Furry Dreams
#1 of Furry Dreams
A Furry Story
Written by: Ashura L. Kusanaga
[Author's Note: I had a vivid dream, and this story is the dream, and then some. Bare with me, that this is probably not going to be my best story I have written.]
The road to our new "home" seems so winding. At least we still have our car, and enough money to last us for this month, let alone gasoline money. The last town we lived in did not work out so well. My father, Jimmy, had just lost his job at the mine. Because of his loss- and the humans in the town area -with his job, we had to move.
We Furries are treated with upmost caution... treated lower than human, like some of our forebears. And my pack, or family as humans call it, being "lion-esque" Furries was not any better. It hurts to know that even though we Furries exist among humans, we are treated as lesser beings, like the way Native Americans have been "resettled", or the bigotry towards African-Americans. It seems that whatever humans do not understand they treat with caution, mistrust, fear, or even hatred. The ironic fact, is that we were created by humans.
Though we have come many strides, life is still hard for us. My father lost his job as the result of a compassionate yet biased human. This human, my father's "boss" undertook many risks taking a Furry into his mines. It was steady pay, but with time, all things slowly get worse.
It had been just last week, that there was an accident in the mines, and about a quarter of the workers died from a collapsed tunnel. Because of us Furries's unearned reputation, my father was blamed. Thankfully, his "boss" just fired him, rather than send him to "court". Again, the human was compassionate yet biased, for he believed that my father was partially to blame, but did not have the heart to send him to "prison".
And now we move, from one city to another. We hope that the new town we go to live in accepts us. At least... until we find somewhere better. Our pack, which consists of my parents, myself and my three youngers sisters, is small compared to some, and large compared to others.
Everyone was jammed into our car when we left, except for the eldest sister, Fiona. She was the cub born seven monthsafter me, and I am the eldest of the pack at eightteen years, which is almost equal to fourteen in human years. Fiona was living on her own, going to a place called "college", and altogether, living a better, far less biased life than our own. She never visited and never wrote, but called us and sent us "e-mail". Why she "lucked out" and we suffer is far more confusing than why some humans hate us.
My youngest siblings, the twins- Kait and Abby -are both eight years old, but in human years, they are only five years old. They are jammed between me and all of our family's possessions, and after a fit or two about "space", they fell asleep.
My mother, Darla, has been sleeping since we paid the first "tollbooth", and it was becoming increasingly dark. It's just as well. Maybe I can just cat-nap for a while until we get out to stretch and pay for gasoline, or get to our new home.
Home...
When I finally awoke, it was raining and we had parked. But where we were was not any town I overheard my parents talking about. It was still dark, but as I got out, my vision adjusted to the low light. My father had parked near some woods next to several rolling grassy hills. Not but ten feet away was the dirt road we must have been riding on for what looked like several miles. Behind me was a small, one-story house, with smoke coming from the chiminey. Apparently this was not a town at all.
I bent down to look back inside the car. Empty. Had my cat-nap turned into a snooze? The wind picked up a little. I hoisted my pants, pulled my wet button-up short sleeve shirt around me closer, and I hustled into the welcoming house.
As I reached the doorstep, I wasn't sure if I should have knocked, but I rapped my knuckles on the door anyway.
The door opened, and the outline of a Furry, slightly taller than me, appeared. She pulled the door open more, and beckoned me to come inside. I noticed a blazing fire burning brightly inside the house's wood stove, and so hurried inside. I stood there dripping onto the rug, as the Furry closed and locked the door again, and pulled a warm towel off of a coat hook near the door. Then the Furry handed me the towel, and I took it without hesitation. The rain was cold, I had realised while drying off. I also realised that her house smelled of fresh linen. After I came to my senses, I saw that my parents and two sleeping sisters were also inside.
"Is that better?" the Furry asked. Her voice was kind and nurturing, with a hint of wisdom. I looked at her as she made her way back to her chair.
She looked like a Kitsune. A white bushy tail with a hint of red at the tip twitched from out of her waist as she walked over to her recliner. Her skirt and blouse were earthy, and had a blue tint to them. Her face was white, like her tail, with red coloring. Out of her auburn colored locks of hair, came two small white pointed ears with soft rounded tips. She was a fox... furry... a fox furry all right.
"Well, don't be shy" she cooed. I didn't want to make myself a burden on her, so I made my way swiftly over to the herth, and sat down near the warmth of the crackling fire. I could tell, she too, was examining me as well; right under my parents' noses no less. She smiled, and began to talk with my parents again quietly.
Her house was simple for one furry, and every wall or corner had a nicknack or two. A picture, a rug, a little shelf with a doll, another picture, and a blue analog clock. Not much, but at least I think she liked it.
