Nerissa sat on her mummah’s lap, cooing while mummah gave her good pets and bestest ear scratchies. Mummah always liked having Nerissa on her lap, and Nerissa loved when mummah touched her. As a fluffy, it was one of the primary ways she knows she is loved.
Like any other intelligent social animal, fluffies need to feel wanted. Unlike most other intelligent social animals, they aren’t good at much else. Luckily for Nerissa, she doesn’t have to be. When mummah was doing work or making nummies, Nerissa would ask if she could help. After all, mummah does so much! But mummah always says the same thing:
“Nerissa, darling, mummy doesn’t need you to help with anything. You’re here to be cute, ask me how my day was, and sit on my lap while I watch TV.”
Mummah is so silly! Nerissa has to remind her sometimes that “Fwuffies am fow huggies and wub.” Mummah is so busy, she probably just forgets. But it’s fine, because even if mummah doesn’t remember how important huggies and wub are, she still gives Nerissa so much of both! She doesn’t say it, but Nerissa knows from her actions. She gives nummies, huggies, cuddles, snuggles, a wawm howsie…
Today, mummah had one of her hoomin friends over. A nice wady named Doris. She always scratched under Nerissa’s chin, and usually smelled like peppermint. Nerissa liked her.
Doris and mummah met every week to play Rummikub and eat Gooey Butter Cake that Doris made. Mummah had fed Nerissa a piece once, and it was suuuuuuu nummy! Unfortunately, it gave Nerissa terrible tummy owwies so she couldn’t have any more.
This week, the cake and tile sorting portion of the afternoon had concluded. Thusly, activity moved to the sitting room, where Nerissa was perched atop mummah’s lap, teetering on the border between the waking world and the realm of dreams.
As she drifted off though, mummah moved Nerissa off her lap onto the sofa beside her. Nerissa yawned an over the top cartoon yawn. “Mummah nu wan howd Newissa nu mowe?” It was an innocent and honest question. Mummah couldn’t always hold Nerissa for long, and the fluffy knew this. Mummah had already resumed her conversation and only responded with “Hm? Oh, yes dear. Mummy was starting to lose feeling in her toes.” Nerissa didn’t know what all that meant, but it started with “yes” so Nerissa was satisfied. “Das gud mummah, Newissa gun gu to wawa boww an wittabocks nao. Den be wite back, otay?” Mummah had already returned to her conversation. Nerissa heard part of it as she rounded the corner down the hall to her playroom.
“Pamela, my dear, you’re simply too frail to be holding that…that sizable fluffy of yours.”
“Oh I know, I know. It’s just that it’s really all I have her for. She’s ever so lovely to feel on my lap while I watch my programs.”
“Well it sounds like she’s too heavy if she’s cutting off circulation. My neighbor Anne Margaret, you remember Anne Margaret, she had that son who turned gay? Anyway…”
Nerissa arrived at her playroom. It wasn’t large, but given the small size of mummah’s house, it was fairly substantial. It took up a full bedroom in the quaint brownstone.
The door entered at the rightmost side of the southern facing wall. From there it was roughly a 6x8 foot box. Going straight forward from the door, the next corner contained the litterbox, making it easily accessible while plenty far away from the litterbox, as poopies near nummies am bad fow fwuffy. The back wall had a television on it with a tuner for FluffTV, and at the other end of the room, there was the nummy corner and the sweepies corner. Throughout the room were a few blocks and Nerissas big red ball.
The room wasn’t large, but Nerissa found ways to run in it. Fluffies aren’t quick, and they’re pretty clumsy, but any fluffy will tell you they love to run around. Nerissa, having to be thrifty with her use of space, had worn the carpet slightly by waddling laps around the perimeter.
After going to the litterbox and making very good poopies, Nerissa started her typical mealtime ritual. She trotted over to her nummies, took a big drink of cool wawa, a big mouthful of soft kibble, and started off on her first lap.
While chewing her soft kibble, she would first walk down the westmost wall towards her bed. Arriving there, she would hug her stuffy fwend to thank it for being a good huggy partner for good sweepies. Sometimes she’d forget about the nummies in her mouth and try to actually thank her stuffy fwend, so some of the food would fall out and she’d have to pick it up off of her bed so it would be clean and smeww pwetty.
