Day 5: News

After the excitement of the previous day, Mei was more than happy to sleep late into the morning alongside Gabu. When they awoke, Gabu was once again in need of food. He headed off to the far side of the forest, promising not to hurt any rabbits, deer or sparrows, just in case.

Meanwhile, Mei set off to one of his favourite spots to graze, where the grass was almost as delicious as it was in the best parts of Sawa Sawa Mountain. Perhaps, with a little more time to get to know the Emerald Forest, Mei would find grass that was even tastier.

While Mei was eating, he received a visit from Takkan. The small fox trotted brazenly up to Mei and said, “So, the secret’s finally out.”

“Hello, Takkan,” Mei said. “Does everyone in the forest know by now, or have you been following me again?”

“Hmm, a little of both. I’d say about a third of the forest has heard of you so far, what with that rabbit talking nonstop about it wherever he goes. It won’t be long before everyone knows about you. Of course, they only know the basics, that a wolf and a goat are living together in a cave east of the forest. The intricacies of your tale are known only to the few individuals you’ve chosen to share them with directly, myself included. That was quite a clever trick you came up with, by the way, telling your friends your heartfelt story, except—whoops, did I forget to mention that my boyfriend was a wolf? How silly of me!”

Mei was a little surprised that Takkan knew about that. Had the fox been hiding somewhere when he told the story? “Thank you. Now, is there anything else you came here for?”

“Maybe a fox just wants a little company from time to time?” Mei didn’t respond. “Well, if you’re going to be like that...I was wondering if you’d given my question any more thought. Does it matter to you that your wolf kills other people to survive?”

Mei got the feeling that Takkan was trying to incense him, which he didn’t take kindly to. “If you don’t mind, I’d rather not discuss my—discuss Gabu behind his back. If you want to talk about that, you can do it while we’re both here.”

“And where is Gabu right now?”

“He’s...out hunting.”

With a sly smile, Takkan slunk back into the forest. Mei thought he heard the fox say, “Fascinating,” as he left. Were all foxes like that, Mei wondered, or was Takkan a special case?

Gabu and Mei were back at Moonrise Hill, having decided to spend the rest of the day relaxing again. They laid side by side together at the base of the hill, looking up at the clouds.

“More and more people are starting to hear about us,” Mei said.

“What are they saying?” Gabu asked, his ears folded back.

“I don’t know. Someone just came and told me that the news of us is spreading fast. The entire forest will know soon.”

“You don’t think they might...try to make us leave, do you?”

“They probably wouldn’t be able to. You’re the scariest thing here.” Gabu didn’t look reassured. “Sorry. That came out wrong.”

“Have you spoken to the doe or the rabbit since yesterday?” Gabu asked.

“No, but I didn’t expect to so soon. Toto and Riri will need some time to talk them around.”

“What if they never speak to you again?”

“Then I’ll make other friends. Better ones. Three out of the five people I’ve told our story to in the past few days have been sympathetic, so it shouldn’t be too hard, right?”

“I guess that’s true. Wait—” Gabu sat up. “Five? I thought you only told our story to four people, Mei?”

“Oh, um, I didn’t tell you this before, but there was this fox who came to talk to me a couple of days ago. His name’s Takkan. He’s the person who came to see me today as well, actually.” Gabu didn’t say anything. Mei wondered if he was angry at Mei for not telling him about the fox right away. “Takkan saw us together a few days ago, and he wanted to know how the two of us met. So, I told him our story.”

“And he was supportive? That’s good.” Gabu didn’t sound very enthusiastic. After a while, he said, “Why didn’t you tell me about him sooner?”

Mei bit back a sharp response about Gabu not needing to know every detail of his life. Instead, he said, “Because...Takkan also said something that upset me a little. Something I’m not quite ready to talk about yet.”

To Mei’s surprise, Gabu smiled. “Oh, is that all?”

“You’re not upset that I’ve been keeping things from you?”

“I trust you to tell me whatever it is when you’re ready, Mei.”

Mei smiled. “I love you, Gabu.”

“I love you too, Mei.”