Hunter ... It had no idea why he was still playing.

Playing fetch the ball with two Dalmatian puppies.

Play throwing a disk with two Dalmatian puppies.

at first ... both seemed like the start of a good idea to get rid of both pupps, throwing the disc or the ball as far as possible and hoping that something else will catch their attention on the way to where the disc had landed or the aforementioned ball.

He had better things to do.

As ...

... see the clouds ...

... Find his missing sock ...

"Hunter! I found your sock behind this bush!"

¡Curses! One less thing on the list.

Hunter sighed and watched with varying degrees of apathy and annoyance as the Dalmatian puppy known as Dan emerged from behind the bush where he had previously thrown the red disc with his missing sock.

the pup appeared and sat opposite Hunter with both ears held high, wagging his tail as he watched as the boy took his previously missing sock from his snout along with the disc.

Hunter had to get up from the bench for a moment to put on his sock, slowly and carefully shaking the newly asleep puppy from his lap next to him.

"...", Dan just watched with both ears held high as he silently stopped shake his tail as Hunter took off his shoes to put his sock back on.

Hunter only looked back, still in silent apathy.

"... It's your turn"

hunter Sigth as he slowly got up and started doing a stretching routine that his body had been adjusting for six days now, in preparation for what was to come.

dan just watched worriedly with his now drooping ears like Hunter towards his stretches, "You know ... we don't have to do this if you don't want to ..." he said, "... this, wasn't exactly what Dixie or I had in mind when we come to play with you "

"I do not care ..." Hunter said listlessly of concerns, grimacing at the little Pupp, "... This is the only way."

The only way.

This was the only way Hunter found the time he spent playing with these puppies refusing to leave him alone mildly beneficial.

His objective.

He would try to keep control of whatever goes through his mind to detonate a dog's act in his nature.

Dan came to hate this part of the game.

but for Hunter ... this part of the game was completely and absolutely necessary if they wanted to keep playing with him.

He just did the favor to the little pupp, to wait for his sister Dixie would take his nap before starting this part of the game.

Dan just shrugged while still holding the red disc between his paws.

Dan and Dixie didn't quite understand why Hunter hated acting like a dog. He looked slightly happier and more active while in it.

Dan clearly felt a bit insulted by Hunter's contempt for his nature as a dog.

That is to say, many of his brothers, counting him even, of course, practiced many human customs in their daily dog lives.

Distribute household chores.

clean up your own disasters.

Learn to read.

Gardening.

Paint.

Make music.

Play video games.

Engineering.

Etc.

and he and his brothers never rejected those outlandish non-conventional parts of normal dog behavior that made them different from the rest outside of Camden.

Dan, not for the first time, bitterly deduced that the blame for all this lay in the past actions of the now-defunct Cruela De Vil, the only known relative of Hunter De Vil. He didn't like to think of the dead in this way. for Dan, it was always better to let the dead rest in peace, no matters if they are bad or good, everyone deserves eternal peace when they leave the game that is life, according to: 'if death is nothing less than the best time to pass with your enemies ... So when is it? '.

rancor is something ugly and useless, after all, that's why he decided to never hold it against anyone regardless of what they did to him or his brothers.

Example: When he found out that Dylan was planning to sentrifuge them and his sister Dixie when they got fleas.

that a few days later Dylan had got up with a mousetrap biting his tail, it was pure coincidence, NO ONE could ever prove that Dan was involved in that very unfortunate incident.

After all, rancor was a poison as good as any other negative emotion you decided to force yourself to carry unnecessarily in your soul or in your mental stability, and Dan knew better than anyone to distinguish those kinds of things, even if many times he decided just actaccording to his age, and running like a drone in the company of their many brothers when any of them heard a triggering word.

It was with all this in mind that the little cub simply jumped onto the bench and threw the disc as far as his little paws would allow.

which resulted in not too far, of course, Dan was not like his older brother Dylan, who was better than him throwing things to chase.

Not really caring about that, he watched helplessly as Hunter got into a fight with himself by trying to deny him control of his actions to whatever posseled his mind and forced him to act like a dog against his will.

"One, two, three, four ..." Dan just followed the instructions Hunter had given him, and stopwatch how many seconds it would take for the boy to lose the mental battle he currently had in front of him.

His record currently:

13 seconds.

"9 ... 10 ... 11 ... 12 .. Huh?"This time apparently only lasted twelve seconds before his pupils dilated and he began his dog run in the direction of where the disk had landed.

Dan, with both ears drooping, just watched with great annoyance as some humans rushed to take pictures of Hunter without his permission with their mobile devices, or if they didn't, they just pointed their fingers at him while making weird comments.

The colossal snowball human even screamed when Hunter passed him, and for some strange reason, that same human was selling T-shirts with Hunter's face imprinted on the front of each one.

Fergus the fox screeched and simply plunged at lightning speed back to the Trash can he was swimming in as soon as Hunter passed him.

This and more were the very strange behaviors Dan was able to pick up, coming from everyone he came in contact with Hunter with.

They give sigh noting with a little relief, that at least the humans progressively with the passing of the days seemed to respect a little more the personal space of Hunter than in the beginning, when they did not stop asking him for selfies.

"... how much?" Hunter asked as he took the disc out of his mouth and handed it back to Dalmatian pupp, totally and utterly apathetic to the varied and puzzled reactions of the small crowd of humans he had accumulated.

