While Herman waited for Cait to arrive with her secret gift, he took the newly cleaned Oracle to properly meet Cumin, the little scamp already excitedly telling stories to his parents of the adventures he had in Cait’s store.
“…An den mummah make da wood-ee bwock into a smawwa wood-ee bwock wiv hew nois-ee mah-sheen. Den she put da smawwa bwock in da fwame, bu it tuu smaww nyo, an mummah say ‘Shouwd’ve meh-suwed da feckin fing wight’. An Coomin ask wha ‘meh-suwe is an…”
“Cumin.” Herman interrupted the story with a smile. “Why don’t you tell the story to Oracle here, I need to talk to your parents quickly.”
“Okay Mistah Heh-man.”
Unfazed by the interruption, Cumin jogged over to where Herman had placed Oracle on a cushion while the old man picked up Hickory and Cinnamon and took them through to the safe-room.
“Daddeh? Wai Hikowy an speciaw-fwiend nu stay wiv babbeh? Am we bad Fwuffies?”
“No, no. Don’t you worry, you’ve both been absolutely perfect. In fact that’s why I’m taking you through here.”
“Cin-a-min nu undastan.”
Herman pushed open the safe-room door and lay the two Fluffies onto the soft carpet. “Look, I know having Oracle here has been… difficult, I know that she can’t play like a regular Fluffy and that gives her heart-hurties. I also know that the two of you have been avoiding playing in front of her to keep her from getting upset, and I bet that’s been hard on both of you.”
Hickory and Cinnamon looked down shamefully. “Am sowwy for bein sewfish daddeh.” Hickory whined out. “Fwuffies wan pway bu pway gib Owacew biggesh heawt-huwties.”
“But you still put her feelings over your own, that makes you both VERY good Fluffies. And so, I’m going to let the two of you play in here, just the two of you, for as long as you like while Cumin and I look after Oracle.”
It took a moment for Hickory and Cinnamon to register what Herman was telling them, but slowly it dawned on them what was happening.
They were getting a break.
“Fwuffies pway? Jus Hikowy an speciaw-fwiend?”
“Yep, just the two of you, everything you haven’t been able to do over the last few days is on the table.”
“Can pway baww?”
“Yep.”
“Can pway bwockies?”
“Of course.”
“Can pway huggy-tag?”
“Go for it.”
“Can hab speciaw-huggies?”
“Abso… now hold on a moment.”
Hickory and Cinnamon giggled to themselves. “Sowwy daddeh, onwy teesing. Fwuffies knyo tu wait tiww hot-times fow babbehs.”
Herman eyed the pair for a moment, before smiling at them both and scratching their heads, happy they were both still in good spirits.
“Alright you two, good one. I’ll just leave you to it, make sure Cumin and Oracle are ok. Have fun.”
His words fell on deaf ears as Hickory and Cinnamon were already running about the safe-room, their excess energy finally having a chance for release. Herman happily shut the door and went back to the living room, hoping that the overly-excitable Cumin hadn’t overdone his hyperactive playing.
To Herman’s surprise though, when he turned the corner into the living room he found Cumin sitting peacefully beside Oracle, the two of them simply talking together. Curious, he stayed hidden and eavesdropped on them.
“Owacew nu meen make Hikowy an Cin-a-min hab sadies, bu dey stiww gud Fwuffies, wook afta Owacew eben doh am diff-ee-cuwt Fwuffy.”
Cumin nodded. “Mummah an daddeh am gud Fwuffies, dey hab hawd wife befowe meet Mistah Heh-man, big sissy Pamawa teww Coomin bout biggesh feckin meanie Smawty, gib Pamawa bwuddas an sissies foweba sweepies. Mistah Heh-man hewp dem wiv Smawty, gib dem homesie, wet dem hab mowe babbehs. Bu mummah an daddeh neba fowgit dat dey wose babbehs befowe, gib dem mowe weason tu wub aww babbehs dat dey find. Wike big bwudda Wazawus.”
“Owacew meet him, he nice Fwuffy, bu he nu wook wike Hikowy ow Cin-a-min.”
“Dat cos he am ‘ah-dop-ted’ Fwuffy, his mummah do wowstesh feckin fing, take his wingies cos she fink he ‘munstah’. Mistah Heh-man save him, wike he save Owacew, mummah an daddeh wook afta him. Nu matta dat he nu wook wike famiwy, he stiww am famiwy.”
Oracle sniffled back some tears. “Owacew neba hab famiwy. Nu knyo mummah, nu knyo daddeh. Heh-man say dat mummah wose babbeh wen wun way fwom buzz-ee munstah bu she neba come bak. Nu knyo if mummah am foweba sweepies, or if she nu wan come bak.”
Cumin thought for a moment, before shuffling over and placing a comforting hoof over Oracle’s shoulder.
