Little Tails and Mirrors - A CS Fox Story

When a carnival arrives in town, Alaina and Katrina decide to take a walk around a mysterious Funhouse of Mirrors…. What will it show them?

(This is the first story for August $5 and $10 Patrons. The final $10 Patron Story for July will be released shortly, along with the audiobook. I want to thank CS Fox immensely for this, as he offered to provide some content to help out in August)

Little Tails & Mirrors

By: C.S. Fox

The carnival was only in town for a week. It had been setup just two days before when a small convoy of trucks pulled into the vacant field behind the fire station. Usually, the carnival was meant for families full of little kits, pups, and kittens, but it wasn’t like there was a lot do in this town on a weeknight. Plus, there had been free tickets. 

Katrina wasn't very thrilled by the whole experience so far. The rides, barkers and booths seemed rather trivial. She was a 20-year-old wolf now, a grown woman! She’d been dragged here by Alaina, her  best friend. The silly otter could just give her a pouty face and she was pretty much helpless before her wants. 

“Isn’t this great?” Alaina asked, her big brown eyes darting from games, to rides, to a cotton candy stall. Her rudder of a tail was wagging so hard that if she been underwater she could have propelled herself forward. 

“I guess,” Katrina couldn’t help a little chuckle. While she was bored, this was a nostalgia trip for Alaina. “Is there anything else you want to see before we go?" she asked, hinting at her intention to leave before too long.

Alaina flashed her a grin. “Hey, come on, you can’t beat free. I even won you that stuffed. It’s been fun! Would you rather be back in the dorm on your computer?” 

Katrina sighed and hugged the little stuffed animal that had been won for her. Truthfully, she would have preferred being back in her room, she was anti-social… but spending time with her best friend wasn’t too bad either… and the stuffed animal was cute. It was a wolf plush, even matching her own snowy white fur. She looked up at Alaina and was given the dreaded pout. Stupid otter. Katrina was about to protest, but all she could do was roll her eyes in ascent. She was stuck here for now. 

“Fiiiine,” she whined.

Alaina was often the instigator of the two. She was a little taller and lankier than Katrina was, with a pair of brown eyes and a swimmer’s body. She had a big tail typical of her species and light tan fur that covered her body. “We’ve still got like 10 tickets left from what Professor Scarf gave us, we’ll use them all and then we’ll go,” she said.

Katrina harumphed, giving Alaina a wolfish side eye, but eventually relented. "Okay, okay. The carnival’s not too bad... And I have to admit this little guy is cute," she motioned to the stuffed puppy in her arms. "So... what next? We’ve already been on like half the rides.”

“How about that?” Alaina said pointing to an illuminated trailer truck at the end of the game row. It read ‘House of Mirrors’ in blinking electric lights. 

“Uh… that looks kind of creepy,” Katrina said.

“Come on, it’s just like a mirror maze, how scary can it really be? Unless like you need to take a long deep look inside yourself, because I guess THAT can be scary,” Alaina thought with an inquisitive waggle of her eyebrows. “It’s not even a real house of mirrors. It’s an unfolded truck trailer thingy, and a prefab building on the other side of it,” Alaina said looking up ahead at the brightly lit display. 

The lights showed various messages as the girls scoped it out. ‘See Yourself Like Never Before!’ ‘Get Lost In the Mirror Maze!’ ‘Dare To Peek Into Your Soul?’ 

“There’s no line at least,” Katrina shrugged.

The two of them wandered up to the ride and were greeted by an older kangaroo. She was half relaxing on her tail, leaning back like she were a tripod. She smiled and waved at the girls. “Ready for the house o’ mirrors? 5 tickets each!” she said. 

“Perfect, that’s the last of them,” Katrina said nudging Alaina to hand them over. After this they could go home.

“Here you go,” Alaina said handing over the tickets. 

The Roo took them and gave them both a wink. “Have a good time girls!”

Following a red carpet leading inside, they were bathed in the multi-coloured glow of party lights. Katrina clutched her stuffed toy in one paw while moving a little closer to her best friend. “I’m not really sure how much I want to stare at myself in the mirror, so let’s just find our way through and head home.”

Alaina made a rude noise. “Always so dramatic, you make it sound like your inky black soul is something to be ashamed over,” she teased. “Seriously, you have barely even been in trouble before. You only skip class if I coerce you into it. I doubt you’ve ever stolen a thing in your life or even lied,” Alaina chided. “What are you so afraid to see in a mirror?”

“Maybe I’m a vampire cat?” Katrina countered.

