"He's at it again.", says a lone hyena, sitting by himself at a table in a cafeteria. Right across from the cafe building is a gym, where he keeps his full attention at a weight-lifting patron. The patron is a large, brawny jaguar, pumping an arm with a heavy dumbbell, and taking his sweet time doing it. The hyena sighs.
"Whatcha starin' at, Roddie?" The grey and black-spotted hyena gets interrupted by his friend, a red-feathered parrot, who sits across from at the table with a platter of food. "You staring at that Tristin guy again?", the polly asks while taking a bite out of his burger.
Roddie sighs again to himself, while looking away. "Yeah...I guess."
The bird replies with his mouth full, "Ya know, you never told me how you know about him." He gulps his food down. "Or why you seem so interested in him."
"Oh. I never did?" Roddie was surprised himself. "Well Tucker, me and Tristin used to be good friends." Tucker suddenly spews out the drink he got into Roddie's face. The hyena frowns, "...Is it really that surprising?"
"Sorry I...just realized this wasn't what I asked for. But still, you were friends with a big guy like him?"
Roddie wipes himself up with a napkin. "Before he was even big as a matter of fact. We used to talk about stuff amongst each other all the time back when we first entered high school. To others, we seemed like the perfect pair. Of friends that is."
Tucker isn't doing a very good job of chewing with his mouth closed. "Mm. Go on."
Hyena lowers his head down, "Then, out of the blue, Tristan decides he wants to start working out, and becoming one of those big guys we used to see on the wrestling team."
"Man...", the parrot awes. "Sure looks like he's succeeded."
"He did, during our sophmore year. He was really pumped and all about getting big, and got big fast. He was soon getting the attention of other schools, and a few colleges. But...we kinda started to grow apart too.", Roddie explains sadly.
The parrot burps. "Oh? How come?"
"Well, one day, he asks if I wanted to start working out with him. I said no. He said it was okay, but then he started to devote more and more of his time working out, until we didn't talk no more." Tucker lets out another unnecessary burp, and sounds more intimate with his food than Roddie's story. "You know, I was hoping you'd be more interested in my story than all that food."
"Hey, I'm listening!", he blurts with his mouth full once again. He then gulps it all down. "So, you guys hate each other?"
"What? No!", Roddie yells. "We just don't talk anymore. Though...I do kinda wish I could be as big as him."
The polly burps once more. "Why not start now? I'm sure you can start working out with him as your personal trainer or somethin'."
"Mm... Nah... We haven't spoken in years. It'd be kinda awkward."
"Mm! Well, why not me? I'd be happy to help you out.", Tucker replies happily.
"Yeah... This coming from the guy who chugged three burgers down in five minutes." Roddie gets up out of his seat and puts his backpack on. "Look, I'm just gonna head home. I'll see ya around."
"See ya!"
Roddie made his way back home and headed straight into his room. He laid on his back thinking what would it be like if he was still friends with Tristan. Roddie wasn't sure how it would turn out but he missed Tristan. Tristan was one of his closest friends and now he was gone. To get his mind distracted, Roddie reached for a comic book on his night stand. On the cover of the comic book was a muscular wolf in black and red tights. There were bold letters over the wolf that spelled "Muscle Wolf."
Roddie skimmed through the pages seeing the incredible feats of strength that Muscle Wolf was performing inside the comic book. Roddie's mind played tricks on him as Roddie saw Tristan's face in Muscle Wolf's place. Roddie tossed the comic book aside and sighed. He felt so confused. Roddie missed his friend while at the same time felt envious for strength and power. Maybe if Roddie was as big as Tristan they would be friends again.
Roddie turned his head towards the comic on the floor. It layed opened to the back where all the ads were. Roddie got up and picked up the comic. He then saw an ad that caught his eye. There was a before and after picture of a scrawny lion to a bodybuilder-looking lion. Right next to the picture was an image of a bottle of supplements. The ad said, "Tired of being weak and scrawny? Try our new 'Growth Spurt' supplements! You won't regret it!" Roddie looked at the ad with intrigue. Could it really be true? Roddie knew the ads on backs of comic books were fake but he felt so desperate of getting his friend back. Maybe it was worth giving a try. Roddie wasn't sure.
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