Devon sat cross-legged on his bed in his grey sweat pants and jumper, “Visitor” spelled across the back in big white letters, watching one of the news channels from the states.  It was just the usual mix of drama and chaos with the occasional short “feel good” piece thrown in.  He wasn’t paying that much attention to most of it.  When the phone on his bedside table started to buzz.  The young raccoon muted the television before crawling up the bed to answer.  “Hello?” he said with a curious tone.

“Good afternoon, Devon,” came a voice from the other end, “This is Lieutenant Stevens, Captain Wolf’s secretary.  I’m just calling to inform you that you have a 0900 meeting with the captain tomorrow morning.  Your escort will meet you at 0830.  You won’t need to bring anything other than yourself.  Could you confirm that you have received this message.”

“Ummm,” Devon stammered, “I have received the message?”

Lt Stevens giggled, “That’ll do for now.  Have a good rest of your day and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The line clicked and a dial tone sounded.  Devon hung up the handset and sat on the edge of the bed.  He wondered to himself what the meeting could be for.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.  “Come in.” Devon said.

The door slid open and Lieutenant Scott walked in.  The Lynx smiled warmly, “Good Morning Devon.  I hope you slept well.”  He greeted the younger raccoon.

Devon nodded, “I haven’t slept in a bed like this in months.”

“Well glad to hear it. “Scott said standing with his paws clasped behind his back.  “I thought you might like to get breakfast and I might save you the trouble of calling for an escort.”

“Yes, please.” Devon replied eagerly, standing up from the edge of the bed.

Scott nodded and gestured towards the door with a smile, “Shall we?”

The two left the room and headed down the hallways towards the main mess.

“I got a call this morning,” Devon said as they walked, “Apparently I have a meeting with Captain Wolf tomorrow at 0900.”

Scott cracked a toothy smile, “Yes I know.”  He looked at the somewhat bewildered look on the young raccoon’s face.  “I’m your escort for that.  Seems fitting I suppose.”

“How do you mean?” replied Devon in a confused tone.

“Well since I brought you here it seems fitting for that meeting.”  Scott responded

“What is the meeting about? And what is Captain Wolf like?” Devon enquired, “I only talked to him briefly that first night that I got here”

“Well,” Scott said as he looked up at the ceiling as they walked, “In the simplest terms the meeting is about you.  As for Captain Wolf, well he’s very straightforward.  He’s a good listener, he has a very slow temper, and he has this strange knack of being able to tell we someone isn’t telling the whole truth.”

Scott finished as they rounded that last corner to the mess hall.  “I had breakfast earlier Devon, so I’ll grad a space just over there,” He gestured with his paw to a table over by one of the windows.  “You go and grab whatever you feel like and I’ll meet you at the table.”

Devon nodded and made his way over to the start of the service counters.  “Well, if it isn’t our newest visitor.” Said the large deer from behind the counter.  “We don’t get that many of you down here.  So, what can I get for you this morning young man?”

Soon Devon had his plate full of various breakfast items and made his way over to where Scott was sitting.  He slid into the seat opposite the Lynx.

Scott couldn’t suppress is grin, watching as the racoon cut a piece of his pancakes.
The poor kid is still in feast or famine thinking, he mused to himself.

Devon noticed his tablemate’s crooked smile.  He swallowed “What? Do I have syrup on my chin?”

“No, no.  It’s nothing.” Scott replied.

Devon swallowed another big muzzle full of pancake.  “So, when you said this meeting was about me, what about me?”

Darren folded his arms and looked out the window for a minute.  “Well, to be perfectly honest I can’t tell you.  What I can say is that you need to be honest.  Mostly just honest with yourself.  I’ve never had this meeting, but from what I hear, there aren’t really any right or wrong answers.  Just what was and what is.”

Devon looked even more confused, “I don’t get it?”

Scott shrugged, “I’m honestly not sure you are supposed to “get it”.

Devon finished his plate and wiped his muzzle with a napkin.

“Well, you ready to head back?”  Scott said.

Devon nodded.

“Well grab your plate and cutlery and go put them in the laundry tub at the end of the counter there and I’ll wait for you over by the door.”

