Take Me to Church

I woke up early the next morning, to the sound of rain pattering against the roof and windows. By early, I mean around five in the morning. At least that’s what the clock read. “I guess today’s going to be an overcast day.” I muttered to myself, climbing out of the bed. Groaning loudly, Chibs rolled over and pulled my pillow over his face.

He started to say something but due to the pillow his words were muffled and unintelligible. “What?” I laughed at him.

Slowly, he moved the pillow just enough to uncover his mouth before repeating what he had previously said. “I said, no riding today. Let’s just stay home for once.” He suggested. That was all it took, I could definitely do with a day of doing nothing. Moving to the closet, I grabbed a loose black cardigan and pulled on over the underwear I had slept in.

“Fine, I’ll go make some coffee. Get up out of bed, we’ll lounge around on the couch.” I ordered, patting his leg as I walked past the bed. All the lights in the house were off, so everything was relatively dark as I made my way through the house.

It took my eyes a few seconds to adjust once I had turned the lights on. I stumbled my way over to the counter and slowly began making a large pot of coffee. It was while I was standing there waiting for the coffee to finish brewing that I heard a strange noise coming from outside by the back door.

I didn’t even think before my body jumped into action. My fingers found themselves wrapped around the hilt of a large cooking knife as I made my way outside and began looking around the yard. There was nothing and no one to be seen on the property- not that I could see much through the storm anyway. The next time I heard the noise, it was coming from behind me. A slight chill ran down my spine before I turned around expecting to see something.

Only for me to come face to face with my trash can. “What the hell?” I muttered. I was about to just deem it an odd noise due to the storm; that is until I heard something whimpering inside of the trash can. Moving fast, I opened the can to see what the hell was inside of it.

“Oh my god.” I gasped, the knife slipped from my fingers. The blade landed on my foot, leaving a small cut in its wake as I reached into the can. What I found absolutely broke my heart. “Filip! Filip bring me a towel- quick!” I shouted, pulling the animal into my arms. Chibs came rushing out of the house with a black towel clutched in his hands. “What the hell is going on?” He questioned, seeing me standing there soaking wet.
The small creature whimpered and cried as it shifted in my arms. “You poor baby.” I cooed, snatching the towel from my husband, I wrapped it around the puppy. Upon seeing what was in my arms, Chibs seemed to lose his sense of panic.

Stepping closer, his foot kicked the knife as he looked down at the injured animal in my arms. He looked down at the knife, and my bleeding foot momentarily before bringing his attention back to the pup. “What the hell happened?” He put his arm around me, and lead me back into the house. All thoughts of coffee had gone forgotten. “I don’t know. I was making the coffee, and I heard something outside. So when I went to see what it was, I found her. It looks like someone beat her pretty badly, and literally threw her away. “I explained sadly. Who could possibly be so cruel?

Moving slowly, I put the large puppy in the kitchen sink, and turned on some luke-warm water. As soon as the water hit the dogs fur, it turned a shade of reddish-brown from all the dirt and blood she was covered in.

The more I pet her, washed her, and tended to the wounds, the more she seemed to relax. Though, whenever Chibs would try petting her she would start shaking like a leaf blowing in the wind. Poor girl. “Don’t worry, she’ll get used to you.” I reassured him.

Pulling the dog out of the sink and back into my arms I wrapped the towel back around her before carrying her into the living room. Chibs followed.

“So she’s going to be okay right? What kind of dog even is she- I mean, she’s huge for a puppy.” He exclaimed, standing in the doorway. “She’ll be just fine. Her injuries weren’t too bad. Judging by her size, build, and coat- she’s a great dane. And based off the look of her paws she’s only a few months old.” I explained with a sigh.

“What are we going to do with her?” Chibs asked, almost shyly. The small dog snuggled further into my arms as I sat down on the couch. “We’re going to keep her. Someone beat the poor girl, and dumped her into our trash can. I won’t risk giving her away, and her new owner too.” I spoke as my hand began petting the top of her head. “Alright, so what are we going to name her then?” He hummed in response, sitting down next to me on the couch.

Looking over my husband for a few moments, I thought of all the possible names for the pup when suddenly the perfect one popped into my head. “What about, Dyna?” I suggested with a sly smile. Chibs began laughing loudly; and at the same time the puppy let out a small, weak bark- as if she were approving of the name I had picked out for her.
This made me laugh as well. “Then I guess it’s been decided.” Chibs chuckled softly. I moved slowly, and placed the wrapped up puppy down on the couch before moving to walk away. “Where are you going?” Chibs called out, following along behind me. I was halfway up the stairs by that point, and could hear his footsteps on the stairs. Pulling my long, now wet hair into a messy bun on top of my head I once more went into the closet. This time I pulled out a pair of jeans and some shoes to slip on.

