FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The unexpected life of a puppy.

Chapter 1 - A new beginning

There was an eerie feeling to the building. It was a big mansion located just a few miles outside the city, with no other building close by. For someone going there for the first time, it could feel like the typical introduction to yet another horror movie. But it wasn't so bad with the lush garden surrounding the large house, a garden scattered with toys and tiny bicycles.

Lana stood just at the beginning of the moderatedly long walk through the big garden, her eyes wandering across the garden and eventually stopped at the big front door of the house. She was wearing a pair of skintight jeans, a pair of lower heels and a black jacket that didn't look too warm. If she said she wasn't nervous, she'd be lying. She was a german shepherd, closing in on 35, and she was still alone and without children. Her career was going as steady as it could, but her life at home was lonely and quite frankly she craved a tiny one, someone to pass on her love and wisdom to.

She began walking towards the door, letting out a long sigh. As her heels clicked against the ground she thought of her last visit to the orphanage. They'd informed her on paperwork and let her meet the children so she could make an informed decision. That had been over two weeks earlier and she could still remember the children how they'd swarmed around her and asked her a million questions, wanted to hug her and in general just found excitement in a visitor. She also remembered that one child, the one that had just stayed to herself and watched from afar. When Lana had made eye-contact with her, the child had simply turned away in shyness and returned to whatever toy it was she'd been playing with at the time; Lana couldn't remember what it was.

As she reached the door she stopped for a few seconds to calm herself. Once she walked inside and announced her decision, she'd have a child with her. She took a minute or two to think it over again even though her decision was made, and thought back to when she'd asked the caretakers about the lonely little girl. A small golden retriever, one of two canines at the orphanage, at the age of five. She'd been at the orphanage for close to half a year, and the caretakers had expressed their concerns for the small little thing. They couldn't find a way to properly communicate with her, even though she was a good little girl who did what she was told. Apparently the girls parents had both died in an accident and there was no family left to take her in, or that wanted her. The staff at the orphanage thought that was the reason she was so shy and scared of talking to the other children.

Lana straightened and knocked the door with a renewed motivation. She was certain she'd made the right decision in adopting the lonely little girl, and she was just as certain that she'd do anything to make the little one smile again. The mother-to-be could feel nervousness subsiding, and as it did her tail rose and began wagging which of course was a clear sign of her excitement. Then the door opened revealing an older cat probably in her sixties, dressed in a very long skirt and pantyhose along with a big blouse. The characteristic pearl necklace for a lady in her age hung from her neck as well.

''Ah, Miss Moore! I heard you were coming back today! Please, come inside,'' the lady said and moved aside for Lana to pass by.

''Good afternoon, Mrs. Johnson,'' Lana replied and took a few steps inside before unzipping her jacket. ''I couldn't bear to wait any longer, I'm just so excited for this! Is she okay?''

Mrs. Johnson nodded and smiled brightly, before gesturing towards the common room. ''Oh most certainly. We didn't tell her yet though,'' she explained, causing Lana to stop in her tracks and turn to look the feline in her eyes.

''You didn't tell her that she's being adopted today?'' she asked with surprise in her voice, getting her a headshake in return. Lana raised an eyebrow and curiously tilted her head as she glanced towards the common room. She lowered her voice slightly, ''May I ask why? Surely that would brighten her day.''

Mrs. Johnson took a deep breath and then nodded. ''Well... As you're aware she's a b-'' she said but interrupted herself as one of the children came running out of the common room. ''Tommy, no running in the halls! Go back inside, it's soon movie time,'' she told the kid with a strict expression on her face. Tommy was about to complain, but the feline just pointed in the direction of the common room making the child sigh and sourly walk back into the large room. Once he was out of sight and hearing, Mrs. Johnson turned her head back to Lana. ''I'm sorry,'' she said, to which Lana simply nodded with a smile in return. ''Now, where was I...? Oh yeah, as you know she's a bit special. She's been here close to half a year and we still have a hard time talking to her, so we all agreed that it would probably be better for you to deliver the good news as her new mother. You know... A way to start of your new journey together in a good way,'' she explained.

Lana slowly turned her smile into an expression of understanding. ''Oooh, I see! Well that does sound like a good idea!'' Without saying anything else, the two walked down the hall and into the large room where all of the children were gathered. It hurt to look at them, or so Lana thought. There were at least thirty or so children, and Lana just wanted to bring them all home and give them a good life which obviously she couldn't. At least she'd decided on who to bring home, and after all of the children had greeted her in unison and she'd greeted them back, her eyes started to wander from face to face in order to find her, the one she'd call her daughter for the rest of her life. And there she was in the corner, which didn't surprise Lana in the slightest. A smile spread across her face. The young girl was dressed in a pair of jeans just slightly to big for her, and a red shirt also a tad to big. She'd probably gotten the clothes from one of the other kids after she had grown out of her old ones. Lana couldn't help but to think it was the cutest thing she'd seen in quite a while.

