Thanks to my NDBRs for catching the typos and to Teresa for editing. Reminder to check out my website and vote for the best pick up line on the Introducing Erika Kire page.

Giver25

My fears of a life lived in solitude had diminished, and it was on account of a nearly dead dog.

With an animal that depended on me, I forgot about my miseries. The hours I had spent secretly thinking of my mother and father were dedicated to another living creature's survival. In a sense I had made myself God over one being, but I was a sympathetic God who was ruled by another: My uncle.

I couldn't tell at first if he was pleased by my newfound joy or if he would have rather abandoned the animal. He allowed me moments to myself, and when I found him he was often asleep. I didn't bother him as I found I enjoyed my own company as long as I could stay busy, and with Moon and the dog—which I'd taken to simply calling Girl—I was occupied for most of the three days we remained camped.

Whoever had owned Girl never returned for her. I kept her hidden beneath my blanket for most of the day, which also prevented flies from laying eggs in her tender, healing skin. She was friendly enough, didn't bark, and never made much of a fuss. Much of my own personality was reflected in hers and I wanted nothing more than to keep her content. A boy and his dog. There was no better image in the world than a boy and his dog—save perhaps a father and his son.

"How is she?" my uncle asked on the third morning.

He looked worn and haggard, his face drawn and eyes drooping and red. "She's walking," I said. I pointed across the small camp where she lay watching us. "She crawled there when I walked to the creek for water."

He grunted. "We shall leave tonight. Tell her we will wait for no one."

I watched him walk away and thought that the dog could have kept a better pace than he could. He'd barely touched his supper ever since Girl had joined our tribe. I wondered if he was unhappy. I had often refused meals in my childhood when my mood was sullen.

Since we'd lazed around for the majority of our time, I offered to find food. By finding food I meant stealing, which I'd become good at thanks to my light footfalls and swiftness.

"Wait until it is dark," he replied.

We ate stale bread and rested until the sun set and fog rolled into the clearing, wisps of mist curling up into the trees. By then my stomach ached with hunger and my head felt light. I tied Girl to a tree so that she couldn't follow my path, slung my pack over my shoulder, and then stole off into the darkness. There was a farm up ahead, and as I jumped over the fence I smelled a feast in the air.

At once I saw the smokehouse and knew there was a meal to be had. Several meals, if my luck held out. The sound of people talking inside the farmhouse did nothing to deter my path or my intentions. My tribe depended on me for their survival.

Silent as a ghost, I padded across the tree-filled yard. My eyesight in the dark was keen and I easily avoided crunching any fallen leaves or fruit from the trees. I waited once I reached the smokehouse door and discovered a wagon no more than ten paces away. A canvas tarp covered the back of it, but there were several items lying on the ground. One was a burlap sack. Potatoes or onions, I assumed.

I felt like the luckiest boy in the world, having my choice of food laid out before me and not a soul to keep me away. Greedily I opened the smokehouse door, took down a whole chicken, and placed it into my pack.

With a grin spread wide across my face I swiftly grabbed several tomatoes and whatever else I could toss inside.

It was then that I heard a low growl behind me and knew it was not Girl who stood snarling at my back.

The pack on my shoulder grew heavier, and I knew that it would be a choice between dying with my stolen goods or abandoning my bounty and running for my life. I was fast, yes, but not fast enough to outrun dog. I knew this without a doubt and somehow—through a cloud of terror—managed to consider my options.

The wind howled through the trees and I glanced up at a swaying branch. With one hand I grabbed a bushel and whipped it from the back of the wagon while I stepped up and jumped from the flatbed to the tree branch. Somehow I managed to keep the pack over my shoulder as I lifted myself up and shimmied into the tree.

The dog snapped and growled, his paws trampling the vegetables I had hurled to the ground. In an instant there were two men, a woman, and several children crowded around, but by the time they had arrived I had managed to seat myself high in the tree. With my legs curled up to my chest, I held my breath and waited.

"Good boy," the farmer said. "Now sit."

"He thinks he's earned his keep over a gale of wind," his wife remarked.

The dog excitedly barked around the tree, pausing only to sniff the wagon. No one bothered to look up, but even if they had it was too dark for them to see me crouched on my branch. Since they hadn't bothered to check on their meat, they didn't appear to care much about their dog still growling at the dark.

A good twenty minutes must have passed while the people evaluated the situation and eventually lured the dog away. The animal continued to bark, but the farmers apparently thought it was concerned about the items falling, which they passed off as a wild animal.

Once they returned inside, I climbed halfway down the tree and traveled across a branch and into another tree. Like a trapeze artist I made my way across the yard, never touching the ground until I reached the fence. With the balance of a cat I landed on my toes and ran across the fence until the trees turned dense and I found myself at our camp. Moon bared his teeth at me and kicked while Girl whined and loped forward as far as her tether would allow. The Shadow was asleep with his hat covering his face. If not for his snoring I wouldn't have known where he was as he was tucked completely under his blanket.

He looked thinner than I had remembered him. It was as though he'd lost substantial weight while I was off stealing supper.

"What happened?" he asked from beneath his hat. "I heard an awful lot of noise coming from your direction."

"Nothing," I answered.

"It didn't sound like nothing."

"There was a dog in the yard."

He immediately removed his hat from his face. "You have a way of constantly running into four-legged creatures."

I smiled. "I didn't run into this one. He cornered me." Suddenly I felt cocky from my near-death encounter. I opened my pack and showed him how well I had done.

Together we shared the duty of washing and cutting the vegetables. I was allowed to cook, which I did while I casually recounted my adventure of eluding a beast—which was now recalled as being the height of a horse—and climbing a tree much like a monkey.

The Shadow laughed. "While this might amuse you for the remainder of the evening, do not take such brazen risks again, my boy."

"I will not be caught next time, not even by a dog."

He smiled. "You are all I have. I do not wish to lose you when we have many days ahead of us still."

"Months," I said cheerfully.

"Weeks," he said softly.

I chose to ignore his words as we divided our meal between the two of us and then I shared my portion with Girl. Moon received a pear, which he ate alone, his tail swishing in the night.

"How long until we reach your son's home?" I questioned.

"I shall send him another letter tomorrow. Within three weeks we should be at his doorstep, begging for a place to stay."

I frowned, wondering if we would be turned away. It seemed a shame to travel all this distance only to be shunned at the door.

"But you are his father," I said.

"Ah, I have forgotten that you are a serious young man, not a whimsical child." He flashed a smile. "You will enjoy him very much. He is a good man. A terrible musician, he always says, but a good man." He leaned forward and offered Girl some of his food, which she accepted. Their interaction relieved me as I wasn't sure if he was fond of our newest addition. "And I believe he has a dog or two of his own. The donkey, however, will be a surprise."

An hour later our camp was cleared and we were on our way to Paris, picking our way through the dark. Girl stayed close to my side. She seemed to have little trouble keeping up with our pace.

We saw no one for hours, but we were constantly on our guard. Often he would pause, hold his hand up, and listen. After several moments he would lower his hand and nod. It frightened me each time he did this but I never said a word. I didn't want him to think of me as a coward lingering in shadows, too afraid to show myself.

"What is it like there?" I asked. "In Paris, I mean to say."

"I doubt it's like anything you've seen before."

I nodded, unsure of whether that was good or bad news. What I had known had not been pleasant, though I assumed it could be worse. In my heart I hoped to find a barren city, or a secret realm I could call my own.

He apparently noticed the change in my demeanor and grasped my shoulder as we walked. "The change of scenery will do you good," he replied. "As will the company."