Exiled to Paradise - Vignettes - 4. Chapter 4

Gary browsed through the sci-fi section, wishing the store had a larger selection. The two bookcases held a pretty short list of authors, mostly recent top-ten sellers. Then he noticed the bottom shelf down there with the used books, and crouched down to get a better look. He smiled at the thin, well-worn novels from decades ago - as he figured, this was as close to a goldmine as he was going to find out here in the middle of nowhere. Leaning over to scan the shadowed book titles more closely, his only warning before the impact was a glimpse of movement out of the corner of his eye; he fell to one side as the shorter boy who'd run into him staggered in the other direction with an exclaimed "oof!"

"Whaah - y-y-you ok-kay?" Gary asked, brushing his long ears out of his face as he stood up quickly to help the human catch his balance. "Yeah, no thanks to you!" came the reply, accompanied by the boy's sneer, before he wrenched away from Gary's steadying hand and ran off down another aisle. "What a jerk," Gary thought, shaking his head, then turned back to the old space-opera series he'd seen on that bottom shelf before the collision, picking out the first couple of books before heading to the register at the front of the store.

Blinking his eyes in the bright sunlight outside the bookstore, Gary looked around and tried to decide what to do with the couple of hours left before the bus picked the students back up. Most of the "historic" downtown street was fronted by small retro restaurants and touristy clothing and souvenier shops, neither of which interested him. Then he noticed the tents and booths down at the other end of the street, and his decision was made.

"Are the rocks in your head getting too heavy for you," the same voice intruded into his consciousness from behind him, "or are you just too dumb to move out of the way?" As Gary started to turn to face the human boy once more, the kid made an ugly face. "Oh, it's you again. Doofus." Then he pushed forward, knocking his shoulder into Gary and shoving the bunny backwards a step. Gary frowned after the kid, calling, "Hey, wh-wh-what did I d-do to you, j-j-j-jerk?" Not expecting much of a reply, he wasn't that surprised when all he got was a quick flick of the boy's finger. With a sigh, he turned and headed to the farmer's market, suddenly in the mood for some good dried apricots or something to cheer him up.