“Leave It for the Morning” by Dirt Coyote

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You’re listening to The Voice of Dog. I’m Khaki, your faithful fireside companion,

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and Today’s story is

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“Leave It for the Morning” by Dirt Coyote, who, when he isn't causing all sorts of trouble on Twitter,

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works on various writing projects including a novel,

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a novella, and short erotic furry fiction.

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Follow him at DirtCoyote on Twitter

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for future updates.

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“Leave It for the Morning”

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by Dirt Coyote Joshua’s attention strained to focus on the twenty dollar bills he was placing on the table.

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One, two, three, four...

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four...fifteen, sixteen, sixteen, seventeen, eigh—

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wait. Fuck. The ferret grimaced but allowed himself to look up at the television for just a second.

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The plasma screen was large

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and split into a dozen cameras all about the restaurant,

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but there was only one that he was focusing on.

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In the far back corner of the dining area sat two dark figures alone

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in the closed restaurant.

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“Aye, Boss!” Joshua squeaked loudly as the door to his office swung open.

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“Alvin! Knock!” he cried out,

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his black ferret mask glowering at the teenage coyote while he brushed down the white fur on his arms.

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“Oh, sorry,” Alvin started with a paw to the back of his head.

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His braces flickered in the light as he gave a wide apologetic canid smile. “Didn’t mean t’scare ya.

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Just wanted to say everything’s finished ‘cept the trash liners. Want me

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to handle those, too?”

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This sort of question wasn’t unfamiliar to him.

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Today had been exceptionally busy, with several no-shows that forced the two of them to carry most of the workload.

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The coyote boy’s eyes had bags underneath

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and his tail sagged towards the floor. Though his smile was large,

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it faltered at his cheeks and his ears weren’t quite as perked as they could be.

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Water, grease, and soap soaked the canine’s fur and he smelled like it too.

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Joshua gave him a weak smile in return,

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shaking his head.

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“Fuck it. Just leave it for the morning,”

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he said to the coyote’s delight.

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“Alright, I’ll text mom to come pick me up,”

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Alvin said before looking around at the ferret’s desk.

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“You just starting money?”

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Joshua let out a long sigh

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and tapped his finger to the cash till on the desk. “Counting the drawers, then scheduling, then inventory,

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and finally the food order.

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It’s gonna be rough.”

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Before he could stop himself,

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the ferret’s eyes flicked to the TV screen and then back on the coyote.

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Aw, shit. Alvin’s attention moved to the screen and then back to him.

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An eyebrow raised

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and half of his smile lifted,

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braces flashing as he gave him that sinister grin only coyote’s know how to make.

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Leaning against the door frame,

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the teenager’s tail found life again

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and wagged about playfully behind him.

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“You know how they’re made, right?”

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“Alvin. Pleeeeaaase. Not tonight,”

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Joshua begged with his paws clasped.

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Despite the ferret being the boy’s boss

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and almost a decade older than him, he had little control over him when he got into ghost story mode.

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Actually, he was always impressed with Alvin’s imagination and wanted to hear it, even when it made him scared.

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Even tonight, when he knew he was going to be alone for hours,

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he didn’t press any further to stop him.

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“The skunk and fox dummies sittin’ in the far corner,”

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he clarified before continuing in his slow drawl,

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“Inside, their hay is pulled from bales far deep into the fields.

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The white cloth holding it together is made from

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tattered rags of missing people’s clothes.

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Their whiskers are pulled from fishing wire cut from catches too large to possibly exist in a lake so small.

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That’s the hardest thing to get

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because you have to hope the hook’s no longer attached at the other end.

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Spiders thread their silk through the buttoned eyes.

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All that plush faux fur ain’t as faux as you’d think.”

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Even trying to be brave in the face of the teen,

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Joshua couldn’t help but dart glances to the TV.

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Each element the coyote went over became hyper-focused,

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and if he could stare any harder, he’d punch holes right through the lifeless eyes staring back at him.

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The two white buttons on the skunk’s head

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seemed more dubious than all the black stretched across its muzzle.

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“Anyways, nighty night boss,”

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Alvin said cheerfully,

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rapping his fingers on the door frame playfully.

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“You’re a little shit sometimes, you know that?”

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Joshua said a little harsher than he meant to.

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Noticing he might’ve gone a little too far,

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the coyote ducked his muzzle down apologetically and flattened his ears. “Oh,

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Ah’m sorry. They got them things at the Big Lots in Cumberville.

