It burned beneath his fur and he kept snapping at his flank even though he was smart enough to know that there was nothing there to bite anymore when a smell made his head lift.
There she was. She smelled like old stone and rainstorms and he felt relief, for he had been waiting for the smell of his new mistress. And then she glanced at him and he cringed at the way her smell changed, the way she held herself, because she stood there like bad dog, afraid, do not want and went away. It did not make any sense because master-who-he-loved said he was a good dog, said so over and over, and he would not hurt her if she was his mistress.
He laid his head down and didn't even bother snapping at the burning again. New mistress did not want him. Maybe master had not gotten up because he was a bad dog.
He lifted his head again when her smell came back and she was twisted away from him, did not even see how he wagged his tail a little to show that he was a good dog. White plants fell out of her clothes and she hurried away from him, following after the man who smelled like old matings. He almost bit the kennel-master when he put the medicine on his back because it hurt and it hurt more because he loved her and she did not want him.
When the black things came he tore them apart and ran. The burning stopped and he caught a rabbit and slept in a sunny spot and then ran again. The smell of old stone and rainstorms came to him and he stopped, whimpering, but bad dog, do not want, he remembered, so he ran again away from the smell of his mistress, slow with doubt.
Sun and moon and sun and moon came and he stopped running in a stable. Children came and he felt inclined to be nice to them because they were covered in want and they said good dog, good dog over and over. The mother came and she smelled like tiredness and milk and sad, so he licked her and told her how he was a nice dog. They did not smell as good as the rainstorm mistress or the master-who-he-loved but they had more want than anything he had ever smelled so he stayed with them. It felt nice after the do not want which still stung him. When the dark things came he protected the house and tore them apart and they loved him and told him that he was such a good dog. He wagged his tail with his whole body and finally believed them from end to end because it was true. He was a good dog!