Hoot Owl Diary Part 4

Hoot and hello! There is a large storm brewing, so I suggest tea and a good book for this weekend. I have a small snippet of our continuing tale for you. I hope you enjoy!

Nick and Francine (with some difficulty) boarded the train towards the canals. Usually there was a long line, but being a police officer had its perks. They badged their way on the next train North. During most of the ride, they sat in companiable silence. That was something Nick appreciated about the elephant. She was always happy to talk, but generally could tell when Nick wanted to be left alone and wouldn’t pester him. They wound their way through the main city, then alongside Tundratown, where the passengers could adjust their thermostats to compensate for the frigid air. Nick and Judy often cranked the thermostat on their trips, but this time he didn’t mind. The cold sharpened his senses, and besides, Francine didn’t need the warm air. As they traveled, Nick looked through the case file. It was as Francine had said: a couple of missing young beavers, male and female, had disappeared. They weren’t related, so possibly a teen couple running away? The family had filed the report 2 days ago, and the beavers had been missing a total of 3 days. Longer than a quick elope then.

Nick broke the silence. “We need to check hotels and the cameras” he mused. “It’s unlikely they would still be missing if this was just a stunt they pulled, but you never know.” Francine quirked an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t we be better off starting by interviewing the family, and anyone on the street who may have seen which direction they went?”

“Not if we want any answers. The canal district folk won’t talk to outsiders. That’s just the way it is. Besides, Camera’s don’t lie.” Francine nodded at his advice. She had never been this way before, and trusted the fox t know what he was talking about. The train was now passing through the Rainforest District, and through it’s impressive waterfall. As a youngling, she would often open the window and stick her trunk out to drink from the waterfall as they passed under it. Now that she was an officer, she found she often had to downplay her quirky nature.

Interruption

Good Day my fellow readers,
I though perhaps you may be interested in why my posts have been taking a little longer than usual. I confess I have been working on a side project that has been eating up some of my spare time. This project though, is mostly done! Hooray! What is it you ask?

Mwahaha!

I present to you: A text-based version of Pokemon, written in Batch computer code!
This program is a basic text file, that when run as a .bat file, will use the command prompt window to allow you to relive pokemon blue/red! It's very basic, but fun all the same.

The code is rather long, so instead of pasting it here, I will happily email it to anyone who wants to try it out!

-Shaggy-

Hoot Owl Diary Part 3

*Hoot Hoot*
Thank you so much for your patience dear listeners. I have part 3 for you, and we shall read a little longer today to make up for last week. I hope you enjoy my little owlets!

*BeepBeepBeep* Nick felt like he had only just closed his eyes. He shut off the alarm and stared at the celling.  As much as he didn’t want to, he needed to go in for work. Work helped keep his mind off Judy’s disappearance and gave him something to do. After a few moments he got up and began to get dressed for the day. As he was straightening his uniform in the mirror, his eyes caught something glinting in the open drawer. His sunglasses. He hadn’t worn them in weeks. Nick picked them up and looked at them. “I learned two things that day…The first was to never let anyone know they got to me…” He could hear himself saying these words to Judy Hopps so long ago. The sunglasses had been the secret to his success. Eyes will often give away true feelings or intentions. The mirrored sunglasses kept anyone from getting too close. He put them on, somehow comforted by their presence. Then, he walked out the door.

One good thing about this apartment, he reflected to himself, it was a short walk to work. He crossed the street and passed by the elephant ice cream shop. Just then, a moving shape caught his eye. He quickly turned, but whoever it was had vanished around the corner. He could have sworn someone was following him, no, waiting for him? He shook his head and walked into the 1^st Precinct Police Station.

The Bull Pen was loud and noisy, as usual. He walked in and looked around. Francine the elephant was sitting on the left, in her usual spot. Nick sighed. He didn’t really feel like talking with her quite yet, so he seated himself in the back. Just then, the chief walked in.

“Alright, settle down. This has been a quiet summer, but now that it’s over, we have some cases that need assigning. Let’s see.” He squinted at his list. “Reports of some traffic light drag racing in Sahara square. Weaslton is back to his old tricks, selling pirated movies on street corners.” He flipped through his notes. “And we have some reports out of the Canal District.” Something about the way he said that made Nick’s neck hairs prickle. He and Judy had only been there once during their 3 years on the force, and it appeared to be a dead end. They were running interviews for an updated tram system and track repairs. It was well known that the Canal folk mostly kept to themselves, but the interviews had just been…well, off. Most animals wouldn’t even talk to them, and those that did were either gruff and brisk, or furtive. “Wilde!” Nick snapped out of his reverie. “Yes chief?” “You and Francine take a look into these claims. More than likely a couple of frightened little beavers running away from home.” “Yessir.” Nick wished he had been paying more attention. “Very well” Bogo boomed. “You have your assignments. Get to it!” Nick and Francine picked up their case file and left. Francine began glancing at their file. “A couple of runaway beavers. You don’t usually hear about this sort of thing in the Canals. It’s usually so quiet…” Her voice trailed off. “It’s not unheard of, she continued. However, they will probably be back by supper.” Nick followed her out, still lost in his own thoughts. Missing animals? It may be the lead he needed to find Judy. Then again, he chided himself. He shouldn’t get his hopes up. As they were leaving the precinct, he thought he saw another flash of gray. He wondered who it might be, but decided not to point it out to Francine. If someone was following him, he could deal with it on his own.

