FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Hello!: I apologize for any errors in the text, I don't use English on a daily basis, but I preferred to write the story in this language so that more people could see it.

John, an average height man in his early 20, has always been a quiet kid all his life, even after graduating from school and getting a decent job at his uncle's pawn shop. He always felt different from others because at the age of 9, he discovered a weird fact about himself…

~11 years ago~

When he was coming home from school, he met a cat on his way. The cat didn't have a collar, and was probably a stray. John wasn't surprised seeing this cat because he had seen it quite often, but John didn't know, this time it was going to be different.

While walking down the same sidewalk as always, John accidentally stepped on a lying black cat's tail, and the cat, instead of growling or meowing, spoke like a human.

"Watch out, where are you going, human!" the cat snarl.

"W-what?who said that? Show yourself" asked shocked John and started looking around himself.

"You can understand me, human?" said the cat, slightly shocked, getting up from the ground.

"Who are saying this, cut it off, it's not funny at all!?" said John, more shocked than before.

"I, said it, you stupid human" hissed the cat.

"You can talk? But why, what? , You can talk! A-animals can't talk like humans, wait, can they?" asked young John.

"Of course animals can talk, human, we cats always talked like that, but you humans are too dumb to understand what we are saying, and instead your species hear meows and purrs and growls instead of real words" said an annoyed black cat ready to jump over the fence.

“Wait please, I am sorry, please don't go, talk to me more" said John.

"Not today human, I don't have any free time left, I have yet a few places to visit, farewell weird human" said black cat vanishing out of John's eyes.

Young John stayed silent for the rest of the trip to his home, the sky was clear, the sun was burning bright, well it was summer after all, John stayed protected under the trees, but the weather was not important at this moment, only one thing was important, the odd encounter with a stray cat.

Did this cat really talk to me, did we really talk like human to human?

Maybe I can understand other animals? Or this cat was weird

Or maybe I am ill, or I was hallucinating and was hearing voices in my head

After a few minutes of walking John finally reached home, he behaved quite normally, but still couldn't forget about the strange incident from a few hours ago.

“Hi Mom" Said John, entering the house.

“Hi John, how was school today?" Said John mother from the kitchen.

“Fine" Said John and removed his boots.

“That's great son"

John entered the kitchen.

“Mom, I have a question, did you or dad can hear what cats are saying?"

"Of course honey, when I lived with my parents we had cats and they talked all the time"

“No I mean a cat talking like a human, talking like you and me, talking words"

“Don't be silly John, cats can't do such a thing"

“Right, dumb idea, sorry mom"

“Oh, I almost forgot, I have for you a little job to do"

“A job?"

“John, Mrs. Larson asked you to take her dog Leo for a walk today"

“Okay mom, I'll do it in a minute"

"Go do it now, it'll be late and dark later, I don't want you walking down a dark street alone"

"Okay, mom" John sighed.

Wait, maybe I'll understand what Leo is saying too, since I understood what that stray cat was saying...

John reached the neighbor living next door, politely knocked on the door 3 times, after a few moments an old lady with a dog leash in her hand opened it.

“Thank you for taking Leo for a walk, I don't have the strength to do it anymore, and he is still young he needs to move often"

“It's really not a problem for me Mrs. Larson, I Am glad to help you" John said with a smile.

John took the leash from the old lady and took the dog for a walk, John walked the dog for a few minutes, when they walked a little further, John took advantage of the moment when no one was around and tried to talk to the dog.

“Hey Leo, can you understand me? Can you speak to me ?" John asked.

The dog only looked at him, tilted its head and only whined and growl a few times.

“I don't seem to understand what you are saying, I don't think we can understand each other, like human to human" John muttered to himself.

Probably the fact that that cat was talking was some kind of hallucination, probably from that hit on the head today in school gym

After a walk and giving the dog back to its owner, John reached home, luckily it was the beginning of the weekend, so John had practically the whole 2 days to himself, after returning home John stopped caring about the strange meeting with the cat, he spent the whole 2 days lazy doing practically nothing and watching TV, before going to school, he took some treats from his house just in case.