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Quit frettin’,”

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he explained bashfully.

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Joshua scoffed, shaking his head.

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“I know where they came from and I know they’re just regular weird ass dolls.

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Go on and text your mom.

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She gets pissed off at me for you staying late.”

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He nodded and flipped his phone out to shoot off the text message,

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but stayed at the door a little while longer.

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A guilty “everything will be okay” smile hung on the teen’s face

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and it looked more like the naturally taller coyote was acting as his guard.

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Joshua was beginning to feel bad letting Alvin think that his stories scared him that badly.

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When the coyote knew he’d have to start to get ready,

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he bowed his head and undid his apron. “Alright, boss. I’mma leave the lights on for y—” “No! No, no, nooooooo,” Joshua said trying to seem as laid back as he could.

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“Turn off all the lights, like normal, and wait outback.”

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His claw indicating where he was meant to stand in the camera’s view.

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“That way when you get kidnapped, I’ll have it all on tape for me and your mom to laugh at on repeat.”

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“Gee, thanks, boss,” he said, rolling his eyes.

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The two stuck tongues out at each other,

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both feeling good enough to be playful again.

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“And, lock up the service dock.

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You always forget!”

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A short wave between them

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and the coyote was out into the main hall,

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shutting down all the lights.

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The part of his brain that told him everything was going to be alright, that this was just another late night like the rest,

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was overridden for a brief millisecond so he could catch the skunk and fox

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just as the lights were killed.

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Pitch black enveloped the seats,

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the chairs, the fixtures, the booths,

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the carts, the plants, and the picture frames,

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and yet Joshua could still make out the slightest outline

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of the two inanimate guests.

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They really did freak the fuck out of him.

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The owners of the restaurant insisted

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that the life-sized dummies made the place feel busy during the off season.

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No matter what excuse that Joshua could say (“They’re

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unsanitary”,

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“Those seats are better reserved for customers”,

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“Inviting evil into the house is a terrible idea”),

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they couldn’t be dissuaded once their minds were set.

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Which was perfectly fine because they were just stuffed dummies and there was absolutely nothing about them

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worth fighting about.

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Movement from the camera caught Joshua’s attention,

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but it was from the back alley camera.

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Alvin swung the door to the back open

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and walked out into the back parking lot.

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The young coyote walked towards a dumpster still in camera view

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and hopped up to sit on the lid with his legs dangling over the side.

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The ferret peeked at the outline of the two dummies

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and could hear Alvin in his distinct drawl.

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“Startin’ towards the sunset, you have t’follow the horizon out

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towards the edge of the fields.

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Keep walking ‘til twilight blinds your view,

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but don’t ever stop, even when you know you’ve walked long past the edge of the property.

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Don’t worry ‘bout the time and don’t question the endless twilight.

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Just hurry ‘til you find that bale you’re looking for. Hastily stuff the hay into a bag,

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and don’t give time to think about who it belongs to.

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If you take too long,

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you can feel his impossibly long arms reach around the bale to take back what isn’t yours.”

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Thoughts of white birch-like arms stretching out towards him before elongated bony fingers clenched his throat

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snapped him back to attention.

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Stupid yote. When he got him going,

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he sure as heck got him going.

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Taking his attention off of the shadows in the dining hall,

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he peered back at Alvin,

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head down with tail in lap.

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One paw held it down while the other soothed out his tip

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in long comforting strokes.

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A smug sense of satisfaction drew a smile from Joshua

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seeing that he wasn’t the only one that accidently got spooked.

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Canines wore their emotions on their tails and

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Alvin sure as hell wasn’t mature enough to deal with his fear

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other than petting his tail like a cub.

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At the end of the driveway,

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a car pulled into the back.

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Watching the two headlights approach,

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Joshua held his breath instinctively.

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A sigh released from his chest as he made out the coyote mother’s

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ugly boxed-shaped family van parking beside Alvin.

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Though the camera captured no sound,

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immediately he knew the teen was being scolded for sitting atop the dumpster.

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Both his arms went into the air inaudibly as he argued something back.

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Big mistake. Kicking her door open, she dragged Alvin off the garbage by his ear,

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patted his rear and tail free of crud,

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and tossed him into the passenger side of the car.

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Watching the spectacle was enough of a distraction for Joshua to pull back into his work

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without looking at the camera.

