Emilia found herself in the kitchen, washing numerous bloody Shit Rat pelts, while Zeri diced up boiled Shit Rat meat into feeding bowls and Ariella loaded the feeding bowls into a cart.
She never thought she would be doing this. Skinning Shit Rats for their fur. After all, she was supposed to be a Hugboxer working in a Hugbox shelter, and this was some seriously brutal abuse. It certainly did leave her feeling uncomfortable, but only a little bit, a lot less than she thought it would. However, she did have an inkling as to why. Simply speaking, her values had changed.
Skinning a Shit Rat. It didnât feel like skinning a dog or a cat anymore. Not some vile, horrendous act, but rather like skinning a deer. A sense of familiarity. The natural feeling of carving. The uncommon sight of bloody raw flesh. The comforting smell of death. Something she had been taught as a child. Something that felt normal.
It definitely had something to do with how she perceived the resident of Entepott, as the idea of doing this to one of the Good Fluffies still felt sickening, thankfully. The idea of making any of them suffer was still something that invoked disgust, but for Shit Rats, it just felt different. It didnât feel that wrong. Something had changed inside her. Her values. Her perspective of them.
It wasnât just because of Rocket and Ladybell, and it wasnât just because of the radical changes within Entepott. It had only been a week and a half since they started this. No, this was a change that had been happening for a while now. Rocket, Ladybell and the changes to Entepott just sped up these changes, but the feelings had definitely been there for a while.
She thought about it. When did her mindsets start changing? It was definitely when she started working in Entepott. Not because of Entepott itself, but because of what Entepott exposed her to. The entitled Fluffies. The cruel Fluffies. The Shit Rats. Before that, she only ever knew Good Fluffies. The adorable, well-mannered house pets of friends and neighbors. Bad behavior that could be easily corrected with a stern scolding or a short stint in a sorry box.
The only bad Fluffies she had seen were the ones online. On websites where a loud-mouthed person would scream into the microphone about how Fluffies were the spawn of hell or disgusting abominations that tainted the streets. It was hard to take them seriously, when they were so obviously biased. However, Entepott would expose her to the very real existence of Shit Rats and in very large quantities. Really ambushed her with the numbers.
She did remember when she first started working in Entepott, she never held it against the Fluffies. She used to blame the owners. Fluffies only became Shit Rats because of Humans. Bad owners who only spoiled them too much and failed to set boundaries. Enablers who did nothing to draw the line and ended up turning them rotten. Incompetence on the part of Humans, and the Fluffies were the ones to suffer the consequences, but the more she worked in Entepott, the more these feelings began to change.
A lot of Shit Rats were runaways and drop offs. A lot of them came from good lives. Lives they took for granted. They would run away or act up too much, left to suffer on the streets or in a shelter. If they were humbled by the whole experience, then it was easy to forgive them. Everyone made mistakes and it was more than understandable for such child-like creatures to mess up, especially as most Fluffies had difficulty resisting desires. To make mistakes, learn from them and grow up. That was what life was all about. That was what inspired sympathy.
However, Shit Rats never truly grew. They did not learn anything from their experiences. They were living good, they messed up, and then they found how tough life could get, but did they improve from this? Nope. They remained exactly the same. Still spoiled. Still demanding. Still shit.
Meanwhile, there were Good Fluffies who grew on the streets or in shelters. Well mannered, well behaved. Fluffies who also made mistakes, but were quick to learn from them and come out all the better, and yet these Good Fluffies never knew what it was like to get a kind home. What it was like to have an owner that gave love and hugs everyday. How it felt to live in a nice comfy safe room, with plenty of food, toys and accessories. The kind of homes that a lot of these Shit Rats had come from. The kind that these Shit Rats squandered and took for granted.
It was just so unfair.
Emilia placed the Shit Rat fur pelts on the metal kitchen counter to let them dry and stared at the fur coldly. Five fur pelts from five Shit Rats. All such gorgeous colors.
Ladybell with her heart patterns. Light beige with a pastel pink. The other four furs were just as vibrant.
One was a bold baby blue.
Another, hot pink with pale pink streaks.
A soft snowy white
Brick red with neon green.
The manes and tails were also such an assortment of bright colors.
Emilia couldnât help but feel resentful. Such bright colors that would easily catch the attention of any child. Meanwhile, the twelve helpers of Entepott. Twelve truly Good Fluffies who would selflessly place others over themselves. Stuck to stay in the shadows, fated to remain unnoticed. Sunflower, Coco, Hip Hop, Oakley, Buggie, Noodle, Mustard, Tanner, Nanna, Petal, Wimpy, and Reeses. Simply because they had colors that many would call dull. Those were Fluffies.
Fluffies were not Shit Rats
And
Shit Rats were not Fluffies.
Shit Rats deserved no sympathy and they deserved no respect. There would always be people who hated Fluffies, but Shit Rats just gave more people more reasons to hate Fluffies as a whole.
