Grooming
**_Saturday Morning_** Emmanuel was having an unusual dream about being in some kind of horse racing arena, with a mixture of feral and anthro horses, lined up in some variation of a starting gate that was able to accommodate all of them. A raucous...
Tenderness
"Good morning." The soft voice in Eoin's ear made him smile softly and stretch a little even as an arm reached around and pulled him closer, his bare back to a very firm and equally bare chest and belly. He wrapped his own white-gold furred arm...
Grace
Somewhere beyond the lonely cabin, deeper in the woods, the woeful cry of the wild wolves thrilled upon the chill night air. Within the one-room space, lit only by the small fire in the hearth, the gray-furred fox listened with a fascinated...
Kubla Khan
Nate didn't really understand seasons. He wasn't stupid; he understood planetary orbits, growing seasons, the endless cycles of life. He just didn't have much use for seasons in general. His element - perhaps literally - was ice, and it was the one...
Seem and Substance
_Let be be finale of seem; The only emperor is the emperor of ice cream._ --Wallace Stevens A sharp double-trill resounded from several locations in the large, empty house. After several untended rings, the answering machine, that delightfully...
Signing Up for the Tour
Sydney went back to his own life and left Manny to face his sister alone. Given her current state, that was probably a wise course of action. After the wolf had gotten back inside the warehouse, Rosie slammed the heavy door behind him, pivoted upon...
Clean-Up on Aisle 1
"Why am I always the one who has to haul out the trash?" "Because you're the only one big enough to handle the kind of trash we get in this place." "You need a better lock on the door." Manny grinned softly at the large black bear. A full two...
Only Love Survives
The young vixen, her white fur almost glistening in contrast to the dark muted blue of her outfit, waited as patiently as possible given the circumstances. Even from a distance, she could smell the myriad scents of the crime scene - sweat, blood,...
In the Moonlit Mist
In Latin, the moon is_luna,_ which is where we derive the term "lunatic." Originally, it meant to be "touched by the moon" or "moonstruck," because it was thought that the full moon affected people's minds, perhaps the way that it affects the tides....
Baby Steps
"I didn't want you to go to any trouble." "Stop being silly." Jerry watched as the younger of his landlords continued to straighten up the living room of the big house, waiting for the auto-set electric kettle to chime its announcement that the...
The Jam Jar
For Neil Gaiman, who unknowingly gave me the seed crystal _ _ _ "Ye gods, that thing is repulsive."_ _ "Yes, I know."_ _ "Why do you keep it?"_ _ "It needs me."_ \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* The rat, mid-sized for his particular feral...
Family Treasures
"I can report with confidence that Niceville, Florida, is just that, but that there's one house that should not be allowed to stand." Bobby Harris could only nod in agreement as he welcomed Duncan and Daniel Lamar back to their familial home with as...