“What? Like a sabretooth? Nah, I’ve seen you at night. You don’t have the whiskers.”

Katrina smirked, but followed along. 

The first batch of mirrors were angled in such a way as to make the path before them look like it stretched into infinity, reflecting multiple copies of themselves. It took a little careful navigation, moving between mirrors in a semi-maze before they got to a section of mirrors that seemed to distort what they showed. 

The first made them look taller and thinner, the second much fluffier. Alaina giggled a little as she wiggled in front of it, watching her otter reflection do the same. 

"Check it out. I've finally dropped the freshmen 15," Katrina laughed, striking a pose at the tall and thin her. 

Alaina looked over at her seemingly longer fur. "I don’t know if I could live with this much fluff. You blow your coat out like what, twice a year? No thanks," Alaina shook her head. 

The two made faces at each other and the mirrors for a bit before an odd thought struck Katrina. “You know, I meant to ask… Why would Professor Scarf give us free tickets tonight? I mean we’re not his favourite students, probably not by a long shot.” 

Alaina shrugged "From what Prof told me, it was to ‘make amends’ or something like that," the otter shook her head. "He still looked mad for that time I asked for three extensions on my paper last semester.”

Katrina motioned for them to keep moving and the two of them came to a set that was much more transformative than the others. Instead of rounder or taller, these mirrors made them look remarkably younger. Both girls were shorter than their usual height and Alaina’s reflection even had the braces on her teeth she’d worn when she was six or seven. She blushed a little at that. 

“This one is really really trippy, that’s exactly what I looked like when I was younger… braces and everything,” the otter said as she leaned in to flash her teeth at the mirror, tilting her head to inspect things.

Katrina got caught up by the rejuvenating glass too. She stared at both her and Alaina's mirror doubles. "That... really does look like me," the wolf said, her eyes widening. She was clearly shorter, though, ironically, not by much. Her 5-foot frame was brought down to a 3 foot and a half, and her body was clearly fluffier, if a little chubbier. Before Katrina had begun grooming herself regularly, she had been in a thick, cuddlier fur that she’d had to work to shake off in her teens. 

As the college student gazed at her reflection, she couldn’t believe the curious puppy-reflection staring back at her "I can't believe how good it is," Katrina said, touching her cheek with her paw. Probably purely psychological, but she could nearly feel the extra-long fur on her body. In an attempt to prove to herself this was not her, the wolf reached out, touching the glass "So real..."

“I know right?” Alaina said as she turned back to Katrina. She was a little shaken but she gave her friend a goofy grin with her braces still on her teeth. “I want to see if they have any mirrors that make us look older! I bet I’m hot when I’m in my 30’s!” the otter said.

Katrina nodded, only half listening to what Alaina was saying "I guess..." She said, still staring at the mirror as she took a step back. "T-this mirror really is creepy, Alaina," she whimpered, sticking close to her friend.  Without realizing it, Katrina crept the thumb of her paw into her muzzle. It was a nervous habit from her childhood days.

“It’s not creepy! It’s super cool,” Alaina said as she stuck out her tongue and gave a raspberry to the wolf. “I bet you were a cute pupper,” she teased, turning to giggle at Katrina. She paused staring rather intently at Katrina’s face, seeing her thumb there. “Umm… Katrina, why are you sucking your thumb?” Alaina asked.

Katrina blushed, immediately removing her thumb. “I’m not,” she lied, like she hadn’t just been caught. She readjusted herself, blinking a little as she was forced to hold the stuffed wolf a little awkwardly. The plushie had apparently gotten bigger in the last few minutes. She brought both arms around it to hold it in front of her, confused at how that had happened. 

“Pfft, you so were,” Alaina teased, giggling at Katrina. Katrina was about to whine back at Alaina when she noticed something. 

"H-hey... your teeth... braces..." Katrina stuttered out, pointing towards her friend’s muzzle.

Alaina raised an eyebrow and ran her tongue over her teeth. She panicked a little as she did indeed feel her braces back. She turned toward the mirror again to check if it was true. She saw only the teen version of herself. “What… how..?” Alaina said starting to sound a little worried. It had to be a trick. This was a house of mirrors after all. “Come on, this stupid place is just trying to freak us out. Let’s just head home.”

That was exactly what Katrina wanted to hear. She nodded enthusiastically and followed closely to Alaina.

Determined not to be bothered further by a dumb carnival mirror maze, Alaina stomped ahead. Her mind was reeling with what she’d seen. It was either a really good trick or some type of video display effect. Part of her knew that having actual braces on her teeth right now was not something a video could trick her with, but she pushed that aside. There was another batch of mirrors ahead they had to get by.

