‘Well, that does pose a problem, now doesn’t it?’ The teacher replied, as her eyes scanned the room in search of any volunteers.
The fellas all managed to be looking elsewhere, either up or down, or off to the side – making sure no direct eye contact was met with the teacher.
‘C’mon fellas!’ Miss T. urged – ‘You can do better than that!’ But the teachers words only fell on deaf ears. ‘Fine – girls – we don’t need the boys to have fun!’ Miss Tramatonna announced to a rousing cheer from all of the little vixens. It did not take that much prodding at all to get the girls up and into dance mode.
Seemingly in the blink of an eye, the dance floor was jumping. Taking a cue from Miss Tramatonna, the vixens were soon dancing and thoroughly having a grand time – a fact that was greeted with much dismay by the cubs.
‘Look at those silly girls!-they sure look stupid jumping around like that!’ Edgar scoffed to Jules and every other fella within earshot. There was one little cub who did not take any notice of Edgar’s vinegary words though. That cub was Jules. It seemed he was feeling a bit envious of the good time being had by all across the room – he especially took notice of Fifi dancing with Anya and a couple of the other vixens. Fifi was acting like she didn’t have a care in the world.
And while the girls may not have had the most graceful of moves, it sure did look like they were having a wonderful time. This brought a smile to Jules’ face, as he got more and more caught up in the moment. In fact, Jules was so engrossed in watching the kits having a ball dancing and laughing – he had not even noticed that Edgar had slipped off to go shoot marbles with a couple of the other cubs, some time before.
Jules’ mind had been focused elsewhere. ‘Would it really be such a bad thing to go over there and join in on all the fun?’ Jules wondered. There was no overwhelming amount of excitement going on where he was standing – that was one thing for certain. The reality of it was, Jules wanted nothing more than to make his way across the room and make up with Fifi.
Jules had been missing his friend, even though he had been trying his best not to admit that – even to himself. He he been missing Fifi dearly, but did he dare go over and talk to her – with Edgar and the other fellas bearing witness? ‘Surely he would never live THAT down.’ The little cub thought. This was quite a dilemma Jules was wrestling with.
The little cub so very much wanted to throw caution to the wind and go dance with the vixens. Jules’ mind went from one thing to another as he played over the pros and cons. Little did he know that across the room, Fifi was harboring the same thoughts. She adored Jules, and was having some major pangs of sadness amidst all the fun, especially when she would glance over and see Jules standing there on the sidelines.
Fox Township’s newest vixen had no way of knowing that Jules had meant not one word he had said about her – she only knew things were voiced, which cast Jules, and their friendship in a different light. Fifi was grieving for a friendship lost – but she wasn’t alone. Jules had been feeling the exact same way.
From time to time, throughout the evening, our fine furry friend resolved himself to the fact that he did not care what anyone else thought, he was going to cross that proverbial line that separated kit and cub, to make up with Fifi. She deserved an apology – that was one thing for certain the little cub reasoned. So for a time or two that evening, Jules took a stand –in his mind anyway. He had all good thoughts of proceeding with his plan, but the reality of Edgar and the other cubs kept holding him back.
Early dusk turned into the shank of the evening, and the hour was nearing for this wonderous harvest ball to come to an end. Principal Hertfordshire approached the stage just before the witching hour. ‘This will be the last song of the evening.’ The Principal announced. ‘Thank you all for coming, and a special thanks goes out to the Fab Four, for making this late harvest dance a great success!’
Jules felt a lump in his throat as the last song of the evening began to play. Because of all the songs in all the world that could have been chosen, it had to be the ‘Enchanted Cottage’ power-ballad by none other than Minor Skirmish. This was certainly a heart-felt moment for Fifi as well, as the song brought back memories of a happier time. Fifi’s heart sank with the very first chords.
This song only deepened the memory of a friendship that had once been. Fox Township’s newest vixen chose to sit this one out – as the girls began to regroup to dance out the last song of the evening. Maybe it was the power of the song, or maybe it was simply Jules had come to realize what is truly important, but something had come over the heart-broken little cub. ‘I’m going over there!’ he sternly announced to Edgar – who had not been present for the better part of an hour.
But it mattered not where Edgar or anyone else was. He did not care who was watching. Jules seemed to have found a moment of clarity, and made his way across the room. This was a cub on a mission. Jules was trying to put together in his head something he could say that would let Fifi know why he had said all of those hurtful things to her.