“Owacew nu need feckin dummeh mummah wike dat, Coomin be Owacew famiwy.”
“Wea…weawwy?”
Cumin smiled and nodded. “Yeh, Coomin an Owacew be bestesh fwiends, su bestesh dat we am famiwy.”
Oracle fought back happy tears, and failed miserably as she openly wept, hugging Cumin with everything she had.
“Fank yu nyu fwiend.”
“Nu pwobwem, bestesh nyu fwiend.”
The two held each other for a moment before Oracle let go. “Bu, Owacew nu hab bak weggies, nu can pway wiv Coomin.”
“Nu need weggies tu pway. Yu eba heaw of ‘Eye-Spy’?”
“Nu, wha dat.”
“Coomin gun tawkies bout fing in dis woom, an Owacew hab tu say wha dat fing is. Wet’s twy. Eye-Spy, wiv Coomin wittew aye, sumfing… yu put fings on.”
Oracle looked around the room, there was plenty of objects to put things on, cabinets, shelves, even a mantelpiece above the fire. But right in front of them was a massive – for a Fluffy – wooden table, which seemed the most obvious answer.
“Am it… tabew?”
Coomin did a little happy dance and gave Oracle a celebratory hug. “Dat wight, weww dun.”
Oracle gasped, she’d won the game, she felt… happy, happier than any other time of her short life.
Cumin let her go. “Yu wan twy nyo?”
Oracle nodded and looked around the room. “Eye-spy, wiv Owacew wittew aye, sumfing… soft.”
“Oooh soft. Am it… da sofa?”
Oracle shook her head. “Nu.”
“Am it, da cawpet?”
“Nu.”
Cumin pondered, most of what was in the room was wooden or metal, there didn’t seem to be much else soft in there with them, he tapped his hoof against the cushioned bed he was laying in, trying to work out what else could be…
“Wait! Am it da bedsies?”
“YAY, dat wight.”
The two Fluffies shared another hug and continued with their game, Herman left them to it and went outside to wait for Cait, leaving the doors open in case anyone called on him.
It was only a couple hours later when Cait arrived, Hickory and Cinnamon were napping in the safe-room having finally tired themselves out, whilst Oracle and Cumin were still playing their eye-spy game.
Herman could see wooden ramps and soft hills in the back of Cait’s truck, but it was clear from her bounding out of her car and rushing over that what she was most proud of was what was in her hands.
“I’ve fecking got it Herm, this will rock her fecking world.
And sure enough, just like in the picture she’d sent him earlier, Cait handed Herman a wooden frame, specifically designed to be placed onto the back half of a Fluffy with two wheels on either side to act has her back legs.
With some practise, Oracle would be able to move again.
“Thanks Cait, she’ll love this.”
“I fecking hope so. Poor wee thing doesnae deserve tae be tied doon cos she cannae walk. How is she anyway?”
“She’d good, great actually. Cumin’s been fantastic with her, I expected him to be hyperactive but he’s actually been quite calm with her, they’ve been playing Eye-Spy for hours.”
Cait laughed. “Aye, Cumin’s had some experience wae Fluffies missing limbs. Couple of me mates, the right fecking dumb ones, they ain’t as careful as I am when it comes tae letting yer fecking Fluffies in the workshop. Lots of accidents, lots of crying. Most of Cumin’s buddies are missing at least one leg.”
“That would explain why he’s so well-adjusted to being around Oracle. Which actually brings me to my next question.”
“Oh feck, should I be worried?”
“No, no, it’s nothing… well it’s not nothing but… Fuck, let’s start over. I’ve realised that I can’t keep Oracle here, aside from the lack of experience dealing with disabled Fluffies, her mental wellbeing isn’t something that I can keep track of here. Hickory and Cinnamon can’t play together without upsetting her and I can’t keep their quality time together on hold just for Oracle, even less so once they start having foals again and their kids will want to play without understanding why that upsets Oracle.”
“Ye think they’ll get violent?”
Herman shook his head. “No, but they might get resentful. They’re good Fluffies, the best I’ve even seen, but I’m scared even they have a breaking point and I don’t want to push things too far, especially when it comes to their kids. So, I was thinking, if you wanted to, you could take her.”
Cait was silent for a moment, maybe a little too long as Herman started to worry about how long she was avoiding talking for, until eventually a smile beamed onto her face.
“Feck Herm, ye couldnae have said anything before I spent all fecking day building this shite.”
Herman laughed. “Yeah, sorry. I honestly wanted to keep her but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to find her a better home, and her time spent with Cumin cinched it. I’ll still pay you for your time.”
“Feck it Herm, gave me something tae dae. Aye, I’ll take the wee thing home, Cumin’s been getting antsy about being alone fir so long, plus he’ll be getting at that age where he’ll be wanting to get some fecking relief if ye git me.”
