FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

It's funny how some noises around you can intrude on your sleep and be incorporated into your dreams. Just before I woke up the next morning, I remember having this crazy dream about working on the plumbing in the washroom of my old house. I had finished putting everything back together but I couldn't stop the damned pipes from dripping underneath the sink, no matter how tight I turned the fittings. The last thing I remember before I woke up was that I was getting annoyed with water splashing into my face and that I had grabbed hold of a pipe wrench in order to put some serious torque to that annoying fitting.

I woke up clenching one of my socks in my fist. Water was dripping down from somewhere above me and splattering on the floor a few inches in front of my nose, sending a spray of cold droplets in my face with each drip. I cracked open my eyes for the briefest of moments before shutting them as another drop of water splashed into my face.

I groaned and turned my head away from the dripping water. Two thoughts popped immediately into my mind, pushing away the morning brain fog. Either I was at home and it was my roof that was leaking, something that wasn't completely beyond the realm of possibility, or I was still in the same damn cabin.

I didn't have to open my eyes again to know which one was true. I could feel the roughness of the floor through the hides that I lay on. The musty atmosphere was still present but the odour of wet dog had intensified slightly.

I opened my eyes to stare upwards just as another drop of water fell from the ceiling and impacted the floor beside my head, this time sending a spray of cold droplets into my ear.

I twitched at that and grumbled something about the weird alarm clocks in this place as I struggled to move my bedding and myself out of the range of the dripping water. A glance at my watch showed that it was roughly 9am. I sighed and stared up through the dim light towards the leaky roof, watching the drops of water fall down to the floor. Yes, I was still in the same damn cabin. My broken arm ached dully and my fingers were puffy and swollen. I sighed and began to wonder if this nightmare would ever end.

As much as it terrified me at the time, there was nothing left for me to do but accept that my new surroundings were solid and real. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply for a moment, gathering my thoughts.

Try as I might I couldn't figure out what to do. That was a million dollar question. Now that I seemed to be stuck here, what should I do next?

Getting up and going outside to relieve some pressure would be a good start, I figured. The water that I consumed yesterday was making its presence felt. I sat up and got dressed in the manner of those who aren't yet completely awake. Once I was satisfied that I was for the most part clothed, I headed for the door, doing my best to ignore everything around me. I made it three-quarters of the way there before I noticed a new addition to my surroundings. There was a large dog curled up on the pile of hides beside the table. Its back was to me but its head was up and it was looking back at me with a look of stark surprise evident in its amber eyes. A quick glance told me that this animal was likely the source of the shed fur scattered about on the floor of the cabin. I thought that it was rather big and wolfish looking for a dog, but after that quick glance I ignored it and continued on out the door. Nature was getting adamant in its call and I wasn't going to argue any further.

I recall that it was quite the beautiful morning that day. I stood outside in the clean, still air and paused for a moment to stretch and yawn. It was cold out, but not uncomfortably so. The sun was already up over the trees and was shining bright in a nearly cloudless sky, bringing with it the promise of a warm and spring like day. The mountains were still out there and so were the trees, but I saw things from a different perspective on that morning. Now that I had gained a slightly more objective point of view, a few finer details became apparent to me. I noticed for the first time that a small creek flowed past the cabin perhaps thirty metres away. I also took some time to look at the old shed a little closer. The day before it was just a shed seen from a distance by someone who was having problems dealing with a severe change in his surroundings. That morning, I saw it in a totally different light. A closer examination revealed it to be at least as ancient and decrepit as the cabin. The lumber was faded and cracked and the roof had a slight sag to it. The entire structure leaned at about a ten degree angle downhill towards the distant valley. I made a mental note to return and check the shed out a bit later. There were more pressing matters to attend to at that particular moment.

I trudged through the snow to the edge of the trees and after fumbling with the button on my jeans for a moment, I let out a groan as the pressure in my bladder was relieved. Movement off to the side caught my eye and I watched with interest as a squirrel scampered through some nearby trees. It stopped as it saw me and stared intently. When I did nothing but stare back, it fidgeted nervously for a moment then ran up the tree at breakneck speed, chattering its displeasure at me for invading its territory. I smiled as I zipped my jeans up then turned back towards the shed, pausing for a moment to stretch and yawn. I felt remarkably good that morning despite my circumstances and I decided to do a little exploring. I had been a little uneasy about my new surroundings at first but after I had been outside for a few minutes, I could feel the uncertainty and tension melt away. Being out in the fresh air and sunshine, surrounded by the mountains and the trees had always made me feel at peace and this time was no different, despite the strange circumstances I found myself in. Throw in a cup of hot coffee to push away the last remnants of sleep that fogged my mind and things would have been almost perfect until the caffeine kicked in and I was reminded what had happened over the last couple of days.

