FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"We'll be back in a half hour," Daniel said. "I'll make sure our house wrecking son behaves himself."

Larry got out of the van and followed his mother inside one of the offices. The waiting room was spartan; the walls a cream color with pictures of flowers and butterflies. The chairs were made of plastic, hinting that Larry's wait would either be quite short or extremely uncomfortable, perhaps both. A magazine rack stood next to the receptionist's window. Larry picked up one of the magazines and noticed the cover date was from two years ago.

The receptionist was a raven-haired human female who advocated tanning beds, if her dark skin was any evidence. She took down their names and told them it would be a minute. Thirty seconds later, the receptionist called Larry's name.

"I'll be right here," Larry's mother said, squeezing his shoulder as he stood.

Larry would have preferred her to be with him. "Okay," he muttered, trying to contain the fleet of butterflies in his stomach through sheer force of will and failing completely. The receptionist led him down the hall and opened the door at the end. Larry saw the name on the doorplate: Doctor Melissa Abdoul.

Larry swallowed the lump forming in his throat and walked into the office.

"Hello, Larry," the doctor said. She was curled up on a pile of satin pillows, and gestured at a smaller pile in front of her. "I'm Doctor Abdoul, but if you like, you can call me Melissa."

Larry sat down on the pile of pillows, and found them to be quite comfortable, the satin cool on his furry legs. The nervous tension in his chest eased up a bit, but it was still there.

The doctor smiled; it made her look friendlier. More human. This wasn't hard to pull off, since she was a sphinx. She brushed away a lock of brown hair from her forehead, letting the rest of her hair cascade down her leonine shoulders. She had a pair of bracelets on her forepaws, but otherwise she was nude.

"If my lack of clothing bothers you, I can wear a glamour," she said.

"No, I'm used to my brother walking around with nothing on at home. It's okay."

Doctor Abdoul nodded. "Shall we begin?"

Larry fidgeted on the pile of pillows. "I guess."

"Don't worry, Larry. All I want to do is ask you some questions. If at any time you feel uneasy, you don't have to answer them."

Larry wondered if he would answer any of them, then. "All right."

She asked him questions about his family, his school--even questions about his favorite brand of ice cream. But one question in particular caught him off guard:

"Why do you like playing soccer?"

Larry gave it some thought, turning the question over and around in his mind. "I guess because it's fun."

"Why is it fun?"

"Well, because I'm good at it. I like basketball, but I'm too short compared to the guys on the team to be any good." He recalled several times how Osaze would intercept his jump shots. "I also like my teammates."

"Why do you like them?"