He awoke within a cave, the weight of the world bearing down upon him from the smooth ceiling sculpted to be a perfect rectangular passage.  The walls felt like stone as he stood himself up against them, steadying his balance as he pushed out both arms to feel the tightness of the passage, claustrophobic with little room to turn himself round.  A light glinted at the end of the tunnel, luring him with promises of escape and the scents of a cool breeze.  He walked forwards, keeping a gentle pace for fear of tripping in the dark as he thumbed along the smooth walls that gave little purchase for his fingers.  Stone became colder and smoother as he heard shivering shrieks from the polished surface, scratching with his claws against the steel that melded into the rock before he pushed himself free from the crevice.  The jungle greeted him with silence, not a single breeze to welcome him as the trees stood like judges of a sentence, grand and imposing whilst shrouded in darkness of the moonless night.

Something glimmered between the trees that caught his eye, a small red wisp with a tender flame that he chased after as quickly as he could.  The light raced off sensing his intent, diving through leaves and twisting its path as he felt his body take a life of its own with great stridant leaps and kickjumping against the bark to keep up with the sprite.  Flickering with excitement it kept ahead of him as he pounded his feet into the dirt, leaping over fallen logs and grabbing branches to swing from as the trees started to thin out at the end of the path.  A light cast itself from above as he witnessed a great moon, grand and peerless amongst the stars as the wisp faded into a clearing.

A mansion stood before him, grand and towering with black slanted roofs in the shape of a pagoda above the trees that almost touched the moon.  A cold chill brushed through his veins as he approached the entrance, a large wooden bridge over the ancient stream to where two large doors stayed opened as if welcoming the traveller.  A lantern hung above him, soft and pale in its red light as he stepped through to the central lobby now in decay, a huge structural beam crushing down from the roof and into the floor.  The land had taken this place back already, grass growing through the boards beneath his feet as ivy wrapped round structures and lattices on either side of him.

NNRRRRRRKHH!

The doors slammed shut behind him with a sudden fright, clutching his heart as he shook from a cold breeze that did not exist in this place.  He tried to force the doors open but they refused, his tiny claws struggling to gain purchase between the lacquered hinges as he turned back towards the room to find a lantern suddenly lit to his left that showed a door opening.  There was no sound which somehow relieved him, taking his first plaintive steps further into the mansion.  A narrow hall greeted him where vines hung like ropes from the rafters, soft swaying green as his claws clacked upon the tender wood, toes clicking with soft creaks as he tread through the darkness guided by dim visions of light from some faint source beyond his reach.  He stopped when he saw something, someone at the end of the hall as he raised his hand fearfully.

The shadow raised its hand the same as him as he stepped closer.  A large adult shape vaguely resembling his own with bald head and shapely snout, claws at the end of his limbs with the shape broad-shouldered moreso than he was.  It had no face, nor did it speak as it loomed over him, mimicking his motions with a soft wave of his fingers.  There was no reflection of himself.

He felt words whispering through his head as he saw two doors, one boarded up to his left and one to his right that hung slightly ajar as if inviting him deeper.  The next room contained a central fireplace, long abandoned with soot piled up around its pit where a tree stump sat that was filled with little insects.  A musk gently crept through his memory that soothed him as the creatures scuttled harmlessly, before he briefly caught sight a shadow climbing up a set of stairs against the wall.  A dark image drifted in his mind's eye, uncertain yet compelled to follow as he tread through the soot and climbed the stairs.

He stumbled feeling one of the steps creak too hard and bend beneath his feet as he looked back to find none of his footprints were left behind.  He climbed upwards carefully, a door behind a folding screen partly as he stepped through to a small square room where old weathered books laid scattered across the floor from pigeonholed shelves.  There was a book about a Horton, a Who and a sour kangaroo all described within faded pictures of fantastical beasts.

Words again that were not his own.  His eyes burned in the back of his retines, rubbing them hard with his fingers before another door had opened the next time he blinked.  He was startled briefly but a scent caught itself on the breeze that soothed him, something that scratched within a deeper memory of a strange warmth that filled his body.  It pulled him with his heart as he dragged his feet, listless with the scents growing throughout the mansion of stale cobwebs and thick dust mixed with paper.

A second hallway, much like the one previous with the same size of mirror facing the long stretch of corridor in front of it.  A second adult shape could be vaguely seen when he stood in front of it, this one having a wide head showing three horns branching from its top that also mimicked his movements.

The voice was now clear as he heard footsteps behind him, thick dragging feet as he turned expecting to see some horrid beast.  Only darkness greeted him, but he saw the dust unsettle as footprints appeared similar to his own in the shape of single dots and clawtips that walked past him to the left of the mirror, down a flight of steps as he chased after crying out to the stranger.  But no voice came from his throat despite the vibrations through his tongue and yet nothing could be heard but the creaking of the wood.

A corridor that went in a full square shape as the shadow went around the corner harkening him to chase before he saw the door close at the other end of the passage.  A room full of candles separated by a partition between the door and them with another mirror to his left in the corner.  The candles however were strange with metallic holders oddly-shaped sitting upon three shelves as he stepped closer.  They were guns.  Dozens of handguns with candles firmly wedged into the barrels except one that was unlit.  A shotgun, sawn-off and glimmering with careful sheen.

The voice emerged from the mirror.  It was another shape similar to his own, similar to the first mirror except it was slender, almost feminine in its gait.  It wore a coat of some sort from the widened bell-shape of fabric that swished past its knee as it raised its hand independent of him.  Light shone from within its palm as it pierced through the room and unclicked the door beside the candles.  So it opened.  So he went.  A grand atrium welcomed him in the moonlight where skeletal shapes stood restless above the stone garden, a small hut to his left down the path and a large cherry blossom tree opposite that whispered like wind chimes in the breeze.

Suddenly a harsh wind blew its petals across the way towards the walkways of the house that led to the door opposite of him, the leaves scattering with a tinkling crack revealing them to be shards of glass that he stepped over carefully to where the other door was.  Another hallway that twisted around a staircase veering left, with another mirror to his right in the corner.  He knew what to expect, and yet again was another shape just like his with larger adult body and claws on his hands and feet.  This one however was smoking from its lips.

It came from around the corner, more distant than usual as he hurried up after, heading past the stairs towards the very back door behind them.  Dampness under his feet, the door handle was cold and porous like touching a drowned face.  A water tank room, some unknown purpose he could not fathom but two rivers ran underneath that he could walk over through long slats laid between points.  He tried not to hurry, the echoing drops sending chills through his teeth as the cold wet floor threatened him to slip at any moment.  He feared the slats would break underneath, but they only shuddered in passing as he reached the other end safely to open the door and head out to a smaller backyard.  A shed, and a well greeted him.