“I get you Cait, Jesus. Well you might want to hold off on that, Oracle still isn’t old enough for THAT yet and chances are the damage to her would make pregnancy damn near impossible.”
“I fecking know that Herm, but I can still give them some good times together, even if they decide no tae be special-friends.”
“Well special or not, both of them deserve a friend. You want to give her the good news?”
Cait looked through the open door to the living room, a half smile growing on her contented face.
“Aye, I’ll go tell her.”
While Cait went through to the living room, Herman headed for the safe-room to wake up Hickory and Cinnamon, the two of them cuddled up close next to their abandoned block tower.
“Hey, hey guys, time to wake up.”
“Wha… am it… daddeh wai wakies Fwuffies.” Hickory yawned out.
“I need you both to come through with me, Oracle has some big news she want to share.”
Confused, the two brown Fluffies got up and followed Herman through to the living room, where, to their surprise, they found Oracle up and about, spinning in place and laughing, her wheel frame squeaking just slightly but barely audible over the filly’s laughter.
“HIKOWY, CIN-A-MIN WOOK! OWACEW CAN WUN AN PWAY NYO!”
Whilst Hickory stood in shock over what he was looking at, Cinnamon dashed forward and hugged Oracle.
“Dat am su gud babbeh, Cin-a-min su pwoud of yu.”
“OH! An eben betta, Coomin’s mummah say she wan be Owacew mummah tuu, Owacew hab homesie nyo.”
The wide smile on Oracle’s face slowly faded as she saw the saddened look on Cinnamon’s.
“Babbeh nu stay hewe?”
“Owacew wike it hewe, bu knyo dat Hikowy an Cin-a-min hab twoubew wiv Owacew nu habben bak weggies. It nu yuw fauwt, Mistah Heh-man say yu neba hab dis-ah-bewed Fwuffy befowe. Coomin hab, an his mummah hab, dey can wook afta Owacew pwopawy, hewp teech Owacew how tu yoose nyu wheewie weggies. Am sowwy fow gibben heawt-huwties, Owacew jus wan be betta babbeh fow Hikowy an Cin-a-min.”
Hickory saddled up beside Cinnamon, he looked at his mate and together they embraced Oracle.
“Yu hab been bestesh babbeh, Fwuffies awways wub yu.”
Cinnamon nodded. “Babbeh am awways wewcome bak hewe wheneba.”
Hickory looked up and nodded towards his son. “Daddeh am pwoud of yu Coomin.”
“Fank yu daddeh.”
Cumin happily jogged over and joined the hug, a tender not just shared between his parents and his new friend, but as a whole new family.
“Gudbye babbeh, be gud fow Mummah Kay-et.”
“Bye mummah, bye daddeh.
“Bye Hikowy, bye Cin-a-min, Owacew wub yu.
“Wub yu tuu babbeh.”
The four Fluffies waved good bye to each other as Cait gathered up Cumin and Oracle into the car, promising to come visit sometime soon.
There wasn’t a dry eye as Hickory and Cinnamon stood on the porch of their house with Herman, waving to the car as it slowly started up and drove off into the distance. The three of them stayed tanding there for a moment letting the chilled wind wash over them.
“Daddeh?” Cinnamon asked after a moment. “Whewe Fwuffies gud tu Owacew?”
Herman knelt down and softly petted Cinnamon on her head. “You looked after child you didn’t know, cared for her with injuries beyond anything you could do to help, and showed her love during the lowest point of her life. Yeah, I think you two were perfect for her.”
Cinnamon purred at Herman’s touch before turning to her mate, the two Fluffies nuzzled each other and sat in the contented silence of knowing they did the best they could.
Back in the car, Cumin kept Oracle safe at the back window as they kept waving to the house long after it had vanished from view. Suddenly Oracle felt a slight tinge of fear slither over her, this sudden change in her life was a big moment and she wondered if she’d make the right choice.
But with Cumin by her side and new mummah Cait happily singing along to the radio, Oracle knew that whatever adventure she faced next, she would be safe and she would be happy.
Oracle will return in Making The Best Of It.
Confession, I wasn’t sure where this story was going when I started it. Initially I thought about putting Oracle up for adoption but that never felt like the right course of action. Then I came up with Cait’s character in Chapter 3 and I liked what she became so the idea of using her further merged well with the idea of what to do for Oracle, thus came this ending.
It did feel like Herman would try to look after Oracle but not being used to disabled Fluffies, nor having a good set-up at his house to deal with them would limit what could happen. With Cait I can open up more doors and have a more hugbox style of story which is what I planned for this series to begin with. Hopefully you’ll all enjoy that when I finally get around to it in about 2028.
