FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The day had been particularly long and testing for Tyrir as the young tusky was sitting with his elbow lazily lying on the desk, half his face softly buried in his paw. His mind was barely paying attention to his employer who was barking comments and orders again at him, his eyes eagerly glaring at the clock every ten seconds.

"...so you should replace it by our latest advertisement! BARCELLOS!!" Tyrir's eyes went back on the sweating brown bear, the vein above his right eyebrow was probably going to burst soon at that rhythm... "Are you even listening to what I'm saying??" He yelled again, panting lightly as he adjusted his already tight enough tie for the hundredth time since he came into the tusky's office.

"Yes Mr. Torres..." Ty's eyes drifted back on his computer screen, mimicking typing something on his keyboard. "...everything will be ready for next week, as you asked!" He glared back at the steaming ursine, keeping is renowned cool temper, before having a look at the clock. "But for now, my week is done, so if you'll excuse me, we'll see each other on Monday morning." Turning his heels with a snort, the burly bear left his office mumbling and complaining about today's youth.

Ty waited for his boss to slam the door to finally close his laptop, a loud sigh escaping his muzzle as he got up, rapidly gathering his things before making his way out of the office. The tusky loved his job, and would never questioned the choice he made back in the days, but having employers like this bear would leave a rather bitter taste in his muzzle for the entire weekend. And to help his situation even more, his trip back home would take him five hours...

Tyrir Barcellos was a 24 years old tusky; a mix between a tiger and a husky, something he's so proud of being. Even though he loved who he was and what he was doing, there was still something he hated about his life; his country. Born and raised in a big city, in the middle of Brazil, he grew tired of a lazy and soft population. He tried multiple times leaving his country for good, travelled a lot in hope to find the good country for him, in vain...

The only motivation he had to stay in Brazil, really, was his job. Since his young days, he always had a fond for computers and informatics stuff, busying his mind on a tablet or a laptop most of the time. The internet had no clue to him as he could easily crack, pirate, set all kind of software and games without paying a single dime. Of course, he could also do a lot of more nice things, so, as he kept that passion as the years gone by, he became a great web designer. He started in a relatively big company, but soon decided to work on his own; tendering for quite cheap contracts at the beginning; his reputation growing quite rapidly though.

And here he was today, sitting in a small office with only his laptop to keep him company, but he didn't mind; he always liked being on his own anyway. At first, the contract he got was quite interesting; building a brand new website for a "dinosaurus" company, as he liked calling them that way. He couldn't conceive that some company still didn't possess their own website at a time where Internet was, by far, the best way to get publicity. Generally, his job would be to update websites, add things to an already existing one or even advising huge companies on where to focus for advertisement.

So that's where he has been for the entire week; sitting and listening to the grizzled bear requests and complains. The job in itself was quite easy, but adding him in the process was close to a herculean task... Always changing is mind, a lot of mood swings; he even made him erase everything to start again... But now, he was just glad he could enjoy his weekend and cool off from this annoying ursine.

The bit of joy and hope he managed to build while wandering his way out of the huge building vanished in a split-second as Ty took a look at the monotonous temperature; dark and threatening clouds could been seen in the horizon. Even if he generally liked these kinds of weather, today though, he would have preferred a bright sunny day to accompany him for his way home...

Sensing the rain coming soon, the tusky hurried his pace towards his car, being thankful the company had his own parking lot nearby; something that was quite rare now in the big cities. He rapidly spotted his car; a 2011 black Honda Civic, a modest car compared to what he was now able to afford himself. He quickly unlocked his door and practically dived into it; the rain drops starting to fall at the same time. And by the time he closed the door and put the key into the ignition, it was pouring rain! Thanking all the gods he knew for not having to deal with wet fur for the whole trip, he started the engine and drove away.

Getting to the highway was a quite fast and easy task to do since it was already 6 p.m. and most of the traffic jams from earlier had already vanished a while ago. He didn't mind getting home that late either since there was nobody at home waiting for him. Tuning his favorite radio station, his fingers started tapping on the steering wheel to the beat of a good song; helping his mood increasing a bit.

---

Tyrir had been driving for about 3 hours, most of the trip now behind him, though the rain hadn't stopped a single bit and even seemed to have gotten heavier the more he was rolling down the highway. Wipers dancing at a crazy pace, all the tusky's senses were focusing on the road; he couldn't even see if there was a car in front of him; visibility was null. Though, he could very easily feel the thunder go berserk around his car, some nearby hits making his car shake lightly.

