FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Yes, hello. You've reached the Firewall City Police department. How can I help you?" The secretary's voice droned on in the background, becoming a mere buzz to Red as his leaned over his desk staring at the paperwork on the screen. One hand idly ran through the thick fur of his mane, rubbing within the mass of deep chestnut fur as his eyes scanned the computer and the tip of his dark brown nose twitched every few seconds with building antsyness.

He let out a long sigh, momentarily glancing at the desktop calendar next to the monitor. "Summer will be here much too soon..." He thought, knowing full well that the summer months meant more and more ours alone with a babysitter for Jessie, his lioness cub. "I hate to leave her alone so often."

"Hey," A voice interjected as the familiar, tusked face of the chief hovered into the top of Red's vision. As Red looked up, he saw the walrus in his full, heavy stature. Standing so close, he took up most of the lion's field of vision with his belly. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, Chief McShaw, I'm okay. Things are okay," He looked up, giving a nod as he pushed up a slight smile.

"I keep telling you, Red. Just call me Waldo." The walrus gave his desk a pat, passing on down the rest of the office with his rounded gut giving a good hearted wobble.

"Enough of this," Red finally said with a click of his computer as he shut down the monitor. It shut down with a whirr as he rose, pulling on his light sports coat over broad shoulders before smoothing the top of his mane and heading towards the front of the building. "If I'm not doing any work, I'm going home."

******

"Hey?" Red swung the door shut behind him with a thud of it settling into the door frame, but no sound came. "Huh, Jess must not be home yet." He headed into the kitchen, tidying up the morning's leftover dishes as he watched out the front window.

Sure enough, as his furred fingers shoved down into warm bubbly water he spotted Jessie coming around the corner of their street with her leg pumping along the side of her skateboard to keep her flying forward down the smooth pavement. Unlike most days, especially Fridays, there was no shadow of Katie and Abigail trailing behind her instead it was just the lioness alone on her skateboard without bike or skates in sight.

"Huh, no playmates today?" Red thought aloud, drying his hands as he headed to the front door to meet the girl as she came rushing through the door while kicking off her sneakers already from her paws in a one-footed, bouncing dance that allowed her to yank off one at a time without bending over.

"Hey there," Red greeted, surveying her pouty face. "What's up, sport?"

She gave a little shrug, sighing. Atop her head, her rounded ears gave a flicker. "Nuthin'"

"You sure?" He raised his brow, staring down at her patiently as she shucked off her backpack.

"Katie and Abigail are busy..." She gave a little shrug of her shoulders, as if to say "It doesn't matter though," but her little golden ears drooped over slightly onto the top of her sandy golden fur so that the pink insides were hidden. "But, it doesn't matter," she said aloud. "It just means I'll be alone this weekend."

Red looked down over the lioness cub, holding back a sigh for her clear pain. "Is there anything I can do for you, kiddo?" He asked, rubbing a hand down her back in the universal 'dad' circle with his wide palm warning between her shoulder blades. His broad, warm paws sent a comforting buzz up her spine and rumbled a single purr out from her chest.

"Thanks, dad." She gave a little smile, seeming a bit encouraged now. "If there is, I'll let you know."

He raised a brow, flashing a toothy grin. "Promise?"

"I promise, dad!"

She skittered off, rushing about her afternoon routine of raiding the fridge sneakily while pretending to do homework at the kitchen table. Red let her go while he moved instead to the sofa, at first sitting down with a folder of work to review, but as minutes ticked past and he realized his eyes had scanned the same paragraph six times without reading a word, he pushed it aside and just rubbed his thumb and forefinger over the bridge of his nose with a heavy sigh.

"That girl..." He mumbled to himself, listening to her humming out a little song with her mouth pretty clearly stuffed full of something crumbly in the kitchen. "She deserves more than just me." He felt a pang of longing for something more normal, more nuclear for the girl than just an overworked dad, yet that only brought his mind back down the long, winding road to her mother.

"Not that having her around would fix anything at all!" He flashed back to before their divorce and the routine every morning...

"Can't you just let me put a bow in? Your hair looks wild! Brush out your fur of your legs! You look like an alley cat! WHAT ARE YOU WEARING? Where did you even get that shirt? I didn't buy you anything so boyish! Where's that nice dress I bought on Sunday?"

