Chapter 8:
Starting life as a human
"Penny what is the meaning of this?" her mom asked.
"It's just a friend." Penny replied.
"It's someone that I don't know." Her mom said.
"You know him more than you think." Penny mumbled.
"How's that?"
"I tried telling you but you didn't listen. That person in there is Bolt. Why do you think I screamed this morning?" Penny asked.
"If it's who you say it is then I guess I'll have no choice but to believe you, but if this person does anything wrong he is out of here." Her mom said.
"So he can stay?" Penny questioned.
"Yes he can stay but we got to go out and you need to buy him clothes." Her mom sighed.
After listening to her mom mumble as she walked down the stairs, Penny turned and walked through her door. "Bolt you can stay, but you can't sleep in my room. You have to sleep on the couch downstairs." She said.
Bolt's face lit up with enjoyment. "Of course I could stay, why wouldn't I?" Bolt asked.
"My mom doesn't believe that you are actually my real dog, but she will figure it out sooner or later." Penny said.
"What are we going to do about these things called clothes?" Bolt asked.
"My mom said she will take me into town to go shopping for them." She answered.
"Can I go?" Bolt asked.
"Sorry buddy, but no you can't come. Not looking like that." Penny giggled.
"Awe." Bolt said starting to sit on her bed.
Penny walked over and put her hand on his soft shining white and black hair. "I'm going to the store bud. It's not like I'm leaving forever." She said.
"I don't want to lose you too." Bolt replied. Penny sat down beside him.
"You're not going to lose me. What makes you think you're going to lose me?" she asked.
"It's been happening a lot lately, and it's happened before." He replied. He got up and walked towards the window.
"Look Bolt." Penny said. "It's not going to happen. I'm not going to let it happen. So get that thought out of your head. Alright buddy?" Penny asked.
Bolt didn't answer instead he just continued to stare out of the window at nothing.
"Bolt answer me." Penny said. Once again no answer came from him. Penny finally gave up and walked out of her room.
Bolt sighed. "Penny I just need some time alone." He waited for an answerer but when nothing was said he turned and looked to where she was standing. 'She's gone already.' He thought as he turned and continued to stare out the window. It wasn't long before Bolt saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He slightly pressed his face against the glass to see who it was. "There leaving already?" Bolt thought aloud. He watched as the car rolled away towards town. When it went out of sight he walked down the stairs and went to his dog bed. He was a little big for it, but it was still comfortable. He slowly drifted off to sleep.
Bolt woke up to the sound of the door creaking open. Every time the door opened bolt would stare it down getting ready to attack anything that came through the door. He remembered two years ago when three people broke in and beat him within inches of death with a baseball bat, and then they had the nerve to take his daughter Phoenix. He could still feel pain every now and then from the bat, but the pain from losing his daughter was felt more than often.
With him being human he didn't know how to defend his self from intruders. At least when he was a dog he had sharp teeth, but these human teeth wouldn't hurt anyone. The sun was shining which cast two shadows through the doorway, and he could slightly hear bags rustling. Bolt was relieved when Penny walked through the door.
Surprised Penny dropped the bags on the ground spilling its content everywhere. "Whoa boy it's just me." She said. "No reason to be defensive." She added.
Without Bolt realizing he clenched his fist and put them in front of him. Realizing now what he did he quickly unclenched his fists and put them down. "Sorry, Instinct I guess." Bolt apologized.
"That's okay, but come help me with your clothes." She replied.
Bolt hurried up and ran out to the car. He still hadn't gotten used to walking on two legs so it seemed as though he was drunk. Penny watched as he tried to go down the steps. She laughed as he turned and gave her a goofy expression.
"How do I do this?" he asked.
Penny walked out to him and took his arm and put it around her neck, and she helped him down the steps and to the car.
"For you being skinny you sure are heavy." Penny grunted.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Bolt asked.
"You need to cut down on the kibble." Penny joked.
"You know if I still was a dog I would probably still be eating it three times a day, and by the way; why is it that I get the same kibble everyday? I mean it gets old eating the same thing." He said.
"I can't always buy more dog food. It cost money." Penny replied.
They finally reached the car and Bolt grabbed the last two bags of clothes, and they both walked back to the house. As soon as the front door closed Bolt walked over to the couch and sat down. He watched as penny picked up the clothes that she dropped.
"Well go ahead and take a look at you clothes." Penny said.
Bolt grabbed a random bag and took out a shirt.
"Now later you're going to have to try these on to see if they fit." Penny explained as she shoved the last shirt into the bag.
"Uhh Penny." Bolt said. "I see you put these on all the time. Are you sure they are for me?" he asked. Penny looked up and saw what he had. A package filled with lingerie. Penny blushed and quickly grabbed the package.
"No that's not for you. I got you boxers." She said quickly hiding the package. Bolt noticed how red her face was.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yea why?" she replied.
"Your face is red." He said.
"It's called blushing and it happens when you like someone or you do something embarrassing." Penny explained.
"It's funny." Bolt said.
"I'm going to check on dinner." She said. "You continue to look through those clothes." She added before hurrying out of the living room with the package.
'I wonder why she was embarrassed, I mean I have seen her naked before when she would get out of the shower, and then sometimes we took a shower together, but that was only cause I snuck in' Bolt thought.
"It's dinner time." Penny's mom yelled up the stairs. About three minutes past before the sound of footsteps coming down the steps. Penny was the first person to reach the kitchen table, and she was laughing hysterically.
"What's so funny?" her mom asked.
"Bolt is." Penny replied.
"Well were he?" her mom questioned.
"He is coming down the stairs on his butt." Penny answered with a giggle.
Bolt walked through the kitchen doorway, and started to glare at Penny.
"What?" she asked.
"You cheated!" he could barely say without a smile creeping up onto his face.
"You look great." Penny's mom complimented Bolt. He was wearing a black American Eagle shirt with black shorts.
"Thanks." He said with a smile. "Penny taught me how to dress."
"Have a seat." She said gesturing to the chair nearest Bolt.
He pulled it out and sat down. They said prayers before eating, and then the questions began. Not a single question was direction at Penny, but she listened, and observed Bolt as he flew through the questions. 'I wish I could answer my moms' questions like that.' Penny though. Penny didn't even know if what Bolt was saying was true or not.
After dinner (and the questions) it was time for bed. Penny and her mom went upstairs while Bolt headed to the couch. As the lights turned off Bolt thought to himself. 'This is going to be a great life.' He lay there thinking about what could go wrong. Slowly sleep crept up on him making the colors of the world fade into darkness.
