{"sf1_id":611860,"sf2_id":null,"title":"\"That flashy ad...\"","author":"Yure16","words":1879,"posted_at":"2013-11-09T17:43:00.000Z","tags":["Animals/Ferals","Cubs / Young Characters","Females","Lapines","Males","Mammals","Prey Species","Scenes - Tribal","Story Driven"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/611860-that-flashy-ad","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/611860","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=611860\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"A story I have been meaning to write for quite a while already, but only now managed to put write it down.\nPrevious: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11977091/\nNext: https://www.sofurry.com/view/614253","content":"Percival walked slowly through\nthe forest at night. The sounds of crickets echoed among the trees\nwhile the rabbit walked on lazy short steps. His life as dungeons\nexplorer was becoming increasingly difficult since his father died in\nan exploration. Percival was determined to follow the footsteps of\nhis beloved father, but he had to admit it was not easy when you are\nalone and when you have no experience.He approached the city and\nwalked through the modest houses of wood and straw, to the town\nsquare. Lamps hanged around the square, where exchanges happened.\nBelongings were exchanged between species under the light of the\nlamps, everyone smiled at each other, doing good business. But the\nattraction that appealed to Percival was a board in the middle of the\nsquare in which the community placed ads. Normally, offers of all\nkinds were made in form of classified advertisements. There is no\nmoney in Fenária, all objects and services are traded for\nbelongings. In Fenária, economy was sustained on direct exchanges of\nobjects.Percival approached the board\nand looked at the ads carefully, for something that could sustain him\nand his mother. He then saw an ad that seemed perfect for him:\"Explorers of all ages and\nspecies, we need your help! A new entrance to the Great Dungeon was\ndiscovered and archaeologists are gathering at the foot of the\nmountain to start the offensive! We pay food and clean water to those\nwho have obtained good results in the exploration. Work journey of\nfive hours per day. Come test your skills, discover treasures and\nhelp with the advancement of archaeology! \"\"That flashy ad ...\"\nthought Percival. In fact, it's not every day you see an ad with such\nsize, full of exclamations, much less if it comes from a group of\nintellectuals affiliated to Government. Percival shrugged and read\nthe rest of the ad for the location and time he should present for\nthe job: on the east side of the mountain, within two days, in the\nmorning.Percival nodded and left the\ncity, going back to the forest to give the news to his mother. The\npath to Percival's house was a narrow trail amidst the trees. The\ntrail ended in a wooden house built in a clearing near a lake. He\nwalked inside, seeing his mother, who was sitting in a rocking chair.\nShe was an elderly rabbit who wore glasses and had to support herself\nwith a cane. Still, she was happy, had great stamina and did not\ncomplain of her age. Very religious, she always had a rosary with\ntwenty beads of pearl and four of gold, one gold bead between each\ngroup of five pearl beads. She looked at Percival, who had just\narrived and was approaching.The house was very simple and\nhad only one room. The only light was the moonlight that penetrated\nthrough the only window facing the lake outside. The old woman looked\nat the window with a serious expression until she realized that\nPercival had arrived. Her expression had changed and she smiled at\nher son.- How was the job search? - She\nasked.- Well, mama - Percival said. -\nI think I found a good job that will supply us with food.- Okay ... Still want to explore\nthe underground? You know what happened to your dad, love.- I know very well, mother. But\nmy father was unwise. Trust me. Moreover, nothing pays more than\nunderground exploration.The old rabbit was disappointed\nto hear those words, but accepted them; nothing could save Percival\nfrom his obsession. He loved participating in explorations with his\nfather and the old rabbit was impressed to see that witnessing his\nfather's death had not taken the child's desire to be like his\nfather. She liked to think that the father's soul was now part of the\nchild's body.- A pity that the harvest is\ngetting tough - said the rabbit. - Otherwise, we could continue to\nlive without working.- But it is good to live in\nluxury and not having to worry about the harvest - Percival said. -\nAlso, do not like to stay home ... it's tedious ...- Youth ... - The old woman\nsmiled. - Who will form your party?- I do not know - Percival had\nnot realized that he had no party.Explorations require groups,\n\"parties\", formed through a process of selection among\ncandidates. But sometimes, for simple jobs, it was recommended that\nthe explorer took a group of faithful friends.- But I do not need to worry\nabout that now - continued Percival.- I see ... You better sleep ...\ntomorrow is a new day ... - Said the mother.That night, however, another son\nwas going home, but not to find his mother. A small monkey went into\nhis house, also made of wood, built on top of a tree. He greeted his\nfather and asked:- Still nothing?