Katrina gave a worried little whine, feeling herself squeezing onto the stuffed toy in her arms. She saw the mirrors, but she almost didn’t want to look now. Something felt weird.

“We’re not letting this place scare us. We’re big girls!” Alaina said defiantly, perhaps petulantly, trying to convince herself that this was a stupid trick. She was always the braver one. 

In the next set of mirrors, Alaina’s braces were gone. Although, like Katrina, she’d had a childhood thumb sucking habit which had been part of the reason for her braces. Alaina watched herself take her thumb, and put it into her own muzzle. She registered what she was doing, but couldn’t fathom why. Staring back at her in the mirror was an otter pup that couldn’t be more than four years old. Legs pigeon toed, big tail flopped behind her. Next to her, was a fluffier version of her nearly toddler  best friend.

Apart from the obvious age difference to their normal selves, the biggest change was their clothing. Both girls had come to the carnival as normal college furs. Katrina was wearing a short spring dress, and Alaina a university t-shirt that revealed her midriff and shorts… but now a plastic fringe poked up above Alaina’s shorts and Katrina’s dress seemed a little shorter and more flared out then before. The college logo on Alaina’s shirt was gone too, replaced by a pink heart. 

As the otter turned, she could tell her best friend was scared more then she’d thought. Her tail, ear and paws were tucked against her body, and she was shivering. Her eyes were glistening, and it was clear she was desperately trying not to look at the mirror. "I want my mommy," came a quiet mutter from the frightened pup.

Alaina’s tough girl act crumbled a little and she was quick to hug Katrina. Part of her knew it was silly to want her mommy right now, they were both in their 20s! Still, she couldn’t help sharing the feeling too. She really didn’t want to deal with the uncertainty of this place, she wanted her parents to just swoop in and get them both someplace brighter and warmer. She let out a pronounced sniffle as she hugged Katrina, fighting back a sob herself.

“I wanna go home too,” she whined.

The lights slowly shifted from the party colours to a plain monotone white, brightening the dim illumination. The mirrors around them mirrors began to blacken like TV’s being turned off. Alaina blinked a few times, giving Katrina a few reassuring pats as she heard someone coming toward them. 

“Is everyone okay? I thought I heard someone saying they wanted to go home?” asked a voice from the part of the maze they hadn’t been yet.

“We’re over here!” Alaina squeaked out, blushing at how childish her voice sounded.

Rounding a corner up ahead a coyote girl came into view. She was tan furred and obviously an adult, offering a wave to the two girls. 

“Awwww poor little puppers, you okay?"

Katrina rubbed the tears from her eyes, looking up from Alaina’s shoulder to stare at the canine woman. She looked so big, which for some reason, gave Katrina a slightly calm feeling. At least an adult was here, so it was going to be okay. 

"T-there's scary things here," she whimpered out, moving to hide her body behind Alaina's. 

“There’s nothing to be afraid of girls. Just some mirrors and a little show. Come on, just outside the maze there’s a little place you can both relax and calm down at. My name’s Tina, and I work here,” the coyote woman said as she came right up to the girls. She knelt down and took one paw from each pup, helping them to their feet. “I’ll lead you out of here,” she said reassuringly as she started to walk them down the hall. 

Alaina was relieved to have some direction. Her thumb found its way back to her muzzle as she waddled along, ears perking a little at an odd crinkling noise. She looked over to Katrina to make sure she was okay. She was waddling too, dragging the stuffy behind by one paw. 

“You were such brave girls!” the coyote girl said, making them both blush. “Look how far you made it through the maze. You were almost out.”

Being praised did feel nice. They were both big girls after all, and brave.

“We have a little place for new arrivals setup right at the end,” Tina said cheerfully. As they rounded two more corners the mirror maze ended at a baby gate which seemed pretty high to the girls. On the other side of it was a brightly coloured playroom. There were some toys on the floor and soft carpeting. The whole place looked temporary though, or at least as much as the rest of the carnival had been. 

The Coyote stopped at the gate, letting go of the girl’s paws before opening it. She turned back around and got down on one knee.

“Let’s check you girls to make sure that the maze wasn’t too scary for you,” she said, reaching for Katrina first. “That’s a really cute plushie you’ve got there sweetie. What’s your name?” Tina asked as she gave a little tug to Katrina’s dress, pulling it up slightly to see the Pawpers diaper underneath. It was thick and slightly pushed her legs apart. She gave a quick pat check, finding the wolf dry.

