Hey everybody! So, a new story now, and we're moving onto these more peculiar/supernatural stories I promised! However, I think we all know that the story you should be reading is a new chapter of Peter, so to all you followers out there, I'm so sorry. T^T But, Summer is upon us in sunny England, so I will try to get one up soon - maybe in time for my birthday this Friday? Meh, we'll see. ;3 There is actually a reason this is going up today, and why my forward is so long. Today is my friend Alfie's birthday, and he will actually be providing the cover art for this story, which is awesome because he's an incredible artist!
So this one's for you, gorgeous! You're amazing, and I love ya!
Hope you're all doing well! PleasAnd I'm sorry to keep giving you all such long dedications.. ^^" Please read and review if you have the time! Love Lucy xxx
Chapter 1 - My Life
Sydney, Australia
June 11th 2013
A familiar noise clattered through the room - the sound of a carrier hitting a countertop. The sound of a new arrival.
Every head lifted, every neck craned, every ear pricked, everybody paid attention. Perhaps it was because spending days on end in a cage afforded you very little to do, except watch and wait, expectant for whoever would enter next.
Of the two rows of cages lining the walls, only three cells were vacant. In this room, the shelves were three cages high, and five wide, meaning that at least fifteen animals could be held within, with the very bottom ones reserved for the larger dogs who lounged lazily, mostly asleep. One empty cell was for a big dog, and this was the one that the veterinarian was eyeing, and the size of the carrier she'd brought in suggested that this would be a good fit. Several cats sighed gloomily, and two larger dogs chuckled sympathetically - the felines were not fans of the midnight howling sessions they deemed necessary.
The newcomer was silent and nobody had yet seen them. A terrier moved forward to the bars of his enclosure and squinted at the carrier, hoping to catch a glimpse of a tail or an ear, anything to identify just what they'd be dealing with.
"I can't see anything…" he reported.
"It's male." a German Shepherd in one of the lower cages spoke up. "I can smell that much."
"Delightful." A cat added sarcastically, to which he was hushed immediately.
The volunteer laughed, and trotted over to the cages. "We're all very noisy today, aren't we lovelies? Shh, now. I have a new friend for you all." She walked back over to her carrier, unlatching the door.
A white, slightly damp paw emerged, and then a whole leg and a pointed muzzle. The dog stepped shakily out and padded forwards unsteadily. It was a cross-breed of some sort, or at least appeared to be, but was despite this a very beautiful specimen. Some of the animals began to question the German Shepherd's dissertation, but on closer rear examination, they discovered he was correct.
The woman led him to, as suspected, a bottom level cage, opening its door. The dog stood behind her still, stretching its legs and yawning a little.
"Aww, I know." she said, "But don't worry, you'll be out again soon for a nice run around!" She stroked him lovingly under the chin and around the ears, "It's a bit late, so you'll have to sleep here tonight. This is all just temporary, so we can keep an eye on you."
Humans habits of talking to them, even though they couldn't understand their response, never ceased to amaze the animals. Honestly, why bother? It didn't get anyone anywhere. They could understand you, sure, but a conversation was hardly likely to develop, now was it?
Seemingly content with the gained flexibility of his haunches, the new dog went obediently into the open cage and sat down. The volunteer smiled and shut the cage, before quickly checking the status of all the other occupants, and walking out. If they all stayed quiet and no drama occurred, the next person to enter that room would be the night watch. They were finally alone.
The new dog remained silent and, such was their way, the terrier decided to address this.
"Hey…" he whispered.
Only silence greeted him.
"Hello?" tried another dog.
There was motion in a cat's cage on the highest level. "Yo? Dog?"
Still nothing.
Suddenly from the middle level, there came a small noise. A tiny kitten had made its way forward, its paws making a little smattering noise as they hit the cage bars. "Um… Mr Dog? Are you alright?"
This evoked a reaction. The dog snorted derisively, "You lot sure make a bloody racket, don't you? I can tell I'm going to like it here…"
The kitten laughed, but its mother's head appeared, gently dragging it by the scruff back to her milk-filled belly.
"In any case," the dog continued, "I am quite fine." There was another pause. "Thank you."
A female spaniel in the cage opposite him grinned - perhaps this dog wasn't quite as bad as his first words had suggested. "You got a name, hot shot?" she asked.
"Arthur. Arthur Jones, actually." he replied.
"A dog with a last name?" chuckled the spaniel. "I never heard of nothing like that before."
"Ridiculous!" another dog chimed.
"Quite, quite. I… I used to think exactly the same thing."
"What made you change your mind?" the spaniel questioned.
He considered this. "Well… That's rather a long story."
"We got the time."
"Well, I don't." A voice sounded. Arthur looked up to see the mother of the kitten that first spoke glaring down at him. "I have a litter here that ought to really get some sleep."
"Fair enough." He nodded to her respectfully; he knew better than to undermine a new mother.
"Oh come on, Vix!" A male cat in the cage next to her called.
The mother cat sighed - not unhappy, merely displeased, and at the end of her patience. "Don't undermine me in front of the kids, Badger. If you behave like that then they'll never respect their mother."
"But mama, I'm not sleepy!" One kitten chirped, soon setting off the chorus of disclaimers. "Neither am I!", "Me too!", "I couldn't possibly sleep!"
She groaned. "This is all your fault."
The male cat laughed, rubbing his cheeks against the adjacent wall of their cages, as though she could feel him through it. She did the same, and Arthur felt suddenly quite sad, where before he had simply been tired. The mother settled back down and closed her eyes peacefully, a few kittens settling into the gap. Those remaining pressed their faces against the wire, ready to hear his story.
"Well. I'm not stopping you." She addressed him. "You may tell your story if you so wish." She craned her head as though to look through the cage wall to where the male cat was. "Badge, they are officially your responsibility tonight. I intend to sleep right through." He merely laughed in response, and Arthur was reminded of his own little domestic conversations all that time ago. His face must have shown this because the bitch opposite him now wore a quizzical expression.
"I feel like there's going to be something to this story." A bulldog projected, met only with sighs or a laugh. The spaniel opposite Arthur rolled her eyes.
"There goes Barney with his fortune telling again…"
"I mean it." the dog protested, "This one's worth staying up for."
Arthur snickered, not unkindly, just amusedly, more at himself than anyone else. "Well, I don't know about that, but I think it's… Interesting, at least."
"Well, go on then!" the terrier shouted, "I want to at least hear the beginning before I go to sleep!"
"Alright, alright… Ohhh, I'm not sure how to start." Arthur scratched behind one ear, mulling it over in his mind.
One of the kittens mewled quietly to him, "However you feel."
Another spoke to him, "Mama says to make sure you make sense to yourself, or you can never hope to make sense to other people. That's what Mama says."
"Well, that's one hell of a mother you've got there."
The male cat, Badger he believed was its name, nodded to him proudly.
"So…" said the German Shepherd, "How do you want to start?"
He thought for a moment, but decided to simply launch into it. He sat up now, moving forward to the front of the cage. "I have never met a truly good human being." he started, "I am not even sure if one does exist. In my eighth year of life I met a child who came close, but in the end she grew like the others after all…"