FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Moonrise Lake on the outskirts of my Midwestern town contained many secrets beneath its waves, some more unexpected than others. I was a lucky wolverine to know one of them. They included lost evidence for unsolved local crimes, a trinket or two thrown into the waters by a scorned lover, and even a mythological beast. Supposedly, a sea creature like the Loch Ness Monster lived at the bottom of the crescent-shaped reservoir. Those who either vacationed in its rental cabins or lived along its shore like I did sometimes saw a strange creature swimming deep beneath the waters. Descriptions ranged between scaley reptilians who never evolved into their anthropomorphic form to an indescribable mutation that escaped a nonexistent government lab. That one always made Vince cackle each time I told it. After a grueling day of manual labor in town, I stood waiting for him to appear one Friday night, near the end of summer. I wore a mangled T-shirt with claw marks all over it, something that did earn me a strange look from the gas station attendant, but I didn't care. At least he didn't ask questions about buying two aluminum cans of Bloody Mary, at eight in the evening. He didn't even card me despite doing so plenty of previous times. Anyway, I'd made it to the pier leading away from my family's cabin. The memories of my parents' laughter and Dad grilling burgers far away still felt strong, along with my sisters' screams as they splashed water at each other on the small beach. Everyone had moved to Minneapolis over the years, but I'd chosen to say. As I stood at the end of the moonlit dock, waiting for that reason to finally show his handsome head, I glanced down at the bag of Bloody Maries, then back up to the still waters of the lake's reflective surface. It appeared as if two moons mirrored each other on a diamond sea separated by a far-off tree line. Suddenly, the fake moon rippled. A dark shape splashed upwards, then gracefully sliced through the water towards my dock. I positively beamed at the approaching figure, particularly when his white fangs glinted like marble from moon beams. They flashed up at me from the waters just as fiercely as his ruby eyes glowed. "Excuse me, but do you know the directions to Albuquerque?" A baritone voice sent shivers up my back like a gust of wind, and I knelt further to meet his hypnotic gaze. "I think I'm lost, and there's no way to find the exit to this lake." I rolled my eyes and shook my plastic bag with the aluminum gifts inside. "Promise not to keep making that joke every time," I suggested to the aquatic creature, "and I'll keep bringing your fix, Vince." "You're a cruel wolverine, my love." He clicked his tongue, leaning back to reveal his complete nakedness under the moon's voyeuristic light. I was no different, licking my chops at his beautifully athletic build, his rudder tail swaying between two powerful legs and his abs shining with freshwater droplets. Vince smirked when my eyes fell on his erection, pointed high like a ship's mast. "Well? What are you waiting for?" "This is the short you wore the night we met, right?" He sniffed again, his fangs glinting from my faint flashlight. "God, five years ago..." I smiled at my boyfriend and held my paw out. With strength that no one would ever suspect him to have, Vince yanked me into the cold water, but I held the plastic bag for dear life. I took one big gulp of air after surfacing, laughing and chortling like a drunk teenager, then delved back under as Vince grasped my free paw and pulled me deeper under the black water. Little by little, I let my bubbles trickle to the surface. Little by little, I released some oxygen in order to alleviate my burning lungs. The brackish world beyond my clenched eyelids felt like another world. I felt the occasional tickle of seaweed and perhaps the brush of a passing fish against my toes, but I dared not imagine them. My focus remained on keeping it together and squeezing my otter's fingers with all my might. He was my anchor, my solid earth. Speaking of which, I finally felt it underneath. Sand and algae turned into stone as Vince pulled me into a sizable tunnel. We swam upwards until finally, I heaved a lung full of sweet air the minute we broke the surface. I blinked repeatedly in pitch black darkness as my haggard gasps echoed all around me. "You alright, my love?" Vince's voice caressed my right ear. His webbed fingers patted my hunched back. "Easy now, easy..." My breathing calmed down somewhat. The anxiety of not only being underground, but in a pocket of air close to the bottom of a lake, quavered and then soothed with Vince's comforting words. His actions did the trick too. He always knew how to make me feel less claustrophobic whenever we ventured down to his daytime lair. The scent of drained fish carcasses in the corner did little to drown out the smell of earth and plant life. Plus, the aroma of what used to be mortal otter, who made it his home. My blurred vision acclimated to the darkness. I gradually saw the outlines of the walls, the combined living room and bedroom filled with discarded items, and the silhouette of an otter. His eyes glowed warmly in the pitch black, leaning forward to press his fangs to my lips. I kissed him back, feeling breathless once again in a matter of seconds. "You still got those Bloody Maries, my love?" he whispered, glancing down. "Good! You did." I laughed. "You're more concerned with your favorite drink than your favorite mortal, I see..." "Don't be silly." He grabbed the two aluminum cans from the sopping plastic bag, then handed one to me. "As long as I'm not alive, I'll make sure you are." "I love you too, Vince." Smiling, I opened my drink, and he did too. We drank it together, then drank in each other once our tomato-scented lips met once more.