FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The Stairs-Story 12 of 31

By Ta’kom Ironhoof

“Honey, have you seen my shoes?”

The Clydesdale called out to from the main bedroom to her wife who was down in the living room. For the past hour, Julia had been getting ready to go out with some friends for a night with her friends and really didn’t want to go bare hoofed.

Not getting a response, Julia called out again. “Melinda, did you hear me?”

Melinda called back, her voice muffled by the various walls in between the two. “Have you checked the closet? You’ve not worn them since we moved in.”

Julia sighed to herself. She had already been through all the boxes in the closet twice now and had no intention of looking again. Julia then answered, “Of course.”

The other Clydesdale moved to the bottom of the stairs in the foyer before calling back up. “Check one of the other bedrooms. We put a few boxes in there.”

Julia had forgotten all about those boxes. “That’s right! Thanks, love!”

“Hey, did you spill something on the stairs?” Melinda called up.

“No? What’s wrong?” Julia answered.

Melinda replied, “Must have a leak somewhere. The carpet’s wet.”

Julia chuckled to herself before answering. “This is an old house, a real fixer upper. We’ll need to take care of that before winter.”

Julia didn’t hear any reply from Melinda, but could hear her moving back toward the living room. Finding a leak in the roof now was much better than discovering it later in the year when it was really too cold to be up on the roof. Hopefully, it would be an easy fix. However, Julia couldn’t worry about that at the moment.

Leaving the main bedroom, she walked down the hall toward the other bedrooms. They had planned on converting one into a study or crafts room; they hadn’t decided fully yet. However, because of this, some of the boxes had made their way in there. Before moving, Julia had pleaded with Melinda that they needed to label the boxes so that they’d know what goes where, but Melinda was in such a hurry that she just threw everything into any box she could find. Melinda had been unemployed at the time, so Julia wasn’t able to help much with the packing. Regardless, what was done was done. Just had to straighten everything out now.

As Julia passed the stairs, she could see the wet spot plainly. The carpet was definitely darker from about half-way up the stairs all the way to the foyer. However, she thought it was strange that she hadn’t noticed that earlier when she had first came upstairs.

“I suppose a lot can happen in an hour.” Julia thought to herself.

After stopping for a moment to ponder the stairs, she continued on to the other bedrooms. When she got there, she was surprised how many boxes had actually ended up in here. With a sigh, the Clydesdale pulled out her cell phone and texted her friends, letting them know she might be a little late. Julia knew she was going to be in here for a little while.

As quickly as she could, she started going through the boxes. Kitchen supplies, books, movies, clothes, and a veritable list of items that certainly did not belong upstairs. Julia briefly thought that she needed to just stay home tonight and sort this mess out. However, she had promised to be there for her friend’s birthday party.

After the eleventh box, Julia finally found what she was looking for, tucked in the very bottom of a box full of shirts and pants. How in the world these shoes found their way into this particular box, Julia would never really understand. Regardless, Julia sat down on the floor and began putting them on.

A few moments later, she was back up on her hooves, twisting her legs this way and that, looking down at her hooves to admire how they looked on her. The bright red shoes complimented her buckskin coat. And though the rest of her outfit was nothing special, some blue-jean shorts and a t-shirt, it was the perfect outfit to hang out with her friends in.

“Found them!” Julia called out, her voice ringing throughout the entire house. And though she was sure that Melinda should have been able to hear her, Melinda did not reply.

Julia was frustrated now. That was twice now that she had tried to get Melinda’s attention this evening and she didn’t answer.

With a shout, Julia called out again. “Melinda! I found them. Did you hear me?”

Still, there was no reply from her partner.

“Maybe she’s fallen asleep on the couch. She does that when watching TV,” Julia thought to herself. “Maybe I should just let her sleep.”

Julia left the bedroom, making her way down the hallway back to the top of the stairs. However, when she got there, she was surprised by what she saw.

The wetness from earlier had grown tenfold. Every part of the stairs was wet now and a puddle had formed at the bottom leading out to the door. Carefully, Julia began to make her way down the stairs, while looking around at the walls and ceiling to see if she could see where the leak was coming from. Just as the mare had arrived at the midpoint of the stairs, a space between two of the steps opened up. Had Julia not been holding on to the banister, she would have fallen straight down.

“OH FUCK!” Julia screamed before looking down, scared from the initial fall. However, as she looked down, she screamed again. “WHAT THE FUCK?! WHAT THE FUCK!!!”

Below her, inside of the gap between the steps, a fleshy, tooth filled chasm, with a writhing tentacle like tongue lashing around.

“Melinda! Melinda, help me!” The Clydesdale shouted. Her hands were slipping from the banister because of the moisture from earlier.

Melinda’s hoof falls could be heard as she came racing around the corner from the living room into the foyer. However, as her bare hooves hit the puddle of fluid on the floor, she tripped onto the stairs, her body tipping into and down the gaping maw.

“Melinda! NO!” Julia shouted.

Just as the words left her mouth, Julia’s hands slipped completely from the banister and she fell.

It wasn’t long before the stairs returned to normal and the once salivating maw was satisfied with its meal.