FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

My eyes open to the stale lighting of the hospital, beeps and bloops from the various pieces of electronics going off. I try to let someone know that I'm awake, but I only let out a croak from my throat. I hear the doctors talking, saying words that my brain can't process in this semi-catatonic state.

"We'll need...to perform surgery..."

That's the last thing I hear before I pass out again.

I wake up again, sun shining through the window amplified by the fluorescence of the hospital lights. What even was that dream? My head and body are in agony and my throat feels like sandpaper. Did I go on a bender last night?

I try to sit myself up, but my arms don't respond. I try again. This time, pins and needles shoot down my arms as I reel back in agony. I watch my arms drag against the sheets and they look...shorter? I try to kick up with my feet, and they don't respond. All that I can feel down there is a dull throb in my hips.

"Rob?" A voice lets out through a yawn. "Are you awake? Don't try to move too much, honey. You've been in an accident." You slowly get up and let out a tired stretch before coming to give me a kiss on the cheek.

"What?" I continue to fumble around in the bed. "Megan, what happened?" Thinking back hard, I vaguely remember operating a crane on a recent construction project. Though everything afterwards is a blur, likely hidden behind the pain in my arms, legs, and my. . .

I hear a knock on the door. "Come in." The door opens to a doctor and a couple of female nurses who quickly make their way over to the hospital bed. You step out of the way to let the medical professionals do their work. The doctor is of Middle Eastern descent, with a build that reads of casual fitness and a semi-wrinkled, clean-shaven face that tells of years of experience. . .and stress. Each of the nurses are good looking. In fact, I should be feeling a twinge within my genitals, but there's nothing?

"Hello Robert," he says, snapping me out of my train of useless thoughts. "Is that alright?"

"I prefer Rob."

"Okay, Rob. I'm Dr. Johnson. It's good to see you awake finally. I'm going to have the nurses check your bandages if that's alright."

"Sure, go right ahead."

The nurses make their moves towards me, checking the bandages on my arms. I look down in surprise to see my arms end about four inches from my shoulder. My stomach feels as if it's turning into lead as the weight of my new reality hits me full force. The life that I knew for 35 years is now gone. My job, my independence, all just thrown off a cliff and stuck to the floor of a canyon. I muster up the courage and let out a sigh as the nurses unravel the bandages, probing and checking each of my arm stumps.

"Dr. Johnson, what happened?"

"Well, Rob." He takes a pause as if he's preparing himself for what he's about to say. "You were operating on a crane when it came loose from its foundation, with you inside. It crushed your legs when you landed, and as you tried to pull yourself out, a girder landed on your arms. Your legs were beyond saving and had to be amputated at the hip. We tried to save what we could of your arms, but an infection set in and left us no choice but to amputate your arms as well, a few inches past the shoulder."

"I'm sorry, honey," you say, finally speaking up and stroking my hair and cheeks. "It'll all be okay." I sit there in shock. My limbs, my life, my livelihood. Everything that I've known for the 30 years of my existence in the universe has just been tossed in a river and left in to flow of the water like one of Iceman's victims. I look down to my shoulder and try to move what remains of my left arm. I watch the cloth of my gown move a bit as I feel the muscles twitch.

"It might take a while for you to gain full control of what remains of your limbs," the doctor says in a dry tone. "But your wounds have healed enough that you may be able to be discharged today." The nurses begin walk towards the middle of the bed and pull the sheets back. I strain to look and see my body ending right where my hips start. They pull back the gown to reveal my naked stomach and genitals, my hips covered in bandages.

As the bandages on my hips are unwrapped, I see the clean, small scars left on the hips. I look down to my penis and notice. . .blue skin? Is that why it feels strange down there? The doctor sees my puzzled face and steals a look at my genitals. As blood begins to fill my cheeks, he quickly begins to check my genitals, poking and prodding them with a gloved hand.

"Rob, do you feel where I'm touching you?"

"No, not really." He moves his hand and touches a portion of my flaccid shaft.

"How about here?"

"No, nothing."

"Hmm," he slips off the glove and tosses it in the trash before bringing his hand to his face, pondering on what to do. Admittedly, my shame is beginning to change into anxiety since his thoughts are not a great sign.

