Vacation By: Pent Ghelsburg
Disclaimer: The characters depicted in this work are purely fictional. Some are the original and rightful intellectual property of their creators. I use them with permission and respect. Others have been created for the sole use of within this story and are not meant to resemble anyone else's characters. This work contains underage content. You have been warned.
“Sometimes a break from the routine
is the very thing you need”
-Unknown
There are times in life when we need a break. Every single one of us needs time off. The need for variety and respites from the mundane are both very real and not as often as many would like. This is why when they do come around, it is best to take advantage of them to the utmost. Especially when they are opportunities that come perhaps but one in a lifetime. After all, a more grounded world view is better than a naive one.
Jacob was a young teen who had in the last year moved his entire life from sedentary city life to a much more quiet yet outgoing one in the sprawling suburbs of Pennsylvania. His mother and father had moved from Germany. The corporation they both worked for was expanding with hopes of going overseas. The teen's parents were the first ones the boss thought of, finding themselves flattered when administrative positions were offered to them.
It had been almost a year since that had happened. Much had changed in that time. The American branch of the business had exploded and found its own niche within the community. Both of the parents were now doing quite well for themselves. They had even upgraded from their original apartment to a small condo in the suburbs of Pittsburg. But the winter of Pennsylvania was pushing their patience as they weren't used to the longer nature of the frigid climate.
Jacob was just as disdained with the amount of snow they had received. It was like nothing he had ever seen before. As a lynx, he didn't have particularly long fur and it didn't offer him much warmth. However, he had grown to love the place. The community was nice and his school even readily accepted him into the class. It wasn't something he was totally expecting and had made a few really good friends.
Perhaps his best friend was a red fox he had met within the first few weeks of moving into the area. The cub was two years his junior and even despite that, they hit it off rather quickly. Over time they had known each other, they had gone from friends to lovers. They were very much boyfriends now and had their own little shared loft in the lynxes parents' spare loft. The parents thought it would be nice to give them a little space.
The fox was still in 7th grade, although quite small for his age. He went by the name of Connor and he was quite the athlete. They had grown to know each other through their shared classes and time alone. They had even joined the school soccer team together, despite the lynx not being entirely good at the sport. Still, they enjoyed the competitive nature and comradery of the sport
It was now March and the winter season was close to coming to a close for most of North America. However, it was still cold in their area and the snow raged ever on. The lynxes parents were pretty fed up with it and decided a vacation was in order. It was close to Jacob's birthday and they figured it would be a nice surprise. They even planned to bring his little friend, assuming the boy's guardians were also alright with it.
The husband and wife sat down one night to discuss it. Jacob had professed the desire to go to many places in his youth. They shared a subtle desire to return to their old home, figuring that maybe their kid would like to share his roots with the fox. So after looking up some deals on a travel website, they discovered it was rather reasonable to go to Germany at this time of year. After booking tickets, the deal was sealed and all they had to do was share the news with the two cubs.
The parents went into their shared room to convey the information. Jacob and Connor were busy playing some video games.
“You two Can you put away the game for a second?” The mothers tried to be firm and sound serious in tone.
Jacob tensed up, feeling nervous as if he'd done something wrong. “Sure...what's up?” Putting the game on pause for now.
“We're going on a vacation back to Germany for a few days.” The man put his arm over his wife.
The lynx smiled at his parents. “Cool, you going to go see paps and granny?”
“Well, no. But you two are going with us.” The mother was surprised at her son's rather mature response.
“Really? Cool! Jacob nearly jumped up at the thought of going home. “That will be super neat! When are we going?”
The man held up three fingers. “Three weeks. So make sure to have your stuff together by then. Connor, we already asked your mother. She said it's fine.”
“Sweet. Thanks! Never been to Germany before.” The fox got up and hugged the other boy's parents.
They allowed the affection for a moment before brushing it. “No problem. I just thought you guys should know.
The husband and wife showed themselves out of the room. Jacob beginning to rant on about the old world and all the things he wanted to show Connor.
Three weeks came and went like the passing of a strong wind. By the time the anticipated day arrived, both cubs had packed a good portion of their things into a separate bag for each of them. Jacob even going as far as to pack some lederhosen, to show his boyfriend that he truly appreciated German culture. On the morning of the flight, the household was frantic with activity in an effort to make the final stretch for the flight.
