The Blue Eyes of Sparrow

Chapter 1: Earliest Memories

Fleck could barely feel Mother's belly with her tiny pink paws, but she crawled blindly toward the source of the sensation of delicious milk. Another pup squirmed beside her, its still-wet fur going next to Fleck.

No! No, no! I want Mother all to myself! Fleck wailed inside her head, trying to push the other pup away. But the other pup had already attached to the nipple and was nursing.
Mother licked the top of Fleck's head softly and she grunted. Soon more pups wiggled over to nurse. How many? How many want to nurse? She could sense Mother licked the other pups.

The milk was making Fleck's half-dry body warm and made her sleepy. She let herself slip into a light, restful, dreamless sleep.

***

  The wiggling bodies of the other pups woke Fleck up. Looks like they're here to stay, she thought. Mother nuzzled her and she let out a squeak. She made her way to a nipple and nursed, rubbing her rhythmic paws on her belly. Mother flexed her paws, licking another pup.

  How many? How many pups are there? She wondered again, curiously but not angrily. She was still sleepy from earlier. She shifted her body and fell asleep.

 ***

Five sleep-times had passed when a feeling touched Fleck's ears, tingling them. Then there were squeaking noises from everywhere. It overwhelmed her. A happy yip, yip came from a nearby pup, who was nosing another pup, who squeaked back.

For the first time, she opened her eyes. A pale-green blanket surrounded her and the other pups, who were a mix of red, brown, and white pups, and other white, gray, and black pups. Her paws were stretched out in front of her. They were white, mottled with gray and black with a tad of brown.

Fleck yipped, and a pup ran to her. She was colored just like Fleck, mostly white, with gray with black spots with very little markings of pale brown. "I'm Spotty!" she yelped, and sniffed Fleck's pelt. "I'm Fleck!" she answered, also sniffing Spotty's fur. It smelled of Mother, milk, and of other pups.

"Have you met Black yet?" asked Spotty. "Not yet." Said Fleck. "Oh, he's the black and white pup over there." She nodded to a black male with a white chest and a white fore paw. "He's with Red." Black was rolling with a mottled red and brown male pup with very little white.

"Mother says that soon she'd introduce us, in a thing called a 'name-calling', to let everyone know everyone's names." continued Spotty. "It should start soon."

"A meeting? Why was I not informed about this?" blurted Fleck, before Spotty spoke again. "Oh." Spotty said, "Don't be mad, but you were the last pup to open their eyes, despite being the first-born."

Fleck pushed down the rising anger in her belly and licked her forepaw. "How many pups are there?" she asked calmly. Spotty tipped her head to one side, before shaking her head, her ears flapping. "Don't know."

A howl quieted the pups, soft enough not to scare any pup, but loud enough to get every pup's attention. A female dog stood, her red and brown mottled fur soft, and her dark eyes gleamed. "Time for a meeting!" the words slipped from the female's mouth like honey on ice.

All the pups gathered around her, tails flicking, eyes wide with wonder. Fleck found a spot next to a red and brown pup and sat down, and Spotty settled down beside her. "It's time for the name-calling to begin!" announced the female, and the other pups cheered, standing on their hind paws and raising their forepaws in the air. "That's Mother." Spotty whispered in Fleck's ear.

Mother blinked as the other pups sat down again. "Let's start." She nodded to a red, brown, and white pup. "You introduce yourself."

The pup Mother had indicated stood up lightly. "I'm White." She said clearly, turning to look at the white patches on her back. White nodded to the red and white pup next to Fleck. The pup nodded back and stretched his forepaws. "The name's Socks." He nuzzled his paws, which were unusual type of brown.

All you do is say your name and why Mother named you that. It's easy, Fleck. She thought to herself, willing her racing heart to slow. She forced herself to look confident, and she raised her head to looked at the window, letting to sun reflect her blue eyes. "I'm Fleck."