Again, if you prefer the colored text, just feel free to download the file. Enjoy!",
"writing": "[b][center][u]13. Visit to the Police Department[/u][/center]\n[/b]\n\nHey there, folks!\n\nCan’t believe we have November already. Today, I have a short story about our visit to the local police department. Some of you might remember it from my entry about our birthday party in September, during which our friend Duke made me the generous offer to ask his chief, if we can visit my father’s former workplace. After all those weeks, I almost lost hope. But last Wednesday evening, I was sitting at my desk doing my homework, he called me.\n\nNervously, I pressed the take call button.\n“Hey Duke, how are you?”\nThe Doberman sounded happy.\n“Hey, my friend. I'm feeling good, thanks for asking. What about Nikki and you? Have you two managed to become a legal couple yet?”\nI leaned back in my chair, to make myself comfortable.\n“Nikki and I are fine. And no, not yet. Mom managed to get an appointment for the psychologist on the 18th, sadly we couldn’t make one with the CPS yet. But we hope to get that done before December.”\nDuke replied:\n“Good luck with that, champ. How is your mom doing?”\nDuke’s questions felt like he wanted to torture me. He knew which news I wanted to hear. Impatiently, I answered:\n“Mom is fine, too. Why do you call? Have you asked your Chief, if we can visit your station?”\nDuke chuckled.\n“That is why I called you. The chief wasn’t sure at first, but after I told him who you are, he was more than willing to welcome you here. It seems your father was a good friend of him.”\nHappily, I jumped off my chair.\n“That sounds great, Duke! When can we come?”\nDuke’s answer took him a brief moment, during which I heard paper rustle.\n“Well, how does Saturday sound? Would that be ok for you?”\nI was already on my way to my room’s door, as I said:\n“I will ask mom right away, wait a second.”\nDuke quickly replied\n“Wait, Balto. I don’t have much more time now. I am on duty. You can send me a message. Just one more thing. The chief was delighted as I told him about you. He mentioned that he has something he would like to give you. Well, I have to hang up now. I hope to see you Saturday, wolfy. Take care.”\nI replied, while I happily wagged my tail:\n“I hope Mom has time to take me there. Thank you so much, Duke. Take care, stay safe!”\n\nAt the same moment he ended the call, I ran to my mother. She was outside taking care of her vegetable patches, making them fit for the nearby winter. Excited, I ran to her:\n“Mom, Mom! My friend Duke just called me, he said we can visit him at the police station on Saturday. Can we go there? Please, Mom, please.”\nMom stored away her tools, while she asked me is response:\n“Did you say the police station? I don’t know. Do You really want to go there, Balto?”\nI nodded, while I smiled at mom:\n“Yes mom. I want to see where dad worked. You know that I hope to become a police officer later. Duke also said that the chief has something for me. Dad was a good friend of him.”\n\nMom sighed. She didn’t sound happy, as she answered to me:\n“Well, ok Balto. We can go there on Saturday afternoon.”\nI gave mom a happy hug, my tail wagged rapidly.\n“Thank you! I will write Duke. This will be so cool.”\nI turned around, wanted to go back in, as mom suddenly grabbed me by my tail and said:\n“One moment, little man. Did you finish your homework yet?”\nI stood still, with my back to my mom, and replied:\n“Yes, mom, all done.”\nMom’s voice began to sound a bit happier now.\n“Alright, I will take a look at it later. Say, will Nicole come with us on Saturday?”\nI shrugged my shoulders.\n“I haven’t asked her yet. She is pretty busy during the week.”\nMom replied, after she let go of my tail:\n“Then better write her a note, that way you won't bother her when she's busy.”\nI nodded, that was indeed a good idea.\n“Good idea, mom. Thank you. You are the best.”\nOn my way back inside, I jumped happily in the air, shouting:\n“Yay!”\n\n\nI was so damn happy at that moment. Finally, I would see a real police station from inside.\nAfter I was back in my room, I wrote the messages to Duke and to Nikki. My girl wrote back seconds after I sent her the message. \n“Police Station on Saturday? Balto, I have to prepare for a test next week, and then there is this Shakespeare play my drama class is preparing for.”\nIn my next message, I begged Nikki:\n“Nikki, please. It means so much to me. I promise it won’t take that long.”\nNikki agreed to come with us.\n“Well, ok. I know how badly you want to be a cop one day.”\nI wrote back:\n“So cool! Mom will drive us. Will you come over on Friday?”\nNikki’s reply took some time, she corrected it several times.\n“Yes, I will. Maybe you can help me with learning over the weekend. Now I must continue with this essay here. See you, Fluffy.”\nExcited, I wrote back:\n“I love you, Nikki. See you on Friday.”\nNikki’s final reply took a while.\n“I love you too. See you, cutie.”\n \nYou can imagine that I couldn’t wait for the weekend at this point.\n \n\nThe Weekend\n\n\nOk, as I don’t want to waste your time, we will go directly to the core. After a far too long week, it was finally Friday evening. Nikki arrived at our place at about 8 pm, after she had finished her studies.\nI was sitting in my room with my headphones on, which is why I didn’t hear her entering. Some kids at school had recently been talking about this video game called ‘Alien’. It is a horror-shooter. Not quite the game I usually play, but I wanted to give it a try. My character was standing in a dark alley, my eyes were focused on the screen, as the radar on my HUD showed several creatures in front of me. Then, suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder. This sudden touch startled me, and I almost fell off my chair. My heat was racing, as I turned my head and took off the headphones. Instead of a hungry space creature, I spotted Nikki, who was literally laughing her head off. A bit angered, I yelled at her:\n“Nikki! I almost got a heart attack! You are so mean sometimes.”\nShe was still laughing, while holding her belly.\n“I am sorry, Fluffy. What are you playing there? You usually play flight sims and strategy games, is this a shooter?”\nI nodded, then turned back to the screen, where my character had just found a horrible death.\n“Yes, it’s called ‘Alien’. Some kids at school said it is really good.”\nNikki took a closer look at the screen.\n“And how is it? I know this franchise.”\nI shrugged my shoulders, as the game so far was rather disappointing for me.\n“I was hoping for more. I will give it back to the boy who lent me his copy on Monday.”\nNikki grabbed the game’s box from my desk. After she briefly read the text written on it, she looked at me with a questioning expression.\n“Here it says that this is 18+. Which kid gives you games like that? I only hope you don’t get nightmares from it, like the one time we watched this horror movie together.”\nYeah, stupid movie. Couldn’t sleep the whole night.\n“It was Mikey. You remember? The gray fox we met at Comic Con. And this killer-puppet was scary.”\nNikki chuckled, as she thought back.\n“Oh, that strange boy. I am not surprised that his mom doesn’t care which games her son plays. Oh, and I remember the night after we have watched this movie. I had to take every single plushie out of the room because you thought they wanted to kill you. Even Little Balto.”\nA silent growl escaped my mouth, much to Nikki’s amusement.\n“Nikki, I was a cub back then.”\nNikki rapidly replied:\n“That was two weeks ago. But hey, at your age, I wasn’t much different. But ok, let us talk about something else.”\nWhile I quitted the game to uninstall it, I said:\n“And about what?”\nThe cheetah stepped closer, placed her hands on my shoulders to give me a gentle massage, as she asked me:\n“How about our visit to the police station tomorrow. Has Duke mentioned what he's going to show us?”\nI reached for my mobile, so I could re-read Duke's message.\n“He wrote me a message before. He wants to show us the offices, the parking lot, even the holding cells. And he mentioned that the chief has something for me.”\nNikki became curious.\n“His boss doesn’t even know you. What should he have for you?” \n\n\nAgain, I shrugged my shoulders.\n“I don’t know. Duke said that the chief and my father were good friends, and that's the reason why he agreed to our visit in the first place.”\nAt that moment, we heard mom clearing her throat. We turned our heads towards my room’s door, where she was standing.\n“Do you kids want to watch a movie with me? I thought of Police Academy, since it would fit for tomorrows visit.”\nI smiled and wagged my tail. Police Academy is one of my favorite Movie-Series. Happy, I shouted:\n“Sure! Can we make popcorn?”\nMom nodded with a smile, and her fluffy tail was wagging a little.\n“Sure, Balto.”\nNikki looked at us and tilted her head. \n“I have never seen these movies. Are they good?”\nI couldn’t believe that she has never watched Police Academy.\n“You never watched them? They are great. You will love it. For me, Jones is the best character. He can make all kind of sounds.”