FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

---Warning! Read this first:

---Sorry about the delay. Here is the second chapter, and I'm sorry there is no yiff. I'll be sure to put it in chapter three.

---WARNING: If you are under the age of 18, you should not read this material! (Though I don't know why not, there's nothing iffy in here)

Chapter Two: New Life

Part A: Sale and Training

Kirren sat in the van, staring at his paws in front of him. They were bound together with thick rope that he dared not try to get out of for the two humans sitting next to him were pointing guns at him. He tried not to think about it too much, but he could not help it. He wanted to open his mouth to yawn widely, but he could not. His muzzle felt only a bit tight.

He was being driven to his new home, one that he dreaded to see. He truly did believe that that was going to be where he would live for the rest of his life. He thought of it, and knew that his life was just fake, artificial in every way. He had always heard of people trying to figure out their purpose in life. He now knew his purpose; the purpose that had been given to all furries ever since their existence: to be slaves.

The wolf kept his tail still as much as he could, not wanting to brush it against one of the humans next to him for fear that they may react to it. He stared down at himself shamefully since he had no clothes on whatsoever, but he knew with all the labor that he imagined himself doing in his new home, he would not really need them to stay warm. Beside that, he had fur, and that was all he felt he needed.

He had overheard the conversation that one of the humans had with one of the men who had caught him. They spoke of him, and nothing else, as if he were just an item being traded. At that was probably true or at least that was how he felt it to be. But the amount that he had been sold for had surprised him: it was so little. He was the equivalent to a bottle of water at the store.

He continued to stare downward at his feet, blinking infrequently. He thought of his home, but that did him no good. His thoughts often drifted to his friends, and that only made him feel worse about his situation. He decided to stop thinking about it, but that only made it so that he could not get it off of his mind.

He swayed back and forth as the van accelerated and decelerated, making him brush against the two people to his side. One of them just pushed him back while the other seemed to be sleeping. He was no surprised, since it was late in the night from what he had seen the sky to be before they had shoved him inside the vehicle.

The ride went on for what seemed to Kirren as forever, but it could have only been a few hours. The time did go by slowly with nothing to do and thoughts that kept coming and going. He had taken notice of the time passing so that other thoughts would not pester him, such as all the death he had seen in just one day, but that only made the hours' passing so much slower.

When the van finally did stop, the wolf leaned into the person to his right. Luckily, the person to his right was the one that was sleeping and the only thing he managed to accomplish by doing this was to wake him up. The person mumbled something groggily and stood up, signaling for the wolf to do the same.

The wolf complied with no argument, feeling that an argument would only lead to his own demise. His mind had all ready been made up: if he was made to be a slave, then the least he could do in return for the life he was given was to do as he was made to do. He would try his best, but then he only wished that this would not have been the circumstance. He could not change his fate, though.

He could only think now, and hope for a nice owner. If he was to be a slave, then he would at least like to have a nice owner, but he also knew he had no control over that. If he had an owner that hated furries, like apparently so many other humans, then he would have to face hardship from now on. He wanted to shrug, but dared not make any movements that were other than what he was told to do.

He felt a jab at his back which meant for him to move forward. He had not noticed the door open for the thoughts and images kept flooding his mind, pooling up in places that held his attention. He felt the cruelest thing that humans could ever have done to furries were to give them feelings and conscience, for now he noticed that every thought he had was a painful one.

As he stepped forward into the cold outdoors and chill of the night, he thought of his parents. He thought of them, he thought of his home, he thought of his friends, he thought of his school, he thought of everything that mattered to him, but mostly, he just thought. He could not drill the images out of his mind, so for the time being, he accepted them.

The wind was strong and the night was cold. Kirren shivered involuntarily, but it was unhampered by the two that led him toward the building in the far off distance. They walked quickly enough for the wolf to warm up, but in spite of the speed of their walking, the building did not seem to be getting any closer. He looked at the dark shape in the distance that he recognized as a structure, and saw that it was further than he had originally thought.

He felt that the ground was soft beneath his feet and it felt slightly like mud. He looked down quickly only for a glance before looking back in front so that he would not be punished for such an action. From his glance, he could see that they were walking through a field, most likely the place that he would be working at.

He took deep breaths through his nose since his mouth was closed fairly tightly because of his muzzle. He could smell manure strongly in the air, as well as the smell of sweat and blood. He dared not think of the puddle he stepped in a few steps further.

The tag in his ear jingled endlessly, becoming slightly annoying, yet gave him a fair amount of pain from having his ear just pierced forcefully without a pain killer to dull the feeling. The blood around his new puncture wound was dried and his ear had all ready begun to heal around the tag.

A few yards further, the people stopped him while stopping, themselves. One of them spoke quietly to the other, and after their short conversation that Kirren could not pick up, the other nodded. One of the men grabbed a rolled up hose and carried it with him, nodding to the other.

The wolf looked over as the sound of one of the men's voices went to his ears. "We're going to give you a quick rinse before you go to the slave quarters to sleep. Tomorrow is your training, so sleep all you can. In other words, wolf, welcome to hell."

The man snickered while the other smirked unnoticeably. The wolf frowned and followed the two through a path to the left where he saw another dark object that looked similar to a building. As they got closer, there was a distinct scent that Kirren immediately recognized as the smell of wet fur and sweat. He concluded that the building was the slave quarters mentioned a few seconds ago.

Upon reaching it, the person with the hose headed off to the side. He came back after a few moments with the hose, unraveled and dripping from the nozzle. The wolf felt a chill come across him when he saw it, and before he could protest, he felt the icy liquid spray over him forcefully.

He wanted to move away, but he heard a click somewhere behind him that could be assumed to originate from a gun of some sort. He stood there, not just paralyzed from the fear of getting himself shot and killed, but from not wanting to move his limbs so that the water could work its way through his fur.

The torrent only lasted a minute or so. When the water died down, the wolf breathed quickly, heavily, panting and gasping for breath, but the icy air only made things worse than they all ready were. The two men that had brought him here stepped back slightly. The one holding the weapon said, "Dry yourself and get inside. Rest up, and someone will be here to uh... wake all of you up."

The wolf looked at the two of them and stood there. He then felt an irresistible urge to rid the water from his fur which weighed him down like a soaked blanket. He shook himself, spraying the water around him and causing the side of the building to get slightly damper than it all ready was.

