She approached the city from its east side. With a golden tail wagging in much excitement, She trooped down busy streets. As She finally spotted people, she barked happily, and ran down the street. Who would be the lucky one today?
They saw her as she ran, faces wrinkled in displeasure, disgust, and other unpleasantries. Most were decent enough to keep their distaste to themselves, though some couldn’t risk muttering under their breath. Her head lowered in sadness as She passed them, gait reduced to a shameful trot, down to a slow pad on four legs. Their bitterness hurt, their indifference stung, and She was still all alone on an overpacked sidewalk.
But as She neared a park bench, her hopes rose.Lifting her head, and ears in surprise, She saw a man sitting down, smoking a long thin cigarette between pudgy lips. He was a tall man, dressed in a dark leisure suit, and a carrying a stack of newspapers. Her heart fluttered at the sight, hope rebounding in Her chest. As he continued to scatter ash about the ankles of his polished shoes, She bounded up beside him and sat down.
The man looked over at Her and Her heart fell. The new man’s face contorted into the shape of rejection; eyebrows down, face wrinkled, mouth dragged down in a harsh frown line. She trembled slightly, and attempted to rest Her head on his knees. He violently pushed her off, and smacked her on the nose.
“Fucking dog, this is a new suit!” he yelled. “I ain’t your owner, get the fuck away!”
She whined, and slinked off into an alley. Laying Herself down, She stared soulfully ahead, watching person after person look at Her with not so much as pity in their eyes. Bleakly, she wondered how an entire city could care so little for someone so alone. Was there really no one here who…?
“Well hello there…”
She looked up. A woman wearing a grey hoodie and black skinny jeans was kneeling down, bright blond hair about her face in banana curls. Blondie reached out a tentative hand, allowing Her to sniff. Standing up, She gently ran her cold nose along the edge of it, before finally moving closure. Blondie smiled, and petted the poor creature. From this proximity, She noticed that the girl was wearing a shirt; black, at least as far as this color-blind retriever could tell. There was another color in an odd shape, words, actually, but she couldn’t read.
“Poor thing, you need to find some shelter here,” Blondie said, scratching behind Her ears. “It’s gonna rain soon.”
Blondie ceased petting, and stood up. In alarm, She barked, looking up at Blondie with bright eyes. Blondie shook her head, “my apartments too small, sweety.”
With a kick, Blondie resumed her jog. “Good luck Doggie!”
Doggie whined again, and pawed at the ground. Why did she go? Why didn’t the wonderful lady stop and play? With a new conviction, Dogie put nose to pavement, and inhaled. Having her scent, Doggie ran down the sidewalk, determined to know why Blondie wouldn’t help her. As she dashed down the street, a blur of golden fur, more and more people began to kick up dust about it.
“Stupid dog!”
“Who lose their fucking animal?!”
“Aren’t you supposed to keep these damn things on a leash?”
“Sonofa-!”
“Someone call animal control!”
Doggie ignored, and doggie ran on. Blondie scent was strong, and thunder roared over her head. Her nose told her it would rain soon, but doggie kept running. She would find blondie, no matter what.
The thunder roared again, and the sky proceeded to open up. As the large, penny sized droplets hit the ground, Doggie felt her furt grow wet and smelly. Each drop was cold, sending a spike like chill down Doggie’s back. She flinched as she walked, before eventually the small rain became a downpour. Quickly enough, Doggie was soaked, and her fur grew too heavy to carry in a run. She slowed down, shook, and carefully maneuvered to an open box.
Shivering, Doggie curled up and laid down. The loud pat of the rain against her box meant she wasn’t going to sleep, despite the night closing in on the sky. Today had been a failure, an absolute failure, and Doggie sighed in sorrow. Thinking about what tomorrow would bring, a rather impressive feat for a dog, she had just nearly fallen asleep when, yet again, she heard another noise.
“Oh, you poor thing.”
Doggie opened her eyes, suspecting it was Blondie. What met her eyes instead was a man. He was tall, tanned, and wearing a thick leather jacket, slacks, and a purple scarf around his neck. Gold glinted from his neck, where a small cross dangled down against the mauve knitwear. But, most of all, Doggie noticed his eyes. They were just like Blondie’s, pale green and very kind. With wet brown hair sticking to his skin, he did the same thing Blondie did. Doggie repeated her actions from before, and the man’s face lit up. as he ecstatically patted her head.
“You’re all soaked,” he laughed. “Poor thing. I think I can fit one more misfit back home, eh?”
Home… Doggie barked, mouth smiling.
“That’s the spirit,” The man said, standing up. “Alright…Gracie? You look like a Gracie. Come on girl, we’re going home!”
Gracie barked again, and happily pranced about. The man smiled, and started to run, urging her to follow. Gracie followed, and never let the man out of her sight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Richard knew he shouldn’t have, but he did anyway.
Kuma, his German Shepard, was already a lot to handle, and wouldn’t take kindly to an encroachment on his territory. But something in him that Sunday refused to let the Golden retriever suffer, sitting alone in that box. The poor thing looked half dead in the rain, soaked to the brim and shaking like a leaf. Surely Kuma would appreciate another dog to play with, right?