The old shed had piqued my curiosity early on and as I slowly meandered my way down towards it I marvelled at the adaptability of the human psyche. There I was, having been somehow removed from familiar surroundings and then dumped in unknown location and getting slightly beat up during the trip. Then you have to factor in the incident with the wall in the middle of the night. On top of all of that, when I finally did regain consciousness, everything was still completely and utterly alien to me. Yet despite all of those problems, there I was outside in the warm spring sunshine, enjoying myself!

Well, almost enjoying myself.

A nagging doubt still lingered in my thoughts. Certain parts of my brain had reverted to a 'smile and nod' type of reflex for anything that I found difficult to accept. A sort of see it but ignore it type of thing which was probably just a way of dealing with the stress. It was convenient at the time but I imagined that it would get interesting when reality, whatever that was now, broke through. Hopefully 'smile and nod' wouldn't turn into 'scream and run'.

For a moment I stopped and examined the footprints that marked the fresh snow. One set led away from the cabin, and the other towards it. Yesterday, I remembered seeing only the one set of tracks. I stared at the snow for moment longer, thinking. The prints were rather small. Next to my size eleven boot they looked like a child's footprints. They also looked slightly, well, unusual, I guess. It's kind of hard to explain but those prints just didn't look normal to me. I had a gut feeling that I was missing something there but I just shrugged and turned away. It was probably just the sun distorting the prints as the snow around them began to melt. I shook my head as I walked away. I'd seen too many confusing things too quickly and it was far easier on my brain to ignore that which I didn't understand. As I wandered away, I suddenly realized that there were no dog tracks to be seen anywhere. I stopped and wondered about that for a moment before shrugging my shoulders and carrying on.

The sound of flapping wings from overhead disturbed my deep thoughts. I turned my gaze upwards to the blue sky and watched as a raven glided lazily overhead. It circled me curiously a few times, sizing up the strange intruder in its domain. It croaked hungrily then resumed its journey, gliding gracefully out of sight behind the trees as I reached the shed.

There was really nothing that was particularly interesting about the shed, but still, I was curious. I noted a few red spots that littered the melting snow along the remnants of a packed path that led to the door and my brow furrowed. For a moment I stood there, confused, until the realization dawned on me. It was blood. I really drew a blank upon seeing that. Of course there must be a reasonable explanation as to why there was blood on the snow but it seemed to be having a hard time forcing its way past the denial that flooded my mind. Without thinking about it any further, I cautiously pulled the door open and peered into the gloomy interior.

Indeed there was a reasonable explanation for the blood. There, hanging from the rafters of the old shack was a quarter of meat.

That, I figured, was breakfast, and probably lunch and dinner too.

As my eyes adjusted to the gloom I could see a crumpled up deer hide on top of some crates and a trunk in one corner, and a makeshift table off to one side. Rather typical of the things that one would expect to see in a shed but it was the contents of that table that grabbed my attention. There was a collection of worn and corroded knives and an old hatchet lying upon it but those things were insignificant compared to the object that leaned up against it.

I stared at it in disbelief for some time, that I remember clearly. It was a spear perhaps four feet long. I reached for the weapon and examined it closely. It was a rather crude weapon but it was easy to see that whoever had made it had put considerable care into its construction. The point was a flat piece of metal, perhaps iron or steel that had been ground into a wicked looking triangular shape about four inches long and two inches wide at its widest point. I could tell just by looking at it that it was very sharp. A slot had been cut into the end of the spear shaft and the point had been bound there with what looked like strips of rawhide, of all things. There were traces of blood and a few stray deer hairs left on the binding.

This is roughly where I began to get really confused.

Why would anyone in this day and age even attempt to hunt with a spear? That spear was not even a very good weapon and it looked to me to have been built from spare parts. I thought hard for a minute but I was unable to come up with any reasons for the existence of that confusing implement. Unless...

A terrifying possibility suddenly forced its way into my thoughts. What if there was more to this than met the eye? Maybe more had changed than just my surroundings...

There was a frown on my face as I closed the door and leaned against the corner of the shed. The warm spring sunshine was in stark contrast to the dark thoughts that ran through my head.

What was really going on here? To my fact and logic oriented mind, this was an impossible situation. Not a single thing I had seen to that point made any sense to me.

I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind, a task that proved futile. All was quiet except for the gurgling of the nearby creek and a gentle breeze that rustled through the tall pine trees. The sounds were slightly reassuring but still, that nagging doubt lingered in the back of my mind.

I let out a big sigh and started back towards the cabin. I hadn't eaten for the better part of two days and I was going to see if there was anything edible in the cabin. If not, it was back out to the shed for a chunk of frozen mystery meat. Maybe once I had a full stomach I'd be able to think a little more clearly. I doubted it but I had to do something to try and convince myself that I wasn't going crazy.