After drying himself, he looked at the two men behind him. One of them signaled him to step inside of the building, and he turned back toward it. He stepped forward slowly, reaching for the door, and turned the knob. The door opened with a loud creaking noise and the sound of a bell, probably so that if someone were to open it, anyone else could hear it.

He stepped inside and was grateful that it was at least warmer than the cold air outside. He stood there for a moment, looking at the furs laying inside, or sitting in some cases, most of them sleeping. He heard the door behind him close and lock. The lights were not on, but the roof was not as sturdy as it should have been. A piece of the roof had all ready fallen and through the large hole above, moonlight poured through, illuminated his surroundings so that he could at least discern shapes.

He worked his way through the bodies on the ground and found a place next to the wall that was unoccupied. He sat against the wall, looking at the hole in the roof and watched a leaf flutter down through it to rest on the fur of someone who slept underneath. He sniffed around and smelled a mixture of scents: of sweat, of wet fur, of lust and of blood. But currently, the smell of wet fur was the strongest.

He put his arms around his knees and held them closely. He shivered slightly from the cold, his body telling him to seek warmth, but he dared not move due to his still slightly damp fur. He liked being since rather than outside due to the warmth, but he knew that the warmth was only because of all of the bodies inside and the combined body heat.

He pulled out the necklace a human named Jake had let him have before he had been sold. Though Kirren was Jake's captive for that time, he did not dislike him. He was at least kind to the wolf.

He looked at the necklace. At the end of it hung a crystal that swirled and swung back and forth, reflecting as little moonlight as it received and almost seemed to glow. He stared at it for a moment before he heard a voice to his left.

"That's a pretty necklace; I'm surprised they didn't take it away from you." The wolf looked to his left and saw an otter fur, looking back at him with a slight, friendly smile. He returned the smile, despite their circumstance, or at least as much as a smile as he could manage with his muzzle. He looked around and noticed that he was not the only one with a muzzle, but he was not surprised. Every fur had a muzzle, and he just supposed that was a safety measure.

Kirren swung the crystal like a small pendulum. "One of the people that kept me at the training facility let me have it."

The otter looked at the wolf, slightly surprised. "He let you have that? Humans hate us, you know. That thing is probably some sort of poison or something."

The wolf looked at it and shook his head. "Not all humans hate us, that's what he said." Even though he said that, he was beginning to have his doubts about Jake. He looked at the necklace and was not so sure that it was not poison. He put it back around his neck and hoped that it was not.

The otter shrugged. "Yeah, just because they made us, it doesn't mean they don't hate us. They wanted slaves, right? Well look where we are: we're their slaves; they got what they wanted. But maybe he was being... merciful, really. If that's poison, it's at least a way to escape this place."

The wolf frowned and continued holding his knees close to him. He shivered lightly, his body telling him he was not as warm as it would like him to be. He sneezed quietly and sniffed right after.

The otter said quickly, "Bless you." The wolf smiled at the common habit and sniffed his nose in return. The otter closed his eyes and asked softly, "So what's your name, anyway?"

"Kirren Pher. Yours?" The wolf idly scratched his left with his paw while he spoke.

The otter replied after a moment. "I'm Alex Llen. You have a nice name."

The wolf smiled and said, "Thanks. You have a nice name too." He could not really think of anything to say other than that.

Alex yawned lightly, stretching his arms in front of him. Kirren held his knees closer to himself, rubbing his arms with his paws, trying to regain the warmth he lost.

Alex thought for a moment, and then asked, "So when did they catch you?"

The wolf looked down and said softly, "This morning, or yesterday morning, I'm not even sure what today is."

The otter said, "I think it's after midnight, so I'm going to guess yesterday morning. Well, at least you didn't have to sit in some facility for a while. It took them about a week to find someone to buy me."

Kirren looked at Alex, surprised. "A week? I thought they started doing this yesterday."

The otter shrugged. "It officially started yesterday, but some people decided to work on things early. Some furs found out about it because those people were a bit early. Those furs were either just captured or killed anyway."

The wolf softly said, "Oh." He thought of his friend Kael, who had gone berserk just the day before at school. He had wondered what was going on at first and found out later, but he did not know how Kael had found out. Now, much to his dislike, he understood what happened.

The otter looked at Kirren and asked, "Something wrong?"

The wolf looked at Alex and said, "It's just... now I know why my friend was going crazy yesterday. He kept trying to tell me, but I had no idea...."

The otter patted the wolf sympathetically. But on a more serious note, he asked, "Are they going to breed you?"

Kirren looked at the otter, a bit puzzled by the question. He nodded slowly and asked, "Why?"

The otter smiled, yet frowned in an odd expression. He spoke with mixed emotions and explained, "Well, a lot of the furs, I would say the majority, that come here are fine for the first day. The next day, the new ones that are not going to be bred are neutered at the start in the morning. You won't, at least, have to face that in the morning."

The wolf frowned. "Yeah, but I don't know if I really want to be bred. The more of us there are, the more slaves they'll have, right? If that means I'll have pups to just have them become slaves, I... I don't want that to happen."

The otter nodded. "I don't think much of us have a choice about that one, Kirren. They've all ready started to breed some of the felines and equines. I heard that our owner doesn't have any lupines or canines that he wanted to breed, at least in the male category. There are a lot of females that are ready. I'm going to guess that was the reason you were sold so quickly."

The wolf stared out into the moonlight that streamed through the opening. The otter continued by asking, "Are you straight?"

The wolf looked at the otter and raised an eye brow. The otter, however, looked serious about it, so Kirren replied, "I've always considered myself to be bi. Are you?"

The otter did not change his expression. "No, I'm not straight. I'm gay, really. But the point is, it's better that you're not gay. This will make things easier, since I'm guessing that they'll breed you immediately. If you were gay, it'd be a fairly difficult task, but beside that, if you're gay, and if you're reluctant to breed...."

Kirren waited for the otter to continue, but Alex hesitated. He looked away and finally finished his sentence, "They'll... they'll kill you."

The wolf's heart skipped a beat when he heard this. "How... how do you know?"

Alex continued looking away and said softly, "My boyfriend and I were sold about a month ago and we were brought here. We were the only two male otters while all of the other female otters were neutered, except for one. My boyfriend... he had to mate with her, but we were gay, so he was reluctant, and.... To make an example, they killed the two in front of everyone, in front of all of us that were there."

Kirren looked at the otter sympathetically and said, "I'm sorry to hear that...."

