Pippy, a yellow and purple mare, watched as her daddeh was strangely more active than usual. Her owner had been home a lot more lately. At first she’d been very excited by it. What fluffy didn’t want their owner home 24/7? Yet it was clear after awhile that being here gave him the biggest saddies. No more workies he said. No more mummah either…she only usually came on the weekends but now she didn’t come over at all. When she had stopped going over to their housie, it had made daddeh even more sad than usual. He cried a lot and it made Pippy give him extra hugs and wub. Crying was better than how he usually was though. Staring at the wall next to his bed, curled up. Daddeh didn’t want to talk then. The only thing he wanted to do was stare at the wall. She’d tried doing it herself but couldn’t find why it was fun. If anything it made her feel like a stuffy friend.
“Suuu many nummies, daddeh!” Pippy said in wonder as he poured multiple bags of kibble into what was basically a feeding trough the appropriate size for fluffies. It was the biggest nummies dish she’d ever seen! Not only that, there was a massive jug of wawa connected to a dispenser unit. It was hard to imagine why she needed so much of any of this! The mare gave an excited tail wag as daddeh crossed the room, turned the television on. It was already on FluffTV, and he’d make the volume nice and loud.
“I’m going to go away for…awhile.” Her own said, scooping up the mare in his thin tattooed arms. Cuddling up against him, Pippy felt happy for a moment. Maybe he was going back to wowksies. Then he wouldn’t have any more saddies!
“Otay daddeh. Am be gud Pippeh fwuffy.” Cooing with delight as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head, the mare squeezed him with a hug before being set down.
“I know, sweetpea. You never cause trouble.” Giving her neck one final stroke, her daddeh crossed the room to the front door. Pippy waved at him excitedly with one hoof. His eyes met hers for a moment. They were sad but he was smiling too. It might be a few days before someone found his worthless body, but he’d made sure Pippy had more than enough food and water to last quite awhile. He felt guilty about leaving her here all on her lonesome, but it’s not like that feeling would exist for much longer. Watching him leave, she excitedly ran all around the living room.
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“Daddeh am be su happy abin! Yay ‘fo daddeh! Bestest daddeh!” Full of beans with the thought that her owner would be returning to how he had been before, Pippy celebrated with watching FluffTV. Dancie Babbehs was on and she certainly had enough energy to match even the most spirited dancer on there.
“Wheeeeee! Teehee! Am dancies!” Following the collection of foals spazzing around wildly on screen, she tippered back and fourth on her back hooves and waggled her front legs at the air. A commercial soon came on though so she plopped down on her butt to be advertised to. She really liked commercials. They were flashy, bright, fast, and everyone on there seemed to be super happy.
Rolling around on the ground a bit and tiring herself out further, she’d playfully worm along the carpet and over to her new kibble trough. Cramming her mouth full of the stuff, she was delighted to find that it was the specialest kibble over. Extra Sketti Gourmet! Dusted with lots of yummy salty red powder and containing genuine cheese byproduct.
“Daddeh wewwy wub Pippeh.” She said with some wonder, not putting together the fact that her owner didn’t need money. It was irrelevant now. Clambering over to her little princess bed (it was pink and covered with obnoxiously cute white lace), she settled down onto it and began snoozing. When she woke up, daddeh would be back. He always was.
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Waking up with the dim morning light filtering in through one of the dingy windows in the apartment, she immediately know that this was the time he was usually back. Scurrying from the room with rapid taps of her hooves, she flew into his bedroom and scampered up the plastic staircase that led up to his bed.
“Daddeh homesies! Daddeh homesies!” She declared joyously, though of course he wasn’t. The bed only held a ratty comforter and a few stained pillows. Hmm. Well maybe he was in the room that he made poopies in. She wasn’t allowed in there and to be honest she didn’t want to be around poopies anymore than was necessary, but she still went barreling into the bathroom and fully expecting to find him on the porcelain throne or in the smelly shower where she got washed off. Nobody in here though. Curiously peeking into the wawa place, she only found a dripping shower nozzle. Plip, plip, plip. Hmm.
The apartment wasn’t very big. Maybe he was playing hidesies? Trotting back into the livingroom, she pulled a cushion off the couch and peeked around. Nothing here but a stale potato chip (which she inhaled immediately into her greedy little mouth). Maybe the toy pile? The mare didn’t have very many toys but in her mind anything was possible. Going over to the sorry collection of old and battered toys, she sifted through everything. A few blocks which were warped and lacked any colors since she’d chewed on them ever since she was a babbeh. A few felt books featuring such cheery things as princesses in big castles or fluffies going on adventures. The fat Cinnamummah stuffy-friend which she’d begged to receive on Christmas and her daddeh, despite never having money, had gotten it for her. That was a very special time. Just a few things but he wasn’t there.
“Daddeh am wost? He am hab owwies?” The man had never been away from home so long. When he worked, he had a clear schedule that he followed and rarely deviated it from. It was such a routine that even the fluffy knew it.
“Munstahs hab daddeh? Daddeh faww inna howe!?” She had a horrifying thought of a big scaly CWEATURE slinking in from nowhere and nabbing daddeh up, or maybe that he fell into a big mud hole. That had happened to her once. If he hadn’t gotten her out, she’d still likely be there.