There was a sound of burning as smoke came risen from the wall, rumbling deep as he felt the earth turn uncomfortably warm below his feet.  There was a forest to his left that the voice continued from where the trees shone like metal , staring up to find they were all communication towers with large discs and dead beacons that kept blinking listlessly.  He rushed through the forest path trying to evade the heat under his feet, a door within a fence as he entered the woods of steel where more beacons blinked.

A long single path up a mountain hill with stones on each side forcing him straight towards a looming shrine that stood peerless above the woods.  The shadow continued on in flickering steps, drifting back and forth as he followed to its peak, stepping under the crimson gate as the double doors opened to reveal the inner circle of the shrine.  The shadow fell like a cloak in the middle of the room as he hurried up the last steps and tried to grab at the blackness.  It came apart in his hands, feeling ash creep across his fingers as the doors thunked shut behind him.  Four mirrors faced him in each corner of the room, all with the same shape of an adult but only one reflected his own body.  A raptor, a child lost within the dark as the pale shadow above him started to grow skin across itself, crackling sounds of flames burning in his ears.

The voice was behind him just as the shape was as he turned quickly.  Nothing.  He looked back to the mirror as the shape remained standing behind his reflection.  It walked out of the mirror through his reflection as he shuddered clutching himself with a horrid smothering heat that briefly consumed him.

He stuttered falling on his back as the shadow loomed above him.

Something flickered behind the mirror.  The sound of wings fluttering like steel as he saw the shadow's face.

The mirror screamed as the great fire engulfed them.

        "Huh?"

        "Wh-what...who is that?"

        "Who...who are you-"

        "OI JAMES WAKE UP!"

Light burst into his skull as he blinked with harsh squint.

        "N-nnnnngh wh-WHUH!?"

        "CUMMON we're gonna be late ya twat!"

        "Wh-whuh-u-uhhh-AHHH!"

Suddenly a fierce cold gripped his body as the sheets were pulled from his bed, hugging his body tight in response as he turned his head to see a cracked ceiling with shafts of light fleeting from a window on his left.  To his right was a grey bulbous shape with a fat short tentacle from his face that tapped him on the head.

        "If yer not outta there in foive seconds oi'm draggin' yer arse out meself!"

        "Alright shuddup alreadyyyyy!"

Rousing himself with forced heave, he pushed himself off from his bed with a groan to cup his head in his hands.  Tiny clawed fingers, three on each hand that he almost did not recognise as his own.

        "...where...wh-where am I?"

        "Wotcha mean 'where am I' gone spastic or wot?!"

        "N-noooo?!  My head just feels...funny."

        "Yer head always LOOKS funny, wot's differen' about that?!"

        "EH?!"  He raised his head with eyes slowly coming into focus.  "Wh-wh-...why wouldya s-say that to meee?"

        "Uh...cuz, normally you got a snappy comeback at me or sumthin' cummon whut's wrong with ya?!"

        "I...I-i don' know."

The boy in front of him was a young elephant of smooth grey skin and a ragged yellow shirt with black shorts, waving his trunk at him teasingly from between two small tusks just starting to grow in like the nubs of a young buck as he stood at least a foot taller than him.  His hands were oddly coarse with stubbed knuckles that grabbed the arms of the boy on the bed, hoisting him onto his feet and dragging him off across the room, stomping with thick circular feet with solid white toes like giant teeth.  The room was now mostly empty, twelve beds lined up along the walls both sides with a small set of drawers for each of them.  They quickly headed out into the hall and just down to the end of it where there was a bathroom.

        "Roigh'," the elephant pushed him into a small bathroom.  "Wash yer face, oi'll grab yer stuff."

        "Okayyyyy."

The bathroom was only semi-clean with two toilets, two urinals and three sinks with the corners covered in grime and peeling cracks in the tiles.  He bowed his head scooping the water in his small hands and smothered his face before drying to look at the mirror.  Brown scales with purple marks on his snout, his eyes a deep leaf-green as he looked back on his tail to see more indigo markings that went down his back, at least the little he could see from the orange shirt and blue shorts that he wore.

        "Woah," he whispered gently rubbing at his snout, "a-am I sick?"

        "Wotcha mean?" asked the elephant with a tube of toothpaste and a brush in its glass.

        "These things," he tapped his marks, "they feel kinda weird, am I sick?"

        "Nah yer just buggered from sleepin' too long."  He handed over the glass.  "Cummon get a move on!"

        "I'm doin' iiiiiit!"

The raptor scrubbed his small fangs with all the rigorous patience a child did not possess, scouring hard in only half the recommended cleaning time before spitting out the gunk and rushing over to his drawer to shove his stuff back in.  They headed out down the hall and scurried down the flight of stairs past several doors before the sound of a building crowd could be heard round the corner towards a medium-sized dining hall where three rows of seats stretched fully across, filled with children of all species  ranging between the ages and 5-12, clamouring and throwing their hands with raucous retellings of vague events between trays of food.  Some laughed and flicked their spoons, some started spitting with anger as arguments flared amidst an uncomfortable amount of food being smeared and slapped against the tables.

        "Ahhh, Ashwin, glad to see you didn't forget."

        "S'wot elephants do roigh' miss?"

He grinned cheekily tapping his trunk to the side of his head, smiling towards a golden-furred cheetah with brown hair tousling down her cheeks, wearing a dark shirt and a pair of slacks as she crossed her arms.

        "You'll be lucky if there's anything left."

        "Sorry miss, ONE of us slept in."

        "I-i wuz," mumbled the raptor rubbing his head, "I-i didn't sleep well."

        "It's fine," she waved them off, "you only just came back it's understandable you might be sleeping a bit off."

        "I...came back?"

        "What matters now is that it's a bright new year and I hope to see you behaving better."  She bent down towards him with hands in prayer.  "What say we make this a resolution hmm?"

        "Don' worry miss," said Ashwin patting the raptor, "oi'll keep 'im straight this toime."

        "I would rather that James learn to be self-dependent."  She kissed him on the head as he flinched back.  "Go get your food, class starts in forty minutes and if you need anything, please tell me alright James?"

        "O-okay...thank you."

They headed over to the lunch counter and picked up a tray, the raptor somewhat clumsy in his movements as he awkwardly grasped the plastic before staring at the lunch worker, a beefy-armed boar with a hairnet who looked barely older than Ashwin as he slapped down scrambled eggs, a block of fake meat and some kind of vegetable before they went to find a seat.  One opened up thankfully when a collie dog started sobbing, running off clutching her face as a foal followed after with a panicked face.  Ashwin hinted with a side-look as they hurried over before someone took it.

        "H-heyyy!" cried a badger trying to get in.

        "Sorry mate," Ashwin shrugged immediately cutting his meat block into pieces.  "Lucky there wuz sum left eh, no thanks to you!"

        "Wh-whuh?" James looked up blinking.  "A-are we s'posed to eat this?"

