A whistled melody floated along in the morning breeze and awoke Cedric from his deep, heavy slumber. He thought straight away that he should write down what was in his mind, but as soon as he had blinked just a few times, the dream was gone, long long gone, and all memory that he should even try to remember had run off behind it, back into a dark cavern inside Cedric’s head.
He drifted off again but to where, who could say? As something other then the whistling tune awoke him this time, and any thoughts that were tiptoeing along his line of consciousness, quickly fell back into the abyss.
A small wailing came from just under the window. Cedric stirred and sat upright, turning around to push the curtain aside, to reveal a veil of salty mist that hung in the air, reflecting his clouded thoughts perfectly. The wailing started again causing Cedric to look down. There he was, the fox, with his thick fur coat of red and brown. Cedric pulled up the sash and called down.
“You’re wailing again!..To come whaling again! I told you last time young fox, it’s not good practice amongst men! To take land animals out to sea..”
The fox raised an unimpressed eyebrow and stared at Cedric, blankly.
“What about me, you ask? What about me! I am the captain of the ship, and you’re only coming if I choose” Cedric declared as he slid down the sash and started to move.
The fox’s wailing turned into a small whimper, but only once! He had far too much dignity to grovel, he was a fox after all, and only needed to soften his demeanour so the captain would know he wasn’t going to try to take over…like last time.
Cedric looked down at his handsome fox face and considered what good company he was. Aside from his charm, he did always have a good story to tell, and he wasn’t even that sly, not always.
“Let me dress! I’ll be there soon” Cedric called out and jumped out of bed. He dressed in stripes, to his own delight, and pulled on his overcoat and tipped his hat to a slant, and pulled up his socks, before leaving his little stone house on the docks.
The fox was already making his way to the port and jumped aboard the raggedy boat. Cedric joined him and without further ado, prepped the ship to set sail. The other boats and sailors looked over at Cedric, laughing at what they saw as an unprepared fool.
“Taking your fox out again?” they shouted. “Maybe try a crew of men!” another one shouted. “You catching sardines in that tin can?” heckled another, and finally “Just give up Cedric! You crazy man!”
Cedric ignored the jeers and the taunts, and set out to sail, with the fox at the bow. “Do you know where to find one?” called the fox.
“I just know what I know” Cedric called back nonchalantly and let his instinct pull him the in right direction.
After what felt like the longest of days, the air grew much colder and ice started to appear, their heart beats started to pace themselves, as something took hold of them, something more than just fear. It lit a fire in their bellies, it kept them moving in sync, as they prayed and they hoped that their boat wouldn’t sink.
It was indeed a white whale that rippled the water, and in the distance they saw her blow.
“When we get her back, I’ll only take a mere quarter!” called the fox, “And the rest is yours you know” he added generously.
“We’re not going to sell her, for her oil, meat or bones, we’re just going to meet her, to find out all that she knows!” called back Cedric as he shook his head at the fox.
The fox narrowed his eyes in distaste at the man, for he had other plans for the whale. He wanted to take it back to the docks, for the other foxes to see it’s great tail! He wanted to impress the others at shore, so they could see just how brave he could be, he wanted them to know of his greatness for sure, how he’d conquered the land and the sea.
Then not too far ahead, he spied a lighthouse, poking out of the landscape of white. His sneaky mind hatched a plan as he snacked on a clam, to trick the simple striped man, and smiled as the sky turned to night.
“Drop me off here! I’ll head to that house, I’ll make a fire inside so we can rest!” called the fox.
“I’ll catch up with the whale, I’ll see if I can make friends, and I’ll uncover just what’s in its head” Cedric called back, as he dropped the fox off onto the ice sheet and watched him trundle off towards the lighthouse. It took a few strong heaves for the fox to open the door, but the fire in his belly was burning bright and gave him all the strength that he needed.
He scurried upstairs to the circular room, where he made himself comfortable, more than one would assume, and lit a fire in the hearth and warmed a glass of whisky and grinned, as he thought about all the fun ways he had sinned.
He then made his way up to the tower, and then with all of his might and all his brain power, turned the lighthouse light on, and shone it down on the snow, to see Cedric, and smiled at his meal ticket home….