Alex just smiled and shook his head, looking back at the wolf. "No, don't say that. It's useless to dwell on the past. We have to just stick together now, and we have to live in the present. This is the world that we've been put in, and we just have to accept it for what it is and for what happens."

The wolf moved his paw over to the otter and patted his back softly. "You're right: no use in thinking about the past, we'll just have to look to the future now, and right now, I think we'd both better get some rest. We'll have to wake up soon, won't we?"

The otter nodded and leaned into the wolf, closing his eyes slowly. The wolf held the otter closely with one arm, grateful that the otter was at least warm in contrast to his frigid state. His eyes closed just as the otter's had, and soon enough, not only did he hear the otter begin to snore, he noticed that the world was slowly dissolving into darkness. He was no longer able to discern objects as they all blended into dark swirls, and just as quickly, he fell asleep.

-

The wolf woke up to a loud bell ringing inside of the slave hut. He opened his eyes slowly and stirred slowly, groggy from his lack of a normal amount of sleep. He looked around slowly when his eyes finally opened completely and noticed he was the only one still on the floor.

He stood up quickly and rubbed away sleep from his eyes, or at least attempted to. He yawned silently, unable to really open his mouth to make a loud one. He stretched his arms and went to the back of the crowd that left the hut in single file.

The crowd slowly moved forward into the large open space that everyone recognized as the outdoors. Kirren followed, seeing the otter he had met only the night before near the front of the crowd.

When they had finally gotten outside, he noticed that the sun was still not up. He guessed he only had about three hours or less of sleep. He saw everyone get into a line and face one human female while another human walked around, holding a rifle with his finger on the trigger.

The wolf walked to the end of the line and stood there, standing as still as he could, afraid that he would be shot otherwise. The human female stood near the center of the line and looked at a few of the furries that stood there. She spit on one of them, giving whoever it was a look of disgust, while only a few furries down, she slapped another one of them.

Kirren gulped as she started to make her way toward him, randomly hitting different furries on the way. The wolf tried to not look and stare forward while he put out his chest and tried to look obedient by putting his ears back.

In only a few moments, he was staring straight at her while she stared back with the same look of disgust. But she grinned just as quickly as he had been captured, and she said, "So you're the new guy here, are you? Good, I'm supposed to train you today, so guess you'll be coming with me." She turned to the other furs and raised her voice to a shout and said, "Everyone! To your duties, and don't you dare slack off! We won't hesitate to shoot you because we can replace you just as easily!"

She turned back to Kirren and grabbed him by the collar, quickly putting a leash on it. She dragged toward an opening elsewhere, saying, "My name is Jennifer, but of course you will not be aloud to call me that. You'll refer to me as ma'am, while you'll refer to your master as master. Everyone else is just as I am: refer to them as sir or ma'am, or you will be punished."

She continued to drag Kirren to an open field and finally stopped. He stopped as far as he could from Jennifer and quietly stared to the ground. Jennifer walked up to Kirren and began to lecture him.

"Always stare at a human's feet unless told otherwise. Do not answer a question unless it was specifically addressed to you, and do not speak unless you're spoken to. Never take your muzzle off; we're the only ones aloud to do that. If something happens and you are unable to do something that you are ordered to, you will be punished. Don't try to reason your way out of it since we don't care much for your little excuses." She walked around Kirren, hitting him on the stomach to make him slouch, swatting his tail as far down as it could go.

She grabbed the leash and guided him over to a sign post that he had not seen the night before. There was a map on it, which she indicated and started pointing at various objects on it. "This is the area. There's a mine over here, while there is a forest behind the slave huts, which are right... here. In the middle is the building where your master lives. Don't plan on getting anywhere near it; you'll most likely be shot within a hundred meters. We actually do have snipers on the perimeter, so don't bother. However, maybe once you'll be called up to the main building, and if you are ever in that rare instance, find me and I'll lead you there."

Kirren looked at the map, studying it and memorizing the images. He was about to look at Jennifer, but he decided against it. Instead, Jennifer continued her explanation. "At times, you will be required to work in the forest to the west of the slave huts, or just behind them if your sense of direction is below average. The southern part of it is usually where the work is done, but sometimes it's in different places, so listen to your instructions carefully. Nothing will be repeated unless we're feeling especially happy that day."

She smirked at the last part and continued, "The mines are to the north east, while if you look to the top of the map, it does not show the lake that is actually north. That lake is not ours, but you will occasionally work there as well. But now this shape over here, next to the main building, is the other slave hut where we keep the female flea-bags that are ready to be bred. You, along with the rest of the males that can breed, as well as the other furries that are neutered, you're all in the hut that you were in not too long ago.

"Which reminds me: Dave told me that you were to be bred. Looks as if you lucked out, since this is usually the part where I guide you to where you'll get your balls chopped off, but it doesn't seem that it'll be this time. But that also reminds me: your master's name is Dave or 'Master Dave' to you. You can also call him just 'Master' if you need. Do not dare call him just 'Dave' though; you don't deserve that right." Jennifer emphasized the last part of it.

She grabbed the leash and tugged him to move forward. He followed her quickly, but not closely. She said, "We're heading toward the main building, because luckily for you, or unluckily, depends on how you see it, Dave said he wanted to see you. After we see Dave, though, you will go immediately to work, so don't feel like this is going to be an easy day for you."

Kirren nodded and followed her toward the main building. He glanced upward for less than a second and felt that it was just so far away. He went back to staring at the ground, counting the steps in his head out of boredom.

When he reached about a thousand steps, he glanced back up without actually moving his head up. The building was close now, and he spotted a few snipers aiming directly at him in the half-second that he looked up. He lowered his tail between his legs and moved his ears back, now following a bit more closely to Jennifer.

Jennifer waved to the snipers and continued forward. She stepped up to the door and knocked on it loudly, waiting for someone to open the door. Kirren could hear slow footsteps from inside coming toward the door. Closer and closer, each step was just a bit louder, sounding of someone tapping on the floor, letting the echo reverberate inside of the large building.

They continued to get closer until he heard a click on the door that could immediately be recognized as the lock to the door. He thought of his own lock at home, but discarded his thought immediately. The door opened, but the wolf dared not look up to see who had opened it. He heard a male voice say, "This way, ma'am, and make sure to not let that wolf track mud inside here...."

Jennifer just waved him off and said, "If he does, we'll just get him to clean it up later anyhow." She followed the person that had opened the door and dragged the wolf behind her, holding the leash tightly.

