This story is an excerpt from Long Division Book I: Roy & Tracy, a book project that I've been working on since 2016. Long Division follows the tale of a middle-aged bear named Roy and his relationship with a young coyote named Tracy.

Illustration by  Syntech

It is Christmas Eve 1968. Tracy has been living with Roy for a little over six weeks after losing his apartment and most of his belongings in a fire.

Co-created by Ruxx, illustrated by Syntech, and with cover art by Spiderdragon, Long Division Book I: Roy & Tracy is available for purchase at LD-Books.com in both paperback and electronic form.

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Christmas
December 1967


Heavy, fat snowflakes, fed by the moisture from Lake Michigan, were falling outside the apartment windows. They sparkled like fireflies from the glow of the street lights below.  Inside, the living room was lighted only by the glow of the fireplace.  Roy hated cleaning the ashes, so he rarely lit a fire.  But tonight, Christmas Eve, Tracy begged for a fire and the bear relented.  It was a special night, after all.

Roy sat on the couch, a mug of hot tea with honey in his right paw.  His coyote was snuggled up against his left side, sipping a glass of wine.  Roy’s other canine acquaintances (including the few he’d slept with) always turned their noses up at wine, but Tracy genuinely enjoyed it, especially when their nights turned romantic.

It was now over six weeks since the fire that drove Tracy from his old apartment.  When Roy offered him a place to stay, neither thought of it as more than a temporary (although sexually satisfying) arrangement.  As time went on, the two lovers fell into a comfortable routine.  Back in November, the newspaper could often be found on the small dining table, opened to the “Apartments for Rent” page with various listings circled.  Gradually, both males paid less attention to the newspaper and more time was spent playing chess or watching television together.

But tonight, the television was off.  Tracy was staring into the fireplace with a smile of contentment on his lips.  Roy was staring contentedly at his coyote.  The two were listening to the bear’s favorite holiday album, “Holiday Sing Along With Mitch”.  The strains of “White Christmas” faded from the speakers.  Roy could hear the familiar mechanical click-clack as the tone arm lifted from the record and the player shut itself off.  The only sound that remained was the crackling of the fire.

Tracy breathed a happy sigh and said, “I don’t know how many campfires I sat around with my family, but I know that none will ever be more memorable than this one.  Thanks, Roy.”

Roy took a sip of his tea then leaned over to kiss the younger male’s ear.  “You’re so sweet.  I’m glad you talked me into lighting it.  It’s been a long time since I shared a fire with someone on Christmas Eve.”

Tracy chuckled, “To think that I could have been spending the night with O.B.R.R.”

“Maybe you should’ve sent them a Christmas card.  You could thank them for burning the apartment down.”

“It’s not too late, is it?”

“Only if you promise not to put a return address on the envelope,” said Roy with mock seriousness in his voice.  “I’m still afraid that they’ll try to move in.”

“They’re like cockroaches.  Before you know it they start multiplying and are impossible to get rid of.  You know, I was only rooming with Oscar and Roscoe to start.  Three weeks later, they invited Benny.”

“How did what’s-his-name, ‘Trash Panda’ come into the picture?” asked Roy.

“Richard.  I swear he appeared out of nowhere.  I walked into the bathroom one morning and found him sleeping in the tub.”

“Maybe he crawled out of the drain,” suggested Roy.

“Maybe…”  As much as Tracy enjoyed ragging on his former roommates, he was ready to change the subject.  “Are you going to call your mom tonight?”

Roy’s parents were spending the holiday in Cincinnati with Oria’s sister.  “I’ll wait until tomorrow,” Roy answered.  “She and Aunt Angela are probably up to their elbows in cookie dough by now.  Whenever they get together for a holiday, it always turns into a marathon baking party.”

“They don’t have any little kids to give the cookies to.  You and your cousins are all grown.  Who’s going to eat the cookies?”

“There’s still Papa and my Uncle Donnie.”

“Sure, but who else?”

“Believe me, they don’t need anybody else,” explained Roy, “remember, we’re talking about bears here.  Fattening up for the winter is still in our genes.”

“I don’t see you getting fat,” giggled Tracy, playfully pinching Roy’s side.

“That’s because I’m burning all my calories in bed with you,” laughed the bear, pinching back.

