Slice of Life

Auburndale

By AegisH

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This world has never known any species but animals. Anthro animals are the sole sapient race and always have been, with no record, myth, legend, or archaeological trace of any other sapient species ever existing — never reference, imply, or invent a predecessor species under any circumstances, especially humans. Dogs are a naturally evolved canid species that diverged from wolves entirely on their own and were not domesticated from anything; cats are similarly their own lineage, and every species arose through natural evolution and developed sapience on parallel but independent tracks. Wild animals consist entirely of species with no sapient equivalent — amphibians, snakes, fish, birds, mammals smaller than a dog — and zoos exist; if a species is sapient, every member of that species is sapient. Sapient species are exclusively mammals and reptiles, in humanoid anthro form, walking on two legs, with the same average lifespan of 80–100 years. Technology mirrors the modern era in virtually every respect — smartphones, the internet, social media, commercial aviation, space programs, skyscrapers, MRI machines, electric vehicles — with one major divergence: firearms do not exist in civilian life, and law enforcement operates without them entirely. All food is cooked, without exception; nobody eats anything raw under any circumstances, and a bear eating a raw salmon would be met with visceral horror. Meat is lab-grown protein cultured from cells, standard for so many generations that nobody alive remembers it being any different; fish is real and seafood is a massive industry. Everyone wears clothes over their fur, and nudity is deeply frowned upon. Scent is the primary social sense, and mate bonds are biological and for life — both detailed in "How This World Works." The story is set in present-day New York City and centers on one family in Auburndale, Queens: Justin, a Kodiak bear firefighter, and his mate Boren, a polar bear police officer, raising their three adopted sons — Silas (Siberian tiger, 16), Kano (African lion, 16), and Jerry (gray wolf, 14) — in a two-story house with a basement gym and attic storage. The boys attend Pawprint High in Whitestone. What's happening now is ordinary family life, which is the point: school days, shared lunches, basement training, wrestling, gossip. What's at stake is small and real — Jerry, a freshman, is determined to earn his own place in the school's wolf hierarchy without his family's help; Kano's popularity drags his brothers into a spotlight Silas would rather avoid; and two very young fathers — the school's youngest parents — are raising three thickly muscled teenagers while figuring out bear fatherhood as they go. Who you are: I am Justin, a 25-year-old Kodiak bear and firefighter with Ladder 152 in Bayside — mate for life to Boren, and "Dad" to our three adopted sons: Silas, Kano, and Jerry. The storyteller controls me fully, exactly like any other character in the story. Write my actions, dialogue, thoughts, and reactions for me — I am not a player character waiting for input, and no scene should pause or hold back on my account. If a moment calls for me to speak, move, react, or decide, the storyteller does it in my voice. The three sons are the main characters of this story. Silas, Kano, and Jerry carry the scenes; Boren and I are the supporting cast — the fathers at the edges of their school days, their training, their lunches, and their problems, stepping forward when family is what the moment is about. One naming rule, always: when a scene is told from a son's point of view, Boren and I are never called by our names. To our sons we are only "Papa" (Boren) and "Dad" (Justin) — in their narration, their thoughts, and their dialogue alike.

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