The rhetoric only continued letter, enforcing over and over on Jessie a more feminine lifestyle, clothes and hair and everything. Every little thing she did was scrutinized and judged on a scale from boyish to acceptable.

"She was so miserable then..." Red rubbed his face, feeling the day wearing on him a bit more as the night bled on. "At least now she's free to be herself."

Right on cue, a clunk came from the kitchen as Jessie abandoned her feast and thudded to the floor. "Dad! I'm going outside! The wild summons me!"

He just laughed, leaning back to his work as she headed into the yard.

*******

"I don't need Katie and Abigail to play. I can be a Wild Cub all by myself!" She said aloud, speaking into the silence of the world in front of her. She scanned the expanse of the yard, trying to envision the scene wild enough to whisk her into the land of make believe. Behind her, her slender tail gave a few flicks of thought, whisking the tufted end through the air like a whip until she lunged forward, falling a bit in the grass as she started to rush to action.

"The young lion cub was all alone in the world, abandoned to fend for herself..." She began to stalk around the yard as her voice came out in a hushed narration, distinctly aware of her clothes only adding to the strain of her game, but she couldn't strip down when her father was home or the gig would be up!

"The young cub searched desperately for food! Shelter!" She threw herself into a tumble, trying to imagine herself hunting about the yard for food, but already she was losing interest. Nonetheless, she started to race along the outside perimeter of the backyard, skimming her gold knees through the grass while her sporty shorts fluttered around her thighs.

Inside the house, Red's interest in work was fading as quickly as Jessie's was for play. His long, slender tail had started to flicker behind him as he looked down at the folder with drooping eyelids. Faintly though, he could hear Jessie muffled through the walls of the house.

"What is that noise!?" She gasped outside, the solid thud of her knees hitting to the ground following shortly after. "Could it be prey? The girl had to wait to see what came out from the thick foliage... She crouched, trying to mimic the wild hunting positions..."

Curious, he rose from the couch and let his work slump into the cushions, once again cast aside. "What is she up to?"

The steady clump of her feet falling onto the yard sounded out in a rapid patter as she raced from one end to the other, letting out a playful roar that sputtered out of her chest. "She spotted her prey and attacked, desperate for a food source!"

Red paused at the window, peering out from behind the curtain to watch as her play continued to unfold in front of him.

Alone in the yard, Jessie was racing around over its expanse, engaging every bush and furniture item as she went into part of her plot.

"The cub searched for a sheltered place in which to enjoy her hunt! But she couldn't find anything that didn't stink of danger!" She ran over to the lounge seat by the edge of the pool, crawling beneath it and instantly scrambling back out. "No! A bad smell! It might be a den for someone else!" Then, she took off across the grass again, nearly losing her ballcap off her head the entire run over until finally it went flying off from between her ears as she rounded the turn towards the hedge alongside the house. "She crouched... hoping to catch the scent of the competition in the air!"

Red, tucked still behind the curtain, had started to grin to himself at her imagination, but as he listened he could hear her excitement waning and drooping in her voice.

"The more she scoped, the more she struggled to place the intruder... maybe no one was there at all?"

"Must be hard to play without her friends..." Red realized, shaking his head sadly before it struck him. "Well! Good thing she's got a dad around!" He crept towards the back door, suddenly thrusting out through it to leap into the yard. His mane rustled beneath the sudden rush of the wind as a grin broke across his muzzle as his voice cracked out of his mouth, "Suddenly, the lion caught scent of someone on the land! Could it be a snack? Or someone vying for my territory?"

For a moment, Jessie stared at him with a wide mouth and confusion before she realized he was joining her game! She instantly dropped into a play position, hunching over a bit and skimming her hands on the grass for better balance as she bared her teeth in a playfully threatening grin. "Who goes there?! This is my territory now!" Atop her head, her rounded ears flicked and danced, flashing their pinky insides on and off, on and off while her bright caramel eyes stared right at him, glittering with mischief.

Red feigned a gasp, giving a shake of his luxurious mane as he puffed up his chest. His work shirt was already a bit loose from the day, but the casual button up was not the right attire for this game. "No way! No lion is just going to wander onto my territory and steal it!" He kicked at the ground before bending slightly so his fingers skimmed at the grass, mimicking a wild lion's four legged walked. "It's simply not big enough for the both of us!"

