Puppy Paws

Just a Puppy

Thanks Free_at_heart, foof_girl_rocks, and @Mamacush for commenting and voting! More readers should do that please! 😘

I sit in the snow, stunned. I struggle to peel my eyes off of the black strip of land that Master and the metal thing went down not a minute ago. He has to be coming back. He has to.
My paw aches. I lift it up and see a speck of crimson on the black pads. That must have happened when I was dropped here. The snow is different from the white powder my creature showed me. This snow is harder. It has a clear coating that is sharp when it's broken. I slowly lift my rump out of the indentation in the snow. I shake, causing white flecks to fly everywhere.
And then I decide to look around. I mean, it can't hurt to get used to my surroundings until Master comes back.

Which he will.

I am standing in a wide strip of snow next to the black, thin lane where Master left. There are trees with green leaves and trees without leaves at all on the edge of the snow. The trees seem to be endless from then on. I just have to go explore the trees, as there is nothing to see on the snow, and then I can return here for Master.
I set off at a trot into the mess of brown, white, and green.
There are so many interesting smells here, it's hard to keep my mind from getting lost. One tree especially reminds me of the one my creature showed me. One patch of snow smells like someone's territory.
Soon Master is just a little memory in the back of my head.
And soon the trees start casting long, ominous shadows. The sun is going down. I whirl around, looking for my trodden path through the underbrush. It is nowhere in sight. In fact, the only things that are in sight are the bushes that all look the same and the trees that cast everything into a mysterious darkness. What have I done? How will I ever get back to Master? Or...or what if Master has already come and couldn't find me and left in dispair?
Now I'm all alone, lost in the trees, with nowhere to call home. And I'm just a puppy. I can't defend myself against anyone else who lives in here. I shiver. It's getting colder by the minute. If I survive this night, it'll be a miracle.