A Dog's Life

Prologue

Prologue

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"Lucas! Lucas, where are you?"

From the middle of the long, grassy field, a canine head rose, floppy ears flicking with the familarity of the voice. His black nose twitched as the breeze picked up, dragging a variety of scents over to the Beagle.

"Lucas, come on! It's time to go!"

The black and tan dog stood, and stretched, shaking himself.

"Coming Isabel," he barked happily, trotting across the wide expanse of green and pallid yellow.

It was beautiful today, just like it had been for the past week and a half. The sky was a bright azure blue canvas dotted with large cotton clouds. The vibrant orb of orange-yellow light that was the sun, hung high, shining warmly down upon the ground. Birds trilled from the safety of the trees, merrily belting out their various songs of warning. Insects chirped and rustled through the fronds of grass, delighting in the brilliant weather.

Life couldn't be more enjoyable.

Vaguely, as Lucas grew ever closer to his trusted human companion, he caught snippets of conversations that came from the beaks of the winged singers.

"That scnhize...'"

"Boz said to me yesterday..." 

"On wings and claws again..."

Really, Lucas thought, they talk way too much.

"Lucas~! Come here, boy!"

Lucas's ears pricked up, and he quickened his pace. He stretched out his paws before him, and brought them back down with such ferocity that he kicked up broken strands of greenery. They made little clouds of dirt about him as he dashed forwards, his ears flapping against the sides of his head in a rhythmic pattern.

It wasn't long until he caught sight of the girl he was looking for. She stood out like a sore thumb amongst the field, her black shirt with the black and red and blue and white fish circling each other, and her combat trousers of navy blue. Every day she changed the style of her strange long fur. Sometimes she wore it in something Lucas had heard her refer to as a 'ponytail', other times she pulled it back in a twirling pattern that reminded the Beagle of those funny, nice-tasting, swirly patterned bread things he sometimes got to eat. Only when she was upset, angry, or worried would she keep it down, and that was rare. Today she was wearing her dark brown fur in a ponytail.

"Hey there puppy!" she said bending down to rub Lucas's head with her knuckle. "We're heading back now. I think we've spent plenty of time out here a-wandering." She chuckled and straightened up, giving her friend a beaming smile before turning away to glance up at the sky.

Lucas shuffled up closer to her and pushed his snout against her wrist, his long tail hurriedly waving back and forth. She jumped slightly, and then laughed.

"Alright, hang on a minute while I clip your lead on." She crouched down before him, pulling the thin red rope through her hands and grabbing hold of the metal end. Lucas sat down, waiting patiently for her to fasten his collar, his nose twitching with every new scent that came his way.

"There," Isabel said as she got to her feet once more, "finished. Let's set off back."

The Beagle stood up and shook himself, causing the lead to clink loudly. He enjoyed the noise it made, so almost always ended up automatically forcing it to make that metallic sound again. He felt the gentle tug of the rope as Isabel started off without him, and he began to follow still marvelling over the many sights, smells and sounds.