FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Zheil the wolf had just finished her latest work when she heard the knock at the door, it had been a new customer who had come in person to deliver the details of his demands. She'd never met the rabbit king known as Basil in person before. Standing in front of her door wearing just a tight rubber leotard which left nothing to the imagination, gloves accompanied the thigh high boots, all of the same shining material and colour, and his white fur contrasted it well, with just a small crown floating above his head to announce his status. In the short minutes Basil spent speaking to her, she felt a great many things, namely that she should do everything in her power to oblige him.

She'd given him an estimate on when she would start the piece of writing and on a closer look had run into a few problems with his request, before she could even lift her phone to contact him he was simply there next to her, making her recoil in surprise.

He waved away the shock, grabbing the back of her chair and rotating it back to turn her attention on screen she was typing on, "And what's the problem?" The rabbit asked, resting his chin on his hand.

"W-well, uh, your... royal Majesty?" Zheil tried nervously, bracing for what would happen if she were to give the wrong title, somehow getting a feeling the wrong address would simply not do. When he merely inclined his head in response she dared to continue. "There are a few details I don't know about you, to represent you fairly. And I'm worried that my writing won't satisfy you."

"We'll you're a writer aren't you? What can be so hard about writing?" The rabbit said, leaning uncomfortably close to the wolf. He wasn't touching her and yet she felt a weight from his presence alone.

Continuing despite her nerves. "It's just that you asked for the uh... the best work I can ever do. And I'm still learning and improving..."

"I know what I asked for! I might be a bit wild but even I know what I mean. Now get to it!" And with an audible pop, the Hopping Mad King was gone, leaving the wolf alone at her desk. Zheil braced herself, this was going to be a new experience for her.

Basil had given her the task of writing a story about him, and had voiced the many tribulations set at his door for inspiration, though he'd ultimately given her a large leash of artistic freedom. She began simply enough, scribbling down her thoughts in a rough order as they came to her, planning out the framework until she was satisfied. Normally she'd stop there until approving her rough ideas with the recipient to be, but she was instead seized by inspiration.

She had the perfect hook for how to start it, so vivid in her head that she couldn't resist putting it down and from that the next idea came, then the next! The wolfess writing the very first thing that entered her head and, as if in some cosmic coincidence, even she could tell it was the best work she'd ever done! The words flew out of her hands, tapping into the keys in front of her and making her imagination run wild as she pictured so clearly what needed to come next.

She looked up at the clock, surprise brushing her as the time had jumped forward over an hour in what felt like minutes, she smiled, that many words in that little time? A reward was justified! Lifting her empty mug from beside her, she went to the kitchen, mind still abuzz with what was next. Her thoughts were churning to the point that while the fresh tea brewed, she had to come back and write one idea down, lest she forget it. Getting carried away from that so that when she reached to take a drink, she realised she'd left her mug in the kitchen. She capped off the next little scene quickly, making notes for what to expand on when she got back, and returned to fixing up the drink.

Sitting down, relaxed and ready to continue, she found that the inspiration had slowed, it was still good, but it took her a few more pauses this time to settle on the right words, the wolf retreading one troublesome paragraph three times before she was satisfied. Another moment of clarity came and she got through a handful of sentences before the thumping sound of footfalls distracted her. Turning around to see the source, she found it was her house-mate Ofenna, who sat down on the couch behind Zheil and before the wolf could ask what was on her mind, the lioness had started explaining in excruciating detail. Zheil started to get a glazed expression, it was obviously of great importance to the lioness, something upsetting she gathered, about her line of work. But geology only meant so much to the wolf, and honestly she didn't see what her lioness friend was so riled about. The desire to get back to writing made her even less able to take on what was being said, and something about Ofenna being behind her meant she felt rude to try and turn back to her keys, so she waited, it wouldn't take too long after all.

True enough, after getting things off her chest the lioness walked off, unfortunately for Zheil her train of thought was completely derailed! Staring at the page, the last two sentences no longer made sense with the culminating point lost in the ether, she couldn't get it back... damn. To stop herself getting frustrated over the sticking point she had no option but to delete the lines, and try something else. It took a few minutes for her to get back into the flow of things, but soon she hit her stride, working on the tale a bit further.

She was mid way through writing a scene in which the royal rabbit was holding court, trying to calculate how he'd react to the plight of the fellow in front of him, and smiling as her mind conjured a perfect response- A loud thumping at the door made her roll her eyes, listening out, it seemed Ofenna hadn't heard it or was too occupied, so the wolf rose up.

