Early June 2003:
When I awoke, it was already light outside. I got up and, well, lets just say I was glad I had thought about the pot the day before. After I had finished, I opened the window and looked outside. It was overcast but some dark clouds could be seen not very far away. It was a little windy and judging by the wet look of the plants, it had rained only recently. The air was fresh and smelled good and I listened to the sounds of nature outside for some time. Then I went to the door and listened. It was quiet in the house, I guess Sarah was still sleeping. I examined the room, but there wasn't anything to hold my interest. Since I did not have anything else to do, I went back to bed. As I drifted somewhere between sleep and wakefulness, I thought about my situation here. A certain female squirrel featured rather prominently in my daydreams.
# # # # #
Sarah awoke "I sure dreamed some strange things tonight." She got up because she felt a rather urgent need for the bathroom. She tried to open the door, but it was locked. It took her a moment to come fully awake "Oh, my! I did not just dream all that. That human is really here!" She went back to the bed and picked up her gun. Then she silently padded back to the door and listened. When she did not hear anything, she carefully opened the door, checked that the corridor was empty and tiptoed to the guest room to check if it was still locked. Satisfied that it was locked she went to the bathroom.
Back in her bedroom, she sat on the bed and thought about what to do about her guest. "I don't want to take him to the authorities yet." She looked out of the window at the weather outside "Let's make it a slow day. We can talk some more." She got up, went to the kitchen and started the fire in the stove.
Just as she padded to the bathroom again, she heard him knock on the guest room door. She went there and called "Good morning! Are you ok?"
"Good morning. I'm fine, I was just wondering if you would let me out again."
"I want to brush my fur and take care of a few other things, then I'll let you out and we can have breakfast. Fifteen minutes, twenty tops."
"Ok. I'll be waiting. ... Well, not much else I can do anyway."
# # # # #
I went back to bed, there was not much else I could do, even if sleep was now out of question. It was also rather cool in the room. Occasionally I could hear the water flow, as Sarah did her thing in the bathroom. With nothing else to do, I tried to imagine what she would look like, brushing her fluffy tail. Some time later the door was unlocked. I got up, opened the door and looked out.
There she stood, wearing comfortable in-door clothes with the gun in her hand, or rather her paw, I guess it should be called. "You can use the bathroom if you want, then join me in the kitchen."
I got the pot from the guest room, emptied and cleaned it, then I did my own thing to make myself presentable.
When I entered the kitchen, Sarah was checking the fire in the stove. "Hello, Sarah. Anything I can help you with?"
"Hello. Thanks, yes" she pointed "the plates and cups are in that cupboard."
I fetched some and put two sets at the opposite ends of the table. I figured she wanted to keep the distance between us.
She asked "What do you want for breakfast?"
"Black tea with milk, if you have that."
"Yes." She fetched a second pot and put it beside her coffee pot.
"And some cereal and bread with whatever you have. I won't eat all of it however."
She giggled "Ok, I'll bring everything so you can pick and choose."
I looked at the spot beside the stove, there were only a few pieces of firewood left "We are nearly out of firewood, want me to get some?"
She looked "Yes, that would be nice. Go outside, turn left, it is stacked against the wall of the barn."
I got up and threw her a mock salute "Yes, madam. One load of firewood coming right up."
She laughed "You are impossible!"
Grinning I went outside to fetch some wood.
Sarah stood at the stove and watched the water as it slowly came to a boil "Why can't I stop thinking about him?" A tiny clicking noise brought her back to reality and a shiver ran down her spine. She knew that noise, a glance at the counter top confirmed her worst fear, the gun was not there. Her heart beating like a jackhammer she turned around slowly. He stood there, a load of firewood in his left arm, the gun in his right paw, grinning widely. His comment about roasted squirrel shot through her mind. He started saying something, but she never knew what, because then everything went black.