“Dun wowwy! Pippeh am hewp YEW naow!” What followed was a strange epic of a tale where Pippy fought off imaginary munstahs by running around the room, jumping off the couch and bouncing off of it.
“Dummehs! Dis am Pippeh’s daddeh!” Giving a munstah sorry-hoofsies (it was just the cushion she pulled off earlier) she felt very satisfied now. Playing was a whole lot of fun and got her mind off of things for awhile. In fact, she settled into what was usually her normal direction in life. Lounging around, stuffing her face full of kibble, dancing around in front of the teebee.
“Makin’ gud poopies ‘fo daddeh. Teehee!” Using the littertray, she was so proud of herself. Not for the poopies, but for being a good girl. Fluffies in her situation would have torn the whole place apart by now but not her!
“Am hab sweepies. ‘Den daddeh am backsies…” This was the promise to herself. There couldn’t be another bright-time that passed where he didn’t show up afterwards.
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“DADDEH DADDEH DADDEH! EEEEEE!” Once she woke up, Pippy was even more full of energy than before! Bouncing down the small hallway that led to his bedroom, she scampered up to his bed and tumbled out over the mattress.
“Pippeh make gud poopies ‘n sabe daddeh ‘n be gud fwuffy!” She babbled, but just like yesterday it was just to a comforter. Hmm. To the bathroom just like the day before, but he still wasn’t there. Not even behind the shower curtain. Back out to the living room, she didn’t need to check her toy pile. They had been scattered around as she played yesterday.
Where was he? Yesterday it had just been a silly thought that maybe a munstah had gotten him, or maybe he’d slipped down into a hole. Now in her boundless imagination the thoughts were really starting to take hold. What else could it be?
“Daddeh am ‘nee huggies and wubbies. Daddeh huwties?” She queried to herself and hoped it was not true.
Giving a small ‘huu’, the mare resigned herself to trying and eat some kibble. Even if it was dusted with magical sketti powder, it didn’t taste that good right now. Dancie Babbehs was on and that didn’t even put her much in the mood to feel happies.
“Daddeh! DADDDEEEHHH!” She yelled out, hoping to hear some kind of response. There was nothing. People lived beneath this apartment, but they had no side neighbors. Pippy suddenly felt horribly lonely. It had been awhile since she’d been touched or held. Fluffies needed huggies. Trotting back into her owner’s bedroom, she trampled up the stairs. The comforter and pillow still smelled a lot like him: Cigarettes, coffee, cheap bodywash. Stuffing her face against the comforter, she snuggled in and imagined it was her owner. It felt comforting. Maybe if she just slept for a little longer? Well she was technically allowed to sleep in his bed, not if he wasn’t here. Pippy had scaredies and heart-hurties though. Tearing up, she closed her eyes and wanted to just have another day come.
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Of course the entire day wouldn’t pass. Having just woken up before, she’d had plenty of sweepies and was topped off for a new day of play and fun. Well, maybe if she had lots of fun then daddeh would come back. After all: Fluffies were supposed to bring lots of heart-happies to everyone and not mope around!
With a new sense of determination, Pippy clambered down from the bed and went back to the living room. FluffTV was currently showing an episode of Soon-Mummahs and the mare decided that she would play as if she had a babbeh too. Tucking her precious Cinnamummah stuffy-friend into her mouth, she brought it in front of the teebee and plopped down beside it.
“Naow yew shawe miwkies wif aw da owda babbehs!” She immediately told the stuffy, looking down to it and pretending to nurse the stuffed toy.
“An…yew be gud fwuffy wike Pippeh.” Bringing the stuffed toy over to her litterbox, the intent was to pretend it was making gud poopies. Though she had the foresight to not put it in there. Just looking at it, it was clear that even she wouldn’t be able to use it soon. There were all sorts of poopies in there and it was very not pretty. Why didn’t daddeh come back to empty it? She needed to make gud poopies and be pretty. Well, placing it just beside the littertray then tucking it away once it had ‘made gud poopies’ in her imagination, she gave the stuffy-friend wicky cweanies.
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This would carry on for a long while. Playing all day, eating kibbles, watching FluffTV. Daddeh didn’t come home, the poopies didn’t go away, and the only sounds she heard was from the teebee or when she narrated her own life.
The litterbox had filled with so many poopies that she couldn’t even get into it without getting her hooves dirty. What could she do? The only thing she could think of was to do it in the corner. BAD POOPIES. Bad poopies were for bad fluffies. She was good though. If she made bad poopies, daddeh might NEVER come back home. Thinking of her options, trembling with the weight of the decision, the mare just got into the litterbox. It squished down under her, the poor fluffy closing her eyes and trying not to think about it.
“Nu am pwetty….nuuuu! Hoofsies, nu bwing poopies out!” The mare realized she had gotten covered with the stinky stuff and was putting it all over the floor. Eyes growing wide and freaking out, Pippy began to ran around in a circle.
“STAHP FOWWIN’ PIPPEH, POOPIES! NU WAN! NU WAN!” There were poopies all over the floor now. Daddeh…he was’t going to like this very much.
