Outside the Hotel
By Rose de Stitches

The skunkette sighed deeply as her large tail curled around; the dark blackness
shining like night against the pale white ribbons that swam thru it.  She 
winced as her paws clutched the tail like a security blanket as she hid most 
her body behind it's cover.  'No...' she thought to herself.  'I can't...  I 
won't go in there...'

The wind swept up outside the hotel as she buried her face into her tail, 
trying not to cry as the cloudy sky rumbled overhead.  'It was going so 
perfect...  SO PERFECT!' she continued in her head as the black t-shirt 
covering her top whipped slighty in the wind.  The skunkette sighed deeply and
leaned back into the pillar as her body started to shake with dry sobs.

From nowhere, a dark shadow crossed over her petite frame as a rumbling voice 
called down, "What seems to be the problem?"

The skunkette looked up from her tail and saw a large wolf in a red security 
shirt looking down at her curiously.  She shook her head as she tried to rub 
away the tears from her eyes.  "N-no..." she all but whispered in a soft tone 
that eisily gave away her young years.  "I...  I don't want to cause trouble.  
I...  I'll just go to my room..."

As the young skunkette started to get up, the wolf frowned and placed a large 
right paw on her sholder.  "Relax, little cub." His rumbling voice now sounded 
softer, like a father talking to a child.  "You obviously have a problem, and 
I'm here to help.  Now tell me, what happened?"

The skunkette sighed, realizing she wasn't getting away from this older wolf 
male.  "I...  I had an attack..." her quiet voice finally managed out as a 
blush of embarrassment rose from under the white fur on her cheeks.

The wolf's right eyeridge rose questioningly as her queried, "What kind of 
attack?  Did another fur try to hurt you or..."

Before he could finish, the skunkette lept up to her feet fully as tears of 
hurt burned in her eyes.  "I knew it!" she angrily yelled at the wolf.  "You 
don't understand, no one does!"  She turned around quickly to run away, but the
purse about her left shoulder swung out too fast and struck the pillar.  As it
struck, ther thin strap of the purse was pulled too tight and snapped suddenly,
causing the loose change, makeup, and other contents of the purse to spill out
of the cloth sheath and onto the ground.

The wolf bent to try to help, then his eyes widened as he saw a plastic bag 
with syringes inside of them.  He picked up the back and held it before the 
girl as a growled out menacingly, "What is this?!?  This convention has ZERO 
tollerance on drugs!"

"NO!!!" she screamed, then looked away.  Looking down, she mumbled something 
barely audibly to even the wolf's keen hearing.

"What did you say?" he asked, his voice losing a little of it's edge, but 
remaining athorative.

The skunkette looked up, tears starting to run down her cheeks as they matted 
down her fur in streaks.  Her voice filled with pain as she coldly answered, "I
said that those are for my insulin shots.  I'm diabetic, you idiot..."

The wolf male stepped back, his face seeming to pale as he stepped back a few 
feet.  "I...  I'm sorry..." he managed out finally as he held out the package 
with a trembling paw.  "I didn't think..."

The skunkette snatched the syringes away from the wolf as embarassment and fury
burned in her eyes.  "That's right!" she snapped back.  "You didn't think!  
Ooooh!  Furs like you make me so angry at times with your attitudes!"  Tears 
flowed from her eyes as she shook her head to get her thoughts straight.

The wolf saw her reaction as his paw went to the hip pouch on his belt.  Taking
out an apple, he offered it to the skunkette.  "Here..." he said urgently.  
"You need this.  It looks like your blood sugar is getting low."

The skunkette gripped the apple and began eating it quickly out of reflex.  
Finally, in mid-bite, she lowered the apple from her slim muzzle and asks 
quietly, "How did you know...?"

The wolf smiles.  "The blood sugar?  My mate's diabetic as well, but takes 
insulin pills.  I should have realized when I saw you that was what the problem
was."  His large paw came down on the skunkette's shoulder as he queried, "How
long have you been on the shots?"

The skunkette looked up from the apple she was nibbling on, then looked back 
down.  "Two months..." she whispered out as she looked up.  "It's not fair!" 
she suddenly yelled, shocking the wolf.  "I came here to have fun, not be a 
nursemaid to myself.  Everything was going fine, GREAT even until I started 
feeling woozy.  I...  I stumbled out here for some air and then you came 
along."

She let out a deep sigh as the wolf listened, his brow furrowed in thought as 
his tounge clicked inside his muzzle.  Finally, his growling tone asked, "Why 
can't you just go back in and keep having fun?"

She looked up with a shocked look.  "No, I can't!" she said in a scandalous 
tone.  "Everyone saw me run out.   They'll know..."

The wolf shook his head as he scooped up the skunkette suddenly, causing her to
let out a squeel of surprise.  "Now listen..." he began as he cradled her 
easily in the crook of his left arm as her picked up the rest of her thing with
his right paw.  "No one will know, trust me.  Now if I have to, I will carry 
you into that hotel and make SURE you have a good time."

The skunkette looked up at the wolf who carried her so easily and closed her 
eyes.  She began to take a few deep breaths; relaxing herself as she 
comtemplated her dilemia.  "O.K." she finally said in a soft tone.  "I'll go 
back in if you tell me one thing, why are you so adimant about my going back in
and joining the convention?"

The wolf looked down at her, then shrugged.  "Two reasons, really.  The first 
being that you came here and gave us your money so you could experience this.  
For that alone, you should.  But the other reason is that my mate went thru the
same problems you did when she first started taking isulin.  She avoided groups
and ran at the first sign of trouble in shame that another fur might find out 
what was wrong with her.  Eventually, though, she realized that furs wouldn't 
think any less of her because of her illness and now runs the convention you're
attending."

The skunkette's jaw dropped for a second, then she whispered out, "Really?" As
the wolf nodded, she smiled.  "I think I better go in, then..."

The wolk chuckled as he sat her down.  In a friendly tone, he asked, "Oh 
really, why?"

She smirked as her striped tail swam thru the air behind her.  "Because," she 
said proudly.  "You're right.  I can't let my condition be my weakness, but 
make it my strength." She turned to go back in, then looked back over her right
shoulder towards the wolf and added, "Besides, your wife did too much work for
me to miss out on all the fun!"  With that she winked and skipped back into the
hotel to join the convention.

The wolf smiled as he leaned back against the pole himself.  He looked up at 
the clouds in the sky and smiled.  'Nice and cloudy...' he thinks to himself.  
'Good, we need some rain.  It allways seems to wash problems away.  Taking out
a radio, he speaks into it, "Mama wolf, this is papa wolf, over."

A female's voice comes across the CB radio, "I hear you, papa wolf.  Did you 
get the problem we were worried about settled?"

The wolf chuckles then answers back.  "It was nothing, mama.  Just a young 
skunkette who needed a fur to talk to."

The female voice comes across the box thru the static, "All right, papa.  We 
have a situation brewing in the dealer's room if you can head over there."

"I'm on it, over and out." he says as he clicks the radio back onto his belt 
and heads back into the hotel to continue running security for the convention.

End