Shownotes
When a soul passes, let there be someone to listen to their songs and stories. Even for the smallest soul.
Today’s story is “A Sea of Stars” by Itoma the Fuzzy, who is a gay, furry, artist and occasional twitch streamer. You can find more of his work on his twitter @itomaisfuzzy.
Read for you by Khaki, your faithful fireside companion.
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https://thevoice.dog/episode/sea-of-stars-by-itoma-the-fuzzy
Transcripts
You’re listening to The Voice of Dog. I’m Khaki, your faithful fireside companion,
Speaker:and Today’s story is
Speaker:“A Sea of Stars” by Itoma the Fuzzy,
Speaker:who is a gay, furry, artist
Speaker:and occasional twitch streamer.
Speaker:You can find more of his work
Speaker:on his twitter @itomaisfuzzy.
Speaker:Please enjoy “A Sea of Stars”
Speaker:by Itoma the Fuzzy
Speaker:Honeydew was dead.
Speaker:Or at least she assumed she was.
Speaker:She remembered waking up in the middle of the night.
Speaker:The human boy who was her caretaker, snoring loudly as per usual,
Speaker:prevented her from falling into a restful sleep.
Speaker:Her miniscule bones groaned, but she shuffled over on the bed
Speaker:to wake him by licking his ear.
Speaker:He gave his typical grimace
Speaker:and grumble in response
Speaker:but awoke at her demand all the same. “ blech…Dew… your breath is terrible,”
Speaker:he had whined, before sitting up in the bed
Speaker:and shifting her smaller self into his lap.
Speaker:“What’s up baby girl?
Speaker:You need to potty?” She did always like when he used that saccharine tone,
Speaker:it made her feel…
Speaker:special? Important?
Speaker:Most human sounds were lost on her really; there were just too many, highly specific barks.
Speaker:But, she knew the important ones,
Speaker:the ones that got her tasty snacks when she demanded them.
Speaker:Roll over. Sit. No, don't eat that, here have a treat instead.
Speaker:Those were probably the best human sounds.
Speaker:But those weren’t the important ones at this time.
Speaker:The sound “potty” was.
Speaker:She gave a curt, scratchy bark in response to that sound.
Speaker:“Oookay, let’s go sweetheart,” the boy groaned,
Speaker:his large hands hooked under the pits of her front legs
Speaker:and gingerly lowered her to the cool floor below
Speaker:before he removed himself from the bed as well.
Speaker:The massive den they lived in was quiet, for the most part.
Speaker:Broad windows that overlooked the spot where she ate her food
Speaker:allowed ample amounts of moonlight to brighten the room.
Speaker:Gracie the pug rolled over on her spot on the couch
Speaker:and huffed at the sight of her and her human boy.
Speaker:Honeydew had no clue what a
Speaker:“pug” was but she felt the sound suited that particular canine.
Speaker:Though her boy sometimes called Gracie an
Speaker:“absolute bitch” with regular enough occurrence that she thought those sounds
Speaker:suited the pug as well.
Speaker:“Hush, you.” The boy grumbled when Gracie let out a low growl.
Speaker:“Come on Dew, let's go do your dog business.”
Speaker:She didn’t like taking her eyes off the other dog, but she knew it was late enough at night that Gracie wouldn’t cause a fuss.
Speaker:The pug didn’t like waking her elderly people,
Speaker:they needed their rest at…
Speaker:whatever astronomical age they had managed to get to.
Speaker:“Dew?” The boy had already moved along to the back door,
Speaker:standing there tiredly,
Speaker:but expectant. A cool summer breeze drifted in through the doorway.
Speaker:He tilted his head at her,
Speaker:so she toddled after him before leaping over the odd step at the back door
Speaker:and onto the porch.
Speaker:Next it was her turn to wait,
Speaker:she sat at the top of the steps and looked expectantly at the boy in turn
Speaker:while he closed the door behind him.
Speaker:He slipped his feet into a pair of old sandals,
Speaker:she liked those sandals,
Speaker:they had a lot of flavor
Speaker:cause they got to sit out in the sun all day
Speaker:and the texture was nice and soft. Honeydew didn’t have a lot of teeth with which to chew left,
Speaker:but it felt nice to go through the motions.
Speaker:Large hands came under the pits of her front legs again
Speaker:and carried her down the steps before setting her down.
Speaker:Though their territory was small,
Speaker:the boy's parents had seen fit to section off an area just for the dogs,
Speaker:with all the flowers and grass in another area.
Speaker:They were allowed to play in the garden…
Speaker:but only after they’d done their business in the “dog” section of the yard first.
Speaker:She had no idea why exactly.
Speaker:Doing business on the grass wasn’t any different then doing it on dirt and gravel.
Speaker:Honeydew’s breath
Speaker:slowed, it wasn’t labored
Speaker:but calm. The chill in her bones felt a little bit colder,
Speaker:the breeze seemed to ignore her fur,
Speaker:cooling the flesh below.
Speaker:“Go on, Dew. Do your business,”
Speaker:the boy rumbled tiredly,
Speaker:sitting himself down on the steps.
