FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as the saying goes. Everyone's views on what's beautiful is different and unique.

But when your world is cast in darkness, what beauty can you see?

Charlotte opened her eyes to another sightless morning. There was no difference between night and day for her, her world looked the same when her eyes were closed as they were open.

Such was her life.

Reaching across her bed, she gripped the cold metal pole of the walking stick leaning against her nightstand. Slipping her hand through the strap, she moved the covers and stepped onto the wooden flooring.

The floor was cool underneath her paws, and she took a moment to feel the ridges and grooves beneath her pawpads before standing up.

Tapping her stick against the floor in an arc around her just to get her sense of surroundings after waking up, she headed to her dresser: five steps forward, quarter turn to the right, handle is about chest high.

She opened the dresser, and had to take a step back, mildly surprised that the door swung open further than she was used to. It was new, she had only gotten it a week ago. The old one had a loose nail her clothes would get snagged on on occasion, and she was worried about it falling out. Not only that, but it had been prone to splintering.

With the dresser door now open, she took the strap of her walking stick off her wrist and leaned it against the side of the dresser. Slipping off her nightgown, she ran her hand across the hanging clothes inside back and forth until she found an empty hook to hang it on. Now to figure out what to wear.

Brushing against the edges of her clothes with her fingers, she eventually settled on a soft cotton sweater and a knee length silk skirt. Wrapping a thick leather belt around her waist, she felt around the shelves off to the right of the interior of the dresser until she found the handle of her comb.

Brushing her hair to get any snarls out, Charlotte placed the comb back on the shelf she found it and twisted a portion of her hair into a short braid before clipping the end with a butterfly hair clip she kept next to the comb.

Charlotte ran her hands across outside of her skirt and the sleeves of her sweater, just to be sure there were no holes. Feeling nothing out of place other than a loose thread at the hem of her sweater, she picked her walking stick back up and turned to leave the room.

The bedroom door was: eight steps away from the dresser and one step to the right, door handle to her left.

Upon opening the door, she crossed a long hallway, the quiet clacking of her dull claws and the tapping of her walking stick filling the empty house. Once she felt the soft wool rug under her paws, she knew she was in the living room.

She stopped, and opened her mouth to emit a soft twittering sound, not unlike that of a bird. A few moments later, she felt the small talons of her pet swallow, Osiris, land on her shoulder.

'Morning,' the bird said to her.

'Hello,' she replied, reaching up to gently stroke the soft feathers of Osiris' chest.

When she was a teenager, her parents, in a desperate attempt to give her sight, took her to an alchemist. They had heard word of a magical stone that formed by the sea which could grant miracles.

When she drank the solution the alchemist had given her, it had an interesting effect on her body.

Her ears had grown, her tail had straightened, her eyes glowed a blinding white, and she had lost the ability to speak any type of language.

She had been born of fox parents, and now she didn't look like them at all.

Embarrassed and distraught, they had sheltered her away in their home, fearful of how the world would treat her.

Blind and mute, how was she to survive?

And then she met Osiris. He had woken her up one morning while singing at the rising sun. She lay in bed listening to him, and found the longer she listened, the more she understood.

While she may not be able to speak, she found that, with practice, she could learn to sing the songs of nature's beasts.

In her mind, she could hear the musical undertones to a creature's call, and if she listened for long enough, she could mimic it.

She'd been told that whenever she sang, the tips of her fur on certain parts of her body glowed different colors depending on the animal she was mimicking.

And it wasn't just animals that heard. Plants responded to her singing as well. Flowers bloomed, vines stretched higher, and trees shook lightly when she sang.

She had been granted a miracle, but not one she had been expecting.

She felt she had a better understanding of the world now that she could hear what it had to say.

'Do I look alright?' Charlotte tweeted.

There was a pause before Osiris responded. 'Pretty.'

She gave a small smile. 'Thank you, I wasn't sure.'

Turning to her right, Charlotte walked forward, sweeping her walking stick side to side until it hit the doorframe to her kitchen. Continuing through the doorway, she felt her paws move from wood to tile.

The smell of soil filed her nostrils when she stepped inside. This was where she kept most of her plants. On one side of the room she had small planters growing tomatoes, squash, cucumber, and various herbs like rosemary or oregano. The left side of the room had shelves lined with jars of baking ingredients. The name of the ingredients was engraved on the outside of the jars so she knew which was which.

At the far end of the room was her counter and cast iron stove. A hanging pot above the counter held a miniature grapevine. Everything was where it should be so she could easily find it.

