Chapter 8. A new family

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Over the next few days, I spent a lot of time outside exploring and playing with the Boy when he came home in the evenings. I also talked a lot with Ferdinand, who was kind enough to explain everything to me.

The Boy's name was Thomas and the other two were his Mother and Father. It took me a while to understand what a Father was. Apparently, this person is a lot like a Mother, but stronger, more protective and strict. He was the head of the family and everyone else had to listen to him and respect him.

I pondered about this for a while. Ferdinand had told me that everyone had a Father. I had never known that... I started thinking that I should try and look for my Mother and my Father too. Although, not having met him in my life, I had no idea where to start. I hid in a small corner and whimpered to myself, feeling very alone.

The Mother was at home all the time, working. Sometimes, she made food and it smelled so wonderful, I would follow her around waiting for her to drop a little for me. I ate along with everyone, getting my own portion in a small dish. It was always delicious and Thomas always saved a little extra for me and gave it to me after everyone finished eating.

I played a lot with Thomas, who acted like a big brother to me. He had a wonderful toy, round and bouncy, called a ball. He threw it for me and taught me to bring it back to him so he could throw it again. We played until it was too dark, then went inside and after a while, everyone went to sleep.

I slept in front of the door. My last thoughts before going to sleep were about my Mother and Thomas. Good night!

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Chapter 7. Sam

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When evening came, the Boy also came home. He looked a lot like the Man, but the fur on his head was dark. Ferdinand told me that people only had thick fur on their heads (and sometimes their faces) and had to cover themselves with clothes to keep warm. "Hopeless these humans... hopeless. Though they do provide food and shelter." the Cat commented.

At first, the Boy scared me, making loud noises and throwing a big heavy object on the floor right next to me. I cowered in a corner, tail between my legs. The Woman berated him and that made him quiet. This reminded me of Mother, teaching me to play nice. Maybe the Woman was the Boy's Mother too. Ferdinand would know.

Suddenly, the Woman pointed in my direction and the Boy looked my way. My heart started beating furiously, afraid of what he might do to me. He came and tried to pick me up. I managed to scurry away from him, but he was fast and there weren't any good hiding places.

He hoisted me up and looked at me. He let out a roar and I trembled. I noticed Ferdinand watching us with his yellow eyes, but didn't move to save me. The Boy raised his hand above my head. To my surprise though, I wasn't thrown around or hit. He scratched the top of my head gently.

"Sam" he said and repeated the word several times, until I was sure I wouldn't forget it.

Ferdinand seemed content and put his head on his paws. "That will be your name, runt. Sam."

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Chapter 6. Be a good dog

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The first day in the tall creatures' home was full of rustle and new events. I sniffed around and eventually found a nice spot to sleep, where the floor was a little softer. The Woman gave me some food. It smelled very good and I ate it quickly. I had never eaten anything so delicious and I kept following her for a while, hoping she would give me more.

I talked to the Cat again, who knew everything about the place I was in. He told me I was in a house, that the creatures were humans, or people, and that the one who had brought me there was the Man and the other one the Woman. They also had a Boy, who was always away and only came home at night.

The Cat's name was Ferdinand and he wasn't very friendly. He did talk to me though, because he said I needed to learn how to behave. "I will take you under my wing, if you will." He made a strange rolling noise in the back of his throat. "Remember not to get in trouble, you will make me look bad too." So I did my best to behave.
 

He also told me I might stay there for a long time and that I might not be able to see Mother any time soon. The thought made me incredibly sad, but I willed myself not to whimper and stay strong.

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Chapter 5. New encounters

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Inside, I saw a lot of things of various shapes and sizes that I'd never seen before. And up on one of those things was an animal, almost as big as me. It had a small head and pointy ears and an unfriendly look on its face. When it saw me, it got up, arched its back until it was twice as big and started making a low growling noise.

This scared me so badly, I struggled to get down from the huge creature's arms to run away. But its grip was too strong and I couldn't go anywhere. My instinct was telling me I was in a lot of danger and I somehow hoped Mother would come and save me.

I squeaked as loudly as I could "Mother, Mother, help me!", but that earned me a light slap on the muzzle from the creature. I shut up, barely whimpering.

The animal with pointy ears calmed down, sat and started to lick its paws. "They don't tolerate cry babies here, runt." it said.

"Do you know Mother? What are you?" I tried to sound as brave as possible, taking care not to get a new slap on the nose. But the animal with pointy ears turned its back and lay down to sleep. "I am a Cat, runt. Don't you forget that."

I was about to ask about Mother again, when another creature, almost as big as the one that was carrying me, came in from behind us. It had different fur and smelled like food and its voice was higher. It started talking to the other creature in a barking voice; I couldn't understand anything. Eventually, the voice changed, cooing and humming and it pet me on the head. I flinched at first, expecting another hit, but calmed down a bit and licked the hand. The creature barked in a cheerful way and that made me think it wouldn't hit me.

The first monster put me down on the ground. The sudden change of perspective made all the big objects in the room look even bigger. The ground was hard, but there was no grass, nor dust. It was like a coloured rock. I began sniffing and exploring left and right. Maybe I could find a way of getting back to Mother. She must have been worried about me.

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Chapter 4. Beyond the horizon

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I can't really describe all I saw and felt while being carried by that creature. The world was so high, I sometimes got dizzy looking down.