        "Uh, yeah, it's food."  The elephant shovelled veg with one hand whilst using his trunk and other hand to cut through the meat.  "Lucky we ain't workin' today or we'd never get paid the way yer actin' up."

        "W-work?"

        "Oh fer fuck's sake d'you lose yer memory or wot?!"

        "I-I'm, I'm sorry!"  James started sniffling.  "I-i...I had a dream a-an' it scared me."

        "...it's fine."  He patted his shoulder.  "Cummon, eat up you'll feel better when yer full."

They ate in silence, or as much as they could within a zooful of children screeching and hollering through a gamut of emotions as food flung back and forth with the odd fist that an adult would be forced to step in and reprimand with a swift word and a pulling yank of someone's arm, such as when the cheetah grabbed a pale human who had just grabbed a calf's ears and slammed him into the table as the little cow sobbed with stuttering tears.  This would continue for the next half-hour until the bell rang, signalling ten minutes before classes would start as the children put all their trays back under the watchful eye of three adults positioned throughout the hall.  Workers came out of the kitchen to start cleaning down the tables, all of them teenagers before they lifted the long grey slabs back into the wall by a simple pulley system, showing the chairs were also attached by steel tubes to the tables.

James followed Ashwin dumbly down the halls back up to their bedrooms and to their drawers where they had notebooks and pencils, before returning back to the first floor to their morning class as children filed into separate doors abd took their seats, the raptor and elephant next to each other.

The classrooms were all nearly-identical with rows of desks facing a whiteboard with windows all along one wall gazing out towards a great city, beyond a dozen rooftops where chimneys and aerials cluttered the urban jungle as cars rolled on past both on the road with wheels and hovering above without that left cyan trails behind them.  The rumbling of traffic barely covered up the sounds of gossip between children as James looked around the room at the various mixed ages, some of whom were caught staring at him before quickly turning away with mutterings.  His eyes suddenly focused upon the dozens of photographs, newspaper clippings and posters that seemed old and weathered showing various humans and anthros either shaking hands and embracing, or beating each other with fists and claws.

        "You alrigh'?" asked Ashwin beside him.

        "Um...I dunno."

        "You lookin' odd more than usual Jim."

        "O-odd?" he turned his head leaning back.  "Whaddaya mean?"

        "Just, oi dunno, you sound different even."

        "Well...I-"

        "If you wanna talk abou' stuff after this we can alrigh'?"

        "O-okay."

The sound of bells suddenly rang out from the city as James looked out towards the dawnscape.  Far towards the north was a giant clock tower shadowed in the light of the sun, a proud austere blade that rose above the land with a pale white clockface and black archaic hands pointing north and southwest.  The tower sang with a beautiful sound four times in succession, echoing across the sunkissed city steeped in orange before repeating its sequence another three times and then sounding off singular rings for each hour of the city's time.  7:00am.  London standard time.

        "Goooood morning," said a female voice.

        "Good morning Ms. Smedley," said the children robotic.

        "I hope you all enjoyed your holiday break."

Stepping into the room was a middle-aged human of pale skin with tightly-knotted hair and a portly chin wearing a powder-blue suit.  She stepped over to her desk beside the board and pulled out a checklist.

        "Addison?"

        "Here!" cried a rabbit.

        "Arnold."

        "Heeere," muttered a labrador.

        "Bajek?"

        "Yo," said a snake shrugging arms.

        "Bajek."

        "...I said yo."

        "We do not say 'yo' when we are performing roll call, you will respond properly."

        "Nnnngh fine, here."

        "Thank you, now, Baldelli."

        "Here!"

        "Bennett?"

        "Here."

        "Campbell?"  She looked directly at him.  "Campbell.  Campbell!"

        "U-uhhh, yeah?" the raptor bit his teeth.

        "When I call your name, you say 'here'!"

        "OH, o-okay."

He waited patiently sitting up with his thumbs together, watching her face as she said nothing whilst her hands swept wider and wider with growing discontent and a giggling from the back of the room.

        "James.  CAMPBELL?"

        "OH, HERE!"

The room erupted briefly in a cackle as Ms. Smedley clutched her head.

        "God...right, Farooq?"

        "Here!"

        "McCloud?

        "Heeere here."

        "Muhammad?"

        "Here."

        "Qasim?"

        "Yeah here."

        "Shinagawa?"

        "Um, h-here."

        "Aaaand lastly," the teacher took a deep breath, "Venkata-nara-simha?"

        "Heeeere and present, officah!" Ashwin saluted much to the snickering of youths.

        "Right, now that that's sorted," she put down the checklist and pulled out a green marker to scribble on the board, "last year we were discussing the World Wars so let's see if your memories are still fresh.  Who can tell me when the first World War happened, and no peeking at your books I want to see how your memories are directly."

        "OOH OOH!" a chimpanzee from the back threw up his hand.  "It was 1914 miss!"

        "Very good Bennett," she smiled putting the number up, "can you tell us why it happened?"

        "The archduke of Austria-Hungary was assassinated, by, a Serbian."

        "Excellent!"  The monkey beamed with pride much to the scowling of his classmates as Smedley continued.  "It was a war that started a series of repercussions throughout Europe.  One country was attacked, so it retaliated, then that country's friends attacked, and the other country's friends attacked too, the first major global war that caused the death of millions.  Now, World War 2, who can tell me that?"

Bennett raised his hand but she purposefully ignored him waiting to see who else could impart their wisdom.  She thrust her pen towards the least-focused target.

        "Campbell!"

        "UH, HERE!" the class giggled at his response.

        "When did World War 2 happen?"

        "Uhm...a-after the first one?" he twisted his fingers.

        "Well that's not technically wrong but can you give me an exact date?"

        "......s-sunday?"

        "No.  Well, not exactly, I was asking for the year."

        "Next sunday next year?"  More giggling from the children as she stepped up in front of him.

        "Well I'm glad you're taking humanity's attempt at genocide seriously."

        "Who's General Side?"

The classroom rumbled with growing laughter as Ms. Smedley gave a sharp flick of her finger to the raptor's head.

        "OW!"

        "I'm going to give you two choices Campbell.  Either you behave and stop cracking jokes, or I make you stay after class to clean up."

        "Nnnnngh."

        "Now, anyone else?"  The elephant raised his hand.  "Ashwin."

        "1939 miss, Germany invaded Poland and broke the Treaty of Versailles."

        "THANK you," she clapped her hands before returning to the board, "glad at least one of you remembered especially concerning how we spent our last sessions covering it and its impacts throughout the 20th century.  Now, the third World War is what we'll cover today, beginning in the year 2046 and ending in 2053.  Who can tell me what happened?"

Nobody did, except Bennett who seemed to have never lowered his hand despite the wet paper wads that had been shot at his face like white zits.

        "Hhhhh...Bennett, please explain."