Outside it was still dark out. The only light out was manmade and the moon. The parents provided the two cubs a Pop-tart apiece in hopes it would sugar them up. Both of them only feebly nibbled at it before yawning and stretching. Still, neither the mother or father could be mad since it was so early. Heading outside there was a light dusting of snow on the ground and it was gently snowing from above. The two huffed as the mother propped the door open.
The parents rushed the two cubs out the door and into the waiting sedan. The father put all of the bags into the back of the car. It wasn't long before they were on their way to the airport. The drive to Pittsburgh international was about 20 minutes from where they lived but the traffic wasn't quite as dense as early in the morning as they were leaving. In fact, it was still rather dark out. When they arrived at the airport, they found it was equally as sparse in distance.
It was snowing lightly out as they got out of the car. The snow could be seen dropping outside of the cement pylons of the parking garage. The family gathered their things and made their way into the main complex of the airport. Only a few people were around and the two cubs moved sluggishly along behind. The parents occasionally coaxing them to hurry. They headed to check in over at the ticket counter for Lufthansa.
The extended family made their way past the ticket counter and into customs where the wait was somewhat longer. Their bags were checked by hand and then passed into an x-ray machine to be passed into a machine for sorting. Once they were past customs, it was nothing but waiting for boarding and they'd be on their way to Germany. The flight was direct and the family was still rather groggy from getting up so early. Most of them nodded off but the mother remained vigilant watching the clock.
An hour past and she roused the family as it was time to get on board. The four of them got up slowly and slunk along together towards the jet bridge. After they showed their tickets they made their way to their assigned seats. Connor and Jacob would be in the row opposite of the lynxes parents. Once they filed into their seat, they soon fell fast into sleep. The mother glad to join them, happy that they had made their flight and looking forward to seeing her old home again.
The flight to Germany was a little over 8 hours, so they weren't able to sleep the entire time. When they awoke food was being served. Jacob eating and then deciding to busy with himself with some games while Connor dug his snout in another book. The two parents catching up on their work. Once they busied themselves, the fight didn't seem to last long at all. Before they knew it the announcement for the descent was made.
“Wilkhommen auf Frankfurt.” The captain announced before going into a long explanation about disembarking and customs.
The four made their way off-board once it was their turn to get off. It took them a while to get through customs and get their bags. After they did that the extended family had to rent a car. That process took a while but the parent's knowledge of the language and their EU passports made the whole ordeal much easier than it was for foreigners. After they received the keys, the family was finally ready
The mother stepped over to the kids who were sitting nearby. “Come on.”
The parents had booked a hotel right in the center of the city. It was about a 10-minute drive from the main airport in Frankfurt. After they were packed back into the confines of a car, it was time to get checked in. They made their way to the hotel, where they booked adjoining rooms. The older couple in one room and the younger in the other. Of course, the plan wasn't to stick around but rather to see as many things as possible.
“So can I take foxy around the city?” Jacob asked while they were on the way to the hotel.
His father grunted a bit. “Sure, but after we unpack.”
They eventually arrived at the hotel. The two cubs rushing to get unpacked. Connor was virtually jumping to get outside to explore, as he'd never been to Europe before. The two boys spent all of 3 minutes in unpacking before retiring the luggage to a small closet.
“Done! Be back later.” The lynx confidently announced, feeling he knew the city enough to show his friend around.
The mother shouted through the wall. “Make sure to be back by 7 for dinner. No excuses.”
“Yeah, yeah! Come on Connor...” Jacob dragged the fox along and soon the two left their hotel room behind.
Once they were out in the city streets, a time clock showed them it was after one. That meant that they had all day to explore.
The lynx had so many places he wanted to show Connor. After all, he grew up here and had been to each of them countless times. So he headed first for the most obvious, the old town hall. Römer, as it was known by the locals, was an old government building right across the street from the old St Nick church. As they approached it, Jacob saw the fountain where Lady justice kept watch over. Immediately he felt regret for not having a coin to toss into the water.
“Do you have a coin on you?” The larger cub asked the smaller one.