I stopped to take a long look at the cabin on my way back from the shed. The exterior was, to say the least, unremarkable. If anything, it looked even more ancient than the interior. The snow covered roof sagged slightly in the middle and the chimney was suspiciously off-kilter. The roof overhanging the front porch had holes in it and looked about ready to collapse onto the next person that walked under it, which unfortunately was going to be me.

Getting out into the fresh air had helped me sort out some of my troubled thoughts but I still had far too many questions that needed answers. The only problem was that I had no idea where those answers were going to come from. That was the one thing that really bothered me. Somebody had brought me to this old shack and had bandaged my wounds, but I'd been there two days and I'd hardly even seen a trace of another person. It just didn't make any sense. You'd think that whoever brought me here would at least stick around until I woke up to make sure I was okay, especially since they seemed to have put quite a lot of effort into trying to patch me up.

The answer to that last question was not what I expected to say the least. All I can say is that at that point, things got weird.

I was mulling over the problem of my mysterious benefactor and staring down at the ground in front of my toes as I walked up to the cabin and grabbed the door handle. As soon as I entered the dim interior and looked up, all my thoughts come to a screeching halt.

I had forgotten about the dog. Normally that wouldn't have been such a problem. However, on this day of weirdness, it was a huge problem.

I have nothing against dogs personally, most of the time they are happy, goofy animals that can be good company, but this one was a little different. Actually, make that really different.

First off, I doubted that the thing was a dog. The colouring of its pelt told me that this animal most likely had some wolfish ancestry in it. However that was the least of my worries at that moment. And I say that because the wolf or dog or whatever the hell it was, was doing a most undoglike (unwolflike?) thing.

It was sitting at the table.

I don't mean that it was sitting beside the table like a canine normally would. If it had been, I wouldn't have had a problem with it.

It was sitting in a chair, its feet planted solidly on the ground and it was leaning forward so that its elbows were on the edge of the table and its muzzle was resting on its hands. In other words, it was sitting in the chair like your average member of the human race does, and it was staring at me with the most peculiar expression on its face.

I wasn't really sure what to make of that but I do remember having the sudden urge to break out in insane laughter at this latest in a long list of disturbing hallucinations. Since I didn't really know what effect that might have had, I decided at the last minute to simply stare, uncomprehending.

We eyed each other in motionless silence for what felt like forever. My brain had seized up at seeing this weird creature before me and try as I might, I couldn't think of what to do about it. After everything else that had happened over the last two days, this was just too much.

It moved suddenly, and I recoiled with a yell of surprise. Lucky for me I went straight back out through the open door instead of opening up a new hole in the wall. The creature had just pushed back the chair and stood up, an action that was so damned unnatural for something that looked almost exactly like a wolf. My brain reeled as it walked slowly towards me, looking as comfortable walking on two legs as I was.

I'll readily admit that I was terrified at that time. I wanted to turn and run but there was nowhere for me to go. I had no food, no water, a busted arm and I was in the middle of some damned wilderness that shouldn't have been there. Running wouldn't have made things any better for me. I had already tried that once and received a minor concussion for the effort

The creature advanced towards me slowly and I matched every step it took towards me with one step back. I was on the very edge of fleeing from this thing but something held me back. My brain finally began to turn over again and that is likely what saved me from doing something very stupid.

There were no signs of any other people around in the wilderness. The only tracks I had seen I now understood had been made by this wolf-like creature. Could it really have been this creature that had brought me to this cabin and patched up my broken arm? As my brain finally began to see instead of just react I realized that there might be some small shred of truth in that line of thought. Any fool that had ever owned a dog could read the body language this creature was broadcasting loud and clear. When I finally clued into that, my brain stopped screaming at me to run and extremely wary curiosity bordering on disbelief came to the forefront.

The creature was doing its best to not appear threatening. Its triangular ears flicked up and down and I got the distinct impression that it was almost as scared and nervous as I was. Its hands were open and held loosely at its sides. Motion caught my eye behind the creature and I suddenly realized that it had a tail. It was wagging it uncertainly, keeping it low and in an almost submissive posture. I blinked in surprise, took another step back and found nothing but air with my searching foot.

I went right over backwards off the porch and ended up on my ass in the snow. My arm flared in pain and when I looked up I saw that the creature had rushed up to the edge of the porch, arms stretched out uncertainly. I swore and gritted my teeth as I waited for the pain in my arm to subside.

The fall into the snow seemed to have straightened out some of my thought processes. As I forced myself to my feet and brushed some of the clinging snow from my clothes, something clicked in my head. The pieces of the puzzle began to slide together. The shed fur, the lingering smell of wet dog in the cabin, the distorted footprints in the snow, even the crude spear in the shed began to make sense. It took a minute, but finally this ancient cabin, its impossible occupant, and the total lack of any sign of civilization outside finally fell into place in the puzzle. But that would mean...

I swallowed convulsively and stared into a pair of intense amber eyes. My life, whatever had become of it now, had just become a whole hell of a lot more complex.