Hope
Chapter One: The World of Friendship
The recycled air of the plane had been stifling. Jerimiah “JD” Dunston was more river than human from the amount he had sweat this trip. He was thankful to be returning to his cold Alaskan home where the sun wasn’t trying to murder him slowly. The moment his feet touched the ground the crisp winter air surrounded him. Hawaii had been an exciting vacation none the less. JD had partied more than he had in high school and that was saying something. It was good his best friend Micah Shelby was there to rein him in otherwise it might have been bad. Jerimiah was twenty four now and was struggling in life. It was Micah’s idea to take him as far away from his troubles and get him out of his house where all of the bad memories lingered.
“How you holding up?” Micah proclaimed joyfully as he slapped the giant half Russian’s back. Jerimiah donned a hollow smile as a façade, at least for Micah’s sake. Although he welcomed the cold air, he shunned heading back to the cold of his home.
“Peachy keen.” Jerimiah remarked casually his thoughts elsewhere. He knew he would have to visit mother at one point before heading back to his apartment. It had been too long since he saw her last. She deserved a better son.
“Don’t lie man, how are you really?” Micah replied harshly. Jerimiah just threw up his hands in mock surrender.
“You got me man, I miss the beach.” He remarked with a wry smirk. Micah just shook his head and continued on. Neither said anything as they went through the security gate. Nothing was uttered as they gathered their luggage at the conveyer belt. It wasn’t until the ride back to Jerimiah’s cottage out in the boonies of Valdez that anything was said. Up until that point there was just silence. As fun as the trip was for both it had driven them even farther apart. Jerimiah had broken the promise to not drink on the vacation. He had broken that promise numerous times throughout his friendship with Micah and now…now was the final straw between the two. Before boarding the plane home they had a long argument that had ended horribly with both not speaking to one another for most of the ten hour flight. Jerimiah was actually surprised that Micah spoke to him again. He had thought after his stunt at the airport bar that Micah would actually give up.
“Hey, big man…promise me you won’t go overboard again.” Micah pleaded with a look of genuine hurt in his eyes. Jerimiah didn’t say anything. He just continued looking out to the snowy expanse with a heavy heart. Once the taxi stopped Micah offered a quick yet stern hug.
“Remember, if you ever need me…” Jerimiah didn’t respond. He just walked back to his small wooden cottage that was so hidden away from society. He was too ashamed to face Micah. He just wanted to be alone. The final thing Jerimiah heard was the taxi pulling out of his driveway. As he got inside he hung up his faded leather jacket on the hand carved coat rack. His father had made it for him on his tenth birthday. It was a beautiful piece with many traditional Inupiaq figures carved into the red oak. Jerimiah had forgotten most of the stories behind them but one lingered in his mind even to this day. At the top of the coat rack was Ukuhariak, the wolf of snow. His legend was a lonely one. Unlike the other wolves of his time he hunted alone. Why he hunted alone the Inupiaq people did not know. Regardless he was the first wolf to come to the aid of humans. Ukuhariak felt much sorrow for the suffering humans and hunted the best game for them, offering it to them at the edge of their villages. Then one day a wise woman of the people approached him and asked “why noble Ukuhariak do you aide us?” The lone white wolf bowed his head in respect and simply replied “Every being big or small should have at least one to count upon.” That was the last any had heard of the wolf of snow yet his presence lived on. Any season that yielded a bad hunt was met with fresh game and a bountiful flurry of berries and fish upon the next.
Jerimiah shook off the thoughts of the old wives tale and went into his redone kitchen. Before the vacation he had it renovated. The tile had been replaced with fine oak flooring and the mahogany counter refurnished. Before the vacation Jerimiah’s kitchen was famous for its fully stocked bar. Micah had taken away all of the alcohol in the cabinets yet didn’t know of the secret compartment that Jerimiah put in when he inherited his parent’s home. Smiling to himself, Jerimiah tapped his knuckles at the false paneling until it slid into the counter. To his surprise there was nothing there…save for a note.