Jessie's legs jiggled, preparing to run. "Well, it's plenty big for me alone!" Her eyes flickered already around the yard, infused with all new excitement for a game that moments before had been boring her.

"Hah!" He let out a laugh before he charged forward, taking off after her just as Jessie broke into a sprint to escape. Her small legs pumped madly becoming a blur of sandy gold fur as she raced forward and her tail fluttered behind, barely seeming attached to her speedy frame. Her laughter peeled out of her mouth as grass flew up behind her racing feet. "If you're going to kick me out, you'll have to catch me first!"

"Oh I'll catch you!" He laughed, letting out a playful roar as he lunged forward, grabbing onto her waist and spinning the girl through the air, pretending to be dramatically taking her down in a tackle before he rolled her into the grass, pawing at her shoulder and tickling beneath her arms.

"Ah! Ah!" She squirmed away, letting out cries of laughter as his fingertips brushed at her armpits, sending zings of tickled laughter out form her opened jaws as she writhed on the grass. Fighting his grasp, she gave a spinning twist before scuttling away across the yard. Once on her feet, she charged off away from him. "You're the intruder! I claimed this land already!"

"Liar! I've had this spot for generations! I was born here in that cave just over there!" His hand waved at their shed, trying to lay the map of their imagined jungle down for Jessie as he'd overheard her doing. Red started to flick his tail madly, ruffling his mane with playful jostling of his head as he stalked after Jessie's mad running around the yard. "You can run all you want, but I'll hunt you down. You can't hide!"

Jessie let out a giggle, running around a thick bush and crouching behind it, even tucking her tail up behind her toosh to try and hid from his view. The branches poked at her side, but she didn't dare move, thinking maybe he hadn't seen where she ducked in.

Red smirked, stalking up behind her before 'pouncing' and rolling her to the grass as his fingers tickled at her sides. "Ah! I've found the intruder!"

"Nooo!" She let out a howl of genuine surprise and kicked off the ground, slipping out of his hands like a greased pig and somersaulting away into the space of the yard again where she dashed out of reach within seconds. Then, she doubled back, pretending to attack Red where he still crouched on the grass. "I'm younger! More limber! I'll take over in no time!"

Red put on a deep, rumbly narration voice: "But what the cub didn't know was that this lion had a secret attack. A secret tickle attack!" And with that, he rolled around and instantly began to tickle at her belly, sending a peel of laughter from her lips before she bounced away once again, seemingly endlessly filled with energy!

"The cub narrowly escaped! But she was speedy and knew that the old geezer would never catch her!" Red feigned gasping surprise, looking at her with wide eyes and a spreading grin on his speckled muzzle.

"The old geezer was offended at being mislabeled as old!" Red shot back, laughing as he rose back to his feet, taking off after the girl again. His feet thunked on the ground, nowhere near as fast as hers, but his longer legs made up for it.

Jessie ran circles around him, looping back and 'tagging' his back like an attack before darting back off again, narrating in a huffing voice as she dashed. "The cub got in another attack, weakening the older lion. She was smaller, but she was stealthy and determined to take the territory as her own!"

"Not so fast!" Red gave a shout, leaping to the side as Jessie tried to dart around him, but instead he hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her around and rolled her down into the grass and pretended to take a bite at her stomach, instead nuzzling his tickly mane all over her arms and stomach. "In a surprise attack, the elder downed the lithe newcomer! He took her down! Surely, she couldn't escape this!"

"She-She can!" Jessie fought against her giggling, kicking at the ground and rolling around dramatically as she escaped from her father. As he let her slip away, she did another dance around the yard, tumbling onto her hands every few feet out of sheer excitement.

With a lunge, she darted towards Red, giving him a playful shove that rolled him back onto the ground just as he was a few feet up in the process of standing. He gave an overdramatized groan and tumbled in the grass. "Ah! I'm tiring!" He groaned, grabbing at his chest as it it was all too much!

He rose to his feet, letting out a little roar before he stalked around the yard, partially bent over in a animalistic hunting pose, but Jessie had snuck behind a bush as he got up from the ground and he truly didn't know where'd she gone off to.

