, or is it just hunger? You can have a quick snack at our house when we get there if you want.”

“That’s probably it; I didn’t have lunch before starting work. I got caught up in a conversation with Joshua and totally forgot.”

“My dude, you gotta eat lunch! You missed it two days in a row, and look at you; you’re practically a twig.”

“I’ll catch up tomorrow by eating three lunches.”

“Well, jokes aside, make sure you’re eating lunch every day. I hope the last two days were an exception.”

“They were.” He lied. He did skip lunch on some days even though there was more than enough food in their house. He just didn’t find himself hungry as often as others.

Ten minutes later, Jack was pulling up into his driveway. Ronald took a good look at the house as they got closer to it. Sure, it wasn’t as fancy or big as the house he lived in, but it was inviting and well-maintained. The porch was overshadowed by eaves, and there were two poles on the left side that supported a little cot. It also had a little table on the right side with two chairs; not big enough to have a family dinner on, but somewhere cozy where you could read, or do homework, or converse with another. There was also a hedge that lined the front of the house; not too short that you couldn’t notice it, but not too tall, as though to hide the windows. There were two front doors that led into the house; the first, a screen, and second, hardwood. The whole house was single-story, but the triangular roof implied an attic.

“Here we are, our humble abode.”

“Nice house,” Ronald remarked sincerely, “it’s definitely welcoming.”

“Thank you; we always try to keep it that way.”

Ronald also detected a pleasant aroma wafting from the house, and it started to make him drool without realizing it.

Jack opened both doors and let Ronald walk in first. The squirrel wiped his little feet on the rug first before doing so. Jack followed him in and shut only the screen door behind himself. Marie didn’t come out right away to meet them, as she was preparing dinner.

“I’ve brought over our guest.” He announced loudly enough for her to hear.

“Bring him in; I’d like to say hi.”

Ronald followed Jack into the kitchen, and there he saw his wife mixing what appeared to be a hot, delicious sauce. The oven was on, and though Ronald couldn’t see what was inside, he knew it was dough, and the smell was lovely enough to transport him mentally into a bakery.

“This is my wife, Marie.” Jack introduced her to him, and they said hello and shook hands with each other

“Ronald,” she started, “I’m glad you could make it tonight. I’m sorry dinner isn’t that close to being done yet, but I guarantee you will love it.”

“It smells fantastic already; are you making a lasagna, or a pizza?”

“I am making a pizza, yes. It’ll be a long wait, but there’s other things to do here to kill the time. You and Jack could watch a movie, or play a game, or just shoot the breeze. We also have a backyard if you want some fresh air out there.” She harbored a little bit of anxiety from the thought of keeping her guest entertained. She knew he was used to a bigger house with more things to do in it, and that her house didn’t have as many options.

“I’m fine with hanging out right here.” He answered, taking a seat at the table. “Maybe we can talk about stuff while you cook; if it’s not distracting? I would feel weird bailing on you after we just met.”

“Aw, you don’t have to feel bad about that! We can always talk during dinner. If there’s something else you want to do, feel free!”

Jack was about to suggest something when he heard Beth shouting at her brother.

“That’s not fair! Meanie!” She cried.

That made Ronald flinch and momentarily made him question having kids in the future. Jack sighed.

“Ugh, I’m sorry about that. I’ll go tell them to keep it quiet. Excuse me.”

He got up and made his way to the back of the house. Ronald remained awkwardly silent while Marie chuckled.

“That would be Beth, our youngest. She’s three, so she’s still trying to develop the concept of an ‘inside voice’. Did she scare you?”

“It was jarring, but Jack did mention to me that he had two kids. I guess that was one of them.”

“Right, and Dylan is five. He’s not as loud, but he sometimes likes to annoy his sister.”

“Ha, I can relate to that. I also have a younger sister, and I used to sometimes get a kick out of bugging her when we were younger. However, she knows how to return the favor sometimes.”

“Oh yeah, well, I actually have five siblings, and we were all born at the same time.”

“What?” Ronald nearly gasped. “I knew that could happen, but I’ve never heard of a real-life experience of that until now. Growing up must have been really interesting, if not challenging.”