\nMy girl gave me a brief smile, and said:\n“Ok, ok. We will see. Can I maybe sing you a song afterward? The McBeth play is next weekend, but we already have an even bigger project planned. Our group wants to perform “Dance of the Vampires”, and I am supposed to play a leading role in it. I still have to practice, but this song is one of my favorites.”\nMom and I nodded. Nikki is an excellent singer. Honestly, I think she killed an angel for it. Maybe mixed it up with a bird. *giggles* Ok, ok. Stupid cat versus winged creature joke, I apologize. Mom answered to Nikki, while I switched off my pc:\n“Sure, Nicole. It has been some time since we heard you singing. Listening to you always was pleasure.”\n \nAfter we made popcorn, we all watched Police Academy 1 together. Nikki liked it, at least she laughed a lot. Then she presented this song she talked about. It’s title was “Outside is freedom”. I think this song was missing in the crap they played on Broadway under the title ‘Dance of the Vampires’.\nNikki explained that the version her theater group wants to perform will be more like the one which debuted in Vienna/Austria in 1997. Nikki’s mom even had the original Soundtrack from that premiere. I could swear that the actress on Sarah in this play, a woman by the name of Cornelia Zenz, even sounds a bit like Nikki. Since my cheetah needed a second voice, she and mom convinced me to “sing” the text of Alfred. I never thought that singing could be fun for me, but it was a surprisingly enjoyable thing to do.\n\nThe next day, Saturday, began early in the morning. Well, at least, for me. Nikki was still resting peacefully in Morpheus’ arms. She lay next to me in our big bed, in all her natural beauty. I watched her for a little while, how she breathed calmly, how her chest moved up and down. Carefully, I pulled the blanket away to have a better view of my girlfriend. Seeing her naked still makes me horny. My hand wandered down my body, just to feel my almost fully erected member. I closed my hand around it, began to pleasure myself. It didn’t take long until my shaft was standing in full size. My right hand moved faster now, while with my left one, I gently I touched my sleeping girl’s breasts. Nikki moaned in her sleep. Soon, my knot began to grow, I felt that it wouldn’t take me much longer. I moved a bit closer towards her and pointed the tip of my cock at Nikki’s open muzzle. Slowly, I let my cock slide into her warm mouth. It was only half-way in, as began to hump her sweet muzzle.\nNikki was still asleep. She sleeps so deep sometimes, not even an artillery battle would wake her up.\nI thrust a few more times into her mouth, she even sucked on it a bit in her sleep. Five more heavily minutes later, I shoved my cock as far as possible into her mouth and shot my warm cum deep into her throat. Feeling my seed spurting in her throat finally woke her up. I could barely pull out before my feline sat up and coughed. While wiping a bit of cum from her mouth, she spoke:\n“Hey, you little devil. You could at least wake me up, before you do that.”\nI chuckled, still holding my member to prevent it from dripping on the sheets.\n“Sorry, Nikki. I just wanted to try that out. I have seen it in a movie lately.”\nMy girl shook her head.\n“You watch too much porn, Balto. Please wake me up next time. What if I bite your dick in my sleep?”\nMy gaze went down, I was a bit ashamed about what I did to her. Suddenly, Nikki pulled me closer to her and looked deep into my eyes.\n“Doggy, I want to enjoy sucking on my boyfriend's dick, but for that, I have to be awake.”\nA grin appeared on my face.\n“Ok Nikki. Can we have breakfast now?”\nMy kitty chuckled, as she went out of bed to stretch her body.\n“I think I've had mine, but a coffee would be nice. Let's see if your mom is awake yet.”\nMy cheetah yawned, then her look went towards the clock next to my bed.\n“Damn it, Balto. It's six in the morning. I swear, if you wake me up this early on a weekend again, I will tie you to the bed and put a gag ball in your muzzle.”\n\nHer words made me giggle. I looked after her, as Nikki walked out of my room. She really has a perfect body, and this cute, sweet little butt of hers! I wish you could see that the way I do. We did our morning routines and prepared breakfast for all of us. At the same moment we were done and sat down at the table, Mom joined us. She was yawning loudly. Other than Nikki, she looked as if she had enough sleep. She addressed us in a somehow surprised voice:\n“Good morning, you two. You are up early. Thanks for preparing breakfast.”\nI greeted my mother enthusiastically:\n“Morning, Mommy! I just couldn't sleep anymore. I'm so excited about our visit to dad's department.”\nThen Nikki spoke up.\n“Well, I could have slept longer, but you had other things in mind, Fluffy.”\nMom giggled, as she came closer to get some coffee. While smiling, she tried to calm me a bit:\n“Balto, don’t get too excited about this. I don’t want you to be disappointed at the end.”\nMy gaze went down to the floor.\n“Ok, mom. I am sorry.”\nMom lifted my head, after she sat down next to me on the long bench in front of our big kitchen window.\n“It sure will be a nice day, Balto. Now let us have a nice breakfast. Since it is so early, we have plenty of time and don't need to hurry.”, she spoke in a calm tone.\nA thought came to my mind, making me ask:\n“Can I take dad’s hat with me?”\nMom nodded.\n“Sure. Just be careful with it. These hats are pretty difficult to clean.”\nNikki asked in a somewhat surprised voice:\n“Your dad’s hat? Do you mean the one hanging in your room? I thought that would be just a well-made toy for cubs.”\nMom gave Nikki an explanation, after she sighed slightly:\n“They gave it to me after, well, after that night. And I thought it would be nice for Balto to have it. You know, just like with the bandana, I thought that a part of Sebastian could be with his son that way.”\nNikki nodded, while she gently caressed my back.\n“I understand. I can imagine it is a priceless item for you to have, fluffball.”\n\nThis conversation continued for the rest of our breakfast. At about 8 o'clock, we were finished. Together, we cleaned the kitchen, then we all went outside, helped mom to further prepare the garden for the winter, like removing weed from our flower beds. Afterward, I watched a few cartoons, until it was time to get ready.\n\nAround 1pm, Mom, Nikki and I headed out to our car. I was sitting on the back seat, proudly wearing my father’s hat, Nikki on the passenger seat and mom was driving. While on the road, Nikki turned her head back to me.\n“This hat really suits you, Fluffy.”\nWith a wide smile, I replied:\n“Thanks, Nikki. I can’t wait to get my own one day.”\nNikki sighed and turned her head back forward. That somehow worried me, which is why I asked:\n“What is wrong, Nikki?”\nI could see my girl shaking her head.\n“Nothing, Balto. It’s nothing. I will try to sleep a little, until we arrive.”\n\nThat was odd. She seemed to be concerned about something. The journey took us over an hour, mostly because of the heavy traffic in town. Typical Saturday. It was 2:20pm, as we reached the department. Mom parked the car on the visitors’ parking lot, we stepped out of the car, Nikki yawned and stretched her body. With excitement, I watched some officers in their uniforms passing by. Then I spotted this old woman with her shopping cart. She was wearing non-fitting clothes and a big blanket around her shoulders. The lady tried to sit down at the entrance of a house but was quickly chased away by someone. I guess it was the house’s janitor. A disturbing scene for me. This poor, old woman. Didn’t she have someone to take care of her? \nI couldn’t move my eyes away from this lady, as we slowly walked towards the department’s main door. Nikki noticed my concerned look and put her hand on my shoulder. In a saddened voice, she said:\n“Not everyone is as lucky as we are, Balto. I have seen people like her time and time again during my work at the community center. It is a sad fact, that the government has money for wars, corrupt politicians, and other useless crap, but not for helping those in need.”\n\nMy thoughts circled around this woman. Question like “How can this happen?”, “Why is no one helping her?”, or “Where are this woman’s relatives?” came into my mind. I looked at Nikki and asked her:\n“Why does no one change this?”\nNikki looked at the woman for a brief moment, before she answered me.\n“Politicians, Anthros and Humans alike, are not really interested in changing the life of those who can’t support them. Come, let us go inside, its cold out here.”\n\nA strong wind came up, I had to hold my hat to prevent it from flying away. Only now I recognized that mom was already at the department’s doors and waited for us. Just as we were about to enter, I could hear something heavy crashing to the ground. I turned my head and could see the old lady's shopping cart. It had tipped over, and now all sorts of things were lying around on the street. The old lady tried desperately to gather her few belongings back together. Nikki also watched the scene. I couldn’t believe my eyes, as I witnessed how two officers stepped over and even on the stuff, as they crossed path with thew lady. I was shocked. Isn’t a police officer supposed to be a friend and helper? \nEven if mom always told me to stay away from strangers, I ran towards the poor lady. Mom saw that and told me to come back, but I wanted to help. It took mom and Nikki, until they both followed me. I reached the old lady, asked if I could help her. She looked at me, saw my hat, and told me that I would be a little young for a police officer. And that I would be far too kind to be one. Nikki, mom, and I helped the lady to pack her stuff back into the cart. She gifted us with a smile before she continued on her way. Her words would follow me for the rest of the day.