Chapter 2

A pastor his daughter and the hypocrisy

Zero minutes to five minutes

Max stirred in his seat as the sunlight filtered through the window, casting warm rays across his face. The Brown Hound bus was slowing down, its engine rumbling softly. Next to him, Lily shifted, nestled beside him in their reclining chairs. Her soft, furred petite body was wrapped in his arm, her head resting on his shoulder and one leg drawn up along his belly. As she blinked awake, her eyes fluttered open. She looked up at Max, her lips curling into a smile.

“Good morning,” Lily said, her voice still a bit sleepy.

Max glanced down at her and smirked. “Good morning, pretty bunny. Did you sleep well?” he asked, his gruff voice holding a note of warmth. Lily’s smile widened, a soft giggle escaping her as she basked in the compliment.

Before their conversation could continue, the bus driver’s voice crackled over the intercom. “We’re fifteen minutes away from our next stop. Please prepare yourselves, set your seats upright and be ready for a forty five-minute layover.”

Max sighed and both he and Lily adjusted their chairs back into the upright position. Through the window, they could see the city slowly coming into view, the landscape changing from barren desert to scattered buildings. Around them, the other passengers on the bus began to stir, following the driver’s instructions.

As the bus pulled into the station, the driver’s voice came on again. “If this is your stop, thank you for riding with Brown Hound. For those continuing on, you have a forty five-minute layover. Everyone must leave the bus during this time, so please take any overhead luggage with you. We’ll be cleaning the bus.”

Lily stood up, reaching for the hanging strap of her pink backpack from the overhead compartment. Max followed, grabbing his black gym bag. Slinging the bag over his shoulder, he turned to Lily and said, “Let’s freshen up. I’ll meet you back out here.”

“Okay, that sounds good to me,” she replied, stifling a yawn. They exited the bus together, stepping into the station. Max and Lily went their separate ways into the restrooms. A few minutes later, both reappeared, looking refreshed as they reunited in the station’s small, bustling lobby.

The smell of food caught Max’s attention and he nodded toward the small diner in the corner. “Let’s order breakfast,” he suggested. Lily nodded eagerly, following him to the counter.

Max glanced at her as they approached the female fox cashier. “What do you want, little lady?”

Lily thought for a moment before answering, “Waffles with syrup.” Max nodded with acknowledgment, then turned to the cashier. “We’ll take waffles with syrup for her and eggs and bacon for me.”

He paid and carried their trays to a corner booth, settling in across from one another. Lily eagerly dug into her breakfast, her ears twitching with delight. Max leaned back, watching her with a small, satisfied grin, his plate untouched for the moment.

Max glanced down at his watch, trying to keep track of the time. “Did you sleep well?” he asked, looking back up at Lily as they sat in the corner booth of the small diner.

Lily nodded, her ears perking up as she took another bite of her waffles. “Yeah, I did. I was pretty comfortable. You?”

Max smiled. “Same here. Not bad for a long bus ride.”

They continued with small talk, Lily being her usual chatty self. She pointed out little details in the station, commenting on the décor, the people walking by and even the smell of fresh coffee coming from behind the counter. Max listened, nodding as she talked, but his mind wandered back to his watch. Something felt off.

He glanced down at it again. The second hand seemed to be dragging slower than it should. He frowned, tapping the face of the watch as if that would somehow reset it.

“Lily, take out your tablet,” he said, interrupting her. “I’m curious about something.”

“Okay,” Lily said, her voice bright and curious. She reached down, rummaging through her pink backpack before pulling out the tablet. “What are you curious about?”

Max leaned in. “Check the time on your tablet. Does it match my watch?”

Lily stared at the tablet’s screen for a moment. “Um ... nothing’s really moving on it.” She held it out for Max to see and sure enough, the digital time display wasn’t changing.

Max’s brows furrowed in confusion. He raised his wrist and held his watch next to the tablet. “Look,” he said, showing Lily. “It’s the same time, but my watch is moving ... just really slow.”

They both looked up at the clock on the station wall. The hands on that clock were moving normally.

“This is strange,” Max muttered. Lily nodded in agreement but didn’t seem too concerned. She put the tablet back in her backpack and they returned to eating their breakfast, Max still puzzled by the oddity.