Ah, Friday. The day that everyone has come to love, as it signals the last day of the work week. No matter who you are, Friday is always welcomed. Whether it be because you get to go back home to enjoy a few days off, or just simply spend more time with your family.
When someone refers to a family, they might think of two loving parents and their playful children, perhaps a pet as well. For me, on the other hand, it means something completely different...
It's been over nine years since I discovered the then filly Rainbow Dash in a cardboard box in the middle of the sidewalk. It still baffles me to this day how it was ever possible for her to exist in my world, but I honestly stopped caring about that a long time ago.
Coming home to her after work is hands down the highlight of my day. Then again, I guess that's not saying too much when it comes to my life. Working at my local Walmart isn't the worst thing I’ve had to go through, but it obviously doesn't compare to all of the time I've spent with Dashie.
And as much as I want to spend some time with her right now, I'm afraid that I still have another hour of work here before I get the chance to do that. But I don't mind too much. After all, I get paid to do this, and I need as much money as I can get.
This past year, or so, I've been saving up all the money I can, in hopes that Dashie and I will soon be able to move away from this place. It's not that I necessarily want to move, but in a year's time, I might not have a choice in the matter. There are rumors going around that some big company is going to buy up all of the land surrounding my home and build a big factory in its place. I'm not too sure how I feel about that, but it doesn't matter. If that happens, then we'll either need to move away from this place, or try to buy a house closer to the city. The latter isn't really a viable option to begin with, so I need to try and get us out of here while I still can.
"Are you feeling alright, my friend?" My train of thought is cut off by a voice of a man. I shake my head a little bit and look up to see who it is.
"Oh, hey boss. Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about my plans for the weekend." I try to play it off as if I wasn't distracted, because I was supposed to be stocking shelves right now.
Luckily, it seems to work, as he gives me a grin. I'm pretty lucky that I have a good relationship with my boss, or he might've scolded me for not staying on task.
"Well, speaking of plans, I hope you don't have any yet. Because I figured you and I could go into town and try our luck at a casino after work."
I almost had a double-take with his words. A casino? That seemed a bit out of our league.
"Well, I mean, I'd love to, but I don't really have any extra money to spend. Practically every dime I earn goes into something necessary for life."
"Oh, don't worry about that, old sport. I have no problem with lending you money for a round or two. Plus, I figured that an unmarried man who lives by himself would enjoy a bit of 'guy time' as they call it."
Well, now I'm kind of pinned. After what he said, there's really no reason for me not to go, or at least that's what he thinks. I suppose that I could still turn him down, but he could get suspicious then. He knows exactly where I live, and I wouldn't be surprised if he gave me a visit if he wanted to find out what was up. I obviously can't let that happen... And not to mention that I'd feel kind of bad if I rejected such a nice offer.
"Well, if you insist, then I guess I'll go. Thanks for inviting me."
"Ah, I'm glad you took up my offer. Well, let's not waste any time. I'll let you off of work a little early today so we can get a head start."
At this point, I don't really know what to think of the situation. It's great that I'm getting off of work a little early, and I suppose a little guy time would be good for me. But, what about Dashie? I arrive home at nearly the exact same time every single day that I work, so she'll know something's up if I'm not back by then. This sort of thing has never happened before, so I have no idea how Dashie could react to me not showing up. Would she freak out and go outside looking for me? Or maybe she'll be so caught up in her own activities that she won't even notice that I'm late at all?
For the sake of both of us, I hope for the latter. But I just wish there was some way to let her know, so neither of us will have to worry. I have a house phone, but with her hooves, she'd probably have a hard time answering. Not to mention that my boss would figure out that I actually don't live alone if he heard me telling someone that I'd be back later than usual.
Unfortunately for me, it looks like I'm just going to have to go with the flow, and hope it works out alright.
"And a new track record by the #14 car! That lap shatters the old record by over half a second!"
The commentator's voice booms through the TV's speaker system. At the moment, just like this time almost every Friday, I'm watching NASCAR qualifying for the race on Sunday. Although I'm not too focused on that right now.
