Herman Mongola let out a hard, ugly cough into the tissue, the pressure in his skull felt like it was going to blow off the top of his head, his whole body shook and ached with every painful outburst. Once the coughing fit was over he looked down at the tissue and rolled his eyes at the specks of blood scattered across the crumpled white fabric.
Not the first time he’d cough up blood, not likely to be the last either.
Wiping the sweat from his brow, Herman turned to the doctor and shrugged.
“Guess that tells you how bad it is.”
Dr Harrison sighed, Herman had come to his office for a check-up after a persistent cough turned bloodied. He could see through the old man’s blasé attitude towards someone angry, and more than a little frightened, to be facing something potentially serious.
“Should I give you the good news or the bad news first?” Harrison asked after a moment.
“There’s a difference?”
Ignoring Herman’s comments, Harrison turned to his computer to bring up Herman’s file. “Well the good news is, it’s not cancer, small mercy that that is. Bad news is it’s pneumonia.”
“That’s… better?”
“Well it’s not an immediate death sentence but it’s still not great. I’m not gonna lie to you Herm, I can’t give an exact prognosis on the severity of this thing, not yet anyway. I mean relatively speaking, you are quite healthy for your age, you’ve remained fit and active, your mental faculties are in order and you’ve no long-term damage from your smoking days. But you are still your age, you’re almost 80 years old and healthy or not, if this thing wants to, it could kill you.”
Herman was silent for a while, trying to process what Dr Harrison was telling him.
“So… fuck Doc, what’s the call here?”
“Professionally? You’re still standing which is a good sign, I’d recommend you go home, rest up, drink plenty of fluids, don’t do anything strenuous and that includes farm-work Herm, short walks are fine for fresh air but do not overexert yourself by any means. I’ll make an appointment for six weeks from now to see how things have changed, if anything, and I mean ANYTHING changes before then, you call up straight away.”
Herman let out a small cough, quickly wiping away the spittle before it dribbled out of his mouth.
“And your personal opinion? Off the record that is?”
“Off the record? Maybe look into getting your affairs in order, just in case.”
“Daddeh’s home!”
As Herman’s pick-up pulled up beside the farmhouse, Cole, Angie and Cinnamon all rushed to the front door, they had all been so worried when daddy Herman left this morning, he looked so tired and had boo-boo juice around their mouth. But now he was back and everything could be alright again. The three Fluffies waddled towards the door, only to be stopped and corralled back into the living room by Johnny.
“Easy there folks, let Herm have a moment to settle in before you all crowd him, he’s had a long day and might not be in the best mood. I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you all but give him a second.”
The three of them all looked down shamefully. “Am sowwy mistah John-ee.” Cole spoke for his family as they all gathered round the patriarch. “Fwuffies jus wowwy bout daddeh.”
“I know you do Cole, and so does he, it’s just… well he’s not feeling great right now so he might be angry. Not angry at any of you, just angry in general.”
“Wike how wen An-gee am habben sketti, den hab nu mowe sketti. Nu am madies at daddeh fow nu gibben mowe sketti, am jus angwy hab nu mowe.”
“Sort of, but close enough yeah.”
The front door opened, the three Fluffies all gasped in anticipation, ready to run over to their daddy’s return, but very quickly remembered Johnny’s words and stayed seated. Although Johnny had to laugh at their inability to sit still, with all three of them fidgeting and shaking with excitement.
“Hey everyone.” Herman called out as he hung his coat up.
“Hey Herm.”
“HEWWO DADDEH!”
“Salut.” Came Gheorghe’s distant voice from the kitchen. “You want coffee?”
“No, I’ll have a tea though if there’s any bags left.”
“Da, teabags there. Be five minutes.”
Herman chuckled and made his way to the living room, he waved to his still vibrating Fluffy family before looking over at Johnny.
“Is it bad news?” Johnny asked quietly, making sure the Fluffies couldn’t hear him.
Herman shook his head. “Not great. But not as bad as it could’ve been.”
Johnny nodded, understanding what Herman was hinting at, and stepped out of the way to allow him to reach his Fluffies. They all bounded for him.
“DADDEH!”
Herman chuckled as he got onto his knees, letting the Fluffy family envelop him in cuddles.
“Fwuffies so wowwied bout yu daddeh.” Cole said, gripping tightly onto Herman’s leg. “Yu hab boo-boo juice wound mouthie, dat am bad pwace fow boo-boo juice.”
“Well I’m ok now. I might be a little tired over the next few days but I’ll always have time for you guys.”
“An-gee hab biggesh wowwies daddeh. Fink yu nu eba meet tummeh-babbeh.”
