Redline

 I breathed a sign of relief as my boss turned the "Open" sign over, officially marking us as closed for the day. Outside the door, various mall patrons spared a passing glance through the door to the surly ram I called my boss, and the drowsy klipslinger that I called myself.

I undid the Velcro holding my apron shut (a blessing that both my boss Glen and I appreciated over the strings and their un-hoof-friendly nature), and hung it up on the rack in the back room, before grabbing my favorite sweatshirt and slipping it on. Just to be sure, I called out to my wooly coworker "Hey Glen, d'you need me for anything?"

 

From around the corner in the main area I hear him grunt, his way of saying "You're good to go.". He wasn't a ram of many words and we just sort of got what the other was saying...usually.

 

I get about two feet out of the door before my stomach reminds me that I should have grabbed one of the stale pastries we threw out. And by "threw out" I mean we labeled a small fridge as a garbage an and "threw out" any pastries that were past their sell-by date. Usually I'd have a face full of chocolate, but today was sadly not one of those days. Once you clock out and leave there's no take-backs.

 

My little hooves clacked along the linoleum tiles as I made my way through one of the last group of shoppers during the last hour before closing time. All around me places and people were winding down, and while my options were plenty, my ideas were few. I wasn't the type to wander aimlessly so I knew the three-story shopping center about as well as the directions to get from the door closest to the bus stop to the front door of the coffee shop I worked at...that is to say I knew roughly ninety feet of the mall's entire area.

Nearby there was a large map of the are, indicating my current spot in it and what was where nearby. It would be a while before I got home, but I didn't want a full meal. Something like soup, I though as I scanned the food court's options. I found something that looked good, but it was a bit of a ways away from where I stood...let's see...

 

I checked my phone to see the time. I had about an hour to wander around aimlessly, before having to catch the bus that led to the train station that led to my frozen apartment in Tundra Town. Needless to say I quickly made my way in the shops general direction.

 

It had been about ten minutes of quick walking and double-checking a few kiosks when a casual touch to my back pocket made a chill run up my spine. Where's my wallet? Oh god where's my stuff? It was there before, when I grabbed my phone, so...I dropped it somewhere, somehow. I instantly turned on my heels, and started to slowly, carefully, retrace my steps.

 

As I tried to properly retrace my steps, I had started to realize how much aimless wandering I had done while trying to stay on-course. God the amount of stores I stopped in on a whim, the number of times I lingered in front of a map, even the bathroom break...How did I manage to cover so much ground so quickly?! It's insane! Someone could have taken my wallet and have already caught the bus-Oh god the bus!

I checked my phone again, I had less than a half hour until I needed to get back to the bus station and catch the last bus of the night. My worry quickly slipped into panic as I half-walked, half-sprinted down the area, running back the way I had come. My eyes darted back and fourth, looking for any sign of my cherry red wallet. Even the slightest hint of it would've been enough right now, and I cursed myself for not keeping a better eye on things. Stupid, Murphy. If you mess up you're going to have to wa-

 

I was running so quickly, and so focused on the floor that the wall of denim in front of me didn't even exist until I bounced off of it and crashed to the floor. A pair of orange paws came down and dusted off the front, before one lingered in front of me, and a girlish voice came from above. "Oh goodness I'm so sorry! I didn't see you down there little guy! Here: let me help you up."

 

I was gripped by both shoulders and lifted to my hooves like I were weightless. The hands returned, patting me down and dusting off while the owner of them fussed and apologized again. Looking up, my suspicions were confirmed as a large tiger stared down at me with an expression somewhere between worry and amusement. "You okay little guy? Didn't mean to walk right into you like that."

She was a tiger, tall and casually dressed in a short-sleeved blouse that hung off one shoulder, and a wide denim dress that her paws poked out the front of when she stood still. That wasn't often, by the looks of it, as she was turning in little circles, collecting the items (various movies and junk food, I noticed) back into the big plastic bag that now sported a ripped handle. Behind her her tail swished in agitation, but I could somehow tell it wasn't aimed at me. She kept muttering under her breath about "Lousy flimsy bags." but the plastic looked fairly thick. If I were to say anything I'd say it were the big...sharp...claws that were poking out from each digit. Painted a shade of red similar to my wallet, I noticed as my eyes tracked them without meaning to.

 

Once her items were back safe in what was left of her bag, her attention turned back to me so quickly I jumped a little in shock. "So!" she started, eyes locked on mine as she looked me over once before continuing, "What's someone like you doing so far from your parents? Are you scared? You look pretty scared, but oh don't you worry! I'll help you find your parents."