After that, she’d go to each of the five blocks individually and change what color was facing up. It didn’t matter what she changed it to, she just liked to change it. She liked seeing her room look different because of her. Sometimes she’d even move the blocks! She tried stacking them once, but never got more than one to stack. Since then, she prefers to use them as accent pieces.
Next is her pretty red ball. Rather than hugging it, she kicks it and chases after it. That, she reckons, is what balls like to do. And she loves her ball, so she always lets it play.
After that, she goes over to her litterbox. She doesn’t hug it, but she does appreciate all the work it does by numming her poopies with magic dirt, so she briefly bows her head in respect before going to the teebee.
At the teebee, she sits for a spell and watches whatever is shown on FluffTV at that moment. She doesn’t really care for television, truthfully the only time she likes it is when she watches it with mummah, and even then she’s usually got her see places closed and only actually likes the good touchies from mummah. She sits at the teebee until she’s confident she’s fully chewed her food, then she goes back to her bowls.
Gulp. Crunch. Repeat. Until the nummies are gone.
Nerissa likes doing it. It’s a little routine she can do that’s just for her. Mummah doesn’t see it, it’s not for attention, and she knows there’s no good reason for it, but she likes doing it anyway. Just like with the blocks, it’s a way for Nerissa to be her own fluffy. It makes her feel warm heart happies to do it.
Once she finished today, she trotted back out to the sitting room. By now, mummah would usually be seeing Doris out and preparing to watch her Mummah Teebee. Nerissa would be on hand to sit on mummah’s lap.
As she neared the room, she could hear Doris was still there.
“…and that’s all there is to it, Pamela. Honestly, you could do it in an afternoon. Go to Amity Woods, they’re terrific.”
“I say Doris, I was skeptical at the beginning but you’ve made some excellent points. Ah! Speak of the devil! Nerissa honey, come give Aunty Doris a goodbye huggie!” Nerissa went from a cheerful trot to a giggly gallop as she trundled her way to Doris to hug her weggie.
“Fankyu fow come tu mummah howsie fow make mummah hab heawt happies! Newissa wub ou!” Doris gave her the usual pat and scratch, and excused herself. Nerissa took up her perch on Mummah’s lap, and after two episodes of JAG, mummah set her back down. Then she watched the news, and went to bed.
Nerissa always watched the news with mummah because sometimes there were fluffies on it and she had to tell mummah when fluffies were on screen, in case mummah didn’t see them. It typically involved a lot of nudging mummah and pointing with her hoofsies. “Wook mummah! Dat wady hab a fwuffy! Ooooh, wook! Doze fwuffies hab babbehs!” Mummah never reacted, but Nerissa kept at it. Otherwise, her mummah might miss something!
When it was bedtime, Nerissa hopped down off the sofa and meandered back to her playroom. Once there she made good poopies, drank lots of wawa, hugged her stuffy fwend, and went sweepies.
The next morning, Nerissa ate her morning kibble and walked out to greet mummah. “Hewwo mummah! Nawissa am hewe!” Mummah had her shoes on, the nice ones she wears when she goes to stores in her car! Today, she said, Nerissa got to come along!
Nerissa was very excited. Mummah didn’t often bring her to things, but when she did Nerissa always got a treat! Typically that meant she’d been to the vet, but Nerissa wasn’t scaredies of the vet. The vet was a nice mister, and he didn’t give hurties to fluffies. Quite the opposite, he liked keeping fluffies from getting hurties.
When Mummah stopped the car though, Nerissa didn’t recognize the building. Oh boy! These were the bestest trips with mummah! One time she went to a very fancy party that mummahs friends threw and got to play with their fluffies! Maybe she’d make a new friend!
Inside the building, mummah said a lot of things to a man at the counter that Nerissa couldn’t hear. They did some pointing, and mummah gave him “munny” which usually meant she was getting something! Nerissa started doing an excited little dance. Every time she was brimming with emotion it would flow out through her hoofsies. Even as Bestest she’d still insisted on being a Dancie Babbeh fow Mummah.