"K-Katrina" said the shy pup. She looked confused. Hadn't she come here in panties? “Diapers?” she asked, looking at herself.

“Of course hun, wouldn’t want you girls to have an accident,” Tina said as she scooted Katrina past the baby gate. “Besides all babies wear diapers,” she said matter-of-factly. 

Katrina mothed what Tina had said… all babies wear diapers…  she had a hard time faulting the logic, but there was an odd feeling like that wasn’t quite right for some reason. 

The Coyote turned to Alaina next. The otter had been staring dumbfounded and sucking her thumb. As Tina put her paw on the otter’s shoulder, she seemed to snap out of it, looking up at the Coyote. “How about you sweetie, what’s your name?”

“A-Alaina,” she said around her thumb. She got a bit more confused as the Coyote started to unbutton her shorts and tugged them down a little, revealing another diaper. The pup let out an eep as she realized the crinkly undergarment wasn’t exclusive to her friend. “Wh..what…?”

Tina just chuckled and shook her head as she fixed Alaina’s shorts. “You’re both fine, now in you go,” she said as she scooted Alaina in alongside Katrina. She shut the baby gate, leaving them both stuck in the playroom for now. “I’ll be right back little ones, I need to go let someone special know you’ve arrived,” she smiled.

Both girls were too stunned at the suddenness of everything to speak, they just stared up at the Coyote as she gave them a little wave and left them.

When she was gone, Katrina was the first to move, lifting up her dress to look at the thick diaper between her legs. Her sense of modesty seemed to have flown out the window. She started at the diaper, knowing what it was, knowing that all babies wore diapers, but knowing that something was odd about that.

Alaina seemed just as confused. She looked at her friend’s diaper, then down at her own shorts which had an obvious diaper bulge. Had mommy dressed her like this earlier? She scratched at an ear but slowly her attention wandered to some of the toys on the floor.

When Tina returned, she was leading the kangaroo from out front. Both women stopped at the baby gate and couldn’t help a big smile at what they saw. 

“Awww they’re adorable!” the kangaroo said. 

Both the wolf and otter pup looked up at the women, seeming a bit surprised. In the last few minutes they had each been drawn to the toys and were now sitting to build a little tower with blocks. 

Tina opened the gate. “Its okay girls, you’re not in trouble, we just came here to let you know the carnival is closing soon and there’s one more game to play before you leave!”

“Game?” Alaina asked around her thumb, as both the pups looked up at that. There was something nagging at the edge of their minds, just out of reach, but games were fun and that had their attention.

The kangaroo followed behind Tina and nodded. “Yup, a game! This is a carnival after all, and everything is always up to chance! We’ve got a game for you both and it has the best prizes.”

Momentarily forgetting the blocks they were playing with, Alaina and Katrina stood up on wobbly legs and toddled over to the two women, looking up at them with ears up, eager to hear about prizes. 

“We have a magic wheel that you can spin. Its right at the exit. You’ll each get one spin and one prize!” Tina said. Her excitement made the girls smile around their thumbs. 

“Wha kinda prizes?” Katrina asked. 

The whole group moved to the gate and walked down the hall to a little alcove near the exit door. Just as Tina had said, there was a colourful wheel like you’d see on a gameshow. It was ringed with blinking lights.

“All kinds of prizes! See, you can read them here. This one says giant plushie, but I see someone already won a new stuffed friend, huh?” Tina chuckled, rubbing between Katrina’s ears. The wolf pup just blushed and cuddled her stuffy a little closer. 

The Kangaroo pointed to a few more of the prizes. “Magic mystery tour, day-care, go back to being a big girl, fully loaded romper…” she kept reading but something seemed to stick with both Alaina and Katrina.

“Big girl? But aren’t we big girls?” Alaina asked, looking at her friend to confirm this fact. Katrina looked back, and seemed unsure, but offered a hesitant nod since it seemed like Alaina wanted her too.

Tina was quick to nod with them. “Oh, of course. You are big girls! But don’t worry, that’s just a yucky prize. You don’t want that. We’re just required by the rules to leave it on there,” the coyote woman smiled. 

“Oh, okay,” Alaina said, supposing that made sense. 

“Now, Katrina was it? How about you spin first?” asked the Kangaroo as she knelt down to put a paw on the pup’s back.

Katrina toddled forward, taking her thumb from her muzzle so she’d have a free paw with her other still holding her stuffy. The wheel was bright and colourful and she wanted a prize so her little paw took the side and gave it a good spin, giggling as it started to make a clickity clack noise.

