Talking Points Memo

Author's Note: Hey everyone! So like I said in the summary, this is going to be a collection of loosely connected slice-of-life oneshots of varying lengths following Nick, Judy, and her older brother both during and after the events of the film. I want to emphasize both "loosely connected" and "varying lengths." By "loosely connected," I mean that all of these oneshots will take place in the same universe and in the order that they are presented, but there is not one underlying plot, so there are gaps in time between the oneshots and certain significant events might be explained briefly to fill what would otherwise be a plot hole, but will not be examined in detail. By "varying lengths," I mean that I will not be limiting myself on word count in any way whatsoever, so one oneshot could be as short as a drabble, while the next could stand to be broken up into a multi-chapter story.

There's also some headcanon (I think I'm using the term properly) I would like to explain before we get started. First, the world of Zootopia is a world that is, geopolitically speaking, very similar to our own. One of the implications of this, is that Zootopia is a big city within the United States of America. By extension, all real world nations and real world US states will retain their real world names in these oneshots, though I have a plan for a oneshot a little further down the road in which I will create a fictional country, solely for the purpose of not providing direct commentary on current, real world political/military situations. Also, I have chosen to place the city of Zootopia in the real world location of Knob Noster, Missouri and the town of Bunnyburrow in southern Iowa. I have specific reasons for these locations, but I don't think it's necessary to explain them here. These reasons will probably become evident as I release more of these oneshots, but if you are really curious, feel free to ask me and I would be more than happy to explain. Actually, if you have any questions about anything that you read in my stories, I encourage you to ask me. Even though Knob Noster is landlocked, I imagine the real world Blackwater River that runs just a few miles north to be altered to become the body of water we see surrounding Zootopia in the film. In my mind, Kansas City still exists, but because Zootopia is so much bigger, it dominates the region politically and becomes the home of Kansas City's major league sports teams. With regard to sentience/anthropomorphism, food, and who eats what, the only sentient/anthropomorphic beings are land based mammals (not bats, whales, etc.) and thus predators eat seafood and birds (chicken, turkey, etc.) on a regular basis.

This first oneshot is set during the film on the evening prior to Judy's meeting with Mayor Bellwether and Chief Bogo regarding becoming the public face of the ZPD. This oneshot sort of has two sections. The first section is based on my initial thoughts when I first saw Judy connect the savagery to predator biology. When I first saw this section in the film, my first thought was, "No! No! You're analyzing! You're speculating! You're not supposed to do that! That's Bill O'Reilly's job, not yours!" So I used the Talking Points Memo segment from The O'Reilly Factor as a tool to expand on that premise. The second section is largely designed to introduce y'all to Judy's older brother, the oldest of the Hopps children, Captain Peter "Pistol" Hopps, United States Air Force.

The O'Reilly Factor, Rasmussen Reports, NASCAR, Duck Commander, Ducky Dynasty, and Zootopia all belong to their respective owners. I own nothing but Captain Hopps and the plot.

Finally, I would like to dedicate this series of oneshots to the memory of Brent Thompson, Michael Krol, Patrick Zamarripa, Mike Smith and Lorne Ahrens. They were all Dallas police officers who were killed in the line of duty by a racist sniper on the day I started writing this first oneshot, the 7th of July 2016. There death is a reminder of the risks police officers take every day when they put on their uniform and step out the door to keep us safe.

Well, I've talked y'alls ear off long enough. I tend to ramble sometimes when I'm writing. Let's get to what you really came here for: the first story in There Is a Time for Every Event Under Heaven! Enjoy!

It was nearly 7 in the evening when Judy finally made it back to her apartment. She had stayed at the office later than usual trying to finish up the mountain of paperwork that had resulted from the missing mammal case. The keyword here was TRYING. Bogo had been heading out the door himself when he found her still slaving away at her desk and had ordered her to go home. She had protested, but the cape buffalo was just as stubborn as she was, so she found herself following her boss down the front steps of the precinct, promising herself that she would definitely, absolutely, without a doubt, get that paperwork done tomorrow.

As she walked down the hallway toward her apartment, she was flipping through her keys, trying to find the one to her apartment door, when her fingers slipped and the keys fell to the hardwood floor in front of her. The rabbit sighed. Another screw up. It felt like she had been making a lot of those lately, though to be fair, this one paled in comparison to the one she had made a few days ago. At least this one didn't damage species relations across the country.

