A Pretty Darn Good Neighbor

         

    

            The next morning, once it was time for Rick to be in his office, Ralph decided to drop in on him again, just to kind of reassure Rick and be friendly.
            It was a quiet day in the forest. Maeve hadn’t even showed up yet to supervise one and all. Ralph usually woke when the sun came up, so there was daylight. It was early fall, so it was cool in the morning. All the flowering plants had done their best for the year and were getting ready to sleep.
            Some camper, probably in the official camping area, had a fire, so smoke drifted through the trees. People do make fires in the spring and summer, but it always seemed to Ralph like a sign of fall, that drifting resinous smoke. Goodness knows there was some smoke in the Home Clearing, but Ramona kept a neat hot fire which didn’t make a lot of smoke.
            Some rabbits caught sight of him walking and froze, but he just waved a hand, so they were free to scamper off. A robin sounded off briefly.
            Yes, it was a nice morning.
            When Ralph’s steps brought him out of the forest and to the dumpster, he peeked inside. There were Rick’s old clothes and sneakers. He shook his head and smiled. Nobody was parked in the parking lot yet. He was glad of that.
            When he got to the office door, he opened it slowly and poked just his head into the office. He didn’t see Rick. Maybe he was in the backroom, or making coffee in the little kitchen area.
            “Rick?” said Ralph. He heard steps coming from the kitchen nook.
            Rick appeared with coffee and some kind of baked goods, looking very surprised when he saw Ralph. He stopped in his tracks, then went to his desk and sat down.
            “You’re still here,” remarked Rick. “What happened?”
            “That’s why I’m here,” said Ralph. “I figured I should say something.”
            “There’s more coffee out there, and some more of this sugar soaked stuff, if you want some,” said Rick.
            “You know me. Sure, I’d like some coffee and some of whatever that is,” said a happy looking Ralph.
            Rick went back around the corner and came back out with another mug of coffee and a plate with two or three servings of Smørkage on it.
            “It’s Danish. Butter cake,” said Rick. “Now. Last I saw you, you scared the heck out of me, Ralph. I still don’t have a place in my head for what I saw.”
            “You must admit it was a pretty good trick. Ramona said that if I was going to shift to a human, just in appearance of course, that I needed a model that I knew well. Well, it was you because I know what you look like!” Ralph said. The first serving of Butter Cake was already gone.
            “What really scared me is the idea that you might run into Sheila,” said Rick.
            “Who’s Sheila?” said Ralph.
            “Oh, just the girl I’m supposed to marry next week. That’s all. You could have really messed up my life, Ralph,” said Rick.
            “Ew, I see what you mean. I would look like you but be acting like I had no idea who she was!” said Ralph. “Ouch! I’m darn glad that didn’t happen.”
            “So, you didn’t pose as me and go exploring even for just last night?” said Rick, brightening up.
            “Didn’t go,” said Ralph. “In fact, if you want those old clothes, they are in the dumpster out there. Nothing is on top of them. Good as new. Or old! You could run them through the wash and forget this whole thing!”
            “Sometimes I love you, Ralph. Most of the time I don’t know what you’re up to,” said Rick.
            “I’m not usually up to anything complicated, Rick. Just living. And it’s quite a trip!” grinned Ralph.
            “Darn it, Ralph! Why didn’t you go walkabout?” Rick demanded.
            “I guess because I scared Ramona too, when you boil it down. I made her cry. Rick, I don’t ever want to make Ramona cry,” said Ralph rather soberly. He shifted his weight in the big oaken chair and reached for another piece of cake. The chair creaked and was silent. Rick waited.
            “She said I sounded ‘funny’ and called my name as if she wasn’t sure it was me and I wasn’t shifted. Or I don’t think I was.
            “A little rainstorm came through, and she cried,” said Ralph. “Even Maeve was lecturing me! She didn’t think I had thought it through. Yeah. I didn’t go, even for last night.”
            “There’s a bunch of stuff you have to do out here to eat and have a place to sleep,” said Rick. “Even looking human wouldn’t save you from that. And then you might have run into Sheila. I hate to think what could have happened then. No Hallmark movie there, dude.”
            “I sure don’t want to mess up your life, Rick,” said Ralph.
            “Thanks,” said Rick. Then he smiled for the first time since Ralph had gotten there.
            “You know that Butter Cake stuff is alright! I wonder if Thaga could fake that in her kitchen? That was almond paste in there wasn’t it?” said Ralph, drinking the last of his coffee.
            “Oh, almost nobody makes Danish cakes at home. That’s bakery stuff. I’ll try to remember to buy you one when I’m down in town,” said Rick. “Larsen’s makes them.”
            “And I’ll get my old stuff out of the dumpster and wash it up. Sometimes I need some old clothes to get filthy in,” said Rick.
            “Yeah. Makes sense. I’ll wander on down to the Clearing now, Rick. I just thought I should talk to you for a minute. I mean since I borrowed your bod for a little while!” said Ralph.
            “Yeah, OK. See you later. I’ll honk when I get the cake for you,” said Rick.
            Then, full of cake and coffee, Ralph set off for home to see what Ramona was making for breakfast.

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