FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

There's this seasonal market in the Hybrid's Quarters of Alden City. It's cramped up against the border as if it were trying to break free from the city's limits. Nobody really knows when it happens, that's a secret the organizers will take to their graves, but, somehow, stalls still manage to rise up overnight like zombies. I like to think of it as a mass graveyard for all the tribulations of life here. We bury them there so we can let go. However fleeting, those times are highly anticipated. The exhumation process is quite tedious after all.

Actually, calling it a market would be doing the event a disservice. In reality, it's a celebration of life; a culmination of all our hard work over the past few months. I guess it's more akin to a gigantic festival. Not only do our stalls sell the freshest fruit north of the Cydean, but our rock stars have the sweetest voices, our games have the most interesting mechanics. I'd say that we even have the most pious devotees here. Hybrids know how to party. The only major problem is the heat; the sun does not hold Its punches. It beats down on all our bodies, which are packed tight like salmon. Try not to get devoured by the swarm, there'll be thousands of us there. You may find it suffocating, but to me, it's home. Or, at least I thought it was.

The other day I was sitting on one of those wooden park benches. You know the ones that always make you feel like you're one move away from taking a splinter to the ass? I was listening to some local band play while focusing on my ice cream. Maybe that was my first mistake. Just sitting there caused me to pant; a reaction that only brought my attention to the sweat starting to drip down my face. If I sat out there, my brain would have surely melted alongside the ice cream. No prisoners, remember? My fingers were all sticky as if I had just dipped them in glue. I was already envisioning the extra scrubbing I'd have to do to get it out of my fur when someone hugged me from behind. I froze.

This was my ex, Travis. I could tell it was him just from the way his arms felt around me. It was a feeling only he could evoke; some sort of cautious mixture of security and fear. Don't get any weird ideas now. He wasn't abusive. He would never do that. He was just...

"Hey~" his soothing voice sliced through my thoughts. It had been so long since I heard that voice. It still held me no matter how thorough I severed its connection. My skin itched, body aching like an addict going through withdrawals. I always came crawling back to it.

"I didn't expect to see you here. I missed you," he continued after getting no response. To apologize, I nuzzled into his neck. I really shouldn't... But, he seemed to accept my forgiveness, giving me a quick kiss on the head.

You may be wondering why we broke up because everything seems so great here. Well, it was mutual. At least that's what I told myself. It was the only thing I could do to make sense of those words that spewed out of his mouth with such apathetic vitriol. I could still feel their sting on his breath. It felt like he was burning me.

Finally, he broke the hug off, making his way to the side of the bench across from me. When he sat down, he adjusted his glasses, crinkling his nose ever so slightly as he curled his wings. I still caught those tics of his. It felt like a secret; seeing the things that made him "him." Things that no one else could see.

"Are you giving me the silent treatment now?" he asked, an eyebrow raised. No, I didn't mean to do that; I just didn't know what to say. I didn't spend years picking up the pieces only to have the glass shatter again.

"You know I live just down the street." I counter, finally getting the words out of my mouth. He nods, not pleased.

"Yeah, but I thought that you would be hanging out in the city now. With your rich, normal, friends or that raven you seem so fond of." He smirked as I drew in a breath. Travis, he always did this. My head started to ring.

"Can we not get into this here? We can go somewhere to talk about it if you want."

"Here's fine."

No, this wasn't going anywhere. Despite how much my body wanted him, wanted to be in his embrace again, enough was enough. I stood up to leave, feeling proud of myself for walking away. I hadn't done that before. It was always him dictating how our relationship went.

"Has he fucked you yet?"

I told myself to ignore him. He was trying to rile me up; I knew that. He needed someone to bully. He wanted to do to me what had been happening to him his entire life. I honestly felt bad for him. Travis had it especially bad growing up. But that didn't change the fact that what he was doing now was reprehensible.

"My sex life isn't of your concern."

Another mistake.

"Ah, so he has. Please tell me how raven dick tastes. I'm dying to know~"

"Do we really have to talk about this?"

"Yes! I don't know why you thought it was okay to just leave me like that."

"I didn't leave you."

"You're actually right for once. You abandoned me. Ditched me as soon as you found something better. You're awful."

"You know that isn't true."

"Oh? But it is. You could have stayed with us. Stayed with the people who loved and took care of you. Instead, you ran off to those who will never see you as an equal. Who will always treat you as the other."

"I just wanted a better education."

"Bullshit. What you want is not to be a hybrid."

"LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!"

Ah... This hurts. Why did I say that? Why was he looking at me like that? Like I destroyed his entire worldview. Like everything broke. People were staring. He was staring. I just wanted to melt. Please.

"You're an asshole."

Travis got up and left. He left me there confused, sweating, and alone. Like always.