Futurama

Fry's Return, Part 3
By Silverwolf

Visitors

Fry relaxed in his.... well you couldn`t really call it a bed. It was more of a couch without legs held up by a collection of college text books he`d collected from college drop-out friends. He felt somebody shaking his shoulder and stirred.

"Huh? What up?", Fry mumbled.

"It`s 9:00 am and you were snoring." replied Leela, (who else?) "Don`t you have to go to

work or something?"

Fry jumped up.

"Oh, yeah, forgot about that." He ran out of bed, stripping as he went, hopped into the shower, came out in a towel, shook his hair dry like a dog, ran into his closet and came out dressed in record time.

"Sorry, I have to leave you alone here, Leela. I`ll make it up to you later today or tomorrow or sometime. I promise. I don`t think there`s anything edible in the kitchen, so feel free to rummage my couch cushions for change and run across the street to the Kwickee-Mart. Bye.", Fry said in a rush and ran out.

Poor Leela, he thought as he ran into the street. This wasn`t turning out as well as he`d hoped.

Leela sighed and paced back and forth and back and forth until she felt the floor boards creaking and quickly changed her path. She walked over to the window and looked out, Leela felt bored until she gasped when she saw a medium-small stray dog out her window (identical to "the dog who lost five dollars"). whimpering and looking starved.

"That poor little pup!", Leela cried out loud. She had always loved animals, ever since when she was little. Leela had a hard time making friends and her pets were always there for her when down. She decided she had help the little fella and went into the kitchen looking for food to temp him with. Finding a piece of slimy bologna she grabbed the huge sunglasses, headed outside (making sure the door wasn`t locked), and down the stairs to the street.

"Here little guy...", Leela softly said as she approached the dog. Immediatly, he wagged his tail and ran up to her, snacking on the bologna. "You`re a friendly little fella."

Leela couldn`t just leave him out here in the city, she knew how it felt to be lost. But, alas, the sign on the door said, `No Pets Allowed'. "But it would only be for a while, besides he looks like a quiet well-behavied little guy.", Leela argued with herself. She gently reached out her hand and the dog allowed himself to be picked up. Putting her green coat over the pup, Leela tip-toed into the building. The dog whimpered a little, but Leela managed to quiet him. She knew he`d never stand for her running upstairs holding him, she`d have to try the elevator. Leela didn`t trust the primitive tecnology, but an animal was at stake! Somehow, they survived and reached Fry`s apartment where Leela gladly took off the glasses and let the dog roam to his will. Leela sat down on Fry`s springy couch and watched the dog, he seemed to run around like he owned the place.

Fry sat down on a parkbench, put his head in his hands, and sighed. One problem just overlapped another, Fry wished things were back to the way they were. He then remembered that the only time he could think of being satisfied with everything was when he was working for Planet Express, but quickly shoved the though away. Fry lifted his head and looked around him. There were people throwing things in the trash, didn`t they know it would effect the future?! How could they possibly pollute and not care?! How could they live their normal lives without realizing they would be attaced by aliens and destroyed?! It made Fry feel like he was better than all of them. He suddenly had a vision of how the buildings looked all decaying in the year 3000.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!!!", Fry cried out and stood up. Ignoring the people staring at him, he ran from the scene and wished that he had never been to the future. It had changed him forever.

Leela playfully teased the dog with tug of war over a blanket. Suddenly she heard familiar slouched footsteps coming down the hall! Leela quickly hid the dog in a pillowcase and put a hand over him to keep him quiet.

"Leela? I`m home!", Fry`s voice called out as he opened the door. Leela thought there was something different about him, he looked a little troubled.

"Are you okay, Fry?", Leela asked.

"Yeah, yeah. Just tired."

As soon as the dog had heard Fry`s voice, he started squirming uncontrollably, finally he broke through the pillowcase, ran to the doorway, and leaped on Fry. Although the little dog wasn`t very heavy, Fry was knocked to the ground by surprise. In horror, Leela jumped up ready to brake them apart or start to explain. But then she stopped when she say the dog`s tail wagging like crazy and Fry smiling and laughing as the dog slobbered on his face.

"Skippy!!", Fry yelled out.

"You know this dog?", Leela asked, surprised.

"Yeah!! He followed me home from central park one day and has hung out with me ever since.", Fry got up carrying Skippy in his arms. "You poor little guy! You`ve gotten skinny. Watch this, Leela." Fry put the dog on the floor. "Skip, fridge.", Fry commanded him and Skippy immediately ran into the kitchen, pried open the fridge, and took to licking the sides for any leftovers he could find.

"Ewww.", Leela commented, but thought it was kind of cute.

"Come on, Leela, we`ll go out for a walk and maybe get something to eat.", Fry suggested as he rooted through a closet, finding a collar and leash made from stapling elastics from briefs together. They got everything together and ran out, walking down the street side-by-side with Skippy pulling out in front sniffing anything and everything in his path. Fry and Leela made small talk about the city and life in general, and stopped at a street vender`s cart for eats (Fry distracted Leela so she wouldn`t see him counting pennies to pay for it).

Later that night, Leela, who was resting from the day on the couch/bed/pile of clothes, awoke to a gentle dripping of water in the nearby kitchen. When she got up to turn it off, she noticed that Fry wasn`t in the other end of the room watching TV like he was when she drifted off to sleep, and was intrigued by where he went. She tip-toed into the next room, and there she saw him, like she never had before. Fry was sitting looking out the open window at the sky with a saddened, depressed look on his face. He sighed, as if deep in thought, and a couple tears rolled down his face. A floorboard made a soft creak under Leela, and Skip who was sleeping at Fry`s feet, perked up and wagged his tail. Fry then noticed Leela and quickly wiped his eyes on his sleeve, embarrassed to be caught crying by her, of all people.

"What`s wrong Fry?", Leela asked, as sympathetically as she could.

"Oh... I don`t want to talk about it."

"Please..."

"I just don`t want you to worry about things."

"It helps."

Fry sighed and looked down, about to admit some things and pour out his heart.

"When I was in the future, all I could think about was coming back home to New York. I felt so out of place and scared. I didn`t know anything about the all time I had been out of the loop, and I always screwed up at everything I tried. But then I get my chance to come back here, and all I can think about is everything that`s wrong with this place compared to New New York. I can`t take living here now that I`ve known the future, and frankly, I don`t even know where I belong anymore...", Fry sobbed. Leela put her hand on his shoulder. "It gets worse.", Fry continued. "I couldn`t get my job back or find a new one, I`m flat broke and have two years of overdue payments on my back. I`m getting thrown out into the street."

Leela paused.

"Fry, I wish you would of told me."

"I know, I know. I just wanted you to enjoy being here. You having come from the future originally and all. Man, my life sucks." Fry`s chair suddenly broke beneath him, leaving him flat on the ground staring at the ceiling. "Ow.", Fry said in monotone.

"Even so, I still envy you."

"What?"

"At least you know where you came from and have relatives. I`m completely in the dark."

Fry and Leela held each other until interrupted by a thumping knock at the door. "Oh, no.", Fry softly said with an obvious scared tone. He walked over to the peep-hole

to see Jerry and a few "repo" men. Jerry continued to pound on the door.

"Fry! Get out here! I know you`re in there!"

Fry mouthed to Leela "we gotta get outta here", grabbed a few miscellaneous objects, whistled for Skippy, and led Leela out the fire escape. The two creeped out into New York at dusk.

"Where are we going?", Leela asked when they were a few blocks away from the apartment building.

"The only place I can go, I just hope she dosen`t slam the door in my face...", Fry said nervously as the two continued on, softly, it began to rain.