FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

There comes a time in every living creature's life when it has to deal with the end. In a world where life can end sooner than you think, not many reach the natural end of their journey. Most fall victim to the world and its countless dangers much earlier.

Not only predators and competitors are a danger that should always be kept in mind, but also the dangers that this planet throws at you. Heat and drought in summer, cold and wet in winter. Storms, diseases, droughts, famines but also excessive rainfall can end your life faster than you would like.

If, against all odds, you reach an age where old age itself becomes the ultimate, final opponent, most creatures have always sought isolation to face this last of all battles alone.

She crept slowly through the undergrowth. She moved cautiously and despite her age, her movements had lost none of their elegance. She was still able to move almost silently. Even if what they couldn't hear on the outside, she heard it all the louder on the inside. Her joints creaked with every movement. Every step, every movement hurt. It wasn't a destructive pain, but it was enough to make her shy away from any unnecessary movement. She had noticed it for a while now. As long as she kept moving she was fine, but dare she stay still for a short while. Then it was hell trying to get moving again.

An eventful life had left its mark on and in her body. Countless fights, countless injuries and her age were all in her bones and joints. Sometimes it felt like she was wading through solid mud, so difficult was it to move her legs. She found herself dozing in the sun more and more often, the warmth helped her joints to relax and then, for a short while, they were easier to move again.

It had been a while since her last real hunting success. She had caught the odd small animal, but that had usually been nothing more than a small morsel in between, nothing to keep a body like hers going in the long term, she was painfully aware of that, but a real hunt was out of the question.

Her left side buckled. A growl of pain escaped her throat as she rearranged her legs and stabilized herself. Another thing she had recently, one or more of her legs simply buckled under her. It wasn't so much painful as embarrassing that something like this was happening to her.

She had always smiled at the old antelopes that were no longer able to flee from her with their lame hind legs. It was not unusual for them to have an almost grateful look in their eyes when she finally snatched them. When she thought back on it today, she saw these majestic animals in a slightly different light. Today she was the one who could no longer keep up with the hunt, whose legs collapsed under her.

She pushed on through the undergrowth. In front of her, she recognized the small clearing she was heading for. It was a small, secluded place. There was a small waterhole and the hyenas rarely strayed here. She ducked under a low branch, groaning. When had it started to be so difficult for her to duck? She couldn't say exactly, like all the other ailments she carried around with her, it hadn't just started one day but had slowly gotten worse and worse to the point where she couldn't even move under the branch without groaning. She cursed under her breath. What was left of the once great huntress, for whom even the biggest prey had had respect? Nothing. Nothing was left. An empty shell that still looked respectable on the outside, whose spots still stood for quick death. But anyone who looked closely could see the missing muscles, the sunken flanks and the lack of shine in her coat. Some might even see the break in her tail that had never healed properly. She took a deep breath and pushed through the last of the dense grasses into the small clearing.

She looked around. Everything was quiet. No one was to be seen or heard. She looked up at the sky. It was cloudless, as usual at this time of year. The moon stood like a large, white disk in the sky and provided light. She left the thicket and approached the small waterhole. Carefully, she drank from the cool, life-giving water. It was like an ice-cold elixir of life. It gave her a little energy, but what for? She knew it wouldn't go any further. It was worthless. She couldn't hunt, she wasn't able to feed herself and she and her kind lived solitarily, so no one else would provide for her. It would end. Sooner rather than later. She might be able to squeeze out a few more days with a bit of luck, depending on whether she found something to eat or not. She crept to a flat rock that jutted out a little over the water.

As she lay down on the still warm rock, she groaned. Her hips and back spoke loudly and protested against the hard surface. She swallowed the pain. She wondered if it was worth shouting out her pain and grief to the world, but decided against it, it would only attract others. The scavengers would find her soon enough. Preferably after she was already dead.

She looked into the dark pond below her. She recognized the face looking back at her in the moonlight. My God, how old she had become. All her features had slipped away. She had once been a pretty girl. She had turned a few heads in her youth. She had had a lot of fun, but also a lot of trouble.

An eventful life. Many partners, many children... not all of them had made it. She closed her eyes and sighed. She felt a slight breeze. Not unpleasant. It brought the smells of the Savannah to her. She lifted her head and smelled the wind. The smell was so promising. It brought good news. Prey was nearby. In the past, she would have been on fire now, ready to go hunting immediately, but today, today she knew that even the lame buck at the end of the herd, who had allowed the others to escape safely with his victim, would escape her. She lowered her head and looked back into the small pond. She saw her reflection and... her head went round. He was standing right behind her, dead still. His form was unfathomable. A tall figure shrouded in darkness. He stood there motionless and still. She was afraid. How had she not heard him coming? Had her ears gone so bad? How on earth had he gotten there in the first place?

He raised a pale, bony hand and then his voice rang out. Although you could hardly call it a voice. It was like the wind blowing through the dry branches.

“Calm down Zira. You've been waiting for me, now I'm here.”

It was a whisper, a breath of nothing. But it had an incredibly calming effect on her. She put her ears back and looked at the figure more closely.

“I wasn't waiting for anyone either. Who... what are you?”

