Page 1 of Kipp

Chapter 1

Dale

Everything was up in the air. Dale knew that he had to leave his apartment in the city, and he knew that the sooner he left the better. But Dale didn’t know where he was going to end up, and he certainly had no idea what he was going to do for money either.

Living in the big city had been a dream of Dale’s since his youth. Growing up, he had adored watching all the TV shows where people lived exciting, fancy lives in the big smoke. It seemed like a far more exciting and rewarding life than the one he had grown up with. And for a while, Dale’s experiences in the city had lived up to his expectations. He went out, had fun, and even met someone hethoughthe could trust.

But the person Dale met and fell for turned out to be a bad apple, and that would be putting things mildly…

‘Urgh, just go away!’ Dale grumbled, looking at his cell phone and seeing yet another message from his ex-boyfriend Benson.

Dale turned his cell phone on airplane mode and let out a long sigh.

He might have only been twenty-two years of age, but Dale wasn’t exactly the typical naïve country boy living in the city. Dale was sassy, sharp, and stubborn too when he needed to be.

With his blond hair and emerald-green eyes, Dale cut a striking figure. He was cute with a sexy side that more often than not didn’t go unnoticed. But Dale’s experience with Benson had seen his confidence tumble and crash. Benson had initially seemed like the most charming, dashing man in the city. However slowly but surely this façade faded, and Benson revealed himself to be a manipulative, insecure, and even cruel man. He might only have been thirty-two, but Benson had a bitterness to him that would normally take a lifetime to build and fester.

But Benson was about to be old news.

Dale was determined to leave his ex in the dust and find a new adventure somewhere else. But the only question was where that would be…

‘Where do you think I should go, Rebel?’ Dale asked, picking up his most cherished otter stuffie. ‘Maybe another big city? Maybe somewhere by the beach? Maybe even somewhere in Europe? And don’t mention money… you know we’re broke!’

Dale rolled his eyes and laughed ruefully.

It was all very well his dreaming of moving to somewhere spectacular, but the reality was that he barely had a dime to his name. In fact, Dale had a credit card balance that would make even the biggest of big spender’s blush. The reality was that Dale’s options were severely limited. If Dale wanted to move to somewhere special, he would firstly need to save some money.

‘We could always…’ Dale said, casting his eye toward a photo of him and his parents from many moons ago. ‘Could I really do that?’

Dale sat down with Rebel under his arm and took a moment to think.

Having moved away from his hometown of Eagle Ridge when he was only eighteen years old, Dale wasn’t sure that he could bring himself to move back there, even on a temporary basis. Dale was full of pride, and he worried that he would feel like he was skulking back home with his tail between his legs if he returned to Eagle Ridge.

I can’t.

I promised myself I wouldn’t.

But… if it helps me find my dream life?

Dale was torn. He knew that if he returned to Eagle Ridge he would be able to pick up work and then start to save some money. Rent was way cheaper there, and the general cost of living just couldn’t be compared to living in the big city. Dale very quickly began to realize that he might just have to swallow his pride and head on home.

And it wasn’t like Dale would be totally isolated either. His parents might have moved away to a retirement village on the other side of the state, but Dale still had a very good friend in the shape of Marshall who had stayed in Eagle Ridge. In fact, Marshall had always said that if Dale needed to, there would be a job for him at the diner where he worked.

Suddenly, Dale was seeing how this might just work.

And on top of that, the chance to spend some real time with Marshall again would be the icing on the cake. Marshall, like Dale, was a Little. It wasn’t exactly a common lifestyle choice, and Dale had always cherished the fact that he had someone in his hometown who was the same as him. Together, the two of them would sneak away to their bedrooms and spend hours coloring, playing with toys, and even having sleepovers in their snuggest, most cozy rompers.

Dale was proud to be a Little. He knew it made him different from most people, but that didn’t matter to him. After all, he wasn’t harming anyone. All Dale wanted was to be able to express himself and live his truest life. And if that meant playing with toys and enjoying nursery rhymes, then so what?

Sadly though, Benson hadn’t been quite so supportive of Dale’s Little life.

Despite initially saying he was cool and open-minded to it, Benson had gradually started to get more and more negative every time Dale discussed being a Little or showing any signs of wanting to play or get himself into Little Space. It had left Dale feeling low and almost afraid to be his realest self.

So the thought of returning to Eagle Ridge and spending some cute, cozy Little time with his oldest friend was actually incredibly appealing.

‘Rebel, I think we’re moving back home,’ Dale said, a note of determination in his voice. ‘Not forever. Maybe not even for all that long. But I need to rest, reset, and bring my old Little self back up to its best.’

With that, Dale set about finishing off his packing and getting himself ready for the next chapter in his life. He might havebeen returning to the place he grew up in, but for Dale this was all about finding himself again and making sure that he was ready for whatever his next adventure might be.

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