[THIS STORY HAS BEEN TAKEN FROM REAL LIFE EXPERIENCES, TRANSFERRED TO A �FURRY� PROTAGONIST, AND POSTED IN UNEDITED FORM.

THE AUTHOR DOES NOT WISH TO BE KNOWN AS THE AUTHOR. IF YOU THINK YOU KNOW WHO WROTE THIS KEEP IT TO YOURSELF. THE AUTHOR WOULD BE EMBARRASSED TO ADMIT BEING THE AUTHOR.

MANY OF THESE EXPERIENCES ARE VERY PERSONAL, AND ARE MAJOR PARTS OF THE AUTHOR�S EARLIER LIFE.

IN THIS STORY THE AUTHOR HAS DONE HIS BEST TO SHARE HIS MEMORIES, THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS.

PLEASE RESPECT THAT.

Further private thoughts (a diary) are being posted by the author at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/damngeekyguy on a semi-regular basis.

Compliments and kindness accepted at the address above or at damngeekyguy@yahoo.com.

Flames will be printed out and used to start my wood stove.
Only a sick person would flame me for this anyways. Have a heart.]


In the emptiness of the featureless waste the raccoon cried. Tears ran into the soft fur covering his face, soaking down to the skin that would surely itch later if not washed.

It wasn�t fair! All he wanted was to NOT be ALONE!! Collapsing to the gray sand Arthur ground his face into the grains and howled, kicking and punching the sand in a frenzy of pain.

Arthur had thought he�d had a chance of escape-finally after all these years!


***
The Gray Waste was both a Place and a State of Mind�That was part of the problem.

Arthur found himself in the Waste when feeling especially lonely or �in a rut� from the daily grind of life. Smart enough to be a problem, the Curse only activated when Arthur was alone, transporting him to this horrid place. The raccoon was transported back to the �Real World� when anyone interacted with him or when mundane details (Work, Schedules, and the like) took his attention. It was not a predictable thing. Arthur would be sitting somewhere (usually home) alone, when all of a sudden he would find himself transported here in the desert of nothingness.

The only way to Break the Curse, naturally was to find his True Mate. Unfortunately Arthur was not good mating material. Overweight, with poor eyesight, and plain looks Arthur attracted the attention of NoFur�

Worse, the tortures he�d suffered at the hands of his peers in his �kit days� made him shy with strangers, especially females�He wanted badly to be loved by somefur. Arthur simply didn�t have the ability to approach a fur he didn�t know. But if he were approached he�d assume she were pulling his tail�

It is a cruel world.

***

The first time Arthur saw the Witch was in the new school house. The Furs of the town of Tah-Tawne had decided some years ago to separate the youngfurs by �years�.
The smallest furs started school in the one room schoolhouse at the center of the town, around 6 years old.

The groups stayed together until the 3rd school year, or �grade�, when the class was separated into one of the larger 4 schools in the town.
Eventually it was decided that the furs of grades 6-8 (the years of puberty for most) would have a separate school all to themselves. Maybe it was because of that one time a 14-year-old bear cub was caught in the girls room pleasuring a 10-year-old bunnygirl.

It seemed that the bunnygirl had decided to �educate� the cub in sexual pleasures. Unfortunately, while the bunnygirl and the cub loved every minute of it, the others who wandered into the bathroom because aroused by watching, hearing, and smelling the act. (Soon horny furs of all types were running to find private spots in the school to mate, while teachers tried unsuccessfully to control their classrooms.)

***

Arthur had just entered the 6th grade when he met the Witch. She was a fox, and like all foxes knew much of trickery and cleverness. Unfortunately she didn�t LIKE kits, cubs, or young furs of any type. At first she appeared to be a normal teacher, like any other, except she always had a cutting remark just for Arthur.

Arthur was confused. He�d been polite. He never �acted out� like somefurs did, pulling fur, or coating chairs with glue so somefur was stuck by their tail. Approaching the Witch, Arthur politely asked why she was so upset with him. After all, he�d not mis-behaved, had he?

The reply was cold. The Witch bared her fangs slightly in a smile, her fox ears folding back on her head and said,� I�m not upset. I don�t know what you are talking about��

A few moments later when the reading-studies started, the Witch stood up, and with a slight smile of amusement, and a twitch of her tail, asked Arthur to �move to the front of the class� so he �wouldn�t have as hard a time Understanding since he wasn�t in the SPECIAL CLASS anymore�.

Arthur�s heart sank when he heard those words. His secret shame was that in the lower grades he�d been in a smaller class because he was too hyper to pay attention to his own work. When he was placed in a smaller class with fewer distractions he�d excelled and now was in full-size classes for everything except math, which he had great troubles with.

Soon the occasional snide remark because a torrent of abuse, and the other furs in the class joined in, encouraged by the head torturer�

Daily, the Witch led her class in the tormenting of the quiet raccoon. Not wanting to attract her attention, Arthur tried behaving better and better. He grew quieter each day, and because of the torments from his peers, Arthur began to withdraw from other furs.

In class, any answer Arthur tried to give was ignored or ridiculed. Papers he handed in were graded not with seventy-five, eighty, ninety, or one-hundred percent marks, but were graded fifty-percent-correct or lower.

Essay questions were torn apart, splashed with red ink, and invariably used as an �example� of improperly done work before another �better� assignment was displayed before the room full of Arthur�s peers.

With the other furs taunting him, and his schoolwork unfairly (Arthur found later) judged, the raccoon started reading books during all day in her classes, and overeating at night. His fit physique gone, eyes weakening during his growth spurt, the raccoon became a lonely caricature of his former self.

After most of the year the cruel fox�s role in the abuse was found out, and she was sent away from the school forever, her right to teach taken away. But the abuse she�d heaped was not the last. As the school-room emptied on the last afternoon she was working at the school, the Witch looked at Arthur with a cruel smile, and then bit down viciously on her own left paw.

When the blood started to well out, she flicked her paw at Arthur, splashing drops of blood on his fur, one over his heart, and another on the headfur covering his forehead.
As the fox put the blood-drops on Arthur�s coat, she was muttering something under her breath the young raccoon couldn�t quite hear.

Once her odd behavior was finished, the fox ran off as fast as her paws could take her. Arthur thought she looked stupid, biting her own paw like that. At first he was scared she was going to bite HIM or accuse HIM of attacking HER
She must be crazy!

Arthur shook his head, and walked from the classroom, hoping no-one would harass him on the way home. Walking to his locker he pulled his hat out, and plopped it on his head, covering his headfur with the baseball cap, and started walking to the exit.
�Nerd!� a shouted voice called out, and a slap was delivered to the back of Arthur�s neck
Arthur cringed, ducking his head down so not to see his tormentor, and fled quickly.

It�s sad how much a year of abuse changes someone.

***

As Arthur grew older things changed. His status was still low among his peers, and the next two years while not being as bad as the first, were still pretty bad. What had been simply a quiet fur was now a shy and frightened one. Of the few good experiences was when he asked out Lauren, the bunnygirl who lived a few houses down. She was the same age, and was one of the few who didn�t laugh at him or look to cause him pain. And, like all rabbits, she was pretty sexual.

Never having been overbold, they�d been �going out� for several weeks, with not even a kiss between them, when one of the more cruel furs in the neighborhood-Joel, a weasel, seeing Arthur�s shyness and inexperience began to taunt him and demand that the two kiss in front of him.

Seeing no way out of the challenge Arthur reached over and planted a chaste kiss on Lauren. Joel, seeing this began to bray and laugh. �That�s the kind of kiss you give your mother!�

Seeing the pain caused by Jack, Lauren took Arthur aside and kissed him deeply. Joel, seeing this, decided to wander away, with no-one else to laugh at to make himself feel important.

Pretty soon, the two of them ended up in Arthur�s room, sitting on the bed. Removing the blue headband keeping her very long and soft ears in place Lauren looked at Arthur and waited. When Arthur didn�t try anything with her, she took matters in hand herself.

Pulling the Raccoon to her, Lauren started to nibble on Arthur�s ear while stroking the soft fur on his belly. When Arthur stiffened up (in both nervousness and desire) the white haired bunny changed tactics to bring the mating to the next level. Looking at Arthur she quietly asked, �How come you never try to touch me, Arthur�?

Eyes wide open with desire, nose scenting the sweet mating scent of the pretty bunnygirl, Arthur replied honestly �I don�t want you to get mad at me.�
Astounded, Lauren said �I won�t be mad. I�d love you to touch me. In fact I am ITCHY right now��

Breathing heavily, his hardened penis throbbing with desire, fully extended from the sheath, Arthur looked at Lauren and said (in what he thought was a suave manner) �Where does it itch?�

Arthur�s heart began beating wildly when the bunnygirl opened her legs and pointed to her crotch, and then smiled while Arthur clumsily slid his hand inside and started to finger her cunny. Falling back on the bed, Lauren�s jeans trapped Arthur�s hand and pulled him down as well. Afraid he�d hurt her vagina, Arthur blurted out �My hand was caught!�. Smiling, the bunnygirl flipped her ears back, and said �Yeah, right!�, and continued to enjoy Arthur�s enthusiastic if uninspired technique.

After a few moments, Arthur stopped fondling the bunnygirl as she moved away, and started jerking his cock. It felt wonderful! Far better than his own hand�but she wasn�t hitting the exact spots to make him cum, and wasn�t going fast enough. Arthur, so overwhelmed didn�t even think to tell her how to MAKE him feel better. Soon, the bunnygirl moved her paw from Arthur�s cock, and lay back down. Nervously, Arthur got up, and tugged the pants off Lauren�s hips, and carefully down her legs. Shaking with excitement, Arthur forced himself to carefully ease the jeans past the bunnygirl�s footpaws and onto the floor in a heap.

Soon, Arthur had spread the smooth furry little legs and touched his snout to Lauren�s sweet-smelling slit. With a few sniffs, he caught the slight odor of bunny-in-heat and gave an experimental lick. The bunnygirl lay there stiffly, her legs flexing slightly each time the horny Raccoon�s tongue came in contact with her pussy.

After a few minutes of getting orally pleasured, Lauren looked up at Arthur, her ears twitching in excitement, and said �Why don�t we �do it� now! Put it in me! I�m so wet!�
Arthur was hard as a rock, but he was also nervous. The bedroom had no lock, and his older sister, Leeta was downstairs.