'Anything ripe today?' She asked.

'Tomato,' Osiris replied.

Charlotte perked up, tail swishing back and forth a little. Tomatoes were her favorite, and she had been waiting for one to ripen.

Tapping her walking stick and heading to her right, she kept moving until she tapped the base of the wooden planters. Reaching down with her free hand, she felt the leaves of her garden tickle her palms and rubbed them between her fingers, feeling their smooth waxiness.

'Where is it?' Charlotte asked, holding out a hand.

She felt Osiris hop off her shoulder and land on her wrist. Gripping her sweater sleeve between his feet, he guided her toward the tomato by flapping his wings to indicate up, pecking the back of her hand to indicate down, and tugging on her sleeve to indicate right or left.

'There,' he chirped when he felt satisfied with the positioning. Charlotte carefully reached forward until her fingers wrapped around a good sized tomato. With a quick tug, it snapped off its stem, and Charlotte cupped it in both hands.

She stroked and pressed against the outside with her finger-pads to make sure there were no overripe spots or holes to indicate a bug had gotten to it first. Satisfied, she straightened and swept the floor with her walking stick until she felt the tip hit the leg of a stool near the counter.

She slipped the walking stick off her wrist and leaned it against the counter, sitting down on the stool. Holding the tomato in one hand, she used the other to feel across the countertops surface.

There was the sound of her palm and finger pads running against the wood until she touched the corner of a stack of cloth napkins. Right next to the napkins were loaves of bread she and Osiris had baked the day before and let cool overnight. Three loaves of wheat bread, two of rosemary sourdough, two tomato basil loaves and two loaves of cherry sweetbread.

There were a few in the town of Remeld that were kind enough to buy what she baked. Between the money she got from her baking and the money she got from the town councilmen for being disabled, she was able to earn enough to live off of.

Grabbing a cloth napkin from the top of the stack, she reached across the table to feel for a loaf of wheat bread. This one she would keep and eat herself.

She tore off a corner of the bread and set it aside for Osiris to peck at before wrapping the tomato in the napkin and taking a small bite.

A juicy flavor filled her mouth and she hummed happily. The sound she made was a mix of a cat purring and something like a snare drum, which reverberated in the back of her throat.

She heard the rustle of leaves as her garden quivered in response to her hum. Her singing would coax the plants to grow a little faster.

Charlotte took another bite of the tomato, some of the juice dribbling down her maw. Wiping the drip with the napkin, she set the tomato down and slid her hand to the other end of the counter.

Here she kept a charcoal pencil and a stack of paper. One thing her parents had done while she grew up was teach her how to write so she could at least communicate with others at a basic level.

Her handwriting was a little large, because she wanted to make sure it was legible, and very messy. From the few beastmen she had had brief conversations with, some had told her there were words that overlapped each other, or letters spaced too far apart. So she liked to keep conversations short, either by answering in yes or no, or writing very little.

She grabbed two pieces of paper and the charcoal pencil. On one sheet, she slowly wrote out the types of bread she had in order, so those that came by would know what she had made.

After carefully placing this sheet next to the loaves, she put the charcoal pencil down and picked up the tomato, taking another bite.

After she swallowed, she chirped to Osiris.

'What baking ingredients are we running low on?' She asked.

Osiris, who she heard was pecking away at his piece of bread, hopped to the edge of the counter, the light tapping of his feet sending small vibrations across the surface.

'Eggs, milk, sugar' he replied.

She scribbled the ingredients down, hoping she wasn't writing on her counter. The milk and eggs she was already aware of, as those needed to be bought daily to every other day for freshness. She wasn't aware about the sugar, she thought she had more.

She'd go to the market later today with the list to get what she needed so she could bake more for tomorrow.

Setting the list aside where she would find it later, she finished her tomato, ate a few pieces of bread, and was about to reach up to the grape vine to see if there were any ready to eat when a knock came at her door.

'Who is it?' She asked Osiris.

Charlotte heard the sound of Osiris' wings as he fluttered into the other room to look out the window.

'Arc,' Osiris tweeted back.

Charlotte nodded to herself and reached down to grab her walking stick.

Arc Redwood, her most frequent visitor. The bounty hunter did her best to visit daily, unless she was out on a contract. She was also a big fan of Charlotte's cherry sweetbread. Sometimes Arc's wife, Nyx, joined her to visit, but not today, it seemed.

