FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Okay, then. I got myself a toothbrush, extra shearers in case I need them, hoof trimmers, extra conditioner, snacks, and a whole stack of cash. That should do it!" Willa Ryley happily bleats as she stuffs the final few items into her overstuffed traveling bag. She hefts the thing over her shoulder, feeling the straps weighing down on her wool-coated shoulders. "Ah, that's mighty comfortable if I say so myself," she giggles.

A knock on the door sends her throwing the book bag off and tossing it into her closet, hopping onto her bed, grabbing a stuffed wolf, and wrapping it closely to her fluffy chest.

"C-come in!" she bleats.

The door cracks open and in pokes the head of a ram, broad-shouldered and dressed in his overalls. He keeps his head down as he peers to the floorboards. "Pa wanted to know if you wanted the last slice of yer birthday cake."

"Nah, Ricky, he can have it! Pa's been workin' so hard lately. He deserves a treat."

Richard Walter Ryley nods, his hoofed fingertips tapping on the doorknob as he lingers there.

"Somethin' the matter?" Willa asks, tilting her head.

"Willa, you doin' alright?"

Willa squeezes her stuffed toy closer to her chest. "W... what makes you think I ain't?"

"Can I come in?"

Willa licks her lips, glancing at her closet, only slightly ajar from her hasty shoving. "Y-yeah, sure!"

The ram steps in, arms akimbo, sighing. "Look, I know it's been a rough couple of years for you, what with you wanting to go out and all." He steps over to the side, closer to the closet.

Willa's heart thumps as she watches him approach. "It's not a bother, Ricky. Really. I like helping out around the farm. It's beautiful here at home."

He squats down, reaching toward the closet.

"Bu-but something's bothering you, ain't it?"

Ricky picks up a fallen stuffed chicken and puts it on the shelf beside Willa. "Well, with Roxy back and all, I figured it'd be weird, what with--"

"Whatcha nerds talkin' about?"

Willa bleats and Ricky whirls around. Standing in the hallway, leaning on the doorframe, is their sister, shorn down and dressed in a tank top and shorts. Her ears flicker as she smirks at her siblings. "Something spicy?"

Willa brings the stuffed toy to cover her face, shuddering at the sight of her sister.

"Now, Roxy, don't you agitate Willa."

"Agitate her?" Roxy says with a huff. "Miss Pretty Pink Princess here is doing just fine. Isn't that right, birthday girl?"

Willa nods sheepishly.

"Anyway, Rick. Dad needs ya to grab something for him."

Ricky rubs the back of his neck, rolling his shoulders. "Work never ends 'round here, does it? Goodnight, Willa."

"Night, Ricky... Roxy..." Willa says, scooting into her bed.

The two siblings close the door, leaving Willa alone in bed, surrounded by her childhood toys, the room she's always slept in, and the life she's always lived.

The sheepie waits a moment and then hops out of bed, scooping up her backpack and slipping into her overalls and hiking boots. When she opens the window, she stops, rummages in her pocket, and pulls out the note she wrote for everyone.

"G'bye, everyone!" she chirps to no one. "I'm off on an adventure!"

--

"My... s-sure is mighty dark 'round here," the sheep says, her voice shaking.

She unclips her flashlight from her backpack and scans around the forest, crunching through dead leaves as she marches through the path she chose in the first steps of her adventure.

"It's just like them old stories, w-what with the big bad wolf and all," she reckons. As she treks deeper into the darkness, the growl of the giant creature crosses her mind's ear.

She whips around, and there's no one there, but she can imagine him, tall with his eyes glowing, staring down at her with snarling and drooling fangs, hunched over, ready to strike!

What would she do if he were to actually appear here? What would go through her mind? What would she say and do? She thinks about it momentarily and runs through the scenario most likely to occur.

"Why, h-hello there, mister wolf!" she says, a hand upon her cheek. "Don't mind me. I'm just out on a trip. You wouldn't want to eat me, you know. I ain't got the fat you think I do. I'm a hard-workin' farm gal!"

The wolf blinks and shrugs, stomping off into the darkness.

"But oh me, oh my, ain't a guy like that handsome or something!" she shudders.

The wolf steps out of the forest in front of her, producing a bouquet of grasses, bowing his head, a soft growl rising from his throat.

"Oh, thank you, mister wolf! Don't mind If I do!" she giggles, chomping the treat. "Mmm, Mmm! That's almost as good as..."

She pauses and finds herself alone in the darkness again, her imaginary adventure closing as reality sinks back in.

"Momma's... cooking."

"Oh, dangit, Willa," the sheep gasps, licking her lips, stepping backward, turning her light where she came.

Or is it where she's going?

It's so dark.

"Whooo Whooo!"

Willa whips around, her knees clicking together, her light shaking. "O...oh my... Willa girl. Do be brave," she chatters, stepping forward slowly and tentatively. "You're n-not even off the property line of the neighbor's. R-right? Good old so-and-so who lives... uh..." She frowns.

Wait, who lives next door. Ma and Pa never talked about the neighbors, but Roxy sure did.

"Oh yeah, they're freaks," her older sister would say. "A bunch of tricky types."

"That ain't quite right," Ricky said. "They're just... different, is all."

"Can I meet 'em?" Willa asked, bouncing on her hooves.

"Only if Ma and Pa say you can."

They never brought them up, and her whims always took her elsewhere.

For the first time, Willa realizes that she should have spent more time questioning things she took for granted instead of happily living in blissful ignorance on the farm.