FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

(This chapter is very old, and although I have given many edits to this one chapter, my writing skills have improved much since, so I would appreciate it if you would continue reading on despite this poor beginning.)

Chapter 1

"Alright, I'll, see you tomorrow, Chris!" Dave called out as he hurried to get home, waving to his friend.

"Yeah, bye." Chris called back, a good deal less enthusiastic as he walked up to his own doorstep.

As he reached out to knock on the door, he could hear the voices of his parents inside.

'Dad must be home early.' He thought to himself, though that fact didn't serve to cheer him up all too well. He gave a few good knocks on the door and his thoughts moved to his mother, pushing him further into irritation.

A man who bore a strong resemblance to Chris opened the door to greet him, looking down on the boy with a welcoming smile.

"Hey Dad." Chris said, trying to keep a casual tone to slip past his father.

The man's smile faded slightly as he passed by. "What's up with you? What's wrong?"

"Nothing dad." He answered tersely.

"I must have said a thousand times that you can't lie to me, what's wrong?"

Chris sighed as he let the door close behind him. "It's looking like I'm failing in drama class again this year. The instructors keep telling me I'm not expressive enough."

His father's smile returned slightly as he ruffled the boy's hair. "You'll make it through this, you just need to practice more."

"Just wait till Mom hears about it" He muttered.

The boy and his father walked over to the kitchen where a woman who looked to be at least twice her husband's age was angrily fussing over her cooking.

"Who is she trying to curse this time?" Chris joked.

"I heard that!" The woman called back angrily. "Your father insisted I try to make spaghetti, and I swear it will be great!"

'We'll see.' Chris thought.

"Now, what happened at school today?" Something in her tone showed that she was prepared for the bad news.

"Nothing today Mum." He lied.

"Daniel, would you be able to answer for him?" The woman demanded.

"His drama class." His father answered.

"What happened?"

"He says he's failing."

"Now you've done it." Chris whined.

"Failing? Of course he's failing! I knew there was no hope for him in that class since the beginning!"

The boy rolled his eyes. "Here we go."

She went on, "I didn't even want you in that useless class, but you went ahead and took it anyway. Now you're paying the price."

"And thus began years of ranting." Chris predicted.

It was a long evening. By the time Chris' mother calmed down, Her meal was finished. The family spent the next half-hour talking more or less while trying to survive half-cooked noodles and burnt sauce. Chris' father talked about work, his mother talked about her endless supply of worries, and Chris himself tried to keep quiet. When they finished, he quickly excused himself from the table to prepare for bed.

"But what about your homework?" His mother asked.

He shrugged. "I'll do it tomorrow."

The woman stood up at the table, her face quickly starting to glow crimson red with anger. "Chris, as your mother I demand-"

"Nara, just calm down, please. I'll make sure he gets it done." Daniel interrupted.

Nara glared in her husband with a burning stare for a moment before sighing and sitting down in her chair. "Fine, you can go get ready for bed, but you better get it done tomorrow." She said, waving him off.

"Sure, whatever." He called as he walked away.

It was never done.

The next day, Chris was quite suddenly pulled out of bed by his fuming mother.

"Get up already!" She yelled as she yanked on Chris' leg with strength that one wouldn't expect from her thin figure, leaving the boy sprawled out on the floor.

"But it's Saturday." He objected as he got up from his awkward position.

"I'm not about to allow you to become lazy, now get on your clothes and get outside!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Chris rushed to get dressed, fearing for his life. He made a dash for the door before he could completely fit himself into his shirt.

"Where do you think you're going?" His mother asked. "You haven't even brushed your teeth yet!"

Chris desperately tried not to get angry, and barely managed to say "yes Mom," as he walked over to the bathroom.

There, he began to wash his hands and face and get his teeth brushed quickly before rushing out, taking one last glimpse of himself in the mirror before taking off.

Chris was a boy in his early teens, with dark brown hair and darker, browner eyes. He was tall, thin, and never brushed his hair, ever. He would think of himself as kind, but often found himself to be very passive aggressive. At school he was often quiet, focusing more on grades than friends even though he often got upset with himself for having so few. But overall, he would tend to think about others more than he would himself.

