beds surrounding him gave plenty. After swallowing several times, he managed to choke a few words out of his dry muzzle. "Where...where am I?"

One of the shadows turned the overhead light away, allowing the raccoons eyes to adjust to the darkness once more. Before him stood three teenage boys, similar in age to himself. They each wore bright white shorts over their bodies, nothing more. He immediately turned his head to face the one who had touched him, a tall and lanky fox who held an apple in his paw. The fox's ears perked at the raccoon's gesture of acknowledgement.

"Well, uhh...it's difficult to explain."

The middle figure, a white wolf of average height and athletic build, spoke next. "We were kind of hoping that you knew." A deafening silencefilled the room.

The third guest filled the empty space. "What's your name?" The other two looked at their friend with blank expressions. The tan colored lynx lowered his eyes toward the ground and flicked his tail awkwardly.

The raccoon thought for a moment. "My name is Max."

The lynx stuck out a shaky paw towards Max. "I'm Jasper." Max weakly shook the lynx's paw and gave him a faint smile. Jasper smiled back happily.

The wolf's arms remained folded as he gave Max a slight nod. "Name's Kuda."

Out of courtesy, the fox followed suit. "I'm Vix."

More silence ensued while Max continued to think. In one decisive motion, he pulled off the blankets covering his body and swung his legs over the bed, placing his paws onto the cool tile beneath him.