“Where Healing Begins”

In a faraway land, a land where the animals roamed, lived a feline who dreamed of becoming an influencer. Oh, how she longed to be famous. If only, she thought, then someone would want her. Then someone, maybe many someone's, would love her. With her tail tucked beneath her hind legs, she quickly entered the cafe. Hidden beneath her oversized pullover and her jet-black hair draped over her eyes; she rushed to secure her place in line. A sly fox with a sharp cat's eye took her order.

“Name?” The sly fox said as she snaped her gum between her teeth.

“Amelia” she replied.

“$5.50,” said the sly fox.

Amelia pulled her credit card from her pocket and pressed it against the card reader. Her wrist shivered; the sly fox smirked. She tucked her paw back in her pocket and walked away. The sly fox grabbed hold of the receipt and watched her rush to the corner of the cafe, sliding in the only available seat near the window.

“Huh” chuckled the sly fox. She crumpled up the receipt, calling “Next!”

“Hhhhhhh, it’s okay, you’re okay” she whispered to herself with her eyes closed. She sat back, tucked herself into the big red velvet chair that faced the window. Taking another deep breath, she opened her eyes and looked around to see who was watching her. Some were. She sat back again, with her head against the chair.

“Amelia!” called the sly fox.

She jumped up, left her bag on the chair, and rushed to get her drink. She came back to her chair where a wolf sat upright with her red heel on Amelia’s bag. Amelia’s mouth dropped. The wolf ignored her and continued to talk on her cell phone. Amelia’s heart raced as she stooped down to grab her bag. She yanked it from beneath the wolves' red heel. The wolf side-eyed her and continued her conversation. Amelia looked around the room. Two antelopes stood up from the opposite side of the room. As they left for the door, she rushed over and snagged the small table by the window. She sat down, out of breath, her heart beating fast. Her eyes scanned the room to see if anyone was staring at her. Some were.

She took a deep breath and placed her bag on the table; pulled out her laptop and propped her phone against it. The phone tipped over, landing on the ground. A few deer looked over then returned to their conversation. She quickly picked it up and propped it back up. She pressed: record, and held her tea up to the camera.

“Hi guys, I’m at the cafe and I just got my tea” she said with a stressed smile and a hushed voice trying not to be noticed or disturb the others around her. The deer nearest to her looked over, then returned to his own business. She paused the video; her paw trembled. She grabbed her head and pulled her fur with her claws.

‘Maybe if I just record and make a voice over later, that will work,’ she thought to herself. ‘I can do that.’

She took a deep breath; and practiced her happy smiling face in the camera. She continuously glanced around to see if anyone was watching her. Some were.

She pressed the record button; smiled and waved at the camera, with her tea in paw. The deer next to her looked over; they locked eyes; both looked away in embarrassment. She pressed: pause. Fidgeting with her cup, she sat back, her chest tight, her jaw clenched, her eyes heavy but still very much aware of the slightest sight of potential judgement. Her mind raced.

‘Let’s try this again... hi guys, I got my tea at the cafe and... no that’s not what I was gonna say, um, hi guys, this tea... this tea... at the cafe is... no, no, hi guys, I got...” her head dropped. ‘I can’t do this...” she thought with her eyes closed. ‘Why can’t I do this?’ ‘Why am I so afraid?’

Amelia looked out the window. The autumn leaves blew across the road. A young buck and a wallaby chased each other round the old oak tree nestled near the abandoned Victorian mansion.

‘Broken windows, tilted shutters, probably a beauty in its time,’ she thought.

A group of tigers dressed in skintight soccer jerseys entered the cafe. They giggled as they looked over their shoulders. An unusually small elephant entered behind them. She wore the same soccer jersey as the tigers. With her ears tucked in, she tugged at her skintight soccer jersey and hid her belly. Her eyes scanned the floor in search of an empty corner to stand - out of everyone's way.

‘It was her! She’s me!’ She thought.