        "The daughter of the Russian president was kidnapped by rogue Korean forces," said the monkey with a factual scripted voice, "Russian special forces tried to rescue her in a stealth operation and it failed, so Korea started a full-on war and the United States of America split because one side supported Russia and the other supported Korea."

        "Thank you."  Ashwin chewed up a paper ball as the teacher turned back to the board.  "The breakdown of American politics some would say was the catalyst that brought the war outside of Asia-"

        "NNNF!"

        "Which following the connections America had at the time with the Middle East brought them into the war in turn, and so our country was pulled into the conflict.  Europe was already caught between Russia and America, but for the most part managed to stay neutral."

She turned back to see Bennett's forehead almost fully-covered in a thick drooling wad of paper as Ashwin licked his lips quietly.  She gave a look to the class as the chimp wiped his face clean seemingly impervious to the criticism whilst the teacher continued down the board.

        "Now, the final World War, does anyone know how that happened?"

        "OOH OOH!"

        "Anyone other than Bennett?"

        "Uhhh, we did?" the snake nibbled at his fingers.  "Didn't the prime minister kill somebody?"

        "Correct, well done Bajek!"  She wrote this down on a separate line.  "The prince of Saudi Arabia at that time was engaged to the English prime minister in 2087, but then she killed him the month before their marriage at her residence in 10 Downing Street."

        "So, was it an accident or did she really like shank him?"

        "No one knows truly whether it was intentional or not, but the fact is that Saudi Arabia countered with a nuclear attack, causing Europe to attack the Middle East and in turn that caused America to attack Europe.  India and China followed and...well, Bajek?"

        "All you humans died," he shrugged crossing his arms, "or like, most of yous anyway."

        "Exactly," she tightened her fingers writing the last piece, "over eighty percent of the world's population at that time was completely wiped out in the ensuing war and civilisation collapsed.  At least in most parts but for today we are covering the third World War so everyone get your notebooks out."

The children brought out their books and started taking notes, some lazily drawing vague descriptions of terrible beasts and great epic battles whilst others paid attention to the lecture as Ms. Smedley narrated the geopolitical conflict in as simple and succinct a manner as she possibly could to a developing class.  James tried to write, fumbling with his pencil and parsing her words best he could as he sometimes looked over his previous writings of the past lessons.  Each page had a date written in the corner in his own writing as he flicked back to the current lesson that was still unmarked.

        "Uhh, A-ashwin?"

        "Campbell."  Ms. Smedley turned with marker aimed at him.  "Do you have something to share?"

        "I-i uh...u-uhh-"

        "Yes, spit it out boy!"

        "I just...w-wanted to ask what year it was."

The class snickered behind his back with an odd sound he didn't like.  The teacher looked astonished at him before her face softened and she bit her lip.

        "It's 3499, James."

        "O-okay, thank you miss."

        "Now," she turned back towards the board, "the Second Civil War in America caused a huge divide with even cities becoming torn between Pro-Russian and Pro-Korean factions.  Businesses warred with each other, protests formed on the streets and the Senate split completely from the House of Congress on fully-opposing sides-"

BRRRRRIIIING

        "Ah, alright then class," she put down her marker as the children started to leave, "now I want all of you to brush up on your first and second wars, we'll continue the third one tomorrow!  Campbell could I see you for a moment?"

        "Uh oh," muttered Ashwin elbowing him gently, "oi'll wait fer you outside alrigh'?"

        "O-okay," James murmured.

The human approached him as the students left, plucking the hairs of the chimpanzee's head as he waved them off with a slap of his long arms whilst Ashwin kept just out of view from the doorframe.

        "Are you feeling alright?"

        "Um...whu-whuh what you mean?"

        "Is there anything bothering you?  I wouldn't ask but, well, not everyone forgets a year."

        "I'm okay miss."  He shrugged trying to convince.  "Can I go now?"

        "Only if you are sure you're alright," she bent down with a sigh, "you may be my student and not...especially the most attentive, but you are still in my class and it's my duty to make sure you are both healthy and educated."

        "R-right...can I go?"

        "Alright."  She backed up and swept her hand to the door.  "Remember to reread your notes from last year!"

        "Okay."

He bundled his book and pencils into his small bag and hoofed it to the door where Ashwin waited with a playful jab to his shoulder.

        "She give you a hard toime?"

        "Mm-mm," he shrugged, "just asked me if I wuz okay."

        "Pshhh roigh', cummon next class is up."

Heading to another near-exact classroom on the other side of the building, the only differeng being now the walls were covered in maps, they sat up in their desks facing towards a grey-furred badger with bowtie and beige suit, himself standing in front of a desk with an overhead projector.

        "Good morning everyone."

        "Good morning Mr. Kaplowitz."

        "How is everyone today, did you all have a good holiday?"

        "Yeeeaaah."

        "Well, I hope you all enjoy islands smaller than the one we live on because today we are exploring the Outer Hebrides."

He clicked the projector on as it filled the whiteboard with an enhanced map of western Scotland.

        "S-sir?" Bennett raised his hand to an audible snarl.  "I-i thought we were doing the Gaza Rift today."

        "Well, I changed my mind because it is quite complicated in more ways than one and I thought we could all do with something easier, just to give our brains a more gentle rousing from our holiday hibernation yes?  Now open your books and let's get started."

The chimpanzee pursed his lips as the kids harumphed at him with a serves-you-right look, turning back to the projector as he explained the different islands all along the northwest coast of Scotland.  James was more focused than in the previous class, scribbling down notes and drawing basic outlines of the islands to the best of his ability with shaky hand and claws that scritched at the paper.  Ashwin half-slumped forwards and let his trunk do the writing, grasping his pencil with its dexterous tip as his brown eyes gazed wistfully towards the window.  The morning passed without further incident as the bell rang again indicating lunchtime was afoot.

        "That'll be all today," waved off Kaplowitz, "now uh I hope you all eat proper foods and give your bodies the fuel it needs, not TOO much junk food alright?!"

        "Oi Jim, this way!"

Ashwin led the raptor out from the crowd of students and headed the opposite direction of the lunch hall mess, snaking down corridors to the back entrance of the building where some of the older teenagers were vaping.

        "Alrigh' Ash."

        "Sup Cleets," he waved to a tan-skinned human with dark curls, "good eggs today."

        "Yeah, you off to yer usual?"

        "Youuu know it, later."

James struggled not to cough from the acidic musk of their vaping smoke, like burning bubblegum mixed with skunk spray as they stepped into the outside world where the clogging fumes of vehicles stung his nose even further to almost retch as they stumbled across the blacktop of a school yard towards an ivy-clustered wall.  Ashwin snickered as he slapped his back with a hefty arm to stop his fits, the two stopping at the thickest cluster of fronds as the elephant swept them aside to reveal a fenced door underneath.