Hoot Owl Diary part 2

Back again, my dear readers? As it turns out, the little owlets were curious what happened next as I'm sure you all are, so I decided to continue this little narrative. *hoot!* I didn't get as far as I planned today, but I'll have more for you next week. Gather around the fire, and enjoy!

Nick slept fitfully, visions of the past coming back to haunt him. The summer months had been quiet, unusually so. Criminals were abiding by the laws, traffic incidents were at an all time low, even repeat offenders like Weasleton weren't causing much trouble. The precinct decided to reward its officers with 3 day weekends until the end of summer. Nick was quite content to spend these days lounging around, and exploring the new shopping center. Judy on the other hand, couldn’t sit still. She persuaded him to begin looking through cold cases at the precinct looking for new leads. After a few weekends of this, Nick was getting bored. He just didn’t see the point of sitting in the basement for hours looking through case files from 5 years back. That last weekend, he planned a lake picnic excursion for the two of them to get some fresh air. Judy said she would meet him there at 1:00, she just had something to check up on. 1:00 came and went. At 1:30, he decided to give her a call. No answer. He called again, a little anxious. Still no answer, but he thought he heard her ringtone in the distance. Curious, he hiked along the trail until he came to a cliff. The scene was so clear, Nick doubted he would ever forget it. The sun was shining on the lake. Judy’s backpack propped against the tree near a ledge. The ledge was partially eroded, and looked like it had just fallen in. Judy’s phone was in the water, partially floating and still ringing. A small snap of a twig in the distance.

He woke sweating and shaking. The same dream every night. Nick cursed under his breath and looked at the clock. 4:09. He sat up, placing his head in his paws trying to calm his breathing. He had lived so long burying his emotions and now he awoke shaking every night. Judy had meant a lot more to him than he had ever let on. While he tried to compose himself, Nick reflected back on that day.

He had called in backup the moment he saw the cell phone. They had searched until sundown, with no luck. The search party was out again the next day, and the next. A week later, Chief Bogo called off the search. There was no more evidence,  nothing to point to what had happened. Judy had evidently dropped by the precinct on the way over, but there was nothing to indicate what she was doing, or what she may have found. Her death, no, disappearance he corrected himself, was ruled accidental. He wiped the last of his tears, resolving once again to keep at it until he found her. With those last thoughts, he rolled over, to catch a few more hours of sleep before roll call at 7:15. 

Hoot Owl Diary Part 1

Well my dear lads and lassies, it appears as if sheepdog has gone on vacation for the winter, to the coast no less. I believe he is storm watching. He may make an appearance here and there, but in the meantime, I *hem hem* shall be posting stories from my diary for you all to enjoy. *Polishes Spectacles.* Let me see, *flips through pages* ah, yes here we are. I wrote this one for the little owlets after taking them to see the summer movie premier:

It was a dark and stormy night. Suddenly, a shot rang out!

 *Hoots with laughter* Just teasing my fellow readers. That was indeed the first part of Snoopy's book I believe. Anyway, on to the narrative:

"And where were you June 29th?" he asked the owl. The owl paused, blinking slowly at him. Finally, she spoke. " I'm afraid I cannot help you. I was there at the lake, but I had two little owlets with me at the time and did not see anything." Sighing, he picked up his hat and coat. "Thank you for your time."
The rain had just started as he stepped outside. He turned up his cloak and pulled it tighter around his thin frame. Grimacing, he dashed from tree to tree, trying to stay out of the increasing rain. He knew it would be a bad storm, his left footpaw had been aching all day, and his tail was all static-y. This is what you get for doing business in the rainforest district, he chided himself. He stopped running however, when he came to the pier where the tram was. Softly, he brushed the railing as he walked along it until he came to the broken spar. It had still not been fixed since the start of his career 3 years ago. He gazed at it for a few seconds before the rain pulled him away and into the tram. Once inside, he shook off his tail, and sat down on the bench. Nick took out his ZPD embossed notebook and began flipping through its pages, trying to piece together the puzzle. A rumor here, a whisper there, he sighed and snapped the notebook closed. He had nothing! 3 months of sneaking around asking questions, and he had nothing! In a sudden rage, he pounded the walls of the tram, rocking it slightly. He brushed the rainwater out of his eyes and reflected it wasn't all rainwater.
Tomorrow, just like every other day, he would wake up and report to the police station. The other officers still walked on eggshells around him, but no longer talked about it. It was as it had never happened. They had even assigned him a new partner, Francine. She was a good officer, but she wasn't Judy. The tram stopped in Midtown. He got off, and trudged slowly home in the gathering clouds. The rain had stopped when he left the Rainforest district, but it looked like rain for the center of town as well. Nick stopped when he reached an old hotel building. He unlocked the door, and stepped into room 219. He had been living there ever since June 29th. Maybe it was silly, but he felt like he couldn't go home until he solved the case. He placed his notepad inside the desk drawer alongside an old manilla envelope. The envelope contained the official police report following the incident, along with Judy Hopps' remaining personal effects. Death by accidental drowning, the report read. After all, they had reasoned, her things were found by the lake, and her body was never discovered. Nick shook his head. He refused to believe it. Something else had happened to her, she was still alive. She had to be. He had been denied access to the old police files after an officer caught him snooping around one too many times without the proper authorization. Still, he couldn't just leave it alone. After all, she was his partner. He closed the drawer and lay down to try to get a few hours sleep.