Fly

The Great Escape pt.4 - Everything always works out in the end...

Dedicated to @Dogs_4_Life. Thanks for the votes!

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After following the van that had taken Nugget and Natcho away, for an enduring forty-five minutes, I was absolutely fatigued and almost ready to give up. My legs were screaming out at me to stop, my muscles only strides away from going on an anti-running strike.

I watched on helplessly as the van sped off into the night's eerie darkness, leaving me trailing behind. My forlorn figure stood heartbroken, illuminated my a solitary streetlight. In only a week I had lost everyone I loved or who meant something to me.

I fell into a crumpled mess of tears and anguish on the cold Tarmac of the road that had taken Nugget and Natcho away from me. The sound of the engine still penetrated my ears, almost mocking me, teasing me and telling me what a failure I had become. But as the last visible light of the van ceased to exist within my sight, the sound of the engine disappeared completely. Not like it had rounded a corner, out of ear-shot, but as though it had been switched off completely.

Using every last ounce of strength I possessed, I pulled myself up off the road and warily ran on to find out what had happened. Cautiously, I peeked my head round the corner the van had disappeared round, and to my delight, saw it sat stationary outside a large green metal gate. My heart leapt as I realised it wasn't over yet, not until the squeaky toy squeaked anyway.

With a slight optimism coursing through me, I boldly, yet agilely, crept up to the parked van. After making sure there was no one around, I tentatively crawled right up to the back doors where I saw Nugget and Natcho being put. By sniffing the small gap between the doors, I deduced that they were no longer in there, although the scent was strong leading through a smaller green gate just to my right.

"Great, how am I gonna get in, and consequently, out of there without getting trapped or being seen?", I asked out loud, to who I didn't know. I was truly stumped this time though; this was a rescue centre, the sign I was staring at told me that much. If I went in, I wouldn't come back out again as a free dog. If I stayed out here, well, I didn't know what would happen.

It was only as I took a decisive moment to properly look at my surrounding, I found that I recognised where I was; I was about half an hours walk away from the school! I could go home, with Lily and Storm, and do agility again, and... But what about Nugget and Natcho? I couldn't just leave them in there. Yes, they might get adopted, but what if they didn't, or what if they were split up?

But I knew what I could do! Taking off at a fast sprint, all my previous running activity forgotten, I headed off down the familiar road on a new quest; one involving Lily, Poppy and Storm. I was going to bring them here, persuade Lily to adopt Nugget and Natcho, then I would take them to the farm where we could confront Jake. I stopped momentarily, only to shout out to the two Collie crosses, hoping they would hear me.

"I'm coming guys, just hold on. I'll get you out of there in no time!" Before running off into the sunrise.

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It felt so good to be back here, back at the place I belonged. I just hoped that somewhere in there, Lily was still waiting for me. The familiar leafy drive way was covered by the shadows of the giant trees that stood guard over it, the same trees where Storm and I had had our first real heart-to-heart. It was hard to believe that we had known each other for eight months already; as they say, time flies when you're having fun.