Standing off the stool, Charlotte made her way into the living room and towards the front door: twelve steps forward from the counter, four steps to her left, quarter turn right.

Along the way, Osiris flittered over and perched on her shoulder.

Opening the door allowed a soft breeze to blow in from outside, along with Arcs familiar scent of pine and cinnamon.

"Hello, Charlotte," Arcs accented voice said. "Hello, Osiris."

Charlotte smiled and gave a polite wave, tilting her head back to face where Arcs voice had come from.

"I like outfit, very cute."

Charlotte's smile widened, happy to have affirmation from someone other than her sparrow friend. Arc's voice was very kind. Most people were a little put off by Charlotte's appearance, probably because of all the glowing, and she could hear it in the way they spoke to her. But Arc always sounded genuine and caring.

Charlotte held out a hand and Arc gently took it. Because Arc was much taller then Charlotte was, Charlotte felt Arc bend down slightly so Charlotte could reach her face easier. Touching someone's face was Charlotte's way of greeting those she was close to. She traced her fingers along Arc's slender muzzle and jawline, indicative of a fox, and eventually ended at the tip of Arc's left ear, where the feathered marriage earring was.

Finished, she took a step back and turned to the side, gesturing with her hand that Arc was free to enter.

"Thank you," Arc said, the sound of claws against wood indicating she had come inside. "You bake again yesterday, yes?"

Charlotte closed the door and nodded, making her way to the kitchen. She heard Arc following carefully behind her so she wouldn't get hit by Charlotte's walking stick as she swept it across the floor.

"You make favorite again?" Arc asked.

Charlotte nodded again, making her way to the edge of the counter and running her hands across the loaves of bread until she found where she had placed the cherry sweetbread loaves. She picked one up with both hands and held it out, the tip of her walking stick scraping against the tile and bouncing against her leg.

She felt Arc take the loaf and heard the sound of a coin being placed on the counter.

'How much?' Charlotte twittered softly to Osiris.

'One gold.'

Charlotte sighed. It was too much, but it was what Arc paid every time.

She heard Arc take a deep breath as she smelled the fresh bread.

"Nyx says hello, by the vay." The fox said. "She vants you to make vhiskey muffins again."

Charlotte walked carefully to the other end of the counter, sweeping her hand across the top for the charcoal pencil and a fresh sheet of paper.

She wrote on the paper slowly, tracing the edges of the sheet with a finger as she wrote so she knew how much space she had. She had to turn it over to the other side to write everything she wanted to say, but when she was done she held it out for Arc to take and read.

'Tell her I said hi. And I will try to make muffins again. Very hard.'

"Vell, if need help, I am not far, no?" Arc replied.

Charlotte smiled appreciatively, but reached up to stroke Osiris, indicating she had all the help she needed.

"Offer still stands." Arc said, and there was the sound of paper crinkling.

Arc usually put the paper Charlotte used in Charlotte's fireplace to be burned later whenever they talked.

"Anything else I can do vhile here?" Arc asked. "Perhaps groceries or vashing dishes?"

Charlotte shook her head. The groceries she could do herself and there were other beastmen that came by who offered to do household chores in exchange for her baking. Everything else, like laundry or dusting, was done by a house cleaner Charlotte hired at the end of every week.

"If you're sure, then I must go. Nyx vants to do cleaning of our own." With that, Charlotte heard Arcs pawsteps heading toward the front door.

Charlotte followed close behind, holding her walking stick close so she wouldn't accidentally hit Arc's paw.

The sound of the door being opened could be heardand Charlotte stopped in the doorway. She felt Arc take her hand and gave it a soft squeeze.

"Thank you for sveetbread, Charlotte." Arc said. "I vill see you tomorrow."

Charlotte opened her maw and let out a soft musical bark. This particular sound was the song for canines, and it turned the tips of Charlotte's fur purple, Arc's favorite color.

At least, that was what Charlotte was told. Regardless, it became her way of saying goodbye to the bounty hunter

"I vish you could see how beautiful you are vhen you shine." Arc said. "But you probably know beauty in own vay, no?"

With that, Arc let go of Charlotte's hand, and started heading home.

Charlotte waited in the door frame for a little longer. Stretching out a hand, she felt the warmth of the sun against her palm and closed her eyes to listen to the songs of the animals in the distance.

'Beautiful,' Osiris chirped.

'You're right,' Charlotte sang. 'My world is beautiful.'

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Thank you for reading! May you're inner fire urn strong!