Kay was out for a walk. No, it wasn’t him rollicking in his water form; it was him out for a walk around the neighbourhood. It was the day after he was attacked by that shadow guy and he was very reluctant to show his watery self to the city, but the restlessness was already setting in and spending a morning playing computer felt like imprisonment to Kay. He had to get out.

  Out walking his local streets, he passed by St Francis. The church was adjourning its mass for the day, a flow of people coming out of the big, wooden doors in a hurry to get home. Kay kept to the other side of the street. Some people coming out of the church went to their cars, while others walked down the road– their homes probably nearby.

  That Sunday was Daylight Saving Time– an extra hour of sleep. What a waste, as far as Kay was concerned. Why have it on a weekend when it could have served better use on a school day?

  With his hands in his pockets and his head in his headphones, Kay walked into the store district. He went out there to find some time to think but the sweet sounds of the Who and Deep Purple so he turned his music off. He was running low on battery power for his Walkman anyway. He shut the thing off and let the music of the world come his way.

  And just as he did so, did he walk by a pizza shop with “Get Low” blaring at him. Kay didn’t know of any song that was a number one hit for years and years but he could have sworn “Get Low” was played all the time and he worried it would become an everyday song for radio stations for years to come.

  Maybe the environment wasn’t the best at quieting his mind, but Kay lost himself in thought anyway.

  How am I supposed to find the gang anyway? he thought to himself.

  It was what he was racking his mind over for the last 24 hours. How would go about finding a gang? Could he ask someone? Were there kids at his school with gang connections? On the off chance that somebody was, how would Kay go about talking to them? If they were associated with gangs, it would be weird to have a loner like Kay walk up and try to chat about such a suggestive topic. He’d probably get beaten up!

  Did the police know about whatever gang is after Kay? He didn’t think one could go into a police station and ask. He could sneak in his water form and get some files or something but Kay didn’t the beginning or end to what searching for information was like. All he had to go was his knowledge of how the police work via TV shows, like the occasional episode of CSI.

  It had been an emotional rollercoaster for Kay– dealing with the need to be his watery self when there were literal gangsters after him, but being intimidated into never showing his subaqueous face around the city– it had been a rollercoaster! He would go from hope to despair and then back up to hope only to repeat the cycle as he circled around plans for how to free himself of being a target around Toronto’s downtown.

  So distracted by his thoughts, he stepped into a crosswalk without looking and a driver coming his way had to step on the breaks. Kay waved apologetically while the driver shot him a dirty look.

  Crossing the street, Kay made sure he had a wide runway of sidewalk in front of him before he dug back into his brain. He was stressed once again, but he tried to consul himself.

  This isn’t going to be a problem I solve today, he told himself. If it takes months for me to find this gang and talk to them, it’ll be worth it if I can spend years being Ghost Thing again.

  Kay then cringed. Now he was addressing himself with that name! Ghost Thing– what an awful superhero moniker Kay had acquired!

  After considering getting some lunch with his spare money, but then voting against it, Kay returned home and went to his computer. Mom was expecting a call from her friend so Kay was barred from going on the internet. If thinking about how to find the gang after him wasn’t challenging enough, he now had to figure out what to do with his Sunday!

  There was an old copy of Microsoft Word on Kay’s computer. Occasionally, very occasionally, Kay got the urge to open the application up and write something. What exactly? Just something on one of his whims– a fantasy story or the like. He was never much of a creative person but the urge came often enough for the feeling to domesticate.

  But what was the point of him writing fantasy stories? He was living a fantasy story! Or at least, he would have been, if his freedom to be a water elemental wasn’t compromised. Still, a part of him thought that writing fiction was pointless when he could enjoy fantastical adventures over his afternoons.

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  The things he could do as a water elemental, though, were quite different from the tales he imagined. The urge was there and– like Kay’s desire to play video games, even when he had access to a world of slinging and jumping across Toronto like the hyperactive puddle he was– having a life fantastical beyond imagination didn’t take away the joy (and importance) of entertainment.

  It was playing adventure games that inspired Kay to imagine fantasy stories of his own, when he was a young. Even if he had a life like something out of a cartoon, that didn’t mean there was not point in imagining enchanting worlds.

  Kay hovered the cursor over Word’s icon but then moved it away and went to his folders to find where he installed his video games. He wouldn’t be starting a story today.

  Inspired by his thinking about famous historical generals the other day, Kay loaded up a game of Age of Empires and passed some time that way. He didn’t get too far into playing a random map battle when he heard a scratching on his bedroom window.

  Sure enough, it was Philly, the brown fox sliding a paw down the screen’s mesh.

  Kay had to keep a loud swear inside. He could hear Mom and Urban right outside his bedroom! Kay hopped out of his seat and went to the door to lock the knob so gently not a fragment of a sound was uttered. After that he went up to the window and opened the screen.