“I’m getting dressed, and then I’m going to take Dyna to the pet store to get a few things- would you like to go with us?” I smiled, putting one of my legs down into the jeans I had picked out. “I would.” He answered, standing behind me. I kept the black cardigan on as I dressed, there’s no point in taking it off and getting something else soaked.

I then shoved my feet down into a pair of boots that wouldn’t let any water come seeping through.

Neither of us wanted the attention that wearing our cuts would bring; so we decided against wearing them and left them at home.

Chibs drove, while I held Dyna in my lap. She shook pretty much the entire time, but she had also curled up in my lap and looked peaceful. Poor little thing. We left the towel in the car, and I carried Dyna into the store and to the section for dogs. Chibs was the one to think of getting a basket to put everything in.

“We’re going to need food and water bowls, food of course, you’re going to need a collar- I’m thinking purple. How about some toys, hm? Why don’t you pick one out?” I spoke mostly to myself as I pulled things off of the shelf and threw them in Chibs’ basket. Holding the pup near the shelf, she began sniffing at things before taking one into her mouth. I guess she wanted that one.

Taking the basket from Chibs, I grabbed a few more things like a leash, and a few more toys- while Chibs picked up two giant bags of dog food before deciding we had enough stuff.

I left Chibs standing at the register to pay for everything, while I moved over to the little dog tag machine with Dyna. Putting a few dollars in, I picked out a simple black circle that said ‘Dyna’ in silver wording as well as a phone number and the club address in case she got lost.

“Ready to head home love?” Chibs called from next to the register. He had both bags of dog food stuffed up under his arms, and his hand full of the actual bags. He looked ridiculous. “Yeah, let’s go.” I laughed at him. He threw the large bags of food into the trunk of the car, and then the other bags on top of it. Sometimes, I honestly questioned what we would do if we didn’t have an SUV.

It was while we were driving through town, heading back to the house that I noticed something strange. Any other time, I wouldn’t have paid any attention to the police station- but any other time there weren’t strange cops in town. These were not Charming police, you could tell by their uniforms. They were San Juan police. What the hell was going on, did something happen? “Wonder what’s happening there.” I mumbled absently as we drove by. Chibs took a quick look before focusing his gaze back on the road in front of us.

“Huh, whatever it is, I don’t have a good feeling about it.” He spoke with a hint of disappointment in his voice. At the sound of his words, even Dyna began to whimper as if scared of things to come. I was quick to pet her in hopes of calming her down.

“Let’s not think about it right now, today is our day to relax.” I sighed, finding myself watching the ran fall outside of the window as we drove.

Thankfully, things seemed more peaceful after that.

I got Dyna’s things set up in the house, while Chibs ordered lunch. It seemed that I hadn’t been the only one to pick things out in the store. Chibs had gotten her a large, fluffy black bed that I placed in the corner of the bedroom, next to my side of the bed. I also put a water bowl in the bathroom. We put a few of her toys- the ones that didn’t squeak- next to the bed, and the rest downstairs in the living room. I put her food and water bowl in the kitchen next to the back door, under the hook where I hung her leash.

Heading back upstairs, I felt the overwhelming sense of joy, seeing her struggle to make it up the stairs. It wasn’t due to her injuries; but just because she didn’t yet understand the concept of going up the stairs. She got her front paws on the stair, but in trying to get one of her hind legs up, her body fell backwards and she landed on her but.

After a few times of letting her try for herself, I picked up her up and carried her up to the bedroom, where I sat her on the bed.

I watched her to make sure she wouldn’t fall over the edge as I changed out of my jeans and soaked cardigan, and put on some dry pajamas before climbing into the bed. I hadn’t realized that Chibs had made the bed when he woke up, until I climbed under the blankets.

He came walking into the room, carrying a ton of food with him as I was flipping through TV channels trying to find something for us to watch. “I figured since we missed lunch, we would be hungrier than normal…I might have ordered too much.” He laughed, kicking his boots off he sat down on the bed next to me. Immediately Dyna began sniffing around trying to figure out what the delicious smell was.

“Oh no, not for puppy.” Chibs pulled my burger away as Dyan inched closer. Reaching out, I moved her to sit in my lap, before feeding her a piece of bacon that had fallen off of one of the burgers. “She can have a little bit.” I said playfully, as she chomped away at the meat.

Dyna finished the piece of bacon off before curling up in my lap once more, and allowing me to eat my food- though she would immediately eat anything that fell off of the burger. Well not really anything; just the meat. Chibs would laugh every time she did and then roll his eyes. It was really the perfect day after that.

Well, not perfect per say; but it was the best day we’ve had in a long time. Too bad days like this will be few and far between in the next fourteen months. We have to keep the club afloat, and that’s not an easy task for just four people.