Princess had two different colored eyes, a brown one and a blue. They said she could see in both Heaven and earth.

Jiang Cheng wondered what she saw when she looked at him. He wondered what his nightmares looked like.

She knew. She would wake him up before they got bad. And she would sit with him afterwards, and he would tell her she was a good girl, and he would hold her, and she was warm and smelled like dirt and in the dark he couldn't see her, but she must have seen him, and something else that he would never know what.

Princess was the best dog in Lotus Pier. Everyone said so, and that she was wasted on a kid who wouldn't train her.

Princess wasn't a waste when he was alone at night. Princess wasn't a waste when he was alone in the day.

She looked like gold in the sunlight. Nobody else thought Princess was a good name.

He'd name things differently, someday.


"Look, Father," he said. "Jasmine caught a frog."

His father didn't look.

"That's nice."

The frog squirmed in Jasmine's mouth. Jasmine was so gentle.

"He does this almost every day," said Jiang Cheng.

"I bet."

Jasmine wagged his tail. Father stood up to leave.

"Wait," said Jiang Cheng. He thought of something. "Jasmine's paw is hurt."

His father liked dogs. He turned around.

"He looks fine to me."

"Well, he isn't."

Jasmine dropped the frog in Jiang Cheng's hands. He fought to keep it still.

"All right," his father sighed. "Let me look."

He picked up Jasmine's closest paw.

"I don't see anything."

"It's not THAT paw."

"Then which one is it?"

"The back one."

His father took the other paw. The frog kicked its legs.

"This one's fine, too."

It was, and Father left.

Jiang Cheng whipped the frog back into the water.


People said Love was a little bit mean. She growled and she didn't like to be petted. Some dogs didn't do well with people.

People said Jiang Cheng was a little bit mean. He didn't look at you right and he didn't smile enough. Some kids didn't do well with people.

Love was nice to him, when she felt like it. She didn't always feel like it. Neither did he. They were friends.

"Your dog doesn't listen to you."

"Yes, she does."

She listened more to bodies than words. Your body couldn't say things it didn't mean like your mouth did.

"Tell her to lie down."

"She doesn't want to."

"Then she's not listening to you, is she?"

"She listens better than YOU do!"

You weren't supposed to say things like that.

Love waited till they were alone to kiss him. On the spot where it hurt.

Love was a good name.