Kirren smelled food heavily coming from a room off to the right. He guessed it was the kitchen, or at least a dining room. He could not really tell without looking at it, since by the smell of it, it could have been either one. He continued following Jennifer, staring at the floor and the little designs that he could see in it. He guessed that it was made of marble.

Light from above shined against the floor and reflected objects surrounding him. He could see pieces of armor and display cases to his left, while on the wall to his right were weapons hanging for everyone to see. Swords, crossbows, bows, arrows, bolts, daggers, just basically anything you could think of from medieval times, whereas a little further hung guns, rifles, bullets and the sort.

The three went through a few flights of stairs as well as a maze of hallways and rooms in order to finally reach a large double door. The wolf stared at the floor, looking at the reflection on the marble that showed the large door. The ceiling seemed so far away from the ground, and judging by how much money seemed to have been invested in this house, he would not have been surprised if the building were larger.

Jennifer knocked on the door and waited. The other person had all ready gone back downstairs. At first, there was no sound, but Kirren heard movement faintly coming toward the door a few seconds after. The footsteps were dull and more similar to light scrapings on a carpet rather than footsteps. He gulped and waited until he heard the door click.

The door opened slowly and a person stepped out. Kirren could not see who it was, so he continued staring at the floor in silence. Jennifer said, "Hello, Dave. Here's the wolf that you had bought last night."

The wolf did not hear the person respond, but rather, he saw a flutter of movement in the reflection. Jennifer stuttered and said, "A-are you sure?" There was a pause, and Jennifer frowned, but nodded. She handed the leash to Dave and said, "I'll be outside if you need me."

The wolf felt a gentle tug on the leash and he moved forward, being led by someone who he did not know. He wanted to look up, but he knew that would have been bad. He continued staring at the floor while he stood inside. The person moved over to the door and shut it, locking it quickly.

The person walked in front of the wolf and went over to a desk. He dropped the leash, and the wolf just watched it fall limply to the ground. He heard his master take a deep breath, and immediately, the wolf had thought he was hearing things.

A child's voice emitted and said, "It's okay, you don't have to stare at the ground all the time. Besides, you need to see who your new master is, right? Otherwise, how else would you tell who to listen to?"

Kirren blinked and slowly looked up. In front of him stood a boy that seemed no older than eight, or maybe less. He stared at his new master, surprised, expecting to see at least an adult in front of him.

The child nodded and waited for the wolf to speak, but shook his head after waiting for a moment. "I forgot, I need to give you permission to talk. Okay, you have my 'permission' to talk, so talk all you need."

The wolf gulped and said, "With all due respect, master, but... you're just a child!" He rubbed one of his eyes with one of his paws and could not keep from staring at Dave.

Dave smiled and said, "Yeah, I'm only eight, so I'm just a kid, but that doesn't mean I'm not your master. But...." He looked at a window off to the side longingly. "I never wanted to have slaves, but my parents made me. They make all the decisions as long as I'm considered the master. If I try to say something else, they just tell me I'm too young and they call me dumb."

Dave walked over to Kirren. The wolf did not dare move a muscle. Dave gestured for the wolf to kneel down since he was too short. When the wolf complied, his master petted him on the head softly, saying, "Beside that, though, I've always wanted a puppy as a pet, so you'll be my pet! Even though they'll make you work, still, and you have to do other things, you'll be my little puppy."

The wolf blinked in surprise. "But what about all of the other canines... er... puppies, master?" The wolf tried to remain motionless except for moving his jaw to speak.

Dave frowned and said, "They all want me dead, or they're all scared of me. Or they want me dead and they're scared at the same time."

The wolf looked to the ground and said, "And what makes you so sure I don't...?"

Dave flicked the wolf's ear and said, "You forgot to say 'master'. But it's in your genetics. All of you were made in different ways, and your specific genetics made you capable of being a good pet. That's why I bought you so quickly, but I had to convince my parents by saying you'd be good to be bred."

Dave moved his hand to the wolf's muzzle and took it off. "This won't really be needed, right? But looking at the time...." He looked over at a digital clock on the wall. "You'd better get to work anyhow. But just remember, you're my pet now. Now go follow Jennifer and she'll show you where you'll be for this week."

Dave threw aside the muzzle and petted Kirren softly. He grabbed the leash and unlocked the door. He opened the door and handed the leash to Jennifer, while the wolf walked slowly out of the door, his mind racing. He was in shock for the most part. The thought that was most prominent in his mind was not that he was now the master's pet, but the thought that shocked him the most was that he owed his slavery to a mere child....

Part B: Life's Work

Kirren followed Jennifer as slowly as he could without being pulled by the leash. His thoughts seemed sluggish ever since he had found out he was a slave to a child. But beside that, it took him about half an hour to realize that he was not just a slave, but he was also a pet.

He was not sure if that was for better or for worse. His mind began to wander, thinking between his slavery and his new position in the world. He asked himself questions, not really expecting an answer, and he dared not ask Jennifer any of those questions.

What does a pet do? He almost asked the question aloud, but he knew that would have been a bad idea. The question, along with some others, ran through his mind, and with each passing second, his future became more and more uncertain.

The wolf continued following Jennifer, walking past several halls and rooms in the building. As soon as they had found the entrance, they exited. The sun was glaring at them from above with what felt to the wolf was a higher intensity, but he guessed that it only felt warmer due to his thoughts carrying him off to his knowledge that he was going to do some manual labor.

Jennifer led him toward the forest, behind the slave huts. He stared out at them, glad at least for the tiny bit of shade that they offered. They walked deeper and deeper into the forest until they were surrounded by trees. He sniffed around and smelled the scents of the forest, as well as sweat from sources nearby.

Jennifer unhooked his leash and pushed him forward where he was immediately grabbed by someone. She left without a word, while the person that grabbed him said, "Bye, Jen. Now, you damn furry, you're coming with me."

Kirren instinctively struggled and tried to free himself. He managed to get an arm out of the person's grip, and he turned around, swinging his paw to strike his captor. However, his arm was stopped and grabbed by the person, who Kirren was now able to see. The person was a large male who obviously worked out in each moment of his spare time.

He tied a rope around Kirren's wrists and held it with one paw in only a few moments before he punched the wolf on the muzzle. The wolf yelped loudly and began to whimper, tasting blood in his mouth while smelling it in his nostrils.

