FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Dude, what is going on?"

Joshua felt as though a bolt of lightning had just rushed through his body in this sudden realization that his best friend may have actually noticed the changes. He was unaware though of what exactly his friend was referring to. It could have been about the new changes but then again it may have just been him asking about something totally unrelated. Unsure of how to precede Joshua decided to play dumb and simply ask him,

"What are you talking about Zac?"

"Oh please, don't tell me you haven't noticed some rather serious changes in the last couple of days!"

It was official; Zac had his memory just as Joshua did of the days before the changes. Overjoyed that not only did someone else have their memories but it been his best friend, he quickly called him on the phone.

"Hey man so you have noticed the changes as well?" Joshua asked.

"Of course I have noticed! How would I have not? Everyone I have come into contact with has become a cross between man and animal. Have you been affected as well?" replied Zac.

"Yes I have. I am in the same boat as you; everyone I have seen has been an animal man just like me. Although I was beginning to believe I was the only person left that had his memory of before all these changes happened. Have you run across anyone that remembers anything else?"

"No unfortunately. I was hoping that you would remember and thank my lucky stars you do. Do you have any idea how this happened?"

"No. I just know that these changes have been around every since I had my normal dream the other night. The only difference was that I faced the wolf in my dream and got bitten. When I woke up from everything had been changed."

"Well that is strange. Mind if I come to your house in the morning? I would like to sit down and you and I mull this thing over for awhile."

"Sounds like a plan to me. See you in the morning."

With that Joshua hung up his phone and laid it back on his nightstand. He rolled back over onto his back staring up into the darkness of his room and pondered what this could possibly mean. Why was the only other person in the world that seemed to have any recollection of the changes his friend? And why did it take a day and a half for him to contact him? Those questions he decided to push aside until Zac and himself could sit down and have a chance to discuss it together and slowly slipped to sleep.

He awoke the next morning to the sound of knocking at his front door. He quickly rose from his bed grabbing his sweatpants and a t-shirt pulling them on as he walked to the front door to find out who had woken him from his sleep.

When reached his front door and opened it there standing there in his doorway was a male red fox. Like most people he did not recognize the figure from his appearance but just as everyone he worked with, the voice was the same voice he had always known.

"Hey sorry, I know I woke you up but I just about couldn't sleep last night so I came on a little earlier than what I normally would."

"It is alright Zac. I'm actually glad you came on when you did. I didn't sleep very good last night either. I just could not get my mind to rest. So where do we start?"

"I don't know... Have you found anyone that has said anything on the internet about the changes?" asked Zac.

"No not that I have found. You were the first person that I know of beside myself that has even noticed the changes."

"That makes no sense at all. How could we be the only ones in the world to have noticed such drastic changes?"

"I don't know man."

As Joshua and Zac sat talking and pondering different possibilities of what happened, why, and how come they were the only ones to notice the changes the day quickly slipped by without them even noticing. Zac realized the day was spent and decided to leave for home without having actually come any closer to getting answers than when the day had started.

As Zac pulled out of the driveway Joshua decided it was about time for him to get ready for bed, however, he had to tackle another shower before he would go to bed. He was, if he had to admit, actually beginning to get rather proficient at showering his new body. After getting out of the shower he walked to his bedroom to try and get some sleep. He pulled his sheets back and lay down in his bed and after a while of tossing and turning, wrestling with a mind of unrest, he finally fell asleep.

Suddenly Joshua found himself in a low light room. He was sitting in a chair with a chair sitting across a small table from where he was sitting. The room was relatively small, four what appeared to be white walls although it was hard to tell in the low light of the room, wood floor, wood ceiling, and one small door located behind the empty chair. The doorknob slowly turned and opened to reveal a human standing in the door. But this was no stranger; it was himself from before the recent changes. His normal bodied self walked in without saying a word, pushed the door to behind him, and sat down in the empty chair.

Both himself and what appeared to also be him sat at the table without saying a word and finally Joshua broke the silence.

"Who are you and why do you look like me?"

"I don't look like you. Not anymore." said the figure.

"Well you may not look like me anymore but you look like I did before I changed into this wolf form. So again, who are you and where am I?"

"How does my appearance not tell you who I am? Are you really so blind to the obvious that you have to yet figure out that I am you? Well you before you changed into that!"

"I didn't choose this! Besides how can you be me?"

"Because of where we are, we are in your mind. This room is here to help you comprehend what is going on. This is basically a conference room in your mind that will allow you and me to talk. I am a personification of your consciousness."

"What do you mean a personification of my conscious? I'm conscious right now."

"No, no you are not. You are actually asleep right now. In all honesty you have been in a dream state every since you were bitten by the wolf in your dream and you gained that body. That wolf was a manifestation of your subconscious mind trying to take over your mind and make your dreams seem like reality. Your love of wolves and desire to be closer and like them was so strong that your subconscious wanted to make it a reality so it was trying to take over your mind to make the impossible seem possible.

When you faced that wolf and it bit you that is when your subconscious took over. You are essentially the soul contained within the mind, so that is why you still have memories and why you still know that what is happening isn't right. Neither your conscious mind nor subconscious can change who you are. Just in the state you are now you perceive your imagination as reality."

"So why is Zac unaffected by all of this? I mean he still remembers everything from before the changes."

"It is because he is your best friend. Of all people he is the one that you would expect above all else to have noticed the changes. Which is why it took so long before he contacted you about noticing the changes. Until YOU started investigating the changes your mind did not generate anyone that would have noticed the changes."

"So basically everything happening that seems real is actually just a dream?"

"Basically. The world you believe to be real right now is the one full of animal people or anthromorphs. You actually could spend the rest of your life in this world and be fine. Living in a dream world instead of reality. It is a choice that you will have to make. If you so choose to stay here in this altered world, and choose your subconscious over your conscious mind then this world will become, shall I say dynamic. Things will not be limited to your mind or your knowledge. You will be able to learn and live just as if you were in the real world. But if you choose, I, your conscious mind, can pull you out of this dream and back to reality.

But I warn you, the longer you stay in this dream world the harder it will be to ever wake up from the dream. What I'm saying is that unless you make your decision fairly soon you will be stuck in this dream world whether that is what you want or not."

With that being said the room began to get fade and Joshua's vision began to blur. He slowly opened his eyes staring up at his ceiling light shining in around his curtained window. He slowly sat up in his bed now confused even more than he had been. Had what he just seen and heard just another random dream? Or was that actually real? Should he tell Zac about this new discovery? Should he just try and return everything to normal? But how to do that? That human appearance of him didn't exactly leave a phone number. But was living as an animal really so bad? What to do? They would all have to be answered sooner or later but for now, Joshua just decided to eat his breakfast and take something for his growing headache that seemed to be getting worse with each new experience and question that had been flooding him the past few days.

To be continued...