"Excuse me for a moment, I need to get a second opinion on this." Doctor Johnson quickly walks out and disappears. I look over to you and can see the worry in your face, as it screams of the unknown of what exactly will happen to my genitals. Admittedly, we love each other very much, and our love life is fantastic. Sure, it's been a bit stale lately, but I don't think either of us want to lose my beautiful cock at any point.

Soon, Dr. Johnson returns with another fellow who begins to prod and poke my genitals again, asking similar questions. I answer with the heat on my cheeks being enough to fry a hot dog at this point. After marking down everything he noted, they both go outside and chat for a minute. When he returns, even Dr. Johnson can sense the anxiety that is filling the air in the room.

"Sir, I'm afraid the severing of numerous blood vessels during surgery has caused some complications. Currently, your genitalia aren't receiving proper blood flow." My eyes widen to where they could pop out of my skull. "While everything down there is still healthy, it won't be long until permanent damage begins. The problem is, surgically correcting the blood vessels is complex and difficult, and by the time we would get it done, it might be too late. Not to mention, doing such a surgery would likely cause nerve damage and impede sexual function. The only viable solution, would be a full emasculation."

I feel like I'm in boxing ring, each word hitting me with a knockout punch. I feel you caressing my left stump and playing with my hair as our worries continue to grow. I'm proud of my genitals. Even with my limbs gone, the last thing I want to lose at any point is my dick and balls.

"Is there another option?"

Dr. Johnson lets out a sigh. "Yes. We could temporarily graft your genitals onto another host to keep them healthy and alive. While that would buy us time to investigate correcting the situation, we would need to find a suitable host first. We'll do what we can to find a host in the next 24 hours, however there's no guarantee we'll find one in time."

We all sit in silence for what feels like eternity. My brain feels like it received a delayed signal as I process a Bible's worth of information. "Alright," I finally let out. "I'm in. One question though. If we find a host, would I be getting a new set of genitals in the meantime?"

"Maybe. Again, it would be dependent on the host body. This procedure is still in an experimental state, so there's no guarantees." Dr. Johnson picks up his clipboard and heads towards the door. "Madam, could we talk outside for just a few minutes?"

You snap up and pull the blankets back over me, giving a quick frizzle to my hair. "It'll be okay, darling."

"I know, honey. Just don't spend too long outside."

"I'll try to make this quick. Just know, I don't care how much of your body is left. I love you for just the way you are." You move in for a whisper. "I was actually looking forward to mounting that thing as soon as the bandages were off, but I guess we'll have to wait to fuck."

I let out a slight smile as you make your way towards the door. As soon as the knob shuts, I feel the sense of worry growing. Jesus, my head sure loves to make me hate myself. I strain to listen to your discussion with the doctor outside, but I can't even make a word out. Lovely, I think. I guess I'm just going to have to sit here for a while. Admittedly though, at least the silence gives me a moment to process everything. I take a few deep breathes and sigh, hoping to control the hole in my gut. It isn't long before I finally begin to calm down and process what has happened.

After a couple of minutes, I decided to experiment a little bit with my body. I try to move my legs. . .what remains of my legs. I can feel the muscles lightly twitch within my hips while not even a fold changes beneath the blankets. I sigh and look to my right shoulder and try to wiggle my stump.

Admittedly, my arms have a bit more range as I watch the sleeve of my gown shake with each twitch. I'm at least glad that there's at least some realm of motion left in my arms, even if they're so short that I can't do anything with them. Watching the stumps twitch and move has some arousing sense to it, and it's almost hypnotic. I would think I would feel something more akin to sadness and apathy knowing I can never really do anything without a semblance of help, but maybe this plays to the submissive side that Megan and I have explored before in the bedroom. Maybe...

After a few minutes of range testing my body, you return into the hospital room with so much jubilation to her face she looks like child on coffee.

"Good news, honey. They just found an...anonymous volunteer compatible for the surgery." You kneel beside me and put a hand to my arm stump. "Isn't that great to hear honey?"

I look over to your face and crack a slight smile. "Yeah, that's...great. Any ideas on when the surgery might start though?"

A quick push of the door gives me all of the answers I could possibly need, opening to the doctor and an army of other surgeons in full medical scrubs and gloves. "Right now, actually. We don't have a second to lose." You shoot a glance at the doctor, like he should've been silent.