He was dragged into an opening; a clearing in the forest. He stumbled after a few steps and fell to the ground. He looked up slowly, first staring at the ground, taking in all of the sights of barren dirt in such a dense forest. His gaze rose slowly, and he then saw a large opening in the side of a hill of dirt. There were tracks leading in and out of it with carts that ran along them.

The carts, Kirren could immediately tell, were pushed by furries. He noticed that most of the species of furries there were wolves, dragons and bears, with the occasional rat. He did not see Alex, so he just assumed Alex was working elsewhere.

He looked at the person that had hit him in the nose. The person smiled back at him and spoke, saying, "That's right. Be a good little fucker and bow down before your superiors. Guess it should be said that it's time for introductions, wouldn't you say?" He kicked the wolf, who just yipped in pain.

"My name is Derek, and be sure to remember that! But most of all, you should remember that I am 'Sir' to you, and if you try to do anything against what we say, I'll be there personally to make sure you're punished!" Derek laughed at the last part loudly, while Kirren sat there, slowly getting up.

Derek smirked after his fit of laughing and said, "Beside that, it's not like you furries can hurt us anyway. It's in your blood, after all. Your genes were specially designed that no matter what, you could never hurt a human, but on the other hand, we can hurt you just fine." He grabbed Kirren by the neck scruff and pulled him up, punching him in the stomach just to prove the point.

The wolf coughed out blood and looked at Derek weakly. Derek just dragged him over by the neck scruff toward the hill of dirt that could be assumed to be a mine. He spoke while he dragged the wolf, saying, "You'll be working here today, but tomorrow you'll be working at the breeding house. Every Thursday through Sunday it's here, while the rest of the days are meant for breeding. It may change sooner or later, but for now, get used to it."

Kirren thought back of his school, and he knew that Derek was right. The principal had been unharmed, while his friend had been killed. It was a bitter realization of how unfair it all was, but he did not have much time to think about it, as he was tossed to the ground.

Derek said, "Take a pick from the pile and follow the other fuckers in there. They'll probably tell you what to do, or you can figure it out yourself, but I doubt you're smart enough for that anyhow."

Derek sat down on a chair nearby and grabbed a rifle. He aimed it at the wolf, who quickly went to grab a pick and ran into the mine. He heard laughter from behind as he ran forward.

Kirren stopped running and held the miner's pick on his shoulder, feeling the weight of it. He sniffed around and smelled more sweat, but with the combination of a bit of oil and wet earth. He looked at the furries walking back and forth, doing as they should, most of them ignoring him.

A dragon fur smiled at him weakly and gestured for him to come over. Kirren walked toward him, holding the miner's pick on his shoulder though it began to hurt just a little. He said when he got there, "Hi there."

The dragon said, "Hello. You're new here, aren't you?"

Kirren nodded and said, "Yeah; I just got here last night. You?"

The dragon shook his head. "I've been here for at least a couple of weeks, so I'm not that new." He held out a claw similar to a talon, of which the wolf shook in his paw. "My name is Leo. I don't have a last name anymore, since all the people call me is Leo, and my last name had been omitted."

The wolf replied, "My name is Kirren Pher. They haven't gotten rid of either for me, so I guess I'm lucky in that aspect. It's nice to meet you, though I guess it would have been better in other circumstances."

The dragon smiled and nodded. "Yeah, it would have. I think I did see you at school in my senior year once while you were just a freshman when we were in high school. Never talked to you until now, but it's behind us now."

The wolf cocked his head. "We went to the same school? But... I guess you graduated while I was a year into it, didn't you?"

The dragon nodded and picked up his pick. "Yeah.... We'd better get started mining, or they'll just punish us like they always do. I don't want a reason for them to make it worse, since it's bad enough all ready."

Kirren nodded and said, "Yeah, but... what am I supposed to do here? What, exactly, are we mining for?"

Leo swung the pick at the wall and a large chunk of a sparkling substance came out, bouncing around on the floor. He pointed at it with his claw and said, "That; not quite diamonds, but they're just as valuable for some high-tech resource they've developed. I don't know what it's called, but I know that there's lots of it in here. So start swinging your pick at the rocks and more will be sure to come out. When the cart comes around, fill it up; if you have too much, just wait for the next one, and so on and so forth. It's really easier than it sounds to be, but it's tiring."

The wolf nodded and walked off to the side and swung his pick. He hit the rock, but he only made a chip. Nothing fell out of the rock, so he swung again. There was a sound of metal, and something fell out, making jingled noises on the ground. Kirren picked it up and stared at it, recognizing it as a shell from a weapon.

He looked at the dragon, who just shrugged in return, and returned to his own mining. The wolf dropped the shell and resumed his mining, swinging the pick as hard as he could against the rock, but hardly making any progress. He occasionally glanced over at the dragon, who with each swing shattered the rock that he struck.

Kirren sighed softly and rested on the handle of his pick. Leo walked over and said, "Go work where I was working: the ground is softer there. You managed to choose an actual rock; these things are for us dragons, basically."

The wolf nodded and walked over to where the dragon was standing. He watched the dragon lift the pick, and then swing it quickly, cracking the rock with much less effort that the wolf was putting out. The wolf looked at the part the dragon had been working on and decided to try again.

He swung the pick and hit the wall, causing a lot of dirt and smaller rocks to fall out of it, as well as a piece of the material he needed to look for. He picked it up and stared at it for a while, before deciding that it looked oddly familiar.

He pulled out the necklace that he had received from the day before. He compared the two and noticed that the only difference between the material and the necklace was that the necklace had been cut nicely, polished, and seemed pure and clean. The chunk of the material glittered slightly, but was dirty.

Leo commented, "Nice necklace. Plan on keeping that your whole stay? Usually the humans just take valuables from us anyway, and it's not as if anything is worth as much as food to us anymore...."

Kirren smiled. "Actually, a human gave this to me yesterday when I was caught and sold. But I guess you're right: food would have been more valuable."

The wolf went back to his mining, feeling the time slip by quickly. He began to judge time by how many carts passed by and how many were filled by the time they got to him. It started out at one cart, then two carts, and three carts.... The time passed by with little notice and soon enough it became twenty carts, thirty carts, and so on. The mining was beginning to fatigue him.

The mine was seemingly getting warmer, but he knew that it was just the heat from all of the work. He could hardly lift his arms, much less swing a pick at the rocks, and he began to get dizzy. His breathing became rapid, but due to the warm, damp air, it felt as if he were not breathing at all.