Devon collected his dishes and headed back over to the counter, “Thanks for breakfast.” He said to deer in the kitchen, as he slid his dirty plate into the tub of soapy water.  Then headed over to the door to meet up with Scott.

The pair walked back to Devon’s room without much conversation.  When they got to the door Devon pressed the button to open the door.  “So, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” He said to (Darren) as he stepped inside.

The Lynx nodded.  “In the meantime, if you want to go to the gym or go for a walk on the beach.  Just dial 0 on your phone for the main switchboard and they’ll organize an escort for you.  Otherwise get a good night’s rest and I’ll see you in the morning.”

Scott stepped back and let the door close.

Devon went to the washroom and stripped off his clothes before turning on the shower.  He stepped into the warm stream of water and sighed as it soaked through his fur.  He grabbed a paw full of fur shampoo and worked himself into the fluffy lather.  As he rinsed the shampoo from his fur, he pondered on what (Darren) had meant by being honest with himself.  His mind wandered as he swayed slowing under the steady stream of water.  Finally, he turned off the taps and gently pressed the bulk the of the water from his fur before grabbing a towel.

The raccoon toweled himself dry and them brushed his fur back into a reasonable level of straight.  He pulled on his clothes and wandered back into the bedroom / sitting room and flopped into on the comfy chairs at the table.

Devon spent the rest of the day relaxing and pondering on what the full story behind the meeting would be about, and why of all the furs that apparently worked for the group, did Scott get assigned as his escort for the meeting.  By the late afternoon the young raccoon’s mind was tired from all the summersaults it had been doing, remembering that first unknowing conversation with Jonathon Wolf.  It was clean now how he knew him by name, but that was over a week ago, and he hadn’t seen the older wolf around since. Devon figured he must have just been busy with work, but why an official kind of meeting?

Devon set the alarm on his bedside clock and crawled under the covers before tapping the light switch with a paw pad, sending the room into darkness.  As he rested his head on the pillow Scott’s advice of “Be honest to yourself” drifted through his mind as he closed his eyes.  Sleep soon chased the last of his conscious thoughts away.

“Beep, Beep, Beep” sounded the alarm from the beside.
Devon raised his head from the pillow and looked at the digits of the clock through blurry eyes.  How could it be 0730 already, he just closed his eyes a minute ago?  Why do night’s before important things always disappear before they should?  The raccoon limply bapped the top of his clock to silence the alarm before he began to wiggle his way out from under the covers.

Devon shuffled his way into the bathroom and turned on the shower before slipping out of his clothes and stepping under the stream of warm water.  He quickly got through with shampooing and conditioning his fur and turned off the water start squeezing out most the water from his fur.  Before too long he finished brushing himself and his teeth, and he walked back into his main room to grab a fresh set of clothes.

Finally dressed he made his bed and sat on the end of it waiting for the appointed time to arrive.  And right as his clock ticked to 0830 came the expected knock on the door.

“Come in Scott.” Devon said as he rose from the end of the bed.

The door slid open with a soft hiss and the slightly older Lynx stepped into the room.  He looked Devon up and down with a grin, “So all set for the meeting?”

“Well as ready as I think I ever will be.”  Devon replied, as he walked towards Scott and the door.

“Well let’s head off then.”

Devon nodded and followed behind Scott as he turned and stepped back into the hall.  Devon couldn’t really think of anything to talk about as they made their way through the seeming maze of hallways and elevators towards Captain Wolf’s office.  But soon enough they arrived at the door.  Scott knocked firmly on the panel and the door hissed open.  Scott stepped through the door confidently and Devon followed behind a little sheepishly.

“Good morning, Stevens,” The Lynx greeted the Snow leopard behind the desk.

“Good morning, Scott,” the leopard replied adjusting his glasses as he looked up from his computer screen.  “You’re a bit early, but I think the captain just finished with his last appointment before you so I’ll see if he’s ready for you.”  The leopard stood up from behind his desk and knocked on the inner door.  “Come in,” boomed a reply from the other side.  Stevens crack the door and poked his head inside.

