FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Ben woke gradually to chill darkness. The world around him had changed.

When sunrise had brought sleep, he'd been on a high shelf in a brightly lit room. Below had been a pile of much smaller plush friends. Now he was at one end of a low platform and his friends were nowhere to be seen. This room was small, and the only light came from a dim digital clock.

In the quiet, he thought he heard a noise. Something breathing? Some _one_ breathing?

Ben withdrew into stillness. People mustn't see him move.

His eyes continued to adapt to the darkness. The breather was much closer than he'd first thought. Although it sounded distant and muffled, its source shared the platform with him. One of its ends was only inches away. It was completely covered, though, so Ben couldn't see what it was.

Suddenly it squirmed under its dark blue cover. The surface of the platform started to undulate. Could it be water? The breather stopped moving and gradually the waves died out. This water was very strange. It was blue enough, with hints of green, but was quite dry and... furry? Whatever it was, it hid the breather well.

He still couldn't make out what was under the covering. Sight just wasn't going to be enough. Quietly, Ben breathed deeply. Maybe his poor sense of smell would help.

Yes. That was a person under the covering. Male, and apparently mature. The scent was almost unmistakable.

Ben was afraid for the first time. He'd heard horror stories about adult males. How they were the ones who declared plush to be unfit toys for youngsters who'd grown up, and "disposed" of them.

Ben wondered how he'd gotten here. It had happened while he was sleeping. Someone finally must have bought him! He'd always dreamed of being taken home to be cherished by some youngster.

Many evenings at the store, when he'd been awake but withdrawn in stillness, youngsters had squealed in delight when they'd seen him. Many had climbed on him, hugged him, and declared their undying devotion. Their parents always dragged them away crying, though. Finally a clerk had put Ben on a high shelf were he couldn't be touched and dirtied by small paws. If he could have, Ben would have wept. The anguish had been almost unbearable.

It must have been the tag around his neck. Parents had winced when they read it. It surely had had something horrible written there, but Ben hadn't been able to see what it was. When he'd asked other plush, they'd just shaken their heads. The tags he'd been able to see only had cleaning instructions and named the distant company which had made him.

Ben suddenly realized that the abominable neck tag was gone. His itches had stopped, too! All of the other tags that had been tied through his skin were missing. Someone had carefully removed them. He felt much better. And a bit braver.

Slowly, moving just one paw at a time, Ben crept toward the other end of the platform. He had to learn what was sharing the room with him. Every movement started small ripples, but the sleeper seemed not to notice.

Twang! Gurgle, gurgle.

The sudden noises paralyzed him. What was happening? Was something else in the room? Had it seen him? The sounds were coming from the darkness at the bottom of a wall.

Then he could move again. The room was quickly warming. It was just the heating system coming on.

The sleeper suddenly turned over, face up, throwing off some of the covers. That started another large undulation of the bed's surface.

Again he couldn't move, but the glow from the clock seemed brighter. His eyes were still adapting. Now Ben could see the gleam of light on pelt.

Maybe he'd been mistaken. Although large, the person with him looked much younger than he had been expecting. An adolescent? He'd never seen one before. Only adults and youngsters had come into the store.

Once more the waves gradually died out, and the sleeper breathed quietly. When Ben could move again, he inched toward the head of the waterbed.

Finally he was close, his eyes only inches from the sleeper's face. The odor of a teenaged male filled Ben's nose. Blue clocklight gleamed on a pale pelt, on straight, dark, tousled hair.

Ben was in love.

He couldn't resist.

Real people tasted even better than he'd imagined.