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With the flickering street light flashing upon me through the scruffy diner window, I rapidly tapped the table as I waited for the detective to show up. The aroma of the greasy food emanating from the grill flooded my nostrils as the crocodile cook wiped away his sweat. The old bitty fox waitress danced merrily to the cheesy diner music while she reorganized the menus. The sweet chimes of the diner peaked my ears. As I looked towards the door, I saw a tall, sloppy-dressed tiger enter the diner. He rushed up to the waitress, arms open and full of life.

“Mabel! It's so good to see you again," he said, kissing the fox on the cheek.“Are you well, eating properly?" His head darted around the diner before he locked eyes with me. “That's the kid?"

The waitress let out a hearty laugh as she sat down the menus before addressing the tiger.

“It's good to see you again, Josh. I'm doing fine, thank you for asking, hun. And yes, that's the kid, but Josh, the boy, he seems a bit…" She looked towards me, grimacing, before pulling the tiger to the side and whispering something into his ear.

The two would occasionally look my way before going back into hushed whispers. Once they were finished, the detective straightened up and hastily smoothed out his fur before approaching me. Once he had gotten into spitting distance, his cologne and body order immediately hit me. The cologne had a sweet, flowery scent, while the tiger himself reeked off the dump. It took all I had not to cover my nose immediately.

“Snow Winter, correct?" I nodded. “Detective Josh Colman, your folks have asked me to find you. How are you doing?" he asked, with a cheerful smile plastered on his face. 

“I'm doing fine. Thank you for asking, Detective," I said, as I tried to mimic his smile. “When I got your message that my folks were looking for me, well, I almost burst out laughing."

“Ah, yes, well, I mean, you have been missing for a week now, and they are very worried about you."

“Detective, I'm sorry to say, but you're wrong. My folks couldn't care less about me. I mean, I ran away three months ago, and yet they told you I was missing for a week. It's kinda funny, huh?" I let out a small chuckle.

Before he could respond, the waitress came over and handed us each a menu. She gave me a curt smile before leaving us. The tiger scratched his chin while mumbling something. Occasionally, he would glance my way, expecting something, but I just kept my head down and played with my almost empty coke. I didn't want to take any chances with him.

“I'm pretty hungry, aren't you? I mean, with how late it is and everything," he chuckles as he looks over the menu. His eyes peered right through me. 

His deep, guttural voice only caused me to give him an awkward, timid laugh in response with a curt nod. He only let out a small growl in frustration as he returned to studying the menu.

It wasn't long before the waitress came back with her cheery deminer. She gave the detective a cheerful smile and asked, “So, hun, what can I get you?"

“I'll take the cheeseburger, hold the tomatoes, and dark coffee with a side of milk," he said, giving her a beaming smile before he handed back the menu. She nodded and turned to me.

While she was warm to the detective, I couldn't gauge her expression with me. It was a mixture of emotions. Was she disgusted with me, just like Mother? Or did she take pity on me like my grandparents? Or did she see me as a lesser who had overstayed his welcome, just like the people before? I tried to stay calm, but the uncertainty was starting to kill me. It felt insuficating.

It wasn't till a gentle touch graced my shoulder that I was able to snap out of it. Looking up, I could see both the detective and waitress staring at me. Though I quickly brushed away her hand.

“Sorry, what did you say?" I meekly asked.

The fox just let out a sigh and softly spoke, “I asked, what can I get you, sweety?"

“Ease up, kid. The night's long, and I promise it's not getting any shorter. Order what you like. I'm paying!" There he goes again, being friendly. 

But how much can I trust him? Father usually acts the same way in front of others just to make sure he appears to be a good person. The Detective might be the same.

Before I could protest, my stomach began to growl, shocking both me and the waitress. The detective quickly covered his mouth, but I could see the smirk behind his paw.

“Sorry, it's been a while," I said, as I pulled my arms over my stomach, trying to muffle any more odd sounds.

“Kid, I'm not going to have you starve. Order something. You're clearly hungry. I promise you it's no big deal! It's my treat." Though his words were soft and reassuring, I still couldn't let my guard down, but my stomach let out a small plea for substance. 

