The little fox woke up in the middle of the night because his biological clock had started to malfunction a few days ago. It was Saturday, so he could afford a moment here and there. Suddenly, an idea struck him, like a bullet in the back of the head. His father was a detective, which the little fox found incredibly exciting. He always wanted to peek into his office, but the old fox never let him inside. But now no one would stop him.
The young canine tossed himself out of bed and took a trip toward his parents' room. He opened the door silently, like a thief about to rob a billionaire's house. Straight the devil put a teeth grin on the cub face, when he locked his eyes on two older foxes sleeping deadly in bed. Good start. He tiptoed barefoot to the office door in front of the bed. His small paw grasped the handle and pulled it down, but the door remained locked, as if the spirit of secrets prevented him from entering.
,,Of course they are locked... What have I even thought?" He whined under his breath.
One thing was certain. He'd gone too far to just give up, since such an opportunity might never come again. The gears in his head began to turn, trying to find the key's hiding place. It didn't help much, so he switched to plan B, which involved searching the room for treasure. Bookshelves, clothing cabinet, his father's brown coat, he even looked under the bed, but found nothing. Only one thing remained: a painting of him and his parents, which they'd commissioned from a street artist.
"There's no way you're hiding anything... But you're my last hope..." he whispered, looking at the painting.
It was quite high for him. He couldn't reach that far standing on his tiny legs, but luckily, a clothes rack stood beneath the painting, reaching up to his shoulders. Perfect, now all he had to do was climb onto it. Both of his paws wandered to the edge of the dark wooden countertop. His arms tensed, jaw clenched as his legs finally rocked him upward. Half of his body was already at their destination, but his lower limbs were still flying in the air, so he placed one foot on the shelf handle and bounced off it. He succeeded, managed to climb the hill, but unfortunately for him, the shelf in the process had opened wide, making a rather loud bang that filled the entire room. His eyes widened and he twisted nervously towards the bed. His mother was slightly squirming on the mattress, which quickly faded away, while his father remained still, as still as a stone. "Phew..." came a relieved sigh from his snout.
The situation was under the control, so he made another move, stood up. His green eyes were now fixed in the picture, his lips stretching into a mischievous smile as he finally grabbed him, and pulled out of the wall. His face drowned gloomy, as now he was staring at the safe, with a round, rotatable dial.
,,So, no more dreams...", he said, truly devastated by the view.
Well, he pushed himself quite far, so why not at least try to unlock him? For a moment, he wondered what his father's code might be. Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in his mind. He meant everything to his father, so it had to be...
My birthdate! – he shouted in his mind.
The right paw wandered on the round lock, spinning him, while saying the numbers under his breath:
,,One... Nine... Six... Eight...", he grabbed the handle, and pulled to himself, but she didn't detach. Through his throat escaped a little growl, which sounds rather cute than anyhow menacingly. He tried again, this time with the day of his birth.
,,Two... Seven... Zero... Five... Oh!", he heard the mechanism inside clocked, and when he pulled the door to himself, they now opened without any effort.
Let's go!
His joy grew even greater when the young fox found a small key lying among the other things inside. He giggled excitedly and pulled it out.
"Hi, I've been looking for you," he whispered, glancing at it.
Without hesitation, the young canine simply descended on the floor, keeping the silence around him, and approached the office door. The key fit perfectly, finally giving him the opportunity to satisfy his curiosity. As his bare feet led the way, the fox noticed how dark it was inside. He really didn't want to turn on the main light, since they were doing this only in must have circumstances, which even if it was for him now, surely not for his parents.
His furrowed eyes scanned the dark area. Though everything was barely visible, he managed to locate a lamp on one of the desks. It was a perfect substitute, and it brought him even greater joy. He took a few steps forward, keeping his gaze fixed on his savior. Finally, he reached his destination and with his right paw he began searching for a button. It took him at least two minutes to find it, and when he clicked it, a pleasant yellow light echoed off the surrounding objects. It was enough to almost completely illuminate the room, allowing the little fox to examine everything within. There were tons of papers, some taped to the walls, some lying on the floor. At least four drawers lined the right wall looking from the perspective of the doors, along with two desks. In front of one, he was now standing, and the second one was right next to the first. On the other sat a black rotary telephone and several diaries. Above it hung a corkboard with photos, all held together by thread. One thing certainly caught the young fox's attention. In the upper right corner of the board was a missing person's notice.
This truly intrigued the young mind. He wondered what it said, but he couldn't read it from where he stood, so he climbed onto one of the desks. Now with a perfect view, he began to read:
,,Name: Adam Thorn
Gender: male
Age: 14
Species: Red fox
Look: black long hair, amber eyes, height 5'7"
Clothing: Black polo shirt and flared jeans
Last seen: in the bakery by Northtone Street around 4:27p.m. on Thursday 25.09.1977.
If you have any information please call at number 596-3275."
The young fox watched in horror, since it was just three days ago, and a few hours earlier he had been in that bakery with his mother. "Poor guy..." he said, but got interrupted by a quite loud click from behind, that transfsformed the dim lamplight into a bright one, like the sun in a cloudless sky...
