FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Author's Note: Just so everyone knowns, this is my first time uploading anything to this site, so I don't know exactly how it works. I'm trying this for the first time, so cut my a little slack. But if you have any advice, I'd be glad to hear it!

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ACT I -- RHYS

My eyes opened. I woke up.

I literally rolled off of my bed and onto the floor. Slowly and sleepily I got up and walked out of my room. It was already eleven AM, but I had just regained consciousness. It wasn't that I was out doing anything, really... I just went to bed really late.

My house was eerily silent as I walked, although being quiet wasn't that much of an accomplishment, since it was pretty big. I walked over to my living room, fell onto the couch and flipped on the TV.

It was just some random commercials and infomercials, nothing I really cared about. So I turned it off and just lay on the couch.

It's only Saturday morning and I already have nothing to do. Rolling back and forth, I pondered what to do today. I could go swimming, I could go meet Allie, I could go for a walk-

Again, I rolled off the couch. Gravity, am I right?

My cell phone rang its catchy ringtone, and I slapped the table above me aimlessly trying to find it. I accidentally pushed it onto my chest and I grabbed it and answered.

"Hey, wanna do something today?" Speak of the devil.

"I just woke up."

"Yeah, I would've called you sooner if I knew you wouldn't be sleeping." Allie retorted.

"Gimme a half hour. Where should I meet you?" I asked.

"Just in front of the school. We can just walk around."

"Ok, I'll see you there."

"Bye!" She hung up.