“It was both of those, and imagine being my parents! At once, they had six additional mouths to feed, and since my father worked a lot, my mother was left to deal with us alone most of the time. Looking back at that time, I don’t know how she managed to do it. Sometimes I struggle with dealing with one kiddo.”

She subconsciously put a paw over her stomach, still wondering if there was a third child on the way, but it was still too soon to tell. “I love them to death though, and I believe they’re a beautiful blessing from God.”

Ronald nodded. “I love my siblings too, and I’ve always felt this instinct in my gut to protect my sister, Cecilia. We were orphaned eleven years ago, and since then, I knew that her safety had become my responsibility.”

“That must have been horrible; accounts of someone losing their parents at such a young age always break my heart. That couldn’t have been easy for you, especially back then.”

“It wasn’t; even when we spent the first two years after in an orphanage, they weren’t taking very good care of us, and my sister was usually ignored by the adults. There were several times where I had to share my meals with her because they kept overlooking her.”

Marie was at a stage in her cooking where she could sit down for a little, and so she sat next to Ronald.

“That was criminal of them; good of you to be thinking of her at the time. Why was she neglected like that?”

“She was shy, so she hid herself a lot. It also didn’t help that she was smaller than most of the other kids, so they often never saw her when it was time to eat. There were a few others that got passed over too, namely other rodents.”

“So how did you get out, eventually? Did Marcus and Diane find you and decide to adopt you two?”

“It wasn’t exactly that way; it was an unusual story. After two years in that horrible orphanage, a forest fire happened that caused so much panic that I saw it as an opportunity to escape. I urged Cecilia to run away with me and find a new home together. She was scared, like I was, but she came with me. Later that night, we got tired from running for so long, and decided to stop for a little bit. However, we got scared by a stranger’s voice, and ran right into a puddle of sticky mud, leaving us trapped. The voice belonged to a wolf, who, as you can guess, was Marcus. As I had become so paranoid and disenfranchised by adults, due to the orphanage, I had automatically assumed he wanted to devour us, even though he was sentient, like us. He offered to help us out of the mud, and since Cecilia had no baggage, and no reason to distrust him, she begged him to help her out. I tried to get in front of her as a shield, just knowing he was going to try to eat her, and preferring him to kill me instead, and let her live. I was very wrong about him, of course, and when he had offered to be our dad, Cecilia couldn’t have been happier to accept.”

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

“That was so sweet, and that sounds just like something he would do. I’m so happy for you and your sister that you were able to find someone to care for you after what you went through at that orphanage. I take it that he had met Diane later on?”

“That’s gonna be a long story, but the short answer is yes, and no.”

“Well, you don’t have to tell me everything. I didn’t realize your family’s experience was so fascinating and complex. Maybe when we have our big picnic later on, they could tell me that story themselves.”

“That’d be best; they could tell it a lot better than I can. All I can say is that it’s crazy how our lives ended up how they are now. During those two years, I was so hopeless, and never thought I would have a real family again, and that I would always have to take care of Cecilia. It just took a random fire, and some chance, to change everything.”

“Of course, you don’t know if Marcus was brought into yours and your sister’s life on purpose. It could’ve been chance, but it also could’ve been God.”

Ronald nodded. “Either way, I’m so thankful for it. Being rich and having a lot is nice, but even if my dad wasn’t successful, and we were living in squalor, I couldn’t be more grateful for him and mom. I would rather have my whole family and have peace with God than our big house filled with everything, if I was forced to choose.”

“I like that you share those values; God and family will always be worth more than all the treasures of the world.” Marie sighed. “I wish more people your age thought like you. You’re a good kid.”

Ronald looked down, as though embarrassed. “I’m nothing, really. I’m not very good at all...”

“No one’s perfect, but you don’t have to be so hard on yourself. You seem like someone who always wants to do the right thing and take care of others, and that’s a good thing.”

Ronald was assured by her caring expression and voice, and he could see the sincerity in her eyes. His own expression saddened, as though he had let her down in some way.

“Are you okay? You look like you have something on your mind.”

Ronald sighed, and after several seconds of uncomfortable silence, he opened his mouth as if to say something. Just then, Jack came back in after finally getting the kids to quiet down. The squirrel lost his train of thought, as though the other sable had aroused him from a trance. He lost his expression and turned his attention to Jack.