Just as he thought he had done all he could, he heard a whistle come from the entrance. Kirren walked forward wearily, slowly making his way upward through the large tunnel inside the mound of dirt. His fur felt heavy and damp with sweat, but he tried to ignore it as long as he could.

With each passing step, though, his mind kept focusing on the weight. His mind kept focusing on each, heavy and pain-filled step, and kept a constant reminder of how tired he was.

The weight kept growing, and soon enough, he closed his eyes and fell forward, not wanting to see the ground that he was about to hit.

-

The ground never hit, however. He opened his eyes weakly and saw that he was no longer in the tunnel. He looked around, turning his head from side to side, seeing blurry, dark objects around. It took a few seconds for him to realize that he was propped up against the wall, and it took a few minutes for him to realize that he was inside of the slave shack.

A voice from his left spoke quietly, saying, "So you woke up. I thought you had gotten yourself into a coma or something; it's happened before."

Kirren looked over and saw a familiar otter to his left. He replied wearily, "Oh, hi Alex.... What happened?"

The otter said, "I'm not really sure, but from what I heard, you collapsed in the mines. Some dragon carried you back up here. I think his name is Leo or something like that. If there was some light, I'd point him out, but right now, everyone's asleep."

The wolf shook his head. "No; I know who he is. So what time is it?"

Alex shrugged and said, "I have no idea. We don't have clocks in here, much less a watch, but I'm going to guess it's a few hours after the sun went down, so it's not too late."

The wolf blinked lightly, feeling that his body was completely sore. That reason alone was probably the reasoning behind his regaining consciousness rather than sleeping through the night. He leaned into the otter and said, "Is this what I'm going to go through from now on?"

The otter nodded and put his arm around the wolf. "Yeah, it will. It'll be okay though, don't worry. I had a rough first day too, but then again, most of us have."

Kirren rested his head against Alex and yawned softly. The otter felt warm against him, and he felt himself slowly getting drowsy, slipping off into a sleep he had woken up from not long ago. He put an arm around the otter, across his stomach, and held onto him closely, slowly beginning to snore.

He felt a paw rubbing his back while he felt another paw rub his side. It tickled him slightly, which woke him up even more slightly, but he was too fatigued to go and make the otter stop. He just whimpered softly, and the otter stopped in response.

"Something wrong?" Alex asked. He looked at the wolf, slightly confused.

Kirren said softly, "It just tickles." He nuzzled into the otter, holding him as tight as he could with what strength he had left. The otter just chuckled softly.

The wolf yawned and closed his eyes lightly again, slowly drifting off to sleep until he felt the otter's paw rubbing his back softly again. He smiled softly as he felt soothed by the otter's paw, though he was unsure of the otter's motives.

Alex's paw roamed over to rub the wolf's stomach softly, feeling the soft fur. The wolf just murred in response, though really too tired to react in any other way other than the occasional moment of snoring.

Alex spoke softly, saying, "I guess you're tired from you're first day, aren't you?" He waited for a nod or shake of the head, but all he received was a snore. He smiled and continued, "That's okay then. It'll be better if you rest up. But...."

Alex shook his head slowly, but Kirren did not notice. The wolf was fast asleep while the otter laid back against the side of the shack. The wood made little noise against his back, but it was common that noise would come often in this place. He stared off into the distance. He whispered, "We'd all better sleep."

With that, Alex closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

-

The sun's rays fell through the missing areas of the roof, falling upon the sleeping furs. Some of them were all ready stirring from their sleep, yawning and stretching. Kirren woke quickly enough since he had had several hours of sleep from the day before anyhow. His body felt sore, but he ignored it for now.

He looked to his left and saw that Alex was staring at the roof, all ready awake. Kirren smiled and said, "Good morning, or as good as it gets, anyhow."

Alex nodded and continued staring toward the ceiling. The wolf tilted his head and asked, "What's wrong?

The otter replied, "Today...."

Kirren frowned. "Today? What about today?"

Alex smiled and said, "I heard they're getting more female otters later today. Some guy was talking fairly loudly about it. It's obvious what they'll want me to do later."

Kirren looked at the otter and blinked. The otter's expression gave way that the smile was forced. The wolf sighed and said, "Then it's for the better, right?"

The otter nodded. "Yeah, for the better...." Kirren frowned slightly, but Alex continued and asked, "Do you really think doing something that I don't want to do is better? Is it really best to continue our false existence so my children can suffer as well?"

The wolf shook his head and said, "Of course not, but if you do what you can to live, maybe things will change for the better. I think it's better to look at the brighter side of things, rather than think about the suffering that... that seems impossible to avoid."

Alex shook his head. "I don't really think it's worth it, Kirren. Why continue this, if it only means that others will suffer? There's no point to going on with this anymore, now that the truth has shown itself! When do you think this will all end? Do you think they'll just stop what they're doing and let us live freely? We have our own feelings, you know, and we have our own thoughts! We have our own opinions! Do you think they're happy with that? Soon, they'll just make it so we can't even have those, and I don't want to live in a time where that happens!"

Kirren blinked and could only respond, "But..."

Alex grabbed his head with his own paws and rubbed his temples as if he had a headache. "But what? I think it would even be better if I was with... if I was with...." Alex never finished the sentence, but rather tears began to stream down from his eyes, all ready soaking into his fur to make it too wet to absorb anymore.

Before Kirren could, the door opened, making a jingling sound from the bell. A person stood at the door, looking in at all of the furs that now stirred and stood up, and everyone moved out of the shack in a wave of motion.

Kirren lost Alex in the crowd, and whimpered in dismay. But soon enough, he found himself outside, standing in line, far end away from Alex so he was unable to communicate with him in any manner.

Everyone was given where they had to go, and Alex, like he guessed, had to go toward the breeding area. Kirren was supposed to go over to his new 'master', as he was the new pet. He was also supposed to wear a special, gaudy looking collar. There was slight opposition to the request, but no one really challenged the direct order from their boss.

Kirren was led off toward the large building, where he knew his master lived and waited.

-

Alex was led off toward the same direction as Kirren, but mostly toward the side of it. There was an adjacent building close to it that he had always noticed, and had always hated. He looked at it with pain, knowing what went on inside of there, and what had happened not so long before.

The person that led Alex was a person who had worn a sweatshirt at that day, since it was fairly cold still. He held a shotgun in one hand, and a leash that attached to Alex's muzzle in the other. He kept looking at Alex with disgust, but Alex paid no heed to the constant leering and hateful expressions.

