“Tempus Imperfectum” by Al Song (part 1 of 3)

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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 the first of three parts of

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“Tempus Imperfectum” by Al Song,

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who is a musician,

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furry writer, and polyglot.

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The red kangaroo also assists as an editor at Thurston Howl Publications.

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He has been published in multiple anthologies, including Fang 8 and Roar 9.

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“Tempus Imperfectum”

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was originally published in Tales from the Guild –

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World Tour by FurPlanet,

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and you can find more of his stories on FurAffinity and SoFurry. [if this is the second or third entry] Last time,

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“Tempus Imperfectum”

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by Al Song, Part 1

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of 3 “No! Stop!”

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the tall arctic fox shouted as he furiously waved his skinny arms across his chest,

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signaling the young musicians to put their instruments down.

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He placed his baton on the stand

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and took off his bronze wire-rimmed glasses to rub his eyelids.

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“I know I’m repeating myself when I say this, but you all need to practice.

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It isn’t enough that only some of you actually practice.

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This is a group effort.

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I will schedule weekend rehearsals if I must.

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must.” A chubby badger in the front row with a violin shot a dirty look to the lion next to him.

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The lion turned towards the badger

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and gave a nervous shrug.

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“We all have to work together,

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and we need to all be a little more disciplined.

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It’s not fair to everyone if you don’t practice or know your part.

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We’re going to be playing music for our town festival.

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It’s our community, so please don’t let them down,

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and especially don’t let yourselves down,

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alright?” he said, raising a brow at the last word.

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The students groaned an exasperated

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“okay” together in unison.

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The fox looked at his watch,

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prompting a sigh, and said,

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“I know it’s a few minutes earlier than I usually let you go, but I think we can stop for today. We’ll continue next session.”

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A clamorous commotion of chatting and laughing ensued

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as most of the students packed up their instruments and sheet music.

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A few yelled, “See you!” or “Bye, Herr Farber!”

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as they ran out of the room.

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“Herr Farber?” the badger asked, looking up at the lanky fox.

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“Yes, what is it, Volker?”

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the conductor replied as he stashed his baton and sheet music away.

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“May Lorenzo and I stay late and practice?”

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Volker turned to the short otter in thick, black glasses sitting in the front row near him,

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viola resting on his lap.

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The fox’s short ears perked,

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and he smiled at the young badger.

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“Of course, but I think some people from the community center have this room booked in half an hour.”

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“That’s fine. We’ll be out of here before then.”

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Lorenzo penciled in a few notes to himself

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around some dynamics and tempo markings on the score in front of him.

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He sighed internally as he went back to the first page.

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The piece was Waldwelt by the baroque composer Salvatore Calabrese,

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and the otter’s eyes were fixated on the title,

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composer, and year of 1601.

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He tried doing research on Calabrese on the internet without much luck.

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Lorenzo knew the composer was a brown rat, born on the beautiful beaches of Bari in sunny southern Italy,

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and composed many short pieces and a couple dozen orchestral works.

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He was able to find a condensed timeline of the composer’s life,

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but the otter wanted to know how he felt about the world around him besides his affinity for flutes and stringed instruments.

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Calabrese earned enough to travel to the Holy Roman Empire

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and kept writing music and performing,

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but was he happy about his new life?

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How did he deal with learning a new language?

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Did he have very many friends and fans

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when he lived near the Black Forest?

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Despite how much Lorenzo enjoyed the music

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it seemed like Calabrese was a d-list celebrity compared to other composers of his time

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and wasn’t quite as revered, but at least his memory somewhat lived on.

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Once the rest of the students and Herr Farber left the room, Volker set his violin down and walked over to Lorenzo.

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The two grinned at each other in their shared sense of privacy

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and they embraced

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with a gentle kiss.

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The badger’s white golf shirt pressed up against the otter’s red and yellow t-shirt.

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Volker gently pecked him again on the cheek

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and said, “Why do these people have to be so stressful?”

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“Hey, we have time for the whole orchestra to improve,”

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Lorenzo said, letting his Italian accent dictate his palate.

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“We usually play well at our concerts.”

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“All the good players graduated.

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At least you’re here.”

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“At least? I’ve been playing viola since I was eight.”

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“You know I’m teasing.

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Let’s get back to the music.”

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The two practiced

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difficult sections of the pieces to perfect them as much as possible

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in the dusty music room.