Today seems to have happened a bit differently from most Fridays. Usually, Dad would get home from work in the middle of qualifying. But, that just ended and he's nowhere in sight.
I honestly shouldn't be bothered by this. I mean, it's only been five minutes since he would usually get home. He probably just had some last minute task to do at work and stayed a little later than usual. I'm sure he'll be here in like, ten seconds flat.
I fly over to the pantry nonchalantly and grab an oatmeal cream pie. Normally, Dad wouldn't be okay with this, he would always go on about how it ruined my appetite for a healthy dinner. And he's totally right, but today's Friday. I think everyone deserves to indulge a little on days like these.
I needily scarf down the treat, and I decide to wait for Dad by the front window, so we can get going to the park like we had planned as soon as possible. He better hurry it up though, we're burning daylight!
I glide my way to the windowsill, adding in a flip just before I land on the pillow that was on top of it. I then look outside, hoping to see Dad, but there was still no sight of him. So instead, I inspect the street that we live on. My dad and I aren't ever worried about me being seen by a passerby when I look out the window, the last person besides us in the area moved out years ago. In fact, this house was probably one of a very short list of homes that were still occupied in this community, if you could even call it one.
Speaking of that, I remember Pops telling me a couple of months ago that we might end up having to leave this house and go somewhere far away from here. I don't remember why exactly, but I can't say that I like the idea of moving. We've made so many awesome memories in this house, as well as the park nearby. I'd hate to leave it all. But, I guess as long as I'm with my dad, it doesn't matter.
My boss and I made it into town by 5:00 pm, or at least that's what I think I read right before heading into one of the city's countless casinos. I caught a glimpse of the name of this one in particular as we came inside: MotorCity Casino Hotel. Definitely a fit name for the city, and I'm sure Dashie would've loved the sound of it if she were to know about this.
That actually brings up a good question. Should I tell her about all of this when I get back? I mean, I don't see why not.
In hindsight, it's kind of selfish of me to even consider keeping this from her. Ever since I've started taking care of her nine years ago, there's only been one single thing that I've ever masked the truth of with her. And that'd be her origin, how she's from a kid's cartoon and all. But, she's just not ready for that. All I can do is make sure she's happy. I'm hoping that one day an opportunity will present itself so that I can properly explain all of it to her. But, for now, I'm going to leave it as it is.
As I follow my boss through the crowd to the machines, I realize that I've actually never been inside a casino before. Then again, I've never had an amount of wealth that would enable me to do so.
Now that I think about it, I don't think I even know how this whole thing works. What am I supposed to do?
I begin to open my mouth to ask my boss that very question, but he beats me to it.
"Well, here we are. This should be quite fun, don't you think?"
"Oh yeah, definitely. But, uh, what exactly am I supposed to do? Never been to one of these things." I ask that question almost embarrassingly. I feel like at my age, I should at least know how casinos work.
Luckily for me, my boss doesn't seem too bothered by the question, and he answers it willingly.
"Well, you see those slot machines? Certainly you've heard of them before," I nod to him signifying that I had "Well, we're going to go over to that fellow at the token station and well, purchase a few tokens from him. Each one will be good for a round on these machines. All you have to do is insert the token, and pull the lever and it'll randomly select certain icons. If you get the same icon three times in a row, then you've won yourself some money."
"Oh... Uh, thanks. That makes sense." In my mind, I'm doing the biggest facepalm I've ever done. This is way simpler than I anticipated. I almost feel like a child with how he had to explain it to me and everything.
My boss beckons me to follow him towards the token station, and I do so quickly. We get to the station, and my boss hands the man a decent wad of cash. He puts the money away and gives my boss four tokens in exchange.
"Well, old sport. Let's go, and may luck be on our side tonight." He hands me half of the tokens and we walk back to the slot machines.
We get to the slot machines, and I let my boss go for a round before I tried, just so I knew exactly what to expect. He takes one of his tokens and puts it in the slot. He waits a moment, seemingly making sure that the token registered. After confirming that it had, he yanks the lever and watches the dials spin in unison.