After some words that Devon couldn’t quite make out, the snow leopard stepped back and closed the door.  “You can go in now Devon.” He stated as he slipped back into his chair, his long tail curling around over his boots.  “Lieutenant you can either wait here, or I can call you when they are through.”  Stevens said turning back to his monitor.

“Knock first,” Scott reminded the young raccoon, “I’ll be here whenever you finish up.”  He said with a grin.

Devon nodded, and stepped past the large snow leopard’s desk to reach the door.  He raised his paw to knock.

“Come in Devon” sounded from behind the door.

Devon swallowed a lump in his throat, and pushed the door open.  Stepping inside the office he closed the door gently behind him and Captain Wolf stood from behind his desk.

“Please come sit down,” the older brown wolf said, gesturing to a seat across from him.

Devon shyly walked over and took the offered seat.

“Now then,” Captain Wolf started as he sat back down and pulled in his into the desk.  “I gather that Lieutenant Scott told you that this meet was about you.  Which is largely the case, but it’s also about what you want.  Does that make any sense?”

Devon shook his head slowly, “Not really, sir”

“Well then let’s start with the “You” part of the meeting.” The Wolf said as he opened a folder on his desk.  “And just Jonathon is fine for now Devon.  Ok?”

The young raccoon nodded.

“Right well this folder,” Jonathon said resting his paw on the open file, “Contains everything we know about you up to the moment you stepped off that ship onto this island.  All the basic stuff, like where you were born, who you parents were, what you studied in school and so on.  It gives the basic background of you; this meeting is about what isn’t in this folder.  It’s about what makes you, you.  I would like to understand how a student with great marks in the science’s ended up under that overpass with an approaching winter.”

Devon took a deep breath and slowly let it out.  He turned his muzzle to the ceiling and thought for a few moments.

“Well,” he started a little shakily, “I suppose that path started when I was about 12.”

Devon began about his unusual feelings he had towards his classmates, how he wasn’t interested in the same things as normal cubs his age.  How he just ignored it and focused on study, how his parents were proud of the bright student he’d become.  But the feeling just got stronger and harder to push aside.  Soon others started to notice and then the bullying began, his father had urged him to stand up for himself and push back, but that only landed him in more trouble.  Then a friend appeared, someone who felt the same, and could stand against the bullies.  He helped Devon find himself again.

Jonathon listened intently to the younger raccoon, occasionally scribbling something or other on a page in the folder.  A few times he asked Devon to expand on an item or two, only to nod and let the young mammal continue his story.

“Anyway, after I graduated high school, we decided it was time for me to come out to my parents.”

“Ok let’s pause there for a second Devon.  You’ve been talking for about 45 minutes and I’m sure you could use a drink.  What would you like?  Teas, Coffee, water?”

Devon thought for a moment.  “Could I have some hot chocolate from the mess hall?” 

“Of course,” Jonathon said as he got up and walked to the office door.  “Stevens could you get us a hot chocolate for the young man, and just my usual tea please.” The wolf said to his secretary.

Jonathon put a large paw on the younger raccoon’s shoulder as he walked past back to behind his desk, “I know a lot of this isn’t easy for you to talk about, and I’m impressed you are being so upfront.”

A few minutes later there was a knock at the door, “One second Lieutenant,” Jonathon said as he made his way over to the door.  He pulled the door open and his snow leopard secretary stepped in carrying two steaming mugs in his paws.

“Just your usual sir,” Stevens said, handing one mug to the wolf.  “And I took the liberty of marshmallows with the hot chocolate for the young man.” He said with a toothy grin as he handed the mug of hot chocolate to the raccoon.

“Thank you, Lieutenant Stevens,” Devon said as he took the offered beverage.

“Thank you very much Lieutenant.  I’ll call you when we are finished.  In the meantime, how are you going with that search that I asked you for earlier?”  Jonathon said, taking a sip from his tea.

“I should have everything finished in about an hour, sir.”

“Excellent work as usual Lieutenant.  Speak to you soon.” Jonathon said before sliding the door shut again.