You turn to look to me. "I guess I should see myself out, so, um, you guys can get started. I'll talk to you when you wake up. Okay, honey?" You give a quick kiss on the cheek before stepping out. The doctors unlock the stroller and take in the opposite direction of where you're walking. We quickly enter a surgery room as the nurses spread out and grab tools. A mask slips over my face as I feel myself going back to catatonia.

I sit in the waiting room, twiddling my thumbs in thought and currently wearing a hospital gown. Should I have told him this? Should I have kept everything from him? Dr. Johnson soon walks in, stopping all thoughts. I guess this has to wait. I stand to meet him in the middle of the room.

"Megan, the surgery was a success. Now we just need to get you to the operating table. Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

I think for a moment. Our love life has gotten a bit stale, and I've wanted to try something a little more experimental. Everything I've discussed with Dr. Johnson promised me that this would help, and right now I can only trust his word, at least until we leave the hospital.

"Yes, I'm sure. Are you able to go through with the plan?"

"Yes, he will be sedated until you've both fully healed. And while we will still need to get him out of sedation to make sure everything worked, he won't remember anything from those moments."

"Good. Then what are we waiting for?"

A hospital bed comes out through the swinging doors. I hop in and I'm quickly wheeled off to a surgery room. As we enter to the other doctors rushing around the room, I see Rob lying in another bed under anesthetic. I watch as doctor brings a mask to my face. Who knows, maybe I'll join Rob in my own catatonic state. Either way, once I wake up, life will be very different for the both of us.

I awaken again to the stale fluorescence of the hospital room. Aching head, throat of sandpaper, the whole nine yards. Only this time there is a dull throb in my groin area. I try to sit myself up, but the twitch of my shoulders reminds me of my current state. I look over to see you browsing through your phone. I can tell though that you went home at some point, considering the v-cut and jeans have been replaced with a spaghetti top and blouse.

"Hey honey, good news" you say with more enthusiasm than what should probably fit the current situation. "They were able to save your special parts. Plus, you're already checked out and ready to go home."

"That's great to hear, babe," I say through a yawn. I stretch my stumps, trying to get the grog out of my system and get a couple weird feelings. First, I'm wearing normal street clothes instead of a hospital gown; an orange short-sleeved t-shirt and a set of khaki shorts, both too long for my stumps to poke out of. I imagine if they did the same recovery setup as before, it would make sense. No need for a gown if I can just leave immediately upon waking. The second weird feeling however is more...alien.

Waking up with no limbs after a coma is one thing, but whatever happened to my genital region has left many more aftershocks than anything I could've thought of. It's like I'm being rubbed with the finest haired toothbrush across a slit of my groin. While I could leave it up to phantom sensations, I don't think that should be the case. Especially since...

A few knocks on the door snaps me out of my daze as a nurse comes in with a wheelchair in tow. I look to my shoulder and move my right arm stump. "What about physical therapy?"

"No need," the nurse replies. "Your stumps are too short to have any real functional use, with or without prosthetics. And while you could use your arms to accomplish a couple of things like teeth brushing, it's best to leave that stuff at home" She bends over and lifts me into the wheelchair, my face directly in her rather nice bust. My cheeks burn with red-hot embarrassment, an embarrassment I am going to have to get used to whether I like it or not.

"I've also given your wife a number of exercises to do at home in order to maintain some level of fitness," she says, wheeling me down the hall to elevator with Megan walking close in tow. I swear, I've never seen you smile this much since we first got married. As I look to you with the elevator whirring us to the lower floors, I smile back and feel another alien sensation. Like my groin is...wet?

We step past the sliding doors of the hospital to the first breath of truly fresh air that I've had in months. The sky is clear, the sun is warm, it's the perfect greeting for my first time outdoors in a long time. The nurse says goodbye waving her hand, and I wave my right arm stump in response, the sleeve of my shirt jiggling as I do. I crane my head to look at you, rolling the wheelchair from behind me. You're still smiling as before, but also gritting your teeth a bit as if trying to hold back a desperate, primal urge.

I sit and experiment with the range of my stumps as you wheel me over to the car. You unlock the door and pick me up with a hand on my ass before setting me on the car seat and buckling me in. You then fold the wheelchair up and store it in the trunk before getting in the driver's seat. A few stoplights and turns later, we're on the interstate heading home. I just sit and wiggle my stumps, watching the sleeves of my shirt jiggle as my arm stumps move. With my legs, it's still strange. It's like my brain knows that there are muscles to move down there, and can tense and relax them, but nothing truly moves around down there. Nothing aside from that weird feeling again.