Carrying a load of firewood, I walked back to the kitchen. While I was not exactly sneaking I was moving pretty silently. Apparently so quietly that Sarah had not noticed my return. She stood there, staring at the water pot on the stove. "What better way to show her I'm not going to hurt her?" Two quick steps brought me close enough to pick up the gun. Then I took a step back and flicked of the safety, careful to keep it pointing at the ceiling. That caught her attention and she turned around. I told her "You should pay more attention if you are that afraid..." The look of pure terror on her face stopped me. Then her eyes rolled up and she slowly crumpled.
"What have I done?" I thought as I realized how terrifying that must have been for her. I engaged the safety, put the gun down and quickly stowed away the firewood. Then I checked her. She was breathing and her pulse was strong. I carefully picked her up and carried her to the couch. That were some of the longest ten meters I ever walked. I fetched a blanket and covered her.
The water on the stove was coming to a hard boil, so I poured it into the prepared pots to make coffee and tea. I picked up the gun, padded back to the couch and knelt in front of her. Then I hid the gun under the couch and waited for her to wake up.
# # # # #
As Sarah slowly returned to consciousness, some instinct prompted her to remain motionless and keep her eyes closed. She considered her situation. She was lying on a soft surface, probably the couch. He had not done anything to her, not yet anyway. "How could I have been so stupid?" She could hear him breathing softly, very close. "I've never been so afraid in my life! What do I do now?" she wondered.
Sarah had not moved, but her breathing pattern had changed. So I softly called her "Sarah, are you awake?"
"He knows I'm awake!" She shivered and her heart rate doubled "Now what?" She considered her options "Should I try to pretend to be unconscious? He sounded more concerned than angry." She opened her eyes and found herself on the couch in the living room. He knelt in front of her and she could see that his paws were empty.
"Thank God! Sarah you are awake! Are you ok?"
The question and the concerned look on his face soothed her fear somewhat "I- ... I think so. You nearly gave me a heart attack."
"I'm sorry, Sarah. I- ... It seemed like good idea. I just wanted to show you that I did not want to hurt you. I guess I overdid this a little. I did not realize just how terrifying it must have looked from your perspective until I saw your face. I'm so sorry. Can you ever forgive me?"
She made herself take several deep breaths before she answered "I don't know yet."
He sighed, then he reached under the couch and put the gun next to her paw. The he leaned back and watched her.
Sarah looked him and the gun for a long time not knowing what to do. Finally she picked it up. When he did not show any reaction, she asked him "Why did you give it back?"
"What else should I do with it? I never wanted to use it on you. I could try to keep it and make sure you don't get it back, possibly by threatening you with it. Or hide it somewhere and hope you don't find it. This would only make you angry with me, and then things would turn really ugly if you got it back. So the only choice is to give it back and hope that you won't use it on me."
After considering that for a while, Sarah said "Thank you.", got up, went to the bedroom and stowed it away in the cupboard.
# # # # #
When Sarah came back, he was holding her chair. She looked at him, then she sat down.
He asked "Ok, what do you want for breakfast?"
She looked at him again and answered "First a cup of coffee, then a bowl of muesli and toast with butter and jam."
He brought her a cup and poured the coffee, then he went in search of the foodstuffs. With a little prompting from her he soon had everything assembled. Sarah started eating and he fetched his own food and joined her. They ate mostly in silence, but it was a companionable silence. Whenever she needed something he got up and fetched it for her. "Hmmm, that's nice, seems he is already domesticated." She smiled at him.
As I watched her eat, I could feel her slowly relaxing. Seeing her smile felt very nice. When we were finished with breakfast, I cleaned the table and started doing the dishes. I saw her look out of the window and shudder at the weather outside. The dark clouds I had seen in the morning had reached us and it had started raining again. Then she went to the bathroom.
# # # # #
Sarah brushed her teeth and her headfur and took care of some other needs. She could not help thinking about him "He nearly killed me with that stunt. Never in my life was I that afraid. But now he seems so nice." She finished and went back to the living room. He was nearly finished with the dishes. She sat down on the couch, in front of the fireplace and remarked "A fire would be nice." and turned to look at him.