She finally found the right key, slid it into the deadbolt, and unlocked the door with a slight click. As she stepped into her apartment, she groaned as she heard the familiar sounds of her next door neighbors arguing again. She flipped on the small TV she had set up a few days ago on the small table across from the foot of her bed to drown them out. It was almost time for her favorite news program anyway, so Judy tuned the TV to the Fox News Channel [Well that was easy. A real world entity already using a name that would be a pun in the film.] in anticipation of The O'Rhino Factor. She watched the program with her parents almost every night when she lived back home, so it was a comfort knowing her folks were watching the same thing she was at the same time. Plus, it was nice to have an escape from local news (for obvious reasons at the moment) and hear about what was going on across the rest of the country.

"The O'Rhino Factor is on! Tonight: " Judy tuned out Bill O'Rhino's preview of that night's program as she pulled a TV dinner out of her mini-fridge and popped it in the microwave. Thirty seconds later, the microwave went off with a ding, she pulled her meal out, and she walked over to and sat down at the head of her bed, propped up against the wall behind her pillow, with her food in her lap. The theme music was just ending and she began to pay a little bit of attention to the TV, but her focus was still mostly directed at saying grace, stabbing at her meal with her fork, and getting the first few bites in her mouth.

"Hi, I'm Bill O'Rhino, thanks for watching us tonight," the commentator greeted with a smile before his face turned serious. "The Media, the Police, and Press Conferences; that is the subject of this evening's Talking Points Memo."

Judy's full, undivided attention immediately shot from the supper in her lap to the commentator on the TV screen in front of her. "Oh no."

Bill continued. "When I first began working in television journalism in the 1970s, the reporting was, by and large, objective. Yes, most of the nightly news anchors at the big three networks maintained liberal viewpoints in their personal lives, but they kept their bias off the air, reporting only hard news every night. However, as time went on, the big three networks, ZNN, and we here at Fox News began devoting segments and eventually whole programs to something other than hard news: commentary and analysis. Now, there is nothing inherently wrong with that. It is beneficial for the American people to hear the perspectives of various personalities on such things as national security affairs, economic matters, and social issues. Indeed, this very program is a commentary program. The problem arises when the line between the two becomes blurred, and that is what has happened in the mainstream media. As commentary and analysis began to receive higher and higher ratings, the hard news anchors wanted in on the game as well. They began presenting personal opinions and their own analysis as established fact. In fact, it is now almost impossible to watch a program labeled as hard news by the mainstream media without hearing the anchor's liberal bias, and this has directly lead to the American people's distrust of the media. Case in point: a Rasmoussen Poll was released today which asked 'How credible do you find the television news media?'"

The shot of Bill O'Rhino's head and upper body was replaced with a graphic displaying the results of the poll. "As you can see, only 28% of responders combined said 'Very Credible' or 'Somewhat Credible.'"

The graphic was removed and Bill O'Rhino's image returned to the screen. "Now, none of what I've just said is news to regular Factor viewers. We've documented countless examples of this bias in the past. But now, it is possible that this false equivalency between fact and opinion could be starting to damage the credibility of other respected American institutions, such as law enforcement. For instance, let's look at the crime story that has taken the nation by storm in recent days: the missing mammal case out in Zootopia, Missouri."

Judy sighed. "I knew it." She sure wasn't going to get an escape from local news tonight.

Bill continued. "When the fourteen savage mammals were found a few days ago, the police department in Zootopia held a press conference to update the public on the situation. We here at Fox News carried that press conference live. One of the officers who spoke at that press conference was the officer who found the mammals, a rabbit by the name of Judy Hopps. Officer Hopps did not speak for long at the press conference, but what she did say may have caused some serious damage. Roll the tape."

The image of Bill O'Rhino was replaced by a clip now all too familiar to Judy: her at the podium in the lobby of ZPD's Precint 1. "So, predators are the only ones going savage?" a sheep reporter asked her.

The image of her on screen hesitated a moment before replying, "That is ac… Yes, that is accurate. Yes."

A pig reporter yelled out from the crowd, "Why? Why is this happening?"

"We still don't know," the on screen Judy admitted. The reporters all began murmuring. Now feeling very nervous and fearing she was losing their confidence, she continued, "But, uh… it may have something to do with biology."

"What do you mean by that?" the sheep reporter probed.