Even worse, the twin-sized bed was old, and tended to creak at ANY sign of movement. �We shouldn�t do it on the bed, Lauren! It will make too much noise and my sister will hear!� Lauren looked around, and spotted the air-mattress in one corner of the room, still blown up. �Why don�t we do it on the mattress?�, the horny little bunny cried out. �Just don�t cum in me�pull out! And don�t pee in me�someone did that to me once and I didn�t like it!�

Arthur pulled the air-mattress out, and lay down on it. It being a CHEAP air mattress, it loudly HISSED when anyone put weight on it. DAMN! It wasn�t any better than the bed! �The mattress makes too much noise. Why don�t we try it on the floor? I�ll get on the bottom!�, offered the horny but nervous Raccoon.

�No.�, was the firm reply.
A couple minutes later the whole discussion was brought to an end by footsteps coming up the stairs. Arthur tossed Lauren her pants, and he quickly put on his own. A moment after they were both sitting down on the bed (innocently, they thought) when Allison, an older ferret who sometimes babysat Arthur�s nephew, walked into the room. She�d been visiting Leeta, who was a friend of Allison�s older sister Deena.

Without a mention of the ruffled clothing of the two furs, or the unbound ears of the bunnygirl, Allison only said that it was getting late and Lauren should go home now.

There ended the attempts to mate THAT night�

A couple days (and one successful mating later) Lauren ended the relationship. She wanted to see other furs, and Arthur couldn�t convince her otherwise. She simply moved on to other furs one after another as she pleased. (Rabbits ARE rabbits after all�and both furs WERE young.)

***

A time of loneliness followed. Lauren moved on, and Arthur was mostly alone. He passed the time watching TV, and fooling around with his computer. Eventually his life was nothing more than wake, go to school, watch TV/play with computer/read, sleep.

Because of his low status, and the toll of the abuse he�d suffered, Arthur was a miserable fur to be around. He spoke to NoFur. We went no-where, and did nothing. When he DID speak it was usually in hostile, impatient yells. When his older brothers came over with their mates and kits, Arthur would stay locked away in his room.
Anyone asking him a question got a curt and nasty reply, or was given an irritated sigh.

This continued on for months, with Arthur snapping at everyone, staying hidden in the small �nest� he�d made himself, doing the same mind-numbing things day after day, always alone.

Then it happened. Arthur was lying back on his bed one afternoon, bored out of his mind, when he closed his eyes. All of a sudden the bed underneath him felt warm, hard, and lumpy. A feeling of warmth surged across the spot on Arthur�s forehead and over his heart where the blood-drops had touched.

Astounded, Arthur opened his eyes and saw he was no longer lying on his bed. He was in the middle of a�a desert. But not like on TV. The sky was the same color as the dirt. There was no wind, hot or cold, and instead of being hot as an oven, it was�well�room temperature.

Astounded, Arthur turned in circle, and saw a gray colored sand-covered place of nothing completely surrounding him in all directions. �What a stupid dream!�, Arthur thought.
�It�s not a dream, you four-eyed, fat little loser of a retard!�, growled a horribly familiar voice behind him. Spinning quickly, Arthur looked around and saw nothing.

Looking around wildly in all directions, Arthur still saw nothing. A few minutes passed, and the nervous Raccoon started to relax again, suspecting he�d imagined the voice and that he WAS dreaming. It might be a strange dream�and Arthur had NO IDEA why he have a dream of that nasty flea-bitten fox bitch. Hell, try as he might, he couldn�t even remember her name�

WHACK! WHACK!! Arthur felt two searing slashes rip across his back, hard enough to rip through his fur into the soft flesh underneath. Arthur spun around quickly, lost his balance and fell on his tail. He raised his forepaws in front of his face, risked a look at his attacker.

There was nothing there. But the voice was there again, from somewhere in front of him.
�You ignorant little pup! You cost me my job, and now you think you can disrespect me? What�s the matter, poor little baby-kit got it�s feelings hurt and had me fired?�, asked the voice in a nastily sweet tone.
�YOU did it�I never did anything to you! Why did you make all the other furs laugh at me and pick on me? I didn�t deser��, Arthur countered, his voice nearly choking in between rage and tears.

�SHUT UP!�, shouted the voice, with a tone of authority, cutting off Arthur�s protests and complaints. �You ruined my career! But I�ll pay you back, tenfold! After all, I can ALWAYS find a job, doing something. I am SMART, unlike SOME stupid little furs I know!�

The voice of the Witch continued, unstoppable. �Look around you, mange-fur. How do you like the place I made ?�, she said in a suddenly calm, collected, and HAPPY tone.
�It�s just a stupid desert. Its not even the right color, you�you DUMB bitch! The sky is supposed to be blue and the dirt is all wro..�, Arthur started to retort.

�Little kit, if you knew anything at all, you would know I am a �vixen� NOT a �bitch�. Then you never were very smart. And I don�t suppose you�ll ever find out what a bitch OR a vixen is like. After all who would want to mate with YOU?�, said the Witch in conversational tones, which somehow made it hurt more.
�So�, asked the Witch again. �What do you think of this wasteland I made? I made it just for YOU after all. It�s a nice place for little baby-kits like you. You can play in the big sandbox all day��

�Yeah, right!�, said Arthur sarcastically. �You popped in my dream and made a desert. Wow! That�s amazing��
�I told you before, you mangy little moron. This isn�t a dream. It�s a Blood Curse. You know, M-A-G-I-C�OH, that�s right. Little baby-kits can�t spell. It�s a magic curse I learned at my mother�s paw. This is all real. Oh, your body stays at home. But your puny little mind will keep coming here, all alone. You can have all the time you want to think about how you treated your nice teacher so badly. OH, by the way�the only way to end this is for you to take a Life Mate. But I can�t think of anyone who�d do THAT with YOU. Maybe a pleasure-mating for an few minutes---if you pay well! But, otherwise�well learn to make some sand-castles chubby!�, said the voice, before fading away, laughing.

Pretty soon Arthur found himself back on his bed. His mind eased, he had decided that he�d had a nightmare. Then he moved, and felt a searing pain shoot across his back. Getting up quickly, the raccoon went into the bathroom, and looked in the mirror. Underneath his shirt, there were two stripes on his back, like lashes from a switch. They hadn�t been there before�

Arthur became even more snappish, now worrying what could happen from this curse. It didn�t seem to make much sense. Why would that wormy vixen want to put his mind in a desert? If he was there at least no-one could hurt him, as long as she didn�t return.
Curses (in stories) didn�t work in such stupid ways. It didn�t matter. No one liked him anyways�

Soon after this, Arthur�s mother decided her youngest kit was not going to heal with time, and sent him off to see a councilor after school. Arthur willingly went to the first session, and then refused to go. His mother insisted, practically dragging her youngest kit by the tail to the office. Having been hurt so often by Everyfur around him, Arthur clammed up, and said little.

The second week, Arthur, feeling defensive and angry, kept snapping at the councilor.
Finally she�d had enough. Pricking up her canine ears, the councilor snapped right back at Arthur, shocking him into silence. Asserting her authority, she asked questions politely, and began firmly training Arthur HOW to act with other furs again without verbally attacking them.

Knowing that if he told anyfur about witches, magic spells, or blood curses, he would end up locked away in an insane asylum. Arthur hoped it was all a sick fantasy, but the slow-to-heal lashes on his back reminded him of the truth.

Near the fourth week of counseling, the new school year started, and Arthur nervously went back. The first day he expected to be harassed by some of the crueler furs. When the first day went by, and none of the other furs abused Arthur, the young raccoon was ecstatic with joy! He ran home as fast as his paws could carry, tail flying in the wind, his backpack of books bouncing at each stride.

Racing into the house, Arthur shouted with joy that he LOVED school this year! No one had harassed or bothered him. He had forgotten how good it was to be an equal among equals.

The euphoria lasted about a week. Then all the furs started tormenting him again. It was life as usual again. At least this time the torments were spontaneous, and not coordinated by an adult�

Arthur and the councilor met week after week, speaking of minor things, but never would she get past him guards. They played card games, her waiting for a word of what troubled him that week. Nothing was said. Arthur remained evasive.

He�d bared his soul once to a �school councilor�, telling his fears and troubles. The mouse had Arthur describe what he did after school, listening patiently while Arthur told of watching TV, using his computer, and reading. Then Arthur admitted that the furs in his neighborhood started harassing him away from school too. Most of them went to the same school, and instead of seeing the friend they had once played with, they now saw a target to be tormented.

When Arthur finished up his tale of woe, hoping for some understanding from the rodent he was surprised. The mouse looked at him with contempt. �You want to know the reason they torment you? I�ll tell you!� the confidante/accuser said.
�Its because you are just a CREAM PUFF!! When I was your age�� the little mouse started telling a �war story� of his victories over larger and less aggressive furs, and continued raking his verbal claws over the hurt spirit of the raccoon. When Arthur was nearly in tears, the school councilor sent him away.
He promised himself NEVER to show his weakness again! It caused nothing but more pain.

After half the year was done, another bright point appeared in Arthur�s life. A ferretgirl appeared in class. She had dark fur, wore glasses, and seemed kind. When she first appeared, Arthur ignored her very existence. Another person meant another person to cause him pain. He already had enough troubles in his young life. He�d appeared in the wasteland again. He didn�t know why, but at times he would find himself there. Stuck there, all by himself, wishing there was even the sound of wind to listen to in the dead silence.

The first time Arthur talked to the ferretgirl, she had walked up to him at lunch and asked for a quarter. Arthur (feeling sad and lonely, fearing a joke at his expense was surly. Why didn�t she just leave him alone? �Only if you blow me� snarled the raccoon. He would see how the other furs liked it. If they were going to hate him, Arthur would give them a reason!

Instead of getting angry, the ferret smiled, let out a chitter of happiness. Turning to another one of the furs at the table, she said �Ohhh! I think he likes me!�
Within a few seconds both male and female furs on both sides of the table were in a race to get the news to the other end of the table, and tell as many furs as they could.

Arthur was confused. The crazy ferretgirl thought he LIKED her? Arthur had never heard of anyone being told to �blow me� taking it as anything other than an insult. She must be playing a cruel joke�well Arthur wouldn�t give them the pleasure! Looking at the ferret, he was surprised to see a friendly-but-shy smile on her features. Arthur�s heart skipped a beat as he thought that she MIGHT want to go out with him�No, it was just another cruel joke. Furs had done it before. They must love to see Arthur in pain�

The next thing Arthur knew, he somehow was making plans to go out on Friday. The ferretgirl was called Pam, and she was a foster-kit. Her parents had died, and her uncle had been unable to care for her. She had been placed with a family on the same street with Arthur!

Pam was much like Arthur had been, before. Quiet and friendly, and easy to get along with. They walked home together from school, and spent much time with each other. Arthur liked her, and Pam became one of the few people that Arthur would spend time with.

