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"Maybe Billie's right. Maybe I should get out of this house every once in a while."
Belle talks to herself as she places the cherished photo back into the drawer. A longtime friend of hers, good ol' Gabrielle, was there with Belle all the way back in elementary school. Back then, Gabrielle was simply known as the quiet girl, the one whom everyone worried about. She wasn't a bad child, but she pulled no punches. People thought she was a tomboy just because she didn't really care for the traditional pastel colors. No. She just loved the color black. She always has. Belle met Gabrielle and became good friends when they were little kids in school. A shy, timid girl all her childhood, Belle became the easy target for kids bigger than her. The tallest girl in the school was Gabrielle.
After having been held back twice for fighting, she eventually got her growth spurt in the final year of elementary school. Other rowdy goats would pick on Belle, call her "cowbell", and pull on her ears. Belle was a little bit chubby in her childhood, but it was nothing beyond some baby fat she would later shed. Some kids could be quite mean, and as a fellow outcast, Gabrielle couldn't just sit back and let that happen any longer. Two young men went home with black eyes that day, and as the young Belle sat on the cold, hard ground, bawling her eyes out because those kids wouldn't stop picking on her, a long arm with grey fur and pitch-black hooves reached out to her.
"Those jerks won't be bothering you again."
Belle turns her glossy brown eyes and looks up at the much taller girl, a goat with almost all grey fur, in various shades. Belle knew many goats by many colors, but she had never seen a goat with such a pale color scheme in her life. Gabrielle had a long head, thin, shoulder-length ears, horns that pointed away from each other, slightly bucked, rabbit-like front teeth, and the most beautiful violet eyes on the planet. Belle looks up and is positively captivated by those eyes. She had never seen anyone with purple eyes before. It's said to be an extreme rarity. They were shockingly vibrant against her drab, grey fur. Belle takes her hoof.
"Hey, kid. What's your name?"
Gabrielle says in a friendly but somewhat dry manner.
"I'm Belle."
She sniffs.
"I heard those kids calling you 'cowbell'. What a dumb thing to call someone."
Belle looks at her, somewhat nervous. Gabrielle questions her.
"What? What's up?"
Belle stammers, looking down at the ground as she tries to recompose herself.
"I… I was afraid to talk to you for the longest time because I thought you were gonna beat me up."
Gabrielle looks down at Belle with a raised brow.
"Me? Beat you up? Pff, nah, I reserve the poundings for punks that really deserve it. The name's Gabrielle, by the way. Just don't call me Gabby. Anyone who calls me Gabby never uses their voice box again. And definitely don't call me Brie. I am not cheese!"
This causes Belle to laugh, but rather than get mad, Gabrielle just smirks. Belle had never met such an aggressive girl in her life. And yet, for someone known all over the playground as the girl who would give anyone who messed with her a knuckle sandwich, Gabrielle turned out to be one of the kindest girls Belle ever knew. They ate together at lunch, traded sandwiches, hung out at the local sporting events, and did basically everything together, eventually developing a friendship beyond that, even coming up with little nicknames for each other.
The bright and sunny Belle, always smiling, cheerful, and warm would come to be known by her significant other as "Sunshine" while Gabrielle, who in middle school had started to dabble into a style of her own, adopted a dark aesthetic to match her mood, the Goth goat known as Gabrielle would come to be known by her love as "Moonbeam". Sunshine and Moonbeam would be inseparable until fate had it that Belle simply had no latent magical prowess, while Gabrielle was quite adept from day one. Gabrielle was sad that Belle wouldn't be joining her as a pupil in training, and over time, the two had drifted apart.
Belle would see Gabrielle every now and then in adulthood, but the spark just wasn't as keen as when they were in school. But now that they're both single adults, Belle works up the courage to give the old flame a call. She dials the number, anxiously twirling her ear around her finger as the phone rings and she waits a distressingly long time for someone to answer on the other end. Finally, someone picks up.
"Hello?"
Belle questions, nearly choking on her excitement.
"Gabrielle?"
Belle coughs the name out. Gabrielle answers somewhat sardonically.
"Yeah? Who's this?"
Belle bites her lip as she blushes and chirps into the phone.
"Hey, Moonbeam… It's Sunshine."
It takes a few seconds for Gabrielle to respond, leaving Belle in a state of soul-crushing purgatory over the phone. With each passing second, she grows paler.