Suddenly Emilia felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Ariella looking at her with a small smile.
âGood workâ Ariella said âYou okay? Or do you need some time to rest?â
âIâm goodâ Emilia responded âIâm ready to move to the next task. Want me to distribute the food?â
âUh⌠Yeah, thanks⌠Afterwards can you start cleaning the Good Fluffy cagesâ
Emilia nodded and began pushing on the cart. She felt good. Before she felt that she needed to work here because she owed it to Ariella and Entepott, but now she felt that she was truly helping. If Entepott could help show the world that Fluffies were not Shit Rat, then this would all be worth it.
Ariella watched Emilia wheel the cart out of the kitchen, and she could not shake this feeling of guilt. Emilia was the one to suggest skinning and from their brief chat in the alleyway, she seemed fine, but there was this feeling that she had broken the innocence of a young Hugboxer.
She wasnât sure if she liked Emilia being so normal about this or if she wanted Emilia to throw more of a fit. Sure it meant that they could focus on work, but it felt disconcerting. The sudden switch from vocal Hugboxer to skinning Shit Rats without qualm. Regardless, there was no use thinking of it. Emilia seemed fine right now, and if she suddenly stated that she didnât want to skin Shit Rats anymore that was fine too. Ariella had watched Emilia do it, so she had a general understanding of how the skinning process worked. Zeri said she knew how to do it as well and both were okay with blood, so if Emilia didnât want to do it, Ariella and Zeri could replace her. And if Emilia didnât want this to happen anymore, then they could talk about it.
Of course that was provided that they had a use for the fur pelts. It wasnât exactly a Hugbox product. It was barbaric to say the least. It didnât seem exactly useful as well, but it had some pretty colors and did feel soft to the touch, so there had to be some value out of it. Just like Fluffy feces. There had to be some ways to make money from them.
She wondered if she could ask Frankie. It turned out that the supplier did work with abuse shelters and maybe there was one that skinned Fluffies, but she didnât really want to waste his time, plus in truth it was unlikely that any abuse shelters skinned Fluffies. Too much effort, and abuse shelters were already making enough to survive, why would they need to?
Ariella couldnât help but frown at the irony. A feeling of self-loathing. In some way, Entepott Fluffy Shelter was now more abusive than regular abuse shelter. Only in certain aspects, but abusive none the less, and it just reminded Ariella that she was no longer running a Hugboxer shelter. So said that major Hugbox authority. A bunch of people who didnât actually run shelters themselves, just funded them, yet somehow had the right and power to label her an abuser and her shelter as abuse, but what even was a Hugbox shelter?
Was a Hugbox shelter just supposed to be a halfway home for unwanted Fluffies? A place for the trouble makers and the unappealing to slowly wait for death. Live the basic life and spend their days wishing for a better home with a loving owner. What about trying to get Good Fluffies a better life? Wasnât a Hugbox shelter all about helping those ones find a nice human and a happy home. Could what she be doing be considered Hugbox, even in the slightest bit. Trying to find Good Fluffies good homes, or was she fated to run an abuse shelter, simply because some people in power said so.
It was hard not to feel bitter. Bitter at the idea that some random person decided she was an abuser and just like that, the world now saw her that way. It just felt so stupid, but it really didnât help. Ariella took a deep breath. She needed to focus. She could feel sorry for herself another time. Later, when or rather if everything had settled down. Right now, she had work to do. Picking up the fur pelts, she placed them in a box, then she started helping Zeri cut up the rest of the boiled Shit Rat meat.
Personal time was over. It was time to get back to work.
âOkayâ Ariella said with a sigh âLetâs start out End of Week meetingâ
Ariella was in her office with Emilia and Zeri. The three of them munching on slices of a large meat lovers pizza. She never thought she would become one of those people. Those âI canât give you a raise despite the harsh working condition so Iâll buy a pizza to raise moraleâ kind of managers, but perhaps she was allowed a little bit of sympathy given the current state of Entepott.
It was Sunday night.
The end of Week 02.
Two weeks as an independent, self-proclaimed Hugbox shelter.
Things were going well, which was honestly good enough, because things could have easily gotten a lot worse. The food issue seemed to be okay right now. The Good Fluffies seemed content with their two bowls of kibble a day. Emilia had been monitoring them. All happy and active for the most part. As for the Shit Rats, one bowl of meat and one bowl of near-expired kibbles seem to be enough. They werenât gaining weight, but they werenât losing weight either, it probably helped that they didnât have much activity. Just lying down in their cages, waiting and whining. She noticed that a lot would sleep to alleviate their boredom. It honestly made them manageable. More importantly, the Shit Rat food situation seemed to be stable and that was good enough.
As for the current Fluffy population of Entepott.
