“When I was your age, I was just like you,”
As billowing clouds slowly cleared rays of moonlight spilled over a small lake, reflecting its lunar splendour in tiny ripples over the waters that were bleached black from mirroring the night sky. In the background, towering skyscrapers decorated the scene, and even closer was a more well lit harbor full of boats that was lit by small lamps. Here, at this small fishing dock, there was no artificial light, leaving only the moonlight to highlight the form of two figures.
At the edge of the dock, a bald man with pale skin stood. He wore no shirt, and his body was decorated in cheap tattoos that etched on various vulgarities and attempts at drawing lewd imagery of women. The man’s face was held shut by duct tape, and his hands were bound behind his back. Lastly, the man was standing in a bucket filled with a thick substance that appeared to be drying. Next to the bucket, several bags were laid out that read “cement mix”. The man had a youthful look about him, and his eyes were opened fearfully wide. With each passing moment, the man seemed to shake worse and worse as adrenaline pumped through his veins.
“Yes, just like you,” the voice bellowed. Eyes… eyes with black patches over them, surrounded by thick white hairs that illuminated with the moonlight above. Black ears stood at the top of the head, and in the ursine creatures mouth was a small piece of vegetation that he casually chewed. This creature stood a few feet taller than the man, and was about twice as thick. Still, of the two, the bear was much more sharply dressed. He was wearing a dark grey suit with a green tie, sunglasses resting in the upper pockets of his top. Standing comfortably, he pressed a large black claw into the chest of the other man, pressing just enough to make him uncomfortable.
“You see, when I was your age, I didn’t have no respect for anyone,” the bear said. “I saw something I wanted, I took it. I never thought about the consequences, ‘til one day I landed in prison because I wasn’t careful,”
The bear stopped for a moment, taking another bite out of the bamboo and reminiscing over the past in his mind. There really wasn’t anything like the rush of snatching a purse or holding up a liquor store. If he could, he probably would have never stopped, but it was chump change compared to his current lifestyle. He could turn more in a single trip than he used to be able to make in a week. The increase in alien presence across the years had created a demand for moving different places quickly, and often times unseen.
“But today, you have messed with Fleece,” Fleece explained, moving to once again move a couple of claws against the chest of the man, this time drawing a slight amount of crimson.
“Let me explain the food chain to you kid. You, you are at the bottom of the food chain. I have floozies who mean more than you. Then you have gangs, and then the bosses. Then you have me...I could own these streets if I wanted to, but it wouldn’t be worth it,” Fleece said, letting out a small growl. “So, who do you think you are to try and steal my ship?”
With that, Fleece tore the tape off of the man’s mouth. The man gasped for air for a moment.
“Fleece, please! I didn’t know it was yours!” the man begged.
“Oh, you didn’t know? So you don’t respect ol’ Fleece enough to know what his ship looks like? Fleece is old news, not worth keeping up with?” Fleece asked with a snarl. He took another bite out of a piece of bamboo.
“No, I…I’m sorry!” the man begged. He lowered his head down as tears rolled down his face. Fleece laughed as he watched the young man cry. Maybe they weren’t so alike after all, Fleece wouldn’t ever cry. He started to think that despite the slummies look he was probably a soft kid.
“Oh yea you are,” Fleece said with a grin at the man. He pressed into the man’s chest harder, causing the bucket to begin to tip ever so slightly towards the edge of the pier. The man whipped his head back and hyperventilated as he feared being drowned in the lake below. Suddenly, Fleece pulled the man back forward. Fleece laughed and gave the man a forceful pat on the back. “You know what kid, I’m going to let you off on a warning, but you better learn respect really quick. Someone like you aint gonna make it out here in the streets anyways. Why don’t you go ahead and go back home to momma and go find a clean job”
“Th-thank you Mr. Fleece, I will do that!” the man responded with a tear dropping down his cheek. He seemed to be relieved.
“Yea, yea. You are just lucky I am in a good mood kid,” The bear said as he turned and walked away from the pier, leaving the punk with cement shoes standing at the edge. The man looked at Fleece with woe as he realized that the panda had no intention of helping him get off of the pier and out of the cement that he had been bound with, but at the very least he was still alive.
“I am getting too soft,” Fleece said to himself as he walked away from the pier and back into the city lights. There were drinks to be had and business to arrange.
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