He looked back at her for several seconds, then he grinned and sketched a bow "Just a minute, Milady."
I put away the last dishes, then I picked up the box with the old newspapers and small pieces of wood and laid a fire in the fireplace. It caught well and soon I had a nice blaze going. "Better?" I asked her.
She smiled at me "Much better. Thank you, Chris."
"I'll be right back." I said and went to the bathroom to take care of my morning business.
When I came back a few minutes later, I put a few more pieces of wood on the fire. Sarah patted the couch beside her and I sat down and turned to her "So, what happens now?"
"What do you mean?"
I sighed "Well, I'm on a strange world, I don't know anybody her. Except, well, you, a little. I don't have a single penny to my name. I don't have any idea of how to go about finding a life here. Or if it is even possible. ... There is nobody who looks like me here, is there?"
"No, at least I have never heard of anybody like you."
"Just as I thought. I don't know what will happen when other people or the authorities find out about me. Will I be accepted as another citizen or will I be locked up as a dangerous threat? Or even killed?" I fell silent and stared off into space.
We sat like that for several long seconds, then Sarah put her hand on mine and said "I think most furs will eventually accept you. There will always be a few pigheads who won't. But I'll do what I can to help you."
I looked up at her and gave her a smile "Thank you." Then I stared at her hand for some time. Paw, actually. "I'm really glad you aren't angry at me."
"Why?"
I held my other hand next to her paw. Her fingers, if they could be called that, were quite short, only a little more than half the length of mine and quite stocky. And only four of them. The claws more than made up for the shortness of her fingers. I carefully tested the point of one claw "Those were made to bite into tree bark, I'd have a rather unpleasant time of it, if you used them on me."
She thought about that, then she grinned at me "Then you'd better be nice to me."
We sat silent for several seconds, then she asked "What are you going to do?"
"I don't know. For the moment I'd just like to find out more about here. From what I've seen up to now, this country seems similar to the one back on my world, but there are some differences as well. I don't think I will have an easy time being accepted here, even if I don't make any stupid mistakes."
She looked at her paws, then she asked "Would you like to stay with me for the time being? I could use a little company. We can talk about the differences between here and where you came from. Then I'll introduce you to some of my friends, to see how they react" she winked "... to an alien."
"Thank you, Sarah. I would really like to do that. And I was wondering what such a beautiful lady is doing up here, all alone."
Her head snapped up and she stared at me. Then her face clouded and she put her face in her paws and started crying.
"Now what did I say?" I put my hand on her shoulder and said "I'm sorry, Sarah. I did not want to hurt you. What did I say wrong?"
She got her crying under control, pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and cleared her eyes and nose. "It's ok, you could not know. ... I had a divorce only last week and I came here to relax and recover from it."
"I did not want to cause you pain, I'm sorry."
Sarah sat there, staring into space for several minutes, then she turned to me again and said "Ok. So, tell me about yourself, where you come from and what you did for a living."
I got up and refilled my cup, then I sat down again. "Well, I'm 34, I used to live in Austria and I'm something of a computer geek." [That's the short version for this story, I gave Sarah quite few more details.]
"So, that's me." I finished. When she did not say anything for some time, I asked "What about you?"
She looked at me, a little surprised and uncertain, but then she said "I might as well tell you a bit about myself as well. Well, I'm going to be 30 this summer. I have a college degree in Art Design, but I worked as a secretary for several years. When I got a new boss, I really started to hate that job. A few months ago I quit and found a new job, working for a local film studio." I could see her eyes light up "I make the promotional pictures and the covers for their videos. And do the art for the company web site. Best job decision I ever made." Then her eyes clouded again "Even if it cost me my marriage."
I looked at her, surprised and a little confused "Ummm, how? Why?"