“Finally got them to quiet down.” He announced victoriously.

“What was going on with them?” Ronald asked.

“Oh, they were just playing a silly game. Dylan hid one of Beth’s toys as a game, but he put it up somewhere she couldn’t reach, and to her, that has been the most unjust thing to ever happen in her life.”

“To be three again.” Ronald commented, his voice not sounding sad now.

“So anyways, want to take a little walk around the backyard?”

Ronald nodded and got up. “Of course.”

“The pizza’s got another hour or so, so you boys enjoy and take your time!” Marie said to them. The truth was she wanted to hear what Ronald had to say, but since it appeared to trouble him so much, she didn’t bother him about it.

Jack led Ronald through the house and into the backyard. It was much bigger than Ronald was expecting; it seemed bigger than the actual house! Jack slid open the glass door, and motioned for his guest to walk outside first.

“It smells really nice out here, and it’s quite vast!” The squirrel remarked.

“Thank you, though Marie is more responsible for how pristine it looks. When we were looking for a house, we wanted something with a big backyard. We love being outdoors, especially in the spring, and we want lots of space for our kids to run around in and enjoy, or have family gatherings that would be too cramped if inside the house. As you can also see, we have a lovely vegetable garden in that corner. Marie has always wanted space to plant one, and now, it’s where we get all our fresh veggies.”

Jack led Ronald over to get a better look at it. There were small sections for various vegetables that depended on what season it was. Most of the garden appeared like it was in the process of growing plants, but when fall starts next month, it will, no doubt, be ready for harvesting.

“What’s that little fence in that section?” Ronald pointed to a small, four-foot square parcel of soil that was fenced off from the rest of the garden. “Is that, like, reserved for someone special, or for a special occasion?”

“That’s something Marie came up with after being inspired by something she read in the Old Testament, about how those who grew and harvested their food were commanded not to glean the corners of their fields, so that the poor and strangers can eat too. Marie uses that corner to grow food intended for the poor and homeless around here; she fills a few baskets with it, puts in little pamphlets with the gospel on them, wraps them up, and takes them down to the food bank. We don’t believe we’re under the law, of course, but under grace, and yet we recognize that the law teaches righteous and merciful principles.”

Ronald mentioned how his family were also Christians, and that he really liked Marie’s idea of taking care of peoples’ spiritual and physical needs in this creative way.

“Of course, don’t go around telling people that she does this; she prefers staying under the radar.”

Jack continued to show him around the backyard until they wound up sitting down at their patio table. Ronald looked pensive, and Jack just had to know what was on his mind.

“Something bugging you?”

“Well, a little.” He answered. “You know how earlier I said me and my family were also believers?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, do you sometimes get the feeling, that, uh, you’ve sinned too much and you don’t feel like you’re saved anymore? Of course, I don’t believe someone can become ‘unsaved,’ but I sometimes feel like I’ve done too much wrong that the angels would shake their heads upon seeing me in heaven one day.”

“Well, if you know salvation’s by grace, and Christ in you is righteous, though your flesh is sinful, then no one would be upset at seeing you in heaven. I know what you’re saying though; I have my fair share of bad days where all I can do is thank God he’s given me grace.”

Ronald nodded, and he contemplated saying something more to him, but Jack kept going.

“Maybe it comes as a surprise to you, but I do have bad anger problems sometimes, and think evil thoughts on some days about people who have hurt me in the past. I’m sure everyone does that to a degree, but it’s something I’m not proud of at all. Whatever it is you feel bad about doing, you can be sure it’s not unique, and the solution isn’t to feel sad about it, but to thank God for His grace, and try to replace that sin with something good.”

Just then, Dylan and Beth ran out into the backyard to play when they noticed Ronald. They walked up to him, curious.

“Who are you?” Dylan asked bluntly.

“This is a special guest and friend I invited to eat dinner with us tonight. His name is Ronald, and he helped me fix my building and made it look nice.”

“Hey.” Ronald greeted them with a small wave.

“Hi.” Beth replied with a shy wave of her own.

“Wanna see my toys?” Dylan excitedly offered, as there was nothing more exciting to a five-year old boy than his amazing toys.