Speaker:Then she remembered
Speaker:feeling tired, her eyelids becoming heavy,
Speaker:she felt that slight fuzzy pressure in her nose and chest.
Speaker:The kind of stuffy feeling that comes with taking a deep
Speaker:yawn just before you inhale.
Speaker:Then she released her breath.
Speaker:Honeydew, the 14 year old shih tzu,
Speaker:was most certainly dead.
Speaker:Dreaming? No, dead.
Speaker:“Now who do we have here?”
Speaker:A voice that seemed bigger than the world reverberated through the room.
Speaker:It should have felt booming.
Speaker:It should have shook her to the core.
Speaker:But it didn’t. It was soft,
Speaker:cooling, like a balm to her soul.
Speaker:Taking in her surroundings,
Speaker:she noticed a tall woman standing at an entryway,
Speaker:her form obscured by fabrics of silver and
Speaker:purple? Why did she know what that was?
Speaker:She’d never seen such a color before.
Speaker:The woman stepped through the curtains and made her way forward revealing that she was far taller than Honeydew had initially thought.
Speaker:She easily stood taller than the den her boy’s parents had made for themselves.
Speaker:Robes of black that shimmered with streaks of silver and glittering stars
Speaker:fluttered with her movement,
Speaker:trailing behind her.
Speaker:Given the greatness
Speaker:of this woman’s presence, Honeydew thought on some level
Speaker:she should have been terrified that a being so large would even notice her,
Speaker:but on another she’d never felt more safe.
Speaker:“Well, speak for me little one?”
Speaker:She had knelt down,
Speaker:the hands of a giant
Speaker:gently coming to grip the edge of the platform upon which Honeydew sat.
Speaker:A mask the shape of a crescent sat upon her face,
Speaker:obscuring her eyes,
Speaker:brows, and the sides of a soft human-like face.
Speaker:Human save for the long pearly canines that glinted in her smile.
Speaker:Honeydew barked.
Speaker:The giantess tilted her head thoughtfully.
Speaker:“So much wisdom in such a short lived life.”
Speaker:Short? What about 14 years was short?
Speaker:Dew then thought back to the humans who had raised her boy caretaker and supposed
Speaker:maybe 14 years was short.
Speaker:Her human boy had practically grown up with her
Speaker:and he looked nothing like them,
Speaker:yet they had barely changed save the additions of wrinkles and a bit less hair.
Speaker:She barked again and noticed movement in the corner of her periphery.
Speaker:With a glance down she saw the floor changing shapes and colors,
Speaker:many of which she’d never seen before.
Speaker:Looking back up at the woman she saw those shapes and colors
Speaker:refracted upon her mask.
Speaker:Her life played before and beneath her.
Speaker:In short abrupt images.
Speaker:“Do you understand, dear heart?”
Speaker:Her soothing voice filled the room again as one hand made of silver
Speaker:let go of the platform.
Speaker:The long, well manicured nail of her smallest finger
Speaker:gingerly gave her a scratch on her back,
Speaker:right between her shoulders where she always itched
Speaker:but could never reach.
Speaker:She did understand.
Speaker:She wasn’t sure how she understood what was happening.
Speaker:But she did. The woman came to a rest, laying her head upon her arms
Speaker:as she gazed down at the small canine.
Speaker:Or at least Dew assumed she was gazing at her,
Speaker:as lips painted with moonlight curled in gentle smile.
Speaker:“Then will you sing for me, child?
Speaker:Share with me what you have gained and what you have lost.
Speaker:Of the world you felt
Speaker:and the love that surrounded you.”
Speaker:So Honeydew did. It took her a moment to find her voice.
Speaker:She hadn’t seen the need to properly howl at anything in years.
Speaker:A lot of it had been nonsense that really wasn’t any of her business.
Speaker:But she took a deep breath
Speaker:and howled. Her high pitched call resonated with the platform below her,
Speaker:she couldn’t see it but she knew it was flashing with images of her life again.
Speaker:She sang of the woman who raised her.
Speaker:The pups she had made.
Speaker:Of swimming in lakes and ponds.
Speaker:Chasing the occasional rat.
Speaker:One of her pups was brought back to her after she’d been given away.
Speaker:The family she had known out growing her and the boy taking her and her pup in.
Speaker:She sang of the little luxuries.
Speaker:Treats and tasty dinners.
Speaker:Of a world filled with far more smells than any one dog could catalog.
Speaker:She sang of sorrow.
Speaker:Of the pup who had come back to her passing before her time.
Speaker:She sang love. Knowing her life held meaning to those who had been with her
Speaker:for long and for short.
Speaker:When her song came to an end
Speaker:the room became dark, but the moon shone brightly on the woman’s face
Speaker:Hands of silver came forward,
Speaker:scooping Honeydew into the palm of one
Speaker:and lifting her off the platform.
Speaker:Honeydew barked again.
Speaker:“Oh you know who I am.
Speaker:You see me most nights.
Speaker:Though for some I close my eyes to rest.” The woman’s
Speaker:other hand gently waved causing the surface of the platform to shimmer like water,
Speaker:the ripples melting away the static white revealing the boy and his mother,
Speaker:huddled over a small form
Speaker:in a white cloth
Speaker:while his father worked at the earth of the garden.
