Actually, the idea for this short story was inspired by the nice old Hollies’ song “Bus Stop”.
...
It was a cold, wet winter day. Shivering and sniffling, Shayla walked along the main street after leaving her office building. She was a tall, curvy wolf lady in her thirties with shining blue eyes. It had been a long, tiring day, and she wished for her warm bed…
The bus stop was only a ten-minute-walk away, but in this kind of weather, it felt like a hundred miles.
It was dark by now. The weather had been cold and rainy for many days, and Shayla had caught her usual cold – as always, in her nose. Once she had caught a cold, it seemed to linger forever… Sniffling again, she felt the tickle in her nose growing stronger, and she hastily dug out a wad of tissue as her breath hitched. “Haaahh… haaaahhh…HAAASSSHHHHHOOH!... HaaaaaESSSHHHH!... HaaaaaaaaaaaaAAASSHHOO!” she sneezed into the tissues, blew her nose, and sneezed again. Sighing, she rubbed her nose. Although she didn’t have any nasal allergies, she did have a very sensitive nose – like all canine beings do – and had to sneeze from certain scents and perfumes, and whenever she had a cold in her nose, she had endless, violent sneeze attacks. She didn’t like the persistent tickle in her nose that made her sneeze all day long.
She was embarrassed about her unusually large nose and her rather wide nostrils that flared and quivered whenever they were teased by some irritant, or a cold. And she felt embarrassed about her forceful, violent sneezing. She didn’t think anybody would like to be around her when she had a cold because of her frequent, violent sneezes, especially since they were contagious, so she always managed to suppress her urge to sneeze around people, or she didn’t go out in the first place.
Agghhhh, this cold is making my nose so tickly and stuffy… She sneezed heavily into her tissue wad again, six times in a row. She blew her nose, then threw the tissues in a dust bin. While digging out a fresh wad of tissue, her breath hitched, and she hastily pinched her nose. “HegggGGGSSHHKKKhuhh!” she sneezed half-stifled into her fingers, then jerked up the fresh tissues to her nose. “Haahhh…HaaaaaESSSHHHH!... HaaaaaaaaaaaaAAASSHHOO!... AhhhIIIISSSHuh!... HuuhhhhAAASSHHOOH!... HaaaaAAASSSHHHHHOOH!... Huhhhhhh…. haaaIIIISSSHHugh!” she sneezed.
“Bless you!” A soft male voice said beside her. Startling a bit, Shayla turned aside to see who had spoken to her. A tall, dark haired, good looking wolf gentleman was smiling at her. “That sounds like a bad cold.”
Trying to smile, Shayla tried to hide her embarrassment. Oh no, that handsome guy must have heard all my sneezing on my way here… fifteen times? Sixteen? Seventeen?... She pressed the tissue wad to her nose that was twitching again. “It is (sniff). It’s that chilly and rainy weather…” The tickle in her nose got stronger, and she felt her nostrils flaring, so she pressed the tissue wad more tightly to her nose.
“Oh yes, I understand.” He was still smiling; his eyes had the colour of sparkling amber.
It started raining, and Shayla shivered as the icy drops hit her head. Oh no!...
The man opened his umbrella. “Please share my umbrella!”
Shayla hesitated. “I don’t want to come too close… I don’t want to infect you… huhhh… huuGGGSSHHHIIISSHHuh!” she sneezed with restrained force into the tissue lump. “HhhnnnNEEESSHHagh!... NNEEESSHHooogh!... NNEEEESSSHHHahh! Agh… (sniff)… GggggnnnNIIISSSHHHagh!... HaaaIISSSHHHHKKKH! Aahhh… haaaaESSSHHHOOOgh! Ah… ehhhh… ESSSHHHHOOH!... YYYYEEESSHHOOagh!... Heh… hennnNNNEEESSHHooh! GGHHHEEESSHHHeeww!... AaahhhhhAAASSHHooh! (sniff) HaaaAAAASSHHOOOagh!... GGHIISSHHHagh!”
“Wow wow wow… you’re sneezing badly! You should really use my umbrella – your cold will get worse. - Don’t worry! I’m not infected easily.”
Sneezing, Shayla moved closer, thanking him with a stuffy voice.
“You’re welcome! By the way, my name is Larry.”
“I’b Shaylahhhh… huhhhh… huuuuuEEEEESSSHHHOOOH!... Huhh… huuuuuIIISSHHOOOHgh!”
“Bless you, Shayla!” He still had that gentle smile, and Shayla felt he was watching her closely. She knew the street lamp was fully revealing her sniffly, sneezy nose… She tried to ignore it and tried to start a normal conversation with him. He was a very pleasant conversation partner. Digging out more tissues, Shayla kept blowing her nose, trying hard not to sneeze as she kept rubbing and pinching her itchy nose. At some point, the tickle in her nose overwhelmed her, and she burst into a series of violent sneezes she barely managed to catch in her tissue. “Oh, Larry…” she sighed. “I’m sorry you have to see mbe like this… big knobbly nose, sniffly and sneezy…” She pressed her finger under her flaring nostrils, hoping the tickle would go away.
He kept smiling, drawing closer to her. “I think your nose is beautiful. And your sneezing… it’s music to my ears. Really, I’m not joking. Your tickly, sneezy nose is turning me on like crazy!”
Amazed and happy, Shayla thought this was too good to be true!
The bus came, and they sat down cuddling up to each other. Shayla kept rubbing her sniffly, itchy nose. “Aghhh, I’b goingg to sneeze againdh…” she sighed, pinching her nose. “Come here, darling!” Larry produced a soft, white hanky. “Let me take care of this beautiful, sneezy nose of yours.”
Happily, Shayla let go of her nose, and her nostrils flared up immediately as her breath hitched shakily. He gently enfolded her cold-stricken nose in his hanky, and she gave in to her urge to sneeze. A violent, snorting sneeze burst out of her nose, followed by another one, and another one, and another one. She kept sneezing throughout the bus ride, and Larry caught her sneezes in his soft hanky, wiping and rubbing her nose, massaging it gently. Shayla couldn’t believe her luck that she was finally receiving the loving care on her sneezy nose she had always secretly longed for!
One look into Larry’s eyes told her he had been longing for a woman like her too.
He let go of her nose, and before she even had time to sneeze, she felt his lips on hers.
Their kiss was the beginning of a long, wonderful time together…