Ariella had made a general chart just for general comparison.
| Week 01 Start | Week 01 End | Week 02 Start | Week 02 End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good F. Adults | 21 | 21 | 21 | 23 |
| Good F. Foals | 46 | 46 | 46 | 51 |
| Fluffy Adults | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Fluffy Foals | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Bad F. Adults | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Bad F. Foals | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| S.R. Adults | 92 | 53 | 89 | 54 |
| S.R. Foals | 41 | 41 | 34 | 34 |
| Deceased Adults | 0 | 39 (Food) | 0 | 35 (Food) |
| Deceased Foals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (Lime) |
| Adopted Adults | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Adopted Foals | 0 | 0 | 15 (Zeri) | 0 |
| Total G.F. | 67 | 67 | 67 | 74 |
| Total S.R. | 133 | 94 | 123 | 88 |
The numbers pretty much gave her a good idea of what was going on in Entepott. An increase in the Good Fluffy population. A general decrease in Shit Rat population. The Good Fluffy increase was small, but like Emilia had pointed out, it was going to be a problem in the future. A possibility of Entepott going back to where they started, except all the Fluffies were Good Fluffies.
She had entertained the possibility of having to feed Good Fluffies to Good Fluffies, but Ariella decided that if she was going to reach that point, then she was going to shut Entepott down. Something both Emilia and Zeri agreed with. No point in trying to find good homes for Good Fluffies when you reached the point where no one wanted Good Fluffies and Good Fluffies had to eat each other, better to cut it all off and just move on. That was if they could even reach that point.
She stared at Emilia and Zeri, the two of them munching on pizza as they brainstormed on possible uses for the Shit Rat fur, just like they had been for the past few days. These end of day office gatherings were nice and Ariella really felt lucky to have both of them, but she knew at Entepottâs current state, it was not going to last. She figured she had a few months at most to stabilize the staffing issue.
Zeri had already explained that she was going to leave sometime within the next five months. Had to start learning the ropes of her familyâs business. So Ariella needed to figure out how to split the work between two people or find someone else who was willing to work in a Fluffy shelter full-time for absolutely no pay. That was going to be fun.
As for Emilia. She said that she had savings, but the girl was young and Entepott was a minimum wage workplace. Ariella figured that her savings could only last her a few months at most. They could not keep this up forever. Ariella needed to figure out how to get Emilia a salary or simply tell her to go.
Currently, the government subsidy was the only thing they got going for them. Two and a half more months. If that subsidy could cover at least the salary for Emilia, Ariella herself could go on with her own savings. She had enough to last at least a year and a half without pay, and Entepott might be able to continue with just the two of them. It would be a struggle. It would be good if they could figure out alternative means of income, and get some volunteers maybe.
However, it was something was really bugging Ariella. The feeling of guilt. There was something she needed to set straight.
âEm. Ze. Sorry, but lets put a pause on the fur brainstorming thing. I want to talk to you two about⌠What weâre going to do in our three month periodâ.
âYou mean when the government raises our subsidy?â Zeri asked.
âFirstly, IF⌠Thereâs a chance the government screw us over and find us ineligible for a subsidy increase, but more importantly, I want us to talk about what if the subsidy is not enoughâ.
âWhat do you mean?â Emilia asked âIsnât the subsidy already covering most of the shelter costs?â
âThe shelter costs in the not problem. Manpower is the issue. Wait⌠Before either of you say anything. I just want you to listen. This is basically a dream. Sometimes dreams come true. Most times, they donât and I donât want you two to suffer trying to help me achieve my dream. Ze, wait⌠I know. I know, but I want to set us a deadline. A⌠Um⌠Ultimatum? I dunno? Whatever, point is simple. That government subsidy increase⌠POSSIBLE government subsidy increase is our deadline. When we reach that point, I am going to decide whether itâs worth continuing Entepott, and Iâm going to be very realistic on what Entepott needs. By those three months, Entepott must be making enough to at least cover a salary for Emilia. No, Em wait⌠I know you have savings, but thereâs no way you can continue this without the minimum wage atâŚâ
âBoss. What about you?â
âZe, Iâm okay. I have years worth of savings. I can last⌠At least a yearâ.
âBut youâll need a salary at some point, Ellaâ.
âI know, Em. Thatâs an issue for later. After the three month time period, andâŚâ
âBut Boss, if you keep operating like this, and you eventually run to a point where you have no savings. Wouldnât youâŚâ
âOkay. Both of you, chill⌠Yes. Youâre right about me needing my own salary. That will be my deciding factor if Entepott lasts six months, right now we need to talk about three months, and what we are gonna do if the three month period does not meet expectationsâ.
The two women went silent, staring at Ariella with worried looks.
âIf Entepott does not meet basic expectations by the three month period. Then Iâm shutting this place down once for all. No more Entepott Fluffy Shelterâ.
