FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

I had absolutely no idea where I was. I had been wandering around for what seemed like hours in a bleak, shapeless, wasteland. I thought I had seen a few shadows here and there, but they would always vanish before I could really look at them. I was cold, and it was dark, and the air felt as if it weighed a ton. I wasn't sure why, but I felt like crying; constantly on the brink of breaking down.

I brushed a stray tear that had broken free from the side of my black furred muzzle as I glanced around for what must have been the twentieth time. A stiff, cold breeze blew past me and stirred some of the dry, gray sand across my feet. When I glanced in the direction the wind had come from, I noticed a small dead tree, stained black as if a fire had ravaged it.

'It didn't stand a chance out here.' I though as a shiver ran from my ears to my tail. 'As if I'll make it much longer.'

I changed direction towards the frail tree, and some more wind brushed against my face like sandpaper. My ears twitched when I thought I head a whisper hidden amongst the air current, but shrugged it off like I had the shadows. As I neared the tree, I felt a stab of sadness pierce my heart. I struggled not to fall to my knees as I fought to hold back the tears. Then, as quickly as it started, It stopped and I found myself standing next to the tree with my paw pressed against it. I didn't know that I had gotten that close to the tree, as I was at least ten meters away from it when my episode started, but before I could think about it any longer, I was his with a feeling that I could only describe as nostalgia.

I looked up at the charred, and leafless branches. I knew my subconscious recognized this tree. I could feel that much, but I couldn't place how or where I knew it from. I looked back down to my paw and pulled it away from the tree to reveal a crude heart carved around two letters in the blackened trunk. There was an 'E' and an 'S'.

'Eric and Sandra.' I thought to myself and blinked in confusion. 'How had I known those names? Is...is my name Eric? Who is Sandra?'

I looked down as I searched the few memories I could recall, and I saw a few black dots in the sand. At the same time, the feel of water on my head broke me from my thoughts. I looked up at the sky as the sludge colored clouds broke and rain started falling heavier and heavier. I looked around for shelter as the drizzle became a downpour and saw a grey house not fifty meters away. I started running towards it wondering how I could have possibly missed it before. As I got closer, I noticed how run down it was. Windows were broken and jagged, paint was peeling. A few shingles were missing and there were holes in the roof. I could see through some of the broken windows that the walls were black just like the tree had been and I figured there had been a fire at one time.

Through the rain crashing around me, I heard the whisper again. It was a little louder this time, but I still couldn't understand what it said. I walked through the open doorway and stepped over the smashed door laying on the floor in pieces. That same subconscious nostalgia hit me again, and I started looking through rooms looking for something familiar enough to trigger a memory. All the walls were burnt black, and there was debris everywhere. My heart was crying, and my eyes burned as I looked at the remains of whoever's life lay burnt and destroyed.

I found a half destroyed stairway that lurched under my weight as I climbed, and I ended up in a hallway with a few rooms to the left and the right. The floor was missing after the first door on the left, so that was as far as I could go. I walked past the black door that had managed to stay on it's hinges and looked around. Everything was devastated. I could tell where a bed used to be, but now it was a scorched pile of debris that could hardly be called a bed anymore. A blackened dresser stood intact in the corner, and an end table lay in pieces on the floor.

I backed against a wall and slid down. I pulled my knees to my chest and shivered as I rested my muzzle on them. I felt absolutely miserable. I was wet, tired, and exhausted. I wanted to cry, but felt as if crying would be admitting defeat, and I didn't want that. I glanced at the broken end table once more and noticed something I hadn't seen before.

I pushed myself forward onto my knees and crawled across the singed floor towards what had caught my interest. I pushed the surface of the table away to reveal a picture frame that hadn't been claimed by the fire. The glass was too badly cracked to see the photo held within it, so I turned it over and undid the latch holding the back on. The picture that I pulled out had had it's colors changed a little from the heat, but the image was clear. It was of a black wolf and a white, grey, and light blue husky. It appeared to be a wedding photo, as the wolf had a good looking tuxedo on, and the husky had a gorgeous snow white dress. The two were locked in a loving embrace as their lips met, the memory forever saved to the picture I held in my paws.