Herman reached over and picked Angie off the ground, the cow-mare was about a week pregnant with her second foal and was very excited to be a mummah again now that Cinnamon was all grown up.
Herman cradled Angie’s mildly bloated body and tickled her belly. “Don’t you worry Angie, I’m not going anywhere just yet.”
While Angie giggled at the tickling Herman noticed Cinnamon being awfully quiet, she was still there with her parents, happily hugging Herman’s arm, but she had said nothing since he came in.
“You alright there Cinnamon, bit quiet today aren’t you?”
“Cin-a-min am gud daddeh, jus hab… it nuffin.”
“Well you talk to me if you need anything, alright.”
Cinnamon nodded but said nothing. Herman let the Fluffy family hug him a little bit more before his knees started to give out and he had to stand.
“Oof, sorry guys. Me old knees aren’t what they used to. Tell you what, why don’t you all head through to the safe-room, once I’m had some lunch I’ll come through and play with you all, ok?”
“Ok daddeh.” The three Fluffies dipped their heads in disappointment but still dutifully marched to their room, Cole making sure Angie was comfortable in her enlarged form. Johnny followed them to make sure there was no incidents while Herman headed for the kitchen, letting out a loud, awful cough into his tissue the minute the door was closed.
Gheorghe watched, stunned with shock and a little horror at the old man’s chest destroying cough, spittle of blood shooting out from where the tissue couldn’t cover his mouth. When it was finally over, Herman looked over towards the stunned Gheorghe.
“That bad?”
Herman binned his blood-stained tissue and nodded. “It’s bad.”
Gheorghe passed Herman his cup of tea. “It cancer?
Herman shook his head before taking a sip. “No. Pneumonia, like that makes it any better.”
“Am sorry old man. That shitty news.”
“Tell me about it.”
At that moment Johnny came in, a mixture of shock and uncontrollable laughter on his face.
“Jesus Herm, that cough nearly made me shit myself. You’re lucky the Fluffies were in the safe-room when you were trying to take the roof off.”
“I wouldn’t blame them, they know I’m not well, they just don’t know how unwell. I think they can sense it, even if they don’t fully comprehend it.”
“Is it…”
“It’s not cancer, your better half already asked me that.”
“It pneumonia.” Gheoghe explained, passing a coffee over to Johnny.
“Pneumonia? Fuck Herm, that shit’s a killer at your age, I lost my granddad to it years back.”
“Yeah, the doctors said the same thing. Told me that despite being healthy for my age, I’m still an 80 year old farmer who doesn’t know when to stop working. I guess I should be thankful I got this news before we started planting for the harvest.”
Johnny smiled. “Even when told not to work, your mind goes to working. Did the doc tell you what the chances are?”
“Couldn’t say, told me to come back in six weeks for further check-ups, sooner if shit gets worse.”
“You need us do anything?” Gheorghe asked, his voice quiet as though the Fluffies could hear him through the walls.
Herman shook his head. “No, not right now anyway. I’ll call you guys if anything comes up but right now I just need to rest up and relax.”
Gheorghe chuckled from behind his tea-cup. “That easier said than done. You see Cinnamon act weird?”
“A little bit, what of it?”
“She mare now. See her mum with baby, she want baby herself.”
“What? Are you sure, she never mentioned anything to me earlier.”
Johnny nodded in agreement. “He’s right Herm, she’s got the baby itch. The only reason she hasn’t said anything is cause you’ve raised her so well. But don’t be surprised if she starts acting strangely in the next few days, especially once Angie gets closer to her due date.”
Herman pondered for a moment. “You guys think I should let her have the kid? I mean Angie’s pregnancy was a breeze compared to my first Cinnamon, please having her mother raising a foal alongside her would mean I wouldn’t have to keep my eye on her all the time. I could keep busy without being overwhelmed.”
Johnny shrugged. “It’s up to you Herm. You did just fine with the first birth, if you feel like you’re up for the challenge of two births at the same time, then go for it. Hell, you can even come up to the house, pick out a stallion you like the look of.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, might call you tomorrow if nothing else comes up. Until then, thanks for staying over, sorry to spring this on you last minute but…”
“Think nothing old man.” Gheorghe clapped a hand onto Herman’s shoulder. “We happy to help, house Fluffies look after themselves while we gone.”
“He’s right Herm, honestly you should see Sandy running the place. She’s a damn natural at leading, I’d almost call her a Smarty but she’s too smart for that.”
“Well I’m glad it’s working out for you two, even if I don’t find a mate for Cinnamon I’d be happy to see what you’ve got set-up.”