The nice mister picked up Nerissa gently. “Weeee! Nawissa wub gud upsies. Fankyu fow softest upsies, nice mistew!” The hoomin carried her through a door into the next room, and before she could ask where mummah was, she was being set down on a counter.
She found her legs slotted into four holes in a metal plate. Much to her displeasure, her hoofsies weren’t quite reaching the ground. She was basically laying flat on her tummy, which she hated. A fluffy tummy is one of their most vulnerable spots. The soft belly is weak on any animal, but fluffies in particular have a lot down there. Hasbio wanted to be thrifty with the space, so they shoved all the organs down in the “chubby tummy” part of the design.
As a result, laying on her tummy like this wasn’t comfortable for Nerissa. Most fluffies didn’t mind laying down, but Nerissa even did that on her back. Her tummy was very ticklish and her fluff there was extremely fluffy and was enough for her. She didn’t need it to be a cushion too. She had plenty of cushions.
“Wai Newissa stuckies? Nu can touch gwoundies wif weggies! Nice Mistew wiww hewp gud Newissa?” The human didn’t respond. Instead he picked up a large metal sheet, set it on a track next to Nerissa, grabbed a wooden handle, and pushed it towards-
SHUNK
It was over in an instant. The worst pain Nerissa had ever felt hit all four weggies at once! She was in so much pain she got dizzy, she could swear she was rolling! That couldn’t be true though, her weggies were stuck in the meanie holes! While she was still in shock from the first pain, screaming and confused, another pain hit that was even worse. She felt hot pain at the base of each weggie.
“SCREEEEEE! BUWNIE HUWTIES! OWWWWWIES! MUMMAH HEWP! SABE NAWISSA! NAWISSA SCAWED, MUMMAH! NAWISSA NU KNU WAT DU!”
As the burnie hurties faded into merely very bad regular hurties, Nerissa could smell something not unlike when mummah made meatbawws. She tried to turn to see, but she couldn’t. The human had wrapped her in a very soft blanket that smelled like lilacs and was carrying the softly sobbing bundle to her mummah.
Nerissa was trying to squirm, trying to move her weggies in a way that would make them have less hurties, but she couldn’t! It was like the meanie blanket wasn’t letting her! She gave the blanket a couple nips. “Huuuu dumm-dummeh bwanket! T…take sowwy chompies! Wet Newissa wiggwe!” Nerissa hated being in tight spaces. Hated not being able to move. It made her feel trapped, and that made her feel scared.
She saw mummah though, and mummah was happy! The man handed her to mummah and as mummah hugged her, the hurties started to fade. She wasn’t trying to squirm anymore, as clearly mummah had moved her weggies in a special mummah way that takes away hurties from good fluffies.
Mummah brought her back to the car, and Nerissa slept the whole way home. She was tired from all the screaming and hurties, and she still wanted to do her usual mealtime ritual, so she wanted to have good nappies first to have the energy.
She awoke as mummah was bringing her inside. As she passed the playroom, Nerissa asked to be set down. “Mummah? Newissa am hungwy. Can gu pwaywoom hab nummies?” Mummah looked puzzled. “What? No, mummah’s going to feed you out here from now on.” Now Nerissa was confused. Mummah never fed her, she just filled up her food! Mummah only fed Nerissa when it was something extra special like…
“Sketties? Mummah gif sketties fow Nawissa? Hooway! Nawissa wub sketties day! Fankyu mummah, sketties take 'way awwww huwties!” Mummah set her down on the table. “Oh no, you can’t have carbs dear. Why if you at spaghetti and just sat around all day, you’d be too heavy! Then who would mummah watch her shows with?” Nerissa tried to think of an answer while mummah went to the kitchen, but when mummah returned with a bowl of soup and a turkey baster, Nerissa still hadn’t thought of a suitable alternative.
However she had solved the problem.
“Nu wowwy mummah, Newissa nu am wazybones! Nawissa awways wunning and pwaying! Nu get tuu hebby, Nawissa can hab sketties?” Mummah sat down next to her. “Oh, is that what you do in there all day? Just run around? There’s not much room in there. I’m still not sure what I’m going to use that room for now that you don’t need it.”