I returned upstairs to my room and put on my street clothes. I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt from sleeping, but now I put on pants and my favorite sweatshirt over my tee. It was grey and had brown sleeves. I put on my favorite hat, one of those old newsie hats. I love it, and I never go anywhere without it. I put it on my silvery hair and went on my merry way.

~~~

It was a ten minute walk to our high school, so I thought I would get there a bit early. All three years I've been going here, I've walked. It's never a problem. After I turned the corner, I could see that Allie had beaten me. Maybe she had called me from here, I never really know with this one.

"Rhyyyyyys! Rhys! Hi!" Allie called and raced towards me.

"Calm down! I thought I was going to be here a bit early, but I guess I still can't beat you."

"Haha, nope! So, what do you want to do today?" she asked. "Where should we go?"

"Meander around?" I suggested.

"Sure."

Allie was my best friend. Basically, my only true friend. Sure, I had other guys I talked to at school and all that, but I liked Allie. She's the only one I really hung out with outside of school. But we're just friends, no more, no less. Really good, opposite gender, friends.

We walked through the streets, towards the downtown area. Neither of us could drive yet, but Allie was almost sixteen, so she'll get her license soon. As for me, I turned sixteen two months ago, so I should've gotten my license then, but I really just haven't gotten around to it. I could be driving through town right now, but meh. I prefer walking. Oh well.

I trailed along behind my friend. She's the same grade as me, a junior, but three months younger. Her birthday is in May, coming up soon. I'll have to think of something to get her.

"Hey, Allie, what do you want for your birthday?"

She twirled her brown hair between her fingers as she thought. "Um...surprise me!"

"You know that doesn't help!"

"Then give me this great hat of yours!" She grabbed the newsie hat off of my head and ran for it. I chased after her.

"Come back! Give it back!" I yelled.

Her multifarious blonde highlights glinted in the sunlight as she ran away. But I was faster, and I caught up in a few seconds. I grabbed her white tee shirt and pulled her towards me. In a last ditch attempt, she flung the hat as far away as she could, laughing. I pushed her back and ran to catch my hat. I did, and she was jogging back towards me.

"You know how much I like that hat." she teased.

"Yes, and you know how much I love my hat." I said back.

We continued walking down the street, towards the center of the town. Where we lived, most of the streets converge on this area. The whole network of streets was a big spider web. Our city wasn't that big, but it wasn't a hick Pennsylvania town either. Maybe 10,000 people, give or take? I'm not really sure.

We passed a restaurant, a Subway. I hadn't even eaten breakfast yet, so I was pretty famished.

"Hay, Al, wanna get something to eat here?"

"It is lunchtime..."

"And I haven't even had breakfast yet!" I interjected.

"When did you wake up?"

"Eleven."

"You are one sleepy guy." she accused.

"And you are on sleepless girl!" I countered. It was true. Allie was almost always in bed by nine, and she rose before daybreak! I don't know how she stands it.

Chuckling, we both entered the Subway.

After wolfing down two footlongs (I told you I was hungry!), we proceeded downtown. In Lagonier, the city we lived in, there aren't that many places to go for fun, but strolls were commonplace and had the potential to be enjoyable.

Allie and I kept going until we got to the center of town. Almost geographically and quite literally the center. From here, we could go down six different streets, or pick from a bunch of different places to go that were in the plaza. This intersection was a nightmare for drivers, which is another reason why I've put off getting my license. The traffic here was hellish.

"So, where do you want to go?", she asked the obvious question.

Well, we had our movie theater, another restaurant, a café where we often go, Allie's house was down one way, and mine down the other. "I don't know, we could just go to the café." I suggested.

"No, no! Let's go see a movie! The Host just came out and I really wanna see it! Come on, let's go! Please?" Allie pleaded.

"I don't know if I would like it..." I said.

"Oh, you'll love it. I've read the book, and if the movie is anything like it, it'll be great. Just trust me. I'll even pay?"

"I can't turn down that offer!" I conceded. She half-dragged me into the theater, bought our tickets, and we watched the movie.

I suppose this is also a good time to discuss Allie herself, since we have been spending all day with her. She's the same grade as I am, but as I said before, a few months younger. Her name is Allie Lafayette, and she has brown hair that just reminds me of trees. She has half artificial and half natural little blonde streaks and highlights in her hair. It blends really well, better than you'd think. She is short, maybe 5'5", and has a bunch of cute little freckles across her cheeks.

After the movie, it was later in the afternoon, so we both just went home. It took me a bit longer because we had walked farther down the road, but that was ok by me. Allie lieved just about the opposite way from me, so I walked alone.

I got home around six, and my parents were home by that time. I just walked over to the living room and flopped down on the couch again. I was bored that whole evening. I didn't interact with my parents at all, which was fine by all of us. We didn't talk much, but that's just how we were. Independant, as I like to think of it.

I went on the computer for about three more hours, just browsing all my sites I frequent. Nothing really new, just killing time. I was just bored that night, so I went upstairs way earlier than I usually do and read one of my favorite books: Gregor and the Code of Claw. It's such a wonderful book... how the author relates Time to everything, especially the ending.... and the characters.... Gregor..... Ares............

I fell asleep with those thoughts in my head.

I remembered my dream as soon as I woke up, because it was very strange, even for one of my dreams. It went like this:

