Epilogue: Thank you for your comments. I'm still taking writing lessons, so I'll get better over time! I promise that my chapters will be longer and a little more detailed for now on. Please enjoy!
Chapter 2:
-Magnus' POV
Who...is...this? I-Is she here to hurt me, or help me? She looks innocent, but then again, I thought they were innocent as well. My instincts tell me that she means no harm but...! Wait! Oh no!
-Normal POV
The blue-gray dog turns his head sharply, eyes wide and ears pointing to the top of the hill. Carly follows his gaze to see a large van with blinding headlights rolling down the hill towards them. The lights and dark sky made it hard to picture it clearly, but Carly is positive that the van is white with writing on the side.
"Oh, poor boy!" Carly exclaims, "The dogcatcher must be looking for you! Without your collar, you'll probably never find your owner in time! Wait here!"
Carly leaves the dog to go open her front door. The white van is speeding towards them faster and faster, lights piercing her eyes from the side. The dog finds the strength to get up and run by her side. He yelps and scratches at Carly's door while she fights the lock. "Hold on, boy! I'm moving as fast as I can!" Carly whispers, hoping that the dog will keep his barking down. "This is the last time I put my car keys and my office keys on the same ring!" The dog barks insanely, mortified that the van will stop in front of the house.
-Magnus
Hurry, hurry! Please hurry! I don't know who you are, but I'd rather be in a river just to get away from them! And I can't swim for biscuits! AAAHH!! They're getting closer! Please open! Please open! Please open!!!
-Normal
It opens.
The dog rushes into the small crack as the door opens up, yelping as he dodges into Carly's open room door. At least she didn't have to worry about coaxing him inside. The white van zooms by without slowing down, kicking up slush and water before disappearing into the darkness. Carly glances at the side to make out the writing, but the truck was speeding at such a velocity that she couldn't even make out the license plate. The van goes through a yellow light at top speed and fades to black.
-Carly
O.K. Weird...I've never seen a dogcatcher drive so high above the speed limit. Ha! I hope he gets a ticket. So, where'd the doggie go?
-Normal
Carly enters her home, double locking the door behind her. Before she looks for the dog, she rushes over to check the windows and pull the blinds closed. The last thing she needs is the same people who scared the little sweetheart to death busting down her door.As soon as she felt safe, she goes to turn on all of the lights.
Carly's home was a moderate one-story, 5-room apartment with cozy furniture and walled paintings. There was a long couch in front of a 36-inch TV, a desk at the side corner with an old lamp, thin carpets on most of the floor, and three closed doors and an opening to the kitchen. Carly goes to fetch water for the dog, when she notices that the door to her room was closed. She left it open this morning before heading out, so how the dog closed it? Oh well, he probably just used his nose. Carly thought. I'm sure some water and a bed of my old blankets would calm him down. She fetches a bowl from the top cabinet and fills it with sink water. As she set the bowl at the foot of the door, she cracks her bedroom door to find her furry friend. The light peaks in and most of him is underneath her bed, aside from his tail which shivers along with the rest of his body. Carly imagines that sad little puppy coming from an abused owner, mistreated and left to starve to death. She tiptoes to her bed where he was hiding, thinking how he must be scared and fragile
-Magnus
Phew! I can feel my toes again! As soon as the rest of me warm up, I'll stop shivering uncontrollably. Huh? Oh, it's her. I can smell her frosty hair and wool sweater from the sheets. (Sniff-Sniff) She brought water, too! She is a good soul, must be my lucky-wait! What's that other smell?
-Normal
Carly coos and praises the dog as he slowly crawl's from the bed and stretches. As he stands to his full height, Carly notices that he was a lot bigger than she thought. As he sat down and tilts his head cutely, the tip of his pointed ears past her stomach. His gentle eyes stare at her from a body of spiky fur. His coat was a beautiful shade of light gray around the body, and slowly wanes near his head as his fur changes to a mask of coal black. The tip of his tail was such a light gray it was practically white, and his paws were the same blue-gray color as his eye. After staring at the canine for what felt like an eternity, Carly kneels down to the dog's height to show she means no harm, but she felt a little afraid when the dog towered her as she bowed. But when the beautiful stray approached her with head down and no intention to kill, Carly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Oh, silly me!" Carly whispered as she stroked his head, "You're probably so scared you wouldn't harm a fly! Your coat feels so soft and clean, it's hard to believe you were abandoned." He ignores her gentle words and begins to sniff at her midsection very carefully. "Hey! That tickles!" Carly begins to laugh as the dog continues to nudge her stomach. "But you're so cute when you act like that, yes you are, yes you...."
-Magnus
What is this odor? Your snow and powder fragrance is clashed by another metallic scent! It's faint, but I can smell motor oil and huge amounts of Dyne*. I don't like this. Carly, you better be careful! My instincts say that the stranger who left this is going to be back. He might attack, he could be armed, and...are you making baby faces at me?"
-Normal
The dog sat there half frozen as Carly puffed her cheeks and blow kisses at him, saying how cute and fluffy he is. 'This is still better than the van, this is still better than the van'. The dog states in his head 'I think. I wonder if it's too late to try my luck in the river?'
