Angela and Nina (The girl and the fox)
The little girl delighted at seeing her warm breath turn into a smoky plume of mist the moment it hit the cold night air.
One finger, erupting from its threadbare mittened housing, felt for the condensation as it dissipated.
She took a quick breath, pursed her lips into a little ‘o’ shape, then puffed out her cheeks hard, trying to make a thin jet of smoke that she could intersect with her hand. She could feel it, but not see it. A few more attempts taught her that if she gulped down a great big lungfull and let it really heat up inside her belly first, it made for a much more more impressive display.
She had taken a few steps away from the acidic glare of the streetlamps and into the deep blue stillness of the park, the better to see the few keen stars which winked high above the city.
She craned her head backwards as far as she could. “Hello,” she said to a near-full moon, then spun round on one foot in imitation of the orb’s icy halo.
A gust of winter wind rose up around her. Brief but stubborn, it threatened to topple her over. She stumbled backwards, holding her arms out wide to regain her balance.
She chuckled at the near miss, then busied herself with stuffing the frizzy tufts of hair which had escaped from under her red bobble hat.
Something rustled nearby making her stop immediately. Mittened hand sliding out from under her hat, she swiftly turned her head to the thicket behind.
She waited stock still too see if it had just been her imagination. Silent seconds passed. Nothing but the far off wail of an ambulance. Little puffs of steam escaped from her lips.
She waited a heartbeat longer then, remembering what her gran said about being late home, took a step forward.
Another rustle.
She spun round on her heel.
“Hello?” she said, bending down towards the thick brown tangle of twigs and leaves.
A muted vocalisation came in response.
Intrigued, the little girl crept forward, crunching leaves beneath her boots with each step.
“Hello? Where are you?”
Another rustle.
She crouched and pushed awkwardly into the thicket. Her gloves snagged on branches as she squeezed into the dark hole head first.
“Hello? I can’t see anything, just...oh.”
A black wet snout gleamed inches from the girl’s own rosy nose. With eyes widened with surprise, she tracked a path upwards from leathery nostrils along an elegant stretch of deep auburn fur, and into bright amber eyes, each cleft with black vertical slits.
Neither moved. Time stood still. Girl and fox, heads bowed together in silent communion.
“Um,” the little girl mumbled, her initial shock waning, “Hi. My name’s Angela. Don’t be scared”
The fox’s ears pricked up. Flashes of white hair within them caught what little light spilled in from the outside world. Angela’s eyes were already growing accustomed to the light. She could now make out the scraggly silhouette of the fox, and the lankness of the fur on its flanks.
With the tiniest of whimpers, it tilted its long face downwards, its gaze settling on its front leg.
The point where its umber-coloured thigh deepened to a dark chocolate brown was interrupted by a tangle of bright blue. Angela recognised it immediately as a string shopping back. It was just like the kind her gran used to produce at the checkout on their trips together to the cornershop.
The fox’s leg was completely enmeshed in the bag. Wound tightly as it was, Angela imagined it must have hurt.
Tentatively, Angela took off her mittens, then reached forward with index fingers and thumbs pinched together.
The fox twitched backwards. Angela paused and looked back into its orange eyes.
“Shhhhhhh, it’s okay,” she crooned, sparking a vague memory of her mother having once done this. It felt nice to Angela. To be the comforter. “Everything’s alright. Shhhhhh.”
The fox lay still. The only movement came from its tiny frame. It’s rib cage expanded and contracted with each short breath.
Angela brought her fingers into contact with the angry knot of blue fibres. Being as careful as possible not to tug, she set about trying to loosen the tangled web.
“You know,” she said in a hushed tone, “I found something else today too. At lunch I was playing by the bikeshed and found a toy. I think it’s from one of those Kinder Egg thingies. It’s a really pretty horse with a horn on its head. That was lucky, wasn’t it.”
The fox glanced interestedly between its leg and the little girl’s cherubic face.
“I got a Kinder Egg once before but I didn’t pay for it,” Angela said, pausing to wipe her nose with her sleeve, leaving behind a smear of dirt across her cheek. “My mum told me the shop man wouldn’t mind. But I think he must have. So I never opened the egg.”
Angela’s clever fingers unravelled the last few blue fibres from the fox’s leg. Underneath, the animal’s skin was raw and pink.
“Oh dear that looks sore doesn’t it,” she said, the corners of her mouth turning downwards. “Never mind, I’ll make it better.”
She stroked the dark fur around it, then raised a finger to her lips, kissed it, and delicately placed it on the rosy skin where the bag had once been wound.
“You’ll be fine, little one,” Angela whispered. “You’ll be fine.”
The fox raised its head level with the girl’s, and blinked emptily.
Angela smiled.
“I think I’ll call you Nina. That was my mum’s name. She would have liked you. You would’ve liked her.”
The wind rustled through the park outside the hedge, catching the fox’s attention. Gingerly at first, it raised up on to its legs and turned its head to see past the girl. Seemingly satisfied with the strength in its sore leg, it slinked past her and out into the dark blue of the empty park. A quick glance back at the girl, then away.
“Bye Nina,” Angela said quietly.
She crawled forward to inhabit the still-warm nook that the fox had just been nestled in, and curled into it. She took a deep breath in, held it within her tummy, then slowly released it. But no plume of smoke came out of her lips. The warmth of the hidey hole kept the cold world at bay outside its branches.
Angela lay on her side and fished a hand into her coat pocket. Beyond the mittens, tissues and wrappers she felt a prang of hard plastic. She pulled it out and into the dim moonlight.
A unicorn with pink flowing hair and a golden horn stood fixedly in a proud pose.
Angela wrapped her hand around the toy, lay her head on her arm and closed her eyes.