"Double Bar.... Double Bar...... Cherry. Oh, I almost had it!" My boss frustratingly slaps his hand down on the machine. He seems pretty engaged, to say the least.
After a moment, he turns to me. "Well, anyway, how about you give it a go?" I nod to him and turn my attention to the slot machine in front of me.
With the blue and white token in hand, I drop it into the slot, and the machine lights up after only a few seconds. Time seems to slow down just a tad as I reach for the lever on the side, but I eventually get a grip on it and let it rip.
The three dials quickly come to a stop one by one after spinning for a couple of seconds. First, it was bar, then it was cherry, and lastly, it was blank...
"Well, that about sums up my luck..." Of course, I'm only joking when I say that. It's not like I ever thought I'd get any money off of these things, but it'd still be nice.
"Oh, don't think like that, old sport. You still have another token at your disposal." His words give me some encouragement. I'll have to remember to always bring him with me if I were to do something like this again.
As I smile, a question comes into my head. And I don't want to miss the chance to get it answered.
"Thanks, boss. Say, have you ever made any money off of these things?" As I say that, he yanks the lever for his second try. The dials stop at bar... bar... and another bar!
My boss then looks up at me with a smug face. "I have now, old sport." I can't help but laugh a little at the coincidence.
"Congrats, boss! How much did you win?" I'm honestly pretty surprised that he won money on only his second attempt. From what I gathered, most people had to play so many rounds to win, that the money they won didn't cover for how much they paid.
"Oh, I think around 2,000 dollars. I've been quite lucky tonight, it seems. But let's not forget that you still have another round to go."
I give him a nod in understanding and slide my last token into the slot. Once again, the machine lights up. I let out a deep breath, and pull the lever back for the second time.
I look up from my spot on the windowsill and read the time on the clock. It read 6:30 pm, and for the first time in what seems like forever, I'm actually worried about my dad. This has never happened before...
In fact, we've never even made a plan for if he were to not come home from work on time. So, I doubt Dad meant to stay out late, and I know he wouldn't ever do that purposefully. He's not dumb enough to only think about himself when making decisions like that. I mean, he's the smartest person I know.
Well, then again, he's the only person I know, but that's beside the point. Right now, I need to come up with a plan, and fast.
From what I can tell, I have three options here:
- I can ignore the problem and just hang out, hoping that he comes home soon.
- I can leave the house, going against Dad's rule of not going outside without him, and fly around looking for him.
Or 3. I can try to contact him in some way to see what's up.
Straight away, I'm going to rule out option #2. There's no telling what might happen to me if I go out looking for him all alone, even with my wings. I've never even been any further than the old park, so I could get lost. And even if I could find him, what would I do then? He could be in a public area, and I can't just go landing in a place like that. To top it all off, it's nearly dark out. So looking for him wouldn't be easy in the first place.
That brings me to two options. The first one is obviously the easiest by far, but Pops raised a mare of action! I'm not just going to sit around and wait for things to fix themselves!
So that means I'm going with option #3: Try to contact him and hopefully find out whats going on!
I fly over to the kitchen, and land in front of the fridge. Dad had put his cell phone number on it shortly after finding me, just in case of an emergency. I've never actually needed it before, but I think this situation is worthy of a call.
I fly up onto the counter where the house phone rests, and slowly, but surely, dial the number. It's pretty hard with my hooves, but I manage.
I hold the phone up to my ear with my wing and let it ring. This whole process is pretty alien to me, seeing how I almost never do it. But Dad had taught me how to after having me for about a year and we used to practice all the time, so it isn't all that bad.
"Riiiing, Riiiing, Riiiing, Riiiing... Beeeep. Hey, this is me. Unfortunately, I can't make it to the phone right now. But feel free to leave a message and I'll call you back as soon as I can. Beeeeep."
Now I was put on the spot. Of course, I've practiced leaving messages before. But I've never had to do it in a real scenario. Okay, chill out, Rainbow Dash. You got this.
