Chapter 2: Daily Rant

"Felix is nice enough, as 'good dogs' go, I guess," Ralph admitted softly- although his face couldn't help but twist slightly at the assigned title given to his little fellow colleague of sorts. "But is it my fault that 'good dog' was born with absolute cuteness?! Or that he's the mascot for Mr.Litwak's Petshop?!"

The angry dog growled with spite inwardly before he continued, his eyes dark with jealousy. "I mean, come on! He's a stinkin' Corgi, for crying out loud! That breed is, like, the very definition of adorability!"

Pausing in what was becoming his daily rant, Ralph sighed as he attempted to catch his breath. As he did, he could see that the other bad dogs surrounding him were actually really listening, then nodding at him in mutual understanding and frustration.

Maybe, just maybe...they do understand, the mastiff felt himself wondering hopefully, biting his lip for a second. At least more than Felix ever will...

At the mere thought of the overly adorable corgi flashing across his mind, Ralph rolled his eyes in anger again.

"Felix is great and all, don't get I wrong- no one could possibly ever hate Felix the Great," he mocked slightly as he flopped back down on his bottom- ignoring how he shook the room as he did. "I just always thought being cute does not automatically make ya a good dog. But in Mr.Litwak's pet shop, it apparently seems to."

A familiar snarl appeared on Ralph's face, and his narrowed eyes darkened that much more at the thought. He slumped in his place, his shoulders sagging forward as he sighed loudly in annoyance.

"Everyone just loves Felix," he gushed mockishly- although a clear hint of envy was evident in his tone. "Mr.Litwak, the other animals in the pet shop, even the other animals around town- all just adore him."

He paused yet again to roll his eyes in disgust, his verbally caricature the smaller dog back at their pet shop enough to make his stomach churned.

"Oh, and the kicker?" he rushed on, his tone somehow even rougher and edgier than before. "Felix also gets to have brand new collars with shiny new tags on it from Mr.Litwak. And he doesn't even get them for any real valid reason, like guarding the pet shop or chasing possible intruders away. Because guess what, news flash: that's my job!"

At his harsh words and strong, irate tone, the other dogs around winced slightly in their place- noticing a shift in Ralph's tone and behavior. It was clear that collars were a sensitive subject for the mastiff.

"All Felix gets his collars for is because he 'attracts' people to the pet store!" The mastiff exclaimed angrily in shock, his rage beginning to grow as accidentally loud as his voice was. "Uh, they're 'attracted' to the pet shop because they are looking for an animal to adopt!"

As loud and fast as he was talking, Ralph didn't even notice how some of the other dogs in the Bad-Anon meeting were starting to cringe a little. Some even openly and slightly cowarded at the huge dog's hostile voice and mien, afraid he would snap any moment.

"And are there new collars and shiny tags for guarding things really well?" Ralph then hissed out bitterly, rolling his eyes dismissively. "To that I say HA! A-and no, there's not. All I get is an old crummy collar that I've had for years now and is barely holding up still!"

Exasperatedly nodding down at his large neck to prove his point, Ralph begrudgingly emphasized his worn, scuffed up collar. The mere rope the collar was made of was old and falling apart, the threads bearly holding together. It wasn't anything nice or even visually appealing in the slightest, even in it's hayday- and was nothing more than a makeshift collar for a huge dog like Ralph.

At seeing of his shabby, crumbling collar, Ralph's anger just reflared. He growled all the more- his annoyance dangerously reaching its' wit ends.

Upon finally realizing that a small dog in the group was gulping in fear of his angry mien, though, the mastiff forced himself became calmer. Gulping himself, Ralph forced himself to slowly tone it down a little.

He just couldn't help he got so angry so fast, though. Ralph the guard dog was the first to admit he had a bit of a temper on him, he couldn't lie; his passion bubbled very close to the surface.

Suddenly eyeing the floor in embarrassment, he looked slightly guilty and ashamed of his ranting and anger. A low, deep sigh softly escaped his furry lips- forcing his mind to go in a different, less angry direction.

"Ok, don't get me wrong- things are way better than what they were before," Ralph finally admitted to the group gingerly, his tone softer and more grateful. "As some of you know, I was at one time an ownerless junkyard mutt for years- so having a home at all is pretty nice. And, I know, a steady guarding job is nothing to sneeze at, I'm pretty lucky- especially considering where some of my old buddies from the junkyard are now..."

At the mental image of one of his old friends in particular, Ralph found himself trailing off. He briefly reminisced of his old life- and shuddered in disgust at the mere mental picture of it.

Unable to stand the thought of it anymore, his mind immediately flashed forward to the present day- and although he could safely say his life was currently much better than before...

Ralph couldn't just lie and say his life was any happier.

"It's just... I guess I gotta say: it becomes kinda hard to love your job when no seems to like you for doing it," the mastiff then told the others pointedly. "And, I don't know, maybe I wouldn't be feeling this way if things were after the pet shop closes..."

Feeling beyond stupid and pathetic for getting so worked up about it all, Ralph shook his head passively. He once again tried to force himself to not feel so hurt, to try and just accept his reality- although it was extremely hard to do so. There was only so much ignoring and dismissing one dog could do after so long.

"But, it is what it is, I guess," he finally concluded miserably. "Felix and the other animals hang out inside the pet shop which, you know, gets to be their nice, warm home and everything... And I just go to my little dumpy, shabby place of a doghouse outside the pet shop's doors..."

The mutt thought for a minute about the place he called home, his eyebrows hunched together in dispair. With the sagging roof, the weakening walls, and the cold, hard concrete floor... his doghouse home was less than fabulous. In his opinion, in fact, Ralph's doghouse was barely a step above a litter box.

Forcing his mind over, though, Ralph shook his head clear. He knew there was always some silver lining... And besides, he really didn't want these other dogs to think any less of him- any less than they probably already did, at least.

"I guess I can't bellyache too much," he mentioned outloud, shuffling his paws again. "At least I have an old doghouse and an old blanket so I can sleep in front of the shop. It looks totally uncomfortable, but it's fine."

He shrugged his massive shoulders casually at the others continued listening understandingly. The mastiff knew they didn't have much better housing conditions, either.

A look of deep pain filled Ralph's face, however...and after a moment, he could clearly picture the undeniablely harsh reality of his life with his mind's eye.

"But, if I'm really honest with myself... when I see Felix through the window of the pet shop, always getting patted on the head by Mr.Litwak, all the shoppers giving him treats, the other animals always praising him...everyone always so happy to see him all the time...,"

Pausing to sigh yet again, Ralph felt his heart pound in his chest- and he knew that his face now bore a look of sadness that always seemed to haunt him.

"Sometimes I think: 'Man, it sure must nice being the good dog'."