The feeling itself is difficult to describe. It's like a hot, burning itch that needs to see some form of relief. I squeeze my leg stumps together to try and relieve it, but to no avail. I look up to you and can see that you're enjoying watching me explore my new limitations, even if you can only look in peering glances. Watching all the cars pass by like blurs in the wind, I feel my eyelids flutter. I let out a slow yawn and stretch out my stumps as far as they can and slowly fall asleep.

"Darling." I'm jostled awake by a shake to my shoulder stump. I open my eyes and see that we've stopped in front of our apartment complex. I yawn and stretch as you walk in front of the car to open the door. You quickly pick me up like a baby cradled in your arms and carry me into the apartment. You take me upstairs into the bedroom, a lock of my own hair falling onto my face as you carry me up the steps. I guess I should get that taken care of at some point. Working in construction for so long, I always kept my brown hair rather short, but being unconscious for six weeks must've grown it out a great deal.

"Are you ready to see what the doctors have done?" you ask, seemingly barely able to contain the excitement in your voice.

"Uh, yeah, why not." It's not like I really have a choice of what I can do, considering the limblessness and all that. You set me down on the bed and quickly slip off my shirt. I can see now just how short my arm stumps are, just small little nubs protruding out of my shoulders. You quickly move down and slip off my pants. I'm left speechless. The leg stumps aren't surprising at least, looking rather similar to my arms albeit slightly shorter. What surprised me it what's between those...a pussy?

Yes, a straight up pussy. Lips, cavity, all of it. Hell, knowing the doctors I probably even have a uterus as well. "I thought I wasn't supposed to have any genitals left after the surgery."

"Don't you remember?" You say, doing something in the attached bathroom. "They were able to find an anonymous donor." She soon steps past the door completely naked. I'm left flabbergasted by your beauty like I was when I first met you. You walk slowly over, flaunting your wide hips and immaculate breasts, while leaving something hiding between your legs. I squirm as much as I can as you make your way to where I'm laying at the end of the bed. You soon spread your legs and reveal what little surprise you've been hiding from me; an erect, circumcised cock. As you bring it closer, something seems familiar about it. The circumcision scar, a blotch of vitiligo towards the base of the shaft, the mole in the center of the...

"IS THAT MY COCK?!?"

The words ring out like a gunshot as I can barely process what has just happened over the last couple of months. I feel slightly aroused, but for the most part betrayed. I just can't believe that someone would do this to me. "Megan, why?"

"Oh, I think you know exactly why," you say, a mischievous smirk growing on your face. "As much as I have enjoyed our love life and all of that, it's admittedly grown rather...stale. When your accident happened, I saw a moment to add a little variety to our it and I couldn't turn down the opportunity."

I lay on the bed astonished. "So, you planned the whole thing from the beginning?"

"The amputations, no. But the genital swap, yes. I figured it would be interesting to at least try and test a little role reversal. Besides, it's not like you can really do anything about it."

I squirm about on the bed, my stumps flailing and my naked body quivering at whatever you may have in store. "Yeah, but I didn't think it would've amounted to this. How could you? You threw out m- mmphh"

"Oh," you quickly shove my...your erect cock deep into my mouth. "Please shut the hell up."

I wriggle and squirm helplessly as my- your shaft is lodged deep within my throat. I always wondered how I tasted, figured I'd never get the chance considering my lack of flexibility and my injuries. It's funny, it's rather salty... and filling. I never realized just how large my dick was until it was in my own mouth.

"There you go, sweetie." You grab at my arm stumps and shove me further down your shaft. "Take it. Please me like the useless little bitch you are. Treat me well, and I might reward you with a little test ride of your new equipment."

You quickly begin to bob me along your girth, nearly choking me in the process. I slowly relax and begin to tease the sensitive spots I know would always get me going. I can tell it certainly does a number on you, as your grip loosens for only a moment. You quickly regain your composure and begin to throatfuck me harder than before. How were you able to take me before? I can feel the head ramming into the edge of my throat and your shaft throbbing in my mouth, the urethra pulsing along my tongue. I can tell it wouldn't be much longer before you burst your first load.