Speaker:“I see most everything that happens under the starlit sky.
Speaker:I like to record knowledge
Speaker:and to share it where I can.” Honeydew felt like her heart had clenched at the sight.
Speaker:If she could have made them,
Speaker:tears would have come to her eyes.
Speaker:“But I also see to this small task.
Speaker:For all our children
Speaker:when their time comes.
Speaker:You tell me of your life.
Speaker:Of your stories, fictitious and factual, and I record them so that
Speaker:they can not be lost
Speaker:while you sleep.” The woman touched the surface again,
Speaker:causing it to ripple
Speaker:and turn a soft warm blue.
Speaker:“Then I send you to that place where all souls go,
Speaker:deep below the waves.”
Speaker:“You will dream of a joyous place, small one,
Speaker:surrounded by those who came before you,”
Speaker:She spoke, placing Honeydew on the dias once more.
Speaker:The surface seemed to have
Speaker:actually become water
Speaker:which reached up to her tiny dog ankles.
Speaker:The giantess reached up
Speaker:behind the coverings of her cowl,
Speaker:pulling forth a lock of her exceptionally long fur, which was black as night
Speaker:but shimmered an array of blues and purples.
Speaker:With a graceful swipe of a single nail
Speaker:she cut those tresses and they weaved themselves into a broad stretch of fabric.
Speaker:“Are you ready?” Honeydew gave a concerned whine.
Speaker:“Do not worry for that boy.
Speaker:He will be fine, what’s important
Speaker:is that you get lots of rest,”
Speaker:she wove the fabric around the small dog,
Speaker:swaddling her in warmth and onyx.
Speaker:“I’ll come get you
Speaker:when it’s his time.”
Speaker:The canine panicked for a moment when the giant placed her back on the watery surface of the dias
Speaker:and she felt herself sink further than she had before.
Speaker:But she felt calm wash over her.
Speaker:The water didn’t enter her muzzle or nose.
Speaker:It didn’t plug her ears.
Speaker:It ensconced her in what felt like absolute
Speaker:safety. Like a den that had no vulnerabilities.
Speaker:No way for predators to sneak in to harm her.
Speaker:A place with warm beds,
Speaker:tasty foods and toys that had just the right squeak to them.
Speaker:“On your way down, my girl.
Speaker:If you see anyone coming back up,
Speaker:wish them well for me.”
Speaker:The giantess called from above,
Speaker:voice muffled by the tide
Speaker:that gently carried Honeydew down.
Speaker:She drifted along the current for what felt like forever,
Speaker:drifting in and out
Speaker:of peaceful dreams of her own.
Speaker:Sometimes sharing dreams with those who flowed along beside her.
Speaker:Time had never really been a thing she knew of or was concerned about, and she saw no reason to start now.
Speaker:Until she felt a small bump.
Speaker:The bubble which carried her across an ocean of stars
Speaker:had been struck. She didn’t usually bother opening her eyes anymore.
Speaker:The dreams are better than the view of this place but she figured
Speaker:she should probably know
Speaker:what that had been.
Speaker:Around her, spheres of light rushed up from below,
Speaker:most of them missing those who flowed along the current of the after life
Speaker:but now and then one bumped a soul here and there.
Speaker:She looked up at the one that had struck her own vessel.
Speaker:It didn’t seem to be rising any more.
Speaker:It hung close, containing a small dog,
Speaker:a puppy really, swaddled in gold.
Speaker:He couldn’t even open his eyes yet.
Speaker:Though she figured it wouldn’t be for a while after his journey started for that sense to develop. Honeydew urged her vessel closer,
Speaker:feeling her tail wag with curiosity.
Speaker:She sniffed about his vessel as much as she could through the confines of her own.
Speaker:Smelling dust and dirt,
Speaker:a faint hint of what her boy had called
Speaker:corn chips. His little nose twitched
Speaker:and he wriggled under her scrutiny.
Speaker:The black mask of his face contorted in concern.
Speaker:She gave him a comforting whine
Speaker:and bumped her vessel forward,
Speaker:giving the pup’s a boost
Speaker:that caused it to shoot upward momentarily.
Speaker:And when she did
Speaker:she saw something. Just a flash.
Speaker:An instant of a life not yet lived.
Speaker:A small family. Another dog.
Speaker:A boy lifting the pup into his arms
Speaker:and singing softly to him.
Speaker:Her boy. Showering this pup
Speaker:with all the love he could muster.
Speaker:And then it was gone.
Speaker:The small soul now only a faint glimmer in the distant sky,
Speaker:shimmering like the many stars.
Speaker:Honeydew knew she was dead.
Speaker:That her life had come and gone in what felt like an instant to the beings that had loved
Speaker:and cared for her.
Speaker:But she knew everything would be okay.
Speaker:This was “A Sea of Stars”
Speaker:by Itoma the Fuzzy,
Speaker:read for you by Khaki,
Speaker:your faithful fireside companion.
Speaker:You can find more stories on the web at thevoice.dog,
Speaker:or find the show wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker:Thank you for listening
Speaker:to The Voice of Dog.