The three men said their goodbyes and promised to meet up again soon before Johnny and Gheorghe left. Once they were gone, Herman let out a long sigh, because he knew that despite his claims of relaxing, he still had some stressful tasks left to do.
Ones that didn’t involve Fluffy kids, but worse, his own.
“Dad, seriously, are you ok?”
“I’m fine Rupert, Jesus. It’s just a mild case.”
“That could get worse. Listen, I’ll grab Mollie and James and I’ll…”
“You’ll do no such thing. Christ sake Rupert, James is still in school and Mollie’s going for that promotion. Neither of them need me moping about like an old fart, whining about a little blood in my lungs.”
“Did you just say blood in you…?”
“I’ll be fine, honest. I just called to let you know, not to worry you. Besides I’ve got Johnny and Gheorghe on hand if anything happens.”
Rupert let out a long sigh, not believing his father but sensing that he wasn’t budging on the issue. “Alright, but the Easter holidays are coming up soon, we’ll come down then.”
“I’m sure I’ll survive until then.”
An awkward laughter passed between the two men, before Rupert finally broached the question they knew had to be asked.
“Have you told Tara yet?”
“No.” Rupert could almost hear the shake in his father’s head. “You know how your sister is, ever since Josef’s death she’s been… distant. Maybe coming from you would be better, at least then it’s on equal grounds, rather than her thinking I’m telling her to force sympathy.”
“She’s not like that dad, she’s just… Hell I don’t know what she’s like anymore. But I’ll tell her, just prepare yourself for an angry call.”
“Will do, thanks Rupert. Give my love to Mollie and James.”
“Sure thing.”
Father and son shared a final few pleasantries before finally hanging up. Herman dropped the phone onto the couch, feeling a weight in his chest start to build. Whatever baggage he thought would drop telling his son about his illness hadn’t gone away, if anything it just got heavier.
Herman raced outside, it was night time now and the cool air rushed into his face, washing over the old man like a refreshing splash to the face. The only problem was the euphoria ended too soon, and Herman was left standing in the middle of his driveway, surrounded by nothing but wheat and crickets, and still sick.
“Fuckin… goddammit.” Herman kicked the ground, trying not to cry. “It’s not fair.”
Herman thought of his wife, his Pamela, watching her wither away from her cancer. He knew this wasn’t the same, not even close, but he also knew his chances at fighting pneumonia and he knew they weren’t high.
For the first time in over 30 years, Herman Mongola thought of death, and it scared him.
Before he could even start to pity himself though, Herman let out another violent cough, this time the blood spat right out of him and landed in the dirt, a crimson red piece of phlegm, almost mocking him as he keeled over, hacking his lung up.
“Yeah, fuck you too.” Herman spat at the red puddle in front of him.
“Whu am mistah tawkies tuu?”
Herman looked up, in the low brightness of his porch-light, he could just make out a Fluffy coming towards him from out of the wheat fields. The first thing Herman noticed was that this was definitely a designer Fluffy of some kind, the silver Fluff caught the porch-light and sparkled with every step the Fluffy took, and its white mane was almost glowing even despite the dirt. The second thing Herman noticed was that it was an Alicorn, but a badly damaged one, its left-eye was blood-shot, it’s right wing was at a crooked angle, and it had cuts and bruises all along its back.
The last thing he noticed was that this was a stallion, but he could only tell that by the cracked and chaffed skin around his cock and balls. Wherever he came from, it wasn’t a nice place.
“You alone?” Herman asked after a moment.
The stallion nodded. “Fukboi nu hab fwiends.”
“Fuckboy? Is that your name?”
The stallion shuddered and nodded. “It am meanie namesie, bu it am aww meanie daddeh gib Fukboi. Nu wike meanie daddeh, Fukboi wun way afta meanie daddeh twy tu gib foweba sweepies.”
Herman eyed the stallion, looking past the injuries he could tell this Fluffy was starving, lost and desperate. All traits that Herman had seen in the Fluffies he’d taken in over the years, so naturally he wasn’t going to stop now.
“Come on inside, let’s get you cleaned up.”
I might be a little quiet for a while, I’m currently looking about for new work since my old work is putting me towards exhaustion and I can’t handle it anymore. So for the next while I’m either gonna be tired from old work or tired from new work.
Despite that, I wanted to return to Herman so I could get a short hugbox type story out that I can work on whenever the writing itch grabs me without too much worry about how it factors into the overall timeline. Hopefully this passes soon and I can get back on schedule.
I know he is old but hope he will still be here.