Nerissa stopped dead. What? Don’t need it? “Wat…wat dat mean, mummah? Dat Nawissa pwaywoom! Aww Nawissa toysies in dewe! An…an nummies! Dat whewe Nawissa gu tu wun awound wen mummah nu pwayin’ wif Nawissa! Nu take pwaywoom 'way mummah! Nawissa wub pwaywoom!”
Mummah filled the baster with soup. It didn’t smell great, it smelled like the icky soup mummah ate to “help keep regular.” Nerissa didn’t know what that meant, but she sure didn’t like what it took to accomplish. “Nerissa, that’s not really…really necessary though. You can’t use it anymore, and mummy would very much like a new room to fill with…well with something. As I said, haven’t worked it all out.”
Nerissa was getting frustrated now. "Mummah! Dat nu am twue! Nawissa awways gunna wan pwaywoom! Wai mummah fink Nawissa nu can use pwaywoom? Mummah nu eben gu in pwaywoom wif Nawissa nu mowe! Nawissa in pwaywoom pwayin’ aww da time!" She puffed her cheeks in an effort to underscore how serious she was being. She tried to stamp her hoofies, but it seemed like the blanket was still wrapped so tight she couldn’t even budge her weggies. "Nao take bwanket off Nawissa! Bwanket tuu tite! Nu wike! Nawissa wan gu tu pwaywoom an hug stuffy fwend! Nu wan be wif mummah wite nao! Tuu angwy! Nu wan make mummah saddies ow say meanie wowds, su wet Nawissa gu wite n-"
Mummah stuck the baster in Nerissas shouthole and shut her up immediately. Nerissa felt mummah stick it allllll the way to the back. She gagged as it scraped her uvula, but she was still in the meanie blanket so she couldn’t thrash around to escape! Then, she felt warm liquid come out of it and go down her throat. Some worked forward and hit her tongue. It didn’t taste pretty at all! It tasted like all the stinkiest gweenie nummies that mummah makes gross drinks and soups from!
So much of it was going down her throat. She was sobbing, but only with her eyes. Her cries were blocked by a large plastic tube full of altogether unimpressive soup, and as that soup brought its own specific brand of mediocrity to her tummeh, Nerissa had given up fighting it. She just slumped and cried while mummah finished draining the gross slop into her.
Mummah pulled it out and started wiping soup, tears, and snot off of Nerissa’s face. “I’m sorry honey, but you’re not being a very good fluffy right now. You’re being very naughty and talking back to mummy, so I’m going to take your blanket away. You can have it back when you’re ready to apologize.” Nerissa was still sniffling and trying to formulate a question when Mummah picked her up and brought her to her playroom.
“sniff F…ankyu fow bwing tu pwaywoom mummah. Nawissa am sowwy fow make yewwies at mummah. Mummah wet Nawissa down nao?” Mummah tutted at her. “Oh no little missy, I know a fake apology when I hear it. I’ll come back before bed to check on you and you can try again.”
Mummah carried a bundled up Nerissa into the room, but to Nerissas confusion she walked straight to the litterbox. She knelt down and unwrapped Nerissa in such a way that she sort of rolled into the gritty sand, landing on her tummy.
Only her tummy.
She hated the feeling of icky litter in her pwetty tummeh fwuff, so she tried to stand. But her legs would not obey. “Hnnnng! Weggies, pwease nu be dummeh! Nawissa am wayin’ in wittabocks wike poopies!” It was then that she looked down and saw it. Or rather, didn’t.
“Weggieeeeeeeees! Nuuuuuuuuuuuuu! Mummah, weggies missin! Weggies missin! Haf tu find weggies! Nu wan weggies get wost!”
Mummah looked in confusion. “Honey, really? You had them removed earlier today by the nice man! You were getting so heavy and your legs were cutting off circulation in my legs, so…”
Nerissa couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “M…mummah take weggies way? WAI? Nawissa nu am bad fwuffy! Nawissa awways am nice tu mummah! Awways twy hewp mummah du fings! Awways hewp mummah nu miss fwuffies wen dey on teebee! Wai mummah…huuuuuuuuu weggies huuuuuu…” Mummah answered matter of factly. “Honey, what have I told you? You’re here to be cute, ask me how my day is, and sit on my lap while I watch tv.”
