Your alarm clock blares at you until you roll over and lazily smack the off button. Looking at it with a groggy expression, you read the time… 6:35AM. Heaving a sigh, you drag yourself out of bed. It’s now Monday… Time for the disaster to begin.
After using the bathroom, you open the door into the computer room to peer into Sapphire’s pen. She seems to still be fast asleep from the night before, having been worn out using a simple wool ball on a string for exercise. Thanks to some training in school and experimentation in the shop, you knew that fluffies tend to react similarly to other pets when you toss a towel over their crates – they believe it to be night time and try to sleep. The curtains you had swapped out in her room were blackout curtains, so she wouldn’t be awake before you. Sapphire would merely think “It’s still darkie time, sleepies time now.”
You walk over to the window and open up the curtains. The morning sun beams in and lights the previously dimly lit room, the only source of light being her comfort night light. Right on cue, Sapphire yawns and stretches in her bed before blinking some and looking up at you with a half-asleep smile.
“Gud bwite times mummah~” she coos at you. “Fwuffeh stay in bedsies wike 'oo saids. Am gud fwuffeh?”
You smile as you squat down, giving her a gentle head scritch. “That’s right, sweetie. You’re a good fluffy for staying in bed all night long.”
Your praise makes her happier and more vocal with her coos, almost like a cat purring. As she rolls over to get out of bed, you notice she’s a bit dirty… Along with her bed.
“Uh oh, looks like someone had an accident~” you say in a sing-song tone. This prompts Sapphire to look at her flank before folding her ears down.
“Oh noes… Am sowwy mummah… Did bad poopies… Am bad fwuffeh?”
You shake your head. “Nope, you’re still just a baby. You can’t help it yet.” Your reassurance makes her smile again. “But you will definitely need a bath this morning.”
Sapphire looked scared. “Buh… Isn’t wawa bad fow fwuffeh?”
“Only if it’s too deep. Don’t worry, mommy knows how to bath little fluffies like you. Trust me~”
She nods reluctantly as you let her out of her pen for her morning feeding.
You sit Sapphire down on some toilet paper as you run your sink with luke-cold water. Warm enough to not disturb her, but cold enough to not burn her. She shivers in fear, watching the sink fill up. Noticing her fear, you pat her head.
“It’s okay Sapphire. It won’t hurt you,” you tell her before turning off the tap. You put your finger into the water to show her that it is barely halfway between your two furthest index finger joints.
“Nuu-huu-huu! Nuu mummah! Wawa bad!” she cries out, covering her eyes. You can’t help but giggle at her childish reaction.
“It’s okay Sapphire, go ahead and look. Momma’s okay.”
Sapphire slowly takes her hooves away from her eyes and looks into the sink. She looks at your finger, then back at her hooves, then back to your finger, and back to her hooves…
“Mummah nu am huwties? Nu am fowebah sweepies?”
“Nope, it’s totally safe. Just be sure to keep your head above the water, and you’ll be okay.”
Still scared out of her mind, Sapphire nods some before approaching the lip of the sink. You gently grab her by the scruff.
“You’re a bit too little to get in on your own, you’ll get lots of owies from the fall.” you tell her. She wiggles in protest before resigning to your superior mummah grip powers.
You slowly lower her into the water. At first she begs you to not put her in, but once she touches the bottom and sees that it’s hardly up to her chest, she begins to understand.
“Wawa nu am huwt fwuffeh? Fwuffeh am otays?” she asks aloud, before stepping around in the bath, making some splashes of approval before sitting down whole-hog. “Wawa nu huwt fwuffeh! Bafie am guds!”
You giggle some before scritching her head. You talked Sapphire through the bath time process, and was very gentle when cleaning her. You explained what the shampoo was, how it worked, when she should close her eyes and hold her breath… And that good fluffies that behave during bath time get a treat. She was visibly confused about what a “treat” was… So you explained that too. Upon coming to an understanding, she became excited and splashed around some more like a child in a pool.
After the bath, the morning routine was pretty much the same. Washing the used tools, having Sapphire outside for a little exercise and emptying her – and praising her for making “good poopies”, and packing up your work gear. You were almost about to walk out the door instinctively before remembering that you have Sapphire now…
“Whewe mummah am goin’? Fwuffeh come too?” she asks, tilting her head slightly.
You squat down and give her an apologetic smile. “Momma forgot she had you for a second there. See, mommies and daddies have to do this thing called “work” so we can have a home and food and toys,” you tell her, before picking her up into your hands gently. “We work many hours a day to earn money to pay for it all.”
“Wowk wike weggies wowk?”
You chuckle a bit before patting her head. “Kind of, yes.”
You take her into the safe room again while explaining about what work you did. She seemed a little confused about how you could care for so many fluffies… Yet she hasn’t seen a single one around. You grab her small carrier and put a makeshift blanket bed inside before putting her in.
“Maybe if things go well, you’ll get to meet the fluffies I work with.” You gently give her a boop on the nose, which elicits a giggle from the little blue unicorn.
“Otay mummah, fwuffeh wiww be gud fwuffeh so am can see nu fwuffehs.”
“That’s my girl.”
