FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Written by brazy "birb" seeker

Inspired by K.A. Applegate's "Animorphs"

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CHAPTER 2

I ran. I ran and ran and ran as fast and as far as my legs would take me. I took the long way to the hideout, I knew I needed time to clear my head, but at the same time, I didn't want to. I ran to invigorate my thoughts. The things I had just witnessed on the TV were burned into my eyes, I relived the memory, again and again, picking apart every last detail, I tried to imagine myself changing, morphing into an animal. The thought of feathers growing over my body like thick prickly hair, the thought of my arms changing into wings that could lift me away from this wrenched place. I looked down at the ground as I ran and tried to imagine lifting away, flying off into the sky and never returning, flying away from this world, away from this life. It wasn't even that it was so terribly bad, my life, I just didn't want it. It was like I just never wanted to be a part of this species, that I would give up everything, my very sentience, my humanity. The thought thrilled me in ways I can't quite explain. If you don't already understand, then you probably wouldn't get it the next time I explain it.

"TSSEEEEEEEER!"

An almost otherworldly sounding noise pierced my ears and I looked up, but I wasn't afraid, I instantly recognized it as the call of a Red-tailed Hawk. I paused my running and gave a little chuckle at the coincidence, watching in awe as the bird, completely uncaring of all the drama unfolding on the world below it, swooped down a distance away from me into a field. It disappeared into the tall grass of a meadow near the more forested area I was headed for and stayed there a while, I could only assume it caught something.

"What a way to live..." I spoke softly to myself under my breath, followed by another soft chuckle "Not a care to be given to the world ending below. Not your world to care about. Maybe we'll all be like that again one day..."

I watched the hawk shuffle around in the grass for a while before continuing on my way. I know that the universe probably doesn't play favorites, that everything is just chance, or at the very least inevitable, but its times like those that really make me wonder. Even if it is all chance, its quite beautiful at the same time.

I came up to a turn in the road, signifying the place for me to disappear. I ducked behind a street sign and down a very lightly trodden path into the thick of the woods, the brambles were thick on either side and pricked at me as I pushed through. We kept it that way on purpose to hide our way, we didn't want anyone to find us down here.

The path went quite a distance into the woods, luckily the thickest part of the briers was at the entrance, once you get into the forest itself it gets easier. Inside the forest the ground was covered with pine needles and speckled with moss, ferns, and other various bushes. The soil was mostly sand held together loosely by the roots of the ground cover which made it very soft and pleasant to walk on, albeit a bit shoe-filling at times. I took my time now, having burnt off some energy with my dramatic run and feeling much more somber from my run-in with the hawk. I walked at a steady pace, my head craned up to stare at the dense canopy above me. It was mostly made of pine trees, my favorite trees by far, but also had the rare deciduous speckling too. I loved the way they seemed to reach up to the sky and fill everything, while the trunks below were mostly bare. It made the forest feel like a secret sanctuary guarded by the enclosure of vegetation on all sides. As I walked, my mood slowly started to shift. The thoughts I had before, I think I was scaring myself. Did I really think that? I mean, I have a lot here, sure my family isn't the best, school is stressful, but at least I have parents who are together and get lunch money. A lot of people can't even say that much.

Was I really willing to throw it all away?

I was getting near the hideout now, I could see the wooden planks haphazardly nailed to some trees in the distance and it broke my focus away from guilty thoughts. Suddenly my hair stood on end and I was overcome with the feeling I was being watched. I froze.

Crunch. Crunch. CRACK!

I spun around fast, but it was too late! I knew I should have been more cautious!

WHAM!

I was hit from behind and it felt like someone was grabbing on to me and swinging around, then...hugging me?

"What the hell Mikey?! I told you not to do that! You know I startle easy!" I yelped, slightly aggravated.

"Heh Heh Heh... And you know that's why I do it" Mikey replied in a sarcastically eerie and ominous voice. "You really should expect it by now... Frankly, I'm disappointed, Mikey, Mr. 'I'm-so-prepared'"

"I was looking at the trees!! And I told you not to call me that!"

