FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Walking through a giant hedge maze, similar to the bocage hedgerows, I find myself looking up at a darkened sky. It's either dawn or dusk, but I can't be sure which. Wandering the maze alone, I cross paths with a female friend of mine. This friend I had met through another friend, a man I was once in a band with; he dated her for several years. Standing there in a black, zip-up hoodie jacket and tight blue jeans, her almost trademarked long, dyed pink hair fluttered in a gentle breeze. She waved and greeted me, which I returned.

“What are you doing here?" I asked.

“Oh, I'm just lost, like you." She replied.

Turning away, she walked through the hedge maze with a confident smile. It was as if she knew where she was going. I wasn't sure what else to do and I worried that I wouldn't find my way out on my own, so I raced to catch up to her. When I did, she was merely walking along, her boot clad feet crunching stiff blades of grass and bits of gravel as she stared straight ahead.

“You don't look lost." I remarked.

She didn't reply, but merely continued walking. I called her name, and still she didn't answer. Becoming somewhat frustrated as she seemed to ignore me entirely, I reached out to grab her, hoping that physical contact would gain her attention. Arms wrapped around her waist, I placed my head beside her right ear, almost (but not quite) in a from-behind-hug. I have no idea if I stumbled or if it was purposeful; the dream cut away as if a frame was clipped out. She glanced over to me.

“I'll lead you out." She said, her lips curling into a strange grin.

“Really?" I asked, letting go of her.

“Mhm." She nodded. “You need to follow my lead though."

Not one to complain in general, and certainly not when lost within my own mind, I simply followed along. We walked until it was mid-day, but the sun didn't gradually rise. Again, it was as if the dream cut away to the future, but I felt weary, as if I had experienced it all. I should mention at this point that I have all physical sensations in my own dreams. This includes pain.

The hedge maze soon morphs, becoming an almost linear walkway with few junctions. It soon changes entirely, until we're walking through what looks like the yard of the decrepit mansion from Resident Evil 7/Biohazard. Passing a rotting trailer, I wonder how she knows where she is, and why I wound up there. Following silently, we walk until we reach a wall of thick brush. The brush, however, has sliding glass doors placed into it. It's a very curious sight.

She opens the door as if she were a teenager sneaking into her house after curfew. Inside are people I have never seen before, all in various stages of undress. None are nude, but all have nightclothes on. A fat man with a balding head stands with white and blue striped boxer shorts and a dirty, white tank top. A middle-aged, scrawny woman with a blonde, bob haircut and a pink nightgown stands near a refrigerator.

No one moves, but she silently urges me to be quiet, a finger brought to her lips. She leans closer.

“We need something to distract them." She whispers into my left ear.

“Why? They look pretty distracted already." I whisper back.

“Right now, but you don't want to see them if you accidentally wake them up." She retorts.

Mentally shrugging my shoulders, I conceded to her will. The nightgown woman stood very near the refrigerator but slightly off to the side. Approaching the appliance, I gently opened the door. Inside were various foodstuffs, though it was surprisingly sparse for even a lonely, single person. On a white foam plate sat several sausages in what looked like a thin pool of blood. She pointed to them from over my shoulder. Taking the plate, it crinkled and snapped, but it didn't break in half.

The people suddenly shifted, making strange groaning or grunting noises. It didn't sound like a human noise, but it wasn't that of any animal I am familiar with, including my years camping and hunting in the woods. The closest I can place the sound is the inhaled growl of a jaguar. Now worried that these people might be genuinely dangerous, I take a piece of sausage and toss it away from us. It lands with a sickeningly loud splat on the floor. The people turn and pounce upon it.

To my amusement and horror, they feast on the sausage like animals, biting at it while on their hands and knees. I throw a few more pieces and walk backward, out of the kitchen and through the home. It's then that I notice the house is an amalgam of several homes I have been in, feeling very familiar. I find my friend near the front door, her dainty hand on the knob. Turning back, she looks nervous as she pulls the door open.

Beyond the door is what appears to be more hedgerows, but now it is dark outside. Turning back, the people continue to feast on the sausage like pigs at a trough, but I can see blue daylight coming through the sliding glass door. Turning back to her, she's gone, and the night is even more black and menacing. I hear a shuffling behind me and my hair stands on end. A faint breathing makes me want to turn around, but I'm too worried. Instead, I take a single step, literally jumping for the door.

Hands grab for me and the forearm of the fat man is visible as he tries to grab onto my shirt. His grip and my momentum as I jump flips me in the air and I land on my back. Though I should be facing the door I just came out of, and the comically vicious couple, there is nothing but a hedgerow in the darkness. Crickets chirp and I turn around. Rising to me feet, I straighten and brush off my clothes and frantically call out to my friend.

I'm all alone again. However, the fear of something behind me persists, and I am torn between bolting through a very dark, linear path to see if I can catch up to her, and ignoring it; if I ignore it, maybe it will go away? As I walk through the path and wonder where I am, my alarm wakes me up.