Amelia watched the small elephant as she tried to engage in conversation, with the tigers, but they hissed with giggles and mocked her unusually small size for her breed. They tugged at her shirt and pocked her rolls. Amelia looked down at her stomach and felt her belly pooch. Hey eyes fell.

‘Maybe that’s it? Back when the hyenas laughed and left me feeling less than them," she thought. ‘That’s probably when it happened before I even realized. That’s when I stopped eating...’

Amelia looked back at them. The tigers dressed in their perfect stipes, their symmetrical large eye teeth; they were born - purrrfect. Amelia pressed her lips together; her heart raged.

‘How could someone be born purrrfect? What about the rest of us?’ She thought. ‘Maybe they just didn’t have anyone make fun of them for anything,, so they have no reason to be insecure?’

They left the small elephant to cover the bill. Her token to keep their company.

A light rain sprinkled the checkered windows. An adolescent seagull skipped between the rain drops, using a stick to brush the leaves from the sidewalk. She looked happy.

‘Maybe that’s me? Was me?’ She stared, hopeful.

The young buck from across the street called her over. Amelia watched them chase each other. She remembered the sweet times playing with the eaglet triplets in front of the Victorian mansion. As they were playing, the sun peaked out of the gloomy skies. A warm light brushed across her whiskers; her soft pink nose twitched. Her eyes softened, seeing the auburn light hit the side of the Victorian mansion. Its broken windows and tilted shutters seemed to have a majestic charm to them that she had never noticed.

The clouds rolled over the sun and darkened the sky. Three wolves hunched over with a school of fish behind them approached the three who played. They growled at the adolescent seagull. Stopped in her tracks, she pointed to her friends and justified her motives. The wolves hovered over her; she cowered and fell in line behind the school of fish. Her friends were left standing by the old oak tree.

‘Maybe that’s it? The demand to conform to the pack’s standards?’ She thought.

Amelia laid her head on the table, eyes closed.

Glass shattered!

Amelia rose her head! A tall beastly Ogar towered over a little fawn still young enough to have his spots. The little fawn cranked his neck back and held out his cloven hooves to be comforted. The tall beastly Ogar pushed him away.

“Clean this up you klutz!” He belched.

The brightness of the little fawn’s beaded eyes drooped. He knelt to clean up the glass; shaking violently. The glass clattered between his cloven hooves. An elk walked up to retrieve his brew; the Ogar pulled the little fawn out of the way, and the glass shards cut through his hide.

“Get out of his way!” He demanded. “My apologies,” said the tall beastly Ogar. The elk continued his business. The little fawn held his wound up to the tall beastly Ogar.

“You’ll be fine, throw the glass away!” He growled as he grabbed his muffin and proceeded out the door. The little fawn looked around and noticed he had left. He ran out the door and tried to catch up to the tall beastly Ogar who had made his way down the street.

Amelia’s eyes dropped. She placed her paw on the window; her reflection appeared.

‘Always in trouble, always in the way... They’re all me,’ She teared up.

The fog nestled in and covered the grounds near the Victorian mansion.

‘All this time, bits of me were left behind,’ She pondered.

She clenched her paw and pressed her lips together. Her eyes pierced out the window.

‘I don’t want to live like this anymore... I can’t! She gasped. Her eyes paced back and forth.

‘There is too much that I want to do; I don’t want to be held back anymore. I have to change. I will change!’ She clenched her jaw.

Golden beams burst through the grey sky and illuminated the Victorian mansion. Her eyes softened. She took a deep breath, blew warm air onto the checkered glass square, and drew a heart in her reflection.

‘I will love her again,’ she whispered.

She closed her laptop, grabbed her bag, and stood by her table. She looked around to see if anyone was watching her. Some were. She nodded to them and walked out of the cafe. At the edge of the sidewalk, she looked out at the Victorian mansion. A warm breeze brushed her hair. She smiled and pulled back her hair from her eyes. She walked home; her tail swung gently from side to side.