disclaimer: belongs to Lisi Harrison.
Lovely
Nine-year-old Massie held a squirming Bean in her arms, her face pressed against the small black pug's silky fur, her eyes tightly closed. Her lips moved against Bean's fur, "Please, please, please, please."
"And you think I'm to blame for this? Really, that's the most ridicul—"
"Whose fault is it, then? Mine? Massie's?"
"Shut the hell up!"
Massie heard a sound that she knew was a hand slicing through the air. Her pleases fell to soft whispers, and then she wasn't not talking at all. She hugged Bean tighter and closer to her body, and the puppy stopped wriggling. There was a sharp slap! sound and then silence—she hated the silence. It wasn't the shouts or the screams or, in fact, even the hitting. It was the silence, when nothing was being said and nothing was being heard, that she hated the most. She hated the silence because when it was silent, she had no choice but to think about it. No choice but to think about everything, to think about everything and see it for what it really meant. No choice but to hurt.
"Don't you dare bring Massie into this damn conversation ever again, Kendra!"
Bean yipped pitifully, and Massie loosened her hold on the dog. "You can go, Bean," she whispered. "Please go, Bean. Go somewhere you'll be happy, okay? Somewhere you'll be safe. Go far, far, far away."
The black dog landed on the ground, then turned around with her tail dropped and her puppy eyes wide and soulful. She tilted her head, letting out a lonely whimper.
"I'm sorry, Bean," Massie waved a hand helplessly at her pet. "I'm so sorry, Bean, but please go. You can't stay here anymore. I can't stay here anymore. But at least one of us can escape, huh?" She tried a smile.
Bean barked once, short and sad, and even with her parent's accusing shouts ringing in her ears, Massie knew that Bean understood. The dog turned on her black paws and trotted away; out of the room, out of the house. Just away. Massie had fed Bean more than usual that morning and given her a wash so that she would at least be alright for a week or two.
Massie buried her head in her arms, trying not to cry.