"A biological component," she explained. "You know, something in their DNA."

"In their DNA? Can you elaborate on that, please?" a third reporter questioned.

"Yes, what I mean is, thousands of years ago… uh, predators survived through their aggressive… hunting instincts. For whatever reason… they seem to be reverting back to their primitive savage ways."

The reporters began murmuring again before a fourth one called out, "Officer Hopps, could it happen again?"

Beginning to feel a little more confident, she answered, "It is possible. So we must be vigilant. And we at the ZPD are prepared and are here to protect you."

The clip ended abruptly and the image of Bill O'Rhino returned. "Officer Hopps's responsibility was to lay out the facts of the case. However, by telling a national television audience that predators MAY be going savage due to biological reasons, she was no longer stating facts. She was speculating and providing analysis. And that's my job." He said the last sentence with a smile before his serious expression returned. "This is very dangerous. The American people look to law enforcement as an unbiased institution that treats and judges the populous fairly, but what are they to think after seeing that?" He paused. "Talking Points also disagrees with Officer Hopps's analysis. It is quite unlikely that the reason that the mammals are going savage is genetic in nature, especially since there is no record in medical history of this ever happening before and even now it is only happening in one city. There are no reports of anything like this happening anywhere else in the nation. So, if her theory is so easily disproven, why did Officer Hopps present it to the country? Well, Talking Points has a theory. Roll the tape."

Bill O'Rhino was replaced on screen by another clip. This one was part of the cell phone footage she had recorded in the asylum where the mammals had been held. "Because I got a dozen and a half animals here who have gone off-the-rails crazy and you can't tell me why! Now I'd call that awfully far from 'doing everything,'" Lionheart yelled at one of his doctors.

The doctor replied, "Sir, it may be time to consider their biology."

"What? What do you mean 'biology?!'" Lionheart roared.

"The only animals going savage are predators," the doctor explained. "We cannot keep it a secret. We need to come forward."

"Hmm. Great idea," Lionheart thought out loud. "Tell the public. And how do you think they're gonna feel about their mayor WHO IS A LION?!"

The clip ended and Bill O'Rhino returned to the screen. "What you just saw was cell phone footage taken by Officer Hopps in the facility where the mammals were secretly being held. As you can see, one of the doctors who had been attempting to find a cure posited the same theory as Officer Hopps. But this still doesn't paint a complete picture. We need to know a little bit more about Officer Hopps herself. Talking Points has discovered that Officer Hopps is very inexperienced, having only graduated from the Zootopia Police Academy less than a month ago and she has only been on the force for a week and a half. In fact, this missing mammal case was her first case as an officer. She received no official training in conducting a press conference prior to taking the podium. Talking Points believes that Officer Hopps was simply very nervous, and was struggling to provide intelligent sounding answers, so she elaborated on a theory that she had heard from a relatively credible source. Now, on the flip side, many in the liberal precincts have accused Officer Hopps and the entire Zootopia Police Department of being speciesist against predators. This is, of course, nonsense, for the reasons previously mentioned as well as the facts that the Zootopia Police Department is a majority predator department and Officer Hopps turned to a civilian fox for assistance in tracking down the missing mammals."

Judy's eyes began to water at the mention of Nick.

Bill O'Rhino shook his head and sighed before concluding, "Talking Points is confident that the truth will come out in due course and all of this will be put to bed, but in the meantime, the damage has been done. And that's the memo. Now for our Top Story, with reaction, syndicated columnist Charles Cat-hammer-"

Click.

Judy lowered the remote control to the bed beside her and stared at the now blank TV screen. After a few moments, she sighed and moved her unfinished supper from her lap to the nightstand beside her, having lost her appetite. The nearly full plastic tray served as yet another reminder of how the fallout from the press conference was really beginning to take its toll on her, both mentally and physically. She had skipped lunch today and breakfast the day prior, so she had probably lost a few pounds she didn't need to lose. At night, she was constantly being awoken in fits and starts, so her sleep cycle had been disrupted too. She probably hadn't gotten more than five hours of uninterrupted sleep since the press conference. She had tried her best to cover up the bags under her eyes with makeup, but she was pretty sure some of her coworkers had noticed how exhausted she was.

Yes, keeping this stress bottled up was slowly robbing her of her health. She needed to talk to somebody about all of this. She needed to vent. But who could she talk to? Her parents? No, they'd probably just tell her it was too much for her and that she needed to come home. Someone at the precinct? No, she hadn't been working there long enough to get to know anyone well enough to talk to about something like this. Even Ben, friendly as the cheetah was, probably wouldn't be much help. The only other person she knew in this city, the only one she really trusted was… Nick. She groaned as she put her paws over her eyes and the tears began running down her face. Why had she been so stupid? Why had she screwed up the only friendship she had? Why? Why? She sat like that for a few minutes, letting the tears fall, wallowing in her depression.

But then, suddenly, she sat bolt upright. Of course! She knew exactly who she could talk to, and she needed to call him right now! Why hadn't she thought of this before?! She raced from her bed to her desk, grabbed her phone, and started dialing.

#

In the living room of a riverfront apartment on the eastern edge of Shrewport, Louisiana, three mammals wearing olive drab colored U.S. Air Force flight suits sat on the couch in front of the TV. On each of their right sleeves, just below the shoulder, they wore the patch of the 11th Bomb Squadron, a unit that flew B-52 Rhinofortresses out of nearby Barksdale AFB [Air Force Base] [Not a pun. That's the real name of the real Air Force base near Shreveport, Louisiana.]. They were watching The O'Rhino Factor as well, which had just gone into its first commercial break. One of the pilots, a black sheep, spoke up.

"Wow, Pistol. Your sister really screwed up, didn't she?" he chuckled as he directed his remark to the rabbit in the room.

"Can it, Shepard," Captain Peter "Pistol" Hopps, USAF immediately snapped back. "It's not funny. How would you feel if you had just been raked over the coals on national television?"

"Woah, woah, take it easy," the sheep put up his hooves in mock surrender. "I was just making an observation. I'm sorry, I meant no offense."

The rabbit sighed, releasing some of the tension that had been building in him over the past ten or so minutes. "No, I'm the one who should be apologizing. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I'm sorry. It's just that…" He sighed again. "It's just that she's my little sister, ya know? I worry about her. She's wanted to be a cop since she was nine years old, and now that she's reached her goal, I don't want to see that ruined for her. I felt responsible for her when we were growing up, since we were the two oddball children who wanted to leave the farm behind. We both knew God was calling us to something different, but no one else in the family seemed to understand that, so we really only had each other for support. I guess I still feel responsible for her in a way," he concluded.

"I get it man, I get it," Shepard sympathized. "How far apart are you two? In age I mean."

"She's two years younger than me."

"Mmm." For a moment, the only sound in the room was the drone of the TV.

Pete turned to the other pilot in the room, an otter. "Hey, Ridley, ya got any Beeman's?" He had a habit of chewing gum when he was stressed and the current situation was downright killing him.

"Yeah, I think I got me a stick," the otter replied.

"Loan me some, will ya? I'll pay ya back later."

"Fair enough," Ridley pulled out a package of gum and handed a stick to Pete.

As the blue-eyed rabbit stuck the gum in his mouth, he suddenly felt something vibrating. Realizing it was his phone ringing, he unzipped the chest pocket of his flight suit, pulled it out, and answered it without checking who it was. "Hello?" he spoke around the gum.

"Hi Pete! How's my favorite hotshot Air Force pilot brother doing?" a feminine voice asked from the other end.

"Hey Jude!" Pete responded with a smile. "I'm doing all right. How's my favorite famous big city cop sister doing?" he asked, in an attempt to keep her spirits up. It didn't really work.

"Well, at the moment, wishing she were a lot less famous," Judy replied, the spark having left her voice.

Realizing that this was going to be a rather serious and private conversation and also not wanting to annoy the other two pilots who were trying to watch the Factor, Pete got up from the couch and walked over to his bedroom. "Now why is that?" he asked as he closed the bedroom door behind him. "You found 14 missing mammals in less than 48 hours. I'd think you'd be pretty proud of that," he offered, trying to point out the positives. "Congratulations, by the way."

"Thanks, I am proud of that, but…" She sighed. "Pete, I… I think I broke the country."

Pete had to stifle a chortle as he plopped down in the desk chair that at the moment, was turned so that he was facing sideways at his desk. "Oh, I think you're being a little too hard on yourself, Jude," he replied. "There's been conflict of varying degrees between the species ever since Cain killed Abel. You know that."

"Well, yes, I know, but it's not just that," she continued. "I also let down my department. The media is calling the ZPD corrupt and speciesist, all because of me."