Five interminable minutes later, the situation seemed totally out of control; a thunderstorm like he had never seen before was making his car violently shaking now! He thought about stopping on the side and wait until it calms down, but he didn't know if there was someone following him close. Risking a potential accident in that kind of situation was out of question, so he continued rolling on; his eyes glued on the side lines to keep rolling between the lanes and in front of him!

What happened next literally occurred in a blink of an eye as nearly a dozen of lightning bolts crashed down on the tusky's very near surroundings, dazing him in the process. But it didn't stop there, as more and more blinding hits struck the ground. In a last attempt not to crash his car with his diminished vision, Tyrir put on the brakes, definitely not caring of what could happen even if he was followed, which he hardly believed now. Though, as he was slowing down, one last bolt fell directly on his windshield, making his vision going completely white. Instinctively, he raised both his arms to protect his eyes from the aggressive light that could've been compared as getting a flashbang right on the snout.

It took the Brazilian a good minute to get his senses coming back to him; his car already being on a halt. But when the tusky got aware of what was surrounding him, he couldn't help but gape to what he witnessed!

---

It was 8 p.m. and not a single sound could be heard except for a slow but heavy footstep. Rapidly glancing at his watch, Jude sighed in a mix of exhaustion and relieve as his shift just ended. The silence in the entire place was the red wolf's most delightful moment of the day, because it was the only time in the day that he could be alone with his thoughts, but at the same time, he knew all too well it wouldn't last long.

The big canine hurried his pace, suddenly aware of the time he was wasting by walking so nonchalantly. And after another couples minutes of speed walking, he raised his glare to see the dull wooden door with "Foreman's office" written in the usual black and bold calligraphy. Without slowing his pace, he entered the office, let his protective helmet and glasses on the chair right next to the door and went to sit at the only desk in the relatively small office.

He lazily stomped his steel toe boots on the modest wooden desk that seemed to wobble slightly at the sudden change of weight, while at the same time, the force of the impact had enough strength to get the computer back to life. Fully aware that the machine had known better days, he laid on his cheap reclining chair; putting his paws behind his head and waited as a loud whirling sound killed the silence.

He waited a good fifteen seconds until he could finally move the cursor on the screen, then waited no time to do the last task in his day; confirming the paychecks. It was Friday, so he had to look throughout his entire crew's working time sheets to make sure not a single cent was missing to his guys' salaries. Since he only had twelve electricians under his commandments, the duty was done within ten minutes. Of course, he kept his own file for the end, stupidly smiling to himself as he saw the amount of money he had done the last week. Being twenty-eight years old, it was always a bit special to see a good four digits number next to your name each and every week.

The red wolf was working quite far from home; so far, that he had to take a plane to get back home only once after thirty days of non-stop work. Though, now he knew that he would be ten days without working and more importantly, he would be home! Even if he was an electrician foreman, these thirty days were very hard mentally and physically, so he was always welcoming the time he would be alone in his chalet.

Jude was already starting to think about what he would do during his break, mindlessly getting off the computer then, gathered his lunchbox, a few personal effects and left the office without a single look back. Naturally, he locked the door behind him since the night shift's foreman would not be there for another hour and walked towards the facility's exit, humming some random Beatles song along the way.

A seizing and cold squall welcomed him outside, reminding him again where he was. Even for a wolf with a thick layer of fur, the February freezing temperatures in the northern parts of the province of Quebec were not leaving anyone indifferent! By his experience, the canine could tell that the temperature was around -40 degrees Celsius, which was pretty low, but not the worst he'd witnessed.

He kept the same relaxed pace; looking slightly up so he could admire the slow but gracious dance made by millions of snowflakes through the already dark night. The flakes were so big that one could fill the entire hollow of a palm. He continued walking under the snow towards his snowmobile; some white particles already starting to accumulate on his shoulders and on his head. After a good 3 minutes without slowing his pace, he passed through the security gate and pursued his route until he stopped next to an early 2000's Ski-Doo Tundra; on which he rapidly sat, put on his helmet and turned on the ignition. After taking a good 10 seconds for the engine to start, due mostly to the freezing temperature, he drove off towards his apartment which was about fifteen minutes away from the facility.