âButâŚâ
âNo buts, Em. We have to be realistic. If I canât even afford to pay you a basic salary within the next three months, how do I expect this to last years into the futureâ.
âWhy just me though? What about Zeri?â
âOh. Iâm fine, Emi" Zeri replied "You know money isnât an issueâ.
âThatâs not the point! Youâre working as hard as me. It doesnât seem fair that only I get paidâ.
âEh? ButâŚâ
âOkay stopâ Ariella stated âItâs nothing to do with Ze being rich. Simply, itâs because Ze is only going to be here for a few more months, right Zeâ.
âYeah⌠Um⌠I guess we should talk about that. Itâs already pretty busy running a shelter as a three man team. It feels kind of impossible as two, and IâŚâ
âI knowâ Ariella stated âThatâs also another expectation. Entepott needs more manpower, andâŚâ
Ariella paused, as she noticed Zeri giving a look. The guilty kind. Same for Emilia. Both girls making guilty looks as though they werenât already giving so much to Entepott already. Ariella sighed, then made a small smile.
âIâm going to be straight with the both of ya. The real reason I want to talk about this is because I hate that you two are wasting your time here. Now wait. Before you say anything, just hear me out⌠Look, take it from an old gal who has spent most of her life doing hard labor, you two are still young. You should be out there like socializing, traveling the world or just⌠Uh⌠enjoying life, andâŚâ
Zeri had raised her hand, interrupting Ariella.
âYes, Ze?â
âSorry old timer, but Iâm a loner who has no interest in the worldâ
Ariella sighed, shaking her head in disbelief, then turned to Emilia.
âDo you have anything to say, Em?â
Emilia grinned slightly âI think Iâm in the same boat as Zeâ
Ariella made another defeated sigh, before grinning slightly
âIâm surrounded by clowns⌠Regardless, Iâm going to set a benchmark. We have to be earning a certain amount, with a certain amount of manpower, where we can all imagine Entepott lasting for at least a year. If we cannot, then Iâm pulling the plug, because thatâs enough time wasted from all three of usâ
âWhat about the Good Fluffies?â Emilia asked.
âIâm talking to the government about that. I am hoping to convince them we send the Good Fluffies to Hugbox shelters. They might listen, they probably wonât, but I will try hardâ
âAnd the Shit Rats?â Zeri asked.
âFurnace. Simple as thatâ
Zeri grinned, while Emilia nodded, seemingly in agreement.
âOkayâ Ariella stated âI just wanted to make sure that the three of us are on the same page. Anyways, how are we on the fur ideas front?â
âNo idea yetâ Emilia admitted âThe problem with the fur pelts we collected⌠well. One, each piece by itself is a bit too small to form anything useful and two, the all such different colors, so we canât just combine them because like they⌠uh⌠clashâ.
âHmmm⌠Youâre really okay with skinning them. Are you really?â
âYeah Ella. Like I said, Iâm fine. Iâm honestly fine⌠it feels⌠it doesnât make me uncomfortableâ.
âIf youâre sure, then weâll keep at it. Time wise, you do it very quickly, and we only have seven Shi Rat a day at most, so⌠I guess weâll keep at it. It feels nice to have a stock of it. Product I suppose. How much do we have currently?â
âEighteenâ Zeri replied âEvery Shit Rat after Thursdayâ
âOkay. We keep skinning, but put brainstorming on the back burner. Adoption should be our top priority anyways. Tomorrow, Iâll bring my camera over, and the new batch will be arriving. We can film our whole process, then we film the lessons. My nephew knows how to edit, and he told me already that heâll do it. Hopefully weâll have a video in a few daysâ.
âUm⌠where exactly are we gonna post it?â
âOnline. FB⌠uh⌠forums?â
âIG? SC? TeleG?â
âWh⌠English please?â
Zeri grinned âYou are aware that FB is last decade nowadays grannyâ
Ariella shook her head with a grin.
âFuck⌠I remember a time when M-Space was all the rage⌠well okay miss young blood. I may not know the websites, but despite my age, I still know how to press the sign up button and fill in the detailsâ.
Zeri laughed and Ariella chuckled, but Emilia had a serious look.
âWhatâs up, Em?â
âYou know⌠weâre gonna get a lot of hate for it, right?â
âIâm expecting it. I mean itâs been two weeks and I still sometimes think that what weâre doing is worse than abuse shelters, in some aspects⌠but it also gives our shelter attentionâ.
âI⌠Yeah⌠but we will also be attracting the attention of crazies and activists, which is fine if only online, but I have heard that some are actually bold enough to come to places like thisâ.
Ariella nodded in agreement.
âActivist I can handle. CraziesâŚâ
A single person popped into Ariellaâs mind: Mayer, the crazy asshat shelter inspector, and the idea of having to deal with people like him. She cracked her knuckles and sighed.