\n“You are far too kind to be a police officer.”\n\nWe walked back to the department in silence. Seeing those two policemen stepping on this poor woman's things took us all away. We entered the station, where mom first looked for the restrooms, telling us to wash our hands. After we did that, we walked forward to the information desk. A young officer welcomed us.\n“Hello there, how are you? What can I do for you?”\n“We are fine, thanks for asking. And how about you? My son here was invited by an officer Duke to visit the station. I sadly don’t know his last name.”\nThe officer looked at some notes on his desk.\n“Oh, yes. Duke has told me that a family Star would come here today. I guess that must be you. I will make a call and tell him you are here. Please, take these visitor badges and have a seat over there. It won’t take long.”\n\nWe sat down on plastic chairs, which were fixed to the wall at the side of the entrance hall. While we waited for Duke to show up, I had a bit of time to look at all the different people who entered and left the department. Well-dressed businessman and homeless people, teenagers, and adults. And of course, many policemen in their dark blue uniforms. One of them, a female officer, noticed my policeman’s hat, and she came over to me.\n“Hello, little man. You want to join us, if you grow up?”\nHonestly, I wasn’t so sure anymore at this point. I looked up, into her friendly face. She was a black-furred feline with astonishing blue eyes. Silently, I answered to her:\n“Maybe, yes. An officer wanted to show us the department today. My dad used to work here.”\nThis dad-thing made her smile. She touched my shoulder and said:\n“And you want to follow his footsteps. Very good. Well, then always be a good boy and eat your vegetables, so you get big and strong.”\nA smile appeared on my face. Finally, a good cop. I nodded at her.\n“I will, officer. Thank you.”\nThe feline shook her head.\n“No need to thank me, kid. Have a nice day.”\nShe quickly turned around and walked away, so I spoke a bit louder:\n“You too. And stay safe.”\n\n Shortly after this, a big badger entered, his hands cuffed on his back and guarded by two officers. He shouted loudly:\n“All cops are murderers! One day, you will all pay! I will kill every single one of you. Like you did it with my brother!”\n\nThey rushed to bring him out of sight. It wasn’t hard to see, how scared I was by this. I cowered in my chair. Mom now took me into her arms and pressed me against her. You know, there isn’t any safer place to be than in your mother arms.\n \n\n Her calm voice further relaxed me.\n“Don’t worry, Balto. No one here will hurt you. And most cops are good and helpful people. But from time to time, they have to do things which are not liked much by the public. Things some people hate them for. Balto, if you really want to be one of them one day, I can tell you something, which was always essential for your father. It is our police slogan:\n‘To serve, and to protect’\nThose words were a kind of mantra for your father. He said them to himself every time before he left the house.”\n\nI will never forget these words. Well, it isn’t hard to remember them anyway. They are written on the doors of every police car.\nThere still was no sign of Duke. It became a bit quieter in the hall, so I decided to walk around a little. On the walls surrounding the hall were several photos of cars, honorable officers, cutouts from Newspapers. My dad’s picture is hanging there too. This must be this “Wall of fallen Heroes” Duke told me about during the talk we had at Trish’s place. \nBut before I could get closer to it, I suddenly noticed a wallet lying on the floor. I picked it up and looked around.\nI spotted a human male in an expensive looking suit nervously rummaging through all his pockets. Figuring he was looking for his wallet, I walked closer to him and held out what I had found.\n“Excuse me sir, is this yours?”\nHe turned to me. His eyes wide open in anger.\n“Give me that, you useless little brat.”\nHe snatched the wallet from my hand and pushed me aside, while he yelled: \n“Now get out of my way!”\nMy head hit the wall, before I fell on my butt. My hat also fell to the ground. Stars danced around my head, and I was a bit dizzy. The next thing I heard was the deep, angered growling of my mom, while I felt Nikki’s hand on my head. \n“Listen to me closely, mister. If you touch my son one more time, I will personally rip your throat out. Did I make myself clear?”\nThe man seemed to be afraid as hell and stuttered: “Ye---Yes, mam.”\n\nRight at that moment, Duke came in. He asked what happened, since he saw me sitting on the floor, with Nikki gently caressing my head, and my mom still showing her bared teeth to this shivering human. I swear, This man was in urgent need of fresh underwear. No need to mention that my mother was still pretty pissed, as she said:\n“Officer, this man pushed my son against this wall, after he only wanted to give him back his wallet.”\nDuke gave another officer a sign to come over. \n“Take this man into custody, so he can cool down a bit. I will deal with him later.”\nMom now knelt down next to me, before she took me into her arms. I looked at her and could see the thick tears in her eyes. Worried, she said:\n“Is everything ok? Did this asshole hurt you?”\nI was still a bit dizzy, but beside that, everything felt fine.\n“All good, mom. I just saw stars for a moment. All is fine now.”\nWhile I touched the top of my head, I realized that my hat was missing. I looked around in panic. \n“Where is my hat? My hat is gone!”\n \nNikki looked around, and soon found it underneath a chair nearby. She handed it to me with a smile.\n“Here it is. There is just a little dent in it, but I can fix that. See, good as new.”\nDuke then took the word.\n“Balto, Nikki, and you must be Balto’s mother. I am so sorry for the long wait.”\nMom was still furious. Believe me, this isn’t common for her. In fact, this was the first, and so far, the only time I have ever seen her this angry.\n“I want to report this person for assaulting my son.”\nDuke tried to calm her down.\n“Sure, we will file a report. There were more than enough witnesses here, this man will not talk himself out of this. Do you still want to see the station? Or do you prefer to come back another day?”\nNikki helped me up, and I made a step forward.\n“I want to see the department now.”\nDuke smiled at me.\n“Nothing can keep a good wolf down, hm?”\nI stood straight in front of him.\n“No. Nothing.”\n\nNikki had to giggle. She mumbled something I couldn’t understand, but mom pushed her in the side for it. That is why I guess it was something naughty. Unfortunately, she never told me what it was.\n\nWe finally began our tour through the department. Duke first showed us a few holding cells. Only the empty ones, of course. Nikki and I were even allowed to sit in one. Mom took a photo and sent it to Nikki’s parents, alongside a short text:\n“At the police station. Here to bail out our kids.”\nAt first, Mr. and Mrs. Kofi truly believed that the police had arrested us. Nikki laughed, as she received a text from her father, in which he asked what we have done. Jokes aside, it was a strange feeling to sit on this hard bench, inside this cage. I was happy that the door was left open. Our next stop was the carport, including a brief presentation of some pieces of equipment, like a baton or the armor they are supposed to wear during a riot or something like that. Nikki had a special interest in their handcuffs. I wonder why.\nThen Duke led us to the break room, where one of his colleagues gave us doughnuts. That seems to be the most important food for a cop. And they told me to eat my vegetables.\nThe tour ended at the door of Duke’s chief.\nHe knocked, before he entered the room. The three of us waited outside, until Duke asked us to come in.\nMom was the first to enter, followed by me, and Nikki. The chief, who was standing in front of his desk, greeted my mother with a handshake.\n“Mrs. Star, it is a pleasure to see you again. The last time I saw you was at Sebastian's funeral. He was a good friend of mine. I always held his memory in honor.”\nNext, he looked at Nikki. She stood at the door, like she wouldn’t want to come closer. \n“And who is this beautiful young lady?”\nNikki seemed a bit flattered.\n“I am Nicole Kofi, Sir. But I am only here to accompany Balto and his mother.”\nThe chief nodded, then turned his head to me.\n“That means, you must be Balto. Boy, you are like a reflection of your father. Just that his fur was a little darker than yours. Are you wearing his hat and bandana? They suit you, my son.”\nI have to admit that I was a bit, let me call, it, intimidated by this man. That is why I spoke pretty silently to him.