“Alright everyone, just like we practiced." Noah's back straightened as he looked forward. He heard his father mutter something as he stood in front of his parents and next to his older sister. Once his mother was satisfied, she knocked on the chipped, white door. “Be on your best behavior for our new neighbors." They stood there waiting. Noah's sister, Sam, arms were getting tired as she held a coffee cake, arms held in perfect posture as they waited even longer.

After waiting for a minute their father knocked, putting extra force into it. When he finished, a female voice was heard yelling from inside, followed by a male voice. The four sheep stood there, unsure if they should leave. However, their decision was made for them as the door opened revealing a female wolf looking down at them. Noah went stiff as a board, not needing to look at his family to know they did the same. The family of sheep said nothing as the wolf stood there. Her face was calm, but it slowly morphed into annoyance as no one said anything. “Can I help you?" While the voice was feminine, it was also deep. Noah was left imagining the horrible fate that awaited him if he ever offended her.

Noah couldn't look away, scared that if he did, he wouldn't have enough time to regret it. “W-w-w" He heard his mother speak, before clearing her throat. Her voice soon recovered the sweet, yet firm tone Noah was accustomed to. “We wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood, since you're our new neighbors." The wolf looked over at the sheep's house, noting that there was no fence to separate them. Sam lifted her arms, offering the coffee cake in an attempt to appease her. She didn't respond, but a look of deep thinking took her face and after a moment she realized what was happening. "Oh yes. Thank you." Her voice softened, no longer annoyed by the intrusion. She took the cake out of Sam's hands and stepped back into the house. “Would you like to come inside? I can put on some tea." Noah closed his eyes in resignation as he knew his mother was about to sign the family's fate. “We would love to." 

She smiled and turned away, walking inside with the silent agreement they would follow. Noah wanted to run back to the safety of his house, but his mother placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed him inside. “Did you know they were wolves?" His father silently yelled, making sure their new host didn't hear. “Of course not. I wouldn't have brought the kids if I did." The wolf's den was open, but cluttered. Filled with boxes not opened yet. 

They were led into a living room, where a couch and two chairs were still wrapped in plastic. The table was waiting to be assembled. Its pieces were scattered on the floor as a wolf crouched over them with a screwdriver in his hand and the instructions laid out to his side. “Zeke, we have guests." The wolf looked at them and stood up faster than necessary. He reached the sheep in a blink of an eye and stretched his claws forward to Noah's father. “Sorry about the mess. I see you have met my wife Beth already. I'm Zeke." 

Noah's dad took the outstretched paw and shook it. “I'm Christian. This is my wife Tiffany, son Noah and daughter Sam." The fathers introduced themselves to each other, and Zeke ushered them to sit down. “Please sit, let me and my wife get you something." The four sat down, with the kids in between the adults as the two wolves went into the kitchen, talking hurriedly to each other.

Tiffany rubbed her son's back as the four sheep sat there, too scared to speak. The silence let them hear the wolves whisper-yell at each other. Noah could piece together that Zeke was mad that guests saw the house before it was ready. Beth was mad that Zeke wasted time putting the table together when he could hire someone to do it. The fighting didn't stop the family of sheep from hearing something tumble down the stairs and enter the living room. Whatever it was, it must have been moving on all fours, because Noah could hear two sets of footsteps, which stopped when they noticed the sheep sitting in their den. 

Whatever was staring at them didn't move, waiting to see if the sheep would slip up. However, seeing as how the sheep didn't move, it prowled into the kitchen with the other wolves. The adult voice could no longer be heard, and soon the four of them were coming out, each parent holding a wolf that looked identical. “We put a kettle on and are just waiting for it to heat up. In the meantime, I would like to introduce you to our twin boys, Tim and Luke." Beth introduced them. 

The two boys looked over the family, but once they noticed Noah, they didn't look away. Noah pretended not to notice, but his wool was sweaty. Tiffany introduced the family to the boys and soon everyone was sitting down, waiting for the water to boil. The two adult wolves sat in separate chairs, their large frames fitting perfectly into the respective chair. The two wolf boys just sat on the floor. “So, what made you want to move here?" Christian asked. Zeke said something about his job, but Noah wasn't paying attention. He was trying to tune the world out, trying to ignore the four eyes that wouldn't leave him alone. 

“Noah." The young sheep was snapped out of his trance by his mother. “Sweetie, pay attention when adults are talking." His mother scolded. “Sorry." That was all he could say as he was forced back into the conversation. “They wanted to know what grade you're in." His mother clarified. “Fifth grade." Zeke and Beth's faces lit up. “What a coincidence, that's the grade Tim and Luke will be in." 

The two boys got up, each grabbing a parent's chair. “Can we show him our room?" One of them asked. Noah didn't know who, not that it mattered, because Noah was shaking. “If it's OK with them," Beth said, passing the burden of disappointment on to Tiffany. Noah calmed down, knowing his mother wouldn't agree. “That sounds great." Noah's ears popped, unsure that he misheard his mother. The twins bounced up and down as their tails wagged. “Sam, do you want to join them?" 

