The horse trotted back and forth across the office floor, his hooves making a clop! sound with each step even against the area rug that Eligh had placed around his desk. Beads of sweat ran down the beast's head as he nervously chewed at the nail on his index finger.
Eligh would have lied to himself if he, too, didn't feel his nerves being flared by the recent events. He'd pop a bar and go to bed right now if he didn't have to be here today in the office with the mayor as they began to tackle the current situation.
"Fenrir Ghaleon wants to hold his declaration rally here, in Brickhedge. Why?! What importance does this town have to HIM of all beasts? This is bad, Eligh. Real bad!" the horse spoke in a broken voice, not even remotely attempting to hide the fear the official had for the allusive trillionaire. "This is going to bring so much unwanted attention to our little town; The media'll flood us, then tourists will start pouring in wanting to know what made Brickhedge such a coveted location... Argh!" the horse whinnied.
Eligh diverted some of his attention towards some extensive internet searches about the upcoming politician and GhalCo as a whole. As far as his searches took him, the news had not been shared with any media outlet whatsoever, with hardly even a whisper within the various political subreddits, which had done some to abate Eligh's fears but not nearly enough.
A large portion of his muscular mass hoped that it was a hoax, but he knew deep down that was unlikely, given the little info he did have from the faxes between the two parties.
"Oh fudge pops, Eligh! If the government starts looking at us a little bit harder, they may even force us into holding another mayoral election soon."
Without thinking, Eligh replied, "I don't think you'd have much to worry about in a situation like that, Filb. The townsfolk love you. It'd be landslide victory..." His words trailed off, and he'd hoped the mayor hadn't noticed. The possibility that Filbert was hiding something raced through his thoughts at a blistering pace, scaring the bear just a bit more than he'd liked.
"Has the event been made public yet? Have you checked?" the horse asked but was met with a curt head shake from Eligh.
"As far as I can tell, his office hasn't yet made this publicly known, which I find kind of odd considering the short time frame they expect us to prepare the town for the influx of traffic. The rich aren't typically so adverse to making their public events on the down low. I mean, just look at Grump's rallies." The 2016 and current year's Republican poster child had made a habit of making his rallies big events, drawing crowds that he loved to tout were more significant than they actually were. The crowds he did bring in were some pretty vile beasts, creatures that would have loved to have seen the vast majority of the population revert to primal laws. He'd even attempted to enact a nationwide law that allowed prey beasts to be legally hunted and consumed by predators, but thanks to checks and balances, an overwhelming backlash to such a proposition, and just plain common sense, it had failed to pass.
Taking that as a personal insult, the then POTUS had pivoted to totem pole warfare, pitting predator and prey against each other in a way that would still play on their dormant instincts and have them turn on each other that way. Either way, his goal was to incite violence between the beasts of the country as a whole, not just within his and the opposing political parties.
It was no wonder he lost the 2020 election, Eligh thought. Even his party outside of the truly deranged diehards turned against the moron, and his handling of the pandemic that broke out earlier that year only cinched the knot around his neck. The fact that he's not only running again this year but has yet again a very loud and vocal party backing him was astonishing and a little alarming.
"At least they were open with their idiocy and intentions," Eligh thought, getting just the slightest bit dizzy from watching the pacing mayor; Eligh had at one time been a registered Democrat, but after following the last eight years of idiocy from both sides, he'd aligned himself with the Independent party. At least they didn't open their mouths and became internationally known morons.
"Y-Yes sir, Mayor Filbert here... Yes, sir, Brickhedge is primarily considered an Independent party-centric town... Yes, sir, our town is very small; less than five hundred beasts." At some point during Eligh's lament over the country's political climate, the office phone had rang and the mayor himself had answered it. Filb was pouring sweat now, evident by the cloth he kept patting his forehead with.
"Yes, we'd be more than happy to host you, Mr. Ghaleon. Just let me-- Oh you have already sent over an information packet?" The horse's eyes turned to Eligh, and he started waving his hand towards the computer. Eligh took that as a silent shout to check his email.
He felt his nerves really start to light up at the sight of that GhalCo sender address at the top of his work inbox. Attached to it was a large zip file containing publicity material that needed printing as soon as possible. A billing address was in the text body of the email for the accountant to contact for reimbursement.
"Why yes, sir, we can have it all ready for you by next Friday... Very good, thank you, Mr. Ghaleon. Brickhedge cannot wait to host you. See you soon, sir." There was a beep, and then the room went silent.
Eligh couldn't pull his eyes away from the Press Release, which had just gone out to all media outlets in the last few minutes.