We walked a while through the field I had lived in with Mother, covered in tall grass and with a bush and tree here and there. We left the river behind and got to a river of dirt and dust where there was no grass. The big monster carried me further on that dry river, walking in a funny way with those long legs, bouncing up and down with each step.

It wasn't hurting me, so I had soon stopped wriggling and biting. I sniffed the strange animal's fur and the smell was strong and sour, I didn't like it much. It had oddly coloured fur too: the chest, back and front legs, except for the paws, were the colour of the sky and the hind legs had the colour of dirt. Its hind paws were bigger than the front ones and also the colour of dry grass. Not to mention that it had dry grass on its head, made into a flat leaf of sorts. All in all, it was nothing I had ever seen before.

Of course, I'd seen little animals in the sky. Mother told me they were birds and that they could fly. The creature's front paws looked a lot like birds' wings. I was slightly worried that it would fly away with me. Then I would really have a hard time getting back to Mother. I couldn't fly, of course. Another thing that made me believe this animal could be a bird was the sound it made, like a long chirp.

After a while of walking like that, I started to see a group of little rocks of various colours in the distance. As we got closer, they got bigger and bigger, until they became a lot bigger than the creature, some were bigger than trees and wide as well.
 

Suddenly, the creature turns to one of those big things, pulls a piece of it to the side and goes inside. I thought I had been through the scariest and strangest day of my life, but what I saw in there topped it all.

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Chapter 3. For a little food

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Mother left me alone again and she'd been away for longer this time. I was growing impatient and hungry. I now knew that Mother went to find food for us. She always fed me first and waited until I was full, then she quickly ate the rest.

I noticed she wasn't playing with me as much lately. She was weary and snapped quickly when I would bite her to get her attention. She would take me by the back of my neck and give me a good shake. Of course I was sorry then, but later, I still tried again.

That day when she wouldn't come back was a very hot day. There was a small river next to our small shelter, so I went to have a drink. What I saw there paralysed me with fear. A huge monster, bigger than anything I've seen before, bigger than Mother even, was standing on its hind legs next to the other side of the river. It was holding some food in its front paws and eating from it. He was upwind, so I could smell the food. My stomach started making hungry noises.

My hunger and curiosity won over my fear. I came out of the tall grass to the river side and sniffed. The creature noticed me, took a little food in its paw and crossed the river to where I was, holding the food towards me. It kept making strange noises I couldn't understand, like an odd bark.

I went towards the food and stole a small piece and ran away back in the grass and ate it. The creature didn't move, so I went back and took another piece. This time I didn't run away and ate it there. When I was done, I started licking the paw that still smelled like food, happy that I got lucky to eat so soon.

But suddenly, the paw grabbed me by the back of my neck and picked me up. Just like Mother did, but this didn't give me a warm feeling of safety. My instincts screamed "danger", but even if I struggled and cried, the paw didn't let me go.

Without getting back on four legs or letting go of me, the monster started walking away. Away from my home, from my Mother. Mother, where are you?
 

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Chapter 2. A taste of adventure

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A few days passed and Mother taught me a lot of things. How to walk, how to play nicely and how to stay out of trouble. There were a lot of frightening things out in the world and she made me stay only in our little shelter and not stray away from it.

I was getting nervous... I wanted to know if there were other dogs out there, besides Mother and I. Mother wasn't very fast when we were playing and she would get tired quickly. I guess I had too much energy for her to keep up.

One day, I got bold and bit her while I was eating. She yelped, got up and left me all alone. I was very sad and a little hungry, but even if I whimpered for her, she didn't come back soon.

When it was already dark, Mother came back with something in her mouth. She dropped it in front of me and waited. I cautiously got close and sniffed it. It smelled good and I licked my lips. She seemed to wait for something, so I took the piece of food in my mouth and tasted it. I dropped it again and picked it up again. It was good, better than milk. I ate it all without delay and went to rub noses with Mother to show my thanks.

We went to sleep side by side and I felt that I had experienced something wonderful that day. Maybe Mother would bring more later?

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Chapter 1. When I opened my eyes

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It was suddenly cold. I felt torn away from the warmness that had surrounded me ever since I became at least barely aware of my environment. I was sitting on something hard and I was being pulled towards it, no longer floating. It was nauseating. I had a strange feeling of being too small in something too big all of a sudden. Too big and too alien.

Suddenly, something warm brushed against my muzzle. It felt almost familiar and I reached for it. Yes, it was a small part of the home I had just been expelled from. My instincts told me to take it in my mouth and suckle. It was wonderful... It was peace.

I can't remember when I had fallen asleep or when I woke up. I tried to push myself against the familiar warmth, but it was gone. No way, where was it? I pushed my body forward, trying to find it again, but nothing. I began whimpering. I was alone again.

The big warm body came back a bit later, reassuring, solid... I cuddled against it and went back to sleep.

The same kept happening for a while, I ate and slept and woke up and ate again. I started calling the warm thing Mother and she nuzzled her big muzzle against my back. I think she was happy that I called her that. And that was maybe why she kept coming back to care for me.

After a while that seemed forever, something new changed, something that left me even more confused than the first time. I could... see and smell. There were colours, there was light and I could see Mother now. And not only see, but smell too. I learned to associate a smell to an image and the feeling it gave me... And I wanted to know more!

I started taking my first steps. Mother was watching me patiently as I struggled to wobble to her on my own four paws, ending up falling on my nose when I finally reached her. She licked my back in appreciation. I realised something then... I loved Mother. It was a strange feeling, mixed with need and admiration. She was my universe and I depended on her completely.

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