\n“Yes, sir. My mom gave them both to me. Usually, the hat has his special place in my room, but I wanted to bring it with me today. Your station is really nice.”\nThe chief smiled at me, then walked back behind his desk.\n“Thank you, Balto. Oh, before I forget it. I have something for you. This was in our archives all these years. I am certain that Sebastian would want you to have it. It will fit perfect to your hat.”\nDuke had mentioned it during our chat, that the chief has something for me. My curiosity was big, as he now took an envelope out of a drawer of his desk.\n“Here you go. Be careful with it.”\n\nHe gave me the envelope, and I opened it right away. Inside was a heavy metal badge. A Lieutenant’s badge. My father’s badge.\nI know how this may sound, but I felt a little wind blowing through my fur. But the windows were all closed. My hands began to shake, I couldn’t hold back my tears. This was too much for me. Mom came closer and took me into her arms. She whispered:\n“Let it out, Balto. No one will dare to judge you.”\nAfter a few silent moments, in which I cried in my mother’s arms, the chief addressed a few more words to me.\n“You are a good boy, Balto. You know, as I have mentioned it before, your father was a close friend of mine. Should you ever have problems or questions, my door is always open for you.”\nMom answered him, while she patted my head:\n“Thank you. This really means a lot to us. And Sebastian’s badge, you don’t know what that means to Balto.”\nThe chief smiled at her.\n“My pleasure, Mrs. Star. Say, can I do anything else for you today?”\nMom nodded.\n“As a matter of fact, yes. Earlier, a man pushed Balto against a wall in the entrance hall. He hit his head on the wall and was dizzy for minutes. I want to file a report about this attack on my son.”\nThe chief looked over to Duke:\n“You are personally responsible in this case, officer. Do what it takes to ensure this man gets what he deserves.”\nDuke answered him: “Yes, sir.”\n\nMom filled out a report, we said goodbye to everyone, then we left the department. No word was spoken on our way back to the parking lot. My mother unlocked the car, so we could take our seats. As soon as I sat down, I took out my father’s badge out of the envelope again, to take a closer look at it, while mom drove us back home.\nNikki turned her head back to me. She was unusually quiet the whole time we spent in the department.\n“Hey fluffy, can I see the badge for a second?”\nI nodded.\n“Sure, Nikki. Just be careful with it, ok?”\nMy girl chuckled.\n“Of course, cutie.”\nShe was holding out her hand to me, and I gave her the badge. While Nikki looked at it, I felt that there was something else inside that envelope. I took it out and had two shoulder batches in my hand. One has the usual emblem of our police department on it, the other one showed in which unit he was. In capital letters, you can read “ESU” written on it. The emblem on it is a wolf in heavy armor holding a rifle. As cool as that may look, I was becoming more and more unsure if this was really the right job for me. I wanted to help people, not shoot them. I was lost in thought until Nikki's voice brought me back to reality.\n“Earth to fluffball! Are you still with us? This is a great-looking badge. And what do you have there? Shoulder batches? If you like, dad could build you a nice showcase for all this. Original police uniform parts can be pretty valuable.” \nNikki gave the badge back to me, and I put it all back into the envelope. I sighed, before I answered my girl.\n“Guess that would be good. That way they would be safe from dust and everything.”\nI turned my head to the side and looked outside the window. There wasn't much traffic at that time of the day, so we made it halfway home in no time. To my surprise, mom didn’t take the road home, she drove us to the shopping center. As she had parked the car, she looked back at me.\n“What is wrong, Balto? Didn’t you enjoy the time there? You spoke about nothing else during the last few days, and now you have a look on your face like the world is going to end tomorrow.”\nI sighed again.\n“All is fine mom, don’t worry.”\nMom became serious.\n“Balto Star, you know that you are a terrible liar. Spit it out, what is wrong?”\nWith a sad, tear struck voice, I tried to explain my mood. \n“Mom, the words of this old woman before, I can’t get them out of my head. And now the symbol on this patch. I thought police officers were there to help, not to shoot people. I wanted to be a cop like dad, to make him proud. Do you think he would be proud of me, even if I don’t join the police?”\n\nMom and Nikki both seemed to be a bit confused. It took my mother a moment until she answered in a calm voice:\n“Balto, he would be proud of you, no matter what you do in the future. The only thing you would hurt him with is if chose a career just to impress him. Honey, you're only 13, you still have plenty of time to pick a job you like. If it's not the police, we'll find something else for you.”\nMy gaze went over to my girl.\n“Mom, do you think I could be an actor, like Nikki? I could make people laugh, helping them to have a good time. Without risking of having to hurt someone.”\nImagining this made Nikki smile.\n“You want to become an actor like me? I must say, I really like this idea. Christa, he has some serious talent for dancing. If we could take lessons together, he has the potential to become really good. And he has an excellent memory. Sure, we have to work on his singing, but I could talk to our vocal coach about that. I am sure he has a few tips for him. Maybe I can even introduce him to my theater group one day, so he can see what it means to be an actor.”\nMy girl seemed very enthusiastic about all this. My mother, well, she was a little more reserved about this new career idea of mine.\n“Nicole, please. Since he can talk, he said that he wanted to be a cop. Let us wait what tomorrow will bring. But I like the idea of you taking a dancing class. You know, your father and I took several of them. We even got the golden dance badge together. But to something else. Are you two hungry? That is why I drove here in the first place.”\nI smiled at my mother, as I happily yelled:\n“I am hungry! I want a burger with fries, please.”\nNow Nikki laughed.\n“Page one in the Fluffy manual: If your Fluffy is sad, give Fluffy food. Problem solved.” \nMom giggled while she opened the door and left the car. Nikki and I followed her example shortly after. \n\nWe had a nice dinner at a burger restaurant in the mall, after which we drove back home. It was late afternoon, as we arrived in our driveway. \nMom asked if we would like to watch a few films with her, which we gladly did. After we saw “Police Academy 2”, I had to use the bathroom.\nWhen I returned, I could hear the following words spoken by my mother in a tearful voice:\n“Nicole, please do everything you can, that he finds joy in acting. Do whatever is necessary, so he does not join the police like his father. Believe me, one funeral was enough, I don’t want to put my son into his grave. Besides that, he is far too sensitive for this job anyway. Please, promise me to keep him safe.”\n\nNikki also had a sad tone in her voice, as she promised her:\n“I swear to watch over him, Christa. I know it from my mother how hard it is to not know if your partner will come home in one piece. I couldn’t stand this.”\n\nThey fell into each other’s arms. They haven’t noticed me standing there, until I spoke up in a tearful voice:\n“Mom, why didn’t you tell me that before?”\nWhen they suddenly heard my voice, they were both startled. Mom then asked me to take my seat between them, before she tried to explain, why she had never said something before.\n“Balto, I simply didn’t want to ruin your dreams. I will support you, regardless of what you want to be. But I always feared that if you joined the police, you would one day share your father's fate. And that's something I could never forgive myself for, since I promised Sebastian on his grave to keep his son safe from any harm.”\nNikki agreed to this:\n“Same goes for me, Fluffy. I couldn’t take it if something happens to you. I will ask Trish for some more dance lessons, and my theater group, If I maybe can bring you with me from time to time. And after this McBeth play is over, you can help me to prepare for my next role. That way I can possibly teach you one or two things about singing and acting myself.”\n\nI looked first right to Nikki, then to mom on my left side. I put my arms around them as far as I could, pulling the two girls closer to me for a group hug.\n\nWe all spent the evening together, watching Police Academy 3 and 4. Nikki also entertained us with another song from this musical. At least, a part of it. The title of the track was “Total Darkness”.\nWe talked and laughed for hours afterward. It was such a nice time with the two most important women in my life.\n\nAnd with the end of this day, I want to end this entry.\nYes, I am a lucky wolf. Lucky to have such a loving mother, a girlfriend I can trust blindly, and friends, who are always there for me. Or, better said, for us.\n\nStay safe out there.\n\nNikki and Balto\n\n",
"writing_bbcode_parsed": "
13. Visit to the Police Department
Hey there, folks!