I was floating in space. Nothing really abnormal, just a sci fi thing going on. I can turn and see all the planets, Earth and the Moon in particular, as you'd expect. The Sun was unusually bright. I mean, it's a star, of course it's bright, but it kept...flashing at me. I don't know. I drifted closer to the Moon, and basically landed. I could still fly around, I was just on the surface. I saw the Earth in full view, and it turned red. Like bright, fiery red. All of it. Again, weird sci fi dream? I had just been reading a book about giant bats and underground cities.

As the Earth got brighter and redder, I started being pulled backwards. I started going light speed through outer space. Now it's a cool dream! All the stars were flying past me, like you see in Star Wars or something. I slowed down, and I landed on another planet. It looked all oceans. Still, I plunged towards the water. I dove into the huge ocean and resurfaced. It was raining, really hard. I couldn't breath, I couldn't see. The waves kept tossing me under. What kind of dream is this? One where you almost die, then wake up right before?

If it was, it wasn't over yet. Even though it should've been a heavy overcast, I could still the this planet's sun clearly. A moon passed in front of, an eclipse. Lightning flashed, waves roared, and I was almost drowning. An especially powerful wave pushed me far under. Through the water, I could still see the blocked sun. A huge white zero had appeared in front of it, blinding me and overtaking everything else. As I sank deeper, everything turned white, and I woke up with a start.

When I awoke, I wasn't exactly scared or anything. I wasn't sweating or screaming. Mostly I was confused. What was up with that dream? Did I just see some weird stuff today? The Host DID have to do with aliens. but that was just...wow.

Then I woke up a little more and realized what had really woken me up. It wasn't the dream, not imminent death. I realized I had heard something. Something outside.

I got up to go look. On reflection, I couldn't remember what the noise even was. I just remember I heard something. It was probably from my backyard, which extends into the woods. I put on a jacket and my favorite hate and headed out the back door.

No one heard me, and even if they did, they wouldn't care. It was one AM on the clock I passed on the way out. Usually I'm still awake down here at this time, so my parents would just think I'm making food or something.

The woods aren't very thick, even deeper in. I spent many a day in my younger years getting lost in this forest, so yes, little Rhys knows his way around. The sky was pretty clear, so I could see the full moon and the numerous stars above me. Like I said, Lagonier wasn't that big a city, nor was it near any. So the sky is usually clear, and I like to look at it a lot. When I'm bored.

I didn't go too far in, mostly skirted the perimeter, looking for anything that might have woken me up. It was silent. Complete silence, except for my soft footfalls on the pine needles. I walked slowly and carefully, looking for anything or anyone. Most of the animals should have been asleep, and the nocturnal animals fled when I approached. Then I heard what I was listening for. A noise. That's enough it qualify, but it was a strange noise. A very out of place noise for springtime Pennsylvania. I never hear this where I live. Why are they here?

Wolves. I could hear them howling. They weren't close, they sounded very distant. But I think I knew what woke me! Ok, enough's enough, time to go back.

I wasn't scared of the wolves or anything. I just didn't want to disturb them. Or them me. But I was curious. Why were they in Lagonier? I've never heard personally or second hand of any strays or packs around this area. It's never been a problem, no one's seen any. But why are they in my backyard? That's not a question for me, that's for the zoologists. If we have any here.

I got home a little faster than it took me to get outside. I might've hurried. A little. I got through the back and quietly climbed the stairs back up to my room.

All this excitement has stirred me up. I needed to go to the bathroom before I could fall back asleep. That annoying bladder.

Before I left, I looked in the mirror. What did I look like after a startling hike at one AM? I saw my silver hair was a bit messier than usual, but that's understandable. I did just get out of bed. It went to a bit above my eyebrows, but it was really uneven all over, and went past my neck. I need to get a haircut. My brown eyes looked really tired. Cause I was. My face was dirty from the day and night outside. I guess I could look cute if I really tried, but I don't. All down my clothes are pine needles I kicked up in my jog back home.

I was about to leave and go to bed when I realized I still had my hat on. That's silly, you can't sleep with your hat. I removed it, then dropped it on the floor and darn near bit my hand.

Oh my God.... what.... what.... oh my God!! What is that?

On my head, when I took of my hat, poking out of my hair, were two animal ears.

They were long, silver, and pointy. I still had my human ears, but these were farther up and extended from the corners of my head. I touched them, bewildered, and wondered what they were and how they got here. Again, I looked in the mirror to see them, and I spotted another animalistic feature. Out of the left corner of my mouth protruded a single fang. I touched it; it was really there.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, I dropped my hand to my side and found the most alarming addition yet. Behind me, poking of out my shorts was a long, bushy, silver tail. It was real fur. It, like all the rest, was actually there. It fell down to just above my ankles.

I took it all in. Or, I tried. My ears, my fang, my tail. What had happened?! I had heard the wolves in the woods, then ran back home. I think I would've noticed if I had animal ears when I put my hat on, so it must have happened after I left the house. What did I do? I heard the wolves-- Is that what I am? Some weird hybrid wolf-boy-thing? Is this permanent, is this forever? How could I possibly go to school like this? What's going on?!!

It was all too much. I was agog, I was aghast. I was suddenly a wolf, I had no idea how it happened, and it's late. It was all too much. I swooned, fell, and fainted right there on the bathroom floor.

END ACT I