I don't own Invader Zim. But I have owned several dogs.

Chapter Five

Dib sighed as he hung up the phone. He wouldn't even consider an animal shelter, so it took quite a while for him to gather his courage before calling the pet shop... the one across town to be on the safe side. Gaz almost never went anywhere other than skool, so the chance of her catching sight of Sas in the pet shop or in somebody else's back yard was rather remote. No chance at all was best, of course, but this was a risk Dib would have to take to ensure Sas's safety.

He had found out the pet shop not only took puppies, but also just happened to have an empty puppy cage at the moment. They didn't pay anything for the puppies, but that was just as well. No money could have compensated Dib for what he had finally admitted he had to do.

For obvious reasons, Dib couldn't enlist the help of any relative. This had to be secret and untraceable, or he could end up facing consequences he didn't care to even think about.

As much as he dreaded the very thought of doing so, he knew he'd better set out for the pet shop before somebody else brought in one or more puppies and filled the free cage.

Dib went back to his room and took it out now, the really good, durable, braided leash which he had bought to give Sas for Christmas. He would give it to him now.

Dib had planned to sneak up behind Sas and snap the leash onto his collar before slipping out of the house with as little excitement as possible, but as Dib lifted the leash off its hook, the sound alone brought Sas bounding up to him, claws eagerly pattering over the floor. Dib fought back a sudden surge of emotion, trying to work up the will to walk out of the house with his best friend knowing he would come back alone. It hurt already, but Dib knew that the longer he put off doing this, the harder it would be when he finally did. He left the house with Sas before the tears could begin spilling over.

By now, no more warmth was remaining in the days. If it warmed up at all nowadays, it only did so late in the afternoon. Today the sun was hiding behind a cloud, denying the earth even that tendril of warmth. All the leaves had fallen. The wind was raw and cold, whining through the naked branches overhead.

Even though this walk took them all the way across town, the longest walk he had ever taken with Sas, it was all too soon before they were standing before the pet shop. Nearing the store, Dib slowed.

The pet shop door opened and out walked a boy carrying a large pet carrier with a plastic bag tied around the handle. Dib could hear the shriek of a parrot before the door swung shut, and smelled the sawdust a moment later. Though Dib wanted to turn and run, Sas now leaned into his collar, fascinated by all the sounds and smells, of the kittens, the rabbits, the other puppies, and the dog food that had wafted out through the open door. If he only knew!

Dib glanced down at Sas, knowing only too well how Gaz reacted when she was angry. He now recalled being himself choked, punched, swung through the air, stomped on repeatedly... Helping Sas to escape being treated like that would be the next best thing to Dib escaping it himself; looking at it that way would help him get through the next few minutes. Taking a deep breath, Dib somehow forced himself to push open the door of the pet shop and walk inside.

Birds chirped endlessly in cages overhead and brightly colored fish darted back and forth inside stacks of aquariums, but Dib neither heard nor saw any of them. Slowly he walked straight up to the counter.

A young woman in a bright red golf shirt was standing behind the counter, tidying an already tidy display of choke chains and muzzles, muttering something about cheapskate bosses creating nothing themselves but unnecessary work. Finally she turned around for more that were lying on the counter and upon seeing Dib, summoned up a dutiful smile. "Can I help you?"

"H- Hello, I'm Dib," he managed to say. "We spoke on the phone. I... I... " Dib swallowed and pointed to Sas, who stood looking up at the woman with friendly, inquisitive eyes, panting a little from the long walk, his hairy ears pertly held up and his tail fanning gently. At last Dib managed to say, "... the puppy."

The woman's smile began to fade. "He looks a lot older than two months old to me."

"I said he was just a little older than two months."

"By how much a little older?"

"Just two months older isn't much older."

"So he's four months old, you're telling me." The woman shook her head slowly. "We don't usually take puppies over eight weeks, ten at the absolute, outside most. Sorry. There's probably room at the animal shelter though." She picked up another handful of muzzles, but paused before turning back to her task, obviously waiting for Dib to leave.