        "U-ugh, they smell gross," James kept coughing.

        "Yeaaah oi hate it too," shrugged Ash, "you get used to it.  Anyways moight as well get you back in thuh swing o' things' roigh' Jim?"

        "Wh-whuddaya mean?"

        "Well just...yanno, you said you were feelin' funny abou' shit so let's gtt you back on yer feet yeah?"

        "O-okay."  He watched Ashwin pull out a key from his shorts and unlock the door.  "Are we supposed to be out here?"

        "Naaah," the pachyderm stepped through inviting James to follow, "not unless oi'm workin' an' that's not 'til Wednesday, so we're off until lunch is over."

        "R-right."

        "Cummon," he closed and locked the gate behind them, "oi'm payin', we'll go to our usual."

Stepping onto the street they walked past a myriad of adults heading back and forth, from hard-faced humans trudging through a cold wind to cackling canines that yammered on mobile phones and bovines wearing rugby shirts that jostled and noogie'd each other with raucous laughter.  James gazed upon each building they passed; small cafes where reptiles in hoodies sat clutching cups of coffee; roads covered in slush between white and brown that piled up to the sides of pavements; mini-marts with bright alluring colours manned by sour-faced lionesses that stacked cheap bottles of cola; betting shops where gaunt withered pigs sat watching football whilst clutching tickets in their fists; then there were charity shops with heartwarming logos and the most soul-withering relics of a forgotten age where grandmother's clothes and thriller novels were laid to rest.  The only buildings that did not advertise themselves were the spiritual institutions, a church with three spires and a cross upon its highest, a very rectangular mosque with an embossed circular window in luxurious multicoloured plastic, and a giant dome hewn from solid rock with a burning stone imbedded into its centre where reptilian claws grasped towards it.

They walked north for a good twenty minutes in silence, sometimes side-stepping an oncoming pedestrian who muttered a vague apology as the streets became more built with towering blocks that started to loom over them the closer they came towards the city.  The clock tower sang once again in the distance, chiming its four-part melody once to claim that it was a quarter past the hour as thickening smog filled the air between streets, cars and buses rumbling past on old tired wheels driven by old tired people beneath the rare anti-grav vehicle that loomed over their heads with a deep whirring.

        "Eeeere we are," Ashwin turned a corner to reach a pastry shop with an open entrance, "Sy's Pies, best bread around 'ere."

        "Mmmmm I am kinda hungry," the raptor blushed.

        "Alrigh' Sy!" he strolled in to a long counter of savouries.

        "Well well," an Irish male answered, "if it isn' Babar and Littlefoot."

        "An' 'ere's me friend Flipper," he responded with a finger, "two pies prick."

        "Hmhmhahaha!"

The orca's voice sounded deep as the sea, wearing a beige apron as James noticed slivers of tape wrapping round his torso beneath the armpits.

        "How's life treating ya?"

        "Ehh," Ashwin shrugged, "still unloved an' unwanted wot's up with you?"

        "Me meds thank fuck," the orca spread his hands, "Smedley still wearing that godawful suit?"

        "Gawd yeah she looks loik a bloody robot!"

        "PFFFT HAH!  Alrigh' same as usual boys?"

        "Yeah and uhhh you wanna drink?"

        "U-uhmm," James gulped, "y-yes please."

        "Eh?!" Sy reeled back slightly.  "You alrigh' Jim?"

        "Uhhh, I-i dunno-"

        "Just you don' normally say please."

        "He's just feelin' a li'l weird," Ashwin waved, "gettin' back from holidays yanno."

        "Alright then, you want sum OJ lad?"

        "Y-yes please."

The orca went to the back kitchen as the sounds of an oven could be heard, before returning a few minutes later with two freshly-hot pies in paper bags along with a bottle of juice.

        "That'll be four queens an' a hawking."

        "Alright."  Ashwin pulled out a wallet on a chain from his shorts and paid up.  "You doin' anything the new year?"

        "Naw, just here every day servin' up meat pastries to the tans, how 'bout yous two?"

        "Ehhh just wing it, can't wait fer winter to be over."

        "Not me, business goes up in winter, not as much people eat pies when it's hot."

        "Well get sum oice cream then!" the elephant shrugged hugely.

        "On MY salary?!" the orca slapped his chest.  "You any idea how much an ice cream machine costs?!"

        "No cuz'm fourteen ya twat, oi never 'ad more than ten quid in me 'and!"

        "Pffft, hah, hahalright away wi' ye, I'll see ya next lunchtime eh?"

        "Roigh', see ya Sy."

Heading out the pastry shop they made their way back on a different route of meandering passages to take in the sights of their local community.  Soon they came across a park, a small patch of green with a few trees dotted here and there as they sat on a bench facing towards an electrical store, eating their lunch in a peaceful silence.  The droning of cars gave a monotonous dirge that was almost soothing to the boys, chewing the hot pastry where faux-meat and vegetable chunks were all mixed up within, sending a warmth through James' body.

        "That good?" asked Ashwin.

        "Mmmmmmhmm!" the raptor smiled taking a swig of juice.  "That...t-tastes real good, lot better than breakfast."

        "Yeah, if oi could sneak out durin' mornings oi would fer Sy's food.  So, you wanna talk abou' it?"

        "Hmm?"  James tore through his pastry with little steak-knived teeth.

        "Why you slept in an' been actin' weird all day."  The pachyderm grinded his lunch between straightened molars.  "Come on, we got toime."

        "W-well...I...dunno how to say it."

        "Just do yer best mate, not expectin' a novel just say wot you feel."

The raptor thumbed at his claws with a lick of his lips, tasting the faux-meat stained across his teeth as he tried to gather his memories from just before the dawn.

        "You ever had...um, a dream that felt like it wuz real?"

        "Yeah," shrugged Ashwin eating half his pie, "sumtimes."

        "Well...there wuz this big spooky house, an' I heard this voice, there were like wooden stuff just broken all over the place an' a lotta creepy mirrors an' dark places."

        "Well can't've been that scary seeing as ya didn't shit yerself."

        "But then I get to like this one mirror, like way way at the back of this house, an' I see someone there, like INSIDE the mirror!"

        "That's just YOU you twat that's 'ow mirrors work!"

        "NOOOoooo!"  James smacked his knees with a snarl of frustration.  "It wuz someone different, he kinda scared me an' then there wuz lots of fire an' screamin' an' then I woke up."

        "Well it's just a dream Jim."  The elephant shrugged with hands upwards.  "Yer awake now aintcha?"

        "Yeaaaaah..."

He kicked his feet dumbly whilst chewing the last of his lunch, drinking all of his orange juice to toss both bottle and bag into the trash as Ashwin did the same.  Crossing the street, James turned his eye towards a wall of TVs in the electrical store that were advertising life insurance for 50-and-over-year olds in the form of quaint disarming folk that talked far too comprehensively of financial policies and PPI, until the commercial cut over to a rather exciting advertisement of a live-action show.  A young almost-adult gecko with blue mask and red tights stood proudly upon the hill facing his town, followed by a sensory assault of fire and ice blasting from all directions.