"Well, it was not the only thing, of course. We've had some problems for a while before. I really liked my new job, right from the start. But as soon as I told my ex-husband about where I worked, he exploded and practically demanded that I quit this job. He hated it and he let me feel it, all the time." She sighed "Things went downhill from there. Two weeks ago we had a big fight and he struck me." I could see her pain in her eyes. "That was when I decided to divorce him. At least he had the decency not to fight it and the split went smoothly." She fell silent again.
When she did not go on, I asked "Ummm, I don't want to pry, but what are you doing at work that could be so terrible that someone would throw away his marriage with such a beautiful lady."
She smiled a little at the compliment, then she looked away. I could see the fur on her muzzle flaring out a little, in embarrassment, I could see the skin under it turn bright pink. Finally she said "I work at ZZ Studios. They do ... adult films."
Surprised, I asked "You work for Zig Zag?"
"... Yes." A few seconds later her head snapped up and she stared at me "How do you know her name?"
"Ummm ..." "She has not told me about her, now what?" "Can I ask you a few more questions before I answer that?" When Sarah nodded I went on "She is a tiger stripped skunk female and a porn actress, possibly retired from acting?"
She nodded again.
"Does she have another skunk female, someone named Sabrina, working for her?"
She looked even more surprised, but answered "Yes. Actually, I work together with her." Her eyes narrowed "How do you know all that? You told me, you did not know anything about this world?"
I leaned back and looked at the ceiling, then I answered "You know, where I come from, they are characters in a comic strip. And quite a few people have written stories about them and their friends. That is where I 'know' them from."
Sarah was apparently rather surprised by this, her mouth hung wide open. I grinned, put a finger under her chin and closed it.
"She is what?!"
"A character in a story. Hmmm, now that I think of it, it must sound funny to someone who knows her in real life."
Then I went on "So, do I know anything about them? Yes and no."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well, according to the comic, Zig Zag would be 26 or 27 and Sabrina has a raccoon boyfriend. According to some of the stories Zig Zag would be over 30, possibly as old as 34. And Sabrina has married a fox male. In one story she had only one child, in another she eventually ends up with five children. Then someone picks a minor character from one of those stories and starts writing his or her own story where that character is one of the main characters. Only a few employees of ZZ Studios are given by name in the comic or in one of the 'main' stories, but obviously there have to be more people working there. So someone creates his own character and has him work there. And so on. So, whatever I 'know' about them may be true, or it may not."
Sarah thought this over for some time "Zig has not told me her age, but I think she is over 30. Sabrina is married to a fox and she had twins this February."
"Daren and Samantha?" After her surprised nod, I went on "According to the story where she has them, they would be born this year, but in June." I paused "So, I have to be rather careful with what I 'know' of them. I don't know which of the stories is right about anything. Or possibly none of them gets it completely right."
Be both considered that for some time, then she asked "Am I in any of the stories?"
"No." At her disappointed but slightly relieved look, I explained "Most of the stories are currently in the year 1999 or 2000. You were not involved with them at that time?"
"No. I did not meet any of them until this February. I think I saw Sabrina in college a few times, but we did not know each other then." Her eyes brightened "Tell me all those stories" and she grinned "and give me all the dirt on Zig Zag!"
"Ummm, that will take a rather long time."
She pointedly looked out of the window. It was raining quite heavily. "Put a little more wood on the fire and then we have all the time in the world."
I could not really argue with that, so I put some more wood on the fire, sat down next to her and started telling her about the comic.
# # # # #
"Could I have a break, my mouth is parched and I'm getting a little hungry."
She turned to look at the clock "Oops, it's two already? We've been talking for hours." She stood up and stretched (rather prettily, I might add). When she saw my grin, she stuck out her tongue at me. "Let's fix some lunch."
I got up as well and revived the fire in the stove while Sarah went through the food stores to decide on what to cook.
"How about noodles and tomato sauce. We can put some veggies into it to spice it up a little."
I looked at the ingredients she had collected on the counter "Looks fine. But do you have any chili peppers or hot sauce?"
