They say the one constant in life is change.
Some people can adjust to it quite easily.
For others, it takes time.
For Tom Herald, falling in love with Alice Stevens was easy.
That were society existed, and that she was a werevixen within it, were more difficult concepts to grasp, but soon Tom not only embraced them, but Alice as well as he became her werefox, forming a life/soul mate bond with her in the process.
The two of them still had to iron out wedding plans.
There were also other matters to discuss.
For one, Tom thought were society should go public and announce its existence, a concept that required time for others to embrace, let alone approve. There was a meeting scheduled soon to begin discussing the matter, but that wouldn't be till this coming Friday, and just the first step in what would probably be a long process before were society decided what to do.
But there were also more immediate concerns in Tom Herald's life.
"You wanted to see me boss?" Tom asked his editor at a major Seattle newspaper, while stepping into his office.
"I did. Please close the door and have a seat," answered the man, while sitting behind his desk.
Tom complied with the request and then the editor explained the reason for the meeting.
"I've been contemplating your request to be reassigned to the political beat. Can I ask you why you want to make such a change?"
"After my recent... vacation covering that football game, I've been thinking about my life," admitted Tom. "I've fallen in love."
"Again?" asked his editor in disbelief.
"This time is different," Tom quickly answered. "Whether or not I was ever consciously aware of it before, Alice is everything I've ever wanted or longed for in a woman. She's kind, sweet, loving—"
"Okay. I get the picture," replied the other man. "After all, I'm certainly not one to brag when it comes to women," he added, realizing he had more divorces than the reporter. "But you do realize that even if the assignment request is approved, there is no raise in pay."
"Doesn't matter," quickly answered Tom. "Alice works, and our needs are simple."
"Okay," said his editor. "But I do have some reservations about putting you on the political beat. I remember some of your past stories. You still don't believe such things like vampires and ghosts are real, do you?"*
There are more things in heaven and hell than are dreamt of in your philosophy, thought Tom, trying to quote Shakespeare. But his public answer was, "If anything, recent events trying to cover the Lionel Ulysses investigation proves I've gone stale and in a seriously dangerous rut. Looking for boogie men and things that go bump in the night behind every rock and dark shadow. I'm different now. Especially since Alice entered my life," he swore to his editor. "You can reassign me on just a temporary basis if that helps, but I want to cover REAL news again, and with the 2016 Presidential elections on the horizon..."**
His editor thought about it for a bit.
As the seconds turned into minutes, Tom began to grow concerned.
He knows I'm not cut out for sports. He's got to put me on this. What else is there?
Tom was a bit nervous when his editor spoke again.
"I'll be honest and admit I have some reservations about this," he began. "If you go off on another tangent about rat tails or whatever other nonsense might enter your head..."
"I won't. You can fire me if I do."
That surprised his editor. If it was one thing Tom Herald had always argued for, it was to stay on the paper and see a story through until the end.
"Okay. I'll put you on the political beat on a trial basis," said the editor, which made Tom smile. "But you do realize that there is no travel budget. Whatever happens, you'll have to cover it from here in Seattle, or elsewhere in Washington state at best."
"No problem," anxiously replied Tom, happy to get the assignment.
"Now, it will probably just be coverage of local events until the primaries heat up after the first of the year, but what I want to do for now is..."
And as editor and reporter start discussing strategies, we turn our attention elsewhere to...
(options below)
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*Tom was inspired by another famous, but fictional reporter and is a homage, not fan fiction, to that character.
*CYOC.net alum WolfGirlLover originated the Moon Lake concept, from which every adventure spins out of, in 2015. Hence, starting our continuity from that point.—tmw.