Puppy Love

I made up my mind quickly once that old woman left the room. I was getting the fuck out of here. Another minute here and who knows what the hell will happen. This family was fucked up. Nice and humble. But fucked up.
Practically jumping out of the bed, I found my shoes next to the bedside table. I slipped those on, grabbed my jacket off the end of the bed, and caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror that hung on the wall.
My hair stood up on all ends, my typical bedhead look. Or, my “little mane,” as I so often liked to call it. Dark bags hung under my eyes, and what looked like a small bruise began to creep itself up the side of my neck. At least I wasn’t trying to make a lasting impression on these people looking like this. But odds were that I already had done just that.
I rolled my eyes at my reflection, tidied up my clothes the best I could, and headed out into the hallway. I don’t exactly know what I was expecting the rest of the house to looked like, but this surprised me a little.
It reminded me a little of a cottage. Wood panels stretched across the floor, the walls, and a few parts of the ceiling. There was a carpet that ran down the center of the hallway, and I kept myself to that to try to muffle my footsteps as I slowly made my way to the stairs that were at the end of the hallway at my left.
Pictures littered the walls, but not in the tacky way. Some were family portraits, others just seemed to be of animals. One was of a happy family: Mai sat in the center, she wore a lovely red dress that accented her arms skin tone; to her right sat a younger man, probably her brother, who wore a suit with a red tie that matched his sister’s dress; a single man, who a assumed was their father stood behind them with the biggest smile I had ever seen from a man of his age.
He had probably woken them up early that morning, reminding them of the picture day. They must have been so upset and tired, but managed to get their shit together for this one day. It was a nice picture, as far as family portraits went.
Next to the portrait was a picture of a dog. I didn’t see why they would take a picture of some random dog and put it up if it wasn’t significant to them. It might have been professionally done, perhaps by someone within the house. Or, it could have been their own dog, but I had a feeling that this one wasn’t around anymore.
Studying it closer I noticed that its fur was pure white, and the colors of a sunset seemed to just be dusted on its coat. It was looking off into the distance, either unaware or uncaring of the person who was taking its photograph.
The carpet continued down the stairs, so I was slightly in luck. However, the stairs still creaked slightly with my weight. I continued down slowly, trying to distribute my weight to minimize the noise. But once I got to the last few steps, I became reckless and used the railing to balance on as I pretty much jumped to the floor. And the door was practically staring me right in the face. Sweet freedom, here I come!
“He doesn’t know, and already he has more power than anyone I know.”
The sound of the old woman’s voice made me stop dead. She was talking to someone ear by. Probably in the kitchen. At least, I hoped she was talking to somebody else. That would just be the icing on the cake if the woman was a fucking psychopath. God damn, why do the beautiful women always have the crazy family members? I never understood it.
I crept closer in the opposite direction of the door. The smell of food wafted through my nostrils. Grilled cheese, delicious. This woman was fibbing me all kinds of reasons not to leave. I stopped myself of short of entering the kitchen. Bad idea to just hand myself over before I had time to escape. That would have been very counterproductive.
“You can’t mean that.” It was Mai’s voice, than the Lord. “He’s practically my age, probably older. I’m sure he would know his other half by now, Grams. The window of opportunity had come and gone for him.”
I didn’t bother to listen in on what else was said between them, if anything. I had to leave. And this family was getting creepier and creepier. What the hell were they talking about? I hoped that it didn’t have anything to do with me, but somehow I doubted that.
When a timer, probably from an appliance of some sort, went off, I jumped. I was just too skittish right now. Too on-edge. It didn’t suit me.
“I don’t understand your fixation on defending this man, Mai.”
Yep, they were talking about me. And that should probably be my sign of turning around and walking out that door.
“You’ve never liked any of my men.”
“But he is a stray. And I’m not using the lightened term for it.”
“Stray?”
I shared the confusing that was in her voice. That didn’t sound right, the way Mai repeated it. It seemed to be some olden language. The way the old woman pronounced it made it seem like there was an “h” in there somewhere. Almost like “sthray.” But that would make a normal “th” sound.
My head hurt thinking about it. I had no time for that.
“Pick up a book once in a while, pup! Or, better yet, go to the Elders about the term. You might as well bring your little friend with you. I’m sure they will have some insight for him on how to spread his wings.”
Oh, I was quite sure on how to spread my wings. Stretch them out and have them flutter me right to that door and get the hell out of here. I practically needed to kick myself in the ass to get me moving.