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Counting the bills flew by rather quickly without haunted dolls on his mind.

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Opening the store safe, there’s an

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unsettling creak from the jet iron hinges.

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He slipped the money inside, preparing himself for the mechanical crunch of the deadbolt sealing the safe automatically closed door.

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SNAP. It still made the mustelid jump.

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Suddenly the office felt a little more cramped than usual.

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The worn scraped corners of the wooden desk and tables felt

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warped and weak beneath his paws.

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A squeal from his office chair released like a greyed man

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wheezing under a heavy load.

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Foggy fluorescent lights

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left a cold eerie glow over the rusty surplus office equipment.

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The air tasted stale.

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Trying to keep himself focused and moving,

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he immediately brought up the scheduling program,

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particularly taking note

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of the two no-shows he had today.

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Grumbling, he spread their hours to a few others, upset that a high school student was more reliable than some actual adults.

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Wondering where the two could have been

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summoned back Alvin’s voice as if the coyote was leaning unabashed against the desk next to him.

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“You’d think it’d be hard goin’ missing in small towns like these.

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How could a town of less than ten thousand not notice when someone doesn’t show for work or misses a class?

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Where could you hide a person that was loved and respected in an area less than fifteen square miles?

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Can you really fit that many people in the sewage and

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train tunnels that lay not

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so abandoned at the outskirts of town?

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Why does it leave their clothes at its lips?”

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Joshua had seen the tunnels once,

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their blackened bellied insides ran for miles with no indication they went anywhere near the town.

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Fur prickled up his back and tail,

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hackles rising as he swore he could hear

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the faint wind whistled tune they made

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breezing on the other side of the door.

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Stupid crytpid obsessed yote.

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The tunnels obviously went somewhere

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and there were no clothes at their entrances.

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Peering at his phone, he let out a sigh seeing that it was still a quarter before eleven.

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He still had a good while before—

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No, not going to think about that.

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Doubling his focus,

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he hunkered down on the remaining schedule before rushing the last day of the week carelessly.

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Correcting his mistakes could happen whenever,

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but he was losing his sanity staying late in this store.

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Grabbing his clipboard,

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he stood from his chair and snuck into the dining hall of the restaurant.

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Immediately, his first step was mired by a need to look out the hall.

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Giving in, he allowed himself to confirm

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that two figures still remained perfectly still and lifeless.

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One, two, three, four, five.

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They didn’t move, so now I can.

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Only allowing himself one additional second to watch,

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he walked through the free swinging double doors separating the dining room and kitchen.

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Clipboard in paw,

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he opened the walk-in refrigerator to start the inventory.

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Ice cold fog poured out from the walk-in,

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unrolling into the kitchen before dissipating over the floors.

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Two fans at the back of the fridge whirled

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noisily, clanking against the loose frame.

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Taking one last breath of warm air,

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he stepped inside and let the latch close behind him.

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With only his long black apron to keep him warm,

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he immediately shivered inside the cooler.

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Alvin's chilled whispers

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wormed their way into his ear,

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and he listened as he counted up the raw meat.

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“As I said earlier,

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the line’s the hardest part.

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Wake up early and walk down to the lake ‘fore the sun can warm the water.

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Step inside and accept the biting cold seeping into your frigid bones.

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Take a deep breath

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and submerge underneath the surface.

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Reach down and drag your claws through the muck and mud until you catch the wire between your fingers.

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Tug it up out of the murky depths and

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pull until you catch the hook at the other end.

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Let go if it snags

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and race back for oxygen before it drags you down to join the rest.”

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Icy air rushed into his lungs as he gasped,

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letting it bite into his throat and nose

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just to breathe again.

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Tears he blinked out coursed his cheeks,

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but unsure if they were from being tired or being worked up.

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Maybe, they were just remnants of being at the bottom of that lake he pictured so well.

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Both fans lurched in their worn casing,

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jittering loudly before returning to a more stable position.

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For a second, a single second,

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he swore he heard the handle of the latch being shaken.

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There’s nothing out there.

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With his clipboard raised defensively, he scrambled out of the walk-in.

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True to his words, he was still alone with a lot of work ahead.

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Every item remaining was spared a half second

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and he eyed how much was left with no care for accuracy.

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What’d usually be a thirty minute job had been cut in half.

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If his boss knew he could get Joshua to work this swiftly,

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he might order a half dozen more dummies to fill every dark corner of the store.