"You're such a cutie-pitutie!" Carly teases as the dog sits and stares. A big sweat drop is visible on his head. "You're so cute, and big, and your coat is so pretty. I think you can understand me! Aww, you're smiling!"
The stray was grinning painfully, hoping that Carly would play along…
Carly stood to her full height and walked over to the bookshelf in the living area. "Well, I can't address you properly without a proper name!" Carly states as she reached for a large white book at the top of the shelf. "That kooky boyfriend of mine said that I might need this one day for something important, but I guess I could make an exception." Carly winks as she sits on the couch and flips through the pages. The dog bounces up to the seat next to her, eyeing her curiously.
'What are you up to, alpha female?' Magnus states.
"O.K.," Carly begins, "let's see if any of these words pop out for you. Ready? Umm….Reggie!" The dog stares at her with big eyes. "I guess not. How about, Francis! Ricardo? Sylvester...? Paul! Alberto? Cameron? Davidson? What about Goliath!" The dog tilts his head. "Alright, alright. I'll keep looking." She leafs through the pages as the pooch steps down.
'I refuse to let you go through +100,000BabyNames without a hint.' Magnus sighs. ;)
He strolls to the coffee table and barks repeatedly to get Carly's attention. She leaves the book on the couch to see what the dog was going crazy over. When Carly stands near the table, the gray dog paws at a board game on the table.
"Scrabble! That's it!" Carly shouts as she empty the game tiles onto the floor, "You could probably spell out your name, like that dog did in that book that…um…he was smart and, uh…never mind, I can't remember*. But here!" She spreads the tiles out evenly so that all the letters were facing up. "C'mon, boy! C'mon! Spell your name! You can do it!"
The dog has a little trouble moving the letters at first, but he was eventually able to arrange five crooked letters in order on the floor. Carly reads the sloppy message carefully.
"M-ag-n-us? Mag-nus? Magnus! Your name is Magnus!" Carly states as the dog barks happily and licks her face. "Ha-ha-ha-ha, alright! Down boy! Oh, hold on!" Carly gets up and hastens to her computer, which is always on during the day. She jumps to the internet for a naming site, and types in Magnus under the search engine. "Magnus!" she reads, "It says it's Latin for big or great. Pretty appropriate for a large gray dog like you!" Carly smiles as Magnus barks happily. "And while I'm on…" Carly goes to a universal dog breed website. "Large dog, gray, pointed ears, long tail, about 25 inches high standing on all fours." When the results came up, Carly had to scan it three times until she realized what Magnus was.
"Here it is! Sort of." She clicks on a site for a dog slightly different than Magnus. "No, this is right! It says that you're a rare breed from the Belgian Shepherd Tervuren family, a working dog! It says that your breed has been used in things from tournament dog shows to avalanche rescue missions! Ooh, I have a pedigree!" She hugs Magnus by the neck and logs off the computer. "Well, it did state you were an unusual gray color, but we'll figure that more in the morning." Carly goes back to the couch, reshelf the baby book, and heads over to another closed door.
"I'll be taking a bath and getting ready for bed, Magnus. You can make yourself comfortable on my bed." Carly bounces cheerfully into the bathroom, singing a toneless tune that only she could like.
-Magnus
Carly is indeed a strange human, a little goofy as well, but she's still a blessing in disguise to my eyes. Ha ha, someone up there likes me.
I paw my way into Carly's bedroom, and then I hear something that freezes me in my tracks. The knob to his angel's front door is jiggling, and I can hear a key being inserted and the tumblers moving.
Gasp! Someone's coming inside! I bet it's them! How did they find me so soon?!? I gotta disappear, fast!
The front door opens as I hide underneath Carly's bed sheets. My body was completely covered by the thick comforter, and only my nose was exposed at the top. I couldn't see him to clearly, but I could just make out the familiar smell of oil and Dyne. Thank the heavens that Carly is in the-! Oh no! Carly! He's probably a thief or a murderer! Or one of them from the van! I gotta do something!
I shift and grunt underneath the sheets, making as much noise as possible. If I could just...Yes! The stranger is coming this way! I shift some more, until he was all most to the bed.
"There you are, you little fox!" came a thick, serpent voice, "You thought you could hide from me, didn't you?"
I make a chuffing sound with the back of my throat. It almost sounds like a human coughing.
"Now, now, you feisty little thing. You don't have to get touchy. You know I promised I would be back!" He leans over me, rubbing the sheet over my body with one hand.
I make another sound in my mouth, this one sounding like a deep ' uhgh!'
"Don't make me beg!" He towers over the foot of the bed, clutching the sheets at the bottom. "I promised I would make it alright, didn't I? And I aim-to-KEEP IT!!"
He yanks back the sheets, and I leap for him. I twist my body around in a fury of fur, much to the stranger's surprise! He was probably expecting a helpless girl or a frightened dog, but he is dead wrong!
Through my wolf-like growl and my open mouth armed with teeth, I could just make out the stranger's horrified face and wide, violet eyes.
* Dyne was the mineral in the show used to make the best D-Wheels. I'm not positive if Jack's runner has Dyne, but oh well.
*This statement was in honor of one of my favorite books: Watchers by Dean Koontz