Nerissa was spiraling. The only thing stopping her from fully realizing the magnitude of what’s been done to her is her ongoing attempt to argue with mummah. “But…but Nawissa aweddy du aww doze tings! Dat nu weason fow take weggies!” She was starting to get hoarse from screaming. She’d even shit and pissed herself a bit from the exertion, and she could feel both soaking her fluff.
“Nerissa, honey, I need you to sit on my lap, but your legs made my legs uncomfortable. But now that isn’t a problem anymore.”
Nerissa was flabbergasted. Mummah had never mentioned this to her! "Bu…bu mummah! Wai nebba teww Nawissa? Nawissa coulda waid down diffwent! Could moved weggies! Wai mummah…huuu wai mummah…take…huuuuuu…" She trailed off in despair. She tried to cry into her hoofsies, but then she remembered she didn’t have hoofsies anymore and that just made her cry more.
Meanwhile, mummah had pulled the trashcan from the laundry room right outside and drug it in. Nerissa was still shell shocked and the action didn’t register as odd until mummah started putting her blockies in it. “Mummah, nuuuuu! Nu put bwockies in twashies! Nawissa sowwy! Nawissa nu ask bout weggies nu mowe! Nu take bwockies!” Mummah scoffed but didn’t look up as she finished with the blocks and picked up the ball. “Honey, you can’t even play with them. Don’t be ridiculous, they’re just taking up space now and I don’t need them anymore.” Nerissa couldn’t hold back tears.
"But doze nu am fow mummah! Mummah nu hafta pway wif toysies, toysies am fow Nawissa!" As she puffed her cheeks for emphasis, mummah got her keys out of her pocket and punctured Nerissa’s big red ball. “Nuuuuuu! Wai huwt baww fwend? Baww fwend nu du nuffin!” Mummah casually dropped it in the can. “Nerissa, dear, you’re making a scene. Calm down or mummy is going to have to just ignore you.”
Nerissa tried to calm down, but then mummah picked up her precious Stuffy Fwend. “Mummah nu!” She caught herself and pulled back some. “N…Nawissa nu wan mummah fwow way stuffy fwend. Nawissa wub stuffy fwend a wot! Stuffy fwend hewp Nawissa sweepies! Pwease nu take!” She was making her saddest, most sympathy inducing face. Even had a whimper going. All of it was real. People think fluffies try to manipulate us by faking emotions, but that’s not true. It’s something we tell ourselves because we don’t want to admit the truth that these are sentient beings we treat as property.
Nerissa didn’t know anymore if mummah loved her. She thought she was loved, she thought she’d felt loved! But how can someone who loves you take everything you care about away? What kind of munstah would steal all the joy from your life for such frivolous reasons?
All this was boiling in Nerissa as she waited for mummah to give her stuffy friend back. To realize she’d done wrong. To hug Nerissa and apologize to her. To tell her she was sorry she took her weggies. To tell her she loved her. Hell, she’d settle for getting out of the litterbox.
She quietly whimpered as she stared longingly at her stuffy fwend. Mummah looked her in the eye as she threw it away. “Honey, you can’t have stuffy friends in the litterbox. It gets them all stinky.” Nerissa countered. “But mummah, nu wan stuffy fwend in poopy cownew! Wan stuffy fwend fow wen gu sweepies!” Mummah shook her head. “Honey, you don’t have any legs. How would you get from your bed to your litterbox?” With that, mummah disposed of Nerissa’s bed unceremoniously.
Nerissa was too shocked for words. So much happened so fast today, and the horror didn’t fully set in until mummah moved her nummie bowl and water bowl IN to the litterbox. This is it. This is forever. Mummah said something, but Nerissa was broken. She just wept and thrashed her torso around, like a sort of screaming potato with a speech impediment. Mummah left, and shut the door. She shut the light off, leaving the nightlight by the litterbox as the only light in the room. She could barely see to the track she’d worn in the carpet. Just seeing it made her cry harder, and she slumped her head all the way down in defeat. In fact she bumped into her nummie bowl, knocking it over. All her kibble spilled into the icky dusty litter.
So Nerissa sat in her own waste, sobbing, alone, eating litter with each bite of food. And for the first time in her entire life, she felt truly and completely unloved.
And she was right.