The building was not so large, especially compared to the larger building it stood next to. It was slightly smaller than the slave shack, but not so much smaller. He could tell it was just two rooms placed side-by-side, though, from the side of it since there was an obvious looking seam in the middle.

Alex was led to the door, where the person just knocked on it. The door opened quickly enough after the shuffling of feet was loud enough to be heard. The person handed the leash to the person who opened the door, and then pointed the shotgun at the otter, poking him and saying, "Get in, you damned thing."

Alex frowned and went inside of the building, listening to the door close behind him, though still feeling the shotgun pointed straight at him. The door closed, and he dared not look back, fearful yet not so fearful of the blast that would come through and instantly end his life, or not so instantly. In a sort, he half wished that shot would come.

The person led the otter over to the middle of the room, where he hooked the leash to the metal ring extended from the ceiling. He walked over to the desk and looked through the window, where a female otter was standing in the same predicament, except crying, which seemed to have continued for hours, if not days.

The person said, "So you're name is Alex, then? What a coincidence: my name is also Alex. It's just a bit hard, though, since this is such an awkward situation, isn't it?"

Alex just stared at the floor, not bothering to answer. The person continued, saying, "I'm a doctor here, and a scientist as well. I helped... though reluctantly, with some genetic research. That should make me old, shouldn't it? After all, genetic research was supposed to stop when we could create you, right? I know that is what you're thinking, since that's what everyone thinks, but it is wrong. There is still research going on, and I'm... unfortunately helping it. They needed me to be here because I specialize in otters, since if this were before the time, I would probably have been considered an otter furry, myself. But that is the past, right? This is the present, whether anyone likes it or not, and I can assure you: I do not like this one bit."

The person spoke quickly enough so that Alex could hardly understand him. The person continued, "I suppose you'll be bred today, forcibly or not, but either way bred. You'll most likely be watched, though, since we can't have any problems, now, can we? No, we can't."

Alex looked at the doctor and hesitated. The doctor looked back at him quizzically, so the otter finally spoke. "If I'm reluctant to do this... what's going to happen?"

The doctor frowned and said, "Most likely, you'll be killed and replaced. That's what always happens, you know."

Alex nodded. "I... I don't want to do this at all. I can't do this. It's just not right."

The doctor walked up to Alex and sighed. "I know this is hard, but if you don't do this you'll be killed. Death isn't the best thing, really. I've watched so many die; I don't want to see another."

The otter began to cry. "I don't really care if I die or not, I just don't want to make any children of mine suffer because I wanted to live. That's not a way to be remembered...."

The doctor sighed again. "I know, I know. If I were in your situation, I would probably wish for death too, but things may get better! You never really do know." The doctor gave a small, reassuring smile.

The otter shook his head. "Tell me something... please?"

The doctor looked at him quizzically again. "Sure. What is it?"

Alex asked, "If I die, will I go to heaven or hell, or will I just vanish? In other words, do I even have a soul?"

The doctor frowned. "Well, it's hard to say really. I can't say for sure if anything really has a soul, being a scientist and a doctor, but on what I believe, furries do have souls. I think that is what we tried to do secretly: not just to make a living being with no emotions and soul, practically no life, but rather to make a living being that could form its own opinions from its own emotions and to actually live. You could go to heaven or hell, I'm sure, if you believe it, of course."

Alex smiled and continued to cry, if not with a bit more intensity. "Then maybe I'll meet the one I love where I end up. That'll make dying all the more easy."

The doctor frowned. "Is that truly what you want?" Alex just smiled and nodded, tears streaming down his face. The doctor waved a guard at the other side of the building in the other room to return the female otter. He took Alex's leash and took him outside.

Outside was another guard, whom he gave the leash to. He said, "The otter is unwilling." He then sighed, as if he dreaded the next part, and continued, "Make an example of him."

The guard smiled and nodded. "I'll be sure to do that!"

The guard walked Alex over to the field and the guard called in all of the furries. They all stared at Alex quizzically, and stared at the guard even more so. The guard said, "This furry did not want to do as he was told. All of you know what that means, but apparently some of you don't like to follow even those orders! Well, today, you're getting a lesson first-hand!"

The guard pulled out a pistol and aimed it at Alex. He grinned and said, "Goodbye, you godless bastard."

Alex cried openly, letting the tears fall down his face, but he smiled and waited. He did not have to wait long as with a loud shot, he felt a pain to his head, and then nothing. He fell to the ground, but he had lost all senses before hitting it, but he remained smiling as his own blood pooled on the wet soil. His body twitched once, and then ceased to move at all.

The guard looked at it and then at all of the furs. "Clean this up or you'll be next!"

The furs reluctantly did as they were told.

-

Kirren was led toward the large building by Jennifer. She did the usual to gain entrance to the inside of the building and walked Kirren inside. From there, she led him to the room that they had gone to before, except he was aloud to look forward this time.

Upon opening the door, Jennifer took the leash off and just pushed him inside, standing out of the doorway with a gun in her hand. The wolf looked at her sullenly and let the door close behind him.

He looked forward and said, "Master...."

Dave looked at the wolf and smiled, saying, "Hey there! Come over here, I've got something for you."

Kirren complied, wondering what anyone would give a furry nowadays, but quickly discarded the thought as he felt the cool crystal against his chest. Dave reached in his pocket and pulled out a tiny tag with a golden circle on it. Inscribed on it was the name Kirren Pher. He walked up and gestured for Kirren to bend down.

Once again, the wolf complied. Dave attached the little golden tag to the all ready gaudy collar that was around the wolf's neck. He backed away and looked at it, fixing it up every now and then to make it look just as he wanted it to. He finally said, after a few minutes, "Perfect! You look better with the collar now!"

Kirren smiled weakly and forced his tail to wag, though he was unsure if that would have been the right gesture for him to make, considering the circumstances. Dave just smiled at him and said, "That's better then."

The wolf was about to ask why he was called up, but Dave spoke first, saying, "I called you up here because today should be our day we can play! I don't really know what to do at the moment, though, but I'll think of something, don't you worry! There won't be work today, but unfortunately, there's work tomorrow for you. So consider this a break, okay? Well, don't even think of it as that! Just have some fun, and it should be fine."

Kirren nodded slowly. "But what about your parents? Won't they get mad?"

Dave laughed. "I'm the master, remember? Beside that, I guess you should only call me master in public. You won't have to do it here, since it seems kind of bad."