"Uh, hey, Dad. It's me, Dashie... Uh, I noticed that you haven't gotten home yet, and I'm kinda worried. So, uh, c-call me back when you can, okay?"
I hit the "end" button on the phone and set it back on its charging dock. This sucks... I called him so that I could get answers. Now I just have more questions. Why didn't he answer? Will he call me back? Why isn't he home yet? Will he be coming home at all? And most importantly, is he okay?
These questions dance around in my head and make my brain hurt. So I fly back to the windowsill and lie down on the pillow to look outside.
It's practically dark, now. And that only makes me all the more worried. It's a weird feeling for me, really. I hardly ever worry about anything. But, now that's all I feel...
"Please come home, Daddy. I miss you..."
I couldn't believe my eyes for a moment. I go back to each dial and count out how many bars I got on each one. The 1st, three... The 2nd, also three... And finally, the third one. One bar, two bars, three bars!
"Oh my god, I actually won!" My eyes widen as I look on at the screen in bewilderment.
"Way to go, old sport! That's fantastic!" He puts a hand on my shoulder as I look over at him.
"This is all thanks to you, boss! I can't ever thank you enough for this, and I don't even know how much I won!"
"Oh, I'd say roughly two-hundred grand. And no need to thank me, old sport, the pleasure is all mine! I'm just happy to ripen up your life a notch. Say, what do you plan on doing with all of that money?"
I have to think for a moment before answering his question. The first thing that comes to mind is giving him at least a quarter of the money, as he paid for the token and brought me out here in the first place. But, what am I going to do with 150k? Of course, the government will probably take some of it. But, should I save it? Buy a nice car? Go on a vacation?
Then, it hits me. Of course, there's only one true choice on how to spend my money. It honestly can't be any more clear.
"Well, first off, I'm going to give a quarter of it to you. It's only fair, and I won't take 'no' for an answer. Now, what I think I'm going to do with the rest of it, is pretty underwhelming. But, I'm probably going to put it towards buying myself a new house, somewhere away from the city as well as where that big company plans on putting their new factory."
"Don't worry, my friend. I completely respect your decision. But, before you can start doing any of that, you'll need to get your money," He looks back at the slot machine I had used for a moment, and then looks back to me. "Actually, don't you worry about the process. I'll take care of both of our winnings and get it to you in a few. Why don't you go over to the bar and enjoy a beverage? You've earned it."
I thank him for his hospitality, and head over to the bar. Upon arriving, I order a drink and sit down on one of the fancy stools in front of the counter.
After sitting down, the bartender comes back with my drink, and I thank him. I take a sip, before looking up at the television on the wall. It looked to be a highlight reel of NASCAR qualifying that had taken place a few hours beforehand.
I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise that motorsport coverage is being presented in a car-themed casino, but I was still a little surprised anyway. Usually, it's football, or baseball, or even hockey.
I take a few more sips and then look back up at the TV. It showed the #14 car crossing the checkerboard start/finish line and then a timing sheet showing that the driver of that car had won pole position. Well, I know Dashie must've seen that back home...
Those words light a thought in my mind. I'm not with my boss right now. I could call her, and he wouldn't be able to suspect a thing.
I quickly reach into my pocket and pull out my phone. I then hastily tap the power button to get it out of sleep mode.
But, after waiting for a few seconds, nothing happens. So I push down on the button harder, and for longer, hoping that'd do the trick.
Well, it didn't... The once blank screen lights up for a few short seconds, with a picture of the battery icon running low and on red. Dang it, my phone's dead!
After thinking for a moment as to why my phone had died, I quickly remember that my phone was almost dead every day after I get home from work. There aren't any clocks in here, strangely. But if I had to guess, I'd say that it was nearly 7:00 pm.
Man, Dashie must be worried sick by now. There's no way she hasn't noticed that I'm still gone. I really need to get going, before she tries to come find me. Hopefully, she hasn't started doing that already...
Not wanting to wait any longer, I place my mug down on the counter and begin the search for my boss.
After a minute or so of looking, I spot him by the token station we were at earlier, seemingly waiting on something. Wasting no time, I walk over to him as quickly as possible without causing a stir.
