Almost Human

I strummed the last chord of the song on my acoustic guitar. I smiled to myself as I had finally completed the song. I sat out at the computer, editing the song, adding new parts, removing the not-so-nice stuff, finalized everything.. then burned it into a CD. I kept the CD in it's case and wrote my name on it. I packed my bag, shut down the computers and recording system and walked out towards Chris's door.

I gave him the CD, and rushed to my car. I was excited to get back home to celebrate my first song. I didn't tell the others yet because I feel shy showing them my song... I'm easily saddened by bad criticism.

On the way home, I received a call from Brian. A smile crawled to my face as answered it. "I'm driving now." I stated simply. "Hello to you too." he said. I could hear the smile in his voice. "Anyway, come over to my place! We're celebrating tonight." Celebrating? What could we possibly be celebrating in the middle of October? Did I miss someone's birthday?

"What are we celebrating?" I asked curiously as I swerved my car to the left to avoid this crazy motorist. I heard him chuckle on the other end of the line. "It's a surprise." he said. Surprise? Maybe it's just a dinner.. no celebration.. "Okay!" I replied. "See ya there!" I said and Brian replied, "Bye!". The phone went dead as I sighed and took a right turn where Brian's neighbourhood was.

I saw Jimmy and Matt's car parked there and parked just behind them. I walked up to the door, same routine of getting in. But no one answered the doorbell. I waited a bit before opening the door. The house was dark, and quiet. "Hello?" I called out.

I took a step into the house and looked around. "Guys! I'm back!" I shouted. No reply. Something moved behind the couch. I took a step closer. "Brian?" I called again. Finally, I got a reply. But not one that I was expecting. I heard a low, squeaky yet horrifying growl, coming from behind the couch. I took a step closer to the monster. Stupid move.. This is the part where the person who hears the monster, takes a step closer and dies.

'Goodbye, cruel world!' I thought as the monster jumped out and pinned me down to the ground. I felt it's tongue and tiny teeth all over my face, and it's paws at the sides of my head. I'm going to die... My eyes were closed so the pain wouldn't be so painful.. but no pain came...

I peeked my right eye open to find a cute little puppy on top of me. It was a black and white Alaskan Malamute. Sort of like a wolf and Siberian Husky. It was the size of my elbow to the tip of my middle finger. It had soft fur and blue eyes.

"Awww...... aren't you adorable!" I cooed while ruffling it's fur. "SURPRISE!!!"I heard a group of voices and laughter behind me. I looked over to to see my friends smiling at me.

"You like it?" asked Val. I nodded and said "Definitely! It's so cute! Who's the master?" I asked. "You are!" replied Lacey with a grin.

My jaw hung open. For me? ""OMG! THANK YOU! HE'S ADORABLE! AND I PROMISE TO TAKE GOOD CARE OF HIM!" I gushed out.

We all sat round the table, where Mat had cooked steak and ribs! We started to eat and chat. "What's the occasion?" I asked with my mouth half full of mash potato. "Close your mouth!" scolded Val and I gave her a cheeky grin.

"Your first song! Duh.." Jimmy replied with the 'no-shit-sherlock' face. I was shocked.. I chewed and swallowed down my food. "How did you know?" I questioned. Zacky grinned and replied, "We have connections, people on the inside AND outside!"

"Cool song by the way", "Awesome lyrics", "Your song should be on Billboards no.1!" complimented my friends. I smiled in thanks and looked at my food. While I was sipping my coke, Brian asked "Where did you get your inspiration from?". I choked on my drink. The look on his face was like he knew that he was the inspiration. I cleared my throat and answered him, "Life." He shook his head,smiling and continued eating.

I wolfed down my food as the little puppy sat next to my feet. "You like him? It was Brian's idea." Said Matt. I smiled at Brian and Matt and replied, "Where did you get him?". Zacky immediately said, "This little guy is Ichabod's nephew!" I laughed and looked at Zacky's dog, Ichabod."What am I going to name him?" I wondered out loud.

Everyone started to list out popular dog names like Wolfie, Spike and Diego. But I wanted something special for him.

I stared at the puppy. He was playing with some of the chew toys. The bigger dogs like Ichabod, Pinkly (Brian's dog) and Bella (Matt's dog) was watching him. The puppy had a mischievous glint in it's eyes.

It started to bite the chew toy on one end and started twirling in circles, making a large 'O'. "Zero" I said. "I'll name him Zero!"

Everyone had started to agree with the name. "Zero, come her boy!" I said to Zero. It's ears pricked and jumped onto my lap. Everyone laughed and I complimented it, "Good boy,Zero!".

We finished dinner and one by one, everyone had left except for me and Brian. He was walking back from the kitchen and I walked over to him and said, "Thanks for the idea for Zero. I really love him." He smiled and nodded. Then replied, "You love Zero more than me?" He faked a hurt expression and put a hand over his heart. I giggled and replied. "Maybe.." He smiled and whispered "We'll have to fix that.."

He pressed his lips on mine and wrapped his arms around me. After a few seconds I pulled away, grinning at each other. "I have to go." I whispered. He nodded.

So I left with Zero, back home, thinking about Brian.