FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"This is the perfect day for the park!" Layla's bright cheerful voice burst out of her opened jaws as she turned her face up towards the sun shining down from above. Her blue eyes glimmered beneath the bright intensity of the day light shimmering off her gold-toned fur, but the cocker spaniel cub looked nothing but happy to have this bright light in her face.

"It's been so cloudy lately!" Werner agreed, tipping his face up now towards the clouds as well. Instantly, the warm rays sent a zip of heat over his dark, black fur that felt like a towel fresh from the dryer had been laid against his forehead.

"Mmm... it's so nice..." Fidgeting eagerly, Layla started to bounce from foot to foot side to side on the smooth cement of the poured driveway her and her friend, Werner, stood in. With each jostling shuffle her shorts danced slightly away from her thighs with the loose mesh-like fabric not fitting close to her legs like other, more feminine designs may have. Instead, she wore classic basketball shorts like any other boy might.

"Man, I hope there's not too many other kids there! I want to have it all to ourselves!" Werner offered up, closing his eyes so only the slight tuft of tan that was typical of dobermans, his 'eyebrows' some would say, took the place of his eyes.

"You two ready to go?" A new voice broke their trance with the sun as Wilhem Von Clog, Werner's father, stepped out from the front door of the house. His hand stayed lingering on the molding around the entrance, waiting to grab anything else from just inside. "Water? Snacks? Toys? Anything and Everything?"

"Daaad!" Werner whined at him, rolling his eyes. "We're waiting on you!"

Layla just giggled, looking up to the familiar adult with a playful laugh. Her tail, sticking out from the hole in her shorts designed for it, swished with a steady, carefree beat.

"Well in that case! I'd better get my stuff then, huh?" Wilhelm's muzzle wrinkled with amusement at the two kids obvious impatience, though they tried to appear polite. He could see it in the way they shuffled like boxers in waiting from foot to foot, never able to stand totally still. "Something about the sun...." he muttered to himself with amusement, "It just brings them to life like Frankenstein's lightning bolt."

Hurrying, the adult grabbed his supplies and a bag before he returned to the stoop, this time closing and locking the door behind him. "Okay kiddos, let's hit the park!"

Freed from their waiting, the two cubs lunged forward with eager excitement and launched into the short walk from the park, knowing their guardian would trail behind.

"I'll race you there!" Werner shouted over his shoulder, his stub of a tail flickering madly behind him.

"You mean you'll lose!?" She countered, laughing as her fluffy ears flopped on either side of her face from the force of the wind whipping past her as she sped off towards the green edge of the park.

"Hey!" Werner barked, but wasted not a breath more taking off behind her, hoping not to lose too terribly.

******

"Tag! You're it!" Layla smacked her hand into a knee, the closet thing to her hand's level before she looked up to see Wilhelm's less-than-amused expression. He chuckled at her, reaching down to ruffle up her ears. "Now now, I have to do some work. But you can tag Werner for me, huh?" She gave a nod, taking off instantly towards her friend's flickering tail, the only thing giving away his hiding place behind an oversized oak whle his father settled onto a bench.

As the cubs shrieks echoed out around the park, Wilhem pulled out his sketchbook, letting the two to play on their own.

At first, their tag started off playful. A back and forth of racing and giggling, but with each new smack of a paw onto a leg or shoulder and those words: "You're it!" the intensity started to rise. The burning competition of youthful energy sparked between them until each back and forth brought them sprinting: one in pursuit and one away.

"You're never going to escape me, Werner!" Layla shouted, skidding over top of a muddy patch and groping a tree to pivot around it's gnarled trunk.

Werner just laughed back, continuing his charging race of escape, but their noise was starting to draw some attention from the benches scattered around the park, covered in the resting butts of adults.

"Is that a girl running like that?"

"Those two look like trouble makers playing like that!"

"So rowdy!"

The comments were harmless, idle whispers passed across the space between the pairs sitting scattered around the parks. A family of four of intermingling generations, clearly some womans' outing to the park from grandmother on down to the youngest daughter and the sparse collection of strangers started to eye the two while they played, flinching and whispering when their voices rang too loud or Layla seemed too energetic for her gender.

"Hah! Got you!" Layla's voice rang out triumphantly as she smacked her hand across Werner's thigh, sending them both tumbling into the dust. Her ears splayed out around her face, flopping into her eyes and falling back off with soft, muted splats while dust exploded out around her ankles from her heels digging down into the earth for traction.

Instantly, she twisted, paying no attention to how the twigs grabbed at the soft fur of her legs and clung there in gathering matts or how mud seemed to be sprayed onto her knees. Instead, she cared only about escaping the tagger!

Werner launched into his own attack, though they were both steadily starting to lose focus on the game at and dissolve into giggling play once more.

At the side of one of the whispering benches, a small, coiffed poodle cub tugged at her mother's shirt sleeve looking up with wide eyes. "Mommy, that girl is getting all messy! Can I run too?"

