“UUUUGGGGHHHH!!! DADDY, THIS ONE POOPED ITSELF!”
Willow, a dark green unicorn stallion with a brown mane turned behind him and looked with horror, he had made bad poopies, again, and he didn’t even realise it. He turned back to where the nice little boy who had waved at him was being led away by his daddy.
“Come along Ryan, if this store can’t train their Fluffies properly then we’ll find you one elsewhere.”
“NUUUU! PWEASE NU WEAVE, WIWWOW AM GUD FWUFFY, AM GUD FWUFFY, HUUUHUUUUHUUUUUUU!!!”
The stallion collapsed into a pile, once again being left behind due to his pooping issues. He tried not to get excited about finding a new mummy or daddy, he was nearly a year old now and he knew that the pretty little chirpie babbehs would get picked over him. But every time a human came to his pen he got excited, and every time he would inadvertently poop himself, leading to disappointment and shame.
He didn’t even have the energy to clean himself anymore, he would just wallow in his filth until one of the Fluff-mart workers took pity on him.
By the cash register, Elizabeth Harper watched the father and son leave in a huff, she let out a deep sigh and turned to Kathy Parker, her manager and best friend.
“Willow’s had another accident.”
Kathy sighed with her. “I’ll go clean him up.”
“You don’t have to Kath, I don’t mind…”
“No, no it’s fine. I feel I should talk with him anyway. Clearly something’s wrong with him if he can’t hold his bowels at this age, maybe talking to him will give some insight.”
Elizabeth agreed and kept an eye on the front while Kathy went to Willow’s pen, she felt awful about leaving him alone for so long but the other Fluffies would bully him for his inability to make good poopies. Worst still was that she if she punished the bullies, she would also have to punish Willow since he did make bad poopies – whether he meant to or not – in order to keep the store’s training consistent.
“Hey Willow, I hear you’ve had a little accident.”
“Huuuu, am sowwy Miss Kath-ee, Wiwwow nu knyo wai Wiwwow nu can make gud poopies. Nu-wun eba wub dummeh poopie Fwuffy wike Wiwwow.”
“Hey, enough of that talk, you’re a sweet, wonderful Fluffy just as you are and someone will be damn lucky to have you. Now how abouts you come with me and we’ll get you smelling nice and pretty.”
Kathy caught the smallest whiff of a smile on Willow’s face as he moved into the Huggies pose and let Kathy pick him up, uncaring that her hand and arm were being smeared with poop, so long as Willow was comfortable. After so many accidents, Willow had learnt that back-room bath time was nothing to be afraid of, he was still naturally a bit iffy around the water but he wasn’t petrified of it like other Fluffies.
Kathy let the water run for a little bit until it was at a comfortable, lukewarm temperature, then she gently placed Willow into the sink and let it fill up, once the water was up to his hips so turned off the tap and squirted some Nu-Mowe-Sad-Wawas Shampoo onto his back and softly massaged it into his Fluff, paying attention to the embedded poop in his behind.
She noticed Willow was a lot calmer now, even humming to himself as she washed him. “You better not be doing this deliberately so I wash you every day.”
Willow’s eyes immediately went wide. “NU, Wiwwow neba du dat Miss Kath-ee, Wiwwow nu wan be…”
“Relax Willow, I’m only teasing you.”
“Oh.”
Kathy reached over and scratched his head. “Hey, sorry, I know this is a hard topic for you. But you and I both know this is something that needs to be addressed.”
“Wiwwow knyo, bu nu knyo wai nu can make gud poopies, bu neba can feew wen poopies am comin.”
Kathy stopped washing Willow’s Fluff and looked him directly in the eye. “Ok Willow, I’m going to ask you something, it might sound like a mean question but understand that I’m only asking you because I want to help you. Do you understand?”
Willow nodded.
“Are you making bad poopies because you want to stay here? You wouldn’t be the first one to do so, we’ve had other Fluffies act up because they have a comfortable life here and the outside world is scary. But I need to know if that’s what’s going on.”
Willow pondered for a moment, his tiny brain trying to comprehend the complexities of Kathy’s emotional based question, before eventually he looked back at her and shook his head.