- No news, son - said his\nfather, a huge black gorilla sitting at the table while repairing a\nclock.Mimo was a little monkey who has\nnot even reached puberty. He lived with his father, a watchmaker,\nwaiting for news from Government, which had arrested his mother for a\ncrime she wasn't guilty of. The house had two floors, one for the\nfather's workshop and another dedicated to three bedrooms. The father\nhad built the house himself in the course of a month. The walls of\nthe workshop were full of tools and classic watches since Fenária\nhad not discovered digital technology or silicon.Mimo sighed and went upstairs to\nhis room. But his father called him:- But something else came.Mimo went to his father and took\nthe newspaper from his enormous hand. Mimo did not have many friends\nand most of his free time was spent reading the newspaper. He then\nwent upstairs and flipped through the newspaper for a long time,\nreading every word, under the light of a candle. The candle stood in\nthe centre of a bowl with water, so that the sparks that eventually\njumped off the flame were extinguished. His room was small enough to\naccommodate only a bed and a dresser that also served as a table. A\nwindow allowed him to look at the sky through the leaves of the huge\ntree that supported the house. He read the ads section and found a\njob that the Government was offering. It was the same offer that\nattracted Percival's attention at the square. Since it was a job from\nGovernment, maybe Mimo could, with good performance, free his mother.\nAfter all, he could maybe ask for a different reward because his\nfather, even if old, provided food to the family, then food and water\nwere not exactly scarce at the moment.\"Would my father accept\nthis job?\" He wondered. Mimo got up and went to his father.- What is it, Mimo? - Asked the\nfather. - You know I can not take you out to pee at night.- I know, Dad, you don't have to\nremind me ... - Mimo said, embarrassed. - I saw a job offer from the\ncity. Maybe if you did a good job, Mom could be released.The father turned to Mimo and\nasked for the newspaper. Mimo gave it already in the ads page. His\nfather read carefully.- I do not know if I can. It is\na very risky job - said the father. - Not for anyone. It requires\ncourage, commitment and a young body. Even though I have the first\ntwo, I do not know if my body is young enough...Mimo thought a bit about the\nwords of his father.- Can I go? - he asked.The father's eyes widened and he\nlooked at Mimo with an air of astonishment.- No! Never! Look at you! You're\na child! I will never let you participate in a Government\nexploration! - Said the father, emphasizing each word with the strong\ntone of his voice.- But Dad ... - Mimo replied. -\nIt's our only chance ... It is obvious that the Government will not\nrelease my mother unless we do something. Incarcerating is forever,\nunless the guilty is proven innocent ... or until a bill is paid! You\ntold me that!The father, facing the concern\nof the child, lowered the tone when saying:- I know that, son ... but it is\nbetter to wait for another opportunity ...- You. .. sometimes do not seem\nto love mom - Mimo said, lowering his voice as well.Silence between the two. The\nfather was embarrassed. Perhaps, his main problem was not the lack of\nyouth, but of courage. Deep inside, the father was afraid of the\nunderground. Mimo climbed the stairs and entered his room. He\nwondered for some time what to do. He would not let his mother suffer\nin prison. He thought for a long time, staring at the ceiling of his\nroom. He then came to a conclusion. He would take the job, by\nhimself; his father did not need to know.Two days later, during the\nnight, Mimo woke up. He had been drinking a lot of water the night\nbefore so that his bladder would him up before morning. He lit the\ncandle and wrote a letter to his father. After that, he picked up his\nbackpack went out through the window.Meanwhile, Percival was awakened\nby his mother.- It's time to go, champ - she\nsaid.Percival sat. Unlike Mimo,\nPercival did not have a bed. He and his mother slept on mats on the\nfloor. Percival took his things and left after kissing his mother.After a long walk into town,\nPercival Mimo met in the main square, along with all the other\nanimals who wanted to join the offensive. They made their\npreparations in the tents of exchange, but Percival and Mimo, as they\nhad nothing of value to exchange, followed to the mountain right\naway. It was another hour of walking through the dark and dense\nforest to the foot of the mountain, where more animals were\nassembled, awaiting instructions.The animal in charge of running\nthe test had not yet arrived. It was a test to wait in the cold, but\nmany had come prepared. More and more animals arrived from town to\nmountain to take the test. They talked to each other and the sound of\ntheir voices filled the place.The entrance to the Great\nDungeon was there. The insides of the tunnel were covered with ice.\nIt was a corridor built at the foot of the mountain and seemed to be\nthere since the ancient times, that is, before the invention of\nlanguage in Fenária.After a long wait, the animals\nwere graced with the presence of a small monkey, wearing white\nclothes, glasses, holding several paper sheets. He called everyone's\nattention:- Gentlemen, listen to me! The\ntesting time has finally come!The animals surrounded the\nmonkey. The first step was dominated by luck: the amount of paper\nsheets containing the questions to be answered was limited, so some\ncould not do the test due to pure misfortune. Mimo and Percival\nreceived their test. Half of the candidates went home when there was\nno tests to be distributed any more.There was no pen or pencil.\nCandidates had to read the questions, think about the answers, go to\nthe monkey and give the answers orally."}