Of Nightmares and Miracles

Chapter 1: Miracle

I was patrolling the beach looking for any litter that might have been left behind. I never fully understood why there were people out there who would leave their rubbish in the sand. Maybe they didn't notice, maybe they were in a rush to leave for whatever reason, or maybe they didn't even care that they were potentially hurting the environment. No, I'm not exaggerating; I have heard horror stories from Zuma about dolphins and turtles getting injured from the plastic bags and multi-pack yokes, most of which barely survived. To make matters worse, some of those items could have been recycled, putting them to better use than being water hazards.

But I guess I ranted about that problem enough. Here's where the story actually starts. I was going to my rig to deposit the previous bag and grab a replacement. I tossed the bag into the truck, but I heard a small scream coming from inside. Now I know what you're thinking, but no, going in there is perfectly safe; there's no mechanism for crushing the stuff that I've collected. In fact, I've been inside the storage compartment of my rig on multiple occasions. That said, however, I've never had someone snuck into it before. Yes, I was thankful that no one drove off with my truck while I wasn't looking, but still.

"Who's there?" I asked before I waited a moment. "I know you're in there, and I'm going to find you eventually, so you might as well show yourself."

The items that I grabbed started to move, but I still wasn't able to tell who was in there. Now, before I go any further, I have to ask, "Are you familiar with the Kitten Kitastrophe Crew?" You are? Great, then you'll get what I'm about to say next."

"If you're that kitten clone of me, then-"

Before I could finish that sentence, I was finally able to see the pup in the bin. Yes, a pup that looks nothing like me. Heck! She wasn't even the same gender as me! What I actually saw was an Australian shepherd pup, but let me tell you this: I have never seen a pup as scrawny as she was. The lack of collar was enough to tell me that she was a stray, but I haven't seen a pup this underweight, not even from Everest and Tracker.

Speaking of pups who went from being stays to being honorary members of the PAW Patrol, I knew that we could trust Everest and Tracker because they were able to prove themselves as we met them. Sadly, I cannot say the same about this pup, who would have gotten herself into trouble if Chase were around. Trust me, if she were to join the PAW Patrol, then that would be great, especially since we would need help with- Wait, I'm starting to get ahead of myself here, aren't I? Let's just stick with what's happening at that moment.

"Do I look like a kitten to you?" she asked.

"N-no," I said, "I just had a few run-ins with a few over the years, one of which looked just like me."

"Right, sounds like something that would come out of a movie, or at least some cheesy cartoon."

"Believe me, you have no idea." I then remembered the real reason why I had to address her. "So what are you doing in the back of my truck?"

"Well, if you take a good look at me, it should be obvious; I was looking for some food."

"Oh, right. Kind of need that. Well, sorry to disappoint, but I highly doubt that anything that I collected from the beach was edible. Even then, there are some items in here that I could recycle, so I try to make sure that they're in good condition."

"And this is coming from someone who hasn't taken a bath in a while."

"I hate getting wet, okay."

"Not judging; I had to make do without one ninety percent of the time."

"Funny," I said, "I didn't know strays cared about staying clean."

"And just what are you implying," she asked, "Are you saying that all strays are walking fleabags?"

I immediately realized where his paw ended up and said, "N-no! That's not what I meant to say at all!"

"Uh huh, sure. Anyway, there's the matter of skin irritation, mostly caused by fleas, not that the baths that I take work as effectively as it would have if I had a human."

"And I'm willing to guess that you had an owner before."

"You would be right. Let me guess, the tail gave it away."

"Or rather the lack of it."

"Yeah, I had that docked sometime after I was born." She noticed that I had a weird look on his face that gave the impression that she had lost her mind. Once she realized what I was about to address, she quickly responded with, "Don't ask why; it's a long story."

"Okay, I guess I'll have to ask you later." I looked away hoping to figure out what he could say to change the subject."

"So while we're getting to know each other based on our appearances, I think I already figured out some things about you?"

"Such as?"

"Well, judging by your vehicle and matching uniform in addition to the fact that you are in pretty good physical condition as well as the scent of other pups that you have come into contact with, who might have been clean before they contracted whatever fleas that you might have had, I would say that you were part of a rescue team, and your job involves waste management."