On the way from school to home, he again met the same black stray cat, which was lounging lazily on the fence in the sun. Next to it lay a ginger cat, without a collar, probably stray too.

“Oh hi kitty" said john, moving his right hand to pet the black cat.

"Stay away human, don't disturb me, the sun is great, and I finally find a perfect spot for my nap" said the black cat slightly hissing.

The annoyed ginger cat purred and said: "what do you want from us human, don't you see that we're trying to catch a nap?!"

Maybe last encounter wasn't a hallucination from the hit on the head?, but I really can understand what these cats are saying!

But a human who talks to and understands cats. That is very strange, I can't tell about this to anyone because they will think I am Insane

John opened his backpack, grabbed some treats in his right hand, and placed them on the sidewalk near the stone fence where the two cats lay.

“I'm sorry to disturb you and your friend, but I have some treats and I want to give them to you"

“Wait human you can understand me ?" said the shocked ginger cat turning his head to John.

"I told you this human kid was weird," said the black cat to the ginger one.

"Yes! I'm not crazy, I can understand you too!" said slightly shocked john to ginger cat.

"I can understand you too? W-Wait, that means I'm not crazy. I really understand what you said, as if you were human!" Said John with a little smirk on his face.

"Well, human, that's odd, I lived so many years and so many lives and I never meet someone like you before, you are so strange little human, well thanks for the treats, but I didn't like eating something that doesn't run from me, you know, predator and prey stuff" said the ginger cat going again to lying on stone fence.

“Me either" said the black one, closing his eyes.

“Oh ok, thanks for reassuring me, I really can understand what cats say, it's so weird!, well goodbye" Said John going straight for his home.

~Present day~

In those few years, 20-year-old John finished school, started renting his own apartment, occasionally seeing some old friends, his Uncle got him a job in his pawn shop, John couldn't really complain about anything, but still he felt lonely.

His strange gift of understanding cat speech did not leave him either. He never told anyone about his gift because he was afraid that people would laugh at him, call him crazy, and in the worst case, send him for painful tests.

Over the years he did some tests, he went to the zoo, but he only seemed to only understand cats, he didn't understand other domestic animals like dogs, nor farm animals like horses, cows, pigs, nor did he understand what birds were saying.

John so far did not know why he has such an ability and why only he can talk to cats, and did not know if there are more people like him in the world.

One late evening during a heavy downpour, on his routine walk back to his apartment, John heard a strange crack coming from the alleyway, John stopped turned to face the alley and marched into it, there was a soaked cardboard box by the wall in the alley, and other stuff mostly garbage, John carefully walked over to the box and opened it, because of what was in the middle, sent a shiver down his spine, in the middle of the soaked cardboard box in the right corner was lying a small yellow wet kitten, in the left corner was some food, and nothing else.

“What a bastard can do something like that, how heartless you have to be to do something like that?!" John whispers to himself, holding back tears.

Suddenly the kitten moved, shaking, taking small weak breaths, the cat slowly lifted his head and looked directly at John, their eyes met, the cat's eyes were blue like sapphires.

John felt his heart break, seeing the kitten in such a state.

Suddenly, the old industrial fan came loose and crashed straight down onto the cardboard. At the last second, John managed to quickly grab the cat before it was crushed by a falling old fan.

Their hearts were pounding, adrenaline was pumping, after a moment of silence, John looked at the cat that lay scared in his arms.

"Hey little one it's okay, with me, no one will hurt or abandon you". Said John unzipping his hoodie to the half, and putting the cat between his t-shirt and his hoodie.

"T-thanks, hum..." said cat before passing out because of weakness.

"Well looks like I got a new friend" Said John, as he walked to his apartment with an unexpected visitor.

John's apartment was not too big, it was located on the first floor in a not too bad district, it had a medium-sized living room with decent TV and other household goods, small kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom with double bed.