A few months later, Arthur met a Weasel named Jack. Jack talked tough, and was one of the �in crowd� (as far as Jack was concerned). The three of them started spending time together, sometimes over Arthur�s house, listening to music, or over Jack�s house. It was a good time for Arthur. Yes, Jack acted like the �big chief� and said cruel things, but they were all in good fun (Jack said).

As time went on, Jack�s cruel ways grew worse, but Arthur always ignored them. Jack would sometimes be around for Arthur for days on end. Other times, Arthur would call Jack, and be ignored or insulted. There were also problems with Pam�s foster parents. The hedgehogs who were being paid by the state to keep her were being more and more restrictive with her, for no reason. Soon, instead of using the money they received for Pam to care for her, they were keeping it as profits. Pam�s claws started to get ragged, as she was forced to cut them herself, instead of having the professionally trimmed.

The ferretgirl started to have less energy than usual, when the hedgehogs told her that she should eat the �low fat� foods they fed their porky overweight piglet daughter. Finally when her blue jumper fell apart from age, and Pam was seen wearing only her fur and glasses the council sent over an Investigator. It took no time at all for Pam to be removed from the hedgehogs and placed in another home. It seems the council did NOT want a ward-of-the-town to look unornamented by clothing. The furs in the other towns and villages would talk!

Just as the summer started Pam was taken in by a feline couple living a couple miles away. Arthur and Pam spoke on the phone every couple of days, keeping in touch. Everything seemed like it was going well. The Feline couple who took her in had four other furs they had adopted, and were willing to do the same with Pam. Things were looking up.

A week or two later, Arthur was awakened by laughter. Opening his blurry eyes, Arthur fumbled for his glasses, and was amazed when he saw Pam and a mousegirl (named Susie, he found out later) outside. Throwing the covers off, Arthur kneeled, facing the window. Opening the window in amazement, Arthur asked what the two furs were doing there. In response he got a giggle, and was told the two furs had run away. Arthur was amazed. He�d no idea WHY they would do that. Pam had seemed happy there with the felines�

When he asked WHY they had run, Arthur was given a giggle, and told that Susie �just wanted to leave� and Pam went with her. Then both Pam and Susie giggled again, for no reason at all. Pam was staring at him with a �naughty� look, and Arthur caught the slightest hint of a mating scent from the window.

Looking down, Arthur realized that his cock was partway out of the sheath, and had been since he�d first awakened. Whatever he�d been dreaming of before he woke up must have been interesting. Being dressed in only fur was no big thing. Anyfur could go about with nothing more than what he was born in without too much comment. Of course, nearly Everyfur wore SOMETHING to add color or style to their looks. Even the poorest of the poor could afford a hat or a bandanna.

Somefur going around with his unsheathed penis was another matter. It was both slightly embarrassing and VERY naughty. An unsheathed male made some female furs excited, and any female giving off mating scents made males �extend� their reach.
(Rabbits of both sexes were universally allowed very long �personal activities� times in schools and workplaces, and were almost ALWAYS required to wear pants.)

Arthur was starting to imagine the possibilities of TWO female furs in his bed, when reality asserted itself, very firmly. Arthur�s door flew open behind him and his mother stuck her head through the doorway and demanded to know �what was going on.�
Grateful for the position of the door, Arthur carefully didn�t turn around. His �problem� quickly took care of itself, as his cock slid back into Neutral.

At the demands of Arthur�s mother, both furs climbed down off the small roof and to the ground, to be let in the back door. Arthur put on his shorts, and went downstairs. When he got to the ground level, his mother had let both furs in, and had sat them both at the table.

When hearing that the two furs had left their home in the middle of the night, Arthur�s mother immediately fed them both, demanding that they finish every last bit. When Susie was finishing up the last bit of cheese omelet, and Pam was happily pouring the last of the linatone extract in her porridge, the questioning began. Arthur�s mother was unhappy to see the two young furs running away for no reason, and said so.

The ferretgirl was nervous. �Are you going to turn us in?�, she asked in a worried chitter.
�No. But I think the two of you should call the felines and tell them you are all right.�, was the reply. When the two furs saw they were relatively safe, they relaxed. �Maybe later�, said Susie, her jaws opening wide to release a huge yawn. On the other hand, Pam looked so full of energy she was about to burst. As Arthur�s mother led the mousegirl to her room to lay down, the ferretgirl grabbed Arthur�s glasses and ran out the back door, pausing for him to catch up and start chasing her.

The two furs chased each other in circles, Arthur grabbing back his glasses, and stealing Pam�s headband in return. Finally, worn out, both furs collapsed to the grass against each other and fell asleep curled in a furry ball. Before drifting off, Arthur worried briefly about where the two furs were running TO, since they had only been thinking of the FROM. Then the comfort of another warm fur against him brought him back into his interrupted dreams.

About an hour later, Arthur was woken up by Jack. The weasel had called for Arthur (deigning to spend time with him this day) and Arthur�s mother told Jack that the two furs were at the house. Jack, being a �ladies-fur� (in his own mind) was ALWAYS on the prowl for contact with anyfur that was female and breathing. He had walked over as quick as paws could carry him.

As Arthur got to his paws, and Pam opened her eyes and started to shiver wildly, her body warming up after sleep. �Jack, you will never guess what happened! Pam and another fur from her foster-home ran away and came over here this morning!�, said Arthur, excitedly. �No kidding. I know that�anyfur can see Pam as plain as day.�, replied Jack, with a slight sneer.

Pam got to her paws, and stood next to Arthur. �Why don�t we go back inside?�, she asked. �We should see if Susie is awake yet.�
Going into the back door, Arthur led the procession, through the kitchen, to be greeted by a yawning mousegirl walking into the room from the other direction, her fur rumpled from sleep. Ignoring the two male furs, Susie got close to Pam, and said quietly in her ear �We should get out of here. Your lovemate�s mother might call the police on us. We should get moving!�

Arthur knew the two furs should go back home, but they didn�t want to, and if the raccoon pressed the point, he knew that Susie would definitely leave on her own. Pam might go with her, for all he knew. Why did these two silly furs have to run away? Why couldn�t Pam have just come over to see him? WHY did his mother HAVE to wake up just then?!

Jack came up with a bad idea to nofur�s benefit. �There is a deserted place near my den! You two can hide there. It should be warm enough tonight in the woods near the beach!�
Arthur decided he�d better do something quick, before this idiot caused some REAL trouble. �Why don�t we go down to the �Friendly Ice Cream Place� and get something!�, Arthur said with a glance at Pam. THIS he could control. The ferretgirl chittered happily, and licked her lips, and said �I LOVE ice cream! Let�s go!�
�OK�, said Arthur. �Let me grab my wallet.� Slipping quickly back inside, Arthur told his mother where they were going, hoping she would somehow take care of the situation.

Within a few minutes, the four furs made the walk down to the Ice Cream shop, and walked inside. On the way in, Arthur mentally cursed. The payphone he�d hoped to use was broken! Somefur had ripped the pawset off the cord, and left it dangling, upside down. NOW how was he going to call the felines? If he didn�t somehow get these two silly furs back home, they might get seriously hurt! Pam might hate him, but Arthur had no choice. He didn�t want her wandering from place to place every night, with NoFur knowing if she lived or died.

Sitting down, Arthur checked his wallet and found enough money to cover them all. The girls had no money at all, and Jack said he�d forgotten his wallet at home. Soon they all ordered their ice cream (Pam wanted a sundae-she loved both bananas and ice cream, and she could have both.) Eating his Peanut Butter Cup sundae slowly, Arthur managed to kill nearly an hour, waiting and hoping that his mother had called the felines, and that someone would deal with this for him.

Finally, everyone had finished their ice cream, and were tired of sitting in the restaurant, so they all walked outside. With no place to go, Jack suggested going around the back of SHREWS (a large grocery store chain), and hanging around the loading dock in the warm sun. Soon the four furs were sitting there talking, and Arthur sneaked a glance at the ferretgirl, who smiled, and chittered in his direction. Arthur slowly moved his tail across the back of Pam�s and the two got closer to each other.

Arthur paid less attention to the conversation with Jack and Susie as he quietly slid his paw inside the front of Pam�s pants, and began to gently pleasure her. The raccoon and the ferret thought they were being VERY clever, their sexual antics hidden to all but them. Jack (trying to impress the mousegirl) insulted Arthur, calling him a geek, and Arthur (only half-paying attention to ANYTHING but Pam and her low chitters of pleasure) told Jack that he was acting like a jerk. Jack then blurted out �At least I don�t finger my lovemate in public!�

Trying to act innocent, Arthur slid his fingers from the warm spot of Pam�s love cavern while she stiffened up, and tried to act as though nothing had happened, and that the raccoon�s paw had been nowhere near her intimate regions.

The other two furs smiled naughtily, and then Susan took Pam by the paw, and led her away, out of earshot of the two male furs. Jack turned to Arthur, and slinked up close to him. Putting his paw around the raccoon, Jack flashed a randy smile, and asked �Are you two furs going to finally mate? The whole way?�
Arthur was embarrassed. He�d been seeing Pam for several months, but any time Arthur tried to mate with Pam, something had kept the two horny furs from completing the act. Somefur would interrupt them, or Pam would not be in the mood, or the hedgehogs daughter would be hovering, and once Arthur�s sister was kit-sitting and LEFT THE TWO FURS TO WATCH THE FIVE YEAR OLD KIT!

Of course, neither fur could risk any tales of them mating to the mouth of a five-year-old kit. If they tried, the kit would certainly walk in on them, and before the sun went down every muzzle in town would carry the story.

His unsheathed cock raging with desire, Arthur NEEDED to mate with Pam. Right now. Turning to the weasel, Arthur confided quietly �I REALLY want to eat her out! I want to �go down� on her right now!�

Jack walked away over to where Susan was, and said something in the mousegirl�s ear. Arthur hoped that if they told Pam what he had said that the ferretgirl wouldn�t be upset with him. They had slightly sexual with each other, but Arthur had never tried to orally please her, and had NEVER talked about their attempts to mate with anyone else.

The ferret walked up to Arthur and put her muzzle close to his ear. �Lets go over here�, she said, walking into the woods, with Arthur�s paw in hers. Arthur�s heart was pounding, his cock fully extended, and he hoped this was going to go well.
�Jack said that you wanted to �plunge your tongue inside me until I screamed� .� Said the ferretgirl without warning. Arthur�s ears lowered in embarrassment. Worried but hopeful Arthur said �Yes. I didn�t know what you would say if I asked you��
Arthur�s shy nature was warring with his desire, the desire winning by a hair.