âCrazies, I can handle too, and⌠I⌠Look, this online promotion thing comes with risk, but itâs honestly the best move I can think of. The low adoption rate was fine under the Hugbox program because we still received money, but we canât afford to twiddle our thumbs anymore. We need the attention, good or bad, and if all we get is bad attention, then⌠well then it just means Entepott isnât sustainable anymore and we shut down on the three month point like Iâm already entertainingâ.
Ariella looked at the two with a small smile, trying to show as much confidence as she could muster. The two responded with nods of approval, but Zeri raised her hand.
âWhatâs up Ze? Nother issue?â
âNothing about the video, itâs about the two Bad Fluffies, I donât think thereâs any hope for them. Theyâre smart and decent, but aggressive and⌠well a bit too independent. I honestly canât imagine either being adopted and I donât think we should waste anymore time on them⌠I was just thinking, maybe we should change the rules a bit?â
âAlright⌠What are you thinking?â
âSomething like a deadline. If youâre a Bad Fluffy for three days straight, then automatic Shit Rat, and⌠uh⌠I know it sounds harsh, but câmon boss three days a Bad Fluffy, when our goal is to help Good Fluffies find good homes. Itâs wasting resources and timeâ.
Ariella thought about it. The self-proclaimed Smarty and the Bestest babbeh. A rare case of a Smarty who was actually smart and a bestest babbeh who tried to be the best to meet the expectations of its name. This father-son duo were the kind who survived out in the wild and most likely ended up good herd leaders. They were intelligent and independent, but they were also aggressive. Quick to anger and even quicker to choose violence. It had been five days but they were still Bad Fluffy, because for every good thing they did, they were quick to lose the point with something bad. Sure some people might like independent Fluffies, but when would they come? She couldnât imagine any time soon, and this just felt like something similar to Lime.
âI see your point⌠Em, what do you have to say?â
Emilia shrugged âI⌠Have no comments on that, but if we are changing the rules for Bad Fluffies, then can we modify the rules for Good Fluffies a bit as well, because that thing with Petal on Monday, makes me think that we should have a sort of safety net or somethingâ.
âGo onâ
âLike everyone has bad days and everybody makes mistakes, but with our Entepott system, one bad day could be it for a Good Fluffy. They mess up bad and they drop to Shit Rat immediately, and I know that our Good Fluffies need to be perfect, but like absolutely perfect feels⌠unrealistic, and couldnât you say that a Good Fluffy is one who learns from their mistakes and comes out better? Like just a safety net where if they drop from Good Fluffy to Fluffy, then have one day where they canât drop further, so they at least have time to understand consequences and try redeem themselvesâ.
âMakes sense to meâ Zeri replied.
Ariella smiled. She had been expecting some sort of opposition from both on the differing matters, but it would seem that everyone was on the same page. Ariella had to agree. So it was decided. A slight change to the rules.
For Bad Fluffies, an automatic drop to Shit Rat if they remained a Bad Fluffy for three days straight. It was cold, but they really couldnât afford to observe and reeducate potential troublemakers. Not with their current manpower.
As for Good Fluffies, a sort of grace period. If they dropped to Fluffy. They had one safe day, where they would not drop any lower. Hopefully after a stern lecture and a good nightâs rest, they would fix the attitude problem and work to becoming a Good Fluffy again. Hopefully itâd be enough, Ariella hated the thought of a Good Fluffy ending up a Shit Rat, especially the helper Fluffies, but they needed to be strict on their system or it could all go to shit.
âOkay. Any other things?â Ariella asked.
Both Emilia and Zeri shook their heads with small smiles.
âAlright. Letâs finish the pizza and you two head on home⌠oh and if you want wear sometime nice for the video tomorrowâ.
The three joked out about what to wear as they finished the pizza, then they headed out. Out of the shelter and back to their homes. A night of well-earned rest, so they could come back to work bright and early the next day.
âWat am gud Fwuffy du?â Oakley asked.
âAwways wisten tu Hoomansâ replied a crowd of Good Fluffy foals.
âDat wite! Vewy gud!â Reeses replied.
Oakleyâs praise was met by a gaggle of adorable giggles. Cute foals looking at one another with pleased faces and cheerful nods. Some bouncing around while others shook about. Oakley and Reeses looked at them with proud smiles, as they stared at the foals from atop their little stage.
âWat bout poopies?â Reeses asked.
âAwways mak gud poopies!â The foals replied.
âWewwe gud poopies gu?â Oakley asked.
âGud poopies gu in wittew box!â The foals replied.
âDat wite! Vewy gud!â Reeses replied with a big smile.
âWat happen tu Fwuffy dat mak bad poopies?â Oakley asked with a serious face.
Silence. The foals looked at each other with worried looks. One raised itâs front leg.
âFwuffy dat make bad poopies⌠am⌠bad Fwuffyâ
âDat witeâ Reeses replied âN wat happen tu bad Fwuffy?â
âDey becam Shit Wat nâŚâ
The foal had stopped talking. The subject matter, far too scary for the poor thing, but Oakley stepped forward with a very serious look.