Yep, that's Michael. Perpetual pain in my ass by trade. He stands a good 6 inches taller than me, but I'm short to begin with at 5'6". I swear, puberty hit this man like a bus doing 70 down the freeway. His hair is spiky and dark brown, about the same as mine though I leave my hair longer. His eyes are a greenish hazel that gave an aura of peace, while mine are an almost bronze brown that stare right into your soul. He has a nicely kept thin goatee right on his chin, whereas I prefer to keep clean shaven. Overall, in the most "bro" way that I can muster, he's pretty cute. I'm not sure I'd say he's hot or anything, his face is a bit more rounded than that, but definitely cute. He's also one of the nicest people you'll ever meet, assuming you don't catch him either stressed out about the world or in the middle of a game of Doom and asking him to eat dinner. He's the kind of guy who would catch your eye in a mall and make you secretly whisper "Daaaamn" to yourself. He would then promptly trip over a trashcan when he notices you looking at him. I wouldn't say he's exactly my polar opposite, I mean I'm not so bad looking myself, just a bit more average, and I definitely keep up with him in all the wingman scenarios. I can't think of anyone else in the world I would trust to be right by my side as much as him, and not just because he's 6 foot tall. This man would snatch you out from in front of a speeding car, set you down on the side of the road, then promptly kick the shit out of said car's mirrors. I can say that because that's actually exactly how we met, last fall in sophomore year of Highschool. Let's just say... I was daydreaming, that's all. I did feel a little bad for the guy in the car though.

"Lemme tell you somethin' Mikey," Mikey leaned over and laid his shoulder on my head, I happily returned him a roll of the eyes and grump "If you don't take that stick out of your butt, one day, it's going to get so stuck up in there you'll need to buy a Drain Snake and a gallon of Drain-O to get it out!"

"Okay, okay! just... lay off man..." I push him off of me and look down at the ground, rubbing my arm some. It was unlike me to react like that, even his worst teasing made me laugh, and I've gone through worse than Drain-O, so it made Mikey change his tone some, switching to his much more caring self he uses when he notices something is bothering me. He's good like that.

"Hey, It's okay, you know I didn't mean it. What's bothering you all of a sudden?" Mikey looked down at me with concern, which made me feel a little guilty and I try to shake it off. I didn't want him worried about me, even though the high from my realization and run was all but worn off, slowly replacing with worry.

"Alright... alright, maybe I overreacted a little...at least don't call me Mikey in public, It's weird."

"You sure you're okay? I can lay off, really, you know I just like to tease, but if something is actually bothering you..."

Now I was feeling really guilty, I had to switch the topic before I get super embarrassed. "No no, God no, whatever would I do without your teasing? I might as well wander out in front of a speeding car!"

"Hehehehe, then I'd just have to save your life, AGAIN!" That made him giggle pretty good and I started to smile again, soon we were both laughing about that fateful morning and reminiscing on good times again. It made me feel a lot better.

"Oooookay Miguel," he spoke with a sarcastic tone, almost British sounding. His teasing was much softer now, though. That was my name but from time to time he would pronounce it like that just to pick on me. I kinda liked it, but don't tell him. "Would you like some tea and crumpets too while we wait for you to tell me why you're here? I thought you had to go to counseling with your parents today. Don't tell me you blew that off again, we talked about that, man."

I looked at him stunned. He didn't know? There's no way he didn't know! He must have skipped school again, that's the only way he wouldn't know. Come to think of it, I didn't see him in science today.

"Wait... you actually don't know?" I looked up at him, tilting my head some, checking to see if he looked guilty. He may like to tease, but he doesn't have the best poker face. He looked completely normal, aside from looking at me like I'm an idiot.

"Don't know.. what? Why are you looking at me like that? Okay, something has definitely gotten into you. Did you get in a breakup? Wait, no, you don't have a girlfriend. Did your pet bird die?" "No no no, you...wow! I can't believe you actually don't know! This is awesome, I actually get to be the first to tell you!" I say in a mix of astonishment and excitement. "Well, let's get into the hideout, you're going to want to sit down for this one..."