Upon reaching him, he gives me a smile. "What's the rush, old sport? I'm just waiting for our separate checks."
"Yeah, boss. I just realized that my... uh, aunt and uncle are coming to visit for the weekend. I got a text from them saying they'd be at my house within the next half hour. Don't wanna leave them hanging, you know?"
I had to make that up on the spot, and I honestly didn't think he'd fall for it right away. But, nevertheless, he did.
"Oh, I completely understand, my friend. Let's not waste any more time!" As he says this, the manager comes back from wherever he went and hands my boss two checks. He hands one to me and then motions for me to follow him out of the casino.
We eventually weave our way through the crowd and exit the building, quickly finding his car once we got out. We both rush inside of it and he drives us out of there as quick as he can. Well, legally of course.
I must've fallen asleep at some point, as I wake up when I hear a noise coming from outside. I rub my eyes and turn on the porch light, revealing the object just past the driveway.
It was a car, a fancy looking car at that. I see a person come out from the passenger side, and I quickly duck my head just in case. As I do, I hear two voices coming from outside.
"Thanks for everything, boss. For my job, taking me to the casino, and for the quick ride home. I had fun tonight."
"Oh, no need to thank me, old sport. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. But, is there someone inside your house? That porch light wasn't on when we arrived."
"Oh, no boss. It's still just me here. That porch light is... uh, motion activated. Turns on whenever something sizable gets close to the driveway."
"That's strange. I didn't think these houses had things like that. Well, anyway, I'll see you on Monday, my friend."
"Yeah, see ya."
And with that, I hear the man in the car roll up his window, and drive off into the distance.
Now, the man who came out of the passenger seat could be Pops, as he certainly sounded like him. But, if I've learned anything from him, it's that you can never be too careful in these cases. If it isn't him, then who knows what will happen if he sees me?
So, I don't move from my place just under the windowsill. I try to be as quiet as possible, although my breathing is kind of getting in the way of that.
I hear footsteps coming from outside, getting closer to the front door. Then, I hear the jingling of keys being pulled out. This gives me some assurance that it's Dad, but I still can't be certain of that.
The man first unlocks the two deadbolts, then the Masterlock, and finally, the doorknob. I anxiously poke my head out from the windowsill and watch as he opens the front door.
After thanking my boss for the fun night and the ride home, I walk up to the front door completely relaxed. The porch light had been turned on when I was getting out of the car, and it wasn't motion activated as I told my boss as an excuse. So that must mean Dashie's still home. Thank God...
I get to the door, pull out my keys, and unlock the two deadbolts, the Masterlock, and finally, the doorknob. I cheerfully open the door, only to find that it was pitch black inside.
I feel for the light switch on the wall that turns on the main hallway lightbulb. Upon locating it, I flip it up, and the hallway fills with light.
"Dashie? I'm home. Sorry I'm la- Oof!"
I fall to the ground as I'm pushed over by who I'm hoping is Dashie. I open my eyes after the recoil and look up to see who it was.
"Daddy! It is you! Oh, I was so worried Pops," She pulls me into an embrace and I hug her back with all my might. "Where were you this whole time?!"
"Hey, Dashie. Yeah, I'm sorry I worried you so much. Let's go sit on the couch and I'll tell you everything."
And that's what I did. I told her about looking forward to spending the weekend with her while I was still at work, about my boss asking me if I wanted to go to a casino, and what a casino is in the first place. I told her how I couldn't really say no to him, about getting to the casino, and described the experience to her. This went on for some time, with me not getting to the part about winning money until around 8:30 pm. She was pretty stoked when I told her about winning on my glorious final attempt on the slot machine.
Eventually, I got around to explaining how my phone died so I couldn't call her when I had the chance. And she told me that she had tried calling me as well, but I didn't answer and she left a voicemail. I can't wait to hear what that sounded like, it was either hilarious or cute, and I can never get enough of that side of her.
After we finish our conversation, I hear the rumbling of her stomach.
"Sounds like someone's hungry. Come on, let's get us something to eat!"
