{"sf1_id":893264,"sf2_id":"qmyylpEm","title":"Whitebay: New Start","author":"Celyn","words":740,"posted_at":"2015-08-02T05:26:00.000Z","tags":["City","Puma","Story Series","Zepaltus","loneliness"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/893264-whitebay-new-start","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/qmyylpEm","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/b4/61/b461fdab-94bc-49c7-b859-b28fbab5ced9","description":"#1 of Whitebay\n\nA young puma anthro'morph struggles to find his place in the Tanzekan megalopolis of Frontier City. Overcome with feelings of loneliness, gazing down at the city below his high-rise apartment brings him a sense of dread. Something weighs heavily on the feline's mind.\n...\nHello! This is my first submission to SoFurry. Yay! I hope it pleases at least someone. I tend on making a series of stories with this character. He has been fun to work with so far.\nThe story takes place on a planet called Tanzek. Tanzek is a densely-populated planet in the Zepaltus System and was the system's first planet colonized by humans. With humans came anthro'morphs, genetically-engineered anthropomorphic animals, which is what Alek is. This is my first story based in Zepaltus! It's so exciting. ^^ Hopefully writing it out will get me a feel for the worlds.\nSee you next time!","content":"Alek Whitebay reclined back in his rickety bed, heaving a sigh along the way until he hit its pillow.\u0026nbsp; He peered up at the ceiling, polluted by neon light pouring in from the streets below, the puma's tail swaying and twitching from side to side.\u0026nbsp; \"How can one be so lonely in a city of millions?\"\u0026nbsp; Another sigh.\u0026nbsp; He rolled over onto his side, gazing blankly at the wall across from where he lay.\u0026nbsp; Boxes of old junk littered the floor, piling high against the whitewashed walls.\u0026nbsp; Alek knew there was nowhere to put all this stuff.\u0026nbsp; He felt cramped.\u0026nbsp; \"I guess it's true what they say about apartments in Frontier City,\" he thought as his eyes gradually lidded themselves.\n\n* * *\n\nThe apartment bathed in a new, more natural light.\u0026nbsp; Alek opened his eyes, blinking the sleep away.\u0026nbsp; A new day, a new start.\u0026nbsp; Wasn't that what this is all about?\u0026nbsp; A yawn crept out of the feline's mouth as he rose from his bed, stretching with a growl.\u0026nbsp; He crawled out of bed and prepared for the day.\u0026nbsp; Hopefully, finding work in Frontier City wasn't too difficult.\n\nOut in the streets, Alek looked up at the city.\u0026nbsp; He preferred it during the daytime.\u0026nbsp; It was lonely, but a lot more bearable.\u0026nbsp; The puma took to the pavement towards Contact Square.\u0026nbsp; He bustled past humans, anthro'morphs, zalkan, all sorts of creatures with a noticeably quickened pace.\u0026nbsp; His eyes never lifted themselves from the sidewalk laid out in front of him, with the exception of the occasional, speedy glance at a street sign.\u0026nbsp; A million thoughts ran through his mind all at once.\u0026nbsp; His heart raced, sweat dripping from his pawpads, pupils dilated.\u0026nbsp; He couldn't handle much more.\u0026nbsp; The noise of the city drove deep into his skull.\u0026nbsp; Alek stopped short, clenching his fists and slamming his eyes shut.\u0026nbsp; His breath, bated.\u0026nbsp; \"I can do it...\u0026nbsp; I can do it...\u0026nbsp; I can do it...\"\u0026nbsp; A mantra ran itself through the feline's mind.\n\n\"I can't do it.\"\n\n* * *\n\nBack in the apartment, Alek cooked himself a quick frozen meal.\u0026nbsp; He sat at his desk to browse StellariumNet.\u0026nbsp; Half-lidded eyes gazed deeply into the screen as the puma picked at his food.\u0026nbsp; Connecting.\u0026nbsp; He simply pushed his food to the side.\u0026nbsp; He wasn't so hungry anymore.\u0026nbsp;\n\nThe sun set over Frontier City, and the faint glow of the outside world poured into the dark room.\u0026nbsp; Alek grimaced.\u0026nbsp; He hated it.\u0026nbsp; Browsing StellariumNet turned up little fun for the anthro'morph.\u0026nbsp; He looked down at the desk, over to his uneaten dinner.\u0026nbsp; His ears splayed.\u0026nbsp; Alek couldn't fight off his grimace, and just put his face in his paws.\u0026nbsp; They said it would be good for him to move to Frontier City.\u0026nbsp; They said many things.\u0026nbsp; None of them proved to be true so far.\u0026nbsp; He shook his head in his paws.\u0026nbsp; With a start, Alek stood and paced near the windows, looking down over the streets.\u0026nbsp; It was too noisy.\u0026nbsp; Too bright.\u0026nbsp; Too...\u0026nbsp; everything.\u0026nbsp; Too lonely, especially.\n\nA knock at the door.\n\nAlek gasped slightly, frowning.\u0026nbsp; He rubbed the back of his head and crept up to the door, peering through the small looking hole.\u0026nbsp; It appeared to be a human out there.\u0026nbsp; Male.\u0026nbsp; Light brown hair.\u0026nbsp; Glasses.\u0026nbsp; Another knock.\u0026nbsp; Alek stepped away from the door, and hurried towards the bathroom as quietly as he could.\u0026nbsp; He sat on the toilet, ears splayed, and brow furrowed.\u0026nbsp; Yet another knock.\u0026nbsp; The feline sheathed and unsheathed his claws several times, digging into his knees.\u0026nbsp; It was no good, he couldn't do it.\u0026nbsp;\n\nAfter some minutes, Alek ventured out into the other room and looked down at the bottom of the door.\u0026nbsp; There appeared to be no shadow coming from the hallway.\u0026nbsp; Slightly relieved, Alek sat in his bed with his face in his paws.\u0026nbsp; He glared down at the floor.\u0026nbsp; What has become of him?\u0026nbsp; He closed his eyes.\u0026nbsp; Tears formed, welling up inconveniently.\u0026nbsp; He wiped them away.\u0026nbsp; What the hell happened?\u0026nbsp; He dug his claws into his face.\u0026nbsp; \"Goddamnit!\" he roared, swiping his paws across his nightstand as he stood, swaggering.\u0026nbsp; \"Damn it all!\"\u0026nbsp; He ran his paw across his head and paced some more.\u0026nbsp; The puma walked up to the windows and put his head against one.\u0026nbsp; Thunder rolled in.\u0026nbsp; Alek sighed and went back to his bed, crawling into it for the night.\n\nSo much for a new start.\n\n  \n  \n\n"}