For a second Dib couldn't speak, couldn't breathe. Leaving him at the animal shelter would be a death sentence, but turning him loose outdoors, in the hope that someone else would pick him up, in that cold and wind they'd just come through, was unthinkable. Through the silence he finally heard the yelping of the other puppies already in the store. He turned toward them, squirming and wrestling in their cages... and just for being a tiny bit older than they were, Sasquatch was being refused this chance to find a safer home... the same way everybody laughed off how Gaz abused him just because he was a tiny bit older than...

To his horror Dib suddenly found himself crying right in the store, crying no matter how many other people could hear him, he didn't even know he was going to, he just couldn't help it. Sas immediately stood up on his hind legs and braced his paws against Dib's T-shirt, whining as he reached up with his tongue to lick Dib's face...

"I can't bring him home!" Dib choked out. "I can't even tell you why I can't! I just can't! I can't I can't I... "

At this, the woman frowned. Maybe this kid brought the dog here because one of his parents was abusing the dog? Maybe the kid as well? She set down the muzzles, stepped out from behind the counter and began to gently rub a hand over Dib's shoulder until his crying began to slow down somewhat.

Thinking this meant he had a chance to persuade her, Dib desperately began to protest. "But he IS still a puppy! He's not that old! And he's housetrained besides! He'll never touch a shoe again, I promise! He's even learned some... some..."

Dib's sobbing trailed off as the pet shop woman stooped down, tilting Dib's chin upwards so she could look him in the eye. "You won't get in trouble, I promise you, but I have to know something." She licked her lips and took a deep breath. "Does your mother or father hurt you or hurt this dog?" she asked seriously.

Dib could honestly shake his head no to that one.

"But someone's still making you do this?"

Dib nodded vigorously, his eyes filled with pain.

"It's that bad?"

Dib continued nodding.

Nobody who doesn't care about animals can work at a pet shop for long, and the woman reminded Dib of her earlier suggestion.

"I'll tell you what, though. There's an animal shelter I know not far - "

"NO! They kill them there! My dad said so!" Horrified, Dib reached out and covered Sasquatch with his arms.

"It's okay, this is a no-kill shelter," the woman explained. "That means none of the dogs get put down, no matter how long they take to find a home."

Dib kept his arms over Sas. "How do you know?" An hour ago she'd said to bring Sas in; he didn't know what to believe any more.

"I used to volunteer there a lot until I got this job, and I still go in when somebody else can't make it, so that's how I know. And I bet you this dog would get in because he's got a really good chance of being adopted! He's young, he's small, and he's not black, so he - "

"Not black?" Frowning, Dib looked up from Sas. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"People think black dogs bite more. It's not true, of course, but that's what people think. In the movies, the bad guy rides the black horse and wears the black hat and wears the black coat and - oh I'm sorry!" she broke off in embarrassment, noticing the color of Dib's trench coat.

But Dib was thinking only about what would happen to Sas at this shelter. Dogs could be unwanted because they were too young not to chew up shoes, because they were too old to fit somebody's idea of what a puppy was, even because they were the wrong color...

But the woman seemed to think Sasquatch had at least some things going for him... and he sure couldn't bring the dog home again, much less turn him loose. He could only hope the shelter wasn't anywhere near his own neighborhood... if Gaz saw Sas in somebody else's yard all involved would find themselves with hell to pay.

Dib now looked the woman in the eye. "Are you SURE he'll get in?"

"I can't promise anything, but his chances are really good."

Dib sighed. He wasn't sure of Sas getting into the shelter, but Sas was sure NOT getting into this pet shop. "Okay. Where is it?"

"It's not far, just straight down the road that way. " Much to Dib's relief, she pointed in the direction opposite the one Dib had come from, and quickly described how to get to the shelter. "You'll hear it before you see it! I'll call and tell them you're coming." She reached for the phone, but Dib's voice stopped her.