The woman instantly gave a soft scoff. "Honey! No, no. That's how boys play-"

"But she's playing with a boy, isn't she?"

The woman furrowed her brows, clearly bothered that her child was asking these questions. Her eyes snuck over, glaring out at the pair of canines chasing after each others tails now in dizzying circles.

"She shouldn't be. Girls and boys do not play together. Especially not as kids. They only can be around each other as adults when they are looking to... fall in love." She gave a nod to her child, putting on a warmer smile. "Just ignore them, honey. They are a terrible influence." She nudged the girl back to her dolls waiting still on a crisp, clean picnic blanket in the grassy spot. But her eyes once more turned to the two playing, nudging her mother who in turned mumbled a comment to her grandmother. "Those two are distracting all the other children!"

"Should we do something? Clearly they aren't being parented!"

All three stares locked onto the two as they fell into a spray of bright green grass, tugging it out at the roots and showering it onto their playmates with their giggling ringing out like trumpets. "Werner stawp!"

"You first, Layla!"

"Never! I'll never surrender!"

Their boisterous noise only brought more stares from around the park. The hushed whispers started to rise into full, open conversation back and forth about this scene of a young girl romping around the park with a boy!

"That's it!" The mother stood, casting a look to her young, painfully effeminate daughter sitting in a moping position on her blanket as if to fuel her bravery. "I'm going to say something!"

She strode towards the cubs, unnerved by the adorable scene of them rolling side to side in the grass. She didn't see the way their tails were wagging in a speedy unison of sheer, unadulterated glee. She only saw the grass stains forming in the girl's shirt.

She didn't see how their faces broke open with grins from ear to ear. She saw only the dirt spraying up into the air.

She didn't see the entire picture. The joy. The purity of the entire scene of just two kids totally lost into their own world of play. No, she saw Layla scuffing her shoes, saw the shorts, saw her musied fur.

"Stop it at once!" She snapped at them, freezing them in place beneath the sudden explosion of an adult voice.

"What?" Layla raised her voice slightly, brave enough to speak up and confused enough to ask.

"You two need to stop it! Good girls do not, should not play with boys!" The woman lectured, staring right down at the young spaniel girl splayed on the grass. A bit overwhelmed, Layla pulled her knees up, wrapping her arms around them as her head cocked to the side.

The other onlookers stared over, finding new power in this first voice raising their cause of enforced gender roles. One rose, waggling a finger into the air. "Boys who play with girls might turn out to be gay! It basically turns them into queers!"

"Girls should play with girls. With dolls. With clothes! Gentle things!" Another voice broke in, adding to the layered lecture around Layla. She stared up, eyes flickering from face to face in the rising crowd. The one angry woman became a trio, then five strong.

"You need to learn etiquette and manners. Where's your mother, huh? No decently raised young lady would roll around in the dirt!"

"You should both be ashamed of yourselves!"

"But girls have to take the control most of the time and remove themselves! Boys simply will be boys, but ladies have to rise above that!"

Layla's ears were slowly pushing back pinning towards her head. The sheer imposition of so many adults speaking to them, lecturing her with particular interest had even her usual spunk subdued.

"It's the end of decency on a whole!~" One woman shouted explosively, suddenly cracking open the controlled back and forth into a full frenzy.

The two canine cubs flinched back towards the grass further, feeling intimidated by this growing crowd around them who clearly had issues with their friendship. Even if the size of the group was minimal compared in the overall scheme, ten adults versus two small cubs was still a frightening equation.

Layla's ears were drooped so heavily they seemed to blend right into the rest of her face. There was no more bounce in them at all while Werner's were pinned tightly back to his head, the black of the ear tips almost disappearing against the backdrop of his same colored fur. Softly, under their breaths, each exhale came out with a faintly strained whine warbling out in the air. Layla's tail even tucked backwards, hiding against her thighs.

"You need to behave how girls are meant to!" One woman spat right at Layla, waving her hand over top of Werner to intimidate the cub. The male puffed up his chest, feeling a sudden fiery protectiveness of his friend.

"Hey!" He blurted, his voice breaking as he did, but that didn't stop him. He leapt onto his feet, sending a puff of dust into the air. "Layla can be anything! Who she wants to be isn't... isn't picked out by any of you! It's not-" He struggled to recall the word he'd heard his father use once before. He knew it'd help his argument, a big grown-up word! "Who she isn't isn't governed by anything you say!"

He waved his own finger now, feeling empowered by his vocabulary. Layla scuffled onto her feet behind him, now puffing out her own chest. Some of her usual spark was returning. If Werner was going to defend her, she had to be strong too! "Yeah! I can do anything boys can! I can play with boys! I can get in the mud! I can run! I can actually have fun instead of playing with stupid dolls like your daughter has to!"

The woman gasped, visibly hurt by this specific reference. She glanced over at her daughter who sat on the blanket, staring blankly at this scene with wide eyes.