At the door, Chris took his jacket off one of the hooks on the wall, slipped into his shoes, opened the door, called out a goodbye to his parents, and finally ran to get to Dave's house, barely taking the time to close the door behind him.

The houses down the road were all pretty neat and basic, with two floors, a garage, and a small garden out front. However, Dave's house was the exception.

The last owner of the house was an alcoholic, and practically a madman, being responsible for five smashed windows, a demolished garage door, and people guessed he somehow contributed to the withering and eventual death of a massive old tree out in the yard.

When Dave's family moved in to the cheap building seven years back, they instantly began to work on fixing the abused structure, although they were never able to remove the tree as much as they tried.

Chris met Dave shortly after he moved in. The hyperactive boy's father insisted he come outside to watch him work on the house, thinking he could gain an interest in the work after watching his father. Chris, having been ushered out of his own house by his father went over to go say hi to the new kid. After exchanging awkward greetings, the two were quick to become good friends.

As Chris knocked on the front door, he noticed the many old dents marking it, for the family still had yet to get it replaced.

A man much shorter and older than Chris' father answered the door; a man about fifty years of age and with stubble on his chin that called out to be shaven.

"Good morning to you, Mr. Rinen." Chris said.

"Mornin'." He answered drowsily, rubbing one eye as the sunlight invaded.

"Is Dave awake?" Chris asked.

"Up and playing video games he is, as always."

"Can I come inside?"

"Sure, but be quiet, Annie's still sleeping."

Annie was Dave's twin sister. They simply avoided eachother at the best of times, but when it was not, they were constantly fighting.

As Mr. Rinen closed the door behind him, Chris popped out of his shoes and hurried down the hallway as quietly as he could manage.

He found Dave in the living room. He was pressing buttons on a controller so fast and violently one would expect it to break at any moment.

Dave looked quite different from his father. His hair was bright blond, which strangely seemed to fit his active personality better than one would expect. To go with it, his eyes were bright green and brimming with the boy's vigor. Most of his time was spent either playing games or waiting for a chance to play even more video games. Work was not something he had much interest in, and this led to Chris being his only real friend.

"What are you playing?" Chris asked.

"A game." He answered quickly, too focused to give a longer answer.

"What are you doing?"

"Doing this quest. I gotta hunt dragons for scales."

"That makes no sense." Chris mumbled. "Dragons are way too cool to be hunted like common animals."

"It's just a game." Dave said, pausing the game and turning off the TV. "Besides, it's getting boring. Have you eaten breakfast yet? I haven't, I'm pretty hungry."

Chris shook his head. "I was forced dout the door as soon as I woke up."

Dave grinned. "Dad'll probably be making something. Let's go check on him."

As he said that, a whine echoed through the hallway.

"Annie's up." He guessed.

In the kitchen, they found Mr. Rinen rapidly stirring at a bowl of batter.

"What are you making today dad?" Dave asked.

"I'm cooking up some pancakes. Before you ask, I'm making some for you too Chris." The man answered as they approached.

"How long till you're done?" Dave wondered, sitting down at the table.

"This should take another good five-ten minutes."

As he said that, a girl only slightly taller than Dave walked inside the kitchen with a very upset look marking her face.

"Do we have to have this for breakfast? It's pretty much all we ever have." She said, gesturing to the bowl he was stirring.

"Annie, this is absolutely fine to eat. It's healthy enough, so we are going to have this, and unless you want to make your own breakfast, you will too. Now, go set up the table please, it's your job today."

Annie started mumbling to herself as she got to work getting the plates. She looked quite similar to Dave, but acted very different. Like him, she had blond hair, though her eyes were slightly bluer than his. She was aggressive, very aggressive. However, when she wasn't in a bad mood, which was rare, she could be quite a kind, caring person, which made those rare times very special and pleasant.

While Annie and Mr. Rinen worked on setting the table, Chris and Dave decided to go outside to hang out around the tree in the front yard. Chris spent the time pacing around the roots while Dave sat on one of the lower branches.

"Annie's in another bad mood today." Dave started talking.

Chris swung around the tree to look up at him. "You shouldn't really talk about your sister like that. It's a little mean."

"Come on, you know she's annoying."

"Well, still, you can try to get along with her at least."

"Who says I don't? She just can't stand being nice."