�So�, trilled Pam, �Why don�t you?�.
Arthur looked in her eyes, and saw she was nervous as well, but she wanted him just as badly. Falling to his knees, Arthur carefully grabbed the elastic waistband of Pam�s light blue sweatpants and pulled them to her knees. Easing her legs open, Arthur noticed that Pam�s breathing was faster than normal. Gently, Arthur eased his muzzle on the ferretgirl�s groin, and eased his tongue through the fur and into Pam�s vagina.
Arthur gave a few licks, and Pam started chittering in pleasure louder than he�d ever heard before, and thrust her crotch on his muzzle, hard, nearly suffocating him.

Arthur kept his tongue furiously moving across his lovemate�s intimate places, her legs tightening and twitching in time to his motions. After a few minutes Pam let out a squeal, and Arthur felt a gush of warm fluid on his muzzle. Pulling his snout away, Arthur got to his feet and breathed heavily. Pam reached out, grabbed his head in her paws, and kissed his deeply. Arthur was slightly shocked by the tongue in his mouth, and nearly pulled back, until he realized what was going on. Pam usually didn�t like �French kissing� and preferred to be hugged and cuddled.

Separating from his lovemate�s mouth to breathe, Arthur had to fight to keep his paws from rubbing his cock through the material of his jeans. With his left paw, Arthur reached over to rub the spot just behind Pam�s ear where she loved to be scratched. Arthur was starting to get desperate, and was trying to think of a way to let Pam know he needed attention too!

Pam stroked Arthur�s belly fur, and said to his delight �Let�s do it! I want to mate with you so bad!� Arthur practically ripped his jeans taking them down, and reached out to Pam. She tried to climb onto him, but the awkward position made the raccoon�s legs painfully strained when he tried to lower his body to insert himself in her.

Twice more they tried to mate while standing, until Arthur, shamed, admitted his legs were not strong enough in that position�his leg muscles simply did not have the power while crouching down. All is did was frustrate him.

Pam asked HOW they were going to mate. She didn�t want to lie on the hardened ground, cool in the shadow of the trees even this time of year. Arthur lay down himself, his fur giving some protection from the ground, and waited, his manhood extended.
The ferret eased herself on top of him, inserting Arthur�s cock inside of her. It was wonderful! It had been so long since Arthur had mated with anyone he would have exploded in climax immediately except for two reasons.

First of all, a small rock was digging into his back through his fur every time Pam moved on top of him. Secondly, the faint sounds of giggling from the bushes. Jack and Susan had supposedly walked well away to give privacy to the two lovemates, but his sharp ears could tell they were watching from very close by.

Pam and Arthur continued gyrating together wildly, until finally, the ferretgirl let out another squeal, and climaxed. Arthur was still unsatisfied but Pam moved off his when he kept moving, saying she was too sensitive after her cum. Pam pulled off Arthur, and he asked if she wanted to �sixty nine� (lick each other until they came), and Pam refused. Getting up, from Arthur she began to pull her clothing back on.

Without Pam�s warm touch on his flesh, Arthur�s ardor cooled, and his cock slid back in his sheath. He was hurt by the neglect the ferretgirl had shown him. She had cum at least twice, and hadn�t cared about him at all! Wiping the dirt off his fur, and pulling on his pants, Arthur was about to start yelling at this unfair treatment, until the ferret chattered happily, hugged him close, and told he�d made her a very happy fur.

Walking out of the bushes, Arthur mentioned that he was thirsty and was going to buy a soda. Pam went with him, and he bought her a drink as well. The ferret cracked her can open and drank deeply from it. Arthur opened his, and wandered off to the directions of the bathrooms. Going inside, the raccoon relieved his bladder and then headed for the telephone outside the men�s room. Working from memory, Arthur regretfully dialed the phone number of the felines home, which was answered by the mother. When Arthur said who he was, she frantically said that Pam had run off in the middle of the night with a mousegirl, and was missing. �I know,� replied Arthur. �She ended up at my house this morning. I am with her now, we are behind SHREWS. But the two silly furs don�t want to go home!�
�Call the police, Arthur. Tell them where you are. They can make sure the two are safe.�, the feline said.
�OK.�, replied Arthur with a guilty heart. Pam would be mad. She might even leave him. But it had to be done. The two silly furs were going to get themselves in serious trouble!

Arthur hung up, and called the police, and told them where the four furs were at. He hoped they could quickly take this problem off his hands. Hanging up a second time, Arthur grabbed his soda, met up with Pam again, and the two young furs went out back again. Feeling the chill in his bones after the last spurt of (unsatisfying) mating, Arthur sat in the sun to warm himself. Susan came out of the wood, and approached Arthur. �Pam wants to talk to you in the woods�, said the mousegirl.
Arthur was still chilled, he had dirt ground in his fur, and he wanted to be in the open if the police showed up. �I want to warm up in the sun right now. In a little while.�

The mouse went back into the woods, and reappeared a few minutes later.
�Pam wants to know if you are mad at her.�, stated the mouse.
�Of course I�m not mad, we mated a while ago for the first time! Why would I be mad at that?�, asked the astounded Arthur.
�Pam is afraid she might be pregnant��, said Susan.
Deciding to be blunt, Arthur said �She doesn�t have to worry. I didn�t cum.�
Susan walked back into the woods, probably to tell Pam that everything was OK with Arthur.

Waiting a few minutes, Arthur went into the woods, and met with Pam. They talked about unimportant things for a while, and Jack started talking with Susan. After some coaxing, in the line of �You show me yours and I�ll show you mine� Jack convinced Susan to drop her pants. The mousegirl said that she could �only show half� and pulled her pants down, and showed the top half of her intimate regions. Jack then asked repeatedly if she would remove all her clothing and climb a tree where he could watch(?).

Susan refused this very odd request, and Jack looked like he was hard up this time. His �charm� was winning him no points this day! Arthur was wondering if the police would ever show up, and decided to leave the woods to be in the open of the parking lot. Asking Pam to follow, he said he wanted to sit in the sun again for a while. Pam didn�t want to go.

Arthur walked out of the wooded area, and sat in the sunlight for a short time. Worried that he missed the police, he snuck back inside, and quickly called again. After a five minute wait on hold the raccoon was assured that the police would be there �soon�.

Finally getting back outside, Arthur walked into the wooded area again, this time finding his companions gone. Trying to follow where they�d been, the raccoon walked around in circles searching with both eyes and nose. Giving up, Arthur started yelling for the other furs, without success.

THEN Arthur walked around the trails nearby, looking for any sign of the other furs. There was none. Depressed by their abandonment, and worried what might have happened to his lovemate, Arthur walked the area at edge of the lot once more.

While the raccoon was walking, an older hound wearing a red shirt bayed out to him, asking if he�d seen any young female furs in the area. �Why?�, asked Arthur, reflexively, in a suspicion-laced tone.
�There are two furs who ran away from home around here. I�m a detective. We received a call that they were back here.�, said the detective.
�I know they were. One of the furs is my lovemate. They ran away from their foster home with nowhere to go, and I am trying to get them back home safe. I was the one who called. But when I went to call the second time I was on hold for a while, and they must have left while I was waiting.�, said Arthur reproachfully.

At his request, Arthur led the detective to the area where the furs had been �talking and hanging out� and after one pass, the uninterested hound walked back to his car, reported the two furs gone from the scene and drove off.

Arthur, being tired, dirty, depressed, worried and in need of a bath to get the sand out of his fur slowly walked back home, hoping he would see some sign of the other furs on the way there. There was none.

When Arthur walked in the door, his mother was upset. �The police are out there looking for Pam! I heard it on the scanner. They are going to get themselves in trouble, and you with them! You can�t just try and hide them��, she said in a tirade.
�I know the police are looking for them. I was the one who called them�, stated the young raccoon in a quiet calm voice.

�I called the felines to have the two picked up, and they had me call the police. The two silly furs don�t have anywhere to go, and Jack is going to get them in deeper trouble. When I called the police the second time we got separated, and they left the place when I was on hold so long. I don�t know where they are now�, said Arthur.

The raccoon matron was surprised at her kit�s mature reasoning over the whole issue and told him. Arthur was not satisfied with praise. He wanted his lovemate back home, safe and sound.

His dirt covered fur and sore muscles finally got the better of him, and Arthur climbed into a hot bathtub and soaked the dirt from his fur, and the soreness from his body. Finally, he hopped out of the tub, shook the water off his fur, and then went to bed and took a nap to make up for lost sleep.

After a restless time of unpleasant and unclear dreams, Arthur woke, and decided he�d had enough of trying to sleep. Trying to distract himself, he tried reading a book, only to re-read the same passage six times in a row before noticing and giving up.
Watching TV yielded no better results, and neither did using the computer.
Finally the raccoon sat and listened to the police scanner in between checking in with the felines for news.

Finally at nine o�clock a phone call came in. The felines had heard from Jack�s mother. The stupid weasel had led the two furs to the woods near his house, and left them near a lakeside clearing off the woods, not too far from his house.
Jack�s mother saw her son trying to sneak snacks out of the house, and questioned him. When she heard that Jack had helped two furs evade police, and them left them to spend the night in the dark woods alone, without shelter, she was furious. Immediately she called the police, and Jack led a group to find the two furs, who had wandered off further into the wooded area.

Finally, when the two furs were home, the felines spoke to them, and had Pam call to talk to Arthur. The ferretgirl got on the phone, and Arthur apologized for turning her in, but explained that he was worried that she might get hurt, and asked her not to be mad at him for trying to protect her.
Pam said (in a toneless voice) that she understood, and that he was right to get her back home. The ferretgirl mentioned the horrible few hours they had in the woods, cold, hungry and a little lost after they left the place Jack showed them.
Finally, the phone call had to end, and Arthur, remembering the joy he�d had when snuggled with her, told Pam �I Love You.�
Her reply was lifeless, unconcerned, and horrible.�Yeah, Whatever. Bye.�<click>

That was the end of the relationship with Pam. It had lasted nearly a year, but with the act of turning Pam in, the raccoon had ended it forever. Arthur called Pam several times after that, but she was never �there� when he called.
Finally, Pam announced that she �Thought they should stop seeing each other and meet other people.�
Arthur didn�t want to, but begging her to stay would do no good. If she didn�t want him, the raccoon couldn�t force her to stay with him. It was Over.

Arthur was Alone.

***

The raccoon appeared in the Gray Waste again. It was happening more and more often. Sometimes he would go days or weeks in his mundane existence, and then something would happen, and he would be in the wastelands again. He tried walking through the waste, hoping to find a way out, an edge, or even just something OTHER than endless amounts of sand.

After (what seemed like) a day of walking, Arthur came across a set of pawprints that were fading before his eyes. The raccoon would have thought wind responsible, but there was none. Running in the direction he�d been heading in, Arthur �caught up� to a more intact set of prints in the sand. He started running as fast as he could, hoping to find the other fur making the prints.