''C-'' she was about to call out to her, but was promptly interrupted.

''Cess!'' Mrs. Johnson called out at the same time as Lana. The small golden retriever turned her head quickly in surprise, causing her small floppy ears to jiggle for a second afterwards. ''Would you please come with me and Mrs. Moore here?'' she asked the girl in a sweet tone. Cess looked at them both for a moment, then silently nodded and pushed herself to her feet and came walking slowly. As soon as she was close enough, the older feline took her hand and lead her along to a room they'd passed in the hall earlier. The room was an average-sized room with two desks and a few shelves filled with folders of all kinds. In one corner was a round table and four chairs, one of which Mrs. Johnson pointed at for Cess to sit down and she did that just as silently as she'd walked with them. The older lady gestured to one of the chairs for Lana to sit down, and as soon as the german shepherd had done so the feline sat down herself. Before either Lana or Mrs. Johnson had a chance to say anything, the young girl finally spoke up.

''U-uhm... Mrs. Johnson did I do anything bad?'' she asked in a low and quiet tone of voice. Lana felt her heart skip a beat at how innocent and sweet the child seemed, and she took her chance to speak before the lady could.

''You've done nothing wrong, sweet little thing. We actually brought you in here to tell you something,'' she explained and smiled as brightly as she could to easen the girls discomfort. She took a brief pause to think of how to say it, and while she pondered what to say Cess curled up in the chair as if she prepared herself for something bad. Lana couldn't help it as she stood up and slid her chair closer to the girl, and after sitting back down she placed her big adult hands over the tiny hands in the girls lap. Then she squeezed them. ''My name is Lana, and... I'm your new mommy Cess. I'm bringing you with me, to your new home!'' she told her and then watched the girl with great interest.

At first Cess just stared at her with her eyes wide open as if she had a hard time believing what she had just been told. Her eyes wandered from Lana's to Mrs. Johnson's whom simply smiled and nodded to confirm it was true. ''Y-you're... my new mommy?'' she asked, still in disbelief.

''Sure am, sweetie! Once you've packed up all your things, you'll go with me in the car to your new home where you'll have your own room, your own toys and everything else you could possibly want. Do you want that, you sweet little thing?'' Lana asked her, and once again stopped talking to study Cess' reaction.

As opposed to Lana's expectations, Cess didn't jump out of her chair to cheer, no. Instead her big, kind puppyeyes started to fill up with tears and the girl began sniffling sobbing. Lana looked to Mrs. Johnson, whom met her eyes for a moment before they both shrugged exasperatedly with an understanding look on their faces. The newly become mother turned to her new daughter and reached her paw to the young ones face, cupping her cheek. ''Cess, sweetie... What's wrong? Aren't you happy?'' she asked in as sweet a tone as she could. Cess immediately nodded and sniffled, before taking a deep breath. ''I-I-I... I'm really... really happy...'' she said, struggling to get her words out in between her sobs.

Lana nodded with her smile still on her face, then slid out of her chair to sit on her knees in front of Cess. She then reached out with both her arms and wrapped them around the small girl and let the golden puppy lean into her shoulder to let it all out. Cess wrapped her small arms around Lana as well and rested her head on the shoulder as she was supposed to, then started to properly cry out loud. They sat like that for several minutes as Lana didn't dare to move, and Cess really needed to let it all out after six months in silence.

Eventually Cess stopped loudly crying and returned to quiet sobbing and sniffeling. Lana stood up and lifted Cess along with her, holding her up with both her arms. ''It's alright sweetie, it's you and me now okay?'' she asked her little girl. The golden leaned back and looked into Lana's eyes as she nodded. With a grin, Lana moved one of her hands from underneath her new daughter and up to her face, gently wiping the tears out of her big puppyeyes with her thumb. ''Now, can you be a good girl and go get all your things? I'll be with you soon to help you carry it all, but now mommy has to sign some papers. Can you do that for me?'' she asked her, getting her another nod. Lana kissed her on the forehead before letting her down on the floor. ''Now off with you, sweety. Hurry hurry!'' she urged her, making Cess running out the room with excitement. Then she and Mrs. Johnson got started on the paperwork.

