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1. The Respectful Fox
There was no doubt about it: there was a fox behind the climbing frame[5] . And it was watching.
“It is, isn’t it?”
The playground was full of children, their gray uniforms flapping as they ran and kicked balls into makeshift goals. Amid the shouting and the games, a few girls were watching the fox.
“It definitely is. It’s just watching us,” a tall blond girl said. She could see the animal clearly behind a fringe of grass and thistle. “Why isn’t it moving?” She walked slowly towards it.
At first the friends had thought the animal was a dog, and had started ambling towards it while they chatted. But halfway across the tarmac[24] they had realized it was a fox.
It was a cold cloudless autumn morning and the sun was bright. None of them could quite[16] believe what they were seeing. The fox kept standing still as they approached.
“I saw one once before,” whispered Kath, shifting her bag from shoulder to shoulder. “I was with my dad by the canal. He told me there’s loads in London now, but you don’t normally see them.”
“It should be ru
“All the better to eat you with,” said Deeba.
“That was a wolf,” said Kath.
Kath and Keisha held back: Za
The girls had never seen any animal so still. It wasn’t that it wasn’t moving: it was furiously not-moving. By the time they got close to the climbing frame they were creeping exaggeratedly, like cartoon hunters.
The fox eyed Za
“Yeah, it is watching,” Deeba said. “But not us. It’s watching you. ”
Za
Sometimes even her mates were a little bit wary of Za
Just at that moment, however, she was concentrating hard on what Deeba had just said.
Za
“It’s true,” said Deeba. “It hasn’t taken its eyes off you.”
Za
…Until their attention was interrupted by the bell for the end of break. The girls looked at each other, blinking.
The fox finally moved. Still looking at Za
Deeba watched Za
[5]
Climbing frame: A jungle gym.
[24]
Tarmac: What they make airport runways out of, but we use it to describe normal roads, too.
[16]
Quite: When Americans say something is “quite good/bad/etc.,” you mean it is “very” good/bad/etc. When Brits say it, we sometimes mean it in just the same way— but then sometimes we mean something is only “fairly,” or “moderately,” or “kind-of-but-not-extremely” good/bad/etc. It can be confusing.
[8]
Estate: Several big apartment blocks— a housing project.
[6]
Comprehensive: A school for children aged 11 to 16 or 18.