The fox rifled through his pocket delivering out a small penny that had gathered lint. “Here ya go.”
Jacob approached the fountain and threw the copper coin into the water.
“Did you make a wish?” Connor asked with a smirk.
The feline showed his tongue. “Maybeee...”
Connor rolled his eyes and the two boyfriends joined hands and headed towards the door. It was a huge black wooden door with a person in front, welcoming people. Today was a holiday and so entree was free as they were waved into the Emperor's Hall.
Connor looked around after they went inside. Jacob began pointing things out, showing off his knowledge of some of the old Germanic kings. The most impressive part of it was the lynxes care to detail on each of the men who he knew some detail about it. But the whole building itself wasn't very large and they were done looking through the images rather quickly. The bigger boy hurrying his boyfriend outside once he thought they had seen enough.
“Where to now?” Connor asked as was feeling a little overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people around here.
The older boy said nothing and quickly rushed Connor to the art district of the area. He knew that there was another museum here, one dedicated to Goethe. Jacob wasn't particularly fond of the writer but knew the place was a popular visitor venue. One that he felt his boyfriend should see. The house was open to the public with several stories of artifacts to look through.
Once inside Connor was brought to look around. A volunteer handed them a brochure that provided Jacob all of the information he needed to explain all of the different art and furnishings in the house. Floor by floor the two friends walked paw in paw, looking through the rustic keepsakes in the house. It took almost an hour to go through the whole thing but Connor found himself rather taken with a few of the paintings, even capping a few pictures of them.
On their way out the two made sure to sign the guest log. The next thing on Jacob's make-shift list was the old Cathedral. They made their way together down to the opposite side of town to the gothic church. It was always open to the public, except on Sundays when it had services. Since today was not service day, the doors were left open for tourists to peruse. Inside the sunlight beamed through the stained glass and made for awkward lighting throughout.
Candles were lit on an altar and some people were praying to various altars all around the place. A small rope led through the area to keep tourists away from the locals who actually used the church for religious purposes. The whole place kept silent out of respect for anyone who used it for those means. Jacob tugged on Connor's hand, having dreams of one day getting married in such a place. Closing his eyes to fantasize about that fact.
Connor shook Jacob out of his state of daydreaming. “You okay?”
“Oh, ya. Sorry. Let's go.” The lynx led back out of the monastery.
The two were still paw in paw, attracting some wayward attention, but that didn't seem to bother either of them. The next place on Jacob's hit list was a collection of Museums across the Main river. It was a bit of a walk, but nothing he hadn't done before. The bridge across wasn't a long distance from the church and he knew it had a public walkway to avoid the traffic. After all, it was a busy city and the locals paid very little attention to tourists.
They made their way towards the bridge and covered the distance quite fast. Both cubs were rather excited, especially Jacob who was keen to show his boyfriend more of the city. There was so much more to see and they didn't have all day. Once they arrived at Museumsufer proper, the lynx began to think of which Museum was best to start at. Deciding instead to go over to the park, where had spent many of his days as a youth playing with friends.
Metzler was the opposite of the museums themselves but was usually busy. It almost always had a soccer game going on and today was no different. Jacob could see the place was packed and all sorts of people were around. The lynx stopping by the fountain which the locals were sitting all around.
“Können Sie uns fotografieren?” Jacob asked one of them to take a picture of the two boys.
(Can you take a picture of us?)
The woman nodded as the older boy handed her his phone. “Eins zwei drei”
The photo was taken and she handed the phone back to the cub. “Danke.”
She smiled and went about her day as normal. The two made their exit from the park and headed back towards the museums.
Right next to the park was the World Cultures museum. It was considered a seasonal museum with a rotating gallery of artifacts that were on loan from other people. A small sign was out front indicating its features for the month. It was one Jacob had never seen before so quickly he hurried inside. It was an African tribal venue, with all sorts of weapons, clothing, and art from all over Africa. Many of them were centuries old and well past their prime.
Connor found himself rather taken with the medical part of the exhibit. Taking special interest in the medical developments from Ancient Africa. Some arcane tongs, wrappings, and knives which were well past their prime. Jacob giggled watching his friend lost in the findings. Tugging him until they found the taxidermy section. While he felt bad for the animals, he was still interested in all of the different species he had never seen before. Once he was done with that, they made their exit together.