A little walk later, you’re just outside of Fluff-a-Palooza. You really didn’t know what to expect when you walk through that door. It’s just past quarter after eight, and you’re due there in about fifteen minutes. Sapphire senses your unease and looks at you with a worrying whimper. You gently boop her snoot again and give her a fake smile, even though you were extremely torn up inside. Steeling your nerves, you open the door with the familiar bell ringing and step inside…
Eric, as usual, is behind the counter making sure that everything is in place from the night before. He looks up from the register to see you with the kennel.
“Hey, Erin. Good morning to you. Hope your weekend went well.” He paused his motions. “That’s a new carrier… Did you get a fluffy?”
You put your finger up to your lips and shush him. “Not so loud. She’s… A special kind of fluffy and I don’t want to—”
You were immediately cut off by Steve coming out of the back rooms.
“Erin! Welcome back! The fluffies have missed you! Ready to—” He paused to look at the carrier. “…Is that a new fluffy carrier? You got a fluffy for yourself? Are they at least from a decent competitor?”
You gulp. “Well, sir, you see…”
He put his hand up, interrupting you. “…Feral. You know the rules, Erin.” He points to the sign on the door sternly.
“But sir, she’s not like the others! This is a special case and if you’d just lis—”
“Rules are rules are rules. I can’t believe I have to have this conversation with my best employee. She is a feral and she is not welcome here. You know we can’t have ferals running about and infecting our fluffies!”
You bite your lip in frustration.
“You’ll have to leave her at home, at a care center, or outside while you’re here. You know this.” Steve looks at you with almost a scornful gaze.
You quiver slightly as Sapphire fusses with the towel over her crate, trying to see what the commotion was about. You remember the other patrons that had been forcefully turned away because of their seemingly well raised fluffies being originally ferals. You didn’t want that to happen to Sapphire.
You take a deep breath. Before you even know it, you’re moving autonomously, and seemingly not aware of what you’re doing.
“Well, sir, I can’t just do that! My poor little fluffy here was the last of her family’s foals to survive!” Your shouting makes Sapphire cover her ears in pain and fear. “Her father is probably out there dead, or being tortured! Her mother and siblings all died from sickness or starvation, and her mother left her care to me! She isn’t ready to be without me yet!”
Your outburst takes both Steve and Eric by surprise. You’re normally so friendly and warm with others, but to see this was beyond shocking.
“Erin, I know how you must feel, but rules are–”
You stop him in his tracks. “Screw the rules! If Sapphire can’t be here, then consider this my official notice of PTO!”
Steve merely stood there, stunned. In the few years you’ve been working at Fluff-a-Palooza, you had never taken PTO – Paid Time Off. You were as healthy as a horse, and greeted each day with your fluffy charges with enthusiasm.
“So you’re choosing the wild rat over your job?” he asks in a mocking tone.
“Yes, I am. And as a matter of fact, I’m going to make a bet with you.” You turn to catch a glimpse of Eric trying to sneak off out of the nuclear zone. “Eric, you’re not going anywhere. You’ll be our witness to our verbally binding contract.”
Eric gulps nervously but nods, staying as your insurance policy.
“I will take my two weeks PTO, and during that time I will not only raise this fluffy properly, but take her to an outside vet of your choice, record the medical examinations, and produce to you on the following Monday of the end of my PTO a well trained, healthy, feral fluffy. If I am able to do this, you will waive your stupid “No Ferals” rule, and allow owners with proper papers to enter and shop with their feral fluffies! If I fail…” You pause, your body shaking in frustration and rage. “Then you can terminate my position. I will no longer work for you, and your rules stay in effect.”
Steve pauses to think about this for a moment before looking over at Eric. He’s just as surprised and puzzled as Steve is, but gives the owner an agreeing nod.
“Alright, Erin. You have a deal. You have two weeks of paid time off to raise, care for, and have your fluffy examined. If you pass, I’ll honor my side and I’ll even give you a raise on top of removing my rule. You fail, you’re gone.” He extends his hand out to you as a binding shake.
You look at it, almost hesitantly, before reaching out and shaking it.
“Deal. I’ll call Sarah for you and fill her in. Just you watch, this’ll be the best damned feral fluffy you’ll ever lay your eyes on.”
Outside of the shop, you walk a bit, still shaking from what just happened. You’re lost in deep thought.
“What did I just do? Did I just throw away my job? Can I really do this?” you think to yourself.
Sapphire sneaks her out from under a flap of the towel before looking up at you.
“Why mummah haf angwies? Nu wike when mummah haf angwies… Di’ fwuffeh do bad? Huu huu…” she squeaks at you. Her voice snaps you out of your trance as you look down at her, your tensions easing up a little.
“No, not at all Sapphire. You didn’t do anything wrong. That mister is the man who pays me and doesn’t like feral fluffies in his store. He’s just being a big meanie.”
Sapphire folds her ears down sadly. “Nuu wike meanies. Dey make mummah not haf happies.”
You can’t help but smile a little at her affectations of you. You give her head a little comforting scritch.
Maybe you can do this. After all, you’ve had all that behavioural training from school, and experience with the store fluffies… Raising one compared to a herd shouldn’t be that bad if you play your cards correctly… Right?
Taking a deep breath in to calm yourself down, you head home. You are filled with determination. You will make this work, and you will beat his system. You’re the best damn fluffy caregiver he’s had, and you both know it. You will raise Sapphire to be the best fluffy she can be.