"I noticed that you find my house interesting" the Kitsune spoke up. I looked back at her from her possessions. She had dim orange eyes, I had just noticed, that shimmered in the fire's light.
"Yes" I said briefly. I looked back at the doll before speaking with her again. The doll looked very old and forlorn, but it had a familiar vulpine shape to it.
"You have a lovely home" I added.
"It's the simple things that make me happy."
"Go on, please."
"That doll you're looking at belonged to my grandmother, Rellis De'Arreth. She gave it to my father, her son, who gave it to me when I was his age... the same age as when he recieved it."
"An heirloom?" I inquired.
She smiled again, and nodded.
"Yes, and a precious one at that."
I looked at my sleeping sisters, and yawned.
"Don't worry, you're not boring me, I am just a little tired" I reassured her. She nodded again, and got up.
"Come, let me fix you a proper bed" she said. I got up as well, and follow suit, my parents still sitting in their chairs chatting quietly.
The Kitsune led me to another room, which was smaller than the first, and smelled more like her, than fresh linen. She stepped back, after pulling a blanket down on a bed.
"You may sleep here in my room tonight, if you wish" she said.
"I hope I'm not being too much of a burden" I said, thinking of all of her kindness.
"Oh no, I love getting company, you haven't become a burden."
"Thank you." At that, I climbed into the bed, stripped off my wet shirt, and wrapped the blanket around me.
"You're welcome," she said leaving the room. "call for me, if you need anything."
I was about to get comfortable, when I remembered that she hadn't told me her name. I dismissed it, and turned over. Where were we going to stay? Certainly not here. My thoughts continued to wander until I drifted into sleep.
My dreams that night were filled with the usual colors and swirls. I suspected that every Furry had similiar dreams. Perhaps the dreams are old ancestral memories; events that happened long ago, passed down through "genetics". The dreams- though erratic -I remember with almost every detail. And each dream had its own color and theme. The confusing part is that the dreams are somewhat understandable... but just vaguely.
But then as tonight's dream was becoming somewhat understandable and pleasant, it changed colors, and became so violent, I woke up in fear.
"Are you okay?" the Kitsune asked. She was in the room again, and I heard her voice from beside me on the bed. "Ashura, what awoke you?"
I tried to shake my thoughts away from me, as I slowly and partially woke up.
"It was just a dream... just a dream..." I said laying back down. "How'd you know my name?"
She smiled in the darkness, and replied, "Your parents told me."
I could slowly feel myself being pulled back into sleep, but before I nodded off again, I asked her something.
"Before I fall back asleep again, could you tell me your name?"
"Kacey De'Arreth... now go to sleep, and may you finish this night with good dreams."
And that I did.
It was morning when I woke up again. I found that Kacey, the Kitsune, was not sleeping next to me like last night. I sat up, and pulled the covers off. While putting on my shirt, and making the bed, I wondered why Kacey decided to not sleep elsewhere.
This was curious, as Kitsunes do not usually share with strangers. Perhaps Kacey is different from other Kitsunes.
After making the bed, I looked for Kacey. I found her in her kitchen making breakfast for my pack. I walked by my sleeping parents and sisters on a fold out couch-bed as I made my way into the kitchen.
"Good morning, Ashura" Kacey greeted me, without turning around. Whatever she was making and cooking smelled good.
"Good morning, Kacey... may I ask you something?" I asked. She continued making breakfast without facing me.
"What of?"
"Well, normally Kitsunes such as yourself are not so generous as to share with non-Kitsunes."
"Not totally true, but what do you mean?"
"Why are you different from other Fox Furries?"
She turned around at this point and continued mixing something up in a bowl.
"I don't get much company, nor is the company I do get ever... pleasant" she replied.
I didn't understand.
"What do you mean, 'pleasant', Kacey?" I asked, cocking my head to one side. She smiled, and added the contents of the bowl onto a hot skillet, and then set the bowl down in her sink.
"I mean pleasant as in Furries with admirable personalities" she said. I think I understood.
"You mean that could become friends rather than just guests?" I said. She nodded.
"You understood me better than your parents... how come?"
"I don't know, but what you said makes sense."
"Sometimes my own thoughts get jumbled, and what I say comes out a little jumbled."
"It's just what makes you different from other Kitsunes."
She smiled more, and went back to making whatever she was making. Before I left the kitchen to go wash up, I heard her say, "thank you".
After eating breakfast, and thanking Kacey for a night's stay, my father got us all in the car, and we took off towards our new home. I waved goodbye one last time, before dealing with my space mongering twin sisters.