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Dashing towards the office,

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he crashed through the traffic doors and didn’t bother to settle their swing.

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Uncharacteristically,

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he tossed the clipboard onto the desk just shy of sending it through the computer monitor.

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Shit. Take it easy.

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Safe inside the office,

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he slumped against the door and tried to calm his racing heart.

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I’m moving fast because I want to go home.

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There’s nothing out there, everything is fine,

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and the next time I see Alvin, I’m going to muzzle him.

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Settling down, he relaxed into the seat

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and started his last item of the night;

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Food Order. It was fairly simple.

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All he needed to do was take all of his inventory

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and order what he needed for the week.

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That wasn’t too hard as long as he sent it out before midnight.

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Glancing to the digital clock on the wall opposite the door,

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he cursed himself for doing that.

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He knew that he had plenty of time before midnight,

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but not much longer before 11:11. It read 11:02

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in muted red.

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Pulling off his apron,

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he tossed at the clock, but fell embarrassingly short.

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It’s just a clock, man. Get a hold of yourself.

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He gave the clock a daring look as if to warn it not to cross him

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before sulking into the squeaky office chair.

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Wiggling the mouse brought the screen to life where he could finish his actual job.

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Unfortunately, the ancient computer took its time loading each webpage, and in between those seconds,

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he would sneak a glimpse at the clock.

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04. Alvin’s fingers draped over his shoulders,

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relaxing him with a massage as he reminded him

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why he shouldn’t look at the clock.

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“It’s just unproductive to stare atta clock.

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All those minutes that you give it when you should be active instead.

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Time just seems to go slower anyways.

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Seconds drag out infinitely long

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the more time the clock takes from you.

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The worst time to do that though is in

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the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour.

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When you give it that minute of your life, well,

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the clock just starts to wonder if you really value your time at all.

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It won’t be the only thing to pick that up.”

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Joshua reached to put a paw on his own shoulder,

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wincing at the coyote’s absence.

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No, he watched Alvin hop into the car with his mom

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and he wouldn’t be back until tomorrow.

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It was just him inside of the store

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and if he ever wanted to leave, he needed to put all the ghost stories aside and finish his work.

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Huddling into the screen,

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he processed the order quickly with his eyes kept to the screen.

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08. Almost done,

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just a little bit longer.

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Clicks from the loud clunky keyboard echoed against the walls of the office.

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Everything felt older and restraining.

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Trying to take his mind off of the clock,

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he focused on his frustration on the old electronics.

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The massive monitor took up most of the desk

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and would need to be thwacked every now and when it started to flicker.

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The jet engines of the workstation beneath sounded like a wheezing monster

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made of rusty ill-fitting scrap metal.

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09. Time really was getting slower,

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ready to pounce when he looked at the wrong time.

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God, what he would give for blinders right now.

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At the halfway mark, he clicked on a link at the bottom of the page to finish the rest of the order.

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It felt like he was living in a distant past

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waiting for it to load the remaining items.

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They rolled out onto the screen vertically, each entry field taking another second

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between the last to fill the page.

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Using that to his advantage,

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he took his time with the second half of the food order.

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He didn’t have to finish before the fateful minute struck,

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but he could instead take his time with the order

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and let it pass by.

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Just as long as he didn’t

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actually look at the clock,

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he’d be home free.

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In his mind, he swore that he would not take his eyes off the screen even once before the order was finished.

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Somehow his mind interpreted that oath to include not blinking and he strained painfully to fill out the remaining boxes.

: 00:17:25

He lagged further by using the number row instead of the number pad.

: 00:17:29

Every action that he took

: 00:17:31

seemed to be suspended in time,

: 00:17:32

like he was watching himself in a slow motion replay.

: 00:17:35

When he entered the last item,

: 00:17:37

he let out a long sigh

: 00:17:38

and habitually turned to face the digital clock. 11:11. No.

: 00:17:46

Ears folded against his head,

: 00:17:47

he shook back and forth in disbelief.

: 00:17:50

That couldn't have been possible.

: 00:17:51

He’d been taking his time and moving so sluggish

: 00:17:54

that there was no way he could just finish the second half of the order in two minutes.

: 00:17:58

An overwhelming sense of being cheated flooded into his body,

: 00:18:01

but it only remained as long it took for apprehension to replace it.

: 00:18:05

Dread poured over him

: 00:18:06

like asphalt being laid down over his still body.

