He's going to come back today. I just know he is!
32 looked at the post that chained him to the fence.
The other dogs had been tied there too, at first, but over the last two days, they'd been led away. He was the last one left.
Where were they going? The lab?
He didn't like the lab doctor. She hurt him with sharp things and put chemicals on his fur that made his body twitch and ache.
The Night Guard, or 'Gray', as he was sometimes called, always scratched behind his ears and trained with him. 32 found that he very much enjoyed ripping the heads off of training dummies.
He could hardly wait until he grew as big and strong as the other dogs! That's all he ever wanted to do: be big and strong and useful! Well, that and play with his squeaky toy.
He was special. No other dog in the whole world had a squeaky toy! He knew that because he knew all thirty dogs there, and none of them owned one, so it must have been the only squeaky toy there was!
Gray had been so nice to give it to him. He loved Gray. He could hardly wait until the man took him away, too, so that he could be with the other dogs.
A loud noise came from behind the building that he lay in front of, tied to the entrance fence.
It had happened once after each dog was taken away. Maybe it was a new training exercise?
Exercises were fun! He could bring his squeaky toy along, and play with it!
Gray chose that moment to come from behind the building, and walk forward to the pup.
"Hi, boy! How are you?"
The man was smiling, but he smelled wrong. Why was he sad? And why was there water on his face?
Before he could bark in confusion, he saw Gray holding the precious squeaky toy.
The pup grabbed it in his jaws, but dropped it in surprise when Gray stuck a Sharp Thing into his neck.
He didn't understand. Only the scientists did that. Why had Gray hurt him?
"It's okay, bud. This will just help you go to sleep... I'm not even supposed to have it, but I can't just let you watch this."
Watch what? Was there something he wasn't supposed to see?
Maybe it was a surprise, like the squeaky toy! But what would he be surprised with?
His vest, maybe?
His tail wagged at the very thought of getting his own vest, though it was slower than usual.
Tired...he had slept a lot the previous night. Maybe he was sick?
If he was sick, he couldn't get his vest!
Concerned eyes looked up at Gray, who started petting him before pulling out his Shiny Do Not Play With.
32 had come up with the name himself because it was shiny, sticking out of Gray's pocket-belt-thingy, and he was never, not ever supposed to play with it.
Gray pointed the end at him, and walked away, still facing him.
He was so tired... but he couldn't sleep! He had to get his vest!
Maybe playing with his squeaky toy would keep him more awake?
"Stay, boy." Gray ordered.
The pup whimpered. If he could just get his squeaky toy...!
It would solve everything! The toy would keep him awake, so he'd get his vest, proving he was a big, strong guard dog!
Then, he'd be Gray's partner! It would be perfect!
Eyes set on the squeaky toy, he didn't focus on anything else, not even the loud noise that-
...
Where was he? He looked down at the grass.
He liked grass...or didn't he? He thought he did...
What was something he liked? He focused hard before yipping in delight.
His squeaky toy! He had a toy, and it was very special. Where was it?
He looked around, but didn't see it.
Why wasn't it there?
He had a vague memory of not being big enough... maybe if he were bigger, he could find it?
Not even a moment after thinking it, his body effortlessly grew in size.
He stepped over the fence and ran off, embarking on the journey to find the toy.
...
Thank you to the friend, who shall remain anonymous, that found a list of prompts and told me to just pick one! At first, I was stumped, but then I thought of Cujo, or 32, as he's called before Danny finds him. I made up the name/number for him because I didn't know what name, if any, he had before he went ghost...As for the updating, I don't even know what to say at this point. How long has it been since I last updated? I actually forgot. Whoops.
Sorry, guys. This chapter's not very long, but I tried my best.
As always, please tell me about any spelling/grammatical errors, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Sincerely,
Asphodel Gray.