Where am I? Chapter Two He woke up in a room like the one he had run away from, but this time something was fastened on his neck. He scratched at it in his cage- it was itchy and uncomfortable. While doing this, he found that his door was unlocked. Pausing, he stared at it. He could leave at will. He could leave right there and then. But he smelled a woman coming and pretended to be asleep. “Yes, this is the new one,” He smelled her coming nearer. He was suddenly pulled out of the cage and risked opening his eyes slightly, tensing. There was the woman, and another, much older. He contained himself from growling. He heard the old woman say, “Where did you find him?” The woman set him down and he relaxed. She didn’t notice anything. “An alleyway downtown. We’re trying to find his mother currently, he’s been marked hostile so we think if we find her he’ll calm down.” His eyes fluttered open. The old woman noticed, but for some reason she didn’t say anything about it. “John Adalwin would like this one.” She murmured. The younger woman let out a short laugh, but he could smell her annoyance. “Adalwin likes any rescue dog.” The old woman frowned. “I was thinking Sarah would like him.” The woman’s frown deepened. “I’m calling John.” The young woman whirled around, now red in the face with anger. “No!” “Why not?” “He- he’s…” “I’m calling him.” “No, please, Nan, don’t, you know how he is with dogs, this one is hostile, it’ll attack him.” “He knows things about dogs that many people don’t. He loves them, this one needs him.” “But- but-” But the old woman had pulled out the strange little colorful rectangle that gave off the strange electric scent that almost all humans were fond of. “Yes, is this John? Hey, I found a dog for you. No it’s not that one— oh— well of course he’s young! No, no… yes, he’s a rescue… a Gerberian Shepsky… he’s been marked hostile, but I don’t think he really is… okay, great!” She took the thing away from her ear and into her pocket. “He’s coming to get him now.” “What?! But he can’t just… just barge in…” The woman exclaimed. The older one smiled smugly. “Yes he can. He’ll be here in five minutes.” The younger one groaned and walked out, leaving behind her a strong trace of anger. The old one turned to him. He was now on his paws, staring at her intently. “Hello.” She murmured. She didn’t extend a hand, like most foolish men did. She just placed her palms, face-up, on the table he was standing on. He cocked his head. She turned hers as well. He was very suspicious of her… deciding to believe his thoughts on human reputation, he sneezed and growled. She backed away accordingly, looking away. But he could trace no fear. Why was she different? He sneezed again and turned away to find himself facing a wall of cages. Cats, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, and more animals were staring at him. He let out a yip and growled. Two skinny cats hissed at him angrily, while one puppy whined. He stopped, realizing they couldn't hurt them. Deciding it was time to put an end to some of these animals’ egos, he jumped down, walked up to the cages, and peed. The old woman smiled. He turned back to her and cautiously started forward, staring suspiciously. She got to her knees so he was eye-level. He froze. She bowed her head. He sat down. She stood back up and moved toward the door, opening it with a small click and a tall, muscular man appeared. He immediately started barking and growling threateningly. This man was like all the others, surely. But apparently he wasn’t. The man ignored him. He started chattering with the woman. This put him off, but he kept his guard up. Finally, when he had gotten quite bored, the man pulled out shreds of meat— chicken. He let him have a suspicious sniff before dropping it next to his foot. The dog looked warily up at the man before using his paw to pull it toward him and gobbling it up. Then the man sat down, cross-legged on the floor. He growled slightly before subsiding. He had more meat. He placed it next to his leg. The dog jumped toward and swallowed it quickly. When he was about to go hostile again, the man pulled out even more meat! He must have a meat-making machine in his pocket! He jumped forward and snapped his jaws around it, chewing noisily. “So you're the crazy one, huh?” The man murmured, placing his palms face-up on the floor in front of the dog like the woman had done. He sniffed his hands for more meat, then backed away when he found none. “You're very fearful, I can tell. What did your owners do to you?” He growled at him. He was not afraid. “What’s his name?” The man asked the woman. She smiled softly and gazed down at the Shepsky. “He hasn't one.” The man laughed. He barked angrily. The man stopped and looked down. He sniffed his hands again interestedly. The Human was showing respect to him— why?