: 00:18:10

12. Swiveling the chair around instinctively,

: 00:18:14

his subconscious was moving quicker than his own thoughts.

: 00:18:17

Before he could even really stop himself,

: 00:18:19

he glanced up to the security monitor and peered out into the dining hall.

: 00:18:23

There, he saw the two distinct outlines of the mannequins.

: 00:18:27

No, not two. One. Though the fox’s pointed ears remained visible, the skunk’s lifted tail was nowhere in sight.

: 00:18:35

That’s not possible because no one else is in the store to move it.

: 00:18:39

But somehow it was.

: 00:18:41

No wait, there it is.

: 00:18:43

If I squint hard enough I can see it still sitting there next to the fox.

: 00:18:46

He couldn’t, but if he told himself that then maybe everything would be alright.

: 00:18:51

Movement from another camera caught his attention.

: 00:18:54

It wasn’t much, but the swinging traffic doors were swaying just the tiniest bit.

: 00:18:59

Every possible reason they could be swinging flashed into his mind all at once.

: 00:19:04

The ferret barreled into them pretty hard

: 00:19:06

and there was still enough energy left in them.

: 00:19:08

Pests had gotten back into the restaurant

: 00:19:10

and one slipped through while he wasn’t looking.

: 00:19:13

Alvin had snuck back into the store

: 00:19:14

and taken the skunk to play a mean spirited trick on him.

: 00:19:18

A robber was about to hold him at knifepoint!

: 00:19:21

That last one shouldn’t be relieving, but it sure felt like it would be a step up from haunted dolls.

: 00:19:26

Though he didn’t want to take his eyes from the screen or shift away from the door,

: 00:19:29

he knew what he needed to do.

: 00:19:31

Turning towards the bottom cabinet of the desk,

: 00:19:34

he pried it open

: 00:19:35

and snatched a bottle of Jim Beam from the bottom.

: 00:19:37

Last he’d seen it,

: 00:19:38

it’d been almost full, but now it only had a quarter leftover.

: 00:19:42

He’d never snuck a drop in his five years of employment,

: 00:19:45

but now was a good time to start.

: 00:19:48

Failing to steady himself,

: 00:19:49

he shakily poured an inch into a glass.

: 00:19:52

Liquor was not his thing.

: 00:19:54

His whiskers bent out of shape in revulsion as he brought the lip to his muzzle.

: 00:19:57

A scratching at the back of his mind told him this was stealing and he had no right to that drink.

: 00:20:02

Another part reassured him that this was

: 00:20:04

an overreaction and he needn’t worry about anything.

: 00:20:07

Shove it. He thought as he downed the glass.

: 00:20:11

Eyes going cross, his lips pulled back in a snarl. Embers rolled down his esophagus and sloshed around at the bottom of his empty gut.

: 00:20:19

With a loud crack,

: 00:20:20

he slammed down the glass on the table and didn't bother with a mug that rattled enough to lose some pens.

: 00:20:25

There was nothing in the office that he could use to chase the drink

: 00:20:28

and so he just panted out hot air to cool himself down.

: 00:20:32

Stinging aside, the whiskey’s alcoholic effects

: 00:20:34

trickled into his blood and

: 00:20:36

lulled him into a calm.

: 00:20:38

Feeling warm all

: 00:20:39

over, he unwound and relaxed his shoulders.

: 00:20:42

With his attention turned to the soothing glow inside of him,

: 00:20:45

he placed the bottle back along with the glass next to it.

: 00:20:48

Joshua’s short white tail unraveled

: 00:20:50

and he brushed it to his side.

: 00:20:52

If he chose to describe himself,

: 00:20:54

it would be like

: 00:20:55

melted butter plopped down on to a seared slab of steak.

: 00:20:59

Actually, he kinda felt good and was beginning to forget why he was so nervous to begin with.

: 00:21:04

Sitting up straight, he closed the drawer

: 00:21:06

and smirked at the computer monitor.

: 00:21:08

In black New Times Roman 12 point font on a plain white webpage the screen read out

: 00:21:13

Order Sent. All done.

: 00:21:17

With the click of a switch,

: 00:21:18

the monitor’s life was snuffed

: 00:21:19

and his day was over.

: 00:21:21

Joshua stood out of his seat and hung up his apron on a rack behind him.

: 00:21:25

A hum in his throat kept him cheery

: 00:21:26

as he opened up the door to the dining hall.

