You Are Not My Family

Chapter 1: Leaving

Note: this is not really intended to be read, this is just for me to transform this idea into something that I can further publish. Updates will be inconsistent or non-existent. Thank you!

Poppy was the most loyal dog that the Robinson family ever did have. Even when she was just a puppy, she would follow the daughter, Maria, all the around the house. Her too-big paws could hardly keep up with the steady pace of Maria, but she was persistent.

When Poppy got older and she grew into her paws, Maria would take her everywhere she went. To her friend, Tia's, house. To the corner store. Down the block to the park. She had even tried sneaking Poppy into school when she was younger. And as time grew, Maria became just as loyal to Poppy as she was to Maria.

That is why, on the day Maria was departing with her parents to halfway across the country, neither of them wanted to separate.

"I promise you, Mar. The moment we get back we'll take her straight to the park." Maria's mom, Poppy thought of her as Mama Jill, begged. She was halfway out the front door with both hers and Maria's suitcases. Maria, ever the stubborn, kept herself on the floor next to Poppy, her arms wrapped around Poppy's neck.

"Why can't we bring her?" Maria whined.

"We went over this honey; the hotel doesn't allow pets." From behind Mama Jill popped out Papa Rio. His voice was gentle, and when he slipped past Mama Jill and saw Maria burying herself further into Poppy, his eyes became soft as well. "It's only a week. And plus, Auntie Lucy said she'd take good care of Poppy." Poppy began to wag her tail at the sound of Auntie Lucy's name. She is a great woman. Poppy thought. She nudged her head at Maria until she stood from the couch. Poppy didn't know exactly how long a week was, but she knew it had to be a while as someone else was coming to look after her. Only a week. And if she leaves now she'll be back sooner. She reasoned. She kissed Maria's face. Maria giggled and held Poppy close one more time before she joined her parents at the front door.

"I'll tell you everything when I come home," Maria promised Poppy, "and I'll make sure to tell Auntie Lucy to give you extra treats. Right mama, you'll text her?" Maria looked up at Mama Jill who grinned in return.

"Of course. Extra bones for the whole week." Despite Mama Jill comforting her, Maria still looked uneased, it wasn't until her eyes lit up and she turned on the TV for the living room, did Poppy understand. The Puppy Channel, Poppy heard her family call it. It had all sorts of things that would normally be seen outside, inside. Birds, cats, squirrels and Poppy loved nothing more than to stare at it for hours. When a bird came to the screen, it seemed to ease Maria's mind enough that she was ready to leave. She put on her shoes and hugged Poppy one more time.

"We'll all give you the biggest hug when we come home." Maria kissed the top of Poppy's head and then she was gone. Poppy ran to the big window at the front of the living room. She saw Maria get into the car, giving Poppy one last wave before she was driven away.

Alone. Poppy thought. It wasn't very often that she was alone. In most instances in which she was it was because everyone was at school or work. But now it was late when everyone had already come back from their activities. Seven days. Poppy huffed and moved away from the window, instead curling herself up into her dog bed next to the couch. She watched on as the bird became about a rabbit, running up a hill in the distance. The Puppy Channel didn't always look like this. Sometimes there would be Game Shows on there too. That's what her family liked to call it. Dogs would compete on who did the best tricks and won prizes and treats on who did it best, now that was Poppy's very favourite. She waited for that program to start playing and as she did so, she began to doze off.

When she reawoke, it was late at night. The sun that was slowly setting before was now fully set, instead showing a bright moon in its place. Within the house, there was no longer any light, that however, didn't stop Poppy from being able to see. She stretched out in her bed, keeping a keen ear out to see if her family has come home, but she heard nothing. The next thing she noticed is that The Puppy Channel was no longer on. It was a bright static that made a soft crackling noise. Poppy very rarely saw the TV in such a way. Normally it meant that something was wrong, and Papa Rio would go to a box next to the TV to fix it, but Poppy didn't know how. She stood up and walked towards the TV. For a moment, she watched it, willing for it to go away. But it didn't. The brightness began to sting her eyes and so Poppy decided to move elsewhere. First, she walked left, from the living room to the dining room and then the kitchen. In the kitchen was where the patio door was. She looked outside into the backyard and say nothingness. It was so dark that she could hardly see the wooden deck connected to the door. Poppy yawned.

Nothing interesting. She thought. Turning around, she went back out into the dining room and then took a left. She went down the first half and then took another left to the bedrooms. In the silence, Poppy could hear only her paws against the wooden floor as she walked. That, and the echo from the movement as she went. And then, in the near silence, she heard. Pit pat pit pat. A sound of steps behind her. Human steps like Maria's. She stopped walking, and her pawsteps and the sound of the other steps behind her stopped. She waited. Nothing. And then there was a shudder that ran through her, and Poppy's hair raised, and she felt a rumble in her chest. Poppy had never felt like this before. She felt scared. Her eyes widened to see better into the dark, but there was nothing to see. Just a long empty hallway. In a moment of courage, Poppy turned around to see what was behind her. But there was nothing. Poppy was breathing heavily, processing what had happened. Was anything there? She thought. Her ears lifted to try to hear. But again, there was nothing to hear. And then, just when Poppy blinked, the hallway light turned on. Poppy knew that wasn't how the lights worked. They couldn't be turned on themselves. There were a few in the house that her humans would talk to, but they weren't able to do anything without a command like 'sit' and 'lay down'. An eery feeling continued to fill her and she turned back to where she was heading and went to a door at the end of the hall on the right. Maria's room. Inside, there was a dog bed that Poppy rarely used. Maria always wanted Poppy on the bed with her, and Poppy could never deny her Maria. And she couldn't deny the fluffiness of the bed either. So plush and soft that she melted into it.

She hopped onto Maria's bed and layed down. She rested her head against her front paws, and yet she couldn't shake the feeling that something was looking at her. Her eyes scanned the room over and over again, but Poppy couldn't see anything out of place. It was just as Maria left it just hours before. She continued to scan for as long as she could until her eyes began to droop and she couldn't stop yawning. I can close my eyes for a moment. Poppy told herself. But when she shut her eyes, she didn't wake up until the following morning.