Thankfully, yes. The large dog was unsure of what to make of the new, yellow dog that walked through the door of the two floor house, situated in the thick woods outside of the city. He sniffed, inquisitively, before finally nosing about Gracie’s body. They played for a few minutes while Richard took a shower, dried off, and dragged Gracie into the tub. She hadn’t exactly appreciated the free bath, but she did breathe a sigh of relief in the warm water.
The next day, Richard got ready for his morning jog. He stretched, got clean, and put on his jacket, sweat pants, and running shoes. He said a morning prayer, and grabbed Kuma’s blue leash, and the spare one he kept around; Kuma had a tendency to chew through his sometimes, she it came in handy to have a spare. He clipped the blue on on Kuma, who strained to get out the door. What surprised Richard more was Gracie, who was straining at the door herself. Richard chuckled, reaching for one of Kuma’s old collars.
“It’s alright girl,” he chuckled, wrapping it around her neck. “Why don’t we get you registered today, right after work.”
Gracie barked, making Richard chuckle. He clipped the other leash, and open the door, nearly getting dragged out of his own apartment. He broke into a jog with them out the door, and down the trail, blood pumping from the workout. He found his stride, running side by side with the animals, and entered back into the city. On his way past fifth avenue, he caught sight of some bouncing banana curls against a grey hoodie, followed by a bouncing backside that never let go of his eyes.
“Hey Laura!” Richard said, coming up beside her.
Laura turned, and smiled. “Hey Richie,” she said,before her eyes grew wide. “Oh my gosh!”
Laura turned, her “God is an Imaginary Friend” T-shirt on display. Richard winced, but let it go as she knelt down, forcing him to stop. He panted, and Laura eagerly petted Gracie, scratching behind her ears.
“I remember you!” she gushed. “Your that poor goldie from the street yesterday. Oh Richie, how did you find her?”
“Found her in the rain on Chester Street,” Richard said, petting her head. “I’m gonna call her Gracie.”
“Aw, that’s so beautiful.” Laura stood back up, smiling at Richie. “Figure’s you’d take in another orphan.”
“What you do for the least of thee, you do for me,” Richard quoted. “Now can we get going? I’m gonna-”
Suddenly, Gracie took off. Her leash flew out of Richard’s hand, and she flew down the road.
“Gracie!” Richard handed Laura Kuma’s leash, and broke into a run. Laura held tight, and ran after Richard down the road. The four kept on going, Gracie running up a hill and out the city’s west exit. Richard wasn’t far behind, panting.Sh kept running, several miles away from the city and into the woods. As Gracie rounded a corner, Richard finally caught her leash. He heard a loud bark, and felt both Laura and Kuma come up behind him.
“What’s the matter girl? See a Racoon?” Richard said sourly, sitting down. “We’ll have to work on that.”
Laura shook her head, panting heavily. “Richard, you need to keep a better grip on your dogs.I can’t believe a little Golden Retriever undid you.”
“She didn’t undo me, she just surprised me.”
Laura rolled her eyes, and took a swig from her water bottle. Meanwhile, Richard noticed that Gracie had sat herself down on the hill, and was staring intently at the city. He looked over to see Kuma, moving about the grass restlessly. Richard paused, and turned his head back to the city.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It started with a shake; than a lurch. The ground beneath them shook violently, rocking like unstable fine china. Laura screamed, hitting the ground with a thud. Richard wobbled badly, and quickly grabbed both of the dogs, and helped Laura to her feet. They managed to run to a nearby ranger station, situating themselves in the doorway. Laura latched onto Richard, who latched onto Kuma in turn. The ground continued to rock, and the building behind them cracked and wheezed in protest.
As trees continued to fall down around them, Richard could stare at the destruction. In that moment, he carefully grabbed the cross at his neck, yanked it off, and began to pray under his breath.
Slowly, the shaking died. As a tree fell in front of them, soliciting a squeak from Laura, everything stilled to a calm. Ricard looked out, seeing the creatures in the woods all scurry back to somewhere safe. He took a breath, pocketed the cross, and slowly lead his trio out from the doorway. Laura shook, and took Kuma out from behind her.
“Oh shit…” she whimpered, climbing over the tree. “Oh shit…oh shit that just happened.”
Richard didn’t respond. He looked down at Gracie’s leash, and saw no Gracie. In the collar was a long, white feather, softly glinting in the sunlight. Laura glanced over and her eyes grew wide.
“What…where is she?”
“I don’t know…” Richard said. “Maybe…maybe she ran away.”
They ran back towards the city, only to stop dead. Laura gasped.
The city was gone. The tall buildings had pancaked, leaving flat piles of rubble. The streets had been turned upright, like someone had taken a big bite out of the pavement. With everything left in shambles, Lara could only cry. She turned back to Richard, who wrapped an arm around her. He held her shaking form for a moment, and looked back at the white feather in the collar. It smelled just like the shampoo he used on Gracie.
Richard swore…and swore again.