Opening a door, she saw a bored looking hyena. The uniformed fellow thrust a package at her and a pad to sign, some delivery, not even for her, but for the house's third occupant who was currently away. With a calm smile she thanked the fellow who brusquely turned and went on to his next destination.

Returning to her desk, she tried to prepare herself for another plunge but yet again she was struggling to find the words easily when the house-phone started to ring. A small part of the wolf died and wanted to just collapse onto the desk, this always happened, one thing after the other when she was just trying to finish something. Weakly she reached her hand over without looking and lifted the handset, giving a happy sounding greeting despite her slumped posture and present mood, it was most likely just another telemarketer, but one never knew when a fresh customer could bite.

...it seemed her first suspicion was more likely the correct one. It wasn't a robot, but that just made it harder for the wolf to simply reject what they were offering and hang up, sighing as she was asked various questions, weighing each in her mind to see just what they were angling for. And there it was, after making small talk and wasting time, the phrase that so often emerged in some form came up.

"So, Miss Lendi," Good lord could they at least get her name right if they were going to harass her. "we're calling today to make you aware of a-" The voice suddenly cut off as too did the lights, making the wolf start in shock, and slowly, wide eyed, turn back to look at her desk in horror. A power cut had struck, leaving not a single light to be seen, nor sound of whirring fans... when was the last time she'd saved?!

A few lights returned and devices bleeped angrily throughout the house at the injustice of their interrupted operation, including the steady beep of the house's alarm becoming unset. This called for more tea she told herself. Her tail flagged behind her in a display of her poor humour, and so, when Ofenna strolled into the kitchen herself, the lioness quickly looked down to spare Zheil any more distress and tended to the alarm, helping to double check any essential electronics and reset the one digital clock they kept in the kitchen.

Dreading how much progress she might have lost, the wolf took her time, putting off the revelation with a handful of chores, but time waited for no one, and with evening approaching she had to at least see what the damages were. Starting up, her fingers drummed the table as it felt like this boot sequence took ten times longer than usual. When it finally let her in, she moved quicker than it loaded, waiting for windows to pop up into place. Checking the folder where she stored her current work only to find it empty, starting up the word processor she used, her spirit sank further... no... even that had failed to get a backup, she'd lost it all.

She couldn't believe it, all that careful characterisation, especially when she considered dialogue her weakness yet had had such pithy back and forths... all those ideas. She sat down and tried to strike while she could vaguely remember some of it, but no matter what she put down, it just fell flat, it wasn't the same. She sighed as she glanced up at the clock, it was nearly time for dinner and it was her turn to do the cooking. Rising, she shook her head, it was uncommon for the wolf to be so carried away that she didn't save.

It took her the better part of the next two days, scrapping multiple attempts to recapture that spark. Whatever she wrote just seemed awful to her and though the interruptions, intrusions and distractions remained, she managed to put together a new scheme, and set about building a fresh, different tail. On the evening of the third day she relaxed back in her chair, sighing, it was done. "Well, then let's see it!" A voice called.

Basil was back, how he had known was a mystery but she managed to only feel a light surprise at his presence. Hopping out of her chair and gesturing to it for him to sit. "Yes, your Royal Highness." She quickly said, making space for him. He pushed the seat out of the way, opting to stay standing and just read it by leaning on the desk. The wolf's sense of manners told her she should offer a drink. The wolf's sense of etiquette told her she was lingering too close, but her nervousness on his opinion rooted her to the spot.

He read in silence, expression fixed like the greatest poker player in the world. Finally he straightened and nodded. "Not what I was expecting. I thought you'd go and base it on my life, after all those thrilling tales I shared. Instead I'm scarcely mentioned in it." Zheil felt a nervous chill, she wasn't off the hook yet, but nor was he obviously displeased.

"W-well, you see, your Royal Highness, the uh, first half is based on true events, and I don't mean to boast when it at least seemed like the greatest story in the world." She said with a smile, hedging her description by steeping it in opinion instead of brashly saying it was the best, even though it was.

"So instead you wrote an homage to your lost work. When I asked for a story written about me, I did not expect the tale to be about you writing said story, but well..." He smiled suddenly and gave her a wink. "...I for one greatly approve. Send it to me at your earliest convenience, once you've edited out those grammatical blips, of course."

She nearly fell over then, his response was approval, not scorn! Bobbing low in thanks, she promised him to get to work on it, and as he left, she thought she saw him turn and blow a kiss in her direction, but that might have been in her mind. Sitting down, she began to proofread the text one last time. All it needed then, was a title....