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Their toes tapped in unison as they ran through the phrases with the precision of a metronome.

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Their ability to vibrato was unmatched by anyone else in their orchestra.

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They bowed with such control

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and pressed the strings of their fingerboards with expert precision,

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their pitch never faltering.

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Their two instruments were similar in construction

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and easily mistaken for the other with untrained eyes,

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yet their sizes and playable ranges differed.

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The boys always stayed together and listened to one another.

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They looked and acted very differently,

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but their common thread was their love for music.

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Later on, the afternoon light from the windows turned into a dim golden glow

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and there was a knock on the door by a middle aged Siberian tigress from the community center.

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Volker and Lorenzo stopped;

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it was their cue to leave.

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They packed up their belongings

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and ambled out of the school.

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The streets of their small town were drenched in a warm shade of honeyed yellow.

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Trees rustled and shimmered as they reflected soft sunlight from their verdant leaves.

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Many of the stores and cafes were closed as they walked past their large display windows.

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A few cars passed by

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but the late afternoon was fairly quiet.

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A couple blocks further down the road of the charming town,

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the boys passed one of the local bakeries which

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always stirred up bittersweet memories for Lorenzo. #

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It was a couple years ago,

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and Lorenzo and his father, Massimo,

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were still settling into their new apartment in Hügeldorf.

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The little otter was celebrating his birthday so Lorenzo and his father had a potluck with the other tenants.

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Helen Themelis was a new Grundschule teacher from Greece.

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She was a kind rabbit

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who always helped Lorenzo with his homework and explained to him little things like how to properly format an essay written in German

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and that quotation marks were written differently.

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Francisco, a lynx from Spain who studied economics and finance,

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always helped Massimo with legal paperwork and filing taxes.

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The Tomruks, a couple of middle-aged Turkish grey wolves who lived next door,

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would always cook for Lorenzo whenever his dad had to work late.

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The fellow tenants helped the otters learn German

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and adjust to living in Hügeldorf.

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At the time, Lorenzo had language acquisition classes after school.

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His father asked him to pick up some bread and gave him a little extra money so he could buy himself a birthday treat.

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Lorenzo obliged, confident he knew all the terms in German when it came to buying food,

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purchasing the bread

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and a little doughnut for himself.

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Outside the bakery,

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the young otter ran into a few other students from the Gymnasium he attended.

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“Hey,” a bear shouted at him, flanked by a bat and a weasel.

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“You’re the new kid, right?”

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Lorenzo took a second to think about what he uttered and nervously replied with, “Beh,

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yeah.” “What are you?”

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the bear asked smugly.

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“I’m an otter,” Lorenzo replied quickly.

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“No, where’re you from?” he asked and crossed his arms.

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“Italy,” the otter answered,

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clutching the bag of bread tighter. “Why’re you

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in Germany?”

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“My dad needed to find work and--”

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“Oh, you’re here to steal our jobs, huh?”

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The bear cut him off.

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“Why don’t you take a hike through the Alps and go back to where you belong?”

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It took Lorenzo a moment to string the words together so that they made sense in his mind.

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“I didn’t steal anything.”

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“You got that bread in your paws.

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You only got that because we let you live here.”

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“Please, leave me alone,” Lorenzo whimpered.

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It was like moving from his small town near Bari to Venice all over again.

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People picked on him because of where he was from,

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only now the language barrier was another obstacle.

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They proceeded to yell things at him

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and had no idea what the words meant,

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but inferred that they probably were insults in Swabian.

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“It’s not as fun when you don’t know what we’re saying.

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Learn German already, you stupid foreigner!

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All you’re good for is waiting tables and stealing our money.”

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“Why don’t you learn some manners?”

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a large badger from across the road yelled out at the bullies.

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The badger stomped towards them,

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cracking his knuckles and flexing his arms,

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his scowl housing a fiery ire.

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Shaking a fist, he shouted obscenities at the bullies until they fled in fear.

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The badger turned to the otter

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and softened his expression.

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“Are you okay?” “Yes, I think so,”

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Lorenzo replied, relaxing a bit at the kind face of his rescuer.

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“Thank you for helping me.”

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“That’s good,” the taller boy said with a smile.

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“Thanks for the help in math class.”

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“I’m sorry.” Guilt seeped into the otter’s stomach.

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This boy saved him and Lorenzo couldn’t even recall his name.

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“What is your name again?”

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“I’m Volker.” The badger put out a paw.

