"Ah…ah… ah…" Toboe said as he walked. Each step he took was more painful then the last. It's so cold, and I'm so tired, and hungry.
"Mommy, look a doggy," Toboe heard a little kid say.
"Hi there," Toboe said to the little boy and walked toward him.
"Doggy, doggy," the boy said with a smile and went to pet the wounded wolf.
"Hi," Toboe said again trying his best to wag his tail.
"Oh, Chris, get away from that thing!" the boy's mother yelled and ran to pick up her child. "Don't touch that thing. Look at it, it's covered in blood."
"It's a doggy, Mom," the boy said. He didn't seem to care if Toboe was bloody or not, he just wanted to pet him.
"That's not a dog, that's a beast, a monster, don't go near him," his mother said and gave Toboe a very nasty look then walked away.
"Bye, bye, Doggy," the little boy said and waved over his mother's shoulder and smiled.
"Bye…." Toboe replied softy and walked away, He's not a dog, he's a monster… They will never understand… Daddy help it's the wolf! all those horrible words rang in Toboe's soft brown ears. Maybe they are right… maybe I really am a monster, Toboe thought as he slowly walked. "I don't think I am but everyone else seems too. I wonder why, I still don't know what I did to be such a monster," Toboe said as he came to a building with a hole in the side of it. I think I should rest in here, Toboe thought to himself. His wounds where beginning to get worse. They hurt much more now and he was having a great deal of trouble breathing. "It hurts so bad," Toboe said as he crawled into the little hole. Why can't I breathe? Did the bullet really do so much damage? Toboe asked himself. "Hmm… well I best not think about it," Toboe said with the best smile he could muster. He was trying to lie to himself. That he really wasn't hurt that bad to make himself feel better. "I still can't figure out why I'm a monster, what did I do that was so wrong that I…." Toboe cut himself off and was filled with shock and sadness. "Granny…. Could she be why? I… I am a monster…. I am… I did it… I am a monster… I am…" Toboe said and began to cry as he thought about what had happened in his past, "I did it… I am a monster… it was my fault… it's all my fault… I let her die… I didn't do anything to help her… I let her die…" Toboe said as he cried and cried until the blood loss and lack of food finally put him in a coma like state.
/Flashback/
"Where am I? How did I get here? Where's my mom?" a little brown wolf puppy asked as he sat all alone in the city. "Mom? Mom? Where are you?" he asked and began to cry.
"Hey, did you hear that?"
"I sure did. Where's it coming from?"
"Over there," Toboe could hear the sound of two male voices coming his way.
"Who are they?" Toboe asked as the two men approached him.
"He sure likes to bark a lot," the heavier man said as his friend picked the tiny brown pup up by the extra skin on his neck.
"Hey, what are you doing? Where's my mom?" the pup cried.
"Hey, look over here," the heavier man said as he went and looked behind an old box.
"What is it?" the man asked as he looked over the pup.
"It's a big dog," he replied.
"It is? Whoa that this is huge," the shorter man who was holding Toboe replied as he went to look at the big gray and black dog that lay in the snow.
"Mom! Mom!" Toboe cried out as he saw his mother lying lifeless in the snow.
"Is she alive?" the shorter man asked.
"No, she's dead," the heavy man replied as he felt the wolf's chest. There was no movement at all.
"Man, I wonder what happened. There's blood everywhere," the shorter man replied as he looked around the alley.
"Probably just a fight."
"Do you think this pup was hers?" the shorter man asked as he looked at Toboe again.
"Could be. Let's go, there's nothing we can do here," the heavier man said and took Toboe from the shorter man and put him on the ground.
"We're just going to leave him here?" the shorter man asked.
"Well yeah, at least he'll have a chance out here. If we take him to the pound you know they'll just put him to sleep," the heavy man replied and began to walk away.
"But…" the shorter man said. "Well I'm sorry little guy, it looks like you're on your own," he said as he watched the little brown pup crawl over to the big black and gray dog and snuggle up to it's neck. "Good luck," he said and walked away.
"Mom… Mom, please wake up," Toboe said as he pushed on his mother's nose trying to get her to wake up. "Mom, please… please…" Toboe said becoming very upset. "Mom, what's wrong with you?" he asked then he noticed what he hadn't seen before. There was blood all over the snow and his mother. "No…" he said quietly. "She's dead…. My mom is dead…" Toboe said and began to cry.
"Look, Mommy. It's a puppy," a little girl said a few days later as Toboe walked the streets all alone.
"Yes, I see that dear," her mother replied as she paid a man for some food they had bought.
"Can we keep him? He's so cute," the little girl said and picked up Toboe.
"No honey, come on let's go home."
"Oh ok…" the little girl said in a very disappointed voice, "Well sorry little guy see you later."
"Hmmmm…" Toboe said as he sat down on the sidewalk, "What do I do now? I'm so hungry," Toboe said as he stood up and began walking again. "Guess I'll go and try to find some food."
"It's so cold…" Toboe said a few hours later. "I can't feel my nose anymore," he said as he tried to huddle in a tipped over trashcan.
"Oh, hello there," a woman's voice was heard outside the trashcan.
"Huh?" Toboe asked sleepily and looked up to see a wrinkly kind old face staring at him.
"Hi little fellow. Why are you all by yourself out here?" she asked as she knelt down by the trashcan and let Toboe sniff her hand. "Oh I see, nowhere to go, huh?" she said with a smile as Toboe let out a little whine. Come on now I'll take you home and give you some food," she said and picked up the little pup. "Oh my, you are really little aren't you; look your eyes have barley opened. How on Earth did you see well enough to get all the way out here all by yourself? Well, we won't worry about that now. Come on let's go home," she said as she carried Toboe back to her house to feed him. "Don't worry you'll be safe now," she said with a smile and walked home.
/End Flashback/