Can’t believe we have November already. Today, I have a short story about our visit to the local police department. Some of you might remember it from my entry about our birthday party in September, during which our friend Duke made me the generous offer to ask his chief, if we can visit my father’s former workplace. After all those weeks, I almost lost hope. But last Wednesday evening, I was sitting at my desk doing my homework, he called me.
Nervously, I pressed the take call button. “Hey Duke, how are you?” The Doberman sounded happy. “Hey, my friend. I'm feeling good, thanks for asking. What about Nikki and you? Have you two managed to become a legal couple yet?” I leaned back in my chair, to make myself comfortable. “Nikki and I are fine. And no, not yet. Mom managed to get an appointment for the psychologist on the 18th, sadly we couldn’t make one with the CPS yet. But we hope to get that done before December.” Duke replied: “Good luck with that, champ. How is your mom doing?” Duke’s questions felt like he wanted to torture me. He knew which news I wanted to hear. Impatiently, I answered: “Mom is fine, too. Why do you call? Have you asked your Chief, if we can visit your station?” Duke chuckled. “That is why I called you. The chief wasn’t sure at first, but after I told him who you are, he was more than willing to welcome you here. It seems your father was a good friend of him.” Happily, I jumped off my chair. “That sounds great, Duke! When can we come?” Duke’s answer took him a brief moment, during which I heard paper rustle. “Well, how does Saturday sound? Would that be ok for you?” I was already on my way to my room’s door, as I said: “I will ask mom right away, wait a second.” Duke quickly replied “Wait, Balto. I don’t have much more time now. I am on duty. You can send me a message. Just one more thing. The chief was delighted as I told him about you. He mentioned that he has something he would like to give you. Well, I have to hang up now. I hope to see you Saturday, wolfy. Take care.” I replied, while I happily wagged my tail: “I hope Mom has time to take me there. Thank you so much, Duke. Take care, stay safe!”
At the same moment he ended the call, I ran to my mother. She was outside taking care of her vegetable patches, making them fit for the nearby winter. Excited, I ran to her: “Mom, Mom! My friend Duke just called me, he said we can visit him at the police station on Saturday. Can we go there? Please, Mom, please.” Mom stored away her tools, while she asked me is response: “Did you say the police station? I don’t know. Do You really want to go there, Balto?” I nodded, while I smiled at mom: “Yes mom. I want to see where dad worked. You know that I hope to become a police officer later. Duke also said that the chief has something for me. Dad was a good friend of him.”
Mom sighed. She didn’t sound happy, as she answered to me: “Well, ok Balto. We can go there on Saturday afternoon.” I gave mom a happy hug, my tail wagged rapidly. “Thank you! I will write Duke. This will be so cool.” I turned around, wanted to go back in, as mom suddenly grabbed me by my tail and said: “One moment, little man. Did you finish your homework yet?” I stood still, with my back to my mom, and replied: “Yes, mom, all done.” Mom’s voice began to sound a bit happier now. “Alright, I will take a look at it later. Say, will Nicole come with us on Saturday?” I shrugged my shoulders. “I haven’t asked her yet. She is pretty busy during the week.” Mom replied, after she let go of my tail: “Then better write her a note, that way you won't bother her when she's busy.” I nodded, that was indeed a good idea. “Good idea, mom. Thank you. You are the best.” On my way back inside, I jumped happily in the air, shouting: “Yay!”
I was so damn happy at that moment. Finally, I would see a real police station from inside. After I was back in my room, I wrote the messages to Duke and to Nikki. My girl wrote back seconds after I sent her the message. “Police Station on Saturday? Balto, I have to prepare for a test next week, and then there is this Shakespeare play my drama class is preparing for.” In my next message, I begged Nikki: “Nikki, please. It means so much to me. I promise it won’t take that long.” Nikki agreed to come with us. “Well, ok. I know how badly you want to be a cop one day.” I wrote back: “So cool! Mom will drive us. Will you come over on Friday?” Nikki’s reply took some time, she corrected it several times. “Yes, I will. Maybe you can help me with learning over the weekend. Now I must continue with this essay here. See you, Fluffy.” Excited, I wrote back: “I love you, Nikki. See you on Friday.” Nikki’s final reply took a while. “I love you too. See you, cutie.”
You can imagine that I couldn’t wait for the weekend at this point.
The Weekend
Ok, as I don’t want to waste your time, we will go directly to the core. After a far too long week, it was finally Friday evening. Nikki arrived at our place at about 8 pm, after she had finished her studies. I was sitting in my room with my headphones on, which is why I didn’t hear her entering. Some kids at school had recently been talking about this video game called ‘Alien’. It is a horror-shooter. Not quite the game I usually play, but I wanted to give it a try. My character was standing in a dark alley, my eyes were focused on the screen, as the radar on my HUD showed several creatures in front of me. Then, suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder. This sudden touch startled me, and I almost fell off my chair. My heat was racing, as I turned my head and took off the headphones. Instead of a hungry space creature, I spotted Nikki, who was literally laughing her head off. A bit angered, I yelled at her: “Nikki! I almost got a heart attack! You are so mean sometimes.” She was still laughing, while holding her belly. “I am sorry, Fluffy. What are you playing there? You usually play flight sims and strategy games, is this a shooter?” I nodded, then turned back to the screen, where my character had just found a horrible death. “Yes, it’s called ‘Alien’. Some kids at school said it is really good.” Nikki took a closer look at the screen. “And how is it? I know this franchise.” I shrugged my shoulders, as the game so far was rather disappointing for me. “I was hoping for more. I will give it back to the boy who lent me his copy on Monday.” Nikki grabbed the game’s box from my desk. After she briefly read the text written on it, she looked at me with a questioning expression. “Here it says that this is 18+. Which kid gives you games like that? I only hope you don’t get nightmares from it, like the one time we watched this horror movie together.” Yeah, stupid movie. Couldn’t sleep the whole night. “It was Mikey. You remember? The gray fox we met at Comic Con. And this killer-puppet was scary.” Nikki chuckled, as she thought back. “Oh, that strange boy. I am not surprised that his mom doesn’t care which games her son plays. Oh, and I remember the night after we have watched this movie. I had to take every single plushie out of the room because you thought they wanted to kill you. Even Little Balto.” A silent growl escaped my mouth, much to Nikki’s amusement. “Nikki, I was a cub back then.” Nikki rapidly replied: “That was two weeks ago. But hey, at your age, I wasn’t much different. But ok, let us talk about something else.” While I quitted the game to uninstall it, I said: “And about what?” The cheetah stepped closer, placed her hands on my shoulders to give me a gentle massage, as she asked me: “How about our visit to the police station tomorrow. Has Duke mentioned what he's going to show us?” I reached for my mobile, so I could re-read Duke's message. “He wrote me a message before. He wants to show us the offices, the parking lot, even the holding cells. And he mentioned that the chief has something for me.” Nikki became curious. “His boss doesn’t even know you. What should he have for you?”