âDey becam Shit Wat, n sta in boxie foebah. Nu huggies n wuvâŚâ
âNu gud nummies. Nu toysies n funâ Reeses added.
The mood had become tense. The foals looked at each other frightened. Justifiable, as the manner of topic was far from what they were used to. Donât be bad or you end up like those Bad Fluffied trapped in their glass cages. However, Sunflower and Hip-Hop came in to change the mood.
âDancie thyme!â Sunflower suddenly shouted.
Sunflower and Hip-Hop began to dance. Sunflower hopping about with some exuberant energy, as though she was the sun itself, whilst Hip-Hop danced so passionately, fitting of his name. Oakley and Reeses had joined in on the fun. Oakley dancing in a rather wooden manner as though he were a tree, and Reeses, well he danced like any normal Fluffy, but more importantly was that he was smiling. He was happy. He was having a good time.
The other important part was that the foals were cheerful again. Big smiles all around. Some jumping about. Others dancing or singing. The previous grim tone, now just a memory in the face of this pleasant atmosphere. All of it, captured on film.
Zeri was in the back of the room, filming the whole thing on Ariellaâs camcorder. Why exactly the abuser was filming this Hugbox scene? Well the reasons were rather simple.
Firstly, Emilia had filmed in the morning. The whole introduction process, with Ariella telling the new stock on the rules. Shit Rats immediately being identified and separated. This time, there was no fuck up on the government part. 36 free slots with no extras. They got 26 adult Fluffies and 10 foals. 3 adults and 5 foals were potentially good. The rest were all immediate Shit Rats. No Bad Fluffies. Zeri had to wonder how the Hugboxers online would take it, or rather how many would start shitting on Entepott for such cruel behavior towards these poor, innocent Fluffies. Hopefully if they did, they could come to Entepott to rescue those poor Fluffies, maybe take a Good Fluffy instead.
There was another reason they were doing this. A sort of switch up. Ariella said that she and Emilia needed to get use to the gritty side of the work. The carving and the cooking. They couldnât just rely on Zeri handling it all the time, most especially since she was leaving sooner or later. So they were doing this to get used to the process. It was something that left Zeri feeling sour.
The idea of leaving those two to run the shelter still left her with guilt, but she had a talk with Ariella in the morning. Ariella imparting some of that older people wisdom. Something about Zeri getting an opportunity that most others could only dream of and not to delay it further by wasting her time here. She hadnât told Ariella that she was already delaying it, nor did she back talk about the opportunity always being available. It was just something about the way Ariella had spoken to her. This feeling that it was important and that she would be spitting on Ariellaâs face, if she did not take the advice.
Well, regardless she still had some time left here, doing this thing. She had to admit, it was not as bad as she thought it would be. This whole thing. It actually felt cute. Kind of. It was hard to describe. It just did not feel fake, like so many other Fluffies. There was just something nice about these four trying to teach a crowd of foals in a very Fluffy way. The way they were able to follow Ariella and Emiliaâs plan.
Oakley and Reeses handled their roles of teachers well. Both had the maturity and bravery to tell the foals all the things that they needed to know, no matter how harsh and scary, and were taught to use questions to keep the foals engaged. Ariella also insisted on having Reeses teaching the foals, because she noticed that he had really taken to interactions with the foals. So he helped them with lessons and they helped him by keeping his spirits up.
Then you had Sunflower and Hip-Hop who would step in whenever the atmosphere got too tense. They would dancing and smile. The kind of things Zeri expected Fluffy TV to do. So basically a live version of that to help calm the foals down, bring them to a content mood and keep their focus on their lessons.
To Zeri it felt good and she could only hope that at least some Hugboxers watching this video would agree. Maybe even actually convince them to give the Good Fluffies a chance.
Zeri turned her camera to the other Helper Fluffies. There was Noodle, Coco and Mustard, who were on Bad Fluffy duty. The three Fluffies in one corner of the room, diligently observing all the other Fluffies in the room.
They looked stupid.
In a cute, amusing kind of way. They were standing atop their own little watchtower, which consisted of a big plastic box with a ramp. All three of them had these sort of tense, alert poses with all four legs stretched out wide, as they scanned the room with wide, bulging eyes. It felt obnoxious yet also adorable. Hopefully it looked good on the camera.
Zeri then focused on the older Good Fluffies, who were getting their own lessons. Nanna and Buggie had been placed in charge of them. Ariella said both had plenty of life experience to pass down on these other Fluffies and it showed well.
âAwways wememba, aww babbehs am gud babbehâ Nanna stated.
âBu Fwuffy awso nee tu mak sure dat babbeh nu gib hurties to oddah babbeh. O babbeh am bad and dat mak Fwuffy badâ Buggie added.
