An Uneasy Alliance

Chapter 2: Dog Drool, Rat Meat, and Bad Boy Bunnies

Chapter Two: Dog Drool, Rat Meat, and Bad Boy Bunnies

 Autumn's Point of View

         Years went by and Autumn grew older. She matured and grew, although her hair remained quite puffy. Her hopes didn't change either. Every day she still looked out at the world to see the lush trees and fields of grass, the leaves falling in the season of her name, soft flakes of snow drifting towards the ground, or the glowing moon and twinkling stars. If you were to watch her sleep (which would be very Edward-Cullen-like of you), you would see her smile widen throughout the night and her feet twitch with the thought of running through the open grass.

         This particular night, she dreamed of prancing through a field of tall, untamed greenery. Flowers of all shapes and colours bloomed and filled the air with their sweet scent. High in the sky sat the sun, shining through the trees and engulfing everything in a golden glow. Bunnies hopped above the grass and landed gracefully again, continuing to frolic happily. A motherduck and her babies floated in a nearby pond, the little ones splashing each other playfully.

         Autumn ran through the field, screaming, jumping and carrying on like she was never allowed to do in her underground home. When she was tired she laid down on the grass, which was softer than her own bed, with her hands behind her head and watched the clouds.

         She pointed to the ones that looked like dust bunnies, and mashed potatoes, and snow, and old lady hair, and various other white puffy things. Beneath her, Autumn felt the cold tingle of the dew which still covered the grass. It seemed to be exceptionally wet near her cheek on her right side. She put her hand to the side of her face and felt something soft and fuzzy. Her hand felt around it and found something small and cold and wet. It felt kind of like...a dog's nose.

         Sure enough, when Autumn opened her eyes she found her hand tightly gripped around a dog's furry muzzle. She gave a quiet chuckle as her dog, Snowflake, backed up carefully, a look of confusion in what she could see of his eyes under his shaggy black hair.

         Autumn had always loved her dog, a gigantic black terrier who's hobbies include eating, sleeping and drooling. He was given to her when she was nine by a traveler (someone who goes above ground) who brought a litter of puppies back with him to the underground. It took a lot of pleading, but her parents finally let her have one.

         She'd taken the smallest one. A shag-carpet-looking dog with big clumsy paws and big brown eyes that bugged out. As soon as she picked him up, he gave her a big, wet lick up the side of her face. They'd been the best of friends ever since.

         Scooting off the bed, Autumn pulled the covers up somewhat neatly and put her "pillow" back in place. As she walked across the room, she gave Snowflake a quick pat on the head as he sat with his long tongue draped over his mouth and droplets of drool slipping off onto the ground. She put on a clean pair of tan cargo pants and a black t-shirt that were laying under her desk. At least she was pretty sure they were clean. Ready for breakfast, Autumn softly pushed open the door to her room, afraid it would fall off its hinges. Sauntering through the door behind her was Snowflake, who was ready for his breakfast too.

         On the table, she found a note, telling her that her parents had gone to town to work in their tailor shop. Left out for breