Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC Bailey and any alterations to the original storyline plot her presence creates to various readers amusement everywhere across the globe.
A Dog's Purpose Is Strange Magic Prologue
The first memory she ever had was the feeling of being pressed against soft fur and a tongue licking the baby fur covering the length of her body. All around she could see, and feel others squirming around her which she took to be her brothers, sisters, and the much larger form that must've been her mother.
Thrust into this stack of peculiar things in a strange new world blind and deaf the runt of this newborn litter of red retriever puppies felt oddly content.
This little puppy lived with her mother and five siblings behind a Chinese food restaurant in London.
During the evening hours the family sleeps inside a large cardboard box with a blanket laid out inside, but when the sun came out the family had the entire back alleyway to explore and have fun in. As the puppies steadily grow older, opening their eyes and ears for the first time this little area became their playground. They absorbed everything around them, tumbling together without a care in the world.
How could they?
Their mother is always there to tend to their every need. Whenever they were hungry, they nurse from their mother and then when they became weaned off of her yummy and nutritious milk they joined her for meals when one of the workers inside the whole establishment came out to feed them leftovers the people that came to visit didn't eat.
All was well, and life as a family was perfect, until one day everything changed.
Animal control came for them like they did with all strays living on the streets.
It started off like every other day for this small family. The puppies woke each other up upon first light, biting, wresting, and pestering their mother to distraction. None of the puppies paid any sort of attention when a truck could be heard pulling up close to the entrance to their home, but their mother certainly did.
The mother's ears perked up and she snapped her head toward the noise, completely on the alert.
The moment the first man wearing a uniform stepped into view the mother's lips pulled back as she growled, revealing her teeth. Two more appeared carrying catchpoles and a net in their hands. In an instant, the mother dog stood over her babies in a defensive position pressed low to the ground and barking at the unwelcome intruders to their sanctuary.
It all happened so fast. The animal control officers bore down on the cornered family and struck.
The runt was the only one to get away.
In such a commotion the run was able to break free, running for her life. She hid instinctively under a nearby car where these terrifying humans couldn't see her shaking in fear and confusion. Helpless to do anything to stop them the runt listened to the snarls and growls emitted by her mother as she desperately fought to defend them along with the panicked yips from her siblings. She watches as one by one her mother, brothers, and sisters are carried to the back of a truck, locked up in cages.
And quick as a flash her family was gone, never to be seen or heard from again. The humans were so intent on their catch that not one of them thought to do a headcount before they left. As a result, one red retriever puppy was left behind.
She was only a couple of months old, but already this little puppy had to fend for herself in this new cold and cruel world completely unfamiliar to her. It never once occurred to her that she'd ever be alone. Her mother and siblings had always been with her and now, just like that, they were gone.
The runt now spent her days wandering around London scavenging for scraps whenever she could find somewhere before her food had always been provided for her. Because of the trauma from the dogcatchers, she opted to stay far from any sort of human contact.
Fearing what would happen should anyone try to take her away to places unknown.
It became a lonely existence for such a young dog, with nary a kind word or gesture received, one that took a heavy toll on her. Months after authorities created from animal control stole her family away the puppy found herself all the way at a place called Little Whinging on the outskirts of London in Surrey.
It was raining profusely. Shivering from the cold the skinny and malnourished puppy sought shelter while being too tired to search for foot. The red retriever puppy crawled into an overturned tin garbage can to get out of the rain. Of all the luck she found some fresh scraps all the way to the back. Curling up inside once she was finished with the meager meal the puppy laid her head down. She whined, missing her mother, wishing she was here with her, and drifted off into an exhausted dreamless sleep.
The feeling of hands gently stroking the fur along her head and back woke the puppy up. Without opening her eyes, she locks the hand closest to her face, getting a happy giggle in response. The puppy opened bleary eyes to find the face of a ten-year-old boy staring down at her.
The boy was small and skinny for his age, wearing clothes that were far too big for him in the eyes of anyone who had any sense. But the sort of kindness and concern in his eyes stopped her from running away. For some strange reason, she felt safe. She handed it to the kid, she hadn't felt anything like this since the day her mother was taken away for good which was strangely comforting.
She liked it.
Whimpering she nudged his palm with her nose which appeared to be what the boy wanted all along when he grinned at her actions. Somehow, he manages to coax her out of the trashcan and lift her limp body into his arms.
A boy. In her short life, it hadn't crossed the little ones mind that there was any such thing as a boy. Excluding the man who fed her behind that Chinese restaurant she'd only been met with adults who wanted nothing to do with her.
"Poor puppy," he said, pity in his eyes. "Do you want to come home with me?"
The runt puppy gazed at the boy in wonderment. Could this boy be any different from all the other humans she encountered?
"Yeah, I'm taking you home," he said, smiling, hugging her snug to his chest.
Oh yes, she decided, licking the kid with the lightning-shaped scar on his forehead over and over again on the face, even if he didn't actually want her, she was definitely keeping this boy.
"Happy birthday to me," murmured Harry Potter, pressing his face into her coat.
Authors Note:
I hope you all liked this. Keep an eye out for more in the future. ;D