Okay! The next chapter!

But before I continue, I would like to respond to reviewer Elizabeth Smith. Sorry, I'm a really busy guy and I only write when I want to. And because you are just a guest reviewer, I cannot respond to your reply and therefore can't consider your idea further.

Chapter 2

Great Expectations

Three year-old Peabody huffed his steps as he ran with the speed of his two legs would let him. Not that he wasn't used of running in all fours, but it was more like that he preferred to keep his hands off the ground all the time. Besides, he was a carrying a seemingly large-sized bundle made out of a plaid hanky. It would just be safer and easier to hold it in his paws instead of carrying it by the jaw.

Peabody kept running until he finally reached the top of a small hill. A hill that overlooked one of the most majestic view the dog had ever seen. The midst of fall tinted every single blade of grass in various shades of golden brown, with the light breeze bowed it all down to its power. The water body of the creek successfully reflected the setting sun that dispersed the sky like a bucket of orange paint. All in favor of creating some kind of an amazing yet cheesy photograph that was usually displayed as a wallpaper on someone's computer.

But the white beagle was not here to enjoy the scenery. For him, his joy was not located in his current position, but in an old abandoned mill on the other side of the hill. It wasn't that far from there, only about a couple of short runs following the flow of the water that used to power the generators in its old days.

The beagle already lived in the rusty mill for almost a week now. From far, this abandoned place in the middle of nowhere might look intimidating and scary, probably ridden with ghouls and phantoms. But for Peabody, it was one of the best place to live. The greying wooden walls might be weary and musty and didn't really help in keeping the cold winds from reaching the interior, and the roof might leak in most of the places, but Peabody couldn't wish for something better.

As long as it could hold a roof above his head, and his wife's.

"Sorry I'm late Bonnie," the white beagle greeted as he pushed the creaky door open, just slightly enough for the dog to slid in.

The chocolate brown dog that was lying on a pile of straw located in a corner of the building raised her head slowly in response and then quickly returned to her sleep. Peabody just chuckled as he walked to pile and kissed the dog on the cheek.

Bonnie was her name—A mix breed of a cocker spaniel and a beagle as Peabody determined—and she was his wife. Well, not exactly a wife since they never had a proper marriage. But if a person could describe a marriage as an event when a couple who loved each other decided to spend their entire life together, Peabody could say that Bonnie was the one. They had lots of things in common, like they both were orphans, and they both thought that barbeque-flavored treats were the best. But there was one that made Peabody loved her more than anything.

They both were rejects to the world, completely didn't fit. With Peabody being a talking intelligent dog that creeped most of the people, and Bonnie with being slightly not perfect that made adopting kids prefer the next puppy better. Like Peabody, she was also cursed to have an unlucky fate. Her back right leg was deformed since birth and was cut away. Good thing that Bonnie was still able to walk and run, though with difficulties.

Living a life as a talking dog, or a three-legged one, were equally as hard in today's world that only demanded... regular dogs. There was no place for the special ones here.

The pound life was not being an easy breeze for both of them too. Realizing at young age that they were both different from any other dogs, they pretty much got used by rejections. Day after day, dogs came and went, kids came and went, but Peabody and Bonnie stayed, rejection after rejection, until they finally got bored and even stop trying to be adopted. They quick to realize that it was better to spend their time in the kennels, doing other things, instead of begging to people who they know for sure wouldn't event think of adopting them.

After three years, they both left, deciding that their place there could be used better by the puppies that actually got a chance. Peabody left everything—except his glasses. All his collection of books that he brought by collecting changes lying on the street were put in the shed, alongside a makeshift rudimentary computer he built out of scraps. He didn't need those things to be happy. As long as he had Bonnie, it was more than enough.

The white beagle laid next to the brown one as he unloaded the knapsack from his weary arms. The other dog noticed the sudden change in smell and began to wake up and sniff at the bundle.

"Here, I got us something nice for dinner." Peabody stated as he released the knot, revealing two pieces of turkey sandwich, a carton of milk, and slices of apple contained in a plastic bag. There was a small book there too, but no one paid attention to it. All eyes were on the food. The dogs had spent the day without eating a single grain.

"Well, it wasn't entirely me," Peabody added. "I finally had the courage to go inside the town's library. As it turns out, the librarians there were actually okay with me. One of them actually gave me her lunch and promised to give me more if I return again tomorrow, and read to the kids. Guess that I'll be book-ed tomorrow..."

Bonnie didn't respond, she just kept her eyes glued to the sandwich. But Peabody expected nothing in return. He was already grateful enough that Bonnie was there, to listen to his ramblings. It just was how it worked for the years.

"Anyway, it wasn't much, but it's better than the dumpster." With that, Peabody tore the sandwich in half and give one of it to Bonnie, who quickly munched it down. Realizing that it might not be enough for his wife, the white beagle gave away his half.

As Peabody did so, Bonnie stopped her chewing and turned her face to the grinning white beagle before resuming her eating.

"You'll have to eat for the both of us tonight dear, and for our pups. " Peabody said as he looked at the starving dog and her round belly. Regardless of Peabody also being hungry, Bonnie deserved more to eat a fulfilling meal. Besides, he was the one to blame for the growing babies living inside Bonnie's stomach, sucking most of the nutrients out of the poor girl like some kind of parasite. Peabody then opened the cartoon of milk and put it next to her, which she quickly drank as a thirsty dog would. But surprisingly, she left some of the milk and nudged the carton to Peabody, gesturing him to also drink something up. It might look like an intelligent act, but Peabody knew that it was basically an instinct made out of love.

