I frown a little, unsure of that. All of my instincts were telling me that I should leave, but my brain knows that it's safe, and only danger might be to my eardrums. Thankfully, the fire truck passes with no real danger or problem...though the real problem soon shows up as it passes, as my nose picks something up more than just emotions and excitement and I notice one of the floats has a bunch of animals on it, some fake, but a couple of real ones that make my nose wrinkle taking a big sniff.
My stomach makes a rumble as I was now hungry. The smell was divine, looks like just a couple of sheep and a goat, nothing too exotic. But it definitely was getting my attention, as despite the noise, my ears perk back up a little bit. Nudging my father and whining slightly, I try to get his attention with the float. I wasn't sure how I would react, but realize I hadn't eaten as we had left that morning, as we were in a bit of a hurry to go. Ughhh, of all times to be hungry, and worst times for dinner to go right past me.
My dad looks down at me and stares slightly confused as I lick my lips, nudging in the direction of the float, trying to get his attention. He's a little slow on the uptake as he says, "Fluffy, you can't be hungry, you alrea... oh shit," he says catching on to the fact he hadn't fed me. He looks over towards my mom and sister, looking a little panicked as he says, "Hon, could you go over to the Chinese store there and get some meat? We forgot to feed Fluffy, and I think he's hungry," he says. My mom, for her part, shows her full grace by looking a little panicked, while Sarah just laughs, not realizing the problem.
My mom quickly walks over to the Chinese store as my dad pets me, "Just relax," he says as I watch the float with the animals slowly getting closer. All my instincts say food, thankfully, though it was too crowded and too many people, so the instincts say someone will steal the food. Which keeps me in place, for the most part. Come on, Mom, I need something to eat. Maybe I should run away up the hill into the alley away from everything.
I feel antsy and hungry, as now that I am aware of not having eaten in a while, it just makes me feel worse. Come on, Mom, I need food. My tail begins to twitch in agitation. I wish Shiners was around, but I suspect he's probably avoiding all the noise and just waiting for any food left over.
Finally, after what feels like hours, though judging by how the float was only just now about to pass, it wasn't that long. She pulls out a sub which has a strong smell of incense and other herbs that make me sneeze, but what really got my attention was the smell of meat under it.
She unwraps the sub and pulls out the meat, cheese, and bacon, making me lick my lips as she hands it to me, and I try my best to carefully eat without taking a finger. I almost got a finger, but she pulled back in time, giving me a stern look. Hey, I can't help that I was hungry. It felt...not perfect and a little sour from the Mayo, but otherwise it helped a bit, and I wasn't quite so hungry.
Oddly, the scent of the meat and the incense from the wrapper helped me handle, for the moment, the dinner driving by as I had other things to focus upon, and wasn't quite as starving. I mean, I was still starving after all, I'm a 15-year-old boy in a wolf's body, I don't think there is enough food in the world to get rid of that.
Finally, it passes, and I can relax a little bit, leaning against my father and panting slightly. Man, that stressed me out a bit. I can't believe that I just had to deal with that. Maybe I should figure out how to get my dad to let me hunt deer or something. I really feel like I could use a real hunt right about now.
The next float was just some sparkly Christmas trees, which gave me a few moments to relax and worry a little bit less. My mom looks at me, giving me a thumbs up. This was one crazy day, but hopefully I can get through the last of this and finally head home.
My sister starts to get even more excited as she sees Santa Claus coming, who looks a bit off in the brownish colour I now see, not quite the same as the bright red. Least the animals were gone. And then it hits me as I go fully still, my tail stops as my lips pull back slightly, I could smell it, DINNER, there was something there. This was something that called to my soul and instincts as I look around trying to find the source.
It was then that I saw it, the deer... no, a real reindeer at the front of the sled, looking nervous and a little bored as Santa was waving. Oh God, this was it, a real deer, and all of my instincts were screaming at me to go catch it. I nudge my dad as I try to back up some more, and he looks down at me, then forward, noticing my concern. The closer the deer got, the harder it was to focus. I have to get out of here.
I give a tug on the leash, looking up at my dad as I try to motion towards the float, but he doesn't really get what the issue is. Dangit, might be too far for him to tell the reindeer, but that is definitely all that I can smell. I doubt I'd be dangerous, but it was definitely getting to me as I take the leash into my teeth and start to back up towards the alley.
My dad starts to slowly catch on that something is wrong, and lets the leash go as I take one last look and bolt away from the crowd back into the alley as quickly as possible. I was glad that my dad let me go. I will probably have some explaining, but it will have to wait for obvious reasons.
I find a spot in a doorway up the hill in the alley where I'm in no one's way but can still see and hear what's going on around me. My body was shaking from the adrenaline of what had happened. I'm still not sure anything bad would have happened, but it definitely wouldn't have been any fun. I didn't think any food would affect me that much, even the horse was more of a curiosity and a little hunger inducing, but not like this.
"Fluffy!." I hear from down the street, heading into the alley as I spot my dad making his way over, my sister and mom behind him, as I give out a small woof to let them know where I was. It sounded like Santa had moved on, so I hoped that my sister had her chance to see him, and I didn't ruin that.
My sister, hearing me, runs over and gives me a hug while my parents make their way. They seem relieved, and I'm glad that we set up having a way for me to get away. My sister says quietly, "Did you get spooked? It's okay, I'm here now, and I will protect you," she says as I relax and lean into her.
I give a small whine as my parents finally arrive and give me a hug, "You did good Fluffy," they say as I try to relax a little bit. It had been hard, but I felt that I had done the best that I could as far as I was concerned.
Calming down, I give myself a shake, it was becoming my go to way to calm down, just as fluffing my feathers out was for when I was a bird. I give a happier bark, letting them know that I was feeling better.
My dad looks at me, asking, "You think you're ready to head back home?" he asks as I woof and he carefully picks up the leash again and ruffles my fur a little before we start to walk back. I kinda just wanted to sleep after all that, but we do have to plan for the trip tomorrow. And I realized I still needed to ask Shiners about what he wanted to do.
It was a quiet walk back with my sister sticking close to me. Despite me eating her book the other day, she seemed to be warming up to me as I nudge her gently when she moves to walk next to me. She giggles at me, "Fluffy!!" she says in mock annoyance. It didn't take us too long to get back home.