One of your hands begins to drift down to my ass and gives it a nice hard smack while the other continues to grope my stump. I wince a little bit from the slight sting as waves of pleasure take over the pain. Whenever we had a little more of the kinky fun in the bedroom, you always wanted to take charge as the dominant one, but I rarely let you. When I did, you always knew how to play it safe, but looking up at your eyes, your smile, something seems more... sadistic about you.

Your moans soon grow louder, your rock-hard cock pulsing in my mouth. You nearly scream as waves of cum begin to fill my throat. Each throb of your shaft sends another load of hot semen into my mouth. I start to gag as it becomes too much for me to swallow quickly enough, and I feel my body getting ready to respond to the inability to breath with a cough. "Don't you dare choke, swallow it you worthless fucktoy." As tears begin to fill my eyes, I swallow all of your orgasm in one large, painful gulp. You slide your dick out of my mouth, and I'm left panting and heaving for a moment. I look up to you, my eyes red and teary up and let out a soft but worried smile.

"Good... job... pet," you say, panting and breathing heavily through every word, brushing and rubbing some of my hair with your hand. "You did well to please me and have earned your reward. But I think you know that I need to recharge. So," you quickly grab me by the throat and shove me right onto one of your breasts. "Start sucking."

I begin delicately suck and tease your nipple and areola, enjoying the sweet taste. This has always been one of my favorite parts of you even before my accident, and I would always love them so well. Though why are you being so... aggressive? You've never been like this to me. As much as I want to enjoy this, I'm scared you're going to do something that puts it over the edge. I'm afraid of the unknown, of what you might do.

After a few minutes, I feel your cock growing hard against my stomach. You begin to gyrate along my stomach, your shaft brushing against my skin. You soon pick me up and aim your shaft towards my new entrance. Some of the juices from my new pussy glisten and moisten along the head of your cock as you tease my folds with the sensitive glans. I moan and gasp as I'm filled with the heat and pleasure of the new sensations. Before I can fully revel in the arousing feelings, you grab onto my arm stumps and quickly force your cock through my entrance, shoving the full length of your shaft deep into my pussy in one quick motion. I yelp and squeal as a bit a pain overtakes the feelings of pleasure.

"Honey, go easy please."

"And what are you going to do if I don't? Wiggle in place? Hit me with your useless stumps?" You squeeze my arm stumps and start to set a rhythm, much faster than I would like. "You don't get it, do you? You don't have a say in this anymore. I'm the one in control now, and there's nothing you can do about it." You begin to fuck me harder and faster as I feel a wave of heated pleasure beginning to consume me. "You're now my little fuckdoll that I can do whatever I want to."

With those words, I scream as an orgasm takes hold, shockwaves of pleasure coursing through my truncated body. I flail my arm stumps and feel what muscles remain in my hips twitch as you continue to fuck me as hard as you can, beginning to nearly lose breath.

"You're going to suck my cock when I want and be fucked in whichever hole I want. You're mine...now." With that, you pull out in a scream and explode a massive load of cum all over my body. Each twitch of your cock seemingly produces more than the last. As it finally begins to subside, you lean your face directly over mine, with a sadistic grin on your face.

"I'm going to enjoy this." A sudden sense of fear takes over, and I can tell I've lost all will and control. You're the boss now, and there's nothing I can do. All I can feel is dread and terror of what the future holds for me. Only a single thought crosses my mind.

"I don't know what she'll do, but whatever it is scares me."

Life more or less continued like that for me. I later found out an investigation took place while I was comatose, which soon discovered that the contracting company I was working for didn't complete numerous safety checkups when setting up the crane. You were able to sue on my behalf and won in court, getting a massive payout that would make sure that neither one of us would ever have to work again... not like I could though. Maybe if I really wanted to, I could've worked from home in remote calls or something of the like, but it wouldn't have mattered anyways.

You started to take complete control of me after the accident. You would rarely take me out of the house, and whenever I was in the house, you never would put a shred of clothing on me. Some days, you wouldn't even touch me besides to bathe me, feed me and let me use the utilities. Other days, you would fuck my brains out until you collapsed from exhaustion. Admittedly, you liked to set me on the floor and watch me crawl to various places across the house. You even gave me a food bowl and collar at one point, truly making me your little fuckpet.