Dan just head under with their ears drooping before answering, "It was only twelve seconds this time ... sorry"

Hunter only sighed as he slowly took his place on the bench again, leaning over himself with his elbows on his knees facing forward with the same apathetic expression that he had gifted to every living being who dared to make contact with him during six days now.

Unconsciously his left hand took a journey to take the little Dixie curled up on herself, mistaking her for what would usually be her old bald pet, back on her lap.

That same hand, oblivious to its owner, proceeded to slowly cares the puppy's soft fur in her mental break from self-loathing for being unable to control her impulses.

The next part of the game was supposed to be throwing the ball, but Dan ... was obviously no longer in an optimal mood to keep playing.

Now he was in a mood to think or rest.

Hunter was currently just running through the same pitiful pattern of thoughts that had become so personal in the past few days.

when suddenly a new feeling surprised and interrupted his reflections, when he felt that something furry slipped uncomfortably on his lap and snuggled together with the puppy that currently resided in him.

It was Dan

"..." Hunter only had one question, "... What are you doing?"

"..., taking a nap "Dan simply said, as he puffed up his sister as if it were a pillow," I'm tired, and the idea of Dixie resting on you seems really appealing at the moment "he closed his eyes while yawning.

"Don't you both have a home to do this kind of things?"

Dan didn't even open his eyes, or reacted in the least to Hunter's scathing question, "... don't you have one of those too?"

"... Zzz ..."

"..Whatever. "Hunter tentatively began petting both puppies absentmindedly, opting that he wasn't really in the mood to start arguing that his lap wasn't a dog bed.

And with that said, the minutes quickly transformed into hours, hours in which the boy known as Hunter De Vil only absentmindedly caressed both puppies on his lap, countless questions formed in his head, as the sky progressively took on a color. peach, denoting that soon the night would fall on all the inhabitants of Camden and beyond.Tragically he had become accustomed to this routine better than anyone would have thought.

Questions like:

Why?

How?

For what?

Almost tactically they would fuse with the darkest of his thoughts as he watched the world go on without him.

He would remember with great rancor that the only purpose for which he had been brought to life was because his great-aunt Cruella De Vil needed an heir, and someone who followed every instruction without paying attention to the letter. no questions.

Her great-aunt Cruella needed a tool.

He now understands it.

But Hunter in those moments wanted to be more than just that, more than just a simple, stupid, and banal worthless disposable tool.

His story began with a simple wish.

from the day he was born he only wanted more than anything to be part of a family ... with his only known family.

That one desire, which had been the fuel with which he would get up each morning, made him blind by decision to reality.

That self-imposed blindness almost causes him to participate in the massacre of a Family of 101 Dalmatians ... who were so unjustly living the life that escaped him so much.

It was so unfair.

But then, other questions flooded his head.

Why is this silly pair of dalmatian puppies wasting their time on something like him?

If he were them, he would never leave his home, or his family for that matter.

What keeps them coming back?

It was with that unanswered question, that Hunter found himself currently debating whether or not he should wake these puppies up to be left alone again.

If you don't wake them up, the benefits are; 1: You have a pair of very soft pillows to rest your head on while trying to sleep on this bench.

2: If someone tries to steal your shoes again while sleeping, these dogs will probably wake up first than him and alert you to start screaming like a banshee for police help.

cons; 1: You have a pair of soft, talkative pillows that probably won't stop bothering you as you try to fall asleep.

2: they probably end up asking about the nightmares that don't let me sleep through the night.

..He never wanted to talk about what he saw in his nightmares ...

... oh with animals for that matter ...

... But his neck started hurting a lot lately because he had nothing to rest his head on while sleeping ...

It was during this useless and random debate that Hunter found himself, again, reassessing all his past decisions that led him to end what is his present now.

but his body apparently did not like the idea of remaining in a state of rest, while his brain debated, given that by the time his very important mental debate ended, he was already in front of the home of both puppies, with the two puppies still sleeping. now under each armpit.

Hunter sighed in annoyance, reminding himself that this was now something he was going through lately.

Before he did not hesitate to act, before he was sure of himself, now he has doubts all the time if what he does is right or not.

Before, if he had a plan, he would just follow it no matter how silly or unlikely it might sound.

But nowadays, he easily gets lost on his own thinking about what to do next, small actions, like whether or not he should bathe in the park pond, usually cause his body to make a hasty decision before even reaching a consensus with what his brain really want to do.

Before, Hunter sinned by not thinking too much before acting.

Currently, Hunter's new and improved insecurity makes him sin now from thinking things through.

To the point where his body simply rushes to make decisions for him.

It was scary

Hunter, now he just wanted to blame someone for what his life had become today.

The dalmatian dog who saved him.

The Dalmatian dog who denied his death.

The adult Dalmatian dog slapping him when all he wanted ... was to leave everything behind.

The Dalmatian who is now watching him very uncomfortably with a goofy smile on the other side of the door, while his slimmer partner took his two puppies away from him.

Hunter narrowed his eyes, he only had one thing he wanted to say to his stained Salvador, "... Woff"

Doug tried seriously not to react to the very obvious swear word, but being the good father of 99 puppies that he was, the next words came out almost instinctively, "... Language"

(To be continue)