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The otter shook it gratefully.

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“I’m Lorenzo.” “I remember,” Volker said. Lorenzo felt another pang of guilt.

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“Beh, I’m sorry.” He looked to the ground and clutched his groceries.

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“It’s fine,” the badger reassured him.

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“You’re still pretty new here.

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Those guys are jerks. You don’t need to worry about them with me around. Ugh,

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I can’t believe they said those terrible things to you.

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They say some stupid stuff, but I’ve never heard them go that far.”

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“I couldn’t understand some of it,”

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Lorenzo admitted.

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“Since you helped me with math,

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I think I can help you with Swabian and teach you some swear words.” #

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Despite the hardship of being attacked,

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Lorenzo smiled at the memory of it because it had brought him close to Volker.

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It was at that point he gradually stopped spending as much time with his neighbors

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and started spending more time with his German boyfriend and classmates.

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Volker introduced the little otter to new friends and people around town,

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along with showing him the best cafés and restaurants. Through the badger,

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Lorenzo learned about the different German television shows

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and how to converse with others their age without sounding like a language textbook.

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His father, on the other paw,

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worked with other Italians and people from around the globe,

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so Massimo usually spent his free time with his coworkers and their neighbors.

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It was tough for Lorenzo and his father

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watching their neighbors gradually leave over the years.

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After Francisco graduated he went to Frankfurt.

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The Tomruks moved to Munich to be closer to their children.

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Helen received a job opportunity at a publishing house in Hamburg.

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Looking back Lorenzo regretted not spending more time with them before they left.

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“Lorenzo?” “Yeah, Volker?”

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“You’ve been looking kind of sad today and you’ve been dragging your tail.

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Is something wrong?”

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Volker turned to Lorenzo, who stopped in his tracks.

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“Um, no,” the little otter said and rubbed his arm.

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“I know I’ve been a pain today.

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I’m sorry if I said something that hurt your feelings.”

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“No, you didn’t say anything wrong.”

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“Well, I know I’ve been kind of a jerk lately.

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The orchestra is hopeless and my parents gave me that talk again about how music is a useless career path.”

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“I’m sorry about all that.”

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Lorenzo gave his boyfriend a sympathetic look.

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He wished he could help with all of Volker’s problems too, since Volker was his dutiful defender.

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“Why do they always have to tell me that music is pointless?” Volker asked,

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putting down his violin case so he could punch a lamppost.

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“Why can’t they just let me go to a music school?

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They have money and they both work in finance.

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Orchestra club is fun,

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and getting private lessons from Herr Farber is great,

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but I want to play more.

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I love music and no one sees that.

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You’re so lucky.” “What do you mean by that?”

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Lorenzo cocked his head and shrank a little.

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“You want to study math and become a math teacher,

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and your dad supports that.”

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Volker picked up his violin case and started to walk again.

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“Maybe if you said you wanted to become a music teacher or something else in the music industry

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then your parents might be okay with that?”

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Lorenzo suggested with a shrug.

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“But I don’t want to teach.

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You know I don’t have any patience for other people, especially children.”

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The badger grimaced,

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halting in place.

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Shaking his head,

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he continued, “We got off track,

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so what’s wrong?” “Nothing,” Lorenzo said meekly.

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“I’m fine. Really, I am.

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We’re close to my place too.”

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He motioned to a gray apartment complex.

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There were Turkish and Greek flags taped to some of the windows.

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The largest flag was an Italian one tied to a balcony

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highlighted by the radiance of the afternoon.

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“Hey, I wanted to say I’m sorry again.

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I know I’m a jerk sometimes.” “Well,

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you are sweet when you’re not angry at the rest of the world.” “I love ya,” Volker said as he stroked the whiskers on Lorenzo’s face with his thumb

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and kissed him on the nose.

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“I’ll see you at school tomorrow.

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Bye.” He waved and hurried off.

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“Ciao,” Lorenzo replied with a gentle smile.

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Lorenzo drew a breath as he looked up at the Italian flag hanging off of the balcony of his apartment,

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the amber sunlight slowly diminishing behind it

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as the sky took on hues

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of red. This was the the first of three parts of

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“Tempus Imperfectum”

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by Al Song, read for you by Khaki,

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your faithful fireside companion.

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Tune in next time to find out how [Lorenzo and Volker spend a day off together in the city

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along with what’s actually been bothering the otter].

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As always, you can find more stories on the web at

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