A couple months in, you started to put a blindfold on me when you wanted to have sex. After a while, it also became a ballgag and earplugs, and you began to leave them on for longer and longer. I honestly kinda enjoyed it. It made everything so much more sensitive, and I imagined you must've enjoyed watching me wander aimlessly into furniture and things when all of the equipment was on. You started to learn sign language you could speak to me while everything was in, and I eventually figured out a way to communicate to you with stump taps and flails.

After a couple more months, you were basically leaving them on permanently until one night after a long sex session, you took off the blindfold, the earplugs and ballgag and looked me in the eyes with a smile. I asked for some water, and you kindly provided. I took a nice a long drink and soon felt more relaxed. You towered over me with your naked body and smiled. Your perfect breasts, your delectable, circumcised cock, your lovely and full ballsack and wide hips. What I didn't know though was this would be the last thing I would ever see.

I awoke the next morning to blackness and silence. I couldn't see anything and all I could hear was a loud ringing, alongside the beating of my heart. I tried to call out to you, but I couldn't feel anything moving past my throat aside from air moving from just below my vocal cords. Fear started to come over me. I started breathing faster, heart rate rising, wriggling back and forth while my arm stumps flailed all over the place. I then felt a hand placed on my stomach and shudder.

"Don't worry," it said. "It's me, Megan." Your 'touching' words are calming and soothing. "You're safe where you are, and I will never leave your side." I calm down a bit and ease back into what feels like a bed. In that moment, I realized that you had also planned this, but this time there was no real way to protest.

Once we got back home, you started to leave the collar on more often, even putting a little leash on. You like to have me walk around the streets with these on and nothing more than a pair of shorts. I think you enjoy watching me wander aimlessly, completely devoid and unknowing of what's going on around me. Other times, you'll just leave me on the bed and completely avoid me, and all I can do is take in the hypersensitivity of my remaining senses. I get lost in the deafening silence and darkness, taking note of the air and the cloth I'm resting on. I feel the soft cotton with my arm stump, taking in the texture. I feel the cool air brushing over my hairless pussy.

Then, a warm breath passes over my pussy. It doesn't stay for very long, but it's just enough to snap me out of my thoughtless daze. It goes away for a few minutes and then suddenly something brushes against my lips. I open my mouth and it slides in, and I can tell it's your cock. You quickly set the rhythm as your warm shaft fills my mouth. I lick and enjoy the taste, delicately teasing the most sensitive parts with my tongue. At one point, you slide your cock out of my mouth and slowly hover something blunt over my mouth. I open and lick and feel it's your balls, which I delicately suck on with delight before you finally take them away.

I feel the bed shift around a bit amongst my blackness before I feel your warm breath over my pussy. I shudder as you ever so lightly tease me, knowing how much more sensitive I am now in my new state. After sending shiver through me with your light breathing, you dive deep into my pussy, tasting my folds with your eloquent tongue. I arch back as pleasure takes over my truncated body, my right arm stump thumping against the sheets. You know exactly where to tease me, and only give me just enough attention to get me ready.

I feel your mouth move away and after some pressing of the sheets, something begins to probe the entrance. It eventually slides in, and I feel the complete fullness of your cock inside my pussy. You begin to slowly fuck me, probably enjoying every second of my wide agape mouth, silently screaming and moaning with no sounds escaping my mouth. You grab onto my short arm stumps and start to pick up the pace, squeezing the soft blunt ends with passion and vigor.

Each pounding sends another wave of pleasure building and cascading towards the ultimate climax. In a noiseless scream, I explode into an orgasm, my pussy clamping tightly on your cock. You soon follow suit and blow your seed inside of me. I can feel every warm string of semen you spurt inside my vagina. After a couple of minutes, you pick me up and carries me into what I think is the bathroom. Once you set me down on the cold tiled counter of the sink, I know for a fact it's the bathroom. What goes on around me then escapes me for a minute before you pick me up again and set me down into a warm bath. I relax as the warm water quickly encapsulates my entire body.

Even with the lack of control over everything else that has happened, I do enjoy being your little pet. It took some time to get used to, and then some more time once you took away my other senses, but I can't imagine a better life for myself. I feel in true utter bliss in my limbless, blind, deaf and mute body. All because you wanted to make a switch to the rhythm of life.