"Belle?! Is it really you?!"
Belle twirls the phone cord around her finger.
"Yeah, it's me. How's everything been going?"
Gabrielle responds in a tone as cheerful as her voice would allow her to.
"Everything's been cool. How about you?"
Belle waves dismissively at the phone, forgetting that nobody can see her over the phone.
"Oh, you know, just hangin' around."
Gabrielle proceeds.
"How's the little one?"
Belle sits in the chair. She takes the receiver over to the table with her and sits with her legs crossed in the kitchen.
"Billie's gotten so big. She's almost as tall as me now."
Gabrielle responds.
"Wow, and at fifteen too. I better watch out or I'll have to look up at her one day."
Belle chuckles.
"Yeah. She's my sweet baby girl, and she's learning magic from Aristotle."
Gabrielle responds with surprise.
"Wow, what a small world. You know, Aristotle's dad is the one who taught me magic. No joke."
Belle leans forward on the table. She doesn't quite know what to make of this revelation.
"Ya don't say. Wow."
Gabrielle changes the subject.
"You still trying to teach Billie guitar lessons?"
Belle sighs.
"Yeah, she didn't seem all that interested."
Gabrielle responds with somewhat disappointment.
"Huh… Well, maybe I could give her some bass lessons."
Belle cups the phone between her ear and her shoulder.
"Really? You've been playing bass?"
Gabrielle laughs in a somewhat dopey manner. Belle always thought it was adorable whenever she got her to laugh.
"Yeah. I got a mean ax now, a nice, pearly V with a glossy sheen. I bet Billie would love it. If she's got a wide reach with those hooves, it'd be perfect for her. She always struck me as an electric over acoustic anyhow."
Belle rolls her eyes.
"Maybe. So, Gabrielle, are you free anytime this week?"
She ponders, leaving Belle in silence for a tad.
"Well, I'm free this weekend if you wanna meet up. Does three days from now in the town square sound good to you? I gotta tie up some loose ends that day, and we can have brunch or something."
Belle smiles kindly in relief and excitement.
"That sounds wonderful."
Gabrielle finishes, notifying that she's about to end the call.
"Alright! So it's a date then. Looking forward to it, Sunshine!"
Belle smiles brightly at the phone.
"Same here, Moonbeam. Love ya! Bye!"
She does a smooch at the phone with a giggle. Gabrielle responds with one of her own.
"Love you, too, girl! Mwah!"
Belle laughs heartily as she hangs up the phone. So it's a date. The days stroll on by, and eventually, the weekend arrives. Belle does her best, realizing she can only look as good as she does every day, which is fine by her. Belle is a modest woman of simple taste, so little more than a sunflower for her hair is needed. Every so often, she'll wear some thin eyeliner, nothing too extreme. Gabrielle, on the other hand, loves her little accessories, from her spiked black collar to her multiple piercings; she's much more extreme than Belle. Gabrielle dyed her long bangs black and the fur on her ears as well as her tail.
She couldn't stand being so blandly colored, adding a purple streak to her bangs so that she could have some color. Just above her right eye, the one she keeps in view, she has her brow pierced and wears a red, plastic hoop. Gabrielle is self-conscious about the accessories and knows when to stop. She doesn't want to look like a freak, just stand out among the other goats. Belle is in the town's square waiting at a little round dining table. She looks curiously with a smile on her face. Suddenly, her world goes black.
"Guess who?"
Belle realizes she has someone's hooves over her eyes. Tensing her shoulders up in excitement, she bursts.
"Gabrielle!"
Belle turns around and throws her arms around her dear, longtime friend. The tall, grey, and black goat is the same height as Aristotle at this point. The goats embrace, laughing and holding each other tightly. They release, and Belle and Gabrielle share a small kiss on the lips.
"It's been way too long, Sunshine."
Belle looks up and down at Gabrielle with a smile.
"It has. You look great, Moonbeam. The accents and color do you good. Love the purple. It really brings out the eyes."
Gabrielle sways at her modestly, a blush bringing color to her drab, grey cheeks. She responds, her bunny-like buck teeth almost sticking out.
"I just wanted to play around with some pastels. You look great, too. You haven't aged a day since we last saw each other."
They sit. Belle places her sunshiny handbag to her side while Gabrielle rifles through hers on the table for some eyeliner to touch up the Egyptian-style lash streak extending from her thick eyeliner. Belle inquires curiously of her, with a smile.