Again, I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know. Duke said that the chief and my father were good friends, and that's the reason why he agreed to our visit in the first place.” At that moment, we heard mom clearing her throat. We turned our heads towards my room’s door, where she was standing. “Do you kids want to watch a movie with me? I thought of Police Academy, since it would fit for tomorrows visit.” I smiled and wagged my tail. Police Academy is one of my favorite Movie-Series. Happy, I shouted: “Sure! Can we make popcorn?” Mom nodded with a smile, and her fluffy tail was wagging a little. “Sure, Balto.” Nikki looked at us and tilted her head. “I have never seen these movies. Are they good?” I couldn’t believe that she has never watched Police Academy. “You never watched them? They are great. You will love it. For me, Jones is the best character. He can make all kind of sounds.” My girl gave me a brief smile, and said: “Ok, ok. We will see. Can I maybe sing you a song afterward? The McBeth play is next weekend, but we already have an even bigger project planned. Our group wants to perform “Dance of the Vampires”, and I am supposed to play a leading role in it. I still have to practice, but this song is one of my favorites.” Mom and I nodded. Nikki is an excellent singer. Honestly, I think she killed an angel for it. Maybe mixed it up with a bird. *giggles* Ok, ok. Stupid cat versus winged creature joke, I apologize. Mom answered to Nikki, while I switched off my pc: “Sure, Nicole. It has been some time since we heard you singing. Listening to you always was pleasure.”
After we made popcorn, we all watched Police Academy 1 together. Nikki liked it, at least she laughed a lot. Then she presented this song she talked about. It’s title was “Outside is freedom”. I think this song was missing in the crap they played on Broadway under the title ‘Dance of the Vampires’. Nikki explained that the version her theater group wants to perform will be more like the one which debuted in Vienna/Austria in 1997. Nikki’s mom even had the original Soundtrack from that premiere. I could swear that the actress on Sarah in this play, a woman by the name of Cornelia Zenz, even sounds a bit like Nikki. Since my cheetah needed a second voice, she and mom convinced me to “sing” the text of Alfred. I never thought that singing could be fun for me, but it was a surprisingly enjoyable thing to do.
The next day, Saturday, began early in the morning. Well, at least, for me. Nikki was still resting peacefully in Morpheus’ arms. She lay next to me in our big bed, in all her natural beauty. I watched her for a little while, how she breathed calmly, how her chest moved up and down. Carefully, I pulled the blanket away to have a better view of my girlfriend. Seeing her naked still makes me horny. My hand wandered down my body, just to feel my almost fully erected member. I closed my hand around it, began to pleasure myself. It didn’t take long until my shaft was standing in full size. My right hand moved faster now, while with my left one, I gently I touched my sleeping girl’s breasts. Nikki moaned in her sleep. Soon, my knot began to grow, I felt that it wouldn’t take me much longer. I moved a bit closer towards her and pointed the tip of my cock at Nikki’s open muzzle. Slowly, I let my cock slide into her warm mouth. It was only half-way in, as began to hump her sweet muzzle. Nikki was still asleep. She sleeps so deep sometimes, not even an artillery battle would wake her up. I thrust a few more times into her mouth, she even sucked on it a bit in her sleep. Five more heavily minutes later, I shoved my cock as far as possible into her mouth and shot my warm cum deep into her throat. Feeling my seed spurting in her throat finally woke her up. I could barely pull out before my feline sat up and coughed. While wiping a bit of cum from her mouth, she spoke: “Hey, you little devil. You could at least wake me up, before you do that.” I chuckled, still holding my member to prevent it from dripping on the sheets. “Sorry, Nikki. I just wanted to try that out. I have seen it in a movie lately.” My girl shook her head. “You watch too much porn, Balto. Please wake me up next time. What if I bite your dick in my sleep?” My gaze went down, I was a bit ashamed about what I did to her. Suddenly, Nikki pulled me closer to her and looked deep into my eyes. “Doggy, I want to enjoy sucking on my boyfriend's dick, but for that, I have to be awake.” A grin appeared on my face. “Ok Nikki. Can we have breakfast now?” My kitty chuckled, as she went out of bed to stretch her body. “I think I've had mine, but a coffee would be nice. Let's see if your mom is awake yet.” My cheetah yawned, then her look went towards the clock next to my bed. “Damn it, Balto. It's six in the morning. I swear, if you wake me up this early on a weekend again, I will tie you to the bed and put a gag ball in your muzzle.”
Her words made me giggle. I looked after her, as Nikki walked out of my room. She really has a perfect body, and this cute, sweet little butt of hers! I wish you could see that the way I do. We did our morning routines and prepared breakfast for all of us. At the same moment we were done and sat down at the table, Mom joined us. She was yawning loudly. Other than Nikki, she looked as if she had enough sleep. She addressed us in a somehow surprised voice: “Good morning, you two. You are up early. Thanks for preparing breakfast.” I greeted my mother enthusiastically: “Morning, Mommy! I just couldn't sleep anymore. I'm so excited about our visit to dad's department.” Then Nikki spoke up. “Well, I could have slept longer, but you had other things in mind, Fluffy.” Mom giggled, as she came closer to get some coffee. While smiling, she tried to calm me a bit: “Balto, don’t get too excited about this. I don’t want you to be disappointed at the end.” My gaze went down to the floor. “Ok, mom. I am sorry.” Mom lifted my head, after she sat down next to me on the long bench in front of our big kitchen window. “It sure will be a nice day, Balto. Now let us have a nice breakfast. Since it is so early, we have plenty of time and don't need to hurry.”, she spoke in a calm tone. A thought came to my mind, making me ask: “Can I take dad’s hat with me?” Mom nodded. “Sure. Just be careful with it. These hats are pretty difficult to clean.” Nikki asked in a somewhat surprised voice: “Your dad’s hat? Do you mean the one hanging in your room? I thought that would be just a well-made toy for cubs.” Mom gave Nikki an explanation, after she sighed slightly: “They gave it to me after, well, after that night. And I thought it would be nice for Balto to have it. You know, just like with the bandana, I thought that a part of Sebastian could be with his son that way.” Nikki nodded, while she gently caressed my back. “I understand. I can imagine it is a priceless item for you to have, fluffball.”
This conversation continued for the rest of our breakfast. At about 8 o'clock, we were finished. Together, we cleaned the kitchen, then we all went outside, helped mom to further prepare the garden for the winter, like removing weed from our flower beds. Afterward, I watched a few cartoons, until it was time to get ready.
Around 1pm, Mom, Nikki and I headed out to our car. I was sitting on the back seat, proudly wearing my father’s hat, Nikki on the passenger seat and mom was driving. While on the road, Nikki turned her head back to me. “This hat really suits you, Fluffy.” With a wide smile, I replied: “Thanks, Nikki. I can’t wait to get my own one day.” Nikki sighed and turned her head back forward. That somehow worried me, which is why I asked: “What is wrong, Nikki?” I could see my girl shaking her head. “Nothing, Balto. It’s nothing. I will try to sleep a little, until we arrive.”
That was odd. She seemed to be concerned about something. The journey took us over an hour, mostly because of the heavy traffic in town. Typical Saturday. It was 2:20pm, as we reached the department. Mom parked the car on the visitors’ parking lot, we stepped out of the car, Nikki yawned and stretched her body. With excitement, I watched some officers in their uniforms passing by. Then I spotted this old woman with her shopping cart. She was wearing non-fitting clothes and a big blanket around her shoulders. The lady tried to sit down at the entrance of a house but was quickly chased away by someone. I guess it was the house’s janitor. A disturbing scene for me. This poor, old woman. Didn’t she have someone to take care of her? I couldn’t move my eyes away from this lady, as we slowly walked towards the department’s main door. Nikki noticed my concerned look and put her hand on my shoulder. In a saddened voice, she said: “Not everyone is as lucky as we are, Balto. I have seen people like her time and time again during my work at the community center. It is a sad fact, that the government has money for wars, corrupt politicians, and other useless crap, but not for helping those in need.”