"The elder stared at his land, thinking perhaps the scrappy newcomer had given in at last-"

Jessie covered her mouth, fighting back a laugh as he walked towards her hiding place unknowingly getting closer and closer with every step!

"Ah! At last I can enjoy my hunting in peace! Too bad I could not have eaten that little cub!"

"Ah ha!" She jumped out, tackling him from part way up one of their slender trees and landing on his shoulders with a squeal of delight. "I got you!" Red rolled her off, laughing with surprise as he tried to catch his balance while wobbling closer to the center of the yard where the tiling around the pool took over the grass.

"Oh no! You've done it! I give in! I.." He started to stumble around dramatically, grabbing at his chest and giving out whimpers of fake pain "I cannot fight any longer. I.. I die.." And with that he teetered towards the edge of the backyard pool before he let himself tumble into it, fully clothed as he plunged down into a splash of blue water.

Jessie let out a gasp of surprise, instantly starting to giggle madly as she charged towards the edge of the pool where he went under the water's edge. "Hah! A meal to feed my empty belly now! Huzzah!' She gave a running jump, sending herself flying into the pool in a cannon ball before she plunged under the surface too.

As she broke up for air, she was giggling madly, splashing at her dad's soaked shirt. "You! You jumped in! Your clothes!" She was laughing madly, kicking her legs madly to keep up as Red swam towards her, scooping her up with a chuckle and pulling her towards the shallow end.

"Did you think your dad had so much goofiness in him?"

"No!" Jessie blurted without pause to which Red deflated his ears a little before laughing. "Well, I showed you then, huh!"

"Hah.. Yeah, Dad. You did." She was still giggling, but now she just leaned into his side and let him pull her through the water until they leaned into the steps to the exit. "That was a lot of fun, Dad."

He pulled her in closer, hugging her tight to his chest to the surface of his wet top. "I had a lot of fun too! I don't know why we don't do that more-" He ruffled the top of her head, scratching through the thick tuft of fur on top. "You know I love you, right kiddo?"

"I know, dad!" She whined, but she grinned.

"Like a lot?" He countered, starting to smirk.

"Yes, DAD!" She groaned now, but giggled aloud.

"Okay, as long as you know it's like tons. Like a lot. A whole much.." He smirked at her, cracking a broad and goofy grin until she finally gave him a playful shove to shut him up. "I get it! I get it!"

"Good!" He chuckled once more and stood up, helping her to her feet. "Should we go inside and put on something.. Drier?"

"Yeah! Race you!" She jetted towards the house, leaving Red in a spray of water from her feet with a wide grin on his face before he took off in a jog behind her, racing her with heavy thuds up the steps to their respective bedrooms where they each went in the hunt for dry clothes and cozy socks before meeting on the landing, panting a bit.

"Who won?"

"I couldn't tell."

"Draw?"

"Deal."

******

After catching their breath, the two settled on the television set having changed into loungey shorts and t-shirts for each of them before they splayed onto the couch to relax into the Friday night.

"What do you think we should watch?" Red asked, popping open their channels and clicking through until Jessie let out a gasp!

"Dad! Racing boats!" She had lunged forward in her seat, pointing as he paused on a channel running racing program. Sure enough, an announcer leaned forward towards a microphone as he stopped on the show and cleared her throat, "Just in time folks, we're about to witness the rematch between exact replicas of the facing Miss America 10 and Miss Britain 3. You should all just scoot to the edges of your seats now, because that's where you'll end up, isn't that right, John?"

"Exactly, Beth. This race is expected to be neck and neck-"

The show cut forward to the boats at the starting lines. The two elongated racing boats idled in the water, churning a spray of impatient water behind them until a gunshot marked the start of the race and they went flying forward into the looped racing lake.

"Oh my gosh! Dad! Who's gonna win!?" Jessie shouted out, grabbing at her dad's furry knee as she bounced in place. Competing with her voice came a roar from the television of the hydroplanes, even on film, they shouted as they ran, skidding and hovering above the water from the force of their engines.

"It's gotta be Miss American 10, gotta!" Red said, feeling himself pulled to the edge of the couch as his eyes fixed onto the track. As the two boats rounded the first corner of four, Miss America 10 lagged behind slightly, catching the wrong current from her competition as they banked the curve of the turn and Miss Britain 3 pulled forward.

