The Mafia!

The blaring of the school bell interrupts both my thoughts and the ramblings of the old man in front of the white board. He hasn't even finished his previous statement before the people around me begin quickly packing away their supplies.

"I guess class is dismissed. Don't forget to continue work on your semester projects. It'll catch up to you before you know it!"

His raspy yet powerful voice echoes into all of our thoughts despite the ruffling of bags. I scramble to copy the remaining writing on the white board as he grabs the eraser. Not only does our teacher assign a crazy project spanning months of our time, but he lectures so quickly that I barely manage to keep up. We're only in 10th grade and this man teaches like we're graduate students at a university.

"Ready to head—…I guess not, huh?"

The usual face appears in front of my desk. Brown hair and brown eyes sporting a solid black shirt with some rock band I've never heard of, my friend Edward. He already has his dark grey backpack slung over one shoulder.

"Sorry Ed, I'm gonna have to stick around for after-school tutoring."

"Again? This elective really isn't serving you well, is it Noa?"

He nudges me jokingly with an elbow as I skim back over my notes for the day. This one class alone has eaten up more space in this notebook than literally any other class.

"What else was I supposed to do? Take a class for med students? With how this programming class is going, that isn't sounding so bad now."

"Trust me dude, it's so much worse on that side. Anyways, I'll be catching my ride. Have fun being reacquainted with pointer arithmetic!"

The jovial guy waves back at me as he disappears from the room. Believe me, I would much prefer waiting with him by the front than trying to understand this computer stuff. Nonetheless, I buckle down and prepare to ask about the concepts I didn't understand. That is to say, just about all of them.

* * * * *

"I'm so tired…"

The sun is already setting by the time I get out, courtesy of the mid-October days. As much as I may complain about my Computer Science I teacher, he is always willing to stay late to help us understand the concept.

"Ugh…already 7 o'clock…"

I head towards the road leading away from the three story building of Cedar Lake High School. I've been taking this pedestrian unfriendly path to school for three years now, previously passing this massive building to reach the similarly named middle school barely a kilometre behind it. There exists only a single road from the school buildings to the houses on either side, and the direction I need to go conveniently lacks a sidewalk for much of the way.

After a couple of minutes, I reach the bridge with a clear view of the lake that gives our town and school its name. Looking out, the water is a murky grey that mirrors the cloudy sky above. As you look closer, the water is an even more unpalatable brown that just comes with being man-made. The narrow bridge runs over a small protrusion of lake water, so small that it often disappears completely during dry seasons.

I feel like if I squinted, I could see my own reflection in the muddy surface. I could see the black hair and brown eyes that I've seen every day of my life. I could see the average figure, the average looks, and probably even the below average academic abilities seeping from my pores. Again, I obviously can't see myself from up here.

I was lucky that no cars were driving through to cause me to expend extra energy avoiding, so I quickly made it to the end. As I make the transition from bridge concrete to grounded concrete, I notice movement in the grass off to the side of the road.

"The Mafia! So you've come again!"

Battle music plays in my head as I quickly pull myself into a fighting stance. Several figures spread out around the grass, prepared to launch an all-out assault against this unwary traveler. Unfortunately for them, I'm more than accustomed to their tactics. I haven't been treading these roads for years just to get stomped out by some minor hunting party. I'm a survivor, one that has fended off their ranks many times already.

I face down the numerous enemies on the grass in front of me.

"Bring it on!"

". . ."

However, I did not receive a fierce assault of many combatants that would place my life in jeopardy. I received several pairs of confused beady eyes.

Rabbits.

These small and furry creatures currently populate this environment in abundance and are often a staple of my journey home when it gets dark. Be it the local neighbourhoods, the park, and even the schoolyard, nowhere is safe from their presence and careful watch.

There are usually rabbits of all shapes and sizes, but the ones around here seem to have ears that flop down the sides of their heads. I'd like to think that I've started to remember some of them by now, but that's probably just my imagination.

"Aren't you all a bit far from your trees? Bold of you to leave yourselves so vulnerable in front of me!"

As I crouch down in the grass, one of the rabbits closest to me quickly pulls its head up. Behind the group of five rabbits, the foliage within the trees begins to move and the reflections of more sets of eyes become visible. Several rabbits are placed slightly obscured in the depths, watching. I may have been joking about being attacked by these critters, but this scene really makes it feel like I could be made to disappear at any moment.

"I suppose a rabbit never travels far without the gang close by."

I pull myself back up and step back onto the road. With the rabbits keeping a close watch from a distance, the ones in the open grass pay me no mind.

"It's probably going to rain soon, so you all should probably figure out where you'll camp out."

If even I can feel the dampness in the air, I'm sure these guys are more than aware of the weather. They also obviously can't even understand what I'm saying, but I provide the warning regardless. These floppy-eared creatures have kept me company for a while, so it makes me feel better to at least try to communicate.

Whilst I'm in the process of continuing the walk home, another rabbit pops out into the grassy spot. This wouldn't be much of an unusual sight, but I look at the small figure anyways. I find myself stopping in my tracks to stare at this particular rabbit.

"Isn't that an unusual colour?"

Its coat is primarily white from its chest to its lower body, but the markings on the back and head are something I can only classify as blue. As far as blue goes, it's obviously darker than the markers my teachers would use on the white board. But this is the first time I've seen a rabbit with this colour.

The floppy-eared creature is chewing away in the grass a little ways away from the rest before recognising my presence. We make eye contact, or at least the rabbit equivalent to eye contact. It stares at me with chunks of grass stuffed in its mouth, I stare back with my hands stuffed in the pockets of my pants. After what feels like minutes, I finally break out of my trance.

"Stay safe out there."

I pull my eyes away and continue walking down the rough road. Rabbits don't make a lot of noise, but I can easily assume that the strangely coloured rabbit returned to munching to its heart's content.