She asked uncertainly, the fear clearly audible in her voice. She wanted to retreat further, but her body refused to serve her. The figure seemed to nod.

“I am the end, the inevitable, the final path. Do not be afraid. Basically, you already knew we would meet.”

There was so much confidence and kindness in that statement that she really began to relax. She still kept her ears pinned back. She kept herself pressed to the ground, but the tension kept falling away from her.

“You're my death?”

She finally asked. The figure nodded gently. Her eyes widened. She wasn't ready. Not yet. Then again, what else was there to do? Continue to suffer? Keep hoping that the next day might be better? She breathed deeply, panic welling up inside her.

The figure came closer and crouched down next to her. In incredibly calm and gentle movements, he raised his hand and placed it on her shoulder. For a moment she wondered if she should bite, but in the end it wouldn't change anything.

“Calm down, there's nothing to be afraid of. Your time of suffering has come to an end.”

The figure breathed and his touch was like a balm on her battered body. She closed her eyes and wanted to surrender to it, but fought against it.

“I... I'm not ready yet.”

She finally said. The figure nodded. Slowly, he knelt down and patted his lap.

“I know. Come to me and rest. There's no need to hurry. We have time.”

She looked at the figure and struggled to sit up. Again she remembered how painful it had become to stand up or just turn around. Her legs trembled and her muscles shook with the effort. She literally fell into his lap. The figure caught her incredibly gently and laid her head on his lap. The figure's hands stroked her flank and her head. With every touch, more fears and worries and more pain fell away from her. She closed her eyes and noticed how her breathing deepened. For the first time in months, she didn't feel each of her ribs as she breathed.

“That's good. Just relax. Let go of your fears and worries.”

The figure breathed and Zira slowly realized how her mind began to relax. Somewhere between fear and release, she felt herself beginning to lose herself.

“Not... yet...”

She whispered powerlessly, but the figure only nodded and continued to stroke her.

“You have led a good life. You have given birth to many offspring and many of them have survived. You have passed your task with flying colors.”

The figure said and saw how her hind legs lay completely relaxed on the ground and her tail, which had been painfully tense until a few moments ago, now lay completely still on the ground. She could feel her heart beating more slowly. The steady rhythm that had determined her whole life was slowing down and increasingly falling out of sync. She struggled to hold on to it. She could no longer move her hind legs and her fore legs felt as if they weighed tons. It took all her remaining strength to open her eyes again. She saw the moon standing lonely and pale in the sky. A lonely witness to her death. She turned her eyes and looked at the figure that was slowly draining the life from her body. So loving and yet so deadly. A single tear ran down her cheek.

“I... am... afraid…”

She whispered. The figure gently wiped the tear from her cheek.

“You don't have to be afraid, my child. You have made it, from here on out there is no more suffering, no more pain, no more fear, only peace. Return to Mother Nature.”

The voice took on something almost like a body. It was no longer just a breath, a whisper, half heard, half felt. Her eyelids became heavy, incredibly heavy. She was unable to keep her eyes open any longer. Slowly she closed her eyes and her body became heavier. She felt her breathing stop, but she was unable to do anything about it. Her mind became sluggish and slowly she drifted away. Only distantly did she realize how her heart began to stumble and her body rebelled one last time against the inevitable.

She became painfully aware that she was dying at that moment, and at the same time all the weight fell away from her.

Against all better judgment, she opened her eyes and much to her amazement, she was able to open them without any problem. She was still lying on the figure's lap. But everything looked different. It was as bright as day, although the moon was still in the sky. She turned her head and looked at the figure that just a few moments ago had been a figure shrouded in absolute darkness. Now a being made of pure light was kneeling there. His face reflected infinite love and the decorations on his long cape seemed to glow from within.

“Welcome Zira. Welcome home.”

The voice overflowed with love. She sat up and only now realized that she no longer felt any pain. The heaviness in her joints and her thoughts had also disappeared. She stretched with pleasure, something she had not done for what felt like an eternity. She sat down in front of the figure and looked at it questioningly.

“Yes, you died. Look.”

The figure said and her lifeless body lay on her lap. Relaxed and peaceful, just as she had not seen herself for half an eternity. Something took possession of her for a moment. Was it regret? Wistfulness? Sadness? She wasn't sure. When she tried to put her paw on her body, she simply sank through it.

“With your death, you have lost the opportunity to influence the world of the living, my child. Say your goodbyes. We must go.”

Said the figure in the calm and serene voice of someone who had done this countless times before. She looked at her old body and bent down to it. It only took a moment, but then she looked at the figure again. She was ready. The figure rose slowly and her head sank gently to the ground. The figure turned and a portal opened behind it. They walked slowly through the portal and it closed as silently as it had opened.

In the end, it is a mercy for most old creatures if they are allowed to die peacefully. At the end of a fulfilled life, the longed-for peace awaits. Only a few make it there. And those who do make it will hopefully find a merciful death that lovingly welcomes them and accompanies them across.

The End

Concept and Idea by

El Poyo Diabolo

Written by

El Poyo Diabolo

Characters by

El Poyo Diabolo

Edit by

El Poyo Diabolo

Published by

El Poyo Diabolo