Upon reaching the apartment, John immediately took a towel and wrapped it around the Yellow cat, hoping it would help warm it up.

“Wait, I have an idea!" Said John, running over to the bathroom grabbing the hair dryer and gently blew the hot air to the kitten hoping for warming it up. John was very happy to hear that the kitten was breathing.

Oh, thank god he's breathing, he should be better in a few hours

I need to buy for him a food and other stuff for cats

John spent over nearly an hour shopping for the right things for such a young cat, he had never had a house cat as a pet, so he didn't know what to choose, he tried to hurry because he was worried about the cat, after returning to the apartment to making sure his little white friend condition did not worsen. He immediately fed the cat, giving it food from his hand, John was happy for the cat having strength to eat on its own.

After eating, the cat fell asleep, but this time with a full stomach and in a warm and dry room, not in a wet and cold alley.

John went to make himself a tea and watched white stray for 20 more minutes and went to sleep himself.

Tomorrow going to be even better, sleep well

The next day started abruptly. John was awakened by a sudden loud meow coming from the living room. John peered inside the living room, he saw the cat lying on the couch in the same spot as yesterday. The yellow kitten seems to feel a lot better now.

“Feeling better, small guy?" Said John to the stray, smiling.

“Ugh y-yes mister"

“D-do you h-have more food?" said the yellow cat.

“Ah yes food of course I forgot, sorry" Said John rushing to get food for himself and for yellow cat.

“Here you go" Said John, placing a bowl of meal in front of the yellow tail, holding his cereal with the other hand.

“So, what were you inside the cardboard box in the first place? , did someone abandon you?"

“Dumb human, of course someone abandoned me! , humans on the farm took me and siblings away from my mom, my siblings got quickly adopted, but I was weak, nobody wants me, so they throw me out in that box"

"Oh, it's really sad... to lose contact with your own family, I never had a sibling, I lost a parent too, my dad"

“W-wait, y-you can understand me ?!" Said the yellowtail with wide eyes.

“Yes I can little one“ said John with confidence looking directly at the cat.

“W-why? Last time when I saw humans they don't seem to understand what me or my siblings were saying" Said the stray amazed.

“Well I am different from others, I can understand what cats are saying since I was 9" Said John with pride.

“You are really weird, human" Said the Stray with a smile.

“Can you not call me human? My name is John, and yours?"

“Oh, sorry hu… John, my name, yes… well my family don't name me yet"

“Oh, how about I gave you a name?"

“If you really must"

“How about Alex?"

Yellow tail moved its paw to its face and started laughing.

“What's so funny about that name?"

“I am not a boy, I thought right ALL humans are dumb"

“H-hey?! How would I knew that you were a girl" Said John with a huff.

“So if not Alex, maybe Alicia then?"

“Alicia, I like it" Said yellowtail with a small smile.

"That's good," Said John with a small smile.

“Well, it's nice talking to you, but I have to go to work"

“Wait! Please don't go, I don't want to be alone, please don't abandon me like that human's from the farm!"

“Calm down Alicia I am not going to abandon you, I need to go to earn money for food and other thighs"

“What is money? , my mother never told me about this thing"

“Money is a thing that you trade for other things"

“for example, you trade 10 coins for a carton of milk"

“Oh, that's odd, can you just get the milk without the coin?"

“Well, yes you can … but that will be stealing, and stealing is bad"

“Humans are too complicated, we cats take what we want, when we want" Said Alicia rolling on her back.

“I have to go, I will be back in a few hours " said John with a fake smile.

Work, as usual, was boring, hardly anyone came to the pawn shop every day because most preferred to buy new things and preferably with home delivery without having to leave the house. This day turned out to be one of the best, the store made a lot of money, John went home happy and tired.

John quietly entered his apartment, looked around but could not find Alice anywhere, after entering his bedroom he saw her sleeping on the bed, warming herself with the last rays of the setting sun.

John poured some food into Alice's bowl, ate his dinner, and went to the bedroom to lie down and went to sleep.