"So, what have you been doing with yourself all these years?"
Gabrielle places her hooves on the table with a light tap, looking Belle right in the eyes as she stares on with a fixed expression of perfect interest.
"Well, when I completed my apprenticeship, there was this long period of time where I was like 'Great, now what?' I had no sooner finished my training with Aristotle's dad, right? So I found myself wandering around doing some odd jobs. I wanted to take up black magic, you know, something to go with the whole Goth thing, but in doing so… I wound up hurting people… and getting in with the wrong crowd."
Gabrielle lowers her head in a shameful admission of guilt.
"I felt my long pent-up anger issues from my childhood rising up again, so I spoke with my therapist, and he said, 'Gabrielle, I got the perfect thing for you'. So he hands me this card, right? And he tells me to go to this monastery high in the mountains, a place filled with white mages."
Belle raises her head from her hoof, curious. She had never heard of such a thing.
"White mages?"
Gabrielle continues.
"Yes, and Belle, I've never felt so good in all my life. I went there, explaining to the elder, Adrian, of my ordeal. He said 'Young lady, how would you like to learn white magic?' So I asked him, 'What's white magic?' He explained that in order for me to learn white magic, I have to become pure of heart, purge all the guilt and hate from my body, forgive all those who have wronged me, and most of all, forgive myself for my misgivings. It wasn't easy, but he told me if I let it all go, the white magic could flow through me and I could learn to help and heal people… and that's when I made the decision. I wanted to pursue the medical field for a while, but I was always a bit squeamish, you know? Blood doesn't bother me, but the idea of dead bodies… I know, how very 'un-Goth' of me."
She rolls her eyes with a sigh.
"That's so wonderful. I'm glad you're so happy doing what you do."
Gabrielle nods.
"Yeah. So, what have you been doing?"
Gabrielle stares at Belle with huge eyes of genuine interest, and Belle leans on her hoof on the table. She looks down at the floor.
"Not much since Arthur passed away. I haven't dated much or anything. I feel like I just threw fifteen years of my life away."
Gabrielle stares at her, and Belle feels inclined to correct her statement.
"Oh no, I don't mean it like that. Like, I love Billie, but I mean, otherwise I feel like I just haven't done anything productive with my life."
The waiter stops over to their table, a young man with slicked back hair, late teens, early twenties, a black cat wearing a fancy waistcoat over a neat dress shirt. He speaks with a bit of broken English. It's definitely not his first language.
"How can I be serving you lovely ladies today?"
Gabrielle sways away from him modestly. Belle chuckles. They're not offended about being practically hit on and chalk it up to him being awkward and foreign.
"Can I get the red-colored fish? What's it called again?"
He jots it down. He has no idea what she's talking about, but he scribbles it down on his paper. Belle orders.
"I'll get that fancy baked potato thing with the string cheese and the fancy stuff on top."
He jots it down. They really should have put more than just pictures on the menu. Some words would have been nice.
"Drinks?"
Both respond.
"Water."
He wraps it up with a smile and vacates.
"I will be back with your order soon."
They watch the fancy black cat waiter walk away with a hint of swagger before chuckling under their breath. Gabrielle looks at Belle with a smile.
"You like that guy?"
Belle shoots her a dry smirk and a look with half-open eyes half open.
"Gabrielle, please. I'm old enough to be his mom."
Gabrielle leans back with a shrug and a sardonic scowl.
"Never stopped me from dating young."
The waiter comes back with some drinks, and Belle nearly downs half the glass in one drink. Gabrielle continues.
"We shoulda taken advantage of our youth. We should have formed a band, you on your guitar with that gorgeous voice, and me and my bass. We just needed a rad drummer and we could have been set."
Belle shakes her head.
"Those days are far behind us. Besides, who would wanna watch us?"
Gabrielle folds her arms.
"Plenty of people! I mean, think about it, Belle, we still got our looks, still got our youth… well, sorta. There are plenty of cute girls out there… and cute boys… that would wanna watch us on stage and buy our records."
Belle shakes her head like she just missed something. She squints in suspicion.
"I didn't even know you liked boys."
Gabrielle clarifies with a shoulder shrug.
"Oh, I don't. I can still think they're cute even if I don't date 'em, though. Take Aristotle, for example. I think he's cute."
