Two honks in the driveway got Izzie’s attention. The six-year-old’s head shot up and she ran to the window. “Grandma Bea’s here!”
Her parents looked out the window. Izzie’s mom, Carol, frowned and turned to her husband, Matt, as she saw a cat carrier in the old woman’s hand. “You were supposed to tell her ‘no pets as presents’!” she hissed, hoping Izzie wouldn’t hear.
“I did!” the man shrugged. The doorbell rang. He and Izzie went to go see their guest.
The door swung open and Izzie gave her grandma a hug.
“Oh! Izzie! You’ve gotten so big!”
Carol walked up with a half-smile. “Oh, Beatrice! It’s great to see you!” She pointed to the carrier, “And who might this be?”
“Oh, don’t worry about that yet, help an old lady with her luggage!”
Izzie dutifully took her grandma’s purse and set it on the table as her parents went out to the car. Grandma Bea set the carrier and two large shopping bags down next to it.
Izzie’s parents walked in and led Beatrice to the guest room leaving Izzie a moment alone with the carrier. The front grill was covered with a towel. She pushed back a corner to peek in and jumped back at the bright yellow eyes shining back at her.
“Hewwo?” a soft voice called from the carrier. “Wet out now?”
Izzie stepped back. She could hear the crate’s resident pawing at the door behind the towel.
She jumped as a hand rested on her shoulder. “Oh you’re probably getting impatient! Want to meet your surprise?”
Izzie nodded and Grandma Bea leaned in front of the carrier. She lifted the towel and opened the door. “You can come out now, sugarplum!”
She stepped away and out stepped… a fluffy pony? No, this was something else. It was shaped like a fluffy pony, round and chubby, with hooved legs and a horse-like mane and tail. Its fur was a pale dusty baby-blue and poking through the thick fur was a pair of wings.
Its face is where it stopped looking like a normal fluffy. It had bald, fleshy cheeks, pink lips, and a humanoid button nose. Overall its face looked more like a baby doll’s.
Grandma Bea clapped her hands together. “Isn’t he just precious?”
Carol cringed behind them. “Y-yeah. Listen, Bea. Can we talk?”
“Gwamma Bea… I hafta make poopies…” the creature whimpered on the table.
“Oh! I need to set up his potty box!” Bea reached into one of the bags and grabbed an item that looked somewhere between a litterbox and a training potty. She picked up the creature and walked down the hall to the bathroom.
While she was out of the room Carol knealt down by Izzie. “We aren’t going to be able to keep it. I’m very sorry, sweetie.”
The little girl shrugged. “I know.” Carol sighed in relief that her daughter took the news so well.
Out of the bathroom came Grandma Bea and the fluffy… thing. “What a good little boy you are! Such good poopies!”
Carol stopped her. “Bea. We said no pets.”
Beatrice laughed lightly. “Oh, he’s not a pet he’s a biotoy! You know they’re-”
“They shit, they eat, they breed, they die. They’re effectively the same thing. We can’t keep it,” Carol crossed her arms. “What were you thinking?”
Bea was flustered. She knew her daughter-in-law was right. “Well, Cheryl’s son works at that Hasbio place. She said they were working on a new fluffy and needed someone to test it.”
Carol blinked. “So you just volunteered us to-”
CRASH
Carol and Bea ran into the next room. Izzie was standing wide-eyed in the middle of a pile of broken glass. In front of her was a toppled china cabinet and in her hands was an antique ceramic platter. “I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry,” the girl muttered on repeat.
“What happened?”
“It fell over! I tried to stop it!”
“You could’ve gotten hurt! I’ve told you over and over not to play with it or try to climb on it!” Carol raised her voice firmly.
Izzie looked down. “I didn’t! I- I…” she trailed off realizing that her mom wasn’t going to believe her.
Carol sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Just go to your room.”
◇◇◇
Izzie flopped on her bed and pushed her face into a pillow.
“Hey! Wet chewub up!” the creature hopped and pawed at the bed. Izzie reached down and pulled him up. He sat looking at her. “Chewub kno yoo diddin do anyfin.”
Izzie looked up into his strange blue eyes. So human, and yet…
“Mommy won’t believe that.”
The creature pawed at her arms. “Den mummeh is bad and dummeh.”
Izzie pulled away from him. “Nuh-uh! My mom’s a good mom!”
The creature tilted his head and smiled. “Den why nu beweeve? Mummeh send to sowwy woom fow nu weason. Dat’s meanie fing to do.”
Izzie looked away and sighed. It was true, her mom never believed her when something went wrong…
“Chewub hav pwan. Chewub punish bad mummeh,” his eyes twinkled, “Yu wan pway too?”
Meet cherub fluffies- a failed prototype spinoff. Built off of early fluffies, they were given baby doll-like faces. They were supposed to be slightly more intelligent and capable- able to act as assistants to the elderly, young, and disabled. They were able to see in low-light with the idea that they could help their humans navigate dark spaces at night. Unfortunately the damn things also could have a sadistic streak that made them totally unacceptable as companions. Though a recall was issued to destroy as many of them as possible, there are still stories of strange baby-faced creatures with glowing eyes sighted in alleys.
Edit: Crap I thought I linked it but I am estupid. This is for @PonePone 's subspecies contest. December Subspecies Competition (WITH PRIZES!!)