Everyone watched the wheel spin, a fun little circus noise playing as it did. It didn’t quite make a full rotation around, stopping on a prize that said “Milk & Pouch!” 

Katrina blinked at her prize, both excited and confused because she couldn’t quite figure out what she’d won. The kangaroo seemed excited for her though. 

“You won Milk and Pouch! I told you these were the best prizes!” she cheered. 

The wolf pup was caught up in the enthusiasm. “Yay! Milk and pouch! Whazzat?”

Instead of explaining, the roo scooped up Katrina, earning a slight ‘eep’ from the pup as she was suddenly held on the hip of the woman. She dropped her stuffed animal, looking a little confused, but a moment later a big baby bottle of warm milk was pressed into her muzzle. Her eyes crossed cutely as she looked at it, but moments later she got a sweet taste of some milk on her tongue and began to nurse eagerly. 

“While Katrina enjoys her prize, it’s your turn Alaina,” Tina offered. 

Alaina’s ears perked at her name and she turned away from the scene of her friend being bottle fed. She wasn’t sure why, but there was something weird about what was happening. She kind of wanted a bottle too… but thought it’d be rude to ask for her friend’s prize. 

Going up to the wheel, Alaina put her paw to it. She hesitated, looking back at Tina, the Kangaroo and her friend Katrina. Tina and the roo offered her a smile and a thumbs up, although Katrina seemed too intent on her bottle.

Putting her best effort into it, Alaina spun the wheel. She sucked her thumb a little more intently, waiting to see what her result would be as it clickity clacked around the circle. It eventually came to a stop on “New Home”.

Tina and the roo both looked at each other and smiled. “Perfect! You won one of the best prizes!” Tina said.

“Really!?” Alaina said, looking from the writing to Tina. She was having a hard time reading it, but she was excited because everyone else was.

“Yup! In fact, it’s such a good prize that you can share it with your friend Katrina and you can both have it together.”

Alaina’s eyes widened as she looked at Katrina. It was something they could have together? 

“Would you like to share it? We’re required to ask.”

“Um… I think so, but does this mean I can have her prize too?” Alaina asked a little hesitantly. She was getting a bit thirsty. 

The women both smiled at each other, and Tina leaned down to scoop up the otter toddler. 

“You can have half of her prize,” she said as she produced a baby bottle just like the one Katrina had. Alaina let out a happy yip as she saw it and needed no encouragement as it was put to her lips. “Someone’s a happy little winner,” Tina chuckled.

“There’s only room for one in my pouch, so that half of the prize is all yours,” the kangaroo said as Katrina’s bottle was just about finished. The wolf pup was starting to look sleepy, but she did look much more comfortable. The kangaroo shifted her up so that her head was resting on her shoulder, offering a few back rubs with the occasional pat to coax any gas out.

Katrina startled herself with a little milky burp. She giggled at the noise, leaning into the shoulder as her eyes seemed a little harder to keep open.

“Aww there’s a good girl, do you have any more burps for me?” 

There were a few more back rubs, but Katrina didn’t feel any more tummy gas. She did feel something else but wasn’t quite sure what it was. It was a pressure, both familiar and foreign, her body seeming confused on how to handle it. Her tail wanted to hike a little and mumbled something, but that seemed to be all it took, the pressure was gone and she instantly felt better, lulling into an easy slumber on the warm shoulder.

The kangaroo blinked as she felt the diaper on her arm suddenly fill, chuckling as she gave a quick nuzzle to the sleepy pup and eased her from her shoulder down to a comfy ride in her pouch.

“That’s one asleep. How’s our otter?”

Tina smiled as she gave Alaina’s bottom a crinkly pat, her bottle half gone. “Happy as can be. She’ll be done in a moment and I suspect she’s due for a diaper just as messy as your pup.”

The kangaroo smiled. “Always seems to happen, doesn’t it? Shall we close up?”

“Soon as she’s done, then we can head over to the adoption agency. It’ll make for a nice bonus. They won’t remember much when they wake up too.”

“Lucky little pups.”

Tina smirked at that. “You can always take a walk past the mirrors or spin the wheel yourself if you’re that jealous. I’d be happy to take your bonus.”

“Pfft, as a roo I’ve always felt the pull toward motherhood. I’d rather have a little coyote running around in diapers,” she smiled back.

Both woman gave a forced smile to each other. They finished with the otter’s feeding and closed up for the night. The carnival would only be in town for a couple more days and they had some new tots ready for loving families. If things went well, there’d be a half dozen following their lead before the week was out.