Reviving December

Let Me

Cade Rains

I had never been the type of man to give up and was determined that this would be no different. I tightened my jaw as I stood from where I was perched on the lip of the fence, bracing myself before I jumped from the four and a half foot wooden gate on to the ground. My knees and the balls of my feet tingled from the contact, but I ignored the sensation. With slow, methodical steps, cautious in nature, I scooted closer to the large cowering animal, looking at the set of the pups golden eyes as they narrowed in an uncertain manner. The way the matter fur rose on his neck. My whole body was tense, ready to jump away if need be, but I prayed I wouldn't have to try to duck out if the mood suddenly changed and the pup decided to play defense instead of tucking his tail. After a few minutes of light, slow steps, I finally got close enough and flopped my hand over, palm outward. I knew the animal needed to get a whiff of me, needed to get used to my scent. I was uncertain about taming this animal, unused to working with animals that had been mistreated in the past, but I was determined to try.

The scars marring the shrunken pup's backside had set an unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach upon sight. What kind of monster could harm a defenseless animal in that manner? Ghostly fingers of fear had wrapped around my throat as I approached the nameless dog for the first time, tightening as I inspected the raised skin. It was easy to tell that the dog hadn't been properly fed, more than likely since birth, and the look in his large brown eyes had me swallowing the rise of emotions in my throat. The fur was dull, dirty and dry, but I could see where he could have a beautiful golden colored coat and strong build if he was taken care of properly.

"C'mere, bud," I kept my tone light and soothing, a tone that I would've spoken to my niece in, which worked out because those big brown eyes reminded me just a little of Maddy when she was afraid she was in trouble. I wanted to jump in satisfaction when the frail dog began to make his way toward me, crawling on his belly inch by inch when he realized I wasn't a threat to him. It was going take a while, but I could spare the time. Slowly, showing that I wasn't going to harm him, I proceeded to unfold my large frame on the hard ground and simply waited.

* * *

The smell of fried chicken and griddle cooked burgers permeated the air as I stepped into Sunshine's two and a half hours later. My stomach rumbled loudly in response to the mouthwatering scents and I grinned before tossing two fingers up at Lissy, the curvaceous blonde waitress that had worked here for nearly twenty years. Growing up in a small town like Red Mire meant that I knew nearly everyone in the town. Small, with a population of around four hundred, we didn't see many new comers and the long time residents tended to like it that way. The way it was looked at, if there were no new people there was little chance of new troubles. That, however, was only true most of the time. I sighed and stretched my long limbs out under the table, knees hitting the bottom of the rickety piece. I spent nearly every Tuesday night at Sunshine's, waiting patiently for Mary Judith's chicken fried steak, with a heaping side of homemade mashed potatoes, my favorite garlic green beans and the best yeast rolls money could buy. If I was lucky and Lissy was feeling pretty generous, I would even manage to get a side of peach cobbler and a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream.

"Evenin' Cade," The throaty voice croaked as a cool glass of ice tea was placed right in front of me , beads of water running down the sides. My throat contracted in anticipation, taste buds already sighing in satisfaction for what was to come. If there was one thing that Lissy could make, it was a damned good glass of sweet tea, a fine wine as far as I was concerned. Instead of reaching over and chugging the refreshing liquid like I desperately wanted to, I looked up into a pair of pale yellow eyes, flashing my trademark dimpled grin at the only woman in Red Mire that didn't blush under my flirty gaze. Lissy's eyes narrowed as I smiled up at her and she used her notepad to swat the back of my head playfully, shaking her head in exasperation. Her resistance of my self proclaimed charms was a long standing war, one that had gone on since the moment I had been l born. Lissy, for all intents and purposes, was my God- Mother. She'd seen me naked and running through the Rains household wearing nothing but mud at the tender age of two and she never failed to remind me that while my flirty smile was "adorable" my efforts to win her over were wasted. She'd wiped my ass for far too long to be wooed by that charisma.