Angsty idea of what would happen if puppy got lost from Wanda and ended up at the pound again.
“It’s play time!” Miss Kate, the nicest of all the pound personnel shouted down the echoey hallway. Immediately, paws were pressed against the metal door of each and every cage that lined the wall. Miss Kate clicked them open one by one, allowing their inhabitants to charge down the hall and out into the small, fenced enclosure along the back of the building.
She made comments to each puppy on their way out, remembering each of their names and their favorite outdoor activity. Even in the dreary hallway, her voice was bright and inspiring.
When your cage doors clicked open, though, you felt no urge to make a break for the door. You stayed just as you’d been since you were thrown in the cage days ago: pressed up against the wall in the very back corner.
“Puppy,” Miss Kate said, having intentionally saved your cage for last. She knew by now you weren’t moving. “Don’t you wanna go play with the other puppies outside?”
She sighed, sitting down at the entrance to your small kennel. The bowl of chicken she’d prepared half an hour ago sat uneaten, as usual. You stopped eating after only three days in the kennel. And, though it was hard to tell how much time had passed from a windowless cage, you knew that was at least a few days ago.
You weren’t trying to be difficult or defiant. The thought of food simply started to disgust you. You hadn’t been hungry for days.
“Did you not like your chicken? I can get you something else, if you want,” Kate explained.
You shook your head again. Chicken was your favorite food, actually. You just didn’t want to eat it. “‘m not hungry,” you whispered, pressing yourself into the wall.
Kate sighed. “You’ve gotta eat something buddy.” She paused before starting again. It was against shelter policy to talk to the hybrids about their life before coming to the pound. It was almost like teasing them with something most of them wouldn’t get back. But she was desperate, and you had only wanted to talk about your mama since you showed up. “What would your mama think if she knew you weren’t eating your dinner?”
You hid your face behind your arm. “She… she wouldn’t like it. Mama says that the handsomest puppies are the ones with full bellies.”
“She sounds like a smart lady.”
“She is,” you agreed, starting to perk up a tiny bit just from talking about her. “She’s the smartest in the world. She always knows what to do.”
Kate paused, getting an idea that was definitely going to get her in trouble. Still, she decided a bargain was the only option if she didn’t want to starve yourself. “I tell you what, if you can eat half your chicken I’ll see if I can go find your collar and you can wear it for the rest of the night.”
Collars were against the rules, not only because of the reminder of what the shelter dogs had lost, but also because they could be a danger in the kennel. The abysmal staff to hybrid ratio meant supervision was scarce. And if a collar got snagged, it could be hours before anyone noticed. But it had broken you to lose your collar, and Kate hoped she could leverage it to help you eat.
Immediately, your ears stood up. “You mean it? You’ll bring me my collar my mama got me? And I can wear it all night?”
“If you can eat half of your chicken,” she reminded you.
You started picking at the bowl of chicken, slowly but steadily working through small bites.
By the time Kate got back with the collar, you’d eaten about 3/4 of the bowl, making extra sure it would be enough.
“That’s a good puppy,” she praised, clicking the collar into place around your neck.
You were instantly elated. Everything just felt right in the world when the soft fabric pressed into your skin. You played with the small blue bow on the front of the collar, smiling for the first time in days.
“Look what else I found.” She pulled out a light grey sweater, the one you were wearing when they picked you up. It was mama’s sweater, and the smell of her still lingered in the woolly fabric.
You wrapped yourself around it, pressing your face and nose into it and closing your eyes until it felt like you were home again. Entranced by the smell, you didn’t even notice Kate leave, clicking your cage door shut as the other hybrids from outside came in. You hardly noticed the often overwhelming sound of their paws hitting the tile floor as they clicked clumsily back into their kennels. Everything else was background noise. The only thought in your entire head was mama.
You finally allowed the days of exhaustion to take over, and you fell asleep pressed into your little corner. There was no need for a bed or even a blanket. You had everything you could ever want right here.
The hope that had started to dwindle in recent days finally returned. Doubt felt almost stupid. Of course mama was coming. Mama was gonna find you.
At some point in the night, when you were deep in sleep, the smell of mama’s sweater got stronger, and the floor underneath you stopped pressing cold against your skin. Your nose twitched against her neck, taking in the familiar, comforting scent as your head fell onto her shoulder. Your tail wagged even as your arms and legs hung limply by your sides.
Of course mama came back for you. Mama’s always come back for their puppies.