"Oh no! Dad!" Jessie grabbed at the air, still bouncing with nervous energy as her butt hovered on the lip of the couch. "Come on Miss America! You've got this! Go! Go!"

"She's gonna overtake 'er!" Red encouraged, feeling the edge of the sofa just beneath him too now, but he couldn't help but find himself pulled into the thrill of the race.

At the second corner, Miss America didn't take the chance to overcome and Britain 3 pulled farther ahead grabbing a solid lead as Miss America charged to try and catch up but on the straight shot of the far side of the track there was little she could do.

"Go! Miss America! Go! You've gotta catch up! We can't lose to Britain 3! Go!" Jessie's voice rang off the ceiling, echoing back as she shouted at the television, cheering for the boat through the barrier of the box set.

Rounding into the final stretch, finally Miss America pulled hard at the turn, cutting off Britain 3 just as they pulled into the final straight stretch of the race.

"Yeah!!" Red roared, bouncing up to his feet for a moment as Jessie wiggled madly in place, "Yeah! Yeah! Go!"

"She's gonna win it!"

"She's in the lead!"

"Oooh! And Miss America 10 pulls into the lead in a shocking move on the final turn of the race? Will Miss Britain 3 reclaim the lead she had most of the race? That finish line is fast approaching, too fast for Miss Britain. Will this be the race? Is Miss America about to take the win? She's still in the lead! She's leading by several feet at this point! Miss America is pulling ahead! She's got distance from Miss Britain!"

"Dad! It's gonna happen! She's gonna win!"

"Miss America must have been holding back earlier! She's rocketing past Miss Britain! That finish line is seconds away! Who's gonna take it!? The rematch of the year and whose got it? Miss Britain CANNOT keep up! It's Miss America in the lead still. Miss America 10 leading the pack. This is tight but she's pulling hard ahead. There's the finish! There's the line! It's for the race now!"

A hush rippled out from the television, as thought Red and Jessie in their living room were a part of the live crowd hundreds of miles away as that final foot of the race just seemed to slow down into bullet time. The two leapt from the couch, shouting out with rumbling shouts of glee in the final seconds.

"And it's Miss America! Miss America 10 takes the finish line first! She's won! She's won! She's won!"

"Yess!" Jessie squealed, jumping up off the couch at against her dad's chest, wrapping her arms around his neck and gleefully burying her face into his mane as the two hugged gleefully.

"She did it!" Red agreed with a wide grin, spinning the cub around in a celebratory dance before there came a chime of the door bell. "Huh, who could that be..." Red set Jessie down, heading to the door only to swing it open on the familiar tusked face of Chief McShaw with his hands in his pockets on either side of his broad hips.

"Chief!" Red exclaimed with surprise. "What brings you here? Is something the matter? Did you call?"

"No no, don't worry yourself, son." The walrus gave a shake of his head. "To be honest, I was walking back by and I noticed a snapshot of the lovely cub of yours on your desk and I thought of our talk earlier..." He paused a moment, giving a cough. "I just wanted to double check that everything was all right, you know, us at the station will do anything to help... if one of our own is in need of something, financial-"

Red shook his hands in the air. "Oh no, Chief. It's nothing like that." He gave a sight, stepping closer to the door. "I'll be honest, I just wish I spent more time with her, I'm not around much for Jessie and I worry about it. I just wanna be around my daughter."

A visible wave of relief seemed to wash over the walrus as he raised a hand to his chest. "Oh, Red. You've struck a cord with me. I'd give anything to have my girls back at home and wanting to be around me... now, well. You enjoy it while it lasts, let's say that." He chuckled, "If that's all it is, why don't you take a two week vacation, paid and kick off summer vacation with something special. Think of it as a bonus for all the extra work you've been putting in, because I've noticed!"

"Oh! Chief!" Red gasped, thanking him with a hearty handshake and a loose, manly hug. "Thank you, sir. It means the world."

"You just have fun with your girl, nothing more special than a daughter," and with that he left, leaving Red to turn back to the couch in time to find Jessie had leaned into the pillows and dozed off, clearly tired from their playing. Red just chuckled, kissing her forehead before he headed into the kitchen, deciding she could sleep as he made some dinner for them both.