“Can I have some pancakes and a refill, please?" I was too embarrassed to even look at the old fox.

“Sure thing, Sugar!" Her happy demeanor had caught me off guard. I thought she hated me or worse. “I'll be sure to get y'all's orders out as fast as possible, so hold on tight!" and with that, she made her way towards the cook with a bounce in her step.

“So tell me a bit about yourself, kid. I noticed your clothes are all torn up, and your tail looks like it had seen better days. Also, you say you ran away three months ago. Well then, why would your parents only now report you missing? They seemed very concerned for you when I talked to them a few days ago." The detective had brought out a small pink notebook and let out a deep sigh in frustration once he had seen it.

“Oh, these," I pointed towards the rips and tears off my tattered jacket. “No, my brothers did these. They were upset that I had not done their share of chores, and while one held me down, the other just went to town and destroyed my clothes." I let out a small chuckle. “When I tried fighting back, they smashed my tail with a hammer."

The detective just winced at that and grabbed his own tail. He looked as if he wanted to say something but never did. No one ever does.

“It's fine, nothing new. Like father says, 'it's just brothers roughhousing,' right?" I began to rub my tail. “Besides, I'm used to it. Though I do miss being able to move it."

“Okay, Snow, it seems like your relationship with your brothers was not ideal, and your father…" he looked as if he tried to find the right words, his face contorting into different expressions before he ultimately dropped the subject. “What about your mother?" She seemed happy when I informed her that I had found you!" 

“We don't have a relationship. She does whatever my father says and has never stood up for me. She slapped me once for even asking her if she loved me."

He scribbled something down while growling to himself. He scratched his tuffs between the words he wrote. He sighed heavily when he was stumped on what to write next. But through it all, when he looked at me, he tried to maintain the happy composer he had from the start.

“Okay, so I'm starting to get the picture. But it's been three months since you left, and your parents only told the police it's only been a week. And though you have been on your own for months, you say that your clothes look worse than rags because of your bothers?" he leaned back into his and rubbed his temples. “It's not that I don't believe you had a rough time at home, but your family are well-respected people of the community, so such a thing is a little far fetch."His eyes were that of a predator studying its prey, but I refused to yield.

“Oh, I had no idea they were thought of so highly!" I said, mocking his tone. “I'll be sure to pay them my respects from now on!" I tried to mimic his previous smile, but it was immediately shot down by his piercing stare.

“I do not like to play games, Snow. I do need to know the reasons behind your disappearance. And, if such things are happening…!"  Before he raised his voice any further, he paused and took a deep breath. “You're not in trouble, I promise. I just want to help."

“Sure you are, just like everyone else who tried to 'help.' Does it matter why I ran away? I doubt you'd believe me." I said the last part under my breath as I looked back at the flickering overnight light. “It would probably be better just to leave me be. Just tell them I died, and you couldn't retrieve my body. They'll celebrate knowing that I won't be coming back home to them."

The Detective rapidly tapped one of his claws on the table as he mumbled to himself. His whiskers twitched every now and then as he just stared at me.

“Look, Snow, I, in good conscience, can't just leave you out there alone. And your parents are worried sick about you, and they wish for you to come back. I understand you are having a hard time there, but I can't let you live on the street. And I have been told to bring you back. I just want to know why you ran."

I slammed my paws on the table, “THEN JUST PRETEND YOU NEVER SAW ME! TELL THEM YOU LYED AND GOT THE WRONG CAT!" I slumped back down in my seat and covered my face with my paws, and I began to sniffle as tears flowed down onto my fur.  “I don't want to go back to that hellscape. I'm NOT going back! I want to be left alone. Is that too hard to ask? They've been ignoring my existence all this time, so why now? WHY NOW! After all this time, do they choose not to ignore me?"

Before he could ask any further questions, the waitress came back with our order. She no longer carried that happy demeanor she had this whole time as she sat the food down in front of us. The detective thanked her as she went on her way. The food looked heavenly. I had to stop myself from drooling. I couldn't remember the last time I ate.