“Now where were we?” the old wolf said as he placed his mug on the desk and settled back into his chair. “Ahh yes,” he said looking at his notes, “You where just about to come out to your parents.  Safe to say that that didn’t go nearly as well as you would have liked.  Otherwise, we likely wouldn’t be having this chat.  So, we can skip the messy details of that and move on to what you did next.”

Devon sipped in chocolate, “Well after that I moved in to Randal’s apartment near the university.  And for about a year after that everything kind of returned to normal.  I went to my classes and Randel went to his.”

Devon paused, rotating the mug between his paws “Then one day everything changed again.  A police officer came to the door one afternoon and said that Randel had been seriously hurt in some sort of drunk driving accident, and that he was taken to the hospital.”

I couldn’t drive and I was in shock to do much else.  The officer was nice enough to give me a ride to the hospital.  After that his parents arrived and stayed with him.  He died late that night from some sort of blood clot or something.

A few days later Randel’s parents knocked on the door and told me that they were putting his apartment back on the market and that I had to leave.  So I packed what I could and started walking.  I honestly don’t know what I was really thinking.  We had talked about California and how things were different out there.  So headed West.

Captain Wolf took a long sip of his tea, “So how long after that did Lieutenant Scott find you under that overpass?”

Devon looked at the ceiling in thought, “umm, it probably would have been maybe 3 months later.”

Jonathon scribbled some more in the folder before looking into his tea cup with a dissatisfied face. “So, you managed to hitch hike and walk to there in 3 months?  Most interesting.”

Well now we come the mostly the point of this meeting, and that is the last two weeks.  So, tell me what exactly was going threw your head when Lieutenant Scott turned on his lights and landed on that highway?”

Devon sipped the last of his hot chocolate, “Well to be perfectly honest, absolute panic.  Bright lights and winds from out of nowhere.  It was like some scene out of an old sci-fi movie.  I thought I was dreaming when his long shadow stepped into the lights.”

Captain Wolf smiled as he scribbled some notes into the folder.  “And after you accepted his help what happened?”

“Well,” Debon replied, lifting his empty mug to his lips, then startling to realize, there isn’t anything left.  “He said, “where are you headed”.”  And I said to San Fransico.”  He said, “No problem we’ll be there soon.” Devon shifted in his seat.  “Then something changed in his expression.  He said, how long has it been since you’ve had a decent meal?”
I didn’t know how to answer that.  He looked at me over his shoulder as he as flying, a smile crept across his muzzle.  He said, “Don’t worry I’ll take you to get a good meal and a rest first.”

Next thing I know I’m here an everything is a bit of a blur after that.

Jonathon smiled, looked at his watch, then stretched, “Well it’s about lunchtime and we’ve been at this for over 4 hours.”

Now before we break for a quick lunch, I would ask you the big questions.  What is it that you want?  And where do you intend to go from here?”

Devon blinked, slightly perplexed, “What do you mean?”

Captain Wolf stood from behind his desk and folded closed Devon’s folder.  “Well, it’s quite simple really.” The old wolf said, laying his paws on the desk.  We can take you to San Francisco and drop you off, provided you don’t tell anyone about us of course.”

Jonathon looked sternly young raccoon, “Of course, San Franscico is a very expensive place to live.  Did you have a potential job lined up?

Devon rolled his empty mug in his paws, “No”

“Well, then it seems the last line of this report in my folder as about as accurate description of you as I can imagine.”  Jonathon said, closing the folder.

“Now if you still want to pursue whatever dream you had in California; we will see that you get there safe and sound.”

On the other paw, you can stay with us and we can give you a home and a way of life.  Take a few days to think on it, Captain Wolf said.

“In the meantime, Scott with show you back to your quarters.”

Captain wolf stood from behind his desk and ushered the young raccoon to the door.  In the lobby Lt. Scott stood and saluted his commander.

Lieutenant, Devon has a lot to thing about.  Take him for lunch and then back to his quarters.

“Devon, when you make up your mind what it is you want to do, call me.  Whatever you choose we will help you.”  Captain Wolf said before stepping back into his office an letting the door side shut.