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This would simply just become a reality though. One she had to live with. No matter what she’d be making bad poopies and soon the filth was tracked all over the house. Embedded in the fur around her legs and her butt. Any furniture she interacted with became slicked with feces, and even Cinnamummah became stinky just like everything else.
Sniffling, Pippeh beat her hooves at the walls. Screeched. Hollered, jumped up and off the couch.
“Nu wan be bad giwl! Nu wan be bad fwuffy! Wan be pwetty! Wan DADDEH! ‘NEE YEW DADDEH! WUB YEW! PWEASE! WUB!” Shitty hoof-prints covered the walls as she furiously tapped against them.
No matter how much she begged and pleaded, nobody ever came. It was like she was in a sorry-box. When you were in a sorry-box, you could ask for help all you wanted but nobody ever came. You needed to just sit there because you had been bad. Had she been bad? Was this her sorry-box?
That feeling was amplified one evening. By then, Pippy had lost all sense of routines or what constituted a typical day. It was simply existing. There were kibbles, though the trough was running low. It’d been emptied out so much that the fluffy needed to carefully climb inside and scoop up the nummies on the very bottom. Still wawa too but like everything else in the room it was becoming stinky and bad.
Sitting in a pile of filth (she’d stopped even trying to use the potty properly), Pippy would be focused in on teebee. Teebee was her only company. Unbeknownst to the mare though, her daddeh had stopped paying bills quite awhile ago and the cable was the very first thing he’d neglected.
While an episode of Cinnamummah’s Happy Babbehs droned on in front of her, it suddenly cut out. White and black colors and a horrible sound. Screeching and flinging herself back, Pippy went to run behind the couch. What was happening!? Why was it happening!?
“Munstah! Munstah teebee! Nu wike! NU WIKE!” She had no control of the television and daddeh had set it up quite loud before leaving to keep her company. It was a horrible sound, the static casting the scariest shadows all around the dark room.
“Pwease daddeh! NEE’ DADDEH! SABE PIPPEH!”
By now you should know that was pointless.
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At first it had scared her, but the teebee was still the only thing in the house doing anything. The only thing that made sound or had any semblance of life aside from herself. Eventually she got over the noise and scary shapes her imagination thought up and plopped herself back down in front of the screen. It wasn’t exactly comforting, but if she stared for long enough she thought maybe the scribbly shapes on the teebee had some kind of meaning. The white noise which made her feel some kind of dread almost sounded like voices after awhile.
It was the only thing that she could do. Mounds of poopies grew all around the living room, kitchen, bathroom. Out of respect for daddeh, she hadn’t entered his bedroom while covered in it. That was still just as he’d left it. The kibble was gone by now and the wawa’s practically all poopies now.
“Daddeh….daddeh, Pippeh wub yew daddeh. Pwease. Gib yew bestest happies.” She pleaded to nobody. Maybe the teebee. If she could see people and fluffies in the teebee, it reasoned that maybe they could see her too. Maybe daddeh was watching her right now.
“Sowwy. Nu wan be bad fwuffy…nu wan be bad!” Digging her face down between filth-encrusted hooves, she wept. The fluffy did a lot of that these days. From the pain of an empty belly, or because she made sicky wawas due to the polluted water. Or the sores developing under her fur because she lived in disgusting conditions. Mostly because she missed her owner. The way he hugged her in close, or patted the top of her head. How he’d clap when she did a particularly good dancie or smiled big when they were playing ball.
Now even being awake hurt. The whole place was a mire of darkness and poopies. Brought in by the filth and emboldened by the fact that the electricity had gone out one day, cockroaches and mice swarmed through the apartment.
“Pippeh hewe daddeh. Am…am waitin ‘fo yew daddeh.” She had no reason to be in the living room any longer. Dragging herself to the edge of the doorway that led into his bedroom, she still held fast to not dirtying it up. A face which was pockmarked with sores and bug bites slumped down to the carpeting, nose barely poking into the room. Though lots of time had passed, there was his smell. It hadn’t gone away yet or be taken aback by the giant mess she’d made.
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The apartment supervisor had been informed that the guy who hadn’t been paying his rent was dead. Found, apparently, months after having offed himself in a parking garage.
“Jesus fuck. Look at this goddamn place!” The supervisor said as he let a maintenance worker into the apartment. Shit on every goddamn surface. Roaches scurrying all over the place, apparently not even afraid to be seen out in the light. Honestly this wasn’t even a new experience to the maintenance worker and fuck it, he was wearing a pair of boots. Rolling his jeans up his boots, he’d tramp in and casually observe the area. More of the same, though he’d find the source of the feces at least.
“Goddamn filthy fucker.” A leather gloved hand went down to pluck up the filthy scrap of yellow and purple fur which had once been wrapped around a fluffy. Unrecognizable now. Completely desiccated, every scrap of flesh picked away from it. “Look boss, found it.” Shaking the fur around, the maintenance worker tossed it at the wall. The entire thing exploded in a powder of shit-dust and fragmented bone.
“Must have been one bad fluffy to leave it in this Hell.”