: 00:21:29

Not going to look.

: 00:21:31

No such thing as dummies that can move on their own,

: 00:21:34

so there’s no reason to check on them.

: 00:21:36

Stepping inside the kitchen,

: 00:21:37

he strolled to the back area to fetch his jacket.

: 00:21:40

Not minding the skittering he could clearly hear,

: 00:21:42

he kept his pace normal and his heart rate steady.

: 00:21:45

Not minding the shadow he could see blurring by at the corner of his eye,

: 00:21:48

he grabbed his jacket and put it on cooly.

: 00:21:51

Not minding the six foot tall cloth skunk standing between him and the kitchen…

: 00:21:55

Aw fuck. There he was,

: 00:21:58

standing on his own staring right at him

: 00:22:00

with his button eyes.

: 00:22:02

Joshua could clearly see where hives of spiders threaded their silk webs through tiny sockets.

: 00:22:07

In its eyes, he could see where their pin needle appendages punctured the black cloth

: 00:22:12

to sew every detail on its blank face.

: 00:22:15

Expressionless, it looked to wait for Joshua to make a move

: 00:22:18

and he was too frozen to take that step.

: 00:22:21

“Yeyeyeyer—You’re not—not real!” Joshua shouted, rapidly sobering up.

: 00:22:27

It took a single step towards him and the ferret spun backwards towards the sliding service door.

: 00:22:31

He grabbed hold of its handle

: 00:22:33

and tugged as hard as he could only for it to resist him.

: 00:22:36

Looking up, he saw the padlock snapped shut on its latch.

: 00:22:39

Fucking Alvin, the one time!

: 00:22:41

Turning back to the skunk,

: 00:22:43

he just narrowly dodged its arms swinging at him.

: 00:22:46

Ducking underneath its grasp,

: 00:22:48

the ferret stumbled back towards the kitchen.

: 00:22:50

Claws clicking against the floor,

: 00:22:51

he practically crawled on all fours to keep himself moving.

: 00:22:55

Behind him, he could hear its unearthly quiet padding towards him.

: 00:22:59

Though it was made of hay and cloth,

: 00:23:01

it moved with unfathomably fast mechanical steps.

: 00:23:05

He could feel it catching up with him,

: 00:23:07

ready to maul him like an animal.

: 00:23:09

Stepping back into the kitchen, he turned towards the front

: 00:23:12

and started a few steps until he realized

: 00:23:14

that the other one was out there waiting.

: 00:23:17

At least, it could have been.

: 00:23:19

Not sobering up fast enough, he froze in indecision.

: 00:23:22

Stupidly, he’d managed to put himself between the back entrance

: 00:23:25

and the skunk chasing after him.

: 00:23:27

Sure enough, when he turned,

: 00:23:28

the doll was standing

: 00:23:30

arms outstretched

: 00:23:31

in his path of escape. “S-s-s-s-s-s-st-st-st-st

: 00:23:33

-stay back!” Joshua cried

: 00:23:36

as he looked to his sides for something to attack the skunk with.

: 00:23:39

In a moment of victory, he saw his salvation.

: 00:23:42

He grabbed hold of a salt shaker and undid the cap.

: 00:23:45

Remembering something Alvin must’ve told him,

: 00:23:47

he drew a line of salt between him and the skunk.

: 00:23:50

It was sloppy, but true enough to be unbroken.

: 00:23:53

The skunk looked down,

: 00:23:54

back up, growled, and charged at him in full force.

: 00:23:59

Joshua was only allowed a sharp inhale as the skunk slashed the distance between them in half,

: 00:24:04

stomped right on the line of salt,

: 00:24:05

raised its paw over its head, and was on top of him.

: 00:24:09

So much for that plan.

: 00:24:11

Out of all the things that he could have thought,

: 00:24:13

that was literally going to be his last before the dummy’s paw came right down on his muzzle.

: 00:24:18

What a shitty final thought.

: 00:24:21

Except, it wasn’t.

: 00:24:22

It was still shitty, but not his last.

: 00:24:25

Though the ferret screamed bloody murder, loud enough to wake everyone in their tiny little bumpkin town,

: 00:24:30

he wasn’t actually in any pain.

: 00:24:32

The vicious monster wailed on him with both paws,

: 00:24:34

looking to rip out his fur and skin with its claws,

: 00:24:37

but lacked those. It tried bludgeoning his skull in with its fists, but its paws weighed nothing.

