Collar 7 -- Verbum Dei
If you ask the average fur on the street (or library, or wherever), few would say that their favorite morning of the week is Thursday. Personally, I love it; it's my day of the week to sleep in, and I usually avoid making appointments on Thursdays. As...
Collar 6 -- No Secrets
Time is a fickle thing, as Kafka's parable "A Common Confusion" tells us. When waiting, time lengthens; when unnoticed, it flashes by. In my case, both sensations were occurring -- pun intended -- at the same time. Thad Whitlock made certain things...
Collar 9 -- Faith
The next few weeks were a study in contrasts, from frustration and relief (careful where you go with that) to hectic and calm. I announced my guardianship at both Sunday masses, receiving a positive response from the vast majority of the congregation....
I Know You Don't Want Me
Look, I already know you don't want me. Can we just back the fuck away from that for a minute? _ I don't want to hurt you._ You'll hurt me a gods-damned sight worse if you push me away. _ Why do you keep coming back to me?_ Because I love you. ...
Collar 8 -- The Calling
The vicarage was rarely so quiet as it was in those moments after Fletcher's release. I heard the pup's panting breath gradually slow as he collapsed in my arms, falling into a light doze that I was loathe to disturb. All around, stillness gave us a...
What It's About
"Why do you suppose no one's written porn about us?" The young meerkat nearly dropped the bar of weights that he was trying to bench press. He was saved from an untimely crushing of his chest by the intervention of a large, black, silver-striped...
Attar of Blue Roses, Part 1
"If you value your life, drive." A fury of feathers and feathers, of wings and hooves, of two or more shades of white and a spun white-gold of mane and tail, of speed and desperation, earth and wind in fear-full motion. The large side door of the...
The Stag and the Ocean
_A beginning is a delicate thing..._ _The old wolf sat alone at his table in the café, waiting to meet his friend. "I have a story to tell," his friend had told him, "of how I came to be born. I have told the story in music; it's time now for you to...
Attar of Blue Roses, Part 2
It was a long time before the sobbing became the hushed tears of relief, and from there came the quiet moments of recovering from both the pain and the ebbing of pain. Through it all, Regan simply held the Pegasus close to himself, offering warmth and...
Jumping Mouse, Part 1
"Mrs. Peel... you're needed." I'd have jumped out of my fur entirely, if I hadn't caught a whiff of wintergreen a few seconds earlier. As it was, I pivoted in place and looked at the tall, lanky figure leaning against the coat closet door of my condo,...
Bloodline, Part 1
It had been about two months since that first night with Abram. For a long while, what I felt most was a peculiar kind of emptiness, a sensation of a large hole in my spirit. When that image finally came to me fully, I realized exactly what it was that...
The Second Door
Zachary Parker took in a huge breath, letting it out slowly at first, and then the rest with a wry chuckle. "What am I doing that for?" "To calm yourself, I would expect." The young Akita looked at the great crimson dragon sitting next to him....