Tiring himself out, Arthur tripped over his own paws, and fell snout first in the sand, his glasses bouncing off his head. Breathing heavily, the overweight raccoon got up, and carefully shuffled around, looking for his lenses. Finally, his paw made contact, and he took them up and placed the glasses back on the bridge of his snout.

Looking down, Arthur saw his footpaw was standing inside one of the prints. He was about to remove his paw from the track when he recognized the nature. It was his own paw print in the sand. No wonder the fox-whore put him here. This place was endless because it was a mobeius strip of hell!
Arthur raised his head to the endless �sky�.
�You FUUUCKIIIINNNNG BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITCH!!�, he shouted at the top of his lungs.
There was no answer.

***

Arthur started High School when the leaves fell that year. He hoped the NEW school would give him a chance to become more than the other furs let him be. He would NOT be a victim again. NOFUR would shove his muzzle in the dirt ever again�not if Arthur had anything to say about it!

The school-year started much like any other. When Arthur went down to the bus-stop he was nervous. There were several bus-stops here, each for several schools in the town. Going to the wrong stop and school would NOT be a good way to start the year off. Soon, Arthur�s concerns were disappeared. The bus pulled up, and he boarded it happily.

Walking up the steps, Arthur noticed the bus was full of furs from the housing complex down the road. The complex was large, and only the poorer furs lived there. (Arthur�s complex was much the same, only smaller.) Sitting in the first seat that he saw, Arthur recognized many furs he had hoped never to see again. Many of the furs who had troubled him lived in the complex down the road, and they ran together in violent gang-packs.

In fact, several of the furs were those who had ganged up on Arthur, six-to-one, holding him down while two other furs(former friends) beat him. Arthur had once been good friends with two furs named Jay (a skunk) and Roy (a badger). As they started sixth grade, the two furs changed, and started running with one of the local gang-packs. Soon they were worse problems for Arthur than those in the packs who didn�t know him at all.

***

A few months back, while Arthur was kit-sitting his nephew (Brandon, a 2-season old kit) Jay, Roy, and several other furs from their gang-pack decided it would be fun to light things on fire and toss them in the door of Arthur�s home.

When Arthur tried to face them down, and was threatened with sharpened claws, he retreated back into the den, and called the police. The police showed up, but the gang-pack fled into the night. The police stopped at Jay�s den, and told his mother what was happening, but got no cooperation.

Finally, Arthur�s mother arrived back at the den, and was told what happened she called the school, and all the furs involved were punished, as their parents would not control their violent kits at all. Thefts, muggings, assaults, and drugs were the order of the day for the members of the gang-pack.

The gang-pack caught Arthur when he was on the way home during the last part of the eighth grade. He had been riding his bike home, minding his own business, when the furs came out of the crowd, and grabbed the bike, stopping it. Before the raccoon had a chance to do anything several furs grabbed him and held him seated on it, unable to move or defend himself.

Jay, and Roy approached, snarled at him for �turning them in� and began to beat him with their paws. When Arthur was bruised and bloody, they let him go, laughing. Putting on the glasses that had flown off his snout, Arthur quickly rode away, helpless to do anything.

***

The bus arrived at the High School with no more trouble for Arthur than a couple comments. Stoically, the raccoon ignored them. If these furs were going to act that way, then he didn�t care what they thought of him. Just as long as he wasn�t attacked, he didn�t care.

A few days later, as Arthur was settling into life at his new school, one of the furs in the gang-pack decided it would be fun to torment Arthur. Being backed up by several other furs, the rat took to slapping Arthur in the back of the head as he walked off the bus. Knowing he was outnumbered, Arthur waited, hoping the furs would get tired of their sport.

Finally one day, it happened. Arthur�s temper snapped. The rat slapped Arthur in the head for the last time. Arthur, furious, leapt to his footpaws, snarled, and lifted the fur off the floor with his forepaws. Astounded, the other fur looked surprised and scared. The prey WASN�T supposed to fight back! Not when the Pack was there!

Arthur threw the rat down the steps and onto the hard ground, bared his teeth, and waited for the other pack members to attack. The gang-pack members lowered their ears and tails, and meekly walked by, and out of the bus.
The other furs on the bus cheered.

***

Arthur somehow stayed out of the waste for several months, this time. Adjusting to the new environment, interacting with different furs, life-if not exciting, wasn�t filled with the horrible �sameness� as before.
Arthur was enjoying his time, doing well in his classes, not having to worry about being attacked all day, every day.

Then he saw her. In his science class, Arthur noticed an attractive golden-haired catgirl named Marie. Noticing Marie reading, Arthur walked up, and began chatting with the beautiful feline. Friendly, but slightly aloof, the catgirl caused the room to light up for Arthur when she entered. She asked Arthur for help with her studies before class began, and he was glad to be of service to her.

After a few days, Arthur risked everything. He asked her out. In shock, the golden furred catgirl stopped grooming her coat, and stared at the raccoon, dropped her brush on the floor.
�Oh, I can�t go out with YOU!�, said the startled fur.
�Are you seeing someone?�, Arthur asked, hoping THAT was the reason.
�No�but we�we just aren�t the RIGHT type of furs for each other�, she said glibly.
Not the right TYPE of furs? �Why not? Don�t you like raccoons?�, Arthur asked, irritated.
�It�s not THAT�, said the beautiful catgirl, looking at Arthur�s glasses and waistline. �You�re a �brain type� and I�m the �fashion type�-you understand.�, said Marie.

Arthur went lifelessly through the rest of the day, running on automatic. He refused to let himself be upset by the arrogant catgirl. He wouldn�t give her the pleasure.
The unsurprisingly, the minute he was home, he found himself on the wasteland again.
Laying back on the sand, staring at the empty sky Arthur found he was as empty as the wasteland that trapped him.

***

As time went on, Arthur found himself a new set of friends. Rick, a griffin, was a shorter male fur, but very outgoing. Polonius, a groundhog, was quiet, but loyal. Jake, a mongoose, outgoing but moody, had a fierce temper.

Soon the four furs were fast friends, spending their time hanging around Polonium den. The furs soon found they had common interests in gaming, music, fantasy, and great acts of daring-do.

In competition with themselves, each other, and the world in general, the four furs spurred themselves on to more and greater acts of daring, each looking for an amusing and eye-catching act to commit. Plans to �liberate� the gigantic Town Pendant from the flagpole were made, but discarded as the police were always in that area.

Arthur was lonely, especially when he saw that Jake had a long-time lovemate, and that Rick ALWAYS had a love interest on hand. At least until he mated with them a few times, and then left them. �Rick�, Arthur thought, �Should have been born a rabbit.�

In the middle of the night, Arthur (on his way home from Polonium den) took delight in suspending an abandoned bicycle above the highway. A car approaching, the raccoon ran off, laughing to watch from the shrubbery. Wondering what the driver�s reaction would be, Arthur stifled his laughter, and hoped something interesting would happen. When Arthur saw it was a police car, he nearly wet himself. Moving away from the bushes, Arthur ran as fast as his paws could carry him, hoping he could make it away safely!
His heart pounding, Arthur nearly collapsed from exhaustion when he got to the cover of a side street. He laughed again, in between great gasps of breath.
The adrenaline was well worth the moment of fear.
The raccoon knew he was ALIVE!

From then on Arthur held off the Gray Waste by more and more outrageous acts.
Careful never to be cruel, Arthur sought those things that could be done that would amaze others. Potted plants were chained to doghouses�
Irritating singing to foil the plans of the Christmas Carolers in the Mall�
The stories Arthur had to tell each morning amused other furs in class!
In home room Arthur had made a point to try and attract the attention of Wendy, the girl in the next seat over. Every day, Arthur would come in, and tell her of the things he�d done the night before, trying to top himself, and look impressive (he thought) in her eyes.

The night before the school play (in which Rick and Wendy were playing parts in) Arthur admitted to Polonius that he found Wendy attractive. She seemed nice enough, laughed at his stories, and chatted with him everyday about the things in her life.

Arthur was all set to ask her out the next morning. Cheerfully thinking that life was looking up, Arthur went off to the play, and watched the show. It was interesting to watch Wendy show off her fine figure, and her performance was very good.

Going into the backstage area after the first show, the raccoon was crestfallen to see Wendy in the arms of Rick. It seemed Arthur�s randy companion had gotten to her first. The raccoon made token congratulations to them both on the play, and then started walking out with Polonius and Jake to head over to Polonius� den, as all the players were off to eat, and spend time together after the show.

As Polonius and Arthur were walking away from the auditorium, the groundhog turned to the raccoon and asked �Isn�t that the fur you said you liked and were going to ask out?�
Quietly, hoping no-one had heard the comment, Arthur looked at Polonius sadly and said �It doesn�t matter�drop the subject. Lets go��

As usual Rick mated with Wendy a few times, and left her. In addition to seeing the fur rut through Everyfur in sight, Arthur got to hear the angry, hurt side every morning from Wendy. For some reason she�d thought that in spite of years of past history, and dozens of furs, that somehow Wendy would mean more to Rick than another fur willing to mate with and abandon to find another.

It was something Arthur could have done without.

***

Arthur sat in the sands and sighed. He didn�t know why he bothered any more. The quest for a mate brought him nothing but Pain, no matter what he did.
Laying down on the slate-gray sand, the raccoon thought about all that had happened to him in his life. Every time he tried to find a mate, Arthur was torn apart. He was tired of being shamed, humiliated and rejected.
It was THEN he made a Decision.
Arthur kept getting hurt because he was too soft.
He would become Steel. Hardened Steel.


***

Years passed. The four furs grew older. Arthur and Rick attended college, while Jake and Paul chose to work instead. Arthur honed his skills in technical ways, while Rick turned to cooking skills.
Arthur remained alone.
He occasionally was interested in other furs, but when they rejected him, he bore it well.
�A strong fur would not let these things bother him�, Arthur thought.


Arthur got home from work, and found a message on the machine asking him to go over to Jake�s den tonight if he wanted. �Why not�, the raccoon thought. Arthur was a very frequent visitor at their den, sometimes nearly every night.

Arthur would go over, and have a couple beers with Jake, or Arthur, Jake, and Emily (Jake�s Lifemate-they had lifemated two years after high school) would sit around, talking or watching TV.
It wasn�t as exciting as some of the things the furs had done in earlier times, but it wasn�t bad.