But remembering what time it was, he pressed the gas on; completely ignoring the falling thick snow. After all, he still had a plane to take in thirty minutes. He finally arrived in the village nine minutes later and in the front of his door half a minute later. The snowfall had also seemed to fade during the trip which was encouraging news; his flight wouldn't be delayed too much.

"About damn time Jude!'' A rough and heavy voice broke the big wolf's train of thoughts as soon as he stepped into the basic but cozy two bedrooms apartment. "I swear that if you weren't there within the next five minutes, I was leaving you behind!" A large, but slightly smaller than the wolf, black and white husky turned off the television and jumped off from the couch. He took his lunch bag which was resting next to the armrest and walked straight next to the door.

The lupine was already gone to his bedroom by the time his canine roommate got to his boots and coat in the closet. "Everything's already packed, don't freak out man!" Jude retorted and chuckled at how Will seemed to be mad again for nothing. He knew the dog hated getting late at the job. So much that in fact, he was considering arriving fifteen minutes in advance to being late!

"I'll be waiting for you in the car!" The gruff husky simply added before getting outside by slamming the door behind him; leaving Jude finishing to gather his belongings alone. The wolf didn't have a lot of stuff to carry with him even if he was going home for two weeks; so he only took his laptop and a bag full of clothes before rapidly leaving the apartment. Once outside, the grey Jeep Patriot's engine was already on, quietly waiting for the lupine to drop his things on the backseat. Though, as soon as his rump touched the passenger seat, the husky shifted to rear gear and off to the airport they were.

"Hey man it's Friday, chill out a little bit!" Jude threw after a good minute of awkward silence, amused at how Will seemed to be pissed. "You're not even working tomorrow!" He added, which made the dog glare at him for a couple of seconds.

"You know I hate being tight on time..!" The husky sighed and brought his eyes back on the road.

"Shit happens all the time, you know that Will! Damn computer bugged and I had to restart it. And you know how long this piece of crap is taking to be usable..." Jude half lied, trying to ease his friend's frustration.

"Yeah... Shit always happens!" He slowly nodded, sighing once more as he made a sharp left turn with the car. The airport was already in sight. "Heard that a goddamn snowstorm is coming our way. It won't reach here 'til middle of the night though. But you should be careful on your way home later!" Will advised, trying to change the subject which made the wolf heartily laugh.

"Why do you worry so much about me? I've been dealing with winter and snow my whole life!" He laughed again. Will was in fact from Victoria, British Columbia; so considerable amounts of snow was still a bit unusual for him.

"I'm just telling you Jude!" The canine gripped his steering wheel tighter as he entered the airport's parking lot. "Even with the experience you have, you should always be careful when you have to drive during a snowstorm."

The wolf had to admit that he was right; it was always a risk to use your car in that kind of situation. Especially when you knew snowplows were only clearing the ways once an hour or so.

"Don't worry my friend..." Jude opened the door just as the husky stopped the Patriot next to the lobby entrance. " ...I'll be careful." He got out and took his personal effects with him. "See'ya dude. And thanks for the ride!"

"No problem, take care." Will simply nodded towards him and waited for the lupine to close the door before rushing away towards the steel mine. The red wolf was still ten minutes prior to the usual departure, but he knew too well that due to the temperature, the flight would probably be delayed. He ended right; the plane didn't leave the landing runway until 9:25 p.m., so they were twenty-five minutes late.

He watched the takeoff throughout the window and didn't stop until the plane broke through the clouds; revealing an amazingly bright sky surrounded by billions of stars. Jude contemplated the vastness of the universe for another brief moment, before falling into a big slumber for the following two hours or so. The big wolf was always welcoming that nap because afterwards, he had to drive another four hours to get home.

Surprisingly, there were no major turbulences, so the flight went on pretty comfortably. Jude awoke to the gentle touch of the stewardess and thanked the cute little Colley for her kindness. He straightened his posture and glanced outside to see where they were. Unfortunately, the only things he could see were parts of an endless filamentous cloud. Even as the plane was slowly descending to its destination, the visibility outside was null; snow was coming down way heavier as it was a couple hours ago!

Thankfully, the pilot was used to these Mother Nature's mood swings, so without any extra delay, the landing got expertly taken care of. All of the sixteen passengers patiently waited for the aircraft's engine to be completely turned off to stand from their seats and picking their carry-on bags. After waiting for another couple of minutes, the hostess waited for the airport staff's light green to open the door and let all the queued customers out.