"No don't... please." If this was Sasquatch's last hope, Dib didn't want to give them a chance to say no too.

"Are you sure?"

Dib nodded, finally releasing his hold on Sas. "Yes. Yes, I'm sure."

The woman longed to do something for this unhappy child, so she took a bone shaped biscuit from a jar marked "Samples" and offered it to Dib.

Dib told Sas to "Sit" and "Shake" for the treat. Sas was clearly expecting to get the treat then, but Dib tried one more time to get Sas to beg. This time, Sas gathered himself before raising a paw... and this time when he begged, he did NOT fall over!

The woman clapped. "What a smart dog!" Swelling with pride, Dib found himself smiling a little in spite of everything. It had been a long time indeed since anybody had offered him such compassion, had tried to comfort and help him when he was crying, instead of scolding him for not sucking it up as if he was a grown adult, and curtly ordering him to be brave for -

Oh. THAT was it.

No younger child around at the moment apparently made it okay to actually comfort him when he was upset. Well, when Gaz was around, he was only older than her... he wasn't somehow any older than himself!

Dib took the dog treat and fed it to Sas, before thanking the woman and taking the puppy once more out into the cold.

All too soon, he could hear the barking.

As they walked past the dog pens on the way to the steps, Sas hung back, sniffing, wagging his tail and adding his little woofs to the steady chorus of noise. It was all Dib could do to urge Sas to keep walking; he'd get to see them from the inside all too soon. Dib noted with relief that at least they were clean, not like some dog pens he'd been reading about lately...

Dib kept telling himself that this was a good place to bring a dog.

People volunteer here... volunteers are the good people...

He climbed the steps to a little porch. He went up to the front door and entered without knocking, and looked around.

This is a no-kill shelter...

He saw a man at a desk and a woman on the phone.

This is a no-kill shelter, it said so on the sign so that means they can't ...

Somebody noticed him and began coming over...

Dib said, "This is my - this is a dog who needs a home. He's a good dog, and he's housetrained, and he's little and he'll eat bologna and he likes walks and he's just a pup, and he's the right color, see? And guess what? He knows tricks, too... Sit, Sas, shake... "

Dib stepped back as the puppy sat.

And as the puppy began to paw at the shelter worker...

Dib fled. Fled before they could come up with a reason to say no, fled before the puppy would see Dib running out on him, fled before he himself started crying...

With blurring eyes Dib hurtled down the stairs and sped past the pen full of barking dogs and ran around the corner and past something and over something else before running into an alley where he could sink alone to the ground, crying his heartbreak to the empty air, howling what he so desperately needed to hear somebody say to him at that moment.

"I'm sorry Sas, I'm sorry! For... forgive me!"

He lay flat on the ground crying with guilt and grief, crying aloud so he wouldn't be able to hear his mind imagining Sas's whines when he realized Dib had left him there...

Dib cried. Alone.

- - - - - - -

His tears exhausted at last, Dib caught a bus home and sank into the first empty seat he saw. He felt numb all over and deep inside.

When he saw his house he pulled the cord and got off at the next stop and mechanically walked back.

okay

Best to get it over with now, Dib figured. I can't feel any worse than I do right now.

He blurted it out. "Gaz, have you seen Sas?"

"Shut up."

"Did you see him?" Dib dared to persist.

"I don't care where that stupid dog is so shut up!"

Dib swallowed, "I wonder if he ran away."

"I hope that idiot dog did run away; at least now I won't get my shoes chewed up all the time now SHUT UP!"

In silence Dib slowly walked upstairs to his room. He sat on his bed and lay back on it, staring up at the ceiling. Sasquatch was safe... and Gaz hadn't even beaten him up for it after all.

Dib rolled over and stared at his bedspread.

So why do I feel so empty?

(A/N) No, this isn't the end. There's one more chapter to go, and I will put it up soon. Yes, I promise.

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