All that I am not (Sweet little lies)

By: Gabriel LaVedier

Note: The character of Mr. Virgil White is my creation. The rest belong to Universal studios.

                Kodi tore through the soft-packed snow in the dead of night, tears streaming from his eyes. He had finally taken too much from his mother. After another refusal to find a nice mate and settle down, she had started throwing around abuse. Calling him idle and irresponsible, casting allegations at him. Some of which hit too close to home. Especially when she asked him why Kirby seemed to be the only dog he talked about.

                Balto had attempted to intervene, his father mediating the madness. But Jenna was hot-tempered and fiery. A good reason to love her, but it could make her quick to set upon someone if she felt justified in doing so. After many angry words from both, Kodi had leaped from the broken boat that served as his parents’ home, and run straight away from Nome. Deep into a bit of forestland, where paths had been cut in an almost random pattern.

                The grove of hefty junipers seemed to twist and gather around the sorrowful quarter-wolf, hemming him in like the bars of a cage. The path vanished in the darkness, broken only by inconstant visions of the full moon through the evergreen. He couldn’t find his way back, but at that moment, he didn’t want to. If he was going to be an outcast, he may as well be properly lost in the woods, away from his nosey mother and his heroic father. The father he couldn’t be, but was always compared to.

                He dashed down the clearest path he had managed to find, soon enough finding himself at an intersection in the heart of the grove, where some of the trees had been cleared away. From the moment he laid eyes on the crossroads, he felt like he was being observed. Examined closely from nearly everywhere. It was eerie, lit by the full moon, deathly quiet, all trackless snow and juniper stumps. He swore that the snow moved at his side, or that the juniper needles rustled without a breath of wind to stir them.

                His attention distracted, he was unable to see just when the stranger hopped onto the highest juniper stump. But he did so, quickly enough to escape notice.  First there was nothing. Then there was a fox. His fur was a glowing white, and his eyes a rosy pink, the flesh of his nose so pale it was nearly as white as the rest of him.

                The fox smiled, showing a row of perfect, snow white teeth. Kodi could only stare at the stranger, who came from nowhere, out in the middle of nowhere. It was a curious tableau, washed in ivory moonlight; the crying sled dog, and the curious fox sitting on the juniper stump. A smile on his face, smug as could be. “Who… Who are you?” Kodi staggered back a little, wary of the smaller canid simply because of his strange appearance.

                The smile on the fox’s face widened, his eyes narrowing to little pinkish slits. “Please allow me to introduce myself. I’m Virgil White, Mr. Virgil White. Or just Mr. White. Or Virgil, as you prefer. Pleased to meet you.”

                “That’s… A weird name.”

                “And just what is your name, pup?”

                “K-kodi.”

                “I’d say that’s an odd name, Kodi.”

                “It’s short for Kodiak. Like the bear.”

                “Or the island, or the archipelago on which the bear is exclusively found. That’s still an odd name to give to a dog.”

                “And Virgil White is a strange name for a wild animal to have.”

                “My dear pup, I’m far from a wild beast. I’m a civilized creature. Oh, certainly, I look like some beast of the field, but I can assure you I know all the social graces and the fruits of domesticity.” He leaped down from the juniper stump and started another line of conversation, quickly cutting off any comment Kodi had about his assertion. “So what has a strong, yet strangely feminine dog like you out in the bitter midnight cold? Crying, running, hitting crossroads in the forest when you have no idea where you’re going at all.”

                “Why do you want to know? Why would I tell you anyway? This is something private, not something you’d just tell a stranger.” Kodi started to walk away, turning from the fox.

                “Yes, it’s true. I am just a stranger.” Quick as a flash, Virgil was beside him, trotting along on his four dainty paws. “But I am interested in your problems. I’m a very good listener if you’ll only give me the chance. Won’t you let me listen?”

                Kodi sighed, as he tried to ignore the trotting fox. But he knew it was useless. He had to tell someone. It might help him. He just wanted to get it off his chest to a small degree. “I had an argument with may parents. With my mother, really. My father was too interested in keeping the peace to help me. He stepped back, didn’t anger my mother, tried to get us to forget what it was we were fighting about. But I didn’t want to, and she wouldn’t let me get away with being defiant to her. She wanted to know why I hadn’t found a mate. When am I going to find a mate? Kodi, when will you get a mate? Why can’t you just settle down with a local girl and give us puppies? Because I don’t want to settle down and have puppies! I want to..!” Kodi caught himself, his tongue having tripped along further than he wanted it to. Almost too far.

                “Passionate fellow, aren’t you? That’s good. It takes a lot of fire to make it in this world. I’m guessing you’re not just the picky type. But, that’s none of my business. I’m sure you have your reasons for not settling down. Important job, no good prospects, you just don’t want a settled life… You prefer other company…”

                Kodi glared across at Virgil, surprise hidden behind the anger in his eyes. “What are you saying? Don’t you dare make accusations about me like that. You’re just like my mother. Just because I’m not ready to settle down, and just because I don’t want to date doesn’t mean that I’m… I’m like that.”

                Virgil trotted ahead of Kodi, backwards, looking at the dog with a huge grin. “Like what?”

                “Like… Like… Like you think I am. Like she does. I’m not like that.”

                “That’s terribly imprecise, Mr. Kodi. How can I know that we are speaking of the same phenomenon if you don’t tell me exactly what it is that you’re so adamant you are not.”

                “You KNOW it! You know it. Everyone knows it. But no one says anything because that’s insulting. No one would talk about it unless they had proof. And with proof…” Kodi trailed off, turning his head aside and slowing to a stop. “They wouldn’t stop at just talking about it.”

                “Your mother thinks you are a homosexual.” Virgil was either tactless, or bold. He let the statement blandly slip from his lips, standing beside the halted, and soon stunned, sled dog. “Am I wrong?”

                “YOU! You little… I can’t… How could… What is wrong with you?”

                “We will get nowhere if all you do is avoid the issue. The heart of the matter must be addressed, or you become your father, avoiding things to keep the peace and resolving nothing. So, your mother thinks you are a homosexual. Are you?”

                “This conversation is over.” Kodi stomped off from the fox, his teeth bared, his eyes focused ahead of himself. “You have no right to ask about anything in my life. And I don’t need to answer any questions. You come out of the snow, start prying into my life, and just throw out accusations without evidence.”

                “Of course, of course. You are quite correct. I have only