.short story.
sheepish, confused, he crawled out into the sunshine. shook out the dirt to clean off his shiny orange fur. "slick," he thought, "i surely am. otherwise why would anyone look like this in the bright light of the morning." he sniffed the air for clues to help him navigate his day today, and gingerly picked at the rusty can just to the left of his left little toe. It did not emit much hope of breakfast, and so was quickly discarded. "I'm such a fox," thought the small furry animal which was not at all a fox. "My, how I glimmer in the sun, how I shine... everyone loves me...."
This lovely and enterprising train of thought was rudely interrupted by the arrival of the Other. the Other was of a different hue, "not nearly as spiffy and slick as I" thought the Small Furry Animal as he always did when he noticed her making her way out of her humble abode and directly into his line of vision.
She sniffed the air, in a remarkably similar fashion to his own. "copycat" he mumbled under his breath making sure she would hear him. It was his way of saying "good morning, sunshine. you are the light of my days, and the glimmer and glow of the dew on the grass would mean nothing if you were not at my side to notice and giggle." "copycat" he said, while meaning to compliment her dark and searching eyes which were - rather incredibly - occupied with other objects. "she does not admire my lovely morning color? my soft silky fur? my delicate way of saying hello" thought Small Furry. "why, that's just fine!"
A small rumble in the pit of his belly made it known to him that time for breakfast had quickly come and gone and he was currently much in need of lunch, or supper even. The Other made a similar sound a split second later and giggled, hiding her face behind some obsticle. "that isn't funny" grouched Small Furry. "i gotta eat!" the Other finally looked in his direction, but he almost wished she hadn't - so sad and skittish was the look hidden in the brown depths of her eyes. "i know," was her quiet and assured answer. "i realize this, Furry. You might stop staring and calling me names and start looking around for something... to eat. for you." she turned away, seemingly embarassed for blessing the air with such a long string of expression. Small Furry burrowed his brow and opened his mouth to answer, but to his dismay he discovered a lack in his vocabulary to respond to such vile and insensitive assumptions about his character and way of life. "fine. fine!..." was all he could sputter.