Part Four
“Hewwo, mummah!” Snowball said cheerfully, and Alice winced at the sound, and from the bright light coming through the saferoom window. What had happened to the days when she could drink all night and feel fine the next day? She wasn’t that old yet, was she?
She looked around the saferoom and noticed that Buddy was still asleep. Well, that was something to be relieved about; he seemed so tired, but he slept so little and so poorly, it was concerning. “Shhh…” she hushed Snowball. “Buddy is still sleeping. I think we should let him sleep in a little.”
“Otay, mummah,” Snowball replied in the sort of half-quiet pseudo-whisper fluffies used. “Nummies soon?”
“I’ll get them now, but don’t wake Buddy up for a while. He hasn’t had much sleep recently, and I think he needs the rest.”
“Otay! Tank 'ou, mummah.” Snowball seemed to have already forgotten about being quiet. Even among fluffies, she seemed to be absent-minded.
…
Buddy awoke to the sound of Snowball eating and the smell of breakfast, but he still felt sleepy. His head hurt, but after barely eating the previous evening due to his lack of appetite, he was starving. He opened his eyes, and was immediately confused. Why was Snowball eating now? It was still dark-time!
“Wai am Snowbaww habin’ nummies nao? Nu am bwight-time yet.”
“Wut am mmmmph!”
Buddy couldn’t see it, but their mummah, reacting quickly, had covered Snowball’s mouth, silencing her. He looked around in confusion, but it was still pitch dark in the room. Not even moonlight or the light of the streetlamps thinned the darkness.
“Buddy, Snowball was just very, very hungry and needed a midnight snack. Go back to sleep.”
“Otay.”
He lowered his head and the sleepiness overcame him immediately. As he drifted off to sleep, he wondered how Snowball was eating in the dark. Something felt wrong, but he couldn’t figure out what.
…
Fuck fuck fuck! What’s wrong with him now? Did the vet miss something? Alice was frantic as she packed Buddy into the car as carefully as she could to avoid waking him up. The sleepy-time patch she’d placed on his nose would probably keep him asleep, but she didn’t need him waking up and panicking. She was doing enough of that for both of them.
From the moment he’d woken up it was clear that something was wrong, and her worst fears had been confirmed with his question. He couldn’t see. She’d barely managed to prevent Snowball from saying anything that’d have terrified him.
Why, though? She couldn’t think of anything that could have damaged his eyes, and she’d had him checked over multiple times, so there shouldn’t have been any underlying issues. Was there something subtle enough that the vet hadn’t been able to find it? He’d been feral for a while, so there were so many things it could be.
Almost as an afterthought, she made a phone call as she got into the car. Hopefully everything would be fine, but she wasn’t going to make it to work today. Why can’t anything ever go right?
Buddy knew something was horribly wrong as soon as he woke up. He wasn’t in his nest, but he couldn’t see where he was. He was in utter darkness. Moving a bit, he felt walls on both sides.
“Wai am Buddy in sowwy-box? Buddy nu nyo wut du, bu’ Buddy am sowwy!”
“You’re not in a sorry-box. Don’t worry about it, just go back to sleep.”
The fear in worry in the words jarred him fully awake. He pushed forward, and felt the bars of the fluffy-carrier. Now that he was awake, he recognized the scent of the FluffyMart. The FluffyMart with the glaringly bright lights. Lights he couldn’t see.
“SCREEE! Buddy nu can see!”
“Buddy, just relax. You’re going to be fine.”
“Pwease, mummah! Gib seein’-pwaces baek! Buddy wiww be gud fwuffy! PWEASE!”
He heard footsteps approaching, which only made him panic more. He needed his eyes! He needed to be able to see! He frantically scrabbled about in the carrier, making it rock back and forth a bit. All the fear he’d developed in his time as a stray came back, deepened by the loss.
“Excuse me, but you’re fluffy is making the others frightened,” a shy, withdrawn woman’s voice came from in front of him.
“I’m sorry. He’s scared because he woke up this morning and couldn’t see.”
“Did you give him alcohol?”
“I looked it up and it should be fine, and he had a bad day yesterday so I thought it might help.”
“Oh, well, that explains it.” The voice began speaking closer to Buddy’s level. “Don’t worry, you’re going to be fine. Sometimes seeing-places don’t like silly-wawa, so they get angry and don’t work for a little while.”
