Bottomless, Part One
The first part in an odd little story about a fox who likes to walk around her house without any pants on becoming increasingly aware of something strange about the darkness between the trees in her back yard.
Dawn gripped the wheel with clawed hands, turning off the narrow highway and onto a dirt road that curved gently into the burgeoning wood.
Evening sunlight flashed in the silver sheen of her convertible; a luxury she allowed herself in light of her recent promotion.
The orange haze of the evening sky was a stark backdrop to the darkened trunks of fragrant cedars.
By the time she reached her house the sun had nearly set and the thin forest had grown dense with shadows.
She pulled slowly into the rocky driveway and turned off the engine, briefly immersing herself in darkness before the solar lamps that lined the walkway came on, lighting up the path to her front door.
She found her key quickly, only to frustrate herself by first turning it the wrong way like she always did.
She pushed open the door and stepped inside, the indoor automatic lights coming on as she retrieved her keys, kicking the door closed behind her.
She removed her boots and set them by the door, then shed her socks and tossed them in the laundry.
The cool wood floor felt good against the pads of her paws, which seemed dainty compared to the bulk of her boots.
She slipped out of her jeans and hung them on the clothes rack, then peeled off her panties and tossed them in with her socks.
She stretched her back and arms, swinging her fluffy tail back and forth, then padded over to the kitchen and made ready to prepare dinner.
She rinsed the rice in front of the back window, looking out into the darkness behind the house, and took a moment to turn on the porch-light, which illuminated a small area but could not penetrate the deep-set darkness between the trees further out.
Still, she felt a little better for it.
The sound of running water was pleasing, and was made better for knowing that it was warm.
She tossed the grains several times before she was satisfied, letting the water continue to run awhile afterward.
She set a timer and let the rice cook, making her way to the living room for the interim.
She nimbly vaulted over the arm of her black faux-leather couch, flopping her furry butt on the airy cushion.
The cool material felt good on her bare pussy.
From where she sat the kitchen was on her right, and to her left the living room stretched on until it reached a hallway just past the door to the garage.
She felt around for the remote and discovered it wedged between two of the cushions.
She toyed with the idea of watching television for a bit.
She didn't have cable, but she did subscribe to a streaming service at her co-worker's suggestion, and occasionally enjoyed a cooking show or two.
Ultimately though, she opted to simply listen to classical music, as she often did in the car on her way to work. It calmed her mind, providing a score to her activities without the distraction of lyrics.
She leapt up and spun about on her paws, sliding about the hardwood floors and twirling with her fluffy tail.
She looked like an ice dancer and felt like an idiot, having an all-around wonderful time.
When the rice was done she fluffed it and placed it in a bowl, which she covered and let stand. While she waited she took the time to clean out the pot and tidy up the countertops.
Satisfied with how the rice had turned out she decided to resume her practice in the art of using chopsticks. It took her a few tries to get into the swing of it, during which time she caught her own reflection in the window, and felt for a moment as though she was looking out at herself stranded among the shadows.
Then the thought occurred to her that she could just as well be looking back at herself from the dark.
She took her rice and sat down on the arm of the couch, glancing occasionally out the sliding-glass door. While distracted, she accidentally dropped some rice down her shirt, which pulled her attention back from the edge of the abyss. She entertained herself for a moment trying to use the chopsticks to fish the rice out of her cleavage, popping it into her mouth with a giggle once she got it.
The spell was broken, for a time.
With a full belly she rinsed her bowl and packaged up the extra rice for the next day. All the while the forest looked in as night began to fall, hiding the eyes inside.
She took a deep breath and stretched her arms and chest, arching her back and opening her mouth wide to yawn.
Outside, beyond the porch and the sliding glass door, the darkness of the deep wood swelled. She did not know what was back there amidst the crowd of trees where the light hardly touched even in the heat of day, greedily intercepted by the dense canopy of broad leaves.
She stood before the glass looking out, switching on the porch light. It was some comfort, but did nothing to penetrate the trees that fenced her in. It merely gave her a foothold in the dark.
She didn't have cable, or satellite or any streaming services. She did have a fairly nice television though, but only because she snagged it while shopping with Mallory on Black Friday for the first--and last--time.
Having come to think of it, she hadn't seen Mal or Jesse or anyone outside of work for some time, with the exception of her quiet and polite neighbor (whose name she had never learned,) always working the fields closer to the main road, and even then she only ever caught glimpses of him.
Now that things have settled down at work, she thought that it might be nice to have a few friends over for a drink and a movie. She was admittedly a little out of touch with the new releases, but there was this guy at work who really loved going to the cinema. Perhaps he could recommend something. Maybe even join her?
She also had a game console, though it was probably a generation or two out of date.
Deciding that she didn't want to do the rest of the laundry that evening, and that she didn't want to go to bed just yet, she opted for playing a fitness game.
She much preferred this to working out at the gym, where she always felt that people were watching her and she couldn't help watching everyone else.
Still, working out at home, she found, was made considerably more interesting when performed without any pants. She had also become quite flexible, and was secretly rather proud of her ability to to lift her leg over her head, and of being able to do the splits all the way until her pussy kissed the cold, wood floor.
When the workout was complete her breasts were sore and her pussy was a little wet, and had left a bit of fluid on the floor. She switched off the console and fetched a paper towel and some cleaning solutions and tidied up the mess, then let out a yawn that nearly put her to sleep then and there.
With one last look outside she decided it was time to go to bed and proceeded down the hall to her room, where she flopped down atop the sheets.
She was still enjoying having her bottom half exposed, the door to her room open and letting in the subtle illumination from the lights she left on in the other room.
Sometimes it could get lonely in the dark.
Her fur kept her warm enough and she fell asleep, waking up in much the same position. The darkness had not gone entirely, but was broken slightly by the warm glow of the rising sun, which helped draw her out of bed.
She stripped off her shirt as she walked through the living room, the slanting light painting her slender body and offering a different kind of exposure through the windows than the watchful dark, yet even still the woods had their shadows. At least her porch was touched by the sun.
She tossed her shirt in the laundry with her other clothes and decided not to run the washing machine until after her shower, which she took quickly after grabbing some cold cereal.
She shook herself off, then dressed herself for work in a pencil skirt and tie, then ran the washer before heading out.
By then the sun was high enough that she could see clearly, the solar lights having switched off for the day.
Remembering to lock the door behind her, Dawn got in her car and drove back along the length of road until she reached the street, waving to her neighbor who had apparently been up for some time by then, working in the fields with a wheelbarrow full of vegetables already.
Once off the gravel she gave the car some speed, her fur rippling in the wind as she climbed the shady hill, easing off as she
came over the crest. The view was gorgeous, the fields blanketing the land, criss-crossed with roads so that the golden hills looked like buttered buns.
The drive was beautiful, but soon enough she was among the trees again, this time in the parking lot of a small business park on the city outskirts. She got out of her car, straightened her skirt, and went in to work.