âBu⌠bu wut bout babbeh wit pointy ting n wingies?â Asked one of the Fluffies.
It was one of the three potentially good Fluffies from the new batch. A mare.
Nanna shook her head âBabbeh wit pointy ting n wingies am stiww babbeh n gud Fwuffy wuv AWW babbehsâ
âN nu hab bestest babbehâ Buggie added âFwuffy wuv aww babbeh da samesieâ
The mare still looked confused.
âBu⌠bu pointy ting n wingies⌠babbeh am tuu scawy nâŚâ
Nanna shook her head âNanna gib many babbehs miwkies in big housie. Nu kno namesie o many babbeh, but Nanna see. Hab babbeh wit pointy, babbeh wit wingies, babbeh wit nu pointy n nu wingies, n babbeh with pointy n wingies. Nanna nu can gib huggies n wuv, bu Nanna wuv aww babbehs n kno dey aww the samesie. Aww make samesie noisies wen nu talkies n nee miwkies. Aww hab dwink miwkies da samesie. Aww wun wuv n huggiesâ.
Buggie nodded and stepped forward. âBuggie wan see pwace nu wok becaw wittle hooman gib hurties. Nut becaw bad hooman bu becaw onwy wittle hooman, bu daddeh n mummah nu wan Buggie becaw tink Buggie am munstah, su Fwuffy tink Buggie nu get huggies n wuv?â
The mare looked shocked by this.
âNU! Debie nu mean dat! AM sowwi! Debie nu tink Buggie am munstah n⌠nâŚâ
The mare had broken into tears, and suddenly all the Fluffies came together for a big hug. Nanna and Buggie joined in too.
âFwuffy ju nee wememba dat eban munstah babbeh am stiww babbehsâ Buggie stated
âN gud Fwuffy wuv aww babbehâ Nanna stated.
Zeri watched from the sidelines. Ariella and Emilia had given her some details on the two.
Nanna was one of those milk bags in those Fluffy mills. The kind who spent most of their life feeding foals, unable to interact with any, but usually those got put down. She wasnât sure why Nanna was spared, but it would seem that the experience had given Nanna wisdom.
As for Buggie. He was apparently a toy for some toddlers, but the parents realized that Buggie didnât fit when their baby poked his eye out. So he ended up here, yet surprisingly he came out okay. Still capable of kindness and care.
She noticed the Fluffies looking at her and Buggie stepped forward.
âMiss Zewi wan huggies?â Buggie asked
Zeri cringed. She wasnât exactly a fan of receiving Fluffy hugs, but then she shrugged. Turning offthe camera and placing it down, she sat down on the floor cross legged and picked up Buggie and Nanna, giving the two Fluffies a nice hug. The other Fluffies joined. It felt weird. She didnât like it. This hugs and wuv shit, but a part of her felt like Nanna and Buggie were owed that at least. Just a little kindness from a human, after all the suffering they had at the hands of other humans. Hopefully a human watching the video would take pity on them and give them a loving home.
âIâd lecture you for slacking on the job, but I did remember someone saying they were okay with being paid in hugsâ came Ariellaâs voice.
Zeri turned around to see Ariella leaning against the door with a cheeky smile. Emilia was behind her, with a lovely smile.
âBeing a Hugboxer suits you, Zeâ Emilia said cheerfully.
Zeri gave them both unamused looks âYeah yeah, you guys done cooking? Can I do something else?â
âYou sure?â Ariella asked âYou donât want to chill and continue giving the Fluffies hugs?â
âIâm a hundred percent sureâ Zeri replied with a deadpan look.
âZewi mummah nu wan mo huggies?â Buggie asked
A flash of guilt. Zeri looked at Buggie and pet him.
âUh⌠Maybe later?â
âOtay!â Buggie responded.
Much to her surprise, the bio toys who were all about huggies n wuv, all let go of her. A few hesitant, but all gave her room to stand, and she picked up the camera.
âNow what?â Zeri asked.
âHmm⌠Em. You take over Good Fluffy duty, Ze letâs go film the other three helpers at workâ.
âOkayâ
Ariella and Zeri exited the play room, entering the housing area. She was immediately greeted to the annoying noise of the new batch Shit Rats whining and complaining about their living conditions, and the whole unfairness of their plight. Poor stupid dumb fucks. It did raise a concern.
âYou sure you wanna film here now? Shouldnât we wait for like later on the week, when the new Shit Rats start to quiet down?â Zeri asked.
Ariella shook her head. âNo. No point in hiding it. If we get a potential owner at the start of the week, they are going to experience the same thing. Weâll add all the complaining so people will at least know what to expect when they come here. Plus I want to get the video out as soon as possibleâ.