My thoughts circled around this woman. Question like “How can this happen?”, “Why is no one helping her?”, or “Where are this woman’s relatives?” came into my mind. I looked at Nikki and asked her: “Why does no one change this?” Nikki looked at the woman for a brief moment, before she answered me. “Politicians, Anthros and Humans alike, are not really interested in changing the life of those who can’t support them. Come, let us go inside, its cold out here.”
A strong wind came up, I had to hold my hat to prevent it from flying away. Only now I recognized that mom was already at the department’s doors and waited for us. Just as we were about to enter, I could hear something heavy crashing to the ground. I turned my head and could see the old lady's shopping cart. It had tipped over, and now all sorts of things were lying around on the street. The old lady tried desperately to gather her few belongings back together. Nikki also watched the scene. I couldn’t believe my eyes, as I witnessed how two officers stepped over and even on the stuff, as they crossed path with thew lady. I was shocked. Isn’t a police officer supposed to be a friend and helper? Even if mom always told me to stay away from strangers, I ran towards the poor lady. Mom saw that and told me to come back, but I wanted to help. It took mom and Nikki, until they both followed me. I reached the old lady, asked if I could help her. She looked at me, saw my hat, and told me that I would be a little young for a police officer. And that I would be far too kind to be one. Nikki, mom, and I helped the lady to pack her stuff back into the cart. She gifted us with a smile before she continued on her way. Her words would follow me for the rest of the day. “You are far too kind to be a police officer.”
We walked back to the department in silence. Seeing those two policemen stepping on this poor woman's things took us all away. We entered the station, where mom first looked for the restrooms, telling us to wash our hands. After we did that, we walked forward to the information desk. A young officer welcomed us. “Hello there, how are you? What can I do for you?” “We are fine, thanks for asking. And how about you? My son here was invited by an officer Duke to visit the station. I sadly don’t know his last name.” The officer looked at some notes on his desk. “Oh, yes. Duke has told me that a family Star would come here today. I guess that must be you. I will make a call and tell him you are here. Please, take these visitor badges and have a seat over there. It won’t take long.”
We sat down on plastic chairs, which were fixed to the wall at the side of the entrance hall. While we waited for Duke to show up, I had a bit of time to look at all the different people who entered and left the department. Well-dressed businessman and homeless people, teenagers, and adults. And of course, many policemen in their dark blue uniforms. One of them, a female officer, noticed my policeman’s hat, and she came over to me. “Hello, little man. You want to join us, if you grow up?” Honestly, I wasn’t so sure anymore at this point. I looked up, into her friendly face. She was a black-furred feline with astonishing blue eyes. Silently, I answered to her: “Maybe, yes. An officer wanted to show us the department today. My dad used to work here.” This dad-thing made her smile. She touched my shoulder and said: “And you want to follow his footsteps. Very good. Well, then always be a good boy and eat your vegetables, so you get big and strong.” A smile appeared on my face. Finally, a good cop. I nodded at her. “I will, officer. Thank you.” The feline shook her head. “No need to thank me, kid. Have a nice day.” She quickly turned around and walked away, so I spoke a bit louder: “You too. And stay safe.”
Shortly after this, a big badger entered, his hands cuffed on his back and guarded by two officers. He shouted loudly: “All cops are murderers! One day, you will all pay! I will kill every single one of you. Like you did it with my brother!”
They rushed to bring him out of sight. It wasn’t hard to see, how scared I was by this. I cowered in my chair. Mom now took me into her arms and pressed me against her. You know, there isn’t any safer place to be than in your mother arms.
Her calm voice further relaxed me. “Don’t worry, Balto. No one here will hurt you. And most cops are good and helpful people. But from time to time, they have to do things which are not liked much by the public. Things some people hate them for. Balto, if you really want to be one of them one day, I can tell you something, which was always essential for your father. It is our police slogan: ‘To serve, and to protect’ Those words were a kind of mantra for your father. He said them to himself every time before he left the house.”
I will never forget these words. Well, it isn’t hard to remember them anyway. They are written on the doors of every police car. There still was no sign of Duke. It became a bit quieter in the hall, so I decided to walk around a little. On the walls surrounding the hall were several photos of cars, honorable officers, cutouts from Newspapers. My dad’s picture is hanging there too. This must be this “Wall of fallen Heroes” Duke told me about during the talk we had at Trish’s place. But before I could get closer to it, I suddenly noticed a wallet lying on the floor. I picked it up and looked around. I spotted a human male in an expensive looking suit nervously rummaging through all his pockets. Figuring he was looking for his wallet, I walked closer to him and held out what I had found. “Excuse me sir, is this yours?” He turned to me. His eyes wide open in anger. “Give me that, you useless little brat.” He snatched the wallet from my hand and pushed me aside, while he yelled: “Now get out of my way!” My head hit the wall, before I fell on my butt. My hat also fell to the ground. Stars danced around my head, and I was a bit dizzy. The next thing I heard was the deep, angered growling of my mom, while I felt Nikki’s hand on my head. “Listen to me closely, mister. If you touch my son one more time, I will personally rip your throat out. Did I make myself clear?” The man seemed to be afraid as hell and stuttered: “Ye---Yes, mam.”
Right at that moment, Duke came in. He asked what happened, since he saw me sitting on the floor, with Nikki gently caressing my head, and my mom still showing her bared teeth to this shivering human. I swear, This man was in urgent need of fresh underwear. No need to mention that my mother was still pretty pissed, as she said: “Officer, this man pushed my son against this wall, after he only wanted to give him back his wallet.” Duke gave another officer a sign to come over. “Take this man into custody, so he can cool down a bit. I will deal with him later.” Mom now knelt down next to me, before she took me into her arms. I looked at her and could see the thick tears in her eyes. Worried, she said: “Is everything ok? Did this asshole hurt you?” I was still a bit dizzy, but beside that, everything felt fine. “All good, mom. I just saw stars for a moment. All is fine now.” While I touched the top of my head, I realized that my hat was missing. I looked around in panic. “Where is my hat? My hat is gone!”
Nikki looked around, and soon found it underneath a chair nearby. She handed it to me with a smile. “Here it is. There is just a little dent in it, but I can fix that. See, good as new.” Duke then took the word. “Balto, Nikki, and you must be Balto’s mother. I am so sorry for the long wait.” Mom was still furious. Believe me, this isn’t common for her. In fact, this was the first, and so far, the only time I have ever seen her this angry. “I want to report this person for assaulting my son.” Duke tried to calm her down. “Sure, we will file a report. There were more than enough witnesses here, this man will not talk himself out of this. Do you still want to see the station? Or do you prefer to come back another day?” Nikki helped me up, and I made a step forward. “I want to see the department now.” Duke smiled at me. “Nothing can keep a good wolf down, hm?” I stood straight in front of him. “No. Nothing.”
Nikki had to giggle. She mumbled something I couldn’t understand, but mom pushed her in the side for it. That is why I guess it was something naughty. Unfortunately, she never told me what it was.
We finally began our tour through the department. Duke first showed us a few holding cells. Only the empty ones, of course. Nikki and I were even allowed to sit in one. Mom took a photo and sent it to Nikki’s parents, alongside a short text: “At the police station. Here to bail out our kids.” At first, Mr. and Mrs. Kofi truly believed that the police had arrested us. Nikki laughed, as she received a text from her father, in which he asked what we have done. Jokes aside, it was a strange feeling to sit on this hard bench, inside this cage. I was happy that the door was left open. Our next stop was the carport, including a brief presentation of some pieces of equipment, like a baton or the armor they are supposed to wear during a riot or something like that. Nikki had a special interest in their handcuffs. I wonder why. Then Duke led us to the break room, where one of his colleagues gave us doughnuts. That seems to be the most important food for a cop. And they told me to eat my vegetables. The tour ended at the door of Duke’s chief. He knocked, before he entered the room. The three of us waited outside, until Duke asked us to come in. Mom was the first to enter, followed by me, and Nikki. The chief, who was standing in front of his desk, greeted my mother with a handshake. “Mrs. Star, it is a pleasure to see you again. The last time I saw you was at Sebastian's funeral. He was a good friend of mine. I always held his memory in honor.” Next, he looked at Nikki. She stood at the door, like she wouldn’t want to come closer. “And who is this beautiful young lady?” Nikki seemed a bit flattered. “I am Nicole Kofi, Sir. But I am only here to accompany Balto and his mother.” The chief nodded, then turned his head to me. “That means, you must be Balto. Boy, you are like a reflection of your father. Just that his fur was a little darker than yours. Are you wearing his hat and bandana? They suit you, my son.” I have to admit that I was a bit, let me call, it, intimidated by this man. That is why I spoke pretty silently to him. “Yes, sir. My mom gave them both to me. Usually, the hat has his special place in my room, but I wanted to bring it with me today. Your station is really nice.” The chief smiled at me, then walked back behind his desk. “Thank you, Balto. Oh, before I forget it. I have something for you. This was in our archives all these years. I am certain that Sebastian would want you to have it. It will fit perfect to your hat.” Duke had mentioned it during our chat, that the chief has something for me. My curiosity was big, as he now took an envelope out of a drawer of his desk. “Here you go. Be careful with it.”