"Sure they are. But that's what they always do in cases like this," he reminded her as his free paw found the Joey Liongano MASCAR [Mammalian Association for Stock Car Auto Racing] die-cast car that was sitting on his desk and began to absentmindedly roll the model back and forth across the wooden surface. "Anyone who can think for themselves knows that that's complete nonsense. And not everyone in the media has bought into it. Did you see the Factor tonight?"

"Well, yes, that's actually sort of what prompted me to call," Another sigh. "Peter, I need you to be completely honest with me. Am… am *I* a speciesist?"

This time, a slight chortle did escape, but he quickly recovered. "Of course not! I agree with Bill's analysis. No offense, but you never really were very good at public speaking. I mean, you did just get nervous, didn't you?"

"Well, when I was actually standing at the podium making the statements I thought that's all it was, but considering what happened right after, well… now I'm not so sure," She dejectedly explained who Nick was and how he had helped her and especially how their conversation after the press conference had gone, her voice wavering the whole time as she tried to hold back the tears.

When she finished telling the story, there was a long pause before Pete finally reacted. "Well, it sounds to me…" He drug out the last word as he finished gathering his thoughts, "Like it's really more of a simple misunderstanding. What I mean is, it sounds like you've both come to trust each other quite a bit, and in the time you've spent together, you've come to realize that despite the persona he puts on, that he's actually a kind and gentle person. When he took your words at the podium at face value and felt that you violated his trust, he tested you by pretending to lunge at you. Now, this is out of character for him, because you know he would never hurt you, and because he was acting out of character, you didn't know how to react. So your subconscious took over, and because your cheek got scratched up the last time a fox lunged at you, your subconscious unfortunately told you to defend yourself, so you reached for the repellant. Sound about right?"

She considered it for a moment. It WAS a plausible explanation. "Maybe," she replied. "But regardless, he still had a right to be upset. I hurt him."

"Yes, he did have a right to be upset because yes, you did hurt him. You made a mistake, but it's not the end of the world. We're all mammals, we all make mistakes. The important thing is that you recognize it and ask for his forgiveness," Pete counseled.

"I know he'll never f-forgive me," she sobbed. The tears were starting to flow again. "And it wasn't j-just any m-mistake, it was a serious m-mistake. I hurt a lot of people. In fact, I'm…" she paused, debating whether or not she should come out and say it. "I-I'm thinking of resigning!" she finally managed before she started bawling.

Crap. This conversation had just gone to a whole other level. Pete's ears drooped as he turned to face his desk and set the die-cast car he had been playing with to the side before leaning his elbows on the wooden surface, now completely focused on giving his little sister the confidence to not throw her life away. "It's okay, it's okay. Let it out," he comforted as she continued to bawl. After about five minutes, the wails he heard over the phone subsided to sobs and then to sniffles. He decided it was okay to continue. "Look, I know you're upset, but you want to talk about serious mistakes? RESIGNING would be a serious mistake. You've known since you were a child that God was calling you to law enforcement."

"But Pete," she sniffed, "what if I didn't know? What if I misunderstood God? What if it was nothing more than a childhood fantasy and I was just lying to myself the whole time?"

"Well, that's always possible. I mean, anything's possible. But I seriously doubt it, considering how well you did at the academy and how well you did on this case itself. Do you remember what Pastor Fluffton told us when we had that long conversation with him about God's calling on our lives?" Pete was referring to their youth pastor back in Bunnyburrow. "He told us that when you're facing a morally neutral decision, a good rule of thumb is to ask yourself, 'Do I want to do it,' 'Am I good at it,' and 'Is there an open door to do it.' He also said, if you can answer yes to all three questions, then there's a pretty good chance God is pointing you in that direction. And, let's see, you've wanted to do this since you were nine, you found fifteen missing mammals in two days, so you clearly EXCEL at it, and you've already got the job, so I think it's pretty safe to say that you're right smack in the center of God's will. God's given you an incredible gift, Judy, don't waste it!" He realized as he finished that he had gotten progressively louder to the point where he was almost shouting and was probably intimidating his sister a little bit. His suspicions were confirmed when the only response he got was another sniffle.