Arthur ate supper, and then hopped in his car and drove over to Jake and Emily�s den. Walking up the stairs, he rang the doorbell, and was let in. Immediately, two kits came running up and hurled themselves at the raccoon. Scooping them up one at a time, Arthur hugged them both, before putting them back down on their paws to go play.
Arthur loved the kits. The older was named Allison, the younger Dylan.

As usual, Jake wanted to use Arthur�s car to run errands. Arthur didn�t mind. Emily wanted to go as well, but that was fine by Arthur. He liked watching over and taking care of the two kits. It gave the raccoon a feeling of being needed.
Besides, when a pair of kits wrapped you in their paws and hugged you, there was no doubt you were loved.

While Arthur sat in their den, sipping his beer, and chatting with the two lifemates, a knock was heard at the door. Getting up, Emily padded to the door, and opened it.
Standing in the hallway was Rick, just coming from Polonius den.

It seemed that the two furs wanted a small get-together the following night, and wanted Arthur to come �hang out�. Rick�s (current) lovemate, Sara, a mastiff would be there for the weekend, and Polonius, Rick, and Sara wanted revelry to excess.
Arthur agreed.

The next night (a Friday) Arthur went home, ate, brushed his fur, and then picked up Rick. Sara was already at Polonius den, and Rick decided more drink was needed. The two furs drove to the liquor store to pick up their supplies.

Snacks and a 6-pack of beer in hand, Arthur was ready to go. As a rule he rarely had more than one or two drinks, anyways. He would likely drink three at most, and the rest would be left for anyfur that wanted a drink at Polonius den.
Rick grabbed another 6-pack, and then a large bottle of Irish Whisky, saying that the raccoon �had to try some!�.
�I might�, replied Arthur. He would have one small drink of the whisky to be polite�
Besides, he wanted to talk to Sara. When last she�d been around Sara mentioned that her sister was pretty, of age, single, looking for a lovemate, and thought Arthur sounded like an interesting fur to meet.

�As the night progressed, Arthur had fun. Several furs showed up at the den, and the group began talking, laughing, and drinking in earnest. This would be a celebration remembered for a long time! Rick, while making �the rounds� began working on his six-pack, and managed to take care of five of them. THEN the griffin put down about one-third of the whisky, before his body decided he�d had too much. Abandoning the bottle, Rick went racing towards the bathroom, his stomach rebelling.
Arthur, going beyond his normal limits, had finished his 6th beer, as well as one of Rick�s before trying the Whisky. It wasn�t bad! Not bad at all�

Arthur, his �coon-sense� mostly gone by way of the beer, began to gulp down the contents of the whisky bottle, down to the last drop. Finally, with the bottle upturned over his mouth, seeking the last drop, Arthur put down the empty whisky bottle, laughing. Too bad they�d only bought the ONE bottle!

With no more drink to paw, Arthur decided to sit and chat. After all, he was here to enjoy the company of the others as well, wasn�t he?
Arthur turned to Sara, and asked about her sister, and when the two could meet.
Looking at him, the (mastiff) smiled a little smile, and said �You aren�t her type of fur! She is a�you know�a POPULAR fur�and you�well you are a good fur, but you�re kind of Geeky�you know�a BRAIN type fur. You understand.�
It took a few moments for this to sink into the raccoon�s drink sodden brain.
At first rage filled him at Sara�s lies. Then sorrow that he was alone (again) before he even was WITH somefur!

As usual Arthur�s demand for self-control warred with his desire to express. Normally the control almost always won. Of course, usually Arthur�s inhibitions weren�t warped by something strong enough to degrease an engine.
The two forces pulled and twisted at his steel-hardened defenses. Every time Arthur had been hurt, he hardened himself a little more, self-control becoming more rigid.
Arthur, a smart fur, knew a lot about a lot of different things.
Unfortunately he didn�t know much about steel.

When steel becomes TOO hard, it refuses to flex under pressure.
Instead it holds the shape it was first given.
If you put too much pressure on that hardened shape it only does one thing.

It shatters�


Arthur shouted that he�d been tricked, that it wasn�t fair!
HE was a good fur, why didn�t anyfur SEE that? HE didn�t want to mate for a night, and leave to seek his pleasure with another fur! HE was worthy, and would treat a lovemate like they should, with respect and care!
Arthur wouldn�t stand for this!
His rage began building. He wasn�t a weak kit anymore to take this abuse!
He�d grown stronger, smarter, tougher! Anyfur could tell you that Arthur was a dangerous fur to cross! He�d been beaten, he�d been clubbed, and NoFur got away with treating Arthur LIKE THIS!
THIS raccoon wasn�t somefur to trifle with! Not anymore�

The dangerous raccoon tensed up with Rage, seeking some outlet for his misery.
Neck muscles outlined with anger, body tensed, Arthur growled, lips curled back to expose sharp fangs that seemed to scream at the world for a target.
Nearby furs moved away, not wanting any trouble with the outraged raccoon.

Arthur�s rage-filled face began to distort. The fierce growling changed pitch, and became choked. Then the growl turned into a sob, and Arthur, the dangerous fur who wouldn�t be trifled with, put his head in his paws.

And began to cry�

***

Arthur lay on the dune of gray sand, rolled over, and tried to close his eyes and sleep. Of course, the blissful oblivion of sleep refused him here. The problem with being trapped in the waste was that it gave you all the time in the world to think about your failures and weaknesses.

***


When he felt like he could show his muzzle again, Arthur wandered over to Polonius den. The two danced around the subject, until finally Arthur said �I feel ridiculous about what happened. I didn�t mean to get that upset. It just happened.�
The groundhog looked at his friend. �I never thought someone so strong would break down like that��
Pretending to mishear, Arthur said �Huh? What was broken? I don�t remember breaking anything..�
�Ummm�nothing. Forget about it, fur.�, said Polonius.
Toughness and Strength, thought the raccoon, are over-rated.

***

About a year later, Arthur was over Jake and Emily�s den, rocking in the chair with the two kits, watching TV. Emily came in from the kitchen after getting off the phone with Barbara, her friend.

�I just got off the phone with Barbara. I mentioned you were here, and she asked if you were seeing anyone. I told her �no�. I think she likes you!�, said Emily.
Barbara, a polar bear, was a single fur with a small cub to take care of. Arthur had never paid her much attention before, but from the little he had seen her, she seemed like a nice fur.

From what Arthur knew, Barbara had an old lovemate named Shawn. Shawn was a pretty stupid fur, who had mated with Barbara purposely to have a cub (only because his friends all had cubs) and when he grew tired of being with his mate and cub, abandoned both of them.

Getting Barbara�s phone number from Emily, Arthur decided he would call her. He�d been alone too long, and it wouldn�t hurt to go out with somefur. At least he should see whether they were a good match for each other.

Nervously, Arthur called Barbara�s phone for the first time.
�Hello, Barbara? This is Arthur. Emily and Jake�s friend��, said Arthur.
�Hi, Arthur! I�m glad to hear from you. I don�t have a lot of smart interesting male furs like you calling me too often.�, said Barbara brightly.
This looked positive, thought Arthur.
�Thanks, Barbara. Are you seeing anyfur right now?�, Arthur asked, his nervousness returning.
�No.�, Barbara replied, sounding nervous and hopeful.
�Well, would you like to go to dinner this Friday? I�d like to find out more about you��, Arthur said.

Soon plans were made, and a few days later, Barbara and Arthur were to go to a cozy restaurant in the next town over for dinner.
Arthur drove over to Barbara�s den, over in a poor section of the town, in a similar complex to his own. Pulling in, Arthur chose a spot near the den, and walked up to the door. Arthur knocked, and waited a few minutes, and Barbara appeared at the door, inviting him in. Looking around, the raccoon noticed the den was pretty cluttered and unclean, but he wasn�t anyfur who made a big deal about such things.

Barbara said she would be a few minutes, and was fixing her headfur. Waiting patiently, Arthur saw Crystal, Barbara�s cub. The little fur was five, but had some medical problem. Her legs shook when she stood or walked, and her balance was poor. Kneeling down next to Crystal, Arthur reached out and ruffled her headfur, smiling at the cub.

Crystal smiled back, happy to be the center of attention. In a quivering, nasal voice the cub said �Ar-tur, You goin out wit mommy?�
From the sound of the voice, and choice of words Arthur realized that more than the body of the cub was affected. She sounded more like a two or three-year-old in her speech patterns. Maybe she would improve as she got older.

Besides, NoFur was perfect.
�Yes I am, cutie!,� Arthur said brightly.
Crystal laughed. �Where you goin, Ar-tur?�, she asked.
�We are going to a restaurant to eat. It�s called the �Blackthorn�. It�s nice.�, Arthur said.
Crystal ran up to Arthur, and hugged him. �You�re nice, Ar-tur!�, she said.

Barbara finally got herself together, and left Crystal in the charge of one of her neighbors. Arthur drove over to the Blackthorn, and went inside, managing to get a table fairly quickly.

They sat, and ordered drinks and their meals, and began telling each other about their lives, families, and histories. It was a pleasant evening. Nothing of great importance was talked about, but they both began to �feel out� the personality of the other.
Since things didn�t go too badly for a first date, Arthur and Barbara agreed to go out again the next week.

The next night, Arthur was at Jake and Emily�s den once more, sitting down, enjoying a beer, and talking with the two of them. He had just read a bedtime story to the two kits and put them in bed, when the phone rang.

Emily grabbed it, and it was Barbara, calling to tell Emily about her date with Arthur.
Barbara said everything went great, and that Arthur was such a nice fur! Arthur was astounded. He hadn�t done anything THAT great. They had gone out to dinner and talked. That was all. The raccoon had been polite and acted like a gentlefur, but he hadn�t done anything that a fur wouldn�t be EXPECTED to do. Arthur was happy but puzzled by all this acclaim for nothing�

A few days later, the two furs went out again, this time to a movie. It was a comedy, which Barbara had wanted to see. It was amusing, but not wonderful as far as Arthur was concerned.

During the movie, Arthur noticed that Barbara was sitting at the far edge of her seat, leaning away from him with her body. Was this deliberate? Did she not want to be near him? Insecurities started chewing on the back of Arthur�s mind, and he decided to try something.

Reaching out for Barbara�s paw in the darkness for her reaction, Arthur was surprised when her paw moved away, grabbing her soda, and taking a drink. Waiting, the raccoon noticed she kept the drink in the hand on his side.
Leaning over to be closer to her, Arthur watched. When he moved closer, Barbara moved away slightly. Backing off, Arthur relaxed and tried to concentrate on the rest of the film.

