Animal

.:5:.

My dreams were filled with joy. My paws thudded the ground and I howled with ecstasy to let the others know how it made me feel.

I heard many mixed noises back. Joyful and agreeing ticking, howls, roars, and screeches. The undergrowth brushed against my sides, but it didn't feel like it. It felt softer, warmer, and with more movement. It didn't change with each leaf that brushed me, size and shape, weed or twig. I looked to my left and saw honey-colored fur, a figure smaller than my own at my side.

I wasn't able to make out the full figure, but I knew that it was not an enemy. Nor was the feeling of a gentle lap of a tongue behind my ear. I turned to see what did it, but whoever had disappeared in the undergrowth again.

I didn't care. I went to focus on the ground ahead of me, the sunlight that forced its way through the tall trees and onto my pelt, warming me, and the light it provided along with it.

Nothing could describe the happiness I felt. I felt home. I felt free. The sound of pawstep surrounding me, behind me, grew louder. I wasn't running from the pawsteps, however.

I was running with them.

-:-

I woke up with a jolt, my ecstasy and joyful dream crashing down into disappointment and pity as rain soaked my skin.

Thunder rolled overhead, and a sudden pinch of cold replaced the sense of warmth that protected me in my sleep.

Shark? I whispered as I slid to my bare feet and hugged my arms over my chest. I got no response from her.

I looked around, feeling fear and utter hopelessness wash over me. I saw a light in the distance, and the shape of the glow it emitted was recognizable. My house.

I staggered through the thick brush, my determination seeming to outweigh any sharpness that sliced the skin of my legs and feet open.

Home home home.

I stumbled quickly into my backyard and staggered up the wooded patio, barely acknowledging the stinking in my heel from a splinter. I always forgot to turn my bedroom light off and lock the back door, both things being in my favor tonight.

I crawled through the back door and shut it behind me, leaving a bloody hand print over halfway down the glass. I leaned my back against it and broke out into more tears.

Something bad was happening to me. My body - my real body - was left lifeless back at the streets. That meant one thing:

I had to disappear. Whatever this was, whatever was happening, I couldn't be caught. I stumbled to my feet and slid to the counter where my phone rested. Turning it on, I tapped furiously away at the screen and saw a text:

Mom: Dad and I won't be home for another few days. Sorry sweetheart. There's some money in your account for groceries.

I dropped it back on the counter and bit my lip. So they weren't coming home tonight, which meant that I had enough time to pack a bag and get out of here fast.

I tried to reach out to Shark again, but my head remained silent and completely void of her presence. I went up the stairs and to my bedroom, opening my closet.

I grabbed four pairs of jeans, t-shirts, three sweatshirts, and one jacket and put them in a duffel bag. Along with undergarments, I packed my toiletries and the tiniest, shittiest, little first-aid Kit that came with the health class introduction at school. After years of working for college savings, I know I wouldn't be needing them for college. I reached under my pillow and gathered two bundles of cash and added them to my bag.