In the sadness of the song being played, Fifi noticed Jules when he was about half-way across the floor. ‘Oh please don’t come over here!’ Fifi wished to herself. She simply could not take Jules being terse with her again. The little vixen felt a rush of panic – she was not sure what Jules was up to – and she certainly was not going to stick around to find out – not during this dance anyway!
Fifi was not going to let Jules ridicule her and say things he knew would cut her to the core, just to be some sort of hero in front of his friends again! As the little cub got closer, Fifi tried to exit, but getting through the crowd was futile. Jules was catching up to her – even calling out to her – but Fifi was not sticking around to hear anything the little cub had to say. She simply could not take any more disappointment – Fox Township’s newest vixen believed some things were better left unsaid and unheard.
As he made his way through the crowd, Jules could see the resistance in Fifi. It was clear she did not want to hear anything he had to say, but he was not going to let this night go by – he was not letting one more minute go by without making things right once again with his friend.
Fifi almost made it to salvation. She was nearing the exit when suddenly the music stopped mid-song, which naturally caused a bit of confusion.
‘Hi everyone’ Jules said into the microphone. ‘S...sorry about the song – I just wanted to say something while everyone was here.’ All eyes were glued on the young cub. ‘I-I said some awful things about my friend Fifi.’ Jules began. ‘The truth is, I did not mean one word of it – I only said those things because Edgar and some of the other guys were giving me the business.’
Fifi was simply astonished by what she was hearing! She could not believe Jules was up there apologizing in public! ‘Being dared is in no way an excuse.’ Jules continued over the loud speaker. ‘It was just me being stupid – the truth of it is – I like Fifi. She is a good soul – and we had a lot of fun together. And why shouldn’t we? Why is it such a bad thing that Fifi is a vixen and she is – or WAS my friend. Kit-cub-boy-girl, what does it matter? If two foxes like each other-isn’t that enough?’
This was turning out to be a very touching moment to say the least, as Jules continued on to his thoroughly engaged sea of classmates. The pin-drop quietness, except for the sound of Jules’ voice even caught the attention of Edgar and his band of merry marble shooters, who were crouching just outside the door, trying to make sense out of what was going on.
‘I am very sorry that I said all of those things about Fifi – my friend. I was stupid, and a coward, and I can see that now – heck I could see it when I said it – and I am very, very sorry.’ Fifi was touched as she listened to Jules’ intense pleadings. He was looking right at her through the crowd, as he continued on.
‘I don’t know if you can forgive me or not, I don’t really deserve it, so I understand if you don’t – but I had to let you know once and for all that I did not mean any of those
things I said, and I am so very sorry that I hurt you. I miss you – and I miss our friendship. Fifi – I think you are AWESOME!’
This was a turn of events that the little vixen certainly did not see coming. She never expected Jules to be up there, saying such heart-felt things for all to witness. No one really saw the likes of this coming, especially Edgar – who was bubbling just underneath the surface with contempt for his friend’s words.
There was nothing the miffed little cub could do however-not with all the chaperones and teachers in full view. Edgar could not do a thing but sit and take in the events of the evening. Which thoroughly irked him.
There was a brief moment of silence in the room after Jules made his speech. He wasn’t sure if he had just made a complete spectacle of himself in front of his entire class, or if he was going to be in a whole lot of trouble for breaking in on the last song of the evening – and the moment of silence that befell the room was not helping matters in the least.
Just before the shaken little cub was about to turn tail and exit the stage, Miss Tramatonna started up a round of applause for Jules – she thought it took a lot of courage for this little cub to get up there and take a stand like that.
In the midst of all the applause, Principal Hertfordshire grabbed the microphone and made an announcement to this grade five gathering. ‘In light of the events of the evening – we will be playing one last – last song.’ It seemed even this most sternest of Principals’ was taken with Jules’ heart-felt gesture.
The crowd once again commenced to the dance floor – but this time, even some of the boys jumped in and danced! This was all too much for Edgar to witness. There was no way he was going to stand there watching all of the events of the evening unfold – he simply could not stomach the thought! So he stormed off – in a great, dramatic huff, with arms flailing and head bobbing all around in utter disgust.
As for Jules and Fifi? They chose to sit out this last dance of the evening-together. They had an awful lot of catching up to do!
All The Little Foxes Page 6