        "Meet, Jerry!"

        "Today's the DAY!"

        "He's a superhero!"

        "Your days are GONE, evildoer!"

        "His dad's a superhero!"

        "Say your prayers, foul beast!"

        "His mom and brother are superheroes too!"

        "Looks like you oughta BONE UP on your studies, champ."

        "Mort, don't ever say that again."

        "Is there anything this family can't do?"

The action suddenly cut to the gecko in a suit in an office.

        "Sooooo you want to sue this restaurant."

        "That's correct."

        "For burning your face?"

        "Wha-NO, what's wrong with my face?!"

        "UH-uhhhhh...brrrrrinnng-OH scuse me I gotta take that-"

        "Not all heroes wear capes," the announcer rumbled.

        "I'm sick of being a superhero, I wanna protect people where it REALLY matters!  In COURT!"

        "You seriously giving up your sweet powers just to put on a dumb suit?!"

        "You have ANY idea how tight these pants are?!  Seriously, I can FEEL the line between my cheeks!"

        "Jerry the Hero, coming this March on EBC2!"

        "Pffft," Ashwin snorted, "wot a loada shite."

        "R-really?" muttered James.  "I-i kinda liked it, it looks fun!"

        "Who cares abou' a superhero wantin' to be a lawyer, wot kinda tosspot wrote that?!"

        "I-i'd watch it...maybe."

        "Well yer not 'aving me there with ya fer that Jim, yer on your own there."

        "O-okayyy."

He shuffled his feet as the news popped on briefly, a white rabbit in a dark blouse with the newest statements from parliament.  James did not bother to hear it but vaguely caught mention of a wolf and fox before he was out of earshot.  Ashwin looked back to him with a groan and rubbed his neck to look up at the morning blue.

        "Hey, you remember our old hideout?"

        "Wh-whuh?" James muttered.

        "Yanno, thuh small yard we 'ad before we moved onto Ema's island."

        "N-...not really."

        "Aw wot how could you forget?!"

        "I-i'm sorry!"  The raptor clutched his scalp.  "My head's all fuzzy I-i don't f-feel like I remember anythin'!"

        "Hey, hey...it's alrigh'."  He reached out to squeeze his shoulder.  "I'm sorry.  Yer 'aving a hard day so let's fix that proper, we're going to our old place near here an' get sum o' that out yer system."

        "Whuh, whut you mean?"

        "Just follow me alrigh', promise you'll feel better after this."

        "Uhhh, okay."

Following the elephant blindly down a series of alleys, steam pumped from cafes and fast food joints with the faint taste of chip fat and MSG that made James' stomach turn slightly as they leapt over boxes and scooted beneath pipes towards a backlot that opened into a square surrounded completely by walls of disused buildings covered in broken AC units and drainpipes that had long rusted to resemble the bricks.  Glass bottles and black bags bulging with trash littered the corners of the rough uneven spot as Ashwin pointed to a rather unusual-looking scarecrow with a sandbag for a body and a bucket with the face of a bear painted on.

        "You 'member this roigh'?"

        "Uhhh...k-kinda?" he shuffled his feet scratchinig his head.  "I...I-i think I...used to come here."

        "Yeah, thassit!  Wuz 'ere oi taught ya to defend yerself, maybe yer brain just needs a li'l kickstart yanno get the juices flowing.  Roigh' so oi want you to do wot oi do, alrigh' Jim?"

        "O-okay."

The elephant walked off pretending to crack his knuckles, feeling the gnarled carbuncles of his grey skin as the smugly-arrogant bucket sneered at him with all the grace of a cartoon bully as Ashwin thrust his head forwards.

        "FUCK YOU LOOKIN' AT EH?!  WOT, YOU WANNA FUCKIN' GO?!"  He swept his hands out with a puff of his chest.  "OH, oh you think yer hot shit, you think oi give a FUCK wot yer mum cares abou' you, you fuck wi' me she's gettin' a bodybag fer a son!"

        "Wh-whut are ya doing?!" cried James.

        "TEACHIN' THIS FUCKWIT NOT TO FUCK WITH US!"

The pachyderm swung a huge fist into the scarecrow's stomach, crunching into the sandbag before following up with a direct punch to the chest.

        "YOU WAN' SUM MORE, DO YA FUCKFACE?!"  He thrust his tree-stumped foot straight in its gut.  "CUMMON YA FUCKIN' NONCE GEDDUP, OI'M NOT DONE WITH YOU!"

Tightening his arms Ashwin built up his fury as he slammed his fists left and right, pummelling the sides of the scarecrow's waist like a boxer before thrusting his trunk out towards the neck of the pole just beneath the buckethead with a throttling choke to bend the dummy forwards as he drove his fat knee into its sandbag belly.

        "FUCK, OOOOOOFF!"

With one final scream he crunched his fist with an uppercut into its partly-bent front.  Huffing through his trunk with deep breaths he stepped back with a smirk growing between his stubby tusks as he turned towards the raptor.

        "See, no problem, get all that anger outta ya, yanno healthy-loik.  Just get mad, throw a few punches about, no one'll 'ear ya round 'ere."

        "A-are you sure?" James looked around at the cloistered roofs.

        "Naaaah these are all empty, cummon be as loud as you wan', get mad, get pissed as FUCK, use all the swears you wanna use, no one's 'ere to stop ya!"

The raptor shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other, before Ashwin stepped closer with both hands on his shoulders.

        "James.  It'll 'elp.  Wotever's rattlin' around in yer 'ead is not comin' out if you just drag yer feet every day just tryin' to be."

        "I'm sorry...I know I remember things, I-i know this place a-an' I know you but...but-"

        "But wot?"

        "I keep seein' things, like...like jungles everywhere."

        "Well, that's why you gotta get this out o' ya.  Come on."  He walked him over to the dummy.  "Think of the worst shit-eating fucker you can think of, someone you reaaaaally just wanna fuckin' stomp their loights out an' just...DO it!"

James looked towards the sneering face of the bear, painted in such a way to be insufferable, like a radio DJ in his first TV debut.  Words and pictures flowed in a jumble through his head as he shook with upset.  Then he became frustrated.  Then came anger.

        "Wh-whut...whudda you want?"  He grew a snarl towards the mannequin.  "Wh-whut you wan' with me?  You, y-you just wanna be a j-jerk cuz you think I'll l-let you?!  Huh?!"

He took one punch with only half his heart, slapping his claws against the bag as Ashwin shook his head with crossed arms.

