Embedded Files
As the first rays of sun dance through the broken glass on the walls of the stone den, you are ready to start your day. You crouch down by one of the other pups, though could you guys really be called that at this point? You’ve nearly seen four seasons, and Pech, the “other pup” in question, had seen hers just about a moon prior. And that’s like, basically already fully grown, according to you. And you know, like, everything.
You nudge Pech’s shoulder with yours, and they nudge you back in annoyance. Rinse and repeat until her eyes are open and she’s asking you why you woke her up. You remind her it was your turn to decide what you did that day.
“Why are you already awake,” she yawns, turning away from you.
“Well it’s morning, after all! And you said you’d do what I wanted tomorrow, and that was yesterday!” you remind her, standing up and backing out of the entrance.
She just sighs and gets up, stretching her paws out in front of her. She shakes her fur and follows you outside. You’re already racing ahead, but not too far— you’re not allowed to explore on your own.
“What’s so important that we had to be up this early?” Pech grumbles, catching up to you.
“I just wanted to make the most of my day with my most awesome best friend!” You grin, and bounce ahead again. You decidedly… do not tell her your plans for today consist of exploring the buildings east, which were technically forbidden. You just keep trotting along the cracked streets of the abandoned city, the sun hot directly overhead.
“Mika, stop.”
Pech’s short bark makes you stop, and she nudges you into the forest.
“Look out there,” she whispers.
"Soon" Anastasia Gobot
You look. There's a weird… thing. Clearly not an animal, it’s covered in a weird white material, with a face like a giant insect. It had come out from behind a building, and turned away from you, continuing east down the street.
You follow it. Pech whispers something you don’t take the time to listen to, and then you hear her pawsteps behind you in the bushes. This is so awesome.
It stops at a crossroad, turning and making some incomprehensible noise into the forest ahead of it. There’s a similar sounding response from further ahead.
“Mika, stop!”
For the second time today, Pech stops you.
“What are those things?” you ask.
“They’re humans! Did you never pay attention to your mother? Don’t answer that.”
It’s a good thing Pech added that bit at the end, because your answer is definitely no. And judging by her face, you can tell she already knows that.
You turn back to the street and the “human” has turned into two! They talk in their strange language and then turn, walking away. You start following them again, but Pech steps on your tail. You yelp, spinning around to face her.
“What are you doing! We’re not allowed this far out.”
Her voice is stern. She sounds like your mother. You just scoff and turn back around.
“I just want to see what they did in the woods over there! I’ll be quick.”
“If you go I’ll have to follow you.”
“Okay! We can see together.”
The two of you quickly cross the road, and then you lower your head, following the smell of the human who had exited the woods. Pech follows you closely.
The scents suddenly get stronger, and you start looking around. There's a small metal
stick in the ground, and you sniff it. Pech approaches, behind you, and then yelps.
You turn around to see a metal wire caught tight around Pech’s paw. She tries to pull free but that only makes the wire pull tighter. The wire, you notice, is attached to the metal stick.
“Mika help me!”
“How? Should I go get help?”
You wonder who you could even get. You’re not supposed to be back here. The two of you would get into… a lot of trouble.
“Don’t leave me alone out here!” she whines, still trying to pull her paw free.
If the stick was holding the wire tight, you just had to… dig it up?
“Pech stop pulling, come here.”
She whines again and limps towards you, where you’ve already started digging around the base of the stick. You get pretty far when—
“Mika… Mika, listen…” Pech crouches down, her hackles raising. You can hear the distant sounds of humans talking, and the sounds of their footsteps through the undergrowth. You hurry up digging, and when the dirt is loose enough you grab it with your teeth and pull it out of the dirt, but the wire stays on her paw. You keep it in your mouth and nudge Pech, forward, who starts limping back the way you came.
When you get to the road, you figure the humans found the stolen metal parts, because one of them starts shouting. The two of you cross the road and continue until you find a place you recognize— a large wheel dotted with yellow dens, and you push Pech forwards until you are hidden under the lowest one. You sniff at the wire, still tight around her paw, and wince when you smell blood. Pech whines, and buries her nose under her free paw.
“Can you get it off?” She asks meekly, her voice muffled.
“Working on it,” you reply, trying to loosen the wire from where it was stuck.
The sun was below the trees when you finally pulled it off, burying it in the dirt. Pech was asleep, but not soundly. You nudge her shoulder with yours, but this time she doesn’t nudge you back. You feel absolutely horrible. It’s your fault she got hurt, and if you had listened to your parents, or her, this never would have happened. You’re dreading having to face your parents when you get home.
“Do you think you’re fit enough to walk home?” you ask quietly. Pech knows you well enough to know the question you were really asking.
“I’m sure they’ll know where to look if we don’t show by dark.”
You nod, spinning around beside her before settling, your fur pressed against hers. You want to make sure she stays safe from now on. You look up at the stars before closing your eyes.
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