“Nu, Wiwwow knyo wan hab mummah an daddeh wun bwite-time cos…”
“Because what Willow?”
“Wiwwow nu wememba famiwy, wememba daddeh caww Wiwwow dummeh poopie befowe Miss Kath-ee take daddeh way bu nu wememba mummah ow bwuddas ow sissies. Wiwwow wan hab famiwy su Wiwwow can gib babbehs betta wife dan wha Wiwwow hab, wan gib babbehs aww daw un dat Wiwwow neba git. Wiwwow nu can du dat if am jus dummeh bad poopie Fwuffy. Nu-wun wan Wiwwow be deiw Fwuffy, nu mawe eba wan be speciaw-fwiends wiv Wiwwow, gib Wiwwow biggesh heawt-huwties, bu Wiwwow twy su hawd tu be gud Fwuffy, cos Wiwwow bewiebe dat wiww hab famiwy soon.”
Kathy wiped a tear from her eye and lifted Willow out of the sink, she wrapped him in a towel and gave him a big hug.
“I’ll help you find someone to love you Willow, I promise.”
“Coo, fank yu Miss Kath-ee.”
Kathy took Willow off the shop-floor for the rest of the day to play with some of the disabled Fluffies, amputees and derped Fluffies that required more care and attention. They didn’t mind that Willow couldn’t make good poopies since most of them struggled as well and Willow was happy to have some friends for huggies and play.
The next day he was back in his display pen, a little disappointed but eager to show a new mummy or daddy that he was a good Fluffy, he even stayed as close to his litterbox as possible so as not to have any accidents. Unfortunately his muted green Fluff and lack of movement mean that for most of the day, the customers just passed him by, and slowly but surely, Willow felt his heart breaking.
Until…
“Hey there little guy, what’s your name?”
Willow almost didn’t hear the man’s voice, so lost in his depressive slump that it blended into the white noise of the store around him, until by chance he looked over and saw an older human man smiling at him.
“Yu… Yu wan tawkies tu Wiwwow?”
“Willow? Yes, you look like a Willow don’t you.” The man’s kind eye made Willow feel comforted as he pulled himself into an upright position.
“Well hello there Willow, my name’s Zach.”
“Hewwo Mistah Zak, wha yu wan tawkies tu Wiwwow bout?”
“Well, tell me a little about yourself, how old are you for a start?”
“Wiwwow am wun cowd-time an wun hot-time owd.”
“Really? Why you’re a big Fluffy now I bet. But that’s a long time to be here, have you always been in this store Willow, or did you have a mummy or daddy who brought you back?”
Willow’s head drooped. “Nu, Wiwwow neba hab hoomin mummah ow daddeh befowe.”
“Oh I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Zach reached in and started scratching Willow’s head, the green stallion was so pleased that he felt a shiver of excitement rush through his body… then the scratching suddenly stopped.
Then the smell hit him.
Willow turned in horror once more to see that he had made bad poopies again.
“NUUUUUUHHUUUUUUHHUUUUUUUU!!! PWEASE MISTAH ZAK, NU WEAVE WIWWOW, WIWWOW AM GUD FWUFFY, NU WAN MAKE BAD POOPIES, PWEASE, WIWWOW NEBA ASK FOW SKETTI OW TOYS OW ANEEFING, JUS WAN WUB, JUS WAN WUUUUHHHUUHUUUHUHBBBBBB!”
Zach stood in shock as Willow exploded into an anxious wreck, all his fears were overriding his rational thoughts, he tried running from his poopies, he tried kicking it with the sawdust lining his pen to hide it away from view, when that didn’t work, his desperation took over and he leaned over to num the poopies away and…
“WILLOW STOP!”
Willow froze, he looked up and saw Zach staring back at him, a look of worry on his face. The two of them stayed frozen for several seconds before Kathy came running over, she saw the poop in the pen and she understood what had happened.
“Sir, I’m so sorry, if you let me explain I’ll…”
Zach put a hand up to stop her. “That’s quite alright, is there somewhere we could talk, privately.”