Hey bud…I knew about this since the start, thought if it ever came down to it that I’d take anything here away from you….love Micah.” Jerimiah read the note over and over. Anger slowly welled up in his stomach all the way to his heart. He tried to rationalize what was going on but the rage was too much. In the end Jerimiah went into a long fit of anger and screaming. In his rage Jerimiah failed to see the water that had melted off of his shoes. In one moment he was standing and in the next he was on the floor, a small trickle of blood gathering at his mouth.
It had felt like several hours had passed on the cold floor of his cottage. When Jerimiah awoke his head was throbbing. The last thing he remembered was Micah’s letter. Anger began to bubble again but this time he was able to think it through. He needed fresh air and a smoke. At least to stem some of the rage from not having his poison. Jerimiah ruffled through his pockets until he found his smokes. There was only one cigarette left in his pack. He’d have to go to town to get another… he cursed under his breath but at least he had something. He mindlessly threw on his leather jacket and stepped onto his deck. For a second he thought he was dreaming…but dreaming didn’t come with the throbbing pain of falling on the floor. This wasn’t his cold Alaskan back yard…this was…well…something else. Everything was overly colorful like a cartoon. Jerimiah wordlessly mouthed, what the… This wasn’t home. Wherever he was, was not Alaska. Just as he accepted his surroundings there was an even more peculiar sight. There was a light cyan blur with a rainbow following right behind it heading for his cottage.
“What in the holiest of…” before he could finish his sentence that cyan blur collided full force into his chest. Another spurt of blood came out of his mouth as he collided against his deck’s floor.
“Intruder!.” A scratchy voice boomed as a pony’s hoof slammed against Jerimiah’s deck. Jerimiah just wheezed and sputtered trying to catch his breath. Once he sat up he couldn’t believe his eyes. There was a cyan pony standing before him. That aside she was talking…TALKING! Jerimiah knew he wasn’t drunk but this was far beyond explanation. So he just laid there trying to think of a logical explanation for all of this. There was definitely none. Just as he tried to come to grips with his surroundings another pony appeared….quite literally out of nowhere. This was sporting a horn, wings and was a light shade of purple. Yhup…Jerimiah was done. He officially was done with drinking as of today. This was what all of this was, just a booze induced nightmare.
“Rainbow Dash, don’t just go attacking…whatever it is, It might be friendly!” the purple pony stammered. The cyan one’s eyes narrowed as it countered angrily.
“He nearly destroyed Fluttershy’s home…how am I supposed react? Hello mister monster, thank you for assaulting my friend’s house!!” Jerimiah rubbed his head slowly making sure to check for any lumps or bumps. This had to be one of those comatose dreams he had seen in movies. It had to be. It was the only explanation. Yet there was none. For all intents and purposes this was real…at least what he perceived as real. As the two bickered Jerimiah made for the door back into his home. He’d lay in his soft queen sized bed, cuddle up with his spice and wolf holo body pillow and wake up in Alaska where things would make sense….
“Hey, where do you think you’re going monster!” the cyan pony cried as she blocked off the doorway. Surprised at how fast she moved and the rainbow that followed after her Jerimiah nearly fell backward. This time he wouldn’t be so easily intimidated however.
“Oi, pony girl, not a monster, The name is Jerimiah!” he cried with a way weaker voice than he intended. As he did the cyan pony fell on her back, laughing her hind quarters off.
“Did you hear that, his voice is soo squeaky Twilight!” As she said that she kicked all four of her legs into the air, Jerimiah’s pride deeply wounded. The purple pony only shook her head and offered one of her front hooves toward Jerimiah.
“Sorry about Rainbow Dash’s behavior.” Jerimiah just stood there, his jaw slightly agape. Was he supposed to shake the hoof, pound it…he didn’t know he was too angry at the cyan one for laughing. In the end he just stood there awkwardly, gaping at the two ponies before him. This was the start of something…Jerimiah just didn’t know what.