Belle rolls her eyes with a smile.
"Everyone thinks Aristotle is cute."
Gabrielle reflects.
"He's just got that baby face! Makes you wanna go full grandma and pinch his chubby cheeks!"
The waiter walks up with their food, completely confused. He has no idea what he walked in on. Belle and Gabrielle just look at each other and then back at him.
"Not you, hon. We're talking about a friend."
He leaves the food, and his face is as red as a tomato.
"Enjoy your meal, ladies."
He walks away, and they just start laughing hysterically. Belle laughs so hard her throat hurts, and her nose starts to run. She brushes the tears away.
"Oh my God. I forgot how much fun we used to have!"
Gabrielle is still getting over her giggles.
"See? Now you're starting to get it."
Belle and Gabrielle finish their brunch talking, laughing, and reminiscing. From a childhood filled with fun and games to an adolescence filled with wonder and sparks of love to a large gap filled with absence, uncertainty, and mystery, Belle and Gabrielle had such a wonderful and rich history together. As the date moves on, however, Belle has come to wonder if the love they shared is still there. Of course, Belle knows she loves Gabrielle; she's been a wonderful friend her whole life, and she cherishes her with all her heart. She knows Gabrielle feels the same, but she can't help but wonder, like a pit at the core of a cherry, she has this gut feeling that for some reason Gabrielle isn't IN love with her anymore.
There was too long an absence, too long without calls, too long without reciprocation. Gabrielle would never have with Belle what she and Arthur have, a forever bond through a wonderful child. Sunshine and Moonbeam walk hand in hand, the cutest little goat couple you have ever seen, right into the Fine Vinyl record store. Gabrielle told Belle on the way out of the restaurant that she wanted to stop at the music store so she could hit up some new LPs she'd been waiting on for a long time. Gabrielle, in her youth, used to work at that record store and hung out on the weekends to give bass lessons. They step before the store.
"I'm serious about the idea of giving Billie bass lessons. Even if she doesn't want any, I could teach her little friends, too. What were their names again?"
Belle responds.
"Lewis and Lily."
Gabrielle snaps her fingers.
"Right. Those two."
Gabrielle walks into the store, past some guitars, and over to an electric bass, a nice cherry-colored body with a long mahogany fretboard. She hooks the instrument up, tweaking and tuning for a bit as she practices. Belle plays around with the electric guitar by her side. She doesn't hook it up but strums away at some oldies she'd memorized a long time ago. Gabrielle goes over the various styles she learned.
"Even if Billie isn't all that interested in standard bass playing, I could show her some wild jazz stuff, some real crazy proggy stuff. Hell, I could even teach her some slap bass if she's into the funky stuff."
Gabrielle goes to town on the bass with some slap bass, gyrating her neck to the beat as she smacks the bass with her palm, muting notes and keeping in perfect tone. Belle noodles away at an oldie solo from some hippie artist she used to listen to, a real nostalgic queen. Belle always fancied herself a bit of a hippie. Gabrielle recognizes the song.
"Is that 'Fiddlin' With Me' by Clementine O' Patrick?"
Belle looks at her with a wide-eyed smile. She didn't realize Gabrielle had such a keen ear or diverse palette of musical tastes.
"I didn't know you liked oldies."
Gabrielle tilts her head with a raised brow.
"I like all sorts of different music, Belle. Just cause I wear black doesn't mean I'm all rock and metal. I even dig a good bit of mainstream pop music. I don't believe in that whole 'poser' mentality. Like what you like and forget what everyone else thinks."
Belle nods.
"It's the way you gotta be sometimes."
Gabrielle picks up her shockingly varied LP lineup from the counter, a slacker ram wearing a flannel shirt and sporting a nose ring delivers her the goods.
"Thanks, Rammy. See you next week, hon."
The ram speaks with a somewhat nasally voice.
"Just so you know, the new BMF record, Post-Apocalyptic Ghost Stories, comes out next week."
She shoots him the double point on the way out the door.
"Be a doll and save it for me. I hear that one's gonna fly off the shelves."
He waves.
"Will do."
Gabrielle leans into Belle.
"That guy's always had a huge crush on me. I don't have the heart to break it to him."
Belle stops and confronts her.
"You probably shouldn't lead him on like that."
Gabrielle dismisses the notion.