Cess couldn't be happier, even though she didn't display it through hops and cheers. As she left the office she had to stop for a moment outside and just gather herself again, because she had a hard time taking it all in still. Just six months earlier she had a real mother and a real father, both whom were tragically taken away from her abrubtly. She never got to say good bye or hug them one last time, and it was something she'd cried about several times since then. It had been really hard for her to get close to anyone ever since she was put in the orphanage because of that; because she was terrified someone else would abandon her again. And now there was someone who wanted to be her mother, someone who wanted to give her things and love her. It made her very happy, but also really scared which was why she'd cried.

After gathering herself and wiping her face free of all the moisture her tears had created, she began running through the halls again. Even though some of the caretakers saw her, they didn't stop her from running and instead they all just smiled at how happy the young girl seemed to be. They were all so incredibly happy someone had taken her in to give her what she deserved. It didn't take her long to get to the room in which she and a few other girls slept. They all had a box next to their bed, looking like a treasure chest, in which they kept their personal belongings. In addition they had a certain amount of closet space in the closets lined along the far wall. Cess didn't have much though. When she'd been taken to the orphanage she hadn't wanted to bring much along, and the only thing she really cared for was her big polar bear plushie that she'd gotten when she was even younger. It was still almost as big as her and when she carried it in her arms she had trouble walking straight. But despite all that she still pulled out a bunch of clothes she liked in particular and put them on her bed together with her polar bear, then she laid next to it and started talking to it like she always did when she was alone. She started telling it that they were going to a new home, how pretty her new mommy was and about all the things she would have and she wanted.

It was sometime during that time that Lana came with Mrs. Johnson to help her with her stuff. But Lana heard Cess from outside the hallway and stopped the older feline before going inside, so she could just stand there and listen to her new daughter so excitedly talk to her best friend. She stood there quietly for easily five or six minutes before she let out a happy sigh and walked into the room. ''That's a big bear you have there, Cess. Does he have a name?'' she asked her, causing Cess to swirl around in the bed to look at her. The young girl smiled at her and held the bear up in the air to show him off.

''His name is Icey!'' she said with glee, smiling from ear to ear. Her tail was dragging back and forth underneath her on the bed.

''That's a cute name for a cute polar bear!'' Lana told her and looked at the clothes on the bed. ''Is this everything?'' she asked in disbelief and looked to Cess who simply nodded. The mother turned to look at the caretaker still standing in the doorway, who frowned a bit.

''Cess, you have plenty more clothes in the closet,'' Mrs. Johnson said as she stepped into the room and over to the closet to show just how much more clothes she had. But Cess shook her head.

''I don't like those clothes... They're not mine,'' she said and looked to the clothes on the bed. ''I only like these, my old mommy gave them to me...'' The older feline was about to protest, but Lana held a finger up in the air to interrupt her while nodding.

''It's fine, I planned on taking her clothes shopping anyway. We'll make due with these she picked out, don't worry. Give those clothes to some of the other children instead,'' she said and grinned at Cess. ''Are you ready? We need to get you home and settled into your new room after all!'' As Lana was focused on her new daughter, Mrs. Johnson came over and reached under the bed to pull out a suitcase to put the clothes in, which she did to help the new family out.

As soon as the case was packed and they were ready to go, Lana promptly took hold of her daughter and heaved her up to hold her close along with that massive polar bear. ''Do you want to say good bye to the other children?'' Lana asked, but as she suspected the small girl shook her head. ''Should we go home then?'' she asked instead, which made Cess nod and wag her tail.

''Uhu, I want to go!'' she said excitedly.

Lana took the suitcase and pulled it after herself as she carried her beloved little daughter through the halls with Mrs. Johnson just behind them. They stopped at the door to the big mansion. ''Don't I get a hug at least, Cess?'' the old feline asked. Cess looked at her for a moment, then nodded and let go of Lana's neck and reached out for the cat to take her, before giving her a really big hug. ''You go have fun with your mommy now, okay? We'll miss you!''

''Mhmm, I will have lotsa fun!'' she responded as she was handed back to Lana.

''Thank you so much, Mrs. Johnson. I really appreciate all the help. I promise I'll take good care of her,'' Lana said and gave a the feline a hug too, squishing her daughter in between them. ''So, uh... We're off then. Have a nice life!'' She opened the door and looked out, seeing the sun slowly set on the horizon before them, before walking outside and down the long path towards the parking lot as Mrs. Johnson saw them walk towards a new beginning and a new life.

End of chapter 1.