In the middle of the night John feel brushing feeling on his face, he opens his eyes a little, only to see Alice, cuddling to his face.

"Goodnight" whisper sleepy John.

"Goodnight John" whisper Alice.

They both peacefully fall asleep for the rest of the night.

The next few months went smoothly, John spent all his free time bonding with Alice, teaching her about things in his world and watching TV with her, John had a few visits from his friends, everyone was amazed with his new roommate.

One evening before going to bed, John and Alice had a conversation. After a few minutes, they started talking about their dead parents.

“Do you remember your dad?" Said Alice, starting to fall asleep.

“Not too much, like through the fog, he traveled a lot, I didn't see him too often" Said John with a shrug.

“Do you remember your Mom?"

“I remember she had beautiful white fur and beautiful blue eyes"

“You look like her"

“Thank you… Goodnight John"

“Goodnight Alice"

In the morning John has been woken up by his ringing phone "Hello mom, why are you calling, is something wrong?"

"If you don't have any plans, please come visit me, I will be waiting for you"

John's mother ended the call.

Hmm, that's weird, my mother wants me to visit her

Thought John to himself with a shocked face.

“What's wrong John?" Said Alice in a sleepy tone, lying on the bed with half closed eyes.

“It's my mother, she wants me to visit her, we've only spoken over the phone over the last few years, and now he wants me to visit her, maybe something bad happened"

“maybe he worries about you, it's your mother after all"

“Maybe nothing bad happened…"

“..."

“Do you want to go with me?"

"Well, I'm not sure if that's a good idea"

“Oh come on, everything will be fine“

“Well, If you say so, let's go"

John's mother lived in another state, John and Alice had a few days of travel ahead of them. The journey was uneventful, John packed food for himself and yellowtail, they rested in motels along the road. Finally, after a long journey, they arrived at John Mother's house.

John's mother's house is a typical one-story country house, with a small garden, in a quiet area.

They went inside the house, John's mother was waiting for him, sitting in an armchair and drinking tea.

“Hello John"

“Hello mom"

“Sit down Son, I must talk to you, I heard from your friend that you got a cat" Said John mother looking over at Alice.

“You didn't find something odd about it?" Asked John Mother, looking over to Alice.

“What does she mean?" Said Alice and looked to John.

"She is healthy and very energetic, I don't think, I saw anything strange about her" John said with concern looking at his mother.

“But did she talk to you?, you know, like a human, can you understand what she was saying?" Said John Mother, raising one eyebrow.

“W-WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?!, ... sorry, I mean, humans can't understand what animals are saying" Said John looking at Alice.

“Well John I kept this secret for you for years and I don't have strength to lay to you anymore, you know our family is special, every man in our family have a peculiar gift that can allow communicating with cats, and I am pretty sure you have this gift too"

“W-WHAT? , G-GIFT IN FAMILY, WHAT DO YOU MEAN, ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Shouted John, looking directly at his mother eyes.

“Don't shout at your mother, young man! , Please calm down my son"

“John please calm down I don't like when you're shouting like that, and you are talking to your mother after all" Said Alice trying to calm John down.

“CALM DOWN?! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CALM DOWN?! I'VE BEEN LIED TO FOR 11 YEARS, I THOUGHT I WAS CRAZY AND SHE KNEW ALL ALONG!!!" He said to Alice, angrier than before.

“John, I am sorry we can't change the past, I wanted to tell you, but inside I always thought you'd never have that ability, please son Calm down" Said John mother to John with tears in her eyes.

“C-CALM DOWN ?! I WAS 9 WHEN I BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND FREAKING CATS WITH THIS STRANGE GIFT AND YOU TOLD ME NOW YOU KNOW ALL OF THIS, BUT WHY NOW MOTHER, WHY NOT EARLIER?!"

“John, please calm down, you are scaring me" Said Alice with fear in her voice.

“WAIT Alice!, now is not a good time" Said John.

“... BECAUSE, BECAUSE OF THIS “GIFT" YOUR FATHER DIED!" John mother shouted.