"Don't you dare say that-" She was interrupted by another concerned citizen who shook their head and lunged forward.

"See what you've done, boy?" The woman scoffed, growling faintly under her breath. The two cubs were surprised the older coyote didn't start foaming at the teeth. "You have been a bad influence on her! Swaying her with your dirty male activities when she should be proper and tidy!"

"What?" Layla and Werner blurted together, realizing the flaws in these arguments now. No longer were they really intimidated, but they were stuck. "That's just stupid! Girls can do all the same things as boys! It's not like we're any different!" Layla explained vigorously, starting to jostle her ears free from their flat position with her passionate hand motions and bobbing.

In response, the crowd just rippled with exchanged commentary. They couldn't believe the lack of respect in this young pup! "Who raised her?"

"She knows nothing about being a woman!"

"My word, I've never been so assaulted-"

"This park used to be so decent!"

"Scoundrels letting their kids just run around intermixing!"

The two cubs looked around, frantically wanting to escape this situation now. Right on time, Wilhelm came striding over abandoning his camped position on a distant bench. His sketchbook was hurriedly tucked under one arm with his ears fiercely tipped forward. "What is going on here? What is the world could trigger a group of adults to gang up on two cubs? Huh?"

He stepped up between the two cubs, wrapping an arm protectively around either of their shoulders and raising his brows expectantly. Instantly, soothed by his presence, Werner and Layla started to relax, flickering their tails idly and watching an array of facial expressions from the gathered group of ten at being called out.

The leading family, the three generations of women each more judgemental than the last each seemed personally offended at the accusations. Their faces broke open with shock, eyes going wide and lips popping apart to let out shocked exhales of hot air.

"Oh well I-"

"Heavens!"

"Now just-"

They each exclaimed their own blurted thought cutting each other off and falling silent all at once. Wilhelm flinched his brow higher, staring them down. "What is it that could have had a group of adults standing around two cubs? Were they beating each other up?" He tipped his head, looking down at them. "Were you two fist fighting? Starting a fight club here in the public park?"

"No! We were playing!" Layla responded loudly.

"That's just it!" The silented dam exploded and the woman all opened their wide jaws. "They were playing!" She hissed out the word as though she was saying 'murdering' and not 'playing.'

"And what's the harm in that?" Wilhelm responded calmly. His eyes scanned the crowd, which had started to thin as shamed community members shuffled back to their own kids who they could boss around.

"Girls cannot be mixing with boys!"

"It teaches them the wrong habits!"

"They need to learn to be ladies!"

"Is she not a lady simply for being, well, a lady?" He chuckled, rolling his eyes now. His paw squeezed gently on Layla's shoulder, assuring her this was nothing bad about her. The woman sputtered for a reply, but their will to fight dwindled as their following did. They instead coughed awkwardly and shuffled off, escaping Wilhelm's searing stare.

Once they'd left, he dropped to his knee, grabbing Layla's shoulders with a firm, but gentle squeeze. "Layla, I need you to do something for me now, okay?"

She looked at him, meeting his eyes with her own bright blues. She nodded, stern and focused.

"I need you to forget every single stupid thing they said-" Wilhelm's muzzle broke with a grin which Layla quickly copied back. Werner shuffled closer, chuffing his friend's shoulder. "You, and every other girl and boy, can be and play and act and dress however you want. No one, no one has the right to tell you any different. You are you. You pick who that is and who that isn't. Okay?" He studied her face, but it was already relaxing back into her usual grin.

Moments later, she'd grabbed Werner's hand and they were taking off back towards the house, excited for their sleepover as thought nothing had happened.

Wilhelm lingered back, letting their bubble of a cub's universe settle back around them. He instead just watch as they raced up to the house, babbling about forts, popcorn, and pirates with no pauses in between. Soon enough, they'd have the air mattress inflated and a castle built out of sheets and stuffing that he could never dream up, not even with his sketchpad and all the paints in the world.

"There's just something about cubs..." He mumbled, smiling to himself. "It's like they can create whatever world they want to see-" He shook his head for a moment, reflecting once more on the adults in the park, "and shame on anyone who would want to limit that creation."

"Just shame on them... because they are creating a world much cooler than ours-"

Right on cue, a chorus of "DRAGONS!" exploded out from behind the couch and two blurred canines raced into the kitchen. "We have to fight him off-"

"-with cheese puffs!"

"It's the only thing that works! They can't stand the cheddary goodness!"

Wilhelm could only smile, chuckling as he found his desk in the den and listened to their story unfolding. Hearing each new detail to their growing world inspired him as his pencil once more touched to his pad, sketching in new details around the outline of the cubs playing in the park. Once by one, each of the adults on their benches became dragons on piles of doll heads and gold pieces while Werner and Layla became fierce adventurers and knights, destroying anyone who came against them.

"There..." He murmured, filling in the details as he eavesdropped on their creation. "This is already better."