"Sunshine, he's a chicken. I've known him for years, and he never dared to ask me out. But I'll tell ya what, if he ever did, I'd throw him a pity date just so he could see that he and I are nothing alike. He'd never wanna date me again. I know it seems callous and cold-hearted, but the only way to make him lose interest without breaking his heart is for him to simply see we have nothing in common. I care about him, really, I do. But we're just not compatible."
Belle shakes her head. She still thinks it's dishonest. As the duo treads through the mall strip, passing by some stores, a local policeman can be seen using a staple gun to nail wanted posters to a wall. Curious, Belle and Gabrielle take a peek at the posters. They both look on in shock. Gabrielle states her opinion first.
"This guy looks familiar, but I can't quite put my hoof on it—"
Belle interrupts. She approaches the poster with a wide-eyed, unblinking stare. She places her hoof on his face.
"It's… It's Arthur."
Gabrielle looks at her like she's gone insane, but redacts that thought once she takes a closer look.
"You know, you're right. This guy is the spitting image. He could be Arthur's evil twin brother."
She jests, but Belle just looks at her, dead-eyed.
"And here I thought I was the only goat out there trying to rock the whole Goth look."
Belle moves in closer, completely mesmerized by the poster. The profile looks just like the widow's grief, from his neatly coiffed lavender hair to his minky plush ears, to his cute face that carried over to Billie, making her the spitting image of her father. The only thing unsettling is the depiction of the eyes. They seem to almost follow Belle like they're alive. They beam a bright red, and the dark circles underneath leave the impression of thick eyeliner. He stares through his brow line as if there is nothing but hatred behind it.
"Uhh, Belle? Are you just gonna stare at not-Arthur all day?"
Belle snaps out of it. She shakes her head and looks over to Gabrielle. The grey goat at her side doesn't look too pleased. Belle is quite embarrassed.
"Huh?… Sorry. It's just that this man looks exactly like him. Only… it can't be… Can it?"
Gabrielle takes Belle by the hooves. Belle looks down at her hooves and then right into her kind purple eyes.
"He's gone, Belle. I know it sounds difficult to hear. You don't want to believe it. I don't want to believe it either. He was a sweet man, and I know you love him, but it's time to move on."
Belle looks back at the poster with a saddened expression.
"It's what he'd want. He'd want you to be happy. He wouldn't want you to just keep obsessing over him like this."
Belle faces the floor. She closes her eyes in shame, a single tear rolling down her cheek. Gabrielle brushes the tear away with her hoof. She leans over, smiling at Belle.
"He will always have his place in your heart. We all loved him, and we always will. Don't be sad that he's gone. Be happy that you ever had him at all. Cherish every waking moment you have with the people you love, because you never know when that moment will be the last."
Belle pulls in Gabrielle for a deep kiss. Even if it isn't Arthur, she just wants someone to share love with, someone to express a deeply hidden passion with. Gabrielle is caught entirely by surprise. Belle has never kissed her like that before. She never knew she felt so strongly. It makes her happy to know that Belle cares so much. Gabrielle takes the saddened, widowed mother, placing her gentle hoof on her cheek. Belle takes her hoof and holds it close to her cheek so that she can feel the warmth. Gabrielle envelops the mother, pulling her firmly but gently against her chest. Belle can hear Gabrielle's elevated heartbeat like a dutiful drummer, playing a proud beat.
"Well, Sunshine, it's been a fun time catching up."
Belle sways bashfully.
"Yeah. Same here, Moonbeam."
Gabrielle places her hoof on Belle's chin. She makes one final request.
"I gotta go, but listen… stay in touch with me, okay? Don't be a stranger. If you ever feel like you need someone to talk to, I'll always be there. You know I love you. You're my BFF and more."
Belle nods with a slight nasal exhalation.
"Right. I love you too. Take care, Gabrielle."
Gabrielle places her hoof to her mouth, blowing a loud whistle between her first finger and thumb. Within seconds, a magical flying broom sweeps in and hovers beneath the goat.
"Ari's dad taught me this, too."
Belle laughs.
"Like father, like son. Ari taught Billie how to ride the umbrella like a broom."
Gabrielle leans forward.
"Huh… That's different. Anyway, take care!"
Off she shoots into the distance, Goth goat Gabrielle, just like a rocket. Belle sighs. She never expected the day to be so therapeutic. It's something she needed for a long time.
"She's right. Maybe it is time to finally move on."