I just sat there stunned, but she wasn't done yet.

"And if I were to make a deduction, I would say that the team that you were part of was the PAW Patrol. I mean, it's not like it's just a random taskforce; but it is the most popular, and it is the only one to my knowledge that is made up almost entirely of pups. Well, that is unless you count the human, but that's neither here nor there."

"Wow, that was actually a pretty good deduction. Might actually give Chase a run for his biscuits."

"Biscuits?" she asked as if I was the one who lost my marbles, "I thought the word used in that expression was money."

"Well, yes, but we're not humans, so biscuits was the next best thing," I explained.

Satisfied with her answer, she replied with, "Oh. Okay. Well, if it weren't for the human, I'd love to meet all of you."

This response surprised me. This was actually the first time he ever encountered a pup who has a problem with humans, even though it was fairly common among strays that live in Adventure Bay, especially in the urban and city areas.

"What's wrong with Ryder?"

"I just don't trust him."

"Why's that."

"Because he's a human."

I was baffled by Miracle's answer. "You know, someone might find that comment offensive."

"Don't get me wrong; they aren't inherently bad," Miracle replied, "but based on my experience, humans only love you until your usefulness has expired."

"And just what was you 'bad experience'?"

Some random onlooker could easily break the tension with a knife as we gazed at each other in awkward silence.

Miracle finally looked away and said, "I don't want to talk about why, but all you need to know is that I don't trust them."

"Well, why don't you meet him?"

"And what do you think will happen? Do you think he'll change my mind about humans? I've already made up my mind on the matter, so you might as well just drop it."

"Okay, okay," I said, leaving yet another beat of awkward silence.

"On another note, this conversation never happened."

"Why?"

"Because if anyone, especially your team, knows about me," Miracle paused briefly to better formulate her response before she said, "Let's just say that I'll have a little too much unwanted attention."

"But-" I started before Miracle suddenly stopped me.

"Not a word, okay?"

"Fine, I won't tell anyone."

"Thank you."

"But they will find out eventually, especially when you have Chase on the team."

"The police dog?"

"Yes, him." I confirmed, "If he catches wind of you, I can only keep you a secret for so long. And what do you plan to do if he finds you?"

"I'll just have to wing it in that case." Miracle answered.

Just as she finished that sentence, there was a growling noise.

"Speaking of wings, I need to find something to eat still. If I leave now, I might be able to catch the dump over at Crispy Chick."

"Is there anything that I can do for you?"

"Thanks for the offer, but I think I can handle myself from here."

"Can we at least meet up again sometime?"

"If you don't mind staying up a bit late, I think we can arrange that."

"Yeah, that might be a bit of a problem. Last time I tried that, the whole team had a hard time waking me up. It actually got to the point where Chase had Marshall use his water cannon against me on purpose."

"Yikes."

"And that's on top of the fact that he accidentally sprays me on a daily basis."

"Then he might not want to cross paths with me."

"Anyway, I'll see what I can do, but I'm not in a position where I can start making promises."

"I guess it's better than breaking a promise. I'll see you later."

"Okay. But if you need anything-"

"Just yelp for help," Miracle said, "I know the drill by this point."

Miracle turned as she walked away. I didn't know what to think of this pup right now. Maybe I was overcomplicating her situation, but there was something about her, something that he hadn't quite tapped into just yet. Even so, the story that she was abandoned by her owner really got to me. I was sad for Miracle because of what happened to her, but I was also angry at whoever put her in this situation. Still, what was done is done, and all I can do is help her in any way that I can, a task that would be so much easier if I could let the rest of the team in on this. Little did I know, however, that this would be the least of my worries.

I started to turn away when he noticed another pup off in the distance. He was -like Chase- a German shepherd, and he looked very similar to Chase, but the markings were off different. His muzzle was that darker brown color, and the freckles that Chase had were missing, at least as far as I could tell from a distance. Another difference that I noticed was that Chase didn't have any visible scars, unlike the other pup who has a nicked ear and claw marks going across his face.

I decided that now would be a good time to call it a day and leave before this newer pup could have a chance to cause any trouble for me. I climbed into his rig and looked at the canine one final time before I started making my way towards the Lookout. I was lucky that day, but little did I know that this one pup would cause a whole lot of trouble for us.