He gave me the envelope, and I opened it right away. Inside was a heavy metal badge. A Lieutenant’s badge. My father’s badge. I know how this may sound, but I felt a little wind blowing through my fur. But the windows were all closed. My hands began to shake, I couldn’t hold back my tears. This was too much for me. Mom came closer and took me into her arms. She whispered: “Let it out, Balto. No one will dare to judge you.” After a few silent moments, in which I cried in my mother’s arms, the chief addressed a few more words to me. “You are a good boy, Balto. You know, as I have mentioned it before, your father was a close friend of mine. Should you ever have problems or questions, my door is always open for you.” Mom answered him, while she patted my head: “Thank you. This really means a lot to us. And Sebastian’s badge, you don’t know what that means to Balto.” The chief smiled at her. “My pleasure, Mrs. Star. Say, can I do anything else for you today?” Mom nodded. “As a matter of fact, yes. Earlier, a man pushed Balto against a wall in the entrance hall. He hit his head on the wall and was dizzy for minutes. I want to file a report about this attack on my son.” The chief looked over to Duke: “You are personally responsible in this case, officer. Do what it takes to ensure this man gets what he deserves.” Duke answered him: “Yes, sir.”
Mom filled out a report, we said goodbye to everyone, then we left the department. No word was spoken on our way back to the parking lot. My mother unlocked the car, so we could take our seats. As soon as I sat down, I took out my father’s badge out of the envelope again, to take a closer look at it, while mom drove us back home. Nikki turned her head back to me. She was unusually quiet the whole time we spent in the department. “Hey fluffy, can I see the badge for a second?” I nodded. “Sure, Nikki. Just be careful with it, ok?” My girl chuckled. “Of course, cutie.” She was holding out her hand to me, and I gave her the badge. While Nikki looked at it, I felt that there was something else inside that envelope. I took it out and had two shoulder batches in my hand. One has the usual emblem of our police department on it, the other one showed in which unit he was. In capital letters, you can read “ESU” written on it. The emblem on it is a wolf in heavy armor holding a rifle. As cool as that may look, I was becoming more and more unsure if this was really the right job for me. I wanted to help people, not shoot them. I was lost in thought until Nikki's voice brought me back to reality. “Earth to fluffball! Are you still with us? This is a great-looking badge. And what do you have there? Shoulder batches? If you like, dad could build you a nice showcase for all this. Original police uniform parts can be pretty valuable.” Nikki gave the badge back to me, and I put it all back into the envelope. I sighed, before I answered my girl. “Guess that would be good. That way they would be safe from dust and everything.” I turned my head to the side and looked outside the window. There wasn't much traffic at that time of the day, so we made it halfway home in no time. To my surprise, mom didn’t take the road home, she drove us to the shopping center. As she had parked the car, she looked back at me. “What is wrong, Balto? Didn’t you enjoy the time there? You spoke about nothing else during the last few days, and now you have a look on your face like the world is going to end tomorrow.” I sighed again. “All is fine mom, don’t worry.” Mom became serious. “Balto Star, you know that you are a terrible liar. Spit it out, what is wrong?” With a sad, tear struck voice, I tried to explain my mood. “Mom, the words of this old woman before, I can’t get them out of my head. And now the symbol on this patch. I thought police officers were there to help, not to shoot people. I wanted to be a cop like dad, to make him proud. Do you think he would be proud of me, even if I don’t join the police?”
Mom and Nikki both seemed to be a bit confused. It took my mother a moment until she answered in a calm voice: “Balto, he would be proud of you, no matter what you do in the future. The only thing you would hurt him with is if chose a career just to impress him. Honey, you're only 13, you still have plenty of time to pick a job you like. If it's not the police, we'll find something else for you.” My gaze went over to my girl. “Mom, do you think I could be an actor, like Nikki? I could make people laugh, helping them to have a good time. Without risking of having to hurt someone.” Imagining this made Nikki smile. “You want to become an actor like me? I must say, I really like this idea. Christa, he has some serious talent for dancing. If we could take lessons together, he has the potential to become really good. And he has an excellent memory. Sure, we have to work on his singing, but I could talk to our vocal coach about that. I am sure he has a few tips for him. Maybe I can even introduce him to my theater group one day, so he can see what it means to be an actor.” My girl seemed very enthusiastic about all this. My mother, well, she was a little more reserved about this new career idea of mine. “Nicole, please. Since he can talk, he said that he wanted to be a cop. Let us wait what tomorrow will bring. But I like the idea of you taking a dancing class. You know, your father and I took several of them. We even got the golden dance badge together. But to something else. Are you two hungry? That is why I drove here in the first place.” I smiled at my mother, as I happily yelled: “I am hungry! I want a burger with fries, please.” Now Nikki laughed. “Page one in the Fluffy manual: If your Fluffy is sad, give Fluffy food. Problem solved.” Mom giggled while she opened the door and left the car. Nikki and I followed her example shortly after.
We had a nice dinner at a burger restaurant in the mall, after which we drove back home. It was late afternoon, as we arrived in our driveway. Mom asked if we would like to watch a few films with her, which we gladly did. After we saw “Police Academy 2”, I had to use the bathroom. When I returned, I could hear the following words spoken by my mother in a tearful voice: “Nicole, please do everything you can, that he finds joy in acting. Do whatever is necessary, so he does not join the police like his father. Believe me, one funeral was enough, I don’t want to put my son into his grave. Besides that, he is far too sensitive for this job anyway. Please, promise me to keep him safe.”
Nikki also had a sad tone in her voice, as she promised her: “I swear to watch over him, Christa. I know it from my mother how hard it is to not know if your partner will come home in one piece. I couldn’t stand this.”
They fell into each other’s arms. They haven’t noticed me standing there, until I spoke up in a tearful voice: “Mom, why didn’t you tell me that before?” When they suddenly heard my voice, they were both startled. Mom then asked me to take my seat between them, before she tried to explain, why she had never said something before. “Balto, I simply didn’t want to ruin your dreams. I will support you, regardless of what you want to be. But I always feared that if you joined the police, you would one day share your father's fate. And that's something I could never forgive myself for, since I promised Sebastian on his grave to keep his son safe from any harm.” Nikki agreed to this: “Same goes for me, Fluffy. I couldn’t take it if something happens to you. I will ask Trish for some more dance lessons, and my theater group, If I maybe can bring you with me from time to time. And after this McBeth play is over, you can help me to prepare for my next role. That way I can possibly teach you one or two things about singing and acting myself.”
I looked first right to Nikki, then to mom on my left side. I put my arms around them as far as I could, pulling the two girls closer to me for a group hug.
We all spent the evening together, watching Police Academy 3 and 4. Nikki also entertained us with another song from this musical. At least, a part of it. The title of the track was “Total Darkness”. We talked and laughed for hours afterward. It was such a nice time with the two most important women in my life.
And with the end of this day, I want to end this entry. Yes, I am a lucky wolf. Lucky to have such a loving mother, a girlfriend I can trust blindly, and friends, who are always there for me. Or, better said, for us.