Kathy felt a cold rush of fear run down her spine. “Uh, yes, of… of course sir. My office is right this way, let me just…”
Kathy quickly grabbed her radio and called one of her employees. “Harry, could you give Willow a wash when you’re free, I’m busy with a customer at the moment.”
There was a pause before Harry replied. “Sure, I’ll just finish up with the stock check and get right over.”
“Thank you. Alright sir, just follow me, my office is this way.”
Kathy gave Willow a final check, he was still crying but at least now wasn’t running about in a frantic mess, before leading Zach across the store and into her office. She swallowed any fear she had and steeled herself for a complaint as she mentally prepared herself to counter any argument he had.
“Now sir, I can assure you…”
“Please, Zach is fine. And don’t worry I didn’t ask for privacy to complain, I actually want to talk about Willow.”
“Oh… well what do you wish to know?”
Kathy took her office chair and sat down, Zach did likewise with the chair on the other side of her desk. “His little accident, that’s not the first time it’s happened, is it?”
Kathy sighed. “No, it’s… it’s unfortunately too common for him. He swears he never feels the poops coming and honestly, I believe him.”
“Do you believe the problem is physical or psychological?”
“Unsure, mostly because we lack the equipment to tell if it is physical but also because… Well Willow didn’t have the best start, back when we allowed parental units to share pens his father tried to beat him because of his colours, succeeded once, busted him up a little bit, enough to draw blood. And before you ask, yes we did consider if that had something to do with his poop issues, but every physical we’ve given him shows there’s no pain or anything out of the ordinary with his physiology, so it’s either something we’ve missed or something in his head.”
“Hmmm, well Miss, um…?”
“Parker.”
“Miss Parker, if I might be so bold, I have a partnership with Charles Mulberry, owner of Fancy Fluffy Friends. If you’d let me, I can take Willow to him and give him a proper look over, they have the equipment and they have the psychiatric knowledge to help Willow with whatever is causing his issue.”
Kathy looked at Zach suspiciously. “What’s the catch?”
Zach smiled. “The catch is that once we find the root cause of Willow’s problem, you allow me to take him home and adopt him as my own Fluffy. I initially came here today looking for a mate for my mare Snowdrop, after hearing Willow’s plight I believe he deserves some happiness. And even if we can’t help him, I’ll still take him home and look after him as best I can.”
Kathy still felt apprehensive. “You’ll have to excuse me sir, after watching Willow get ignored and abused for the last year I find it hard to believe that his guardian angel just so happened to appear. Call me cynical but I’ve seen too many good Fluffies go to bad homes.”
“That’s quite alright, I understand your concern. Tell you what, why don’t you personally bring Willow to Mulberry Manor tomorrow, I’ll tell Charles that you’re coming.”
“You’re being awfully forthcoming with this.”
Zach chuckled. “A little trick I picked up from working with Charles, he approached me out of the blue and our business partnership has been beneficial to us both. Now I’m doing to same for Willow.”
Kathy took a deep breath, not quite believing she was about to say this. “Alright sir… Zach, I will consider your offer, but I suspect I will see you again soon.”
“Thank you Miss Parker, I look forward to seeing you and Willow tomorrow.”
Zach stood up and shook Kathy’s hand before leaving her office. On his way out, Zach spotted Harry giving Willow a wash in the sink, he had stopped crying but still looked downbeat. Zach stepped over towards them and gave Willow a quick little scratch on the chin.
“Cheer up Willow, things will get better soon.”
As Zach walked away, Willow looked up at Kathy. “Wha Mistah Zak mean by dat?”
Kathy couldn’t help but smile. “I think, we might have just found you a new daddy.”
Willow gasped as the water around him turned brown. Harry rolled his eyes but a glance from Kathy told him to stay quiet, they could allow Willow one moment without embarrassment.
Starting from now, his life was going to be better.
Zach is the same Zach from A Better Life and him and Charles should be popping up in a few future stories.
With my plans for certain characters already in motion, I’m gonna have a hugbox shaped hole in my universe so I figured why not use these two to fill it.
was surprised when he introduced himself.