"I don't think it works like that."

"Whatever."

Chris sighed and moved on to a different subject. "So, uhh, it's a shame this tree died, huh?"

Dave gave him a funny look.

"What? I only wonder what the tree looked like before it died."

"Does it really matter?"

"No, but I'm just curious. I don't know much about trees, but I've never seen one like thiiiiiii-oof!"

"Are you okay?" Dave asked, looking over.

"Yeah, I think I tripped on a root or something." Looking over, he saw that his foot had indeed caught under one of the smaller roots. As he looked around, he could get a slight view underneath the tree, where a large smooth stone lay. Naturally, he didn't have a care for the stone at first, but as he looked closer at it, a thought entered his mind; he should pick it up. 'But it's just a rock.' His mind reasoned. But the thought returned, stronger, making him feel more and more inclined to take it.

"Are you gonna be on the ground all day?" Dave asked. "Or is dirt really that tasty to you?"

"No, of course not. And that's not funny." Chris responded quickly, pocketing the stone. As he got up, he saw Annie waving to him through one of the newly repaired windows. "Breakfast's ready." He told his friend.

"Alright, sweet." Dave responding, hopping off of the branch and leading Chris back inside.

They returned and joined Annie and Mr. Rinen at the kitchen table, continuing to talk plenty as they ate.

"Thanks for letting me intrude for breakfast." Chris said.

"It's always nice to have a friend over. A little food isn't something I mind giving away for it." Mr. Rinen answered. With Dave struggling so much to make friends at school, this had become routine for him whenever Chris came over; offering something to eat almost as payment for being Dave's friend.

"Yeah, like Chris said, thanks for making this for us!" Dave said with as much enthusiasm as always.

"Certainly better than what my mom makes." Chris agreed.

"I agree to that! Your mom can't cook anything right!"

Annie suddenly spoke up. "You're lucky to have a mom!" She yelled, causing the entire room to go silent.

It lasted for at least a minute before Mr. Rinen decided to speak once again. "So, what shall we do after breakfast?" He asked.

"How about a hike outside? I could use some fresh air." Annie suggested.

"That's an excellent idea!"

Chris and Dave groaned in union. Everyone at the table knew the two boys always got bored easily going on walks, and Annie just drank it up.

"Yeah it'll be nice to get some exercise for once." Annie said, smiling evilly.

A while later, they finished up with breakfast, though the boys purposely took an extra time to finish in order to delay the inevitable hike ahead of them. Gathering up a few bottles of water, and slapping together a few simple sandwiches that they put into a small backpack, the four headed out the door and down the road to an old park leading to the beginning of a long hiking trail.

The trip lasted quite long. Chris kept a hand in his pocket with the rock, trying to hide how he was holding anything. Dave would likely laugh if he found out Chris just picked up some random rock. Mr. Rinen spent the time rambling on about something or other, which only Annie listened to. As the hike went on, Mr. Rinen and Annie stayed in the lead, enjoying the trip, while Dave and Chris stood a few feet behind, talking away.

Well past noon, they decided to turn around, but took a quick break to eat and rest. As they sat, Chris' thoughts drifted to the stone in his pocket. Why did he bother picking it up again? He couldn't recall. He dipped his hand into his pocket to feel the stone and found that his fingers were met with a warm surface. Odd, how did it get to be so warm? He guessed that perhaps it was his body's heat warming the stone, combined with how cold his hands were. But what if-

"Okay, let's head back." Mr. Rinen stopped his thoughts.

"Oh, umm, alright." He pulled his hand out of his pocket and they began to return down the path.

By the time the group returned to Dave's home, the sun was already beginning to set, and the two boys, both exhausted, instantly went straight to the TV.

By the time they got bored of that, Chris had to say goodbye to reluctantly return to his own house, and his dreaded mother within.

There, Chris found his mother attempting to cook steak, or 'tasteless, American food' as she called it. When it came to eating the meal, the steak was terribly burnt on one side, and practically raw on the other, though neither Chris, nor his father Daniel complained in order to avoid the mother's wrath.

Heading off to bed, with the poor attempt of a dinner heavy in his stomach, he dropped himself into bed. It was nearly midnight when Chris finally drifted off to sleep, with the strange stone still in his pocket.