“Uh, sure!” Ronald answered, remembering when he was five and was excited about showing off his own possessions.

“We’ll let you know when dinner is ready.” Jack told Ronald as the two smaller sables led him inside.

Dylan escorted Ronald quickly to his and Beth’s room, as this was urgent business.

“Nice room, so what toys do you have?”

Of course, Dylan was fetching his favorite toy before Ronald even asked. He dug through a pile of other toys until he pulled it out.

“This is an alien robot dinosaur from outer space!” He proudly held up his action figurine and then handed it to Ronald so he could be awed by it too.

“Wow, this is a pretty cool toy.”

“Yeah, and he flies all around space and shoots the aliens like this,” he tried to simulate holding an imaginary ray gun, “pew! pew! Pew! And then, and then, he shot the big evil scary eyeball bad guy, and then threw him into a black hole! They go like this!” He then made a little hole-shape with one paw and then made a “schwoop!” sound as he tried to make his other arm go through that hole. Dylan talked a mile a minute, and he acted out nearly everything he spoke. Ronald had a hard time understanding half of what he was trying to communicate, but he thought it was entertaining seeing someone this animated.

“He’s like a cartoon character; I could picture him being a voice actor for one.”

Dylan then pulled out some Legos, and he asked Ronald if he wanted to build something with him. Beth asked if she could join; Ronald had almost forgotten she was there, as Dylan hogged the spotlight the whole time. He was normally stingy with his Legos, but with a guest in his room, he decided to be nice to her.

“So Dylan, what do you like to build with your Legos?” Ronald started to stack them with no particular goal in mind.

“I like building cities.”

“Do you let your sister help you?”

“Sometimes. She’s messy and the towers fall down sometimes when she makes them.”

Speaking of which, Beth was stacking the legos in a way that was making it lean really far over. It toppled after five blocks.

“Why does it always fall?” She moaned, looking like she was about to cry.

“Here, let me help you.” Ronald took her stack apart and then showed her how to attach them so they would be stable. “See, if you stack them right on top of each other like this, it’ll stand. You also want to start from this base here so it can stand up nice and straight.” He attached the fledgling tower to the green rectangular base that came with the set, and it stood up.

“Oh, okay!” She exclaimed, as though he had just revealed a great mystery to her. “Thanks Ronald.”

Dylan wasn’t paying attention to them, as he was too busy forming massive and elaborate structures.

“Wow Dylan, what’s that building supposed to be?”

“It’s my house. It’s really, really, really, really, really, really BIG.” He then spread his arms out as widely as he could.

“It’s as big as a city.” Ronald remarked, seeing as it was taking up most of the base.

“Yep! And when I grow up, I want a house this big! It’s also going to be on the moon.”

“You sir, are very ambitious, and I would like to visit your giant metropolis of a house when you move into it.”

“Aw, I want a big house too!” Beth complained as she beheld her puny skyscraper. “It’s not fair!”

“Sheesh, you always cry about everything.” Dylan rolled his eyes. “Here.” He took off a few bricks from his structure and gave them to her. She added them to hers, making her content, even though it was still much smaller.

“I want a house too.” Ronald commented. “But now I have no room for my tower. Hm, maybe I’ll put it here.”

He put it on top of Dylan’s structure.

“Hey! You can’t put a house on top of a house!”

“But I just did.” Ronald smirked. “This means I win, right?”

“It’s not a game.” Dylan laughed, and then in an unforeseen act of dominance and hostility, he plucked off Ronald’s tower and lay it on its side on the floor. This was essentially declaring war.

“Oh really?” Ronald cocked an eyebrow. “Well now, I have to do this.” He started plucking bricks off of Dylan’s tower and adding them to his own.

“Oh yeah?!” Dylan started taking bricks off the bottom of Ronald’s tower and adding them back to his own. Beth joined in the war and allied with Ronald, as he helped build her house. It was an absolutely silly sight to behold, and Ronald was loving it. He hadn’t had so much fun since the time Marcus played with him and Cecilia during their journey together. Marcus was an alien invader who captured Cecilia, and Ronald had to bypass him to free her.

Marie was just outside their door, and she heard them all laughing. She quietly brought Jack over so he could hear them too.

