The wind was racing at a breakneck speed and the rain was pounding the roof with rage. Combined, the sounds made almost everything inaudible, but a faint and easily recognizable sound made it to my eardrums. A dog was barking.

I, with an unnatural care for animals, raced down the stairs from my bedroom and yanked open the front door. My parents knew what I was up to and probably rolled their eyes at my actions.

It was completely dark outside and the wind nearly knocked me off my feet. The door slammed behind me. My hair was relatively short, and so as the rain and wind blew it into my face, the ends prickled my cheeks. I heard the barking again and turned my head in that general direction.

I whistled, and soon after I spotted a pair of glistening eyes in the pouring rain. My mother flipped on the porch light and I saw a large, black dog running toward me. I took the dog in an embrace, trying to shield it from the storm. The door opened and my mother looked annoyed.

"C'mon, mom," I begged. "Are you just gonna let him stay out here in this weather?" She rolled her eyes and sighed, stepping away from the door. I smiled and led the dog inside.

"You're getting ridiculous with this," my dad said, not taking his eyes from the television.

"Alright, fine," I said. "This is the last time." I had my fingers crossed behind my back. "C'mon, boy, I'll dry you up."

I walked up the stairs and, surprisingly, the dog followed me. He passed me in the hallway and walked into my bedroom while I turned and went into the bathroom to get some towels. My little brother poked his head out of his door, but I glared at him and he slammed it shut in fear. When I came into my bedroom I found the dog on my bed, soaking my covers. Fantastic.

"Wow, way to make yourself at home," I said sarcastically. It almost looked like he grinned. I laughed and got closer to him, surveying him closely as I wrapped a towel around his neck. He had no collar. His eyes were red.

On top of that, it looked almost as if there were more eye slits above his open ones. One of the slits parted, revealing another eye. Slowly, but surely, more slits opened until there were a total of 4 pairs of magnificent red eyes. I gasped, but didn't scream or anything of the like. I had obviously never seen that before, but I concealed my shock.

I decided to keep it to myself.

The next day, I printed about 50 "dog found" fliers. I posted a picture of him on it, but I made sure that all but 2 of his eyes were closed. I took him with me and posted the fliers on every surface I could find that was legal (in my opinion) to staple papers to.

A week passed, and no phone calls came. That dog and I became very close. We played fetch, like normal pet-human pairings. I knew he couldn't stay with me forever, but I loved him so much.

In fact, one night he was lying on my bed, curled up in front of me. I had my arm around his neck and I propped my head up on a pillow behind his. I sat up and leaned over him, looking at his face.

"I know you're not mine," I whispered. I figured he couldn't understand me, as most dogs can't. "and I don't know your name, and someone's probably going to come and get you, but…I love you."

I felt the slightest jolt as the dog's eyes opened. He looked at me. Did he understand that or something? Nah, that's not possible. Startling me, he lifted his head and licked my cheek. I smiled, a bit uneasy and confused.

I shrugged it off and rested my head back down, falling asleep.