After the movie, Arthur thought he would go to the source for the information.
�Barbara, in the movie I noticed you were leaning away from me��, started the raccoon.
�Oh, I didn�t mean to�I didn�t notice at all�I almost forgot you were there.�, Barbara said.
Shocked and hurt, Arthur tried again. Maybe she was nervous and said the wrong things under pressure.
�I was wondering what you would have done if I tried to hold your hand. I wanted to, but you grabbed your drink�, Arthur said, hoping for some reassurance.
�Well�, said the bear, roughly �I don�t know what I would do either.�
Arthur pulled in from of Barbara�s den, and managed to get a kiss from the Ursine before she left the car. She didn�t invite him in.
It looked like this was a waste of time to Arthur.

The next day, Emily called Arthur and told him that Barbara had called that night, and said everything was wonderful! The bear had never been with such a nice fur before, who treated her so well.
Strange.

Emily told Arthur that Barbara had been hurt by furs in her past, and might just be feeling defensive. This behavior could have nothing at all to do with him, and Barbara might get over it soon, if Arthur would wait and see�

Arthur called Barbara and asked if he could come over. The two furs could hang out, talk, maybe rent a movie and watch it together. She said �No, not tonight.� It seemed she �wasn�t in the mood to watch a movie� and her den �was dirty�.

Every time Arthur got fed up with Barbara�s behavior, Emily would tell him that Barbara had said how wonderful, handsome, and good of a fur he was. This was ridiculous! Was this fur trying to string him along?

As time went on, Arthur noticed Barbara treated her own cub poorly. When they were all going out to Arthur�s car, Crystal was lagging behind because of her trouble walking. Turning to Crystal, Barbara snarled �Hurry up, you moron!�.
To Arthur, this was NOT right. No cub should be mistreated.
�Don�t you think your being a little hard on her? She�s having trouble walking!�, the raccoon chastised the bear.
�Well, if she wasn�t so fucked up, she wouldn�t have trouble, would she?�, snapped Barbara.
Arthur picked up the cub, and hugged her, before strapping her into the seatbelts, saying nothing.

The three furs got to the store where Barbara had wanted a ride to, so she could go and shop. Walking in, Arthur held Crystal�s hand so she would not be in danger in the parking lot. Barbara generally didn�t seem to care about the possibility, which disgusted Arthur.

Inside, they were walking the aisles, with Arthur holding Crystal, sharing his soda with the cub, when a fur Barbara knew walked up. Greeting the other female fur, Barbara mentioned that she was shopping for some clothes. The (animal) glanced at Arthur, and Barbara introduced him.
�This is my friend, Arthur.�, she said.

Friend? Was she embarrassed to be seen with him? What the hell was this bullshit?!
Keeping his expression neutral, Arthur waited until the other fur left.
Walking alongside Barbara, Arthur watched the crowds, waiting for a moment of privacy to ask this ignorant bitch of a bear what the fuck her problem was!
Seeing a CD she�d wanted, Barbara pointedly admired it. Then she said something that stunned the raccoon into speechlessness.
�I�d like to mate with a black bear, so I can have a half-breed cub! All my friends have them!�
Arthur bought the CD for her.
�Consider it a parting gift.�, he thought.

Arthur dropped Barbara and Crystal off at their den. The raccoon didn�t turn off the car, and didn�t even look in Barbara�s direction. She failed to notice.
As she exited the car, and walked into her den, Arthur thought about the past month he�d spent in her company. THEN he realized something.

Every time he had wanted to spend money on Barbara she was around.
Any time he simply wanted her company she wasn�t in the mood.
Fucking whore!

Ears folded back, teeth bared, Arthur turned the radio on, and popped in a CD, and put the volume up.
Slamming his right footpaw on the accelerator, the raccoon sped off, tires screeching, engine screaming under the load he put on it.
How DARE that ugly bitch try that shit with him? Who the fuck did she think SHE was anyways??

Twice, Arthur had to force himself at the last minute to cut the wheel, and pull the car back on the road, away from the mailboxes he�d been aiming at.

Hitting REPEAT on the CD player, Arthur wanted to destroy every piece of the landscape he could. He wanted to make the world look like he felt. Turning up the volume to maximum, Arthur felt a beat like a war-drum through his entire body, ears hurting from the sound, as he listened to the same song again and again.
��Hate! Hate! I'm your hate�I'm your hate when you want love�pay�pay�pay the price�pay, for nothing's fair��

***


Arthur gave up. Sitting in the wasteland, on top of his �favorite� gray colored dune, he decided to stay. How did the song go? �Riding in the desert on a horse with no name, cause there ain�t nobody for to give you no pain�?

Fuck them all. He had his desert. And he didn�t need a god-damned horse either.
Maybe he WOULD try playing in the sand.

Arthur lay back down, staring at emptiness of the endless sky.
He was sick and tired of playing �Taunt the raccoon� with the world.
�Yes, furs, step right up! Stick the �coon in the heart and win a cupie doll!�, Arthur whispered to himself.

As far as he was concerned, that game was OVER!

Closing his eyes, Arthur gave �the bird� to the grayness above his head.
�Kiss my ass, you cum-guzzling fox-whore.�, Arthur said wearily.


***


Surfing the net, Arthur heard a fur scream out �Hail to the King, Baby!� from the speakers. Arthur had set his email to play sound clips to tell him where the mail came from. Clicking with the mouse, the raccoon deftly shrunk down one window and brought the email program to full size.

�You have Mail! - Date-A-Fur.org - From:LonelyFurYou@ Date-A-Fur.org� exclaimed the subject line. Recognizing the sender as somefur he had emailed Arthur decided to open the message.

It had been two years since the raccoon had last been with Barbara. For a long time he had wanted nothing to do with going out with anyfur. There are only so many times one can stick their paw in a fire without wanting to avoid the pain.

The raccoon realized in time that there is only so much appeal in sitting alone in your den, rotting away.

Not liking hanging out at bars or nightclubs, Arthur thought he would try meeting furs on the internet. That way we could get to know a fur before getting involved. Maybe he would attract better class of people that way.

During the next two months, Arthur wrote and rewrote his profile on the �Date-a-fur� service. It became a daily ritual to make changes, trying to find the �perfect� way to describe himself. Even so, the raccoon didn�t trust the profile. After all�how COULD he accurately describe himself? Didn�t he have a pretty big lack of objectivity ?

What if his profile listed more of what he �wanted� to be instead of what he was? Wouldn�t that be dishonest?
Finally, realizing that as some point you have to �shoot the engineers and put it in production� Arthur put the profile up, deciding it was good enough.

Setting up his OWN search for that �perfect fur� was easier. Sex of Fur wanted? FEMALE Distance? 25 MILES OR LESS Species? ANY Color of Fur? ANY Has Cubs/Kits/Youngfurs ? ANY Wants cubs/kits/youngfurs? YES Lifemated before ? ANY Education ? ANY

Checking the �Matches� that were provided, Arthur was a bit disappointed. It seemed some furs were VERY exact in what they wanted, and provided a �list�. Not surprisingly, most wanted a handsome fur with plenty of money.

Other furs Arthur just found odd. WHY would anyfur be interested in somefur who said in the first line that �I want to be spoiled� ? Mystified at the idea anyfur might want such a selfish sounding female in their life, Arthur clicked NEXT MATCHES.

The raccoon went through profile after profile. It didn�t make sense. Some furs just listed things like �I am a badger lady, age 34, who wants a companion.� How would anyfur know anything about you with THAT? Besides, wasn�t EVERYFUR on the Date-a-Fur website looking for companionship?

Looking down the list, Arthur saw an entry that caught his eye.
�Shy raccoon seeks companion - role-playing gamer preferred�.
Arthur clicked on the entry, and began to read.

�Shy raccoon seeks companion - role-playing gamer preferred

This is my first time trying to meet other furs on here so be gentle, ok?
I am a raccoon, age 24, never married. I work as a secretary in a accounting company. In my own time, I read fantasy books, play role playing games, write poetry, and run to keep in shape.
I am shy with new people so I want to be friends first if that is ok.

LonelyFurYou�

Arthur was amazed at seeing this single lady available. The hobby of role-playing was notorious for being filled with single male furs. Any female fur involved in gaming was almost always either married, seeing somefur, or undead. (In some cases being undead made no difference, as the fur would still be approached constantly.)

Writing a letter politely introducing himself, Arthur tried to describe himself as accurately as he could, as nicely as he could, and asked if she would be interested in talking, and included his profile which described his likes, dislikes, living habits, and other details like that.

The two raccoons began talking through email several times daily (by LonelyFurYou�s request who was uncomfortable giving her phone number to someone she didn�t know well.)

Arthur, wanting to show interest in Pauline�s (LonelyFurYou�s real name) interests wrote a haiku dedicated to the pleasure her words gave him when opening the mail.
The seemed to please her very much, and she wrote haiku back in a similar vein of thought.

After two weeks Arthur thought he would see if Pauline was willing to talk on the phone, and then meet when she was comfortable. It was safe, Arthur decided, because with the amount of emails that were sent (5-8 daily) any young fur looking to tease a lonely raccoon would have lost interest.

Just as he was about to send the message, and email came in for him. Pauline apologized, but she said she �had too many things going on in her life for a relationship right now.�

WHAT! If that was true, then why did she bother signing up on Date-A-Fur ? When Arthur wrote back, asking to know Why, Pauline responded, and sounded hurt. She thought that �Arthur of all people� would �understand.
Arthur decided to be a gentlefur and apologize, before dumping �LonelyFurYou� in the ignore list.

Arthur was more disappointed and confused than hurt. After all, they had not even met.
What was wrong with these furs?

***

The next few furs Arthur wrote to were a mixed lot.
One filled out nothing on her profile at all, other than she was a �Female groundhog�, gave her age, and location, and said she �hoped to meet some nice furs.�

When Arthur wrote her, she replied back was nasty. �You are NOT my type.�
All the raccoon had to say was �Tell people what your type IS, moron, so we aren�t guessing!�

Another fur started out polite, and seemed nice. THEN her letters began to be filled with the exploits of her separated Lifemate and his new girlfriend.
Arthur politely broke off contact, saying he felt they might not be a good match, and good luck. THIS raccoon was not going to play therapist.

Then Arthur met Sandy online.
From the start she seemed friendly, had the personality type he thought suited him, and had an interest in some of the same things Arthur did, such as animation.

After talking on the phone, Arthur and Sandy agreed to meet. They made plans to meet at the Shopping Complex, which been build at the edge of Tah-Tawne�s territory.
Driving down, pulled in and waited on one of the benches, nervous.

One of Sandy�s quirks was that she hated pictures, and had steadfastly refused to provide one for him. Arthur, deciding to be bold, had given one of himself, so at least SHE knew what HE looked like.