“Now I don’t want to tell them that dinner is ready,” she whispered to him, “that’d break up the fun!”

“I know...but I’m sure they’ll find pizza just as fun.” He knocked on the door. “Guys, the pizza is ready.” He then stood back to avoid the imminent stampede.

Dylan thrust open the door and darted past his parents and to the table, with Beth just trailing. Ronald was the only one who thanked them before going to the table.

Dylan was about to stuff a slice into his face before his mother had to yell at him.

“Dylan! You’ll burn your mouth, and we haven’t sat down yet!” She scowled. “And I almost forgot, but you need to go wash your hands first.”

The children did as they were told, and Ronald also went to wash up, as though she told him to as well. A minute later, everyone was seated.

Jack led a quick prayer before anyone was allowed to dig in. It was just one pizza, but it was big enough to fill all of them up. Before anyone could ask, Marie explained what she used in it. It had five different kinds of cheese in it; gouda, swiss, pepperjack, cheddar, and mozzarella. She used tomato sauce, of course, but it had a hint of cilantro as well, giving it some zing. The toppings were all fresh veggies from her garden; onions, bell peppers, and zucchinis.

“This is REALLY good.” Ronald commented, finally taking a bite after letting it cool down.

“Thank you! It’s my favorite kind of pizza to make, and I knew it would be appropriate for our guest.” She smiled.

“Will this be at the picnic too?” He asked.

“We’ll see; we don’t know what we’ll be bringing yet.”

In the middle of dinner, Ronald noticed some pamphlets on their sofa, and he leaned a little bit over to see what they were about.”

“See something over there?” Marie asked him.

“Oh, I was just trying to read what was on those.” He gestured to the pamphlets.

“Oh, that’s just for a little trip we’re planning. We haven’t gone on a vacation before as a family, and we were debating about where to go. With work having kept Jack so busy, and our children being so young, we haven’t been able to find time for one. However, with this deal that Jack struck, and how much more free he’ll be after he finishes the order, we’ll have the opportunity to get away from here for a little while and go somewhere nice for a week or so..”

“Well that sounds like fun; where are you thinking about going?”

“Right now, the choices are between Crystal Palm Hills, Regal Lake, and Bluerock Forest. They’re more “off the grid” and unconventional for vacation spots, but we want something relaxing more than exciting. We just want to go somewhere far from any cities.”

“I’ve heard of all those places, actually. Those are nice locations to relax and unwind, from what I’ve read.”

“Do you have a preference out of those three?” Marie asked.

“Bluerock Forest seems the most interesting to me, since the blue-tinged soil is such an unusual phenomenon, and I also would like to live in a forest again when I’m older, and one without a town or city in it.”

The conversation continued, with Ronald mentioning how he wanted to have a career relating to nature, and how he couldn’t wait to get out of high school so he could spend more time studying what he was actually interested in. He also asked them questions when he could, especially towards Marie, as he didn’t know about her as well as Jack. She had mentioned that she went to college for a bit to study law in hopes of becoming a lawyer, but her desires changed when Jack proposed to her. He never told her to stop doing what she was doing, but decided for herself it would be best to put that goal on hold for now. She wanted moreso to be a wife and mother, and being a lawyer would’ve taken so much time away from that. She didn’t want her kids to be raised by a babysitter more than their own parents. However, she still remembered a lot of what she learned, and dazzled her guest with some interesting tidbits.

“In this city, did you know it is illegal to light up a cigarette within fifteen feet of a building between the hours of eight a.n. And six p,m.? It’s also illegal in this city to climb up a tree during a windstorm when the wind is faster than twenty-five miles per hour, even if you’re an animal who lives in it? There are other random ones I can pull out that we’ve all probably broken once or twice.”

“Oh dang, that’s got me nervous.” Ronald half-joked. “But I guess some of these laws never get enforced.”

“Yeah, and if you ask me, I think it’s for the better. Some of these laws are just common-sense safety issues, and shouldn’t be things punishable with fines or jail.”

Before they knew it, it was nine p.m., and Dylan and Beth were still up. It was only after Jack looked at the time that he told them to go immediately brush their teeth and go to bed.

“I’m tired too,” Ronald yawned and put a paw over his tummy. “And full. Thanks again for having me over, and for the great pizza. I had a lot of fun.”