The wolf nodded again. Dave began to speak about something, but a gunshot in the distance caught Kirren's attention. He shook it off, though, knowing that he should pay attention to Dave.

They spent the next few minutes walking around in the house, but they never stayed in a room long enough for Kirren to really absorb his surroundings. Suddenly, however, Dave had an idea. He proposed, "Hey! Why don't we play hide-and-go-seek? I'm sure you'll never find me!"

Kirren looked at, puzzled. "But am I aloud to wander around looking for you?"

Dave said, "Sure! Just say we're playing hide-and-go-seek, and I'm sure they'll understand. Beside, I doubt anyone is there to tell that to: they're probably all outside doing some work stuff or something. Now stand there and close your eyes! Count to a hundred, and no peeking!"

Kirren stood there, covered his eyes, and slowly counted numbers in his head. He thought this was oddly childish, but he did not mind. He listened to the little footsteps running off in some direction, but by the constant echoing, he could no longer tell where they were coming from. He sighed, as this made it all the more difficult for him.

When he reached a hundred, he started his way down the corridor. He passed by several mirrors before he gave up on his sight. He sniffed around and managed to catch Dave's scent heading in the opposite direction he was headed. He sighed and turned about-face, walking the other way.

He passed by a rack with several swords and medieval armor hung on the wall. He looked at them fondly, since he had always loved the medieval era, but had never had much time to look into much of it. He had practiced archery once, and saw a little down the line, a bow and a quiver full of arrows.

He continued forward, following the scent, looking for Dave. Apparently Dave had run further than Kirren thought he could in such a short time. He continued the trail before it dawned on him that Dave must have ran through the whole house several times, and that he could have been following the wrong trail.

Kirren frowned and just decided to follow the trail, though it may have been the wrong one. He decided one wrong trail was better than none at all. He passed many corridors, decorated with many odd paintings and sculptures that seemed slightly out of place. He did not know whether to stare at them or to just continue forward. He decided to stare at them for a few minutes.

He continued on the trail for a few more hours, passing most of the day away before almost giving up. However, he picked up a stronger scent a bit further down the corridor he was in. He followed it quietly until he was sure it was a fresh scent, rather than an old one that had been made days, or even months before.

He snuck up to a room where the door was closed. He heard little giggling from inside, almost suppressed as if someone were hiding there. He was sure it was Dave. He stood outside quietly until he was sure Dave did not know he was even close-by, and suddenly opened the door and said, "Found you!" with a smile.

Dave screamed playfully and laughed loudly. Someone immediately ran into the room and pointed a gun at Kirren, telling him to immediately place his hands... or paws where they were visible. Dave waved at the person and said, "No, no! I command you to put your weapon down!"

The person looked at Dave, and then back at Kirren. He slowly lowered his weapon and began to protest, but Dave said, "We were playing a game! Why'd you go and interrupt it?"

The person said, "But, sir! I thought he was attacking you or something...."

Dave shook his head and said, "You know that's not possible, don't you?"

The person nodded and did not say another word. He just left and went back to wherever he had managed to appear from.

Dave shook his head and said, "Well, let's get on with the game then, okay?" I'm it this time, so you go hide!"

Kirren nodded and went off to hide somewhere.

-

They spent the rest of the day playing the same game, until it was time for Kirren to go back to the slave shack. He sat against the wall, staring off into the air, wondering where Alex had gone. He did not know, nor did he think too much of it, since he was sure that Alex had just been doing what he did not want to do.

He thought earlier of what had happened through the day and he thought: he missed his home, and he missed his friends. He missed his parents, and he even missed his school. He missed everything that was now detached from him, but he could do nothing about it. He had no choice but to accept everything for how it was.

He remembered that he had played games when he was a child, just like Dave wanted to do. He had played hide-and-go-seek with others, but that was always too easy for furries since they could sniff others out. But he did not mind, he always loved the exhilaration of it, how he could be found, and how he loved to find the others.

He looked back at all the times he had, and he wondered what things would be like if this had never happened. He knew many furries would still be alive now, and that life would be normal, and he would still take it for granted.

He sighed and stared up at the break in the ceiling. The moonlight streamed through it, casting an eerie glow upon the furries lying in what the light could touch. He tried to shrug off his feelings of uneasiness from the early morning when Alex had said so many things about what was to happen later that day. He wondered what actually happened.

As he thought about it, a dragon walked over and sat next to Kirren. He said, "Hi there, Kirren."

The wolf responded, "Hi Leo."

The dragon looked at him and frowned, but the wolf did not notice. Instead, Kirren asked, "Hey, do you know where Alex is?"

The dragon looked away and said softly, just so that Kirren could barely hear, "He's with his mate now, in a better place than this."

The wolf blinked and knew the implications immediately. He thought back to when he heard the gunshot, and knew what that was just as quickly. He looked for words to say, but he could not find any. He looked at Leo and whimpered.

Leo looked back at Kirren and said, "He was a great guy. I don't think there was a fur here that didn't like him, and now he's gone. In a way, he's gained his freedom. I'm sure he's gone to heaven now, and he could finally be with the one he loved so much...."

The wolf nodded, and the dragon added, "But beside that, best we get some sleep. I heard that you have a busy day tomorrow. Good luck with it, okay?"

Kirren nodded again, a tear rolling down from his eye to soak in with his fur. The dragon went off elsewhere to go sleep.

Kirren looked at the spot where Alex usually had slept, and put his paw on it. He mourned the death with his tears, and wished that this would never have happened. He closed his eyes and thought of everything that had only caused trouble for everyone else, and he noticed, that death was everywhere now.

He also noticed that he had almost gotten used to it, as long as it was someone who he did not know, but now that someone he knew died, it felt painful. But, he decided that it was probably better this way. He felt that Alex was right: death was the better option; the happier option. He was not so sure if living was the best thing to do anymore. But he decided that he had best live, so that if the times did change, he could see them for himself, as well as for Alex.

He closed his eyes and dreamed that everything was back to normal, and for once in a little while, he was happy. He smiled just as the tears fell down his face, but he let them, tasting only the bitter-sweet taste on the side of his mouth. They were not only tears of sorrow, but tears of joy, for the things that had passed, the memory in good, and the mourning in loss.

To be continued...

-

With new life, there is the old;

With new options, there are the bold;

But with new gains, there are losses;

For good and bad, as the time passes.

-

"The times change as they must

And there are new things to remember....

-