"Foxy?" I stuttered, surprised by the cowering fur ball I saw before me. His head turned slowly, when he noticed me his eyes widened in shock. "Y-y-ye..you. Aren't ye' teacher from that fateful day, when.." He trailed off, I remained silent "What ye doin' ere?!" He exclaimed. I sighed and decided to lie about my original intentions. "I..urm..I'm here because your friends are worried about you. They miss you and don't want you to feel sad anymore." "Humph, what do they know? 'Ave they accidentally taken a chunk off of a lil' one's noggin? No! So how can they relate to me or sympathise at all grrrrr!? He snapped "You know Foxy. Sometimes there is something better than sympathy for when you're upset." I had a lot of experience with troubled children so I knew when to speak and when to hold my tongue. "Hmm" he turned his whole body around slowly and sat cross legged like one of my pupils, obviously interested in what I was saying. "Well, this magic thing that is better than sympathy, it's empathy. A subtle but mighty difference that can make someone a lot better." "Arrrr?" "I have my deepest empathy for you. I may not have bitten a frontal lobe off of a student but I have made terrible mistakes due to my clumsiness. Just this morning my toaster made me fall off of a chair and spill tea all over myself." He stifled a laugh which made me laugh as well "heh, see? There's the smiley Foxy we like to see." His smile lowered "But what 'bout the littlen?" "She's alive! The doctors are doing all they can to find her a suitable transplant. Good job you're a terrible aim." I said while beaming with the reminder of my own good news. "Really?!" He sounded ecstatic which made me smile even more. "Thank you so much lass, ye' 'ave a knack for brightnin' peoples days." He chided before leaping onto his feet and bounding towards me. His slim, fluffy arms threw themselves around me and he pulled me towards his chest. I was glad he couldn't see my face hidden in his fur as i was blushing vividly. He rested his chin on the top of my head and muttered. "Will ye' be 'ere tomorrow?" "Hmmm, sure!" I said, trying to contain myself as long as possible. He loosened his arms and I hurried out of the curtain before leaning my head back in and smiling. "See you tomorrow." He smiled back at me and I closed the curtains behind me. I jogged down the corridor and followed more twisting, identical corridors until I came upon the janitor's store. I tried the door and it swung open. I punched the air and rummaged around the room. Eventually I found a keyring on a hook and grabbed it before running out and trying to find another exit from this building. After a while I stumbled upon a door marked 'Staff Only' and leant my body against it. Nothing. I tried a few keys until it finally twisted and swung open. Unfortunately I was still leaning against the door and as it opened I fell to the tiled floor with a grunt. "Oooooooh, my hip!" I groaned, suddenly I realised something. A large humanoid shadow loomed over me, I gasped and looked up to see a large metal exoskeleton. I screamed but stopped myself by putting both hands over my mouth and pulling myself up. In the far right corner was a large window shedding light upon a shelf lined with animatronic heads. "Eeeeeew, what I creepy room." I muttered. I hurried to the window and shoved it open. Without looking down (It's best advised you do look where you are jumping before you jump.) I sat on the windowsill and flopped out of the window. Fortunately I landed in an industrial bin full of food waste. Unfortunately I landed in an industrial bin full of food waste. The lid flew down with the impact and submerged me in darkness. I threw it open again and fell out into the floor, I stood up and pulled a pizza crust out of my mangled blonde hair. I hobbled around the corner and stopped suddenly. The inspector was still here, and she was trying to get into the restaurant. There was another car there this time and a man in a suit with slick black hair stood waving his arms around and screaming at Miss Sims. "You have no right to search my establishment!" "Mr Howardson we are the authorities! We have every right to search your 'establishment' if you can call it that, we are treating this life like robot as a criminal and we will punish him as any sane person would, decommission!!!" "Legally, you aren't allowed to search this restaurant without a warrant." The manager smirked taking a step closer to the inspector who growled causing him to step back again. "This is not the last you will hear of me, good day Mr Howardson." She smiled menacingly at his cowering stance and spun around, her black skirt and volcanic hair moving in a delayed time. After the police had driven off and the manager had gone inside I came out of hiding and sprinted down the street. The sun was a red hemisphere casually sinking into the horizon in front of me. I checked my watch. 5:36. "Hmmm" I thought. "It's the middle of summer, surely it shouldn't be getting this dark this quickly." I practically ran through the woods and did not stop to swing around the birch tree or listen to the stream or the rustling leaves. Only a dim orange light shone through the trees and none of it reflected off of my untied, puffed up hair. I heard a rustle behind me and stopped as a shiver ran down my back. I reached into my purse and pulled out my bottle of pepper spray and held my house key in a stabbing position. You can never be too careful, I thought to myself. I had previous history with drunk men. But I knew how to defend myself, all they saw were a pretty face and a blonde. I chuckled to myself but realised I had slowed down and started jogging again. Eventually I reached my house and fumbled inside. I was home. After closing all the curtains and making myself a pot noodle, I grabbed my laptop and threw myself into bed. I didn't feel like a bath this evening, I'd have one the next morning. I worked on some teaching resources for a bit before drifting off.