It was 11:50 p.m. by the time Jude got to his car. The wolf sighed as he saw how much snow had piled on his year old GMC Yukon within the last month. Being in Val-d'Or now wasn't like if he landed at Montreal's airport; the temperature practically equalized what it was in the ''Big North'' and snowdrops were as important. The imposing lupine quickly cleared the trunk handle so he could put his luggage away and get a paw on a little plastic shovel. The red furred anthro then wasted no time in clearing the snow from the driver's door so he could be able to open it without letting some snow in; before turning the ignition on, hopefully to rapidly bring heat into the SUV. A good five minutes later, Jude finally sat back into his seat, panting slightly; the snow had mostly been tossed away from the car's frame.

He left the airport's area and went straight for the nearest Tim Horton's, which was a couple kilometers away and ordered the biggest size of coffee the wolf could get. After receiving what looked like a whole liter of the beverage, he drove off this thirty thousand inhabitants' city and engaged himself on the highway 117. Of course, Jude had to slow his speed down a little bit since the snowstorm had already settled and also because the road was solely a highway with one lane on each side.

As he rolled down to his home, Jude remarked there was already about an inch of flakes that had accumulated since the last snow plow went by. Furthermore, he deduced, from the feeble tire marks the lupine could distinguish, that the closer car ahead of him was about twenty minutes away. 'I have a looooong way home...' He thought to himself and started scouring into his cd's collection which was next to him on the passenger seat. As he kept an eye on the road and the other on his music, he picked the one who could boost his mood the most; ''Atom Heart Mother" from Pink Floyd. The wolf instantly felt relaxing at the hearing of the first chords and concentrated even more on the road. Even the puzzling sequence in the initial track wasn't breaking his focus!

As Jude was rolling deeper into the La Vérandrye Wildlife Reserve territory, the only light he eyes could rely on was the SUV's one. The less positive news was that the lupine already knew all too well that there wouldn't be any street lights until he would reach the closest motel, which was about 180 kilometers away. Or maybe the wolf would see another car coming the other way to give him some extra temporary light, but Jude highly doubted that he would roll by more than five vehicles.

Another thirty minutes went by pretty smoothly, the snow never ceasing to dense, but a wind had risen to help Jude's vision staying sharp. The accumulation on the ground hadn't changed that much as well while he only encountered two cars who didn't show any signs of distress towards the snowstorm which was a good sign to the big wolf. Jude wasn't very concerned on how his SUV would react to such bad temperature, because he knew that it was a very reliable machine. Though, he would never let his guard down, knowing that no computers could foresee every trick Mother Nature had in her bag. A bit more time passed before the lupine saw in the distance the first snow-plow's orange flashing lights. Then once the truck passed by, he wasted no time moving on the other lane for a more stable route.

He continued his journey like that for a couple of kilometers; "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" by the Beatles was now playing at high volume. Singing along most of the entire track-list; and wipers swaying at a crazy pace, he soon realised that the snow-plow's tracks weren't visible anymore. He cursed to himself on how this situation was even possible. But he didn't even get the time to look back ahead on the road that a huge glittering bright white flash illuminated Jude's immediate surroundings and momentarily blinding the big wolf. His first reflex was to violently kick the brake pedal, but as soon as he started drifting away into the snow, the traction control system activated and helped the sightless lupine to stop without a hitch.

Furiously swearing in Quebec's French, Jude opened his eyes. In complete disbelief, he watched with astonishment the black car that was immobilised not even a foot in front of him. He put the clutch on park, gawking for a couple of seconds and trying to process what just happened. He remarked that the car, unlike his, hadn't any snow stuck on any parts of the vehicle; the hazard lights were on and on top of that, the license plate was completely unbeknown to him. Curiosity took the best of him as he opened the door and braved the combination of the strong wind and heavy snow drop to walk next to the Honda Civic driver's door.

---

"That's when you saw grandad for the first time??" A little puppy shouted in excitement, disrupting the now way older Jude. The grizzled wolf smiled patiently to the small crowd sitting in front of him, hanging on his lips and only waiting for their patriarch to pursue.

"That is correct Malik!" The brown and grey furred wolf gently ruffled his grand-son's head. "Though you know it's not polite to interrupt people when they talk!" Jude moralized to his oldest grand-pup, the young light brown lupine nodding in apology.