Zeri shrugged and approached the other three Helper Fluffies. Tanner, Wimpy and Petal. These three had a very different task from the rest of the Fluffy Helpers. These three were in charge of cage cleaning or rather feces removal from the Good Fluffy cages. Wimpy and Petal were holding a small dustpan and a small brush in their mouths and were scooping the feces from the litter box and would bring the waste to a tray atop a cart trolley. One that Tanner would pull with a Fluffy harness.
They would do this at the time when all the other Good Fluffies were in the playroom doing their lessons. Ariella had organized the cages with all Good Fluffies living in the bottom half. It just made everything more convenient. They only had to open the cage doors, so the Good Fluffies would leave the cages and walk to the playroom, and it also meant that they could just leave the cage doors open and Petal and Wimpy could walk in, collect the feces, and get out without any need for assistance.
Why these three in particular?
Well in the case of Petal, they were trying to keep her separated from foals. From what Zeri heard, Petal loved foals a lot, because she was unable to have her own, and she could be aggressive about that, as proven from the incident last week. However, this was not to punish her. It was just that Ariella and Emilia were too scared to let her do teaching duty, as they did not want a repeat of the incident and risk her dropping down to Shit Rat, so they simply got Petal to do tasks that avoided her interacting with foals. Something that Petal did not seem to bring up much.
As for Wimpy, well the Fluffy currently looked like he was not having a good time. He really didnât like all the Shit Rats shouting and complaining, and definitely did not like it when they insulted him. Zeri could see the Fluffy visibly shaking. He did not like this, and that was why Ariella had put him on this duty. She wasnât being purposely cruel, rather she was actually trying to fix him. She had said something about Wimpy possibly having a trauma about loud noises, so she was trying to fix him in her own way. Placing him in an environment full of loud noises, so that he could see that even with all these noises, nothing bad would happen to him. Zeri could only hope that Wimpy could see this and not think that Ariella was abusing him or something.
Then there was Tanner, who had no issues. It was just a case of this Good Fluffy being a former farm Fluffy. There was not much on him, as he was found by Pest Control. He didnât talk much. Just said that he came from a place with a lot of nummies and bigger animals, and that was it. They put him on the system, but no one came for him. Regardless, he was a stronger than average Fluffy and he was mature enough to watch over Wimpy and Petal without supervision. He was also the one who would tell them if any of the Good Fluffies made bad poopies in their cage. None of which had done so, so far.
âDoneâ Zeri stated, as she handed the camera to Ariella.
Ariella took the camera and walked back to office, and Zeri just watched. Wondering if this video would turn out all right.
Ariella was in her office, watching the whole promo video from start to finish.
A simple infomercial. Nothing fancy. No voice overs. Just captions to illustrate the information and basic transition cuts. Emilia and Zeri said it looked good, and honestly she had to agree. It was good, especially since it only took four days for her nephew to make this, but she couldnât forget what her nephew had said. The same thing that Emilia had said, and Zeri had hinted.
People were going to hate this.
The video starts off with the new Fluffies being told the rules.
The rules themselves being shown for the viewerâs perusal.
Then it showed the consequences, with some of the rule breakers, immediately referred to as Shit Rats before being shown being taken out of the room and into their glass cages.
They had chosen to omit the whole cannibal thing. That was deemed a bit too much and honestly unnecessary information.
Then they had their whole teaching Good Fluffies to be Good Fluffies with the Entepott Helpers. It looked nice. A kind of cute, Fluffy classroom scenario, but Emilia did comment that in context with the Shit Rats being locked in cages, there was room for criticism. A forced good behavior kind of thing.
The video of Petal, Wimpy and Tanner cleaning the cages. Also looked nice, but Zeri pointed out whether people would actually find it endearing or simply label it as a different abuse.
She had shown the video to some friends and family. Some said it looked nice. Others expressed some concerns. Some had worried that this was going to bring trouble. Just like her Emilia, Zeri and her nephew had said. It certainly didnât make Ariella feel out of touch. Out of loop or just old, and she had been questioning whether she was actually a Hugboxer.
Her actions recently had felt increasingly cruel and not really what a Hugboxer would do.. It was hard to feel like a Hugboxer when others labelled you an abuser. That asshat Mayer was one thing, but for the Happy Fluffy Hugbox Shelter Program to label her and her shelter as abuse. The go to Hugbox authority It really did bring into question how others would perceive her actions. She loved Fluffies and this felt like the best approach to her whole finding Good Fluffies good homes dream, but would other people see it that way or would they just think she was some delusional abuser.
Well there was only one way to really tell.
Just rip the fucking band aid off and get over with it. If being a Hugboxer was criticizing others while doing nothing to actually help Good Fluffies, then Entepott was doomed from the start. However, if she was right about people, and there were plenty of people out there who genuinely wanted to see good Fluffies get good homes, then maybe they would look past all the gritty bits and see what Entepott was trying to convey.
Either way, Ariella had started posting the adverts on various social media platforms.
Only time would tell as to how the public would receive it.