        "Yer not even...yer not even gonna s-say something?  Huh?  You think, y-you think yer too good to talk to me, whut do I do then?!  Whut do I do 'til you talk to me huh, you wanna just s-stand here, a-a-and waste my time when I got stuff to do?!  YOU DON' EVEN KNOW ME!"

He punched harder with a thrust of his arm as the grain twisted against his knuckle.

        "I DIDN'T WANNA BE HERE, YOU DIDN' WANNA BE HERE, WHY CAN'T YOU J-JUST, LEAVE ME ALONE?!"

        "YEAH YOU TELL 'EM JIM!" cried Ash clapping.

        "IF YOU DON' LEAVE ME ALONE I'M, I'M, GONNA MAKE YOU WISH YOU DID, I'LL HURT YOU, I'LL HURT YOU A-AND I'M GONNA BREAK YOUR FACE!"

His third punch drove in deeper as he followed with a fourth in quick succession, feeling the blood rush through his limbs as he started quick-stepping with a new energy.

        "YEAH, YEAH YOU WAN' MORE, YOU WAN' MORE YOU B-BITCH, YOU SHIT, SH-SHIT, SHIT I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU, WHY DON'T YOU PISS OFF I HATE YOU!"

The raptor became frantic, slamming his fists back and forth with growing confidence in his driving thrusts to go straight for the belly, following up with a desperate kick that overshot and sent him falling on his side.

        "AAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

        "YEAH JIM KILL 'IM, FUCKIN' WASTE 'IM!"

        "AAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

Grabbing a stone off the ground he leapt onto the dummy and cracked its face with a hard dent, punching the solid rock into worn steel only twice before he lost his grip on the body and fell backwards with a thud.  Screaming until his face turned red, he felt the jumbled mess inside his brain suddenly untwist iself and a flicker came to his eyes.

        "I'm...gonna FUCKING KILL YOUUUU!"

With a violent windmill swing he threw his entire body behind his fist so hard the dummy jerked backwards to almost fall until James jumped on top of it, pulling it out from its root in the semi-hard dirt and grabbing its neck with his stone-clad fist raised above.

        "YOU WANNA FIGHT?!!  I'LL SHOW YOU!"

        "YEAH, FUCKIN' KILL HIM!" cried Ashwin stomping his feet.  "SHOW THAT ARSEHOLE WHO'S BOSS!"

The raptor came down with a hammerfisting slam as he crushed his rock into the bucket's face, punching again and again as the metal dented inwards partly with each crunch of the stone whilst his snarling screams rang out through the empty lot.  His eyes became feral slits for a moment as he screeched with a sound that made even Ashwin back off slightly, the raptor's tail whipping viciously back and forth as he never stopped punching.  He didn't even notice he dropped the stone halfway through and was just savagely beating the face with his fists, his young little claws bruising harder 

        "U-uhhhh Jim?!  Jim oi think yer good-"

        "YOU LET HIM DO THIS TO ME, AND HE GETS TO LAUGH ABOUT IT, FUCK YOUUU!"

        "EY EY JIM ALRIGH' YOU MADE YER POINT!"

        "YOU DID NOTHING, YOU'RE ALL USELESS!   I HATE YOU, I HATE YOUUUUUUU!"

He finally stopped.  His arms drooped to their sides with deep red knuckles that shook with internal pains.  The bucket was completely bent, almost flat like a folded skirt as James suddenly bent over with a quiet sobbing that made Ashwin run to his side.

        "H-h-hhhnnn, a-aah-"

        "Hey-ey, cummon mate it's alrigh'-"

        "A-aah...A-ashwiiiin-"

        "You're okay now mate, look it's a new year, yer fine alrigh'?!"

        "I'M NOT OKAY!"  He looked up with blistering tears on his shortened snout.  "I WAS ALL ALONE, THEY PUT ME AWAY FOR M-MONTHS, WEEKS, AN' NOBODY CAME, NOT EVEN YOU!"

        "I TRIED TO!" he pleaded grabbing his arm.  "I tried to but they wouldn' let me in!"

        "YER SUPPOSED TO BE MY FRIEND AN' YOU DIDN'T HELP MEEEEE!"

James pushed him away hard as he could and fell to the side shrieking harder until his voice almost cracked, curling up to a foetal state as Ashwin sat down beside him.  He watched his friend gently rock himself, shuddering fits as his throat hiccuped between cries that turned weaker with each ululation.

        "I-i-i...I-i-i...c-couldn't remember where we lived."

        "I know," said his friend, "I'm sorry Jim.  I failed you.  But not this year.  Not again, oi promise."

        "B-brian...B-b-brian did this, i-i-if it wuzn't-"

        "I know.  We all were on your side Jim, us kids, even Ms. Okowengo defended you saying that wuz too much an' ya shouldn't've been-"

        "Sh-she didn' do anything either," he pulled his arms tighter against himself.

        "She did Jim.  She tried to argue with the police, she tried to lessen it-"

        "I don' care.  I wuz standin' up fer myself, a-a-and they...th-they put me away, they put me away cuz I stood up to him."

        "I know.  Cummere."

He clutched James' head softly, pulling him up into a tender embrace as the raptor rocked against his chest, his trunk slipping round his neck to droop off his scaled shoulder.  James started to calm himself, his tears petering as they dripped onto Ashwin's grey skin with a deep sigh from each other.  They sat for two minutes in silence before he said:

        "Feel better?"

        "Y-yeah," James murmured.

        "Wanna do anythin' before we get back?"

        "Mm-mmm."

        "Alrigh'.  Hey."  He pulled his head back to look at him.  "Wotever 'appens...you'll always be my friend.  I can't promise to protect you from everythin', but the least I can do is try my best always.  I want to keep you safe Jim."

        "Wh-whut if...whut if it happens again?"

        "Then we run away."

        "R-really?"

        "Yeah.  There's nothin' for us 'ere anyway, they just gotta give us an excuse.  Tell you wot."  He snapped his fingers with a grin.  "This year we make things different.  We foind a new place, somewhere far from 'ere, we get ourselves sum money from me jobs an' we save up enough to leave."

        "How we gonna do that?" murmured James shrugging.  "Where do we go?"

        "Oi dunno, Scotland maybe, hear Ireland's noice maybe Sy can 'elp us, just get outta England sumhow.  They can't touch us if we're in Ireland, shit maybe even Sweden or sumthin'."

        "You think that's gonna work?"

        "Nope."  The elephant smirked with a shrug.  "But it's better than London eh?"

        "Y-yeah...really is."

        "Then let's make a new year resolution."  He offered his pinky to him.  "We set up a new place and make plans to leave, maybe not this year but when we're both ready.  You in?"

        "...okay."  James wrapped his smallest claw round his finger.  "Yeah we do it...but."

        "But wot?"

        "Whut if one of us gets adopted?"

        "Well," he rubbed the top of his head, "if oi get adopted, an' you don't, then they either take both of us, or neither of us."