Finally, a dark haired badger approached Arthur, and looked at him with curiosity.
�Arthur, is that you? I�m Sandy!�, she asked.
Relieved, Arthur replied, �Yes, that�s me! I was a little worried when you were late. I was afraid you saw what was coming, and take off!�, only half joking.

The two furs decided to go down to one of the restaurants, and have dinner.
Soon they were seated together, and were telling each other about themselves, their histories, and likes and dislikes.
Sandy, it seemed, had a love of furniture. She liked to collect fine pieces, especially unique ones, and try and match them up, making a room look nice.
Arthur, who as long as his chairs didn�t break, ignored them, was amazed about how much there was to a table, bed or nightstand.

They talked until finally, surprised at the time, they were thrown out of the restaurant by the workers who wanted to clean up and go home. The two furs made plans to go out again soon, and Arthur made sure to call her afterwards to find out whether she enjoyed herself. (She had.)

As they continued to see each other, Arthur noticed a strange pattern.
One time she would be delighted to see him, and another time she would be almost rude.

Then during conversations, the raccoon noticed she began mentioning how her old lovemate had treated her badly, and disrespected her. Her descriptions were close to some of the behavior HE was getting. When Arthur mentioned this to Sandy, she said he was imagining things�if she was rude, she didn�t mean it�she was sorry.

Finally, at Sandy�s home, when she kept mentioning that �her old lovemate used to have to keep her in line� the raccoon didn�t think she was joking. THIS wasn�t anything HE wanted in somefur!

Arthur decided he wanted out.
He had no wish to watch over an adult fur, be abused for his troubles, who seemed to want to be ordered around.

Like a gentlefur, he only said they �lost interest in each other.�
The badger had enough toys in the attic without Arthur heaping on any more.


***

Arthur hid his profile on Date-A-Fur. He was in no mood to search for a lovemate right now. So far, he�d dealt with not one but TWO abused and abusive furs. At least the second fur didn�t have a cub to neglect�

Arthur did his best to keep busy, which distracted him from anything but the present�

As the months passed, his disappointment faded, and he grew lonely once more, tired of drifting through a world by himself.

***

Arthur logged in, checking his profile, and reactivating it.

Then he clicked �Check Matches�. Soon a list of other furs began scrolling by.
Several furs looked interesting. One shrew claimed to have a hobby in medieval history.
Arthur wrote her. He received back a friendly reply, and everything sounded positive, for once.

Arthur waited several days for a reply to his email.
There was none. He re-sent the message wondering if the mail had gotten �lost� while traveling to it�s destination.
No reply.

For the next month, the pattern continued.
Somefur would seem interesting, and Arthur would send an email. He would sometimes get no reply at all. (Rude!)
Other times, he would get a reply, saying she was not interested.

Arthur understood those. If someone was honest, polite, and upfront, it spared Everyfur bad feelings later on.

For the next two months, Arthur send emails to others, usually getting a friendly and positive reply. THEN THEY WOULD NOT RESPOND AT ALL!
That infuriated Arthur to no end.
The raccoon could take being told other furs weren�t interested. He didn�t mind if a female said they were a bad match after a few exchanges. BUT Arthur could NOT stand being ignored!

A hedgehog wrote Arthur, asking if he were interested in talking. Looking at her profile and picture, Arthur noticed she was VERY fat. Beyond overweight. Obese.
Unattracted to this fur, Arthur decided to be polite. After all it would cost nothing.
He said he was willing to talk to anyfur and get to know them.

He got not reply. Arthur was relieved in one way, but insanely angry in another.
He wasn�t attracted to the hedgehog at all�but to have HER ignore HIM made Arthur absolutely insane with fury!!
And it wasn�t just hedgehogs! These female furs were running around ignoring males whenever they felt like it, without any consideration for anyone!
Arthur checked the �Date-A-Fur� message boards, and saw MANY other males with the same problem.
Arthur would NOT put up with this disrespect!

***

Arthur saw a profile on �Date-A-Fur� that looked interesting. It was a raccoon lady (BushyTailedLady) who shared many of the same interests as Arthur. She lived very close, wanted to �take a relationship slow�, liked much of the music Arthur did, and generally seemed nice.

Arthur wrote to her, and very soon got a reply back, telling him about her love of walks on the beach, animation, fantasy books, �fantasy art� and her kit.
This sounded positive!

Arthur wrote her back, and waited for a reply.
And waited.
And Waited.

Finally after four days, Arthur re-sent his message in case it had gotten �lost� in transmission.
No reply.
Checking the �Date-A-Fur� website, Arthur had noticed that every day that �BushyTailedLady� had activity listed on her account within the past day.
Irritated, he sent the message again, and waited another day. He was in his rights to AT LEAST expect a �sorry, not interested� from her!
The next day, Arthur checked the activity. Of course, it said there had been MORE activity with the day! This was an outrage! WHAT was wrong with these furs? Was the email going through?

Arthur called the �Date-A-Fur� technical support.
�Hello, I�ve been writing to another fur, and I sent some emails, and didn�t get a response.�, Arthur told the tech. �I wanted to see if they got lost while being anonymized.�
�Ok, sir, we�ll need your �Date-A-Fur� account name, and the address you were sending to.�, said the technician in a bored voice.
Arthur gave the info to the tech and waited.
�Yes, Arthur, I see you sent email on the 10th, the 14th, and the 19th. All those emails were delivered to the receivers email account without issue.�, the technician told Arthur.
�Thank you.�, the raccoon replied quietly.
This meant only one thing! He was being ignored.
Arthur HATED being ignored. He could not STAND it.
And he wouldn�t!

***

Arthur opened his email program. He wished he had her phone number so he could TELL her what he thought. Well, she might erase this before reading it, but Arthur would have his say!


�To: BushyTailedLady@Date-A-Fur.org
From: ArthurRaccoon@Date-A-Fur.org
Subject: None


This is the last email you will receive from me.

I find your behavior rude, insulting, disrespectful, cruel, and cub-like.

If you were not interested in talking, the Polite thing would be to say �Sorry fur, I don't think we are a match� instead of ignoring emails that are sent.

Leaving somefur without a response makes them wonder if A) The email got there B)If there are near the computer at all C) If they ARE responding and YOU haven't received the mail D) If the whole thing is a "gag" listing for somefur to get a cheap laugh at a certain raccoon�s expense.

I checked with �Date-A-Fur�. All my emails have gone through and have been delivered without error.

While waiting for a response, a quick look at your match account shows �Last activity -within 24 hours�. If you are logging into DAF, you must be near a computer. Ergo, you certainly have gotten your mail.

I'll tell you this right up front-- The picture you posted shows a very attractive raccoon, with a sweet smile, and a beautiful coat.

Too bad that beauty doesn�t go beyond the fur.

The Pissed Off

Arthur.�


Arthur was angry still, but he felt satisfied. He told that mangy raccoon off! THAT would teach her to treat a fur so rudely!
�It was too bad. She had seemed nice in the first exchange. Too bad she turned out to be such a bitchy fur.

Arthur was slightly disappointed, slightly angry, and very self-satisfied after telling that fur what he thought.
Until he got the response.
He�s expected a �fuck you, geek!� or maybe �Kiss my ass, loser!�.
It was far worse.

FROM: BushyTailedLady@Date-A-Fur.org
TO: ArthurRacoon@Date-A-Fur.org
Subject: RE: None


Look, fur, you don�t know this coon and I don�t like you accusing me of ignoring you. My kit has been ill, and I have been spending my time dealing with that. You seemed like a nice raccoon but I don�t like anyfur accusing me of things I didn�t do.
As for �Date-A-fir� I haven�t been on there in 3 weeks so I don�t know what you are talking about.
Respect? You�ve just shown me a pretty big lack of respect yourself, fur.
I�m sure I�ll fine a RESPECTFUL fur on Date-a-fur who won�t act like such a kit himself.

BushyTailedLady


***

Arthur screamed in frustration so loud the echo bounced off the walls of his den.
This time it was his OWN FAULT!

Arthur �flipped off� the computer screen just as he found himself sitting not in his office chair, but on a sand dune of gray sand.

DAMNIT! WAS EVERYTHING A FUR DID JUST USELESS? Why did all this bullshit happen to ONE RACCOON?

What the fuck did Arthur ever do to deserve this? He never did anything to anyfur!
He wasn�t looking for a lot out of life�a decent job, some friends�and someone to care for, and be cared for him in return.

He didn�t need a fur pretty enough to turn heads, or one with money.

Frustrated, Arthur began to kick the sand of the dune, screaming wordlessly.
He continued kicking at the sand, until, exhausted, Arthur missed the ground with his kick, and overbalancing, fell on his tail, his other foot twisting under him as he fell.

The raccoon screeched in as the muscles in his toes were pulled, and pain shot up his footpaw. Holding his injured footpaw gingerly in his forepaws, Arthur bared his teeth in frustration! This wasn�t fair! It just WASN�T FAIR!! IT WASN�T FAIR!!!

Releasing his injured footpaw, Arthur began to punch the dirt as hard as he could.
WHY did this always happen to Arthur?? WHY? He�d done everything he was supposed to! He tried to be polite! He was truthful! He�d never cheated on a female or used her for money, or mistreated her! Why was ARTHUR the raccoon who was always alone when all those abusive furs were getting two and three females at one time?!

WHY was Arthur sitting here in a fucking DESERT! Why? Why? WHY!
Arthur should have lived his life, happy, without ever dealing with that fox-whore!

WHY THE FUCK DID HE KEEP COMING BACK HERE! THERE WAS NOTHING AROUND!! ARTHUR WAS SITTING HERE IN THE FUCKING DIRT, ALONE, ROTTING AWAY WITH NOTHING TO DO AT ALL!

WAS HE SUPPOSED TO GO MAD FROM BOREDOM????

�was he supposed to be alone forever?�

That thought tore apart Arthur�s self-control. His emotions welled up, and cracked through the surface so strong like a kit after a punishment, Arthur wiped his puffy eyes dry, and carefully wrapped his footpaw with his shirt to ease the strained toe muscles.

There was no point to getting upset.
Life was what it was, and complaining did nothing for anyfur.

�Maybe�, Arthur thought, �Someday I�ll meet some fur will brighten this existence, who cares what I think and feel, and would want a fur like me in her life��

Pricking his ears up, Arthur heard a sound from beyond the waste out of the speakers of his computer.

�Hail to the King, Baby!�


End.

Copyright 2001 by DamnGeekyGuy


*edited so it fit the damn screen*

[This message has been edited by Suziegirl (edited 12-10-2001).]

Umm... I'll read that when I have a couple of weeks free. I think it will take that long.

Why not put that up on the web (as you have a web site anyway) and just post the link to the board ?

Just an idea...

- Magician