"Did you love granddaddy Ty right when you saw him?" A cute white and red little wolf lady jumped into the questions period, tightly holding to her stuffed toy.

"Oh..!" The grandfather laughed loudly and frankly. "Not really Zoey!" He beamed to his little princess. "The first impression he left to me was rather sour. I thought he was pretty presumptuous and impolite." He chuckled again at how they waited together for the snow-plow to clear their way so the confused tusky could roll safely on a clear road. "He sat in my truck to get some heat since that kind of temperature was something he never felt before. Then, he told me that I was an ancestor using CD's instead of the Bluetooth function on my phone and that my music taste was very questionable..."

"You're still an ancestor!!" The whole audience and storyteller turned their heads towards the voice, everybody giggling as the now older tusky walked next to his lover and planting a quick peck on Jude's forehead. "You have still way too many unnecessary things stored in the basement..!" They exchanged a knowing glance as the mixed bred anthro sat on the armrest next to his husband.

"Well..." The imposing lupine playfully elbowed Tyrir and focused his glare back on their five grand-pups. "... to end the story my little loves, Tyrir and I fell in love two days later. After an awkward first night at the closest motel, where not a lot of words were exchanged since he was only comfortable in speaking Portuguese and only gabbling some English words, the following day went on better! We called the news to report this unbelievable event-"

"You mean this?" Tyrir interrupted Jude while taking a folded piece of paper out of his vest to show the five amazed pups. "It made the National Geographic's front page back in the days!!" The tusky proudly showed his cherished pups the forty years old but still intact cover with both their grand-fathers and the Honda Civic in the background.

"Nobody, even the scientists, knew how that event occurred. They've tried for years to solve this mystery and even today, I think they are still pretty clueless on how and why it happened!" Jude explained and couldn't hide a little smirk in the process.

"And if you still don't believe the tale; our tale I should say, then I'm pretty sure you can find some old archives on the internet!" Tyrir added and discreetly winked to the two couples who were standing a little bit further away from their kids. The elders' own kids acquiesced wittingly from hearing that story multiple times already.

"But what really matters my beautiful pups..." Jude looked at his grandkids with a spark in his blue eyes. "...is that whatever you do in your life happens for a reason and that these acts you commit have repercussions to who you are and who you will be in the future. I think that Tyrir came into my life because I believe I've always been a good wolf helping others when they needed a paw. And life gave it back to me really well because that person sitting next to me is the most wonderful person I've ever met! Of course, after a while, Tyrir had to return to Brasil, so building a long distance relationship was pretty tough, but we managed to make it through. He helped me becoming an even better wolf in ways I don't think he's aware of; always pushing me to reach and break new limits!" The lupine paused as he felt he was becoming too emotional for a very young audience and cleared his voice. "If it wasn't because of this perfect being, nobody would be here tonight to celebrate Christmas, so who wants to open the-" He couldn't finish as the five pups were yipping loudly, rushing to the Christmas tree to find where their gifts were.

Watching his family all together was something the old wolf found priceless. Seeing all the smiles and laughs was something Jude was really fond of. After admiring all the people he cared about for some time, he got up and went to the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of red wine. The tusky soon followed him in the room and went to hug the big wolf by behind.

"The story still works it seems!" Jude thought out loud with a chuckle and took a sip from his drink.

"You're incontestably the best storyteller in the world my dear!" Tyrir hugged tighter and gently licked his husband's neck.

"And you the best magazine editor!" Jude turned towards his lover and planted a mellow kiss on his snout.

"That's the best thing I've ever done in my career!!" They both burst into laughter as they watched the fake cover again. "How long do you think it'll take before they know?" The tusky half-seriously wondered.

"Who knows? Every love story has its own twists and turns so as long as they believe in love, they don't need to know the truth! Plus..." Jude placed his glass on the nearby table and placed his arms around Tyrir's waist. The tusky immediately replied to his move by doing the same. "... the real story is waaaay better!!" The couple looked into each other's eyes; the same passion still burning between them after all these years.

"GRANDADDYS!!?? CAN WE OPEN THE GIFTS YET??" The five pups loudly pleaded in unison from the other room, cutting the couple's passion momentum right now and then.

"Guess we'll have to postpone that intimate moment for later!" Tyrir said with a giggle as he was already on his way to the living room.

Jude picked his glass again and closely followed the tusky. "I can't wait for it my love!"