I moved as fast as I could without making a sound. On carpet, it wasn’t that difficult. Opening the door was going to be the hard part. It creaked a bit, but didn’t seem to be enough to get their attention. It was either that, or whatever they were discussing was just that important. I silently hoped it wasn’t a diabolical plan on cooking me up for dinner.
Closing the door behind me, I ran for it. Logically, I should run for a street, try to get someone’s attention and get a ride back home. However, they would expect me to do just that, right? Right.
I looked around at my surroundings. Besides the fairly good-sized house and the two cars parked at the side, the place was completely surrounded by woods. Perfect. Just fucking perfect. The next house was probably five miles away or some shit.
I decided to go against my “illogical” thinking, and walk along the cobblestone driveway. That should lead to the main road and take me into some sort of town. Someone would be willing to help me there at least. Or so I hoped.
After about five minutes of walking, I felt as if I was going around in circles. The scenery never changed from the walkway in the woods, and there never seemed to be a main street ahead of me. I looked at my wrist, forgetting that I didn’t have a watch on me. Regardless of the time, they would have probably noticed by now and started looking for me. Great. I was as good as a dead man.
Suddenly, though, a dog came into my view. She seemed a little larger than any other dog I’ve seen. Besides those huge ones, like a Saint Bernard, or a Mastiff. But she seemed to be covered in lean muscle, muscle that you could see flex under her skin as she moved with a noticeable prance. Her fur was beautiful, white as the fallen snow and perfectly groomed. Who let their dog this pampered out into the woods like this? Surely she was lost.
She trotted over to me, closing the gap between us. She nudged my hand with her snout. The wetness of the nose spooked me a little, but I proceeded to pat the dog on the head. She enjoyed that, wagging her tail back and forth happily.
“Where are you from girl?” I asked in a soothing voice, “Are you lost?”
Her ears perked up and she turned off the trial. She looked back after a few steps before turning completely around and stopping. After a moment, she hurried back to me and proceeded to walk back to where she once stood, again, looking back at me.
“Do you want me to follow you?”
She wagged her tail. I guess that was the right answer. Maybe she was going to lead me back to her home. I didn’t remember seeing a doggie-door at that house, so this girl’s family must live relatively close by.
I followed her down off the road and into the woods. She walked a good distance in front of me, but even so, her fur was like a beacon in the dark. Easy to spot. I walked by tree, after tree, after tree; almost tripped once or twice in addition to hitting my head on a low branch. What baffled me the most was how that dog didn’t make a single sound, yet I was pretty much a bull in a china shop.
We then approached a clearing where we stood next to each other. The area was completely covered with flower, their scent filling the air with each breath. I don’t know why I welded up with so much emotion, but I did.
It was just so… beautiful. Simply beautiful.
I watched her as she walked through the field of flowers. Her fur sparkling in the sunlight with every step she took. It was like she was made of diamonds, swimming through a sea of purple. She lowered herself down, going under the flowers and covering herself in them. I decided to follow, never letting my eyes leave the place where she went. It was almost a calling to walk there, like I was transfixed.
However, she wasn’t there. Instead, there was a large stone and a patch of dirt where flower didn’t grow. They grew around the area, but none of them grew on top of the dirt. I knelt down in front of it. What was this thing anyway? And where did that dog go?
“Connor!”
I turned to see Mai jogging up to me. I didn’t try to run, but I wasn’t scared either. I was almost happy she found me, ending this little game of cat and mouse. Yet, I was slightly confused on how she knew me by name.
“What are you doing here? I just finished making your lunch and…” her voice trailed off as she came up next to me. “Why are you here.” Her voice was stern, loosing all of the kindness and warmth that was once behind it.
“I was following a dog…” my voice didn’t quite sound the same. It sounded older, I guess. Wiser. And a little crazy once I realized what I had said to her.
“A dog?”
“Yeah.” I tried to laugh it off, but I kept trying to explain what I saw. “She was all white, very beautiful. Probably a show dog from one of your neighbors or something. She was here a second ago, but then just disappeared. Crazy right? I think I was just seeing things.”
But I remembered the warmth that was under her fur. The cold from her nose that sent shivers up my spine. Was I going crazy? I hoped not.
“A white dog…” She was silent for a moment.
I looked up at here. Something was off. Her eyes weren’t the same. They didn’t hold the same life that they once did. She smiled once she noticed me staring at her. A little embarrassing.
“Lunch is at home waiting for you. I can explain anything you want after we eat.” She held out her hand, “Sound like a plan?”
I could almost taste the anxiety emanating off of her. I licked my lips, taking her tiny hand in mine. We walked back to the house together hand-in-hand. No fighting, no cute, no bruises. And even though there were so many unanswered questions with her, in this moment, things felt so comfortable. So right.