: 00:24:44

As a last ditch effort,

: 00:24:45

the thing tried to lunge at Joshua’s throat to tear it open,

: 00:24:48

but it had no teeth and felt rather soft nuzzling against his neck like that.

: 00:24:53

“Hey now! Stop that!

: 00:24:55

Stop it,” Joshua said,

: 00:24:56

now more confused than scared.

: 00:24:59

Again, it raised its paw to strike him in the face, but the ferret grabbed and...

: 00:25:03

and...well, it lacked strength.

: 00:25:05

The damn thing struggled like hell to get out of the grip, but couldn’t tug hard enough.

: 00:25:10

It began wriggling and pulling,

: 00:25:11

Joshua picking up a sense of panic from it.

: 00:25:14

He was beginning to feel bad for it, even if it just tried to kill him. “Ha!

: 00:25:18

I’m not even trying.

: 00:25:19

You’re just weak, man.”

: 00:25:22

As if offended by the comment,

: 00:25:23

the skunk tried one last time to rip itself free and it sure ripped something.

: 00:25:27

Tugging too hard on poorly stitched seams,

: 00:25:30

its entire arm ripped off!

: 00:25:32

Even without a proper expression on its face,

: 00:25:34

Joshua could tell that the demon was completely stunned.

: 00:25:37

He was shocked himself,

: 00:25:39

noticing how sickenly limp it felt in his clasp.

: 00:25:42

“You’ve gone and ripped off your own arm.

: 00:25:44

I bet you feel pretty

: 00:25:45

—Ow!” Joshua squeaked with a paw over his eye.

: 00:25:49

“You bastard! You poked me right in the eye!

: 00:25:51

That’s dirty. Stop trying that.

: 00:25:53

This is done. We’re over.

: 00:25:56

You’re through.” It seemed to understand him and understood that the tables had been flipped.

: 00:26:01

Turning tail, it tried to run away from him,

: 00:26:03

but Joshua snagged its large bushy tail.

: 00:26:06

Wailing about, it struggled futilely against the ferret

: 00:26:09

dragging it towards the backroom.

: 00:26:11

Though he did notice its fur felt oddly real,

: 00:26:14

it couldn’t spook him with only one arm.

: 00:26:16

With almost no effort at all, he flung the thing into a tightly packed utility closet.

: 00:26:20

It knocked into the brooms and stumbled with a foot caught inside a mop bucket.

: 00:26:24

“And take your arm with you,”

: 00:26:26

the ferret sneered,

: 00:26:27

chucking it at its head before slamming the door shut.

: 00:26:30

The skunk could be heard trying to escape its prison,

: 00:26:32

but with no way to clasp the door’s handle, all it could do was

: 00:26:35

feebly bang on the door.

: 00:26:38

Joshua placed a paw over his heart, trying his best to settle down after the terrifying experience.

: 00:26:43

It was going to be trapped in there overnight and maybe the coyote can teach him how to banish it tomorrow.

: 00:26:48

At least he would get a kick out of all of this.

: 00:26:51

Eyes heavy, even with all the excitement,

: 00:26:53

he was ready to head home now.

: 00:26:55

Testing the door handle for good measure,

: 00:26:57

he then proceeded to the back exit.

: 00:27:00

Glad to be heading home now, he let out a sigh of relief

: 00:27:03

and turned out the lights in the kitchen before peering to the swinging doors.

: 00:27:07

There, face up against the glass,

: 00:27:09

the fox had gotten out of its seat

: 00:27:11

to glare him down.

: 00:27:13

Knowing he could take it on,

: 00:27:15

he readied himself for another fight. Buuuuuut,

: 00:27:17

thinking about it, he was so close to the door already and it was going to be midnight soon.

: 00:27:23

“Ahh, fuck it. Just leave it for the morning,”

: 00:27:25

he said to himself before walking out the backdoor and locking it behind him.

: 00:27:29

It’s morning crew’s problem now.

: 00:27:34

This was “Leave It for the Morning”

: 00:27:36

by Dirt Coyote, read for you by Khaki,

: 00:27:39

your faithful fireside companion.

: 00:27:41

You can find more stories on the web

: 00:27:43

at thevoice.dog, or find the show wherever you get your podcasts.

: 00:27:47

Thank you for listening

: 00:27:48

to The Voice of Dog.