Surrendering his pride to his growling stomach, Peabody sipped some of the milk, but also left something for Bonnie. After Bonnie finished her sandwich, they both shared the apples. And after the apples were done, they both just laid on their backs side by side, waiting until the beam of lights to stop peering from the holes in the walls. Waiting for the world to be finally dark enough for both of them to sleep.

"So how was our little ones doing?" Peabody raised his back slightly so he could get a better view to Bonnie's round stomach and rubbed it with his paw. Bonnie, who felt ticklish, began to lick her partner's face.

"Aww, come on... Bonnie... stop!" the white beagle cried. But before he moved, Bonnie already pinned his arms and kept licking. "Please... not in front of the kids..." The beagle could just threw her off but the thoughts of puppies inside her stopped him to do so.

How many would they be? Would they be as intelligent as he was? Could they talk? The questions ran through Peabody as he surrendered to the assault of love. If the puppies turned to be capable of complex thoughts as he was, Peabody would teach them all with everything he knew, from reading, writing, and building basic computers. But if they turned out more like their mother, the beagle would love them no matter what.

The train of thoughts finally stopped as he heard a low guttural sound coming from Bonnie's belly. But before he could anticipate anything, it was already in motion.

"Oh crud.."

Peabody, after cleaning up the mixture of turkey sandwich and pasteurized milk from his off-white fur, just sat there on the pile of straw, wiping some of the water on his glasses with a piece of cloth. Good thing that the river was located just outside, otherwise the white beagle would have to spend the rest of the night with a sticky coat.

The two just sat there in awkward silence until Bonnie leaned closer and nuzzled her head to Peabody, whimpering something that the beagle concluded as a sorry.

"No, I'm not mad at you..." Peabody said soothingly as he accepted the compassion. "Just promise that you will warn me before emptying your dinner all over my face." He chuckled. With that, Bonnie leaned her head on Peabody's lap.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." the white dog reached his knapsack that was within reach and pulled a thick book out of it. "The lady at the library let me borrow this," Peabody showed his significant other the cover of the book. Great Expectations, the book beared in thick block letters. But of course he didn't expect Bonnie to get excited over the title. It was just one of the things they usually did back at the pound. Peabody read her a book and she just laid next to him, listening the comforting narration as she drifted off to a slumber. Either that or his voice was really boring, it put people to sleep.

"The librarians said that if I liked 'A Tale of Two Cities', I will like this one as well." Peabody placed the cleaned glasses on his snout as he said that. "I already read that book to you back at the pound remember? The one with the French Revolution?"

Bonnie didn't respond, but the beagle couldn't blame her inability to re-access complex memory.

"Ahem, chapter one..." Peabody cleared his throat as he started. "My father's family name being Pirrip, and my Christian name Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip. So I called myself Pip, and came to be called Pip." the beagle smiled as he narrated. He knew that Bonnie didn't get any of it, so he pretended that she did. Listening to every words instead of... sleeping?

The brown dog was curling on Peabody's lap with her eyes closed. It was barely one paragraph and she already dozed off. Maybe his voice was actually bored people to sleep. But it didn't matter, Peabody knew better than to wake her up and continue. Besides, it was finally gotten too dark to do any reading.

"Guess that we'll have to finish this tomorrow." the white beagle stated as he put the book and glasses down and laid his back to the pile of straw, with paws constantly caressing his wife. "I love you..."

Bonnie yipped something under her breath in return. It might not be anything, but the beagle pretended that it was also an 'I love you' saying.

Peabody woke up after noticing that something was not right. The warm feeling in his body was gone. He shuffled for his glasses and put it on, and quick to realize that Bonnie was gone.

Peabody wondered where his significant other might be. He looked around for her inside the mill, but failed miserably. But then, he noticed that the front door was opened when a flood of light flashed to the interior, along with a rumbling sound following momentarily.

Thunderstorm.

Some dogs were born with the fear of thunder sounds, even Peabody. But after knowing that it was nothing more than a type of electricity formed by ionic reactions inside the clouds, there was nothing to be scared of.

Of course, Bonnie knew next to nothing about the situation, and like any other dogs and some ignorant humans, she let her fear get the best of her. Back at home, she usually cowered or ran aimlessly in fear after hearing a thunder struck. If only Peabody remembered that before selecting a home in the middle of an empty field where lighting could just strike basically anywhere.

He ran outside, only to find that his greatest fear had been realized. Bonnie was nowhere to be seen. The water leaking inside the mill was nothing compared to the huge downpour outside. Another lighting struck, and Peabody flinched at the sound it followed. That one was really near. Everyone who were brave enough to be out here might be fried to chunks sooner or later, including Bonn—

The white beagle couldn't even finish his thoughts as he ran in all fours to any direction. He didn't care about the mud smeared all over his front paws, or that the dog had all of his fur drenched. All he thought was Bonnie and how fast a three-legged pregnant dog could run. Besides, he needed to lay as low as possible in an attempt not to get hit.

He ran up to the hill. High grounds could prone him to more dangers, but also could provide an unobscured view of the area, and he couldn't care less for the former. Peabody looked around with his keen eyes and finally spotted a dog at the side of the a road, just below the hill.

It could be anyone, but Peabody would take the chances. He scaled down the hill with all his might and began his dash. After a while, he could make out the outline of the dog.

It was indeed Bonnie.

Sighing in relief, Peabody kept running to her. She just stayed there, cowering her head in fear.

"Bonnie!" Peabody cried, but the rain muffled the sound effectively. "Bonnie stay there!"

A lighting flashed after Peabody yelled that. His quick deducting mind automatically calculate the possibility of what might happen next. And the output was not pretty.

"Bonnie! Whatever you do! Stay!" Peabody yelled with every single power he got on his tiny body. But it was nothing compared to the sound of the thunder that came afterwards. "Bonnie!"

Everything when black in Peabody's eyes after that.