“It was our pleasure.” Marie smiled. “Jack’s going to take you back home.”

“Yeah.” He also yawned. “You’ll have to let me know where to go; you live close to here, right?”

“Mhm.” He nodded. “I’m just a few minutes down the street.”

“Alright. Well, let’s get going, and we’ll see you again at our picnic.”

Ronald said bye to Marie, and then he was off. At home, his parents asked how it was, and he said he enjoyed himself a lot. The Tyndales seemed like a wholesome family, and he looked forward to future interactions he might have with them.

Back in his room, Ronald had a hard time sleeping once again. The thing he wanted to tell Marie during their conversation, just before Jack interrupted him, was still on his mind.

“They think I’m this really good kid, but if they knew more about me, they’d think differently...I’m not good at all…”

At the same time Ronald was beating himself up, the phone rang, and his mom answered it. She thought it was a bit late to be receiving calls now, but remained polite.

“Hello, who is this?”

“I’m a friend of Ronald’s, from work. Sorry I’m calling so late, but I was hoping to talk to him for just a few minutes.”

“What’s your name?”

“Ashley. If he’s asleep, I can just call tomorrow.”

“Let me check.”

She tapped lightly on his door. “Ronald? Are you asleep?”

“No…” He sounded sad. “But I’m trying to go to sleep.”

“Someone named Ashley is on the phone and says she wants to talk to you for a few minutes. Is that okay with you?”

“Uh...sure. I’ll take it.”

Ronald walked downstairs and picked up the phone. “Hey Ashley…”

Diane was in the next room over; she could hear her son, but not Ashley.

“No… No I wouldn’t… That just sounds crazy to me… Look, it seemed innocent to me at the time, but it was a huge mistake… I am never doing that again…”

Diane’s ears were perked up; she didn’t want to eavesdrop and question her own son, but there was something quite wrong with his end of the conversation.

“You know what? Maybe it’s best I don’t see you again!” His voice was raised. “I...I can’t believe you would suggest that again!... Whatever, good night.” He stated flatly and slammed the phone down.

Diane couldn’t keep herself from intervening now, and she walked right up to him. “What was that? Do I need to be concerned here?”

“No, no, it’s fine.” He answered, his tone of voice clearly lying.

“I could hear you from the family room; you don’t sound happy with this friend of yours.”

“Oh, she’s not my friend anymore. On the first night of my job, we hooked up and looked forward to going on some dates together. Biggest mistake of my life!”

“What happened? I didn’t even know you had a girlfriend, even if it was for less than a week.”

“She...she led me to commit a crime during that extra shift I took…” He looked down and shook his head. “I hate myself for it…”

“A crime?” Her eyes widened. “Well, I haven’t even seen the police stop by and ask for your arrest, so maybe you’re mistaken. Surely your supervisor would’ve noticed.”

“I...I stole from the concession stand while no one was looking.”

“Like, from the cash register, or the snacks?”

“The snacks…I know that sounds so petty, but it was theft. I got hungry after picking up so much trash, and I stole…”

Diane sighed. “Well, that was wrong and foolish of you to do; that could’ve cost you your job, minimum. Employers could go even further and press charges if they see their employees stealing. If that was what Ashley encouraged you to do, and is still egging you on to do it again, then it was better for you to break up. A girl that’s trying to get you to sin and be dishonest is not right for you; snacks may be a very small thing, but as you know, that kind of issue snowballs into worse problems. Breaking it off now was the right thing to do, but please be wiser next time.”

“I will. Sorry for being dumb.”

“You’re not dumb,” she put a paw on his shoulder, “you know what’s right and wrong; you just need to make a conscious effort each time to do the right thing. Good night, Ronald, and don’t let this eat you up.”

“I won’t, mom. Good night, and thanks.”

“Of course, sweetie.”

Back in his own bed, Ronald was still not at peace. In fact, he was feeling even worse. He had just lied to his own mother; there was no crime involving candy, but he was too cowardly to reveal the truth.

“My parents would kill me if they found out what Ashley and I did…”

Ronald was starting to wish Marcus had gobbled him up nine years ago when they first met; at least he would’ve been dead then instead of soon.