 

I weakly reached to get some distance between us, to politely excuse myself to go back looking for my wallet "Look I really need to fi-"

 

Before I could even finish speaking she finished for me "-your parents! I know, little guy, I know. Really...what sort of irresponsible adults could leave their child behin-"

 

"-My. Wallet! I need to find my wallet." I say a little harsher than I meant to. I pull it back before adding, "It has my everything in it and I need to catch a bus. Excuse m-"

 

When someone says "cat-like reflexes" you don't really get what that means until someone twice your size scoops you up and puts you on your shoulders before you even know what happened. One moment I was on the floor trying to navigate around the big cat, next thing I know I'm feeling vertigo as my point of view changes dramatically due to the encounter with this strange woman. She hoists me up, uver he head, and spins me around in circles. From below me I can hear her ask "Do you see it? What's it look like."

 

I was too busy making undignified sounds to answer her, as I could feel my stomach about to come up and meet me. I weakly bat at her huge paws to put me down, and in a moment I'm on the ground. Also extremely dizzy and wobbling on my hooves. When the world stops spinning I see the mystery tigress looking back at me with another apologetic, but amused, look. I can't shake the feeling that she's both honestly trying to help, and really fucking with me. Can't decide which one is more true.

 

"Sorry! Sorry, I tend to get carried away. Look, just tell me what to look for and I'll help you look for it. I have a car so time isn't an issue for me. I can take care of my things later, alright?"

 

"Y-yeah sure." I say, as she sticks out the same paw that had helped me up before expectantly. When I don't immediately do anything she shakes it for emphasis.

 

"Look up..."

 

"Murphy."

 

"...Murphy, if you don't want me carrying you I'm going to have to have another way of making sure you don't get lost in the crowds. Look just hold my hand for a bit and we'll find it together. I'll be honest I can't help but see you as a lost kid, and darn it I just want to help you out."

 

I'm not sure how to feel about that, but I guess having an extra pair of eyes would help. I gingerly took her hand (or rather, let her huge hand swallow mine up to the wrist.) and whisked away in the wrong direction. A few frantic tugs and we were properly backtracking. To her credit, she was focused on it once she had been given a description of the thing, and as she tugged me along I could see her eyes scanning the floors (and the crowd, I noticed) for anything even remotely red colored. I was more distracted than I wanted to admit.

Her grip felt good. Comfortable...like a hug from a beloved cousin or something similarly familiar. But at the same time it was firm and solid. I knew that nothing short of her letting me go would remove my hand from hers and for some reason that was a reassuring thing. It doesn't take a moron to know when someone is strong, and from her grip I could tell that if she wanted she could do some damage. But in spite of that, I felt like she hadn't fought a day in her life. Her fingers and her palm had pads on them, and while my fingertips weren't the most sensitive thing, I could still feel them give a little with each little wiggle of my own digits in her grip. They were soft, but still had that underlying firmness to them that made it comfortable to have your entire hand wrapped up by them. The smooth texture of her polished nails sometimes grazed against my wrist, but as soon as it happened she adjusted her grip so that they were angled elsewhere. Looking at them now I noticed that each claw had a different letter written on it, so that at least the left hand spelled "Love.". I don't know if the other one spelled "hate" but the cliched nature was kind of undermined by the curling flowery font the letters had been written in. I mean I guess "hate" could be spelled in heavy block letters but for some reason I doubted that. Occasionally her thumb would play over the hard tips of my fingers, If I didn't know better I'd say this was the first time feeling them up close. It was cute in a way, like watching a kid play with a new toy. All in all it was more pleasant than it had any right to be.

 

I'm not sure how long I had been staring at her hand, but the other joined it as they both hoisted me up to...MY WORK? How long had I been walking for? Oh god there's Glen, too. I could see him sitting outside of the shop; a mop in one hand and my wallet in the other. My tiger friend carried me over and plopped me down in front of my boss with little fanfare, and I found my wallet resting on my head.

 

"On the bathroom sink." he said, explaining with as few words as possible. I nodded in return, and he nodded back before heading back inside, where the smell of pine and coffee beans wafted out. I'd have to thank him properly one day, that's for sure.

 

I turned to thank the tiger that had helped me, to see her flash a wide toothy grin at me. "Hey told you we'd find it, didn't I? Say..." she said, looking up at the sign "Do you actually work here?"

 

"Yeah. Why?"

 

"look down for a second, like you're busy with something at the counter."

 

I do like she says, pretending to mess with imaginary register keys. A familiar voice rings out from above, but tired and cranky. "Ugh, man just give me a big black coffee and enough sugar to kill a horse, alright?"

 

Oh shit, "Oh shit!" I say, my thoughts spilling out of my mouth as I try to put the irritated thing that comes in here wrapped in a hoodie and sweatpants to the energetic thing standing before me "I know you...kind of."

 

"Yep!" she beams "You guys are a lifesaver! I'm Alex. Nice to meet you again Murdock."

 

"Murphy..."

 

"Yeah, Murphy. See you tomorrow, little guy!" She said, disappearing around a corner. I reach to check my phone, and see that I have all of five minutes to get to the bus stop! So, hooves clicking against tile, I race towards the bus, looking forward to tomorrow.