The Return of Rufus

Assuming that George would follow through with his promise, Ollie continued his day more optimistic than ever. He walked down the street with a grin on his wrinkly face, greeting every person who walked by. Now that he was getting his own apartment, he figured he should decorate it like real homeowners do.

“The library,” he thought to himself. “I’ll decorate my apartment with books. Then all my visitors will think I’m smart as hell!”

Ollie continued to strut his way down the street until he arrived at the library, where his day took an unexpected turn.

“Oh shoot! Is that Ryan Lochte?” he exclaimed at no one in particular. “That’s that swimmer guy ain’t it?!”

Ollie walked up to the crowd gathered around Ryan, and he soon realized Ryan was about to give that speech everyone had been talking about. Ollie’s curiosity completely distracted him from all the books he was about to take as he hurriedly found a seat to listen to Ryan’s wisdom. Just as Ryan was about to begin, the crowd screamed in disgust at a rat that scurried across the stage.

“Rufus! My boy!” Ollie ran up to the stage and grabbed his pet rat as everyone stared in disbelief.

“Oh buddy, I was so worried about you! I thought the tornado done sweeped you away! Oh Rufus, thank God!”

The crowd sat in silence at the peculiar scene unfolding in front of them, but Ollie just made his way back to the audience, rat in hand. He was too excited to see Rufus to pay attention to most of the speech, but after awhile he had calmed down enough to listen.

“After being so successful in the olympics, it was really hard for me to accept that that part of my life was really over. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get it back, but I’m so thankful that I have moved on to a better part of my life. I have really learned how to focus on bettering myself, and cherishing all the positive things that have happened to me since.” Ryan preached.

Listening to the speech, Ollie realized that he, too was in the midst of a big change in his life. Even though he was ecstatic about his new living situation, he already missed the tent he had called his home for quite some time. But he knew it was time for a change, and now that he had Rufus back, he couldn’t have been more excited.

The Beautiful Aftermath

It was 2 AM, and Ollie awoke to the crashing of his empty whiskey bottle as the wind carried him and what was left of his tent towards the eye of the tornado.

“Oh shit!” he screamed, struggling to get up in the midst of the strongest wind he had ever felt. He ran fast, faster than he thought he was capable, until he reached the front door of the apartment. He rushed through the doors and limped toward the opposite corner of the lobby, trying to avoid the monstrosity he had almost just encountered. Ollie didn’t get scared very often, but this was definitely enough to make him fear for his life. He left everything behind: his home, his blankets and pillows he had collected from the junkyard, and his best friend, Rufus. He couldn’t believe he made it out, but he almost wished he hadn’t. Sitting in the corner of the lobby with his head between his knees, he tried to process what had just happened, and finally, after hours of listening to the storm and thinking to himself, he drifted off into a deep sleep.

“Ollie! Are you okay? Ollie, wake up buddy!” Ollie opened his eyes to see George hovering over him, and he realized the nightmare he thought he had was his reality.

“I’m up.” he sluggishly replied. “I’m horrible, George. My house gone, Rufus gone, everything’s gone.”

“Ollie I promise you you’ll figure something out. Rufus couldn’t have gone too far! He has to be around here somewhere, right?”

“I guess so, but I still don’t got no home anymore.”

“Listen Ollie, I’ll have to figure everything out first and you can’t tell anyone, but I can get you a space up on the 13th floor. It’s a little spooky up there since no one ever goes up there, but it’ll be nice.”

Ollie’s heart filled with happiness. “My own apartment! No freakin’ way!” he said.

“Well, I don’t know about all of that, but it’s definitely better than your dumpster tent,” George laughed, and Ollie joined him.

Ollie couldn’t believe he would get to call himself a real resident in a real apartment building. The day had gone from his worst nightmare to the best day he had had in a long time.