{"sf1_id":1771421,"sf2_id":"GnDL8DXn","title":"Sounds of Shyness","author":"somethingaboutsharks","words":947,"posted_at":"2021-10-06T02:31:01.000Z","tags":["Anthro","Coyote","Female","Flash Fiction","HMOFA","Human","Male","SFW","Second Person","Short Story","Shy"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1771421-sounds-of-shyness","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/GnDL8DXn","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/29/b4/29b4f264-5a28-4ee0-9e3a-c86c4fae2606","description":"A bit of flash fiction done on half-request. It's mostly a shitpost but some people seem to like it, so I'm finally getting around to adding it to my galleries.","content":"\\\u003eYou take the trash out late at night\n\n\\\u003eUneasily gripping your flashlight, with four nice and hefty D-cell batteries in it, the entire way\n\n\\\u003eHalf the time you're out this late there's some weird, high pitched giggling noises in the distance when you walk back to your rental trailer\n\n\\\u003eUsually in the direction of your closest neighbor, a quiet coyote who always seems to be wearing a turtleneck and sweatpants two sizes too big for her\n\n\\\u003eHer luck at having her own house is outweighed by the eerie nighttime noises and having a mobile home built in the 80s as her neighbor\n\n\\\u003ePart of you is convinced your neighbor has a skinwalker stalker living in the bushes next to her porch\n\n\\\u003eBut you've never seen spooky glowing eyes\n\n\\\u003eAnd the one time you were freaked out enough to ask if anyone is there it went quiet for a month\n\n\\\u003eMost of you suspects you're just going crazy from all the overtime you put in at the shop\n\n\\\u003eEventually you make it to the road, drop the bags in the bin, and march back down your gravel driveway with the hair on your neck prickling\n\n\\\u003eHalfway back, you hear the mocking sounds\n\n\\\u003eA giggle without intent, warbling at the edge of a whine\n\n\\\u003eYou came prepared this time\n\n\\\u003eA flick of your thumb and a sharp twist points the bright beam of your flashlight at your neighbor's bushes\n\n\\\u003eNothing\n\n\\\u003eJust some big holly bushes, their spiky leaves menacing enough\n\n\\\u003eExcept, on the porch, you spot the yellow gleam of eyes\n\n\\\u003eHeart in your throat, you flick the light up\n\n\\\u003eStanding there is your coyote neighbor, sans a turtleneck\n\n\\\u003eInstead she's got a loose fitting t-shirt on, a can of beer in one hand, and shocked expression plastering her face\n\n\\\u003eIt's with a bit of a surprise that you realize, judging from how her tail lifts up the shirt at her back, that she's only wearing the shirt\n\n\\\u003eThe two of you stare at each other for a good minute\n\n\\\u003eBit by bit the insides of her ears redden and she seems to shrink back\n\n\\\u003eYou finally think to lower the light some\n\n\\\u003e\"Uh, evening,\" you mutter, wracking your brain for her name but coming up short thanks to speaking with her all of one time\n\n\\\u003eShe hunches down a little more\n\n\\\u003eBut gives you a tiny wave with her empty hand, the can coming up protectively in front of her mouth\n\n\\\u003eNot to drink, no\n\n\\\u003eBut to try and hide half her face behind it\n\n\\\u003eShe tries to mutter something, except she's so far away and quiet it might as well be silent\n\n\\\u003e\"Sorry, what was that?\"\n\n\\\u003eHer tail is a fluffed up mess behind her, lifting her dress of a t-shirt a little higher\n\n\\\u003eDamn your spooked eyes for looking, but she has wonderfully shapely and lean thighs\n\n\\\u003e\"?? ????, ??????? ?????? ??? ????\" she says, a nervous, high pitched giggle following her words\n\n\\\u003eShe shrinks further, while you instantly recognize the sound\n\n\\\u003eWait\n\n\\\u003eThose eerie sounds have been her?\n\n\\\u003eHas she been watching you?\n\n\\\u003eYou don't get to ask any questions before she mutters something else and bolts back into her house\n\n\\\u003eConfused by the encounter, you decide it's far too late for any of this and go back to your rental\n\n\\\u003eOnce inside you flop onto your cheap couch, too tired to get into bed\n\n\\\u003eAt some point in the haze of thinking about cute coyote legs and how she doesn't need to hide behind such baggy clothes, you pass out\n\n---\n\n\\\u003eYou wake with a jolt\n\n\\\u003eIt's past dawn and your limbs are sprawled over the couch\n\n\\\u003eAn immediate freak out about being late for work grips you\n\n\\\u003eOnly after you have a panicked shower and shave, do you realize that it's the weekend\n\n\\\u003eYou collapse back onto your couch with a groan\n\n\\\u003eAt least you're awake\n\n\\\u003eAnd you had a few minutes of not thinking about your surprisingly cute, but possibly a stalker, neighbor\n\n\\\u003eThose thoughts inevitably return\n\n\\\u003eFruitless, confusing, but pleasingly mysterious\n\n\\\u003eYour lounging daydreams of talking to her next time you see her are interrupted by a knock on your front door\n\n\\\u003eThe doorbell is dead and landlord refuses to fix it\n\n\\\u003eYou get up, realize you only have boxers on, and shout, \"Just a moment.\"\n\n\\\u003eAfter acquiring some pants and a shirt, you go to the door\n\n\\\u003eAnd find there's no one there\n\n\\\u003eJust an envelope with frilly, cute bordering taped to the screen door\n\n\\\u003eThe note it has inside is the same kind of dainty, flowery pink\n\n\\\u003eWritten in flowing script is an apology from your neighbor for startling you\n\n\\\u003eAlong with a rambling explanation that boils down to she makes videos online about crafts for a living, how she drinks after finishing up production for the day, and how she makes \"coyote giggles\" when drunk and nervous\n\n\\\u003eAfter even more rambling on the back, she explains she's anxious because she's thought about talking to you every time she sees you, but she only sees you late at night and didn't want to disrupt you since you leave for work at dawn\n\n\\\u003eThe letter rambles on more, but in a cute if disjointed way, about how if you'd like to come over she'd love to get to know her neighbor and maybe share a beer this evening\n\n\\\u003eAlong with, of all things, a hand drawn heart and sparkling stars before her name\n\n\\\u003eEliza\n\n\\\u003eOdd as it is to get a note from a grown woman that looks appropriate for someone in high school, your curiosity is raised\n\n\\\u003eHopefully Eliza doesn't change her mind on you visiting later this evening","series":{"name":"Short Stories","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1771409-plucked-raptor.json"}}