"No, I don't use that stuff very often." She got two pots from the cupboard. I filled the larger one with water and set it on the stove while she started dicing the vegetables. "I don't have any meat here, do you need it in your diet?"
"No. I don't need it, but I like to eat some every now and then."
"I'll put some on the shopping list. What type do you prefer?"
"Thank you. Chicken, turkey or pork mostly, occasionally others as well."
I laid the table "What do you want to drink, Sarah?"
"There is some orange juice in the fridge."
A little while later we sat down to eat.
# # # # #
I leaned back, well sated "That was really good." Sarah just smiled at me and mopped up the last bits of food on her plate. A minute later I got up "I'll brew some tea. Would you like some as well or would you rather have coffee?"
"Coffee, please."
I put some water on the stove and set up a couple of pots for coffee and tea.
When everything was ready, we sat down again and slowly drank our drinks in companionable silence.
When she was finished, Sarah stood up, padded over to the window and looked out, wistfully. It was not raining at the moment, but it threatened to start again any moment and there was a gusty and unpleasant wind outside. The clouds hung low, barely above the level of the house. Every now and then a low-hanging cloud engulfed us and completely hid the world outside. "And I came here to walk in the woods and climb some trees." she said to nobody in particular.
"Hmmm, yes, in that weather it would not be very pleasant. I'm just glad I arrived here yesterday and not today. That would have been very unpleasant." I shuddered at the thought. "Do you know how long the weather will be like this?"
"No. But we can find out." She padded over to the stereo, switched on the radio and searched for a station that had a weather report. After a while she settled on a station that promised to have news and a weather report in a few minutes and made herself comfortable on the couch.
I put some more wood on the fire, then I sat down next to her.
According to the weather report, it would continue raining well into the night and then slowly clear up over the course of the next day. After that we should have several sunny days.
We continued listening to the music and did our best to ignore the commercials.
After a while she looked up, smiled and asked "How about a little dancing?"
"Ummm. I'm sorry to have to disappoint you there, but ... I'm not good at it. And ..." I looked at my bandaged feet "my feet are still a little tender."
"Oh, well. Too bad." She looked a bit disappointed "Tomorrow?"
"Maybe."
Sarah got up and turned down the volume, then she sat down again "But you have not finished that story ..."
I took another sip of my tea, then I went on with that story on dimensional and time travel. But after a few minutes I stopped, rather abruptly.
"How does it continue." Sarah asked, curiously.
"I don't know, that's all that has been written up to now. If I could go back in a month or so, there might be another chapter. Provided the author's muse was nice to him and the rest of his life allowed him enough time to actually write it down."
She shrugged "Oh, well. But you do have some more stories, don't you?"
I groaned dramatically "Unfortunately, yes." and drained my cup. "But let me make some more tea first."
# # # # #
The weather did not get any better, so we spent the rest of the day listening to the radio. And talking . About anything and everything. The stories, our jobs, how our worlds compared and how they differed, all kinds of things. A little after ten we decided to call it a day and to get ready for bed.
# # # # #
I brushed my teeth. The rain drummed on the roof, the wind howled around the house and there was the occasional rumble of thunder. When I was finished and left the bathroom, Sarah was waiting for me "Goodnight, Chris."
"Good night, Sarah. I hope I can sleep in all this. The weather is kind of loud."
She smiled "I hope so as well." then she turned around and padded back into her room. She did not close the door.
I switched off the corridor light, prepared my bed, switched off the room light and lay down. Although I was quite tired sleep was a long time coming, but finally I drifted off into sleep.
# # # # #
Only to be awakened some time later by a very loud thunderclap. I sat up and looked around. The rain and wind had increased in intensity. Only a few seconds later there was another clap of thunder. At this rate, sleep was out of question. "I think I drank a little too much tea today." I got up and padded to the bathroom as silently as I could. I need not have bothered being silent, it was occupied. Since there was nothing else to do, I waited. Soon I could hear Sarah flush the toilet, then she turned off the light, opened the door and stepped out into the corridor. At that moment there was a flash of lightning and an enormous thunderclap. She saw me silhouetted in the light, screamed and practically jumped out of her fur. Her head hit the doorframe and she stumbled forward. I stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder to steady her "It's ok, Sarah. It's me, Chris."