“So,” the voice resumed speaking to his mummah. “Woolifluffs are distinct enough that a lot of general fluffy knowledge doesn’t apply to them, especially stuff like medication. He’ll probably be fine.”
“I didn’t know that. Thank you. Sorry, Buddy, I didn’t mean to make this happen.”
“Honestly, this is probably for the best. Fluffy-specific pain medication can kill a woolifluff, so this is one of the better ways to find this out. Well, looks like he’s calmed down a bit.”
“I still want to have him checked out. No offense.”
“Nothing wrong with being extra careful. I appreciate seeing owners who care that much. I’m Lisa, by the way. I more or less take care of the front of the store during the morning, since we’re usually not busy.”
“Thank you so much! I was almost as scared as he was. I don’t know what I would’ve done if…”
“Don’t mention it. I’m happy to help.”
…
“Bring him back if he still can’t see after a week. Other than that, he seems fine. I wouldn’t worry about it, fluffies bounce back pretty fast from this kind of thing.”
Buddy felt his heart drop. A week? That wasn’t just one forever, it was two, maybe even many forevers! How could he live that long without his eyes? He trembled, and tears began to soak into his face fluff once more.
“It’s ok. You’re going to be fine.”
“Buddy wan see! Nu wan be nu-see fwuffy!”
“Don’t worry, little guy,” the vet reassured him. “You’ll probably be back to normal sooner than that. Usually it takes less than a day.”
Buddy sobbed. How could they understand? It’d only been less than one bright-time, and already the fear of the darkness he couldn’t escape was nearly unbearable. The engineered phobia of darkness, meant to keep fluffies safe, was scratching at his mind. He could tolerate the night, with the dim light of the streetlamp, but this complete darkness was horrific!
…
On the drive back, Alice tried to talk to Buddy, to distract him from the terror he was no-doubt feeling. She talked about random things, things a fluffy might find interesting or funny. She offered him extra sketties, which worked for a moment before he returned to cowering in the back of the carrier.
“Mummah?” his tone was plaintive.
“What is it, Buddy?”
“If seein’-pwaces nu wowk 'gain…”
“Don’t worry, they’ll be fine.”
“Mummah. If Buddy nu can see 'gain, can mummah hewp Buddy wike hewp babbeh?”
“NO! Buddy, you won’t need that, I promise! Your eyes will be fine!”
“Mummah, pwease.”
“Buddy, that won’t be necessary. I know you’ve been through a lot, but you need to try to be more optimistic.”
“Otay, Buddy wiww twy.”
…
Buddy’s vision ended up mostly returning by that evening. Rather than running around to celebrate, however, he ended up hugging Snowball as he drifted off to sleep again, exhausted from the frightening morning. Once he was asleep, however, Snowball gently got up, walking out of the saferoom to find their mummah.
“Mummah?”
“Yes?”
“Snowbaww am scawed.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Snowbaww am scawed fow Buddy. Nu nyo wai Buddy onwy git huwties and scawies. Nu undastan’ wai wowd am meanie tu Buddy. Nu am bad fwuffy!”
“Sometimes, things just happen, Snowball.”
“Bu’ nu am faiw!”
“I know, but that’s just how it is.”
“Nu wike. Wai gud fwuffies git huwties an’ saddies?”
“I wish I knew, but there just isn’t an answer.”
“Mummah?”
“What is it?”
“Pwomise mummah wiww nebah gib Buddy owwies ow saddies? Buddy hab tuu many owwies awweady.”
“I promise I’ll do my best not to hurt him, Snowball.”
“Tank 'ou, mummah. Nu wan speciaw-fwiend tu hab mowe huwties.”
“Wait, special-friend? Already? I thought…”
“Am mummah angwy?”
“No. Not at all,” there was a smile on Alice’s face.
Maybe he’s not quite as close to giving up on life as I thought.
Part Six
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Hmm, does Buddy know about this special-friend upgrade or will this be a nice surprise for him?
Either way, I can see Buddy being happy to have a potential family again but also scared shitless at the fear of losing again. Trauma can fuck with you like that, and an already suicidal Fluffy needs all the comfort he can get, here’s hoping Alice and Snowball can help him.
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Part of me is rooting for Buddy, the other part is rooting against him.
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