He sighed, drew in a deep breath, and then sighed again, calming himself and choosing his next words very carefully. When he began again, it was almost in a whisper. "Jude, I can't tell you whether you should resign or not. You're an adult and you have to work that out between you and God, and I'll definitely be praying for you, but let me just say this much. You. Are not. A speciesist. You've been fighting against prejudice your whole life. I remember Mom telling me during your senior year of high school how you fought for Gideon Gray's right to run for student body president when the administration didn't want predators to run. By the way, he never really thanked you for that, did he? Anyway, you are one of the kindest and most caring people I know, Judy. Don't ever let anyone tell you different. Please Jude, please don't let one mistake define your life." There was a long pause, and Pete was starting to worry that his words had fallen on long, deaf ears, until finally he heard a sigh and:

"Thanks. I needed that."

A relieved smile spread its way across Pete's face and his ears perked up again, "Of course. And I meant every word."

"I've vented to you enough. How's life treating you?" she asked. They hadn't spoken since her graduation from the academy a few weeks ago, which was a long time for the two tight-knit siblings.

"Oh, pretty good. The scheduler's been having our crew flying quite a bit recently, so I haven't been doing as much desk work, which is awesome. Um, let's see… what else? Oh! I'm heading out to West Mongooseroe with a few of the guys from the squadron next weekend to see the Duck Commander shop," They were both fans of Duck Dynasty, so he knew this would get a reaction out of her, though he wasn't sure precisely what sort of reaction.

"On second thought, maybe you'd better stop talking," she sneered playfully. "You're making me jealous."

Yep, he was right. He chuckled before replying with a smile, "I'll be sure to get some autographs for you."

"Oh, that'd be great! Thanks!" He could tell her face was lighting up. He was pleased to hear her genuinely smile for the first time in this conversation. "I'll pay you back for the postage."

Perfect. Now to spring the good news on her. "Why bother?" he smiled. "I can just hand them to you when I see you in eight months."

"What's going on in eight months?" she asked, puzzled.

"Well, eight months from today… is my report-no-later-than date to the 55th Bomb Squadron," he explained.

"You're getting assigned to Foxchild?!" she squealed. She was referring to Foxchild AFB, a base located a couple of miles south of Zootopia which just so happened to be the only other base in the entire U.S. Air Force besides Barksdale that operated B-52s. Well, except for special circumstances like deployments or theater security packages or whatnot. It would probably be better to say that those were the only two bases that PERMANENTLY hosted B-52s. It was partially for these reasons (both the fact that the units on base flew B-52s and that it was the closest Air Force base both to Zootopia and to Bunnyburrow) that had caused him to request the B-52 upon his completion of pilot training. Unfortunately, he had been sent to Barksdale for his first operational assignment, but now after three years the Air Force was sending him exactly where he wanted to go.

"Yep," grinned Pete, "The squadron commander pulled me into his office this morning and told me."

"That's awesome! It'll be great having you so close."

"Absolutely," he replied. "You'll have to give me a tour of the city when I get there and introduce me to all your friends, especially Nick."

"If he'll ever speak to me again," muttered Judy as the smile fell from her face.

"I'm sure you'll be able to patch things up with him," encouraged Pete. "Based on what you told me, it sounds like he's a great guy. I'm sure he'll understand if you just explain what happened."

"From your lips to God's ears," she sighed. "Well, it's getting late, so I'll let you go. Thanks for taking my call. I really needed someone to talk to."

"Don't give it a second thought, Jude. You call me any time you need to and like I said, I'll be praying for you, both about your job and Nick."

"Thanks. Well, goodnight Captain Hopps."

"Goodnight Officer Hopps."

Back in her apartment, Judy disconnected the call and set the phone down on her desk. She sighed. She had a lot of thinking to do. And a lot of praying.

Author's Note: Well, I hope y'all enjoyed it! Even though in this story it sounds like Pete convinced Judy to stay with the force, the way I imagine it, the prospect of her being rewarded (potentially becoming the face of the ZPD) as a result of her actions instead of receiving a punishment was the final straw that undid most of what Pete said and prompted her to resign as we see in the film.

At the moment, I have plans for about ten more stories for you to look forward to and I'm hoping I can write the next two stories a lot quicker than I did this one. Two months for 5000 some-odd words is a bit much, but it was a busy summer (leadership camp, vacation, the Olympics, etc.) and in my mind the next two stories are shorter than this one (of course this one was originally a lot shorter in my mind too, so we'll see how that goes). So until next time, please review/favorite/follow, ask questions if you have them and may God bless you all!