So we had a somewhat fancy dinner as I'd like to call it, and Dashie was begging me to buy something cool and expensive with all the money I won, like a bunch of fancy TVs or gaming systems. But I had to stifle those ideas of hers. She wasn't happy about it for a bit, but when I told her I was going to put it towards a new house, she seemed to understand.
We've both had a long day today, so after we ate, we went to our rooms to shower. Afterwards, we met up in the living room to start looking for a new house online. Which was one of the few times I ever allowed her to view the internet at all.
After about an hour of looking, we narrowed it down to a short list and we agreed it was enough for tonight.
"Alright, Dashie. Thanks for helping me narrow it down. I'm sure we'll come up with a decision over the weekend. But for now, I think we should get some rest. After all, we gotta big day ahead of us tomorrow."
I shut off my laptop and begin to walk towards my bedroom. But, I stop when I hear hoofsteps following me. Dashie's room is on the other side of the house, so I was confused for a second. I turn around, and she's right behind me.
"Yaaawn. Something wrong, Dashie?" I look her over and she gives me an almost embarrassed look.
"Dad, can I... bunk with you tonight?" She blushes as she asks the question, probably thinking that she's too old to be doing such things. But, boy was she wrong about that.
"Oh, come here, Dashie! Of course, you can! And don't you ever start thinking that you can't!" I give her a big smile and she returns it, beaming with joy.
"Race you to the bed," She unfurls her wings and launches herself across the room and lands on my bed all within a second. "I win!"
I can't help but laugh as I chase after her. She's made a habit of racing me to my bed whenever she bunks with me. But, I can never predict when she'll say it. Well, not that it matters anyway, I'd never win.
Later that night, I wake up to the sound of my phone notifying me of a voicemail, with Dashie's body all but wrapped around my own.
I squint my eyes and open the notification. It was from Dashie. Well, I know my phone is pretty crappy, but I didn't think it was this crappy. She sent this, like, six hours ago now.
I play the voicemail and hold the phone up to my ear.
"Uh, hey, Dad. It's me, Dashie... Uh, I noticed that you haven't gotten home yet, and I'm kinda worried. So, uh, c-call me back when you can, okay?"
Once again, I can only smile upon hearing her words. Dashie is just such a complete character. She always acts all tough and cool and everything. But, even so, I can't stop finding funny or cute things about her.
It dawns on me that maybe I see that stuff from her because before I found her, I hadn't felt those two things in years. At least not in real life.
Well, in the end, I guess it doesn't matter. I'm just so grateful to have her in my life, and I know that feeling is mutual between us.
She is my everything. Without her, I'm nothing. She's done absolute wonders to open me up from who I once was, and I can't possibly thank her enough for it. All I can do is make sure that she stays happy. Because as long as she's happy, I can be happy.
I look down from my phone screen at Dashie, sleeping soundly without a care in the world. And I plan to keep it that way.
My phone lights up yet again, this time with a new email from some company that I've never heard of. Probably spam, but I'll check just to make sure.
I open the email, and to my surprise, a job offer appears. I go through the details, and I realize that I had applied for a lot of jobs throughout the state, figuring that I'd need a new job somewhere before I move there.
This one looked pretty legit, too. And it was a good distance from the city, but not too far away at the same time. I ponder it for a moment, but I decide to put it off until tomorrow. I put my phone down on my nightstand and look back at Dashie.
I give her a kiss on the forehead before covering her up with the blanket.
"Goodnight, my little Dashie. I love you."
I get comfortable and close my eyes, almost falling asleep right there. But, just as I catch the sweet embrace of sleep, I hear a voice. Dashie's voice to be precise.
"Goodnight, Daddy. I love you, too."
THE END
Author's Note
Thank you for taking the time to read my story. I hope you all enjoyed! I had to put a lot of research into this one, as I've actually never been to a casino before, myself. So I hope that didn't take away from the reading at all. Feel free to comment on any mistakes I've made or any way you think I could've made this story better. And a Happy late Thanksgiving, as well!
Rdasher12
