“Hey James!” My ears perked at my name being called by my friend, Brian. Though at the moment, rivals might have been a better word for what we were. Brian and I had gotten ourselves into a bit of a prank war recently.

It had started when I had swapped the lion’s tuna sandwich with a mix of stringed onions and boiled cabbage. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t been preparing for that little trick, the night before mixing the filling with food dye to make it just the right shade of gray and putting in just the right seasonings to make sure the smell didn’t give it away immediately. And the prep paid off. He mentioned that his sandwich might have gone a little bad, but he still bit into that odious concoction. The look on his face and the immediate gagging were pretty funny. I wish I had taken a picture as his eyes went wide and his mouth spat out the disgusting food. When he looked around for the culprit, we locked eyes and I said: “that taste is how the tuna smells to the rest of us.” That moment was Brian’s casus belli.

We traded pranks for a while. They were simple ones. Super glue was put in places it wasn’t needed. Glitter was also put in places it wasn’t needed. Co-workers were having a good time watching the two of us battle, but HR might have had to warn us a few times to not do anything to cause civilian casualties. I suspect that the dull thud followed by the sound of splashing water that happened in the break room a few hours before Brian and I were called in to the office, like a couple of grade schoolers, had something to do with that conversation.

There hadn’t been a call for a truce or a demand for a ceasefire, so I was immediately on guard when I heard Brian call out to me. I looked up at him and struggled to find his face in his purple mane. It was definitely intimidating when it was fully grown out. I felt my heart race inside my chest as he approached me.

He looked down at me and asked, “mind walking to the supply closet with me?”

“Why?” I asked, my suspicions only growing.

“Well...” the lion reached his massive paw behind his head, “I need to grab something from there and was hoping for some help carrying it.”

“What is it?” I asked.

He paused before answering, “some reams of paper.”

I chuckled at this, “can’t believe you think I would fall for that.” I turned back and tried to return to my work.

“Fall for what?” He asked, his tone pitched.

“Clearly you have something up your sleeve and want to lure me into some trap.” I said, smiling at my cleverness of spotting his trap.

“Ah, come on, don’t be like that! I... just really want someone to come with me.”

I looked at him, trying to figure out why.

His face went so red that even the majesty of his mane could disguise it. “I... I think there might be a mouse living in the closet.”

I tried to hold back my laughter, but I failed. My uproar would have put his roars to shame.

“Shush shush shush!” The lion tried to mute me. “It’s unbelievable you would laugh at a friend like that.”

“It’s just ridiculous!” I exclaimed. “First, we’re in the middle of a war and you think I’ll come into your trenches just because you asked? Second, even if it was because there’s a mouse, what would you think a little deer like me could do to protect you? Were you hoping to jump in my arms and have me bound away?”

I could tell I might have struck something in my poor friend’s heart. He looked me with a hurt in his eyes and started to walk off. The guilt immediately started to eat at me.

“Fine...” I said, letting out a sigh and standing up. He turned to look at me. The hurt was still there, but I guess knowing that someone would be with him might have made him feel a little better.

The walk to the supply closet was uneventful. We chatted about the things we usually talked about. People making mistakes, the new hire, the new hire making mistakes. The little truce we had was nice. And I think the giant lion had forgotten my bitter words, as his posture changed to one a more chipper person would have.

When we reached the supply closet, I made sure that Brian opened the door first. He didn’t seem to notice my nervousness at the possibility of going into a room that he might have prepped beforehand. He walked to the cabinet that had the paper and grabbed one of the larger reams. It looked like he actually did just need paper. I finally let my guard down and smiled at him.

“Would mind grabbing a ream too? I think the printer in Josie’s office is low too.”

I walked past him and reached for one of the reams on a shelf at my height. Though, at that moment, I saw Brian jump away.

Then all I saw was white and all I felt was powder.

The bastard filled one of the reams with flour.