"Eligh," Mayor Filbert said, his voice wavering and drained, "This man could destroy our very way of life here if we mess this up..."
"I'm... unfortunately well aware of that, sir," his personal phone dinged multiple times. Family and friends have just got word of what's happening.
"Eligh?" Filbert said again.
"Yes, sir?"
"Let's not mess this up, okay?" Said the mayor with a nervous smile.
When Eligh left the town hall for the day, the phones were still ringing off the hook as word got around about who was holding a rally in Brickhedge. Brickhedgians expressed their excitement, anger, and disgust as yet another affluent businessman had decided to not only enter the political arena and dare challenge their champions but to ransack their little town in the process.
Even Mrs. Oniker had phoned in and left a request that her vulgar, hate-filled rant be forwarded to Mr. Ghaleon promptly, for her town had no place for any politician but Grump. Eligh had deleted it just out of fear of its mere existence, let alone the possibility of somebeast at GhalCo hearing it. You didn't say those sorts of things about ANYBEAST, let alone one as powerful as Ghaleon.
The emergency meeting the mayor held the other night had been a sudden thing, but still, more beasts than he expected had shown up to hear the urgent announcement.
Possibly hoping that their new town planner had cooked up another exciting event for them. The news that had been delivered was the opposite: A new face in the political ring(whose name they couldn't announce then) wanted to hold their first rally in Brickhedge, a small town of less than five hundred citizens. The event alone could bring more than that in the press and early supporters. That many beasts gathering together in a town that could barely handle their annual Christmas parade was going to be an utter nightmare.
Despite that, Eligh (and the mayor, to a lesser extent) had garnered the favor of the crowd in the gymnasium that night, offering their support and encouraging compliments.
He'd tell you right to your face if you asked him: He was scared shitless.
Unlike the mayor, Eligh's presence was typically only needed from 7 to 3 throughout the week. Since the duties of having the publicity material printed or ordered had fallen on Mrs. Kinkaid, the friendly cockatoo at the front desk, Eligh had been relieved when the mayor had sent him home for the day to get his medication and collect himself for the days to come.
A cold front had swept across the east coast. It brought with it some moderately cooler temperatures and considerably less humidity, making the mountain breeze feel cool and refreshing once again. The sky was crystal clear, with hardly a smear of cloud anywhere to be found. He really wished he could enjoy the weather.
He hadn't wanted to tell the mayor that he kept his medicine on him for emergencies, but the prospect of getting out early in lew of the crushing weight of the expectations that were going to be set upon town hall this week was too much to bear for the bear, so he took the opportunity and bolted.
Slinging his solid black blazer over his shoulder, the bear strolled down Main Street and headed for the deli bakery located just off the Corn Street intersection. He needed some more food in his gut after having vomited lunch on his way out of the office a few minutes ago.
Just as he was about to turn off, an old beater pulled up beside him. As the window rolled down, the identity of the mouse in the passenger seat became clear.
"You better not let that stupid canid have that rally in our town," Mrs. Oniker screeched; she probably would have clawed his eyes out if he got close enough to the car, he felt.
He didn't recognize the driver, a much younger and fatter mouse with brown fur. That mouse was giving him the "cut it out" gesture, something Eligh took as "Don't bother talking to her, just go on, save yourself!"
The bear smiled and told the hateful old thing that her concerns would be noted and then walked off; all the while, she muttered slurs and something about Grump.
Moments later, Eligh emerged from Joey's Hoagies with a foot-long Italian-style sub, a bag of chips, and an extra-large drink. He was going to risk dripping the extra oil and vinegarette onto his work shirt, but right now, he didn't care.
After three bites, the twelve-inch sandwich was nearly gone, fallen prey to the massive grizzly bear's appetite and maw. Belly full, he popped a Xanax and then reached for his phone; he could finally reply to that text he was sure was--
"Not a single text for Brigid..." He mumbled to himself, not the slightest bit surprised, however. Ever since she'd reunited with Advrik and the two hit it off again, she'd spent an overwhelming amount of time messaging him and him replying almost immediately.
She'd said the two had agreed to take things slow and just 'learn to be friends first', but Eligh saw all the signs: Brigid had loved this wolf right from the beginning, even if she hadn't admitted it to herself quite yet.
At least the two seemed good for each other, Eligh thought. Advrik was a well-mannered beast with a good head on his shoulders. Even had a home of his own, having bought the old Miller place down the street around the time he and Brigid moved in.
The bear shook his big head, shaking chip and sandwich remains from his shaggy red beard. The medicine was, thankfully, fast-acting, and a wave of relief started to wash over him.
"This is almost too much."
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