The first museum across from the park was in the line of buildings was one dedicated to Film. It wasn't one of Jacob's favorite places, but he decided to stop by nonetheless. Inside was a small assortment of memorabilia, stills, and artifacts of all sorts of movie-related items. Many of them weren't even German. But the main attraction of the facility was a showcase featuring independent filmmakers. Some of them the lynx recognized but many he did not. It wasn't a terribly large museum and they were through it in a little less than half an hour.
Normally next on any tourist list would be the Architecture museum, but Jacob didn't think that would be very exciting to share so he decided to skip it. Their next stop was the communication museum, which was filled with all sorts of antiquated technology. The lynx liked this museum because he could listen to music inside. The venue had a section for music and the variety of records and old CDs was quite impressive. Jacob couldn't help but play a few of his favorite tracks for Connor.
The fox's own taste of music was different than his friends but still tried to share the obvious enjoyment Jacob felt. They spent a great deal of time at the music section before finally going to the other areas of the museum. The other parts of it weren't overly exciting for either of them so they passed through and headed for the gift shop. Jacob felt bad he couldn't buy a keepsake but decided to come back later for one.
The next step on the cub's museum itinerary was Staedel, which was a museum for European Art. Jacob considered himself quite the artist and hoped that one day one of his own pieces would be featured inside. The lynx felt a little stupid he didn't bring his sketchbook but figured he could live without for a bit. The two cubs made their way through the galleries, going through a wide variety of artists before coming to the end.
When they exited, Jacob could see the sun was setting. It seemed their time in the city was almost done. But the lynx had one final spot he wanted to stop at before they returned to their hotel. The Main tower was back on the way towards their hotel, so he figured it couldn't hurt. It wasn't much of a stop but he hoped there might be a good view of the sunset. So he led back down across the bridge to the other side.
By this point there wasn't much traffic about, human or otherwise. The street lights were beginning to turn on and some of the places, outside of the market, were closed to the public. Jacob knew he had to hurry before the tower closed it's door as well. So he hurried Connor and tried to get there as quickly as possible. When they arrived, the two of them arrived they were huffing and puffing. Even despite their athletic nature, it was still quite the distance to run.
The building was the largest one in Frankfurt and was completely covered in see-through glass. It had an observation deck near the top where people could look out onto the city below. It was one of the most popular spots for its view.
“Funf Minuten” The guard at the door warned them of their
(Five Minutes)
Jacob nodded and headed towards the elevator. It was 55 floors to the top and took a minute or two for the lift to get to the peak of the building.
Once they were at the top, Jacob pushed Connor over to the balcony. The decks were being closed but the person closing them decided to let them on anyway. Together they stood over the vast expanse beyond them. Connor took Jacob's paw in his own and squeezed it over his heart. The two staring into the great beyond. The fox leaning over to kiss his boyfriend, Jacob meeting his lips with the boy's own. It didn't last long but was a sweet moment nonetheless.
Soon they were rushed out by the guard who wanted nothing more than to go home. They were guided to the elevator where they were even taken down to make sure they left the building. Both boy's stomach growled, which proved it was time to return to the hotel for dinner. Connor and Jacob made their way from the tower and headed back to the hotel. The lynx's parents were impatiently waiting by their room's door when they returned.
“6:59. Another minute and you would have been late...” The father was only slightly annoyed since technically they had met curfew.
Jacob rubbed his head and blushed. It was true that he had almost lost track of time but it didn't seem to matter much in the end. The extended family went to dinner at a Biergarten. It was a traditional German restaurant and they all ordered traditional German cuisine. The fox choosing a veggie option of brats while his boyfriend picked his usual Schnitzel. The meal was quite larger than they were expecting and only the parents were able to clean their plates.
When the meal was over, they all returned to the hotel. It wasn't that late but the jet lag was definitely getting to the family. Even Jacob and Connor were yawning, which didn't fit their normal night owl behavior back at home. Still, the parents weren't going to complain, glad to get some shut-eye and hit the hay early. The two boyfriends cuddling into bed and curling into each other. It wasn't long before they were snoozing the day away. Awaiting for their next adventure together.