“The food here is great, kid, eat up!" he said between bites.

“I know. My family has been coming here for years. Though this is the first time I have eaten here," I began to pick at the food, slowly eating what was placed in front of me. The pancakes tasted like fluffy clouds.

As we ate, the only thing that could be heard between us was the smacking of the Detective's jaw as he tore through his burger. I just tried my best not to be heard as I ate. He seemed to be mad at me right now, and I didn't want to anger him any further. 

It was so good, and I was so hungry that I began to stuff the food in my mouth as fast as possible, nearly choking in the process. The detective had gotten up to help me, but I just held out my paw to stop him. I didn't need his help. I hacked up the food and drank my coke just to make sure nothing else stayed. 

After we were done eating and the waitress picked up all of our food and refiled our drinks, the tiger looked at me with a serious expression.

“Snow, I get that you're scared, but I have to do my job and take you back to your family. Whatever issues you are having, I promise I can help, but I have to follow protocol. I'm already in trouble for asking you to meet me here, so please work with me." Despite how scary he sounded, his voice seemed gentle.

“Detective, I've talked to the police before, and, like you, they were of no help. Everyone believes my family is perfect. I can't go back. Please don't make me," I looked him in the eyes as I held back my tears.

He just looked away from me before he let out an exaggerated sigh. 

“So you want to know why your parents are looking for you? Alright, I shouldn't do this, but whatever, you have the right to know. So, as you say, everyone loves and respects them. Well, recently, people have been asking questions about you, and I guess your parents are starting to panic and have asked the local police to find you."

“So, in other words, me not being there is ruining their reputation?" He just nodded. I laughed at that. “So that's it. Go back, fix there reputation, then what? I can't even imagine what they will do once I get back. If I'm lucky, I'll be a living prop for them during events. If not," I shuddered at the thought of what else they could do that they already haven't. “Detective, please, I can't go back."

He could only bite his lower lips and scratch his tuffs once more.

“Look, Snow, I get it. You're scared, and I can't promise you nothing bad will happen. If you like, I can give you one of my cards so you can call me if things get bad. But I need you to understand that my paws are tied, so help me out here." Though He looked sorry for me, the pity in his voice did little to convince me of his plight.

“Why do you need to do this? You can ignore me, pretend I never existed, or that I had left the city before you could find me. You don't have to take me back there." It was my turn to plead, but the tiger seemed unswayed.

“We've been done this road already, kid. Your folks already know I found you," he stared back emotionless. It seemed that the happy tiger was no more. That's fine with me. He's just like everyone else, anyway.

“The police were informed, so they are expecting you back, as well as my boss. Snow, I understand that you are not happy, scared even, but this is a job, and I mean you no harm. But like I said, my paws are tied."

“Yeah, okay, just leave me alone," I said as I slumped back into my seat. 

As he got up, he looked towards me before heading to the wait stand.

“I'll pay for the food, so just wait for me to return." His heavy steps echoed in the now quiet diner.

I looked around for a way to escape, I could only spot two exits: one up front, which the waitress and detective blocked off, and another at the back, which was near the kitchen and bathroom. The cook seemed to be preoccupied with cleaning the grill, and the detective was talking to the waitress. I figured it was now or never. I slowly made my way out of my seat, turning my head with each inch, making sure I wasn't being watched.

As soon as I got close enough to the back exit, I heard the detective shout behind me. 

“HEY, STOP!" Catching the attention of the other two, but it was too late. I was already out the door. 

I made a mad dash through the cold, dark alley. I tossed aside whatever trash I could to slow the tiger down. I could hear him shouting my name as I ran, but I couldn't stop. I made it so far to taste this freedom, and I wasn't about to give it up. 

I don't know how long I have been running. I just kept running till I could no longer. The detective's shouting could no longer be heard, and when I looked back, he was nowhere to be found. Looking around, I could see nothing but empty buildings and the river bank.

Once again, I found myself alone. But that's fine with me. I continued to walk towards the buildings, hoping to find shelter, when my stomach began to growl.

“Don't worry, I'll find something to eat."