  “My parents are home!” he said, choking his outrage so that it didn’t bring volume to his whisper. He didn’t like using ‘parents’ to describe Mom and Urban but syllables were at a premium.

  “I wanted to see you, slick,” said Philly. “‘Heard you were attacked yesterday.”

  Kay hesitated, unsure what to do, but the door was locked and Philly knew how to keep quiet. Kay opened up the screen to let the fox in. Philly hopped down onto the bed, bouncing a little. Kay gestured a finger to his mouth and went over to his computer to quit his game and go to his folder with an assortment of MP3s. Putting on a Led Zeppelin song and turning the volume up, he went to his bed to join Philly.

  “Yeah...” said Kay, his voice almost overpowered by the song coming from his computer speakers. “I was attacked by some... shadow guy. I think his name was Federov or something.” He raked a hand down his face. “I think if Lady Beat hadn’t saved me, I would have been toast.” It felt weird using ‘toast’ as slang for death when Kay’s alternate form was a water being, but now wasn’t the time to manage metaphors.

  “You met Lady Beat?” asked Philly. “How was it?”

  Kay gave a quick shrug. “It wasn’t on the best terms, with that guy attacking me. I wanted to ask her about gangs, because of the one that’s been hunting me.”

  Philly laid down on the bed, forelegs out. Raucous drums battered out of the computer speakers with coarse but soulful vocals. Philly said, “They’re still after you, huh?”

  Kay nodded. “‘Guess so. I don’t think they are going to lay off so I want to contact them and see if I can–” Kay held his hands out and oscillated them, gesturing a scale– “negotiate with them.”

  Philly nodded his head, looking off. “Yeah. I can understand why.”

  “I gotta get my life back,” said Kay, his voice crackling with determination. “Whatever it takes, I need to free myself of this... situation.”

  Philly got up, eyes warm with affection. “I know. I was pretty worried when I heard you were attacked. I’m glad you’re alright, though.”

  Kay’s heart twitched. Here was someone who a week ago seemed apathetic on his well-being, but now the fox had to come see Kay to make sure he was alright. Kay felt weird thinking it but what Philly was showing him was friend behaviour.

  His lip quivered and only by taking a breath before speaking was Kay able to ask a question with a clear throat. “Can... can I hug you?”

  He regretted the words immediately. What posed him to ask that?

  “Yeah, sure,” replied Philly with not a hint of offence or awkwardness in his voice.

  Kay was surprised. He expected Philly to be weirded out but Kay’s sentiment landed on Philly like an ace pilot. It wasn’t man behaviour to ask for a hug but what would a fox care for the deep cultural standards of humankind? The fox stepped forward to let Kay put his arms around the vulpine’s fluffy body. Philly got up on Kay’s shoulder so the boy could give a good hug to the fox. Kay reluctantly cuddled the fox close, but ran a hand down Philly’s silky fur. The fox murrs were lost under the roar of guitars.

  Coming away from the hug, Philly smiled. “Better?”

  Kay smiled, his eyes beaming. “Yeah.”

  Philly exhaled audibly. “So... there’s a gang out there, and step one is finding out who they are.” Philly knocked his head, smug grin on his face. “Maybe I could look into it. There’s close to nothing my nose can’t sniff out!”

  Kay giggled. “I hope so. I have no idea where to start with this investigation.”

  “I don’t think we’re the best detectives,” said Philly, “but maybe if we worked together, we can find out who’s been stalking around the city and who’s been after ya!”

  Kay let out a chortle and nodded his head. “Yeah. Let’s try.”

  Philly stood up, proud and ready, but he knew he shouldn’t have made his stay to long. He walked up to the window. “Better not stay around, though. I’ll see you some time, right?”

  Kay opened up the window and Philly jumped up and through. Kay closed the screen and smiled at his friend. “I’ll see you later.”

  Philly trotted off, fluffy tail swaying behind him. Kay closed the window, a cloud of cold air residing nearby. Philly hopped down the steps, out of sight.

  Kay leaned down to where Philly was just resting and sniffed. It might have a lingering odor, it might have not. Kay couldn’t tell, but if Mom smelled something weird she might start wondering if Kay was keeping a cat in that place. He went to his drawer and pulled out an old bottle of cologne. He sprayed some where the fox rested, hoping that any smell would be vanquished.

  Putting the cologne away he went back to his computer to turn down the volume and turn the song off.

  We will solve this problem, he told himself again.

  It probably wasn’t a bad idea to take it easy for the rest of the afternoon. Kay loaded Age of Empires back up and started a random map match again. In the excitement of Philly’s surprise visit, Kay had forgot to save his game!