She took a few deep breaths "I'm ok now. But you really scared me."
"I'm sorry. But I was just waiting for you to come out, so that I could use the bathroom myself."
"Fine ... Good night." she shook herself, then she padded off in the direction of her room.
I went into the bathroom.
A minute later I was finished, switched off the light and went back to my room.
"Chris?"
I stopped and turned around "Yes, Sarah?"
"I don't think I can sleep in all this. Would you like to talk some more?"
"Hmmm, yes. Should I build up the fire again?"
"Please do."
"Ok." I went into the living room and put a few pieces of firewood on the glowing embers in the fireplace. The wood caught quickly and soon I had the fire going again.
"Do you want anything to drink?" Sarah asked from the kitchen corner.
"Is there any peppermint tea left?"
"Yes. I'll get you some. It will probably be cold by now."
I wrapped myself in a blanket and sat down on the couch.
Sarah switched off the electric light "Is this bright enough for you."
"Nice and cozy, yes."
She padded over, handed me a mug and sat down next to me. I took a couple of sips and put it down on the low table in front of the couch. We sat there for several minutes, looking at the fire and listening to the weather outside.
Then Sarah said "I'm cold."
I looked at her for several moments, then I put my arm around her shoulder. She looked at me and smiled, then she leaned against me and draped her tail over our legs. I laid my head on top of hers and breathed the pleasant scent of her hair. We sat like that for a long time.
Sarah shifted her head a little. And I startled both of us by sneezing violently.
She jerked away from me, then she stared at me "Are you ok?"
"Yes. I think when you moved, one of your whiskers got in my nose."
She laughed, then she leaned against me again.
Then I lightly kissed Sarah's brow. I could feel her tense up a little, then she relaxed again. A little while later she moved her head and looked me in the eye. Then she playfully licked my chin. We considered each other, then I smiled and kissed the tip of her nose. Apparently this tickled her because it caused her to giggle. She licked my lips, then I kissed her between the eyes. Then our lips met. As we continued kissing and licking each other's face, we nearly forgot about the weather outside.
I was exploring the interior of her muzzle when an enormous thunderclap shook the house. We jerked apart and she barely managed not to bite off my tongue, but I could taste a little blood. Then we heard a loud creaking noise, even over the howling of the wind. We both jumped up and ran to the window, just in time to see the large tree, that stood near the house, fall. Luckily it did not fall towards the house, otherwise it would have crushed us. It did crush several smaller trees. Some of the leaves were burning, ignited by the bolt of lightning that had struck it, but the strong wind and the rain soon put out the fires.
I said "Timber!"
Sarah giggled, then she answered "Yes, Timber!" She looked at it thoughtfully and a little sad "It was such a nice tree. I climbed it only yesterday."
We watched for a few minutes, then we went back to the couch and snuggled up to each other again.
After some time we had mostly stopped kissing and just sat there, holding each other tightly. The wind and rain outside had lessened somewhat.
Sarah said sleepily "I'm so tired, I want to go to bed."
I considered her, then told her "Hang on tight." she put her arms around my neck and I carefully picked her up and carried her to the bed. I just barely managed to do it without dropping her. I carefully laid her on the bed but when I tried to get up again, she hung on to my neck.
"Please, stay." she said in a very sleepy voice.
"Who am I to deny a beautiful lady such a wish?" I thought and laid down beside her. She molded her body to mine. I think she was asleep before I finished pulling the covers into place. Tired though I was, it took me some time to fall asleep. The strand of her hair that had somehow ended up in my face kept distracting me. I could not bring myself to brush it away however.
End of Chapter 2