“WHAT?!, B-but you told me my father was on a mission and was shot in a way back"

“THIS STORY WAS A LIE!..., Well not entirely, yes your father was on a mission, a diplomatic mission, but one thing led to another and your father never come back"

“What kind of diplomatic mission?" Said John.

“He was there to negotiate with wild animals because, the animals were killing a lot of workers working for the company, they were fast learners, attacking camps mostly at night, a-and your father was sent there to negotiate a peace, but he never return"

“SO, WITH THAT LITTLE STORY, DID YOU JUST Tell ME THAT MY FATHER POSSESSED THE SAME GIFT AS I?!"

“MAYBE FOR YOU AND YOUR FATHER THAT IS A GIFT, BUT FOR ME THIS IS A CURSE, I LOST THE LOVE OF MY LIFE BECAUSE OF IT!"

“I MISS DAD Too! But that doesn't recompense me all these years, mother, did you know how I felt, feeling like a freak, outcast, WITH THIS CURSE“

“I am sorry John, I wish I have told you sooner, but I didn't have the strength to, I lost one important man because of it AND I WON'T LOSE ANOTHER ONE!"

“You won't lose me…"

“We can't change the past son, we can only move forward, and learning from our mistakes"

“You are right, ... visiting you, was a mistake, “ Said John and looked at the door.

“John? I know you are really mad now, but it's your mother, you can't just leave her like that" Said Alice.

“I CAN! , AND I WILL DO IT!" Said John, looking down at Alice.

“What did it say?" Said John mother, pointing at Alice.

“She is not “it" and She has a name, it's Alice, mother" Said John with crossed arms even angrier than before.

“Are you two gonna leave?" Said John mother with tears in her eyes.

“Yes mother, we don't want to be here anymore"

“John please wait, calm down you are not thinking straight right now “ Said Alice.

“ARE YOU ON MY SIDE OR HER SIDE?!, I WILL WAIT FOR YOU IN THE CAR, YOU GOT 5 MINUTES!" shouted John, moving out of his mother's house and going straight into the car.

“Oh John“ Said Alice with mopey head.

“Hey A-Alice?, My son won't talk to me in another few days and maybe even longer, and I know I can't understand you, but I want you to give this to him" said John's mother, giving Alice a small dusty pouch with a yellow letter attached to it.

Alice with her mouth grab the pouch and rushes with it to the car, John lets her in and doesn't seem to care about the pouch and the letter at all.

After a long and quiet trip home, John went with Alice to the apartment and sat on the couch, Alice was still holding the pouch with the letter in her mouth.

“Why do you carry this junk, did my mother give you this?" Said John, looking down at her.

Alice nod her head.

“Whatever, I don't care" Said John looking down at the floor.

Alice drops the pouch on the couch and said:

“Your mother really care about you, and she wants you to have it"

“I ALREADY TOLD YOU I DON'T CARE! , WHY CAN YOU UNDERSTAND SUCH A SIMPLE THING!?"

Alice flinch, taking a few steps back, terrified.

John, seeing what he has done, calms down a little, he's trying to move a hand close to Alice only to hear a hissing sound from her.

“I knew it!, All humans are the same, you only care about yourselves!"

John withdraws his hand and starts to stand up and approach Alice, only to see her running away and jumping out the open window.

“WAIT! PLEASE, I AM SORRY!, WAIT, ALICE!" shouted John from the window.

John spent a couple of hours looking for her, on the streets near the shops, but to no avail.

John return to the apartment and started sobbing.

“Why can everything be right, just one time, why“ John whisper to himself.

John in anger hit the couch very hard with his fists, on impact the package fell off to the floor.

He looked on the floor, with left hand he grabbed the letter and in other hand he grabbed the pouch and throw it into the trash can.

He opened the letter, and started reading it out loud.

Hello my son, if you are reading this that means that I died, and you probably know about the special gift in our family, so in this letter I will explain everything to you…

“WHAT?!"

End of chapter 1