“No." Sam spat out a little too fast, as each twin took one of Noah's arms and practically dragged him upstairs. The wolves threw the door open and closed it just as fast. Noah landed on the floor as they started to rummage through a shared closet. The room was in a better state than the rest of the house, with almost everything unpacked. Two beds on either side, a window in between them. Each bed had a nightstand, with two desks on the left side of the room and a closet that had two wolf butts with wagging tails sticking out of it on the right. 

Noah contemplated running out of the room, but before he could, his captures returned. One held a box full of toys, while the other had a backpack covered in stickers of various cartoon and videogame characters. They started talking over each other, with Noah unable to understand either of them. In the middle of being talked to, Noah noticed a sticker of a character he recognized. On instinct, Noah said the character's name. “Galaxy man?" The two wolves stopped talking, looked at the rabbit wearing a jumpsuit and holding a laser rifle and then back at the sheep sitting in the middle of their floor.

“You know who Galaxy Man is?" The wolf holding the box of toys asked. Noah nodded his head and the two boys dropped what was in their hands and sat down.

“How do you know about him?"

“Did you watch the TV show?"

“Do you have any comic books?"

“Do you have any collectibles?"

The two pups shot off each question as soon as it entered their minds. Noah didn't understand most of them, of why they were so interested. After around twenty questions, the two wolves stopped. The only sounds were their tails dragging against the carpet, waiting for the sheep to answer. Instead of answering any of their questions, Noah asked his own. “Why are you two so interested?" 

“Because we could only find the pilot online!" One explained, with the other one jumping in soon after. “Yeah, we found the sticker at our old neighbor's garage sale. It's the only thing from the show that we have ever found!" Noah chewed on this information. He was also a fan, but didn't know the show was obscure. “Is it really that rare? We have the DVD's at home, so I thou–" Noah was interrupted as the pups stood up. “You have the show!"

“Can we go watch them?" Please! We've watched the pilot, like, a hundred times!" Noah looked up at them as a smile crept onto his face. Happy to have people be interested in the same show as him. “Ok." One of them yanked Noah up as the other opened the door. The three made it outside the wolves house and inside the sheep's house in record time.

The pups had no interest in the sheep's house, instead focusing on the TV and the neat collection of media stored under it. “How do we turn it on?" The wolf dragging Noah asked. Noah pulled away, freeing his arm and ushered the pups to sit down. “I'll get the show on, just sit down." The pups were giddy, barely able to sit down as they waited for the most significant moment of their lives. Noah set everything up, grabbing the remote and sitting down on the couch as far away as possible from the wolves.

When the TV turned on and revealed the select screen, the two wolves practically squealed, but their excitement didn't stop them from noticing the sheep's distance. “Why are you over there?"

“Yeah, come sit with us. You can see the TV much better." One of them reasoned. “It's OK. I can see the TV just fine." Noah started the show, and bent over to put the remote on the coffee table. The twins didn't like this answer. “What! No, come sit with us. It will be much better." The other wolf shared his brother's feelings, “Yeah, come on." They kept at it all throughout the intro, leaving Noah feeling like he had no other choice. He got off the couch and crept over to the wolves. When he was in arms reach, they grabbed him and sat him in the middle of them. 

Noah had seen the entire series multiple times (it only ran for one season). But their enthusiasm was contagious. Sitting between the pups, it felt like he was watching it for the first time. Watching the show with them was completely different than when he watched it by himself. With his parents too busy making work calls in the other room and his sister not interested in. Having others to share the show with left a permanent smile on the young sheep's face.

Nearing the end of the show, the front door burst open and the Christian ran into the living room. “Oh thank God! Where have you been?" He shouted over the TV. This left the sheep frozen as one of the wolves paused the show. “We couldn't find you! We thought you had run off! "How long have you been here?" Noah couldn't answer. He was left staring at the ground as his father scolded him. 

“You boys should go home, your parents are looking for you." The wolves left, saying nothing as they passed the adult. Soon, Noah's mother and sister entered. Tiffany ran over and examined her son. “Thank goodness, I was so worried." She hugged him and stood up. “What have we told you about going somewhere? You have to tell us." The scolding continued. Each parent taking turns chewing Noah out. Ending with him being sent to his room. “Look at this. They haven't been here a day and they're being a bad influence." Christian muttered as Noah walked up the steps to his room.

Noah was left sitting on his bed, unable to find any motivation to do anything other than stare at the wall, left thinking of today's events. Noah got off his bed to look through his closet, looking for anything to distract himself and finding nothing. When he turned around, a red string was coming through his window. He stared at it, inching closer until he realized it was actually a laser. Noah walked to his window and saw two wolf pups in their room, shining a laser pointer into his room. The wolves lit up as the sheep noticed them. One bent over and held up a piece of cardboard they wrote on.

'When can we play again?'