My paws started shaking as I recognized myself in the photo as I assumed the beautiful husky alongside me was Sandra. My emotions had almost reached the breaking point, and I knew I wouldn't be able to take much more. Outside, the storm had gotten much more intense as the rain battering the destroyed house turned into a steady hum and the floor had started shaking. I stood up shakily and walked over to the window in the room. The entire desert was blurred by the wall of rain that was hailing down outside the unstable building. The rumbling began to get stronger and stronger, and I noticed a faint glow in the distance. Soon enough, I could see a bright orange inferno approaching on the horizon. A wall of blazing tornadoes raced towards the house engulfing anything and everything in it's path.

The feeling of emptiness and despair halted my movement as my paralyzed limbs refused to move. All I could do was stand there and watch as the end drew closer. I concentrated on the sound of the rain as I closed my eyes and waited. Suddenly, through the deafening roar of the torrent outside, I could hear the whisper again. I opened my eyes again as the whisper was repeated again and again steadily getting louder. It wasn't long before I could finally make out what it had been the whole time. It was telling me 'Live, and move on.'

I didn't understand the move on part, but whatever was whispering to me clearly didn't want me to give up and die here. A loud crack resonated through the room and the floor shifted. I got an uneasy feeling in my gut as I realized the floor was giving out. I didn't even have time to leave the room before the floor split and fell from under my feet. I crashed to the floor below in a pile of dust, ash, and broken boards. I groaned and tried to get up, but I felt a burning pain in my left leg. I looked down and let out a sharp cry as I saw the tip of a nail sticking out of my left thigh. I shifted my leg and found no resistance, so I tried to stand up. The pain that lanced through my entire body made me dizzy. I yelped and collapsed to the floor once more, which sent another mind-numbing shock of pain through my body.

The whispers, which were now barely suppressed shouts, had not stopped. They had only grown louder. I could tell it was a female talking to me, but I didn't know who it was. The voice kept yelling at me, and I could see the fire cyclones getting closer through a gaping hole in the wall of the room I had fallen into. It kept grating on me until I gritted my teeth and tried standing up again.

I fought through the pain and pulled myself onto my feet, and I grabbed a nearby board to steady myself. The voiced screamed at me, urging me on, and I started hobbling to the hole. Finally, out of breath and dizzy, I made it. I leaned against the wall and looked out at what used to be a desert. Instead of the endless sands I had escaped from, I was met with a tar road lined by fire that led to a giant hospital. Cyclones were approaching fast on either side, and the rain was coming down as hard as ever.

Fueled by fear and adrenaline, I stared towards the looming building. The rain smashed against my already battered body, and the wind tore at my fur and clothes as if howling in fury. Blood had started freely flowing down my leg, and I was starting to loose feeling in it. The voiced continued to tell me to live and move on, and I could occasionally feel paws press against my back urging me towards the building.

I couldn't even see the burnt house anymore when I looked back, but the fire was closing in. I didn't have much time left. I was almost there. Fifteen yards left. Ten. All the noises blended together into one loud shriek that was louder than anything I could ever imagine. Suddenly two words broke through the blaring sounds. "WAKE UP!" I heard the voice scream behind me as the paws found my back again and shoved me the last five meters through the doors.

I shot up into a sitting position and cried out in terror. I blinked a few times as I processed that the deafening roar was gone. In fact the only noise I could hear was a TV. I looked down and noticed I was dressed in a standard hospital gown, and I was sitting in a hospital bed. I looked to the right and saw various machines hooked to me in one way or another, and the window just beyond them. There was sunlight shining into the room, making it bright and warm. The TV once again caught my attention as I heard a news anchor speaking. It was a golden retriever that looked to be in his mid thirties.

"Regarding last week's fire on first street case, officials have discovered that the fire had started in the basement sometime in the middle of the night, Wednesday, April 7th. The fire department had been unable to reach the scene in time, and the fire had already claimed the life of Sandra A. Stevens by the time they had arrived. The rescue team managed to save Sandra's husband, Eric L. Stevens, but breathing in too much smoke caused him to enter a comatose state. "

The show switched anchors as they moved on with other stories. Everything came reeling back as I remembered the fire that had taken the love of my life from me, and had almost taken me with her. I heard the whisper one more time. 'Live, and move on.'

I looked down and saw a folded up piece of paper. I picked it up and unfolded it to find the very picture I had found in my dream. I stared at Sandra until she began to blur from my view. Finally, I could let go. I pulled the picture to my chest, and I cried.