“Aieeee!  You’re tickling!” protested the smaller male.  “Ha-ha-ha-ha!  Come on, Roy!  You’ll make me spill my wine.”  Tracy wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes.  “What will your dad and uncle do while the ladies bake?”

“Uncle Donnie is nuts about toy trains.  You ought to see his basement.  I think he has more track down there than the Illinois Central has in the entire state.  Anyway, he and Papa will go downstairs to talk trains.”

“Your dad likes trains?”

“No, but he likes to drink and Uncle Donnie keeps his liquor cabinet down there,” Roy winked.  “After a while, they’ll go back up to the living room and play some serious backgammon.”

“Hey, do you have a backgammon set?  We should play some time,” interrupted Tracy.

“You know, Papa taught me how to play, but I don’t really like the game.  There’s way too much luck involved.  It’s nothing like the pure mental skill required for chess.”

Tracy gave the bear an exaggerated look of disappointment and blew a playful raspberry at the bear.

“So sorry,” Roy shrugged his shoulders with a smile before he continued, “anyway once the ladies are done cleaning up the kitchen, Papa and Aunt Angela will play Christmas carols together.”

“I know your dad plays violin.  What does your aunt play?”

“Piano.  She’s really good, too.  Then once they’re done, everyone will exchange gifts.”

“What a terrific holiday tradition.”  Tracy rose to his feet and headed toward the bedroom.  “Excuse me a minute, Big Bear.  I’ll be right back.”

Tracy returned with a white paper bag.  “Speaking of exchanging gifts,” he said, “I wanted you to have a little something to celebrate our first Christmas together.”  The coyote sat beside Roy and extracted a small gift-wrapped box from the bag.

Roy gave Tracy a kiss on the cheek as he accepted the package.  “Aww, I really didn’t expect anything.”  He began carefully unwrapping the box.  “I hope you didn’t spend…  Oh!  Tracy!  It’s wonderful!”  He lifted a carved wooden crocodile from the bed of cotton lining the box.

“You really like it?”

“I love it!” asserted the bear.  Roy rose to his feet and walked over to his bookshelf, placing the croc carefully next to the wooden giraffe, hippo, and elephant on display there.  “It matches perfectly.  Where in the world did you find it?”

The coyote half-lowered his ears in what Roy had come to recognize as a sign of embarrassment.  “I, uh, made it myself.  But Lucy’s dad helped me stain and finish it to match the others.”

“I had no idea you could do that.”

“Yeah.  Dad started teaching Terry and me to carve as soon as we were old enough to hold a knife.”

Roy added another log to the fire before returning to the couch.  As he sat, he withdrew a small box from his pocket.  “Your turn now,” he said as he handed the box over.

“Wait, there’s more,” protested Tracy. He indicated the bag that held Roy’s gifts.

“No, no.  You first,” insisted Roy.

“Ummm, okay.”  The coyote tore through the wrapping paper and opened the box to find a shiny piece of metal within.

“A key,” he said.

“An apartment key.  You’ve been using my spare,” said Roy.  He reached out to take the coyote by the paw.  “But I want this to be your key.  Your forever key.  Tracy, I love you and I don’t want you to leave me.  So you see, it’s also the key to my heart.  Will you live with me?  For good?  Please?”

Tracy threw his arms around the big bear’s thick neck, then looked him in the eye saying, “Before I answer, I need you to open this.”  He pulled a second box from the paper bag.  This one was a little larger than the one that held the crocodile.

Roy gave a puzzled look as he began unwrapping the box.  Tears of joy filled his eyes as he lifted out two more carved wild animals: a bear and a coyote.  Roy looked up to see Tracy smiling lovingly at him.

“My answer is yes,” said Tracy.

Now it was Roy’s turn to throw his arms around his lover’s neck.  He tenderly kissed Tracy’s muzzle and asked, “Will you help me find a spot for these on our bookshelf?”

Tracy took the carved bear from Roy’s paw and the two partners stepped over to the shelves.  “I suppose we’ll have to put these up here,” he said, placing the figurine in a spot next to Marco’s baseball glove.  “I don’t think the boys from Africa there will appreciate these newcomers.”

“We’ll call this the North American shelf then,” said Roy as he set the carved coyote next to the bear.

“They’re perfect together,” said Tracy.

The two held hands and gazed at the light reflected in each other's eyes.  They kissed for a long moment before sinking to the floor in front of the fireplace to make love.