        "R-right, an' if they take me, then I'm not goin' without you!"

        "Heh...roigh'."  He pulled the raptor in with his trunk and noogie'd his head with a cackle.  "So yer all good!?"

        "Y-yeaaa-AAAH, s-stop iiiit!"

        "You got a head that feels loik an old man's knob!"

        "GUH, y-you got a nose that looks, like, s-someone took a dump in cement!"

        "PFFFTHAH, HAHAHAHAHA!"

        "HeeheheHEHEHAHAHAAA!"

The boys cackled with a surge of strength renewed as Ashwin pulled up their training dummy back to its post and uncrunched the bucket to sit it back on top.  They headed back through the streets, taking a vague path towards the schoolhouse that stood on its lonesome at the end of Penge Road with its sign proudly proclaiming IQRA-MONASSI TRUST at the corner of the street.  Lunchtime ended fifteen minutes after they had returned before they went to their next classes, covering the basics of science as a rather sunken-faced porpoise struggled to explain the three necessary conditions for fire to exist, whilst at the same time teaching them safety to prevent fires and also not to burn themselves or each other.  Next came the final class of the day, physical education where they played football at the games court outside as Ashwin stepped in goal whilst James was a defender.  He almost never got a chance to kick, struggling to strafe between the other players who constantly passed the ball and the one time he did manage to kick, he shot it towards the goal from too far away that it was easily countered.  Ashwin however was an impervious wall, his size and extra limb almost unfair to the other team for the reach he had in grabbing the ball and hurling it away from his goal.

Soon it was the end of the school day as the children had time to relax, but they were kept indoors as the adults went round to each exit and locked them thusly as the sky began to darken over their heads with a colder wind rustling through.  Three recreational rooms were opened for the kids as they pulled out a variety of board games, the place devoid of any television but they did have a radio that some would dance to the latest songs with, boys and girls swinging their arms and shaking everything they could with a wild ungraceful motion.  James and Ashwin sat with a pack of cards, slapping their hands on the deck shouting "SNAP!" whenever two numbers matched until the bell rang again for dinner time.  Dinner came and went, same as breakfast did but more subdued than the morning with a hearty mixture of fake steaks and mashed potatoes, before the worst part of the day would come.

        "Nnngh," James groaned on his hands and knees, "why do we even HAVE to do this, I thought grownups were s'posed to clean."

        "Kez therzz moar ef uzz," said Ashwin nasally, "nid tu get es ull tired owt innit?"

        "My feet huuuurt."

        "I know James," said the cheetah at the door, "but everyone's on the rota and it's your turn today."

        "Nnnnnngh!"

The raptor whinged as he pushed a scrubbing brush along the floor, sometimes dipping it in a bucket to resoap it and scrub harder through the tiles until the dirt within the cracks were almost gone.  The bathroom was only half-done and James felt his knees already burning as he worked over the floor whilst Ashwin scrubbed the toilets, then the sinks with two separate brushes and a giant clothespeg clamping his nose.

        "You're looking better at least," said the adult leaning against the wall.

        "Really?" murmured James.  "Cuz I don' feel better."

        "Just some colour's returned to your face since this morning."

        "Yeah well, Ashwin helped."

        "Jest duuin meh jhob," said the elephant half-trunked.

        "Hmhmhmhm, well that's good," she walked over to the bathroom when the last sink was scrubbed, "very good Ashwin, I think that's enough then."

        "Thenkzz," he unpegged his trunk with a sigh, "s'all good then miss Okowengo?"

        "Yes thank you."

        "You moind if oi uh help Jim on his cleaning?"

        "Are you sure?"  She looked over to the raptor huffing and panting over the floor with raspberry cheeks.  "I mean if you want to-"

        "Well yanno he'll be done quicker if two of us are 'ere."

        "Alright, go on ahead."

He went over on his knees and took a brush from the bucket, the two veering off to cover a quarter of the floor each in only half the time left, scouring with vigorous frustration as the bristles scritched and cracked over the hard rough tiles before they managed to reach the very corners and rake the skirting board until they met up again at the centre of the wall.

        "PHEW!" Ashwin almost slamdunked the brush in the bucket.  "Aaaand toime!"

        "Thank you boys!"  Miss Okowengo took the bucket.  "You can go shower yourselves now, I have some new clothes for you."

        "Sweet, cummon Jim!"

They headed downstairs to where the public showers were situated, a gaggle of boys already present and cleaning themselves from their own chores too, some splashing water on each other whilst others towel-whipped an unsuspecting bum that walked past unfortunate.  James and Ashwin stood by each other naked, the raptor covering himself and trying not to be too close whilst finding two spaces apart from the rest as humans, reptiles, cetaceans and other hairless youths scrubbed the filth off their bodies, whilst canines, felidae and other-furred boys were forced to spend longer with specially-cheap solutions that soaped their furs and hairs to a glossy sheen, under the watchful yet embarrassed eyes of the rhino caretaker on duty.

        "Alright boys that's enough, everyone file out and dry yourselves down-"

        "A-AAAAH NOOOO!"

        "CUMMERE YOU LI'l RAT!"

        "HEY!"  The rhino grabbed a human by the shoulder and almost slapped a stoat that chased him.  "WHAT did I tell you about the towels?!"

        "H-he started it-"

        "Do you WANT the back of my hand, Erickson?!"

        "N-noooo?!"

        "Then dry yourself down and get to bed!"

The human poked his tongue out behind the caretaker's back as the boys filed out and were given their clothes in piles according to sizes.  They were mostly clean, but they at least fitted them as the elephant and raptor headed back upstairs to their bedroom, settling into their separate beds next to each other at the farthest end of the room.

        "This shirt sucks," said James looking down at the pink-and-red top.

        "Didn't even take the tag offa moine," said the elephant pulling at a charity store sticker.

        "Mmmmm..." the raptor rolled onto his back, "you think we'll buy real clothes fer our big plan?"

        "Hell yeah we will," he winked at James, "just gotta build up sum cash, an' yer gonna 'elp."

        "Really?" he looked over to him.

        "Jobs'll come in this week, oi'll bring you along as my assistant, maybe even pay us more if we do twice as good as havin' me on me own."

        "Yeah!  Thassa great idea!"

        "Sorted."  They bumped their fists with stretching arms before Ashwin turned over in his sheets.  "G'night Jim."

        "Night Ash."

James tucked himself in with a deep sigh as his mind almost immediately shut off to sleep.  The sounds of London bid him goodnight as the clock tower rang its four-point tune before the sound of eight single strikes.  With each bell that sounded his mind fell deeper into sleep, a dreamless sleep that he was thankful for as the last thing he saw before his eyes blinked to the dark, was Ashwin's resting body as his ratty tail hung down the side of his bed.  Long as he had his friend, he knew everything would be okay.