Where is my human? He's gone again. He didn't take his guitar with him. It's still here with us. And he hasn't come back for it yet. The woman cleans the house a lot. Once in a while she finds more empty bottles and starts crying. I try licking her face but she turns away from me. I hang my head. What's going on? What's happening to everyone?
The children are gone. They're both gone almost every day now. It's only me and the woman and she doesn't even want to pet me! But I want to comfort someone! Everyone is so sad all the time, I want to help!
No one comes to visit. Not the man's brothers or friends. Not even the woman's friends have been by in a while. The children's friends never come to our house. I see them outside and the children leave with them. I try barking at them but they ignore me. The woman always scolds me anyway. So I sleep most of the time now.
In the evenings I lay under the table while the humans eat. I'm not hungry. I just want my owner back. "When is Daddy coming back?"
"He'll be home soon, dear. Don't worry about Daddy."
I sigh. Day after day of the same things. The children leave, the woman cleans and cries, the children come home then leave again with other children, I scratch myself, the children come back to eat, then everyone goes to sleep. It's been very quiet around here.
I lie on the floor a lot. Sometimes if I'm lucky the woman comes by to pick me up and puts me on the couch and I sit there all day. She takes me outside too on my rope. I haven't been out for a walk in a long time. But I'm always too tired.
I never used to be this tired.
I wait by the window sometimes and watch the cars go by. I want to bark at them but I know I'll only get in trouble. I hate getting in trouble. Only bad dogs get in trouble and I don't want to be a bad dog.
What if the woman decides she doesn't want me anymore? What if the man is gone for good? Maybe the woman will see I've become too much work and get rid of me! This is terrible! I have to stay out of the woman's way! She'll forget all about me and won't get rid of me! Every time I hear her coming, I'll hide!
Except...I don't always hear her coming.
Sometimes she trips over me and I yelp. I had no clue she was there! I stand up and limp away while she sighs. "Charlie! Naughty boy..."
I sulk away. I'm not helping her forget about me. If she trips over me one more time she'll throw me out for sure. I wish my human were here. But for all I know, he's not coming back. I quickly hide under the bed. There are some old toys under here I forgot about to keep me company. I sniff a toy rope and start chewing on it. Maybe chewing will distract me. My teeth feel funny on the rope. They don't feel as strong as they used to.
I'm already missing one of them.
I hear a faint slamming noise and faint footsteps. I perk up and listen but it's hard. I hear faint voices. I can still smell though, and I use my nose to investigate. The children are home! I come out from under the bed, my muscles aching, and I shake and limp down the hall.
"It's about to pour so you two will have to stay in today."
"Okay...."
They're here! I wag my tail and greet them! The woman has food on the table and it smells delicious! The children don't pet me but they let me sniff them. They smell like other children and poor quality food. What have you been eating? Stale macaroni....expired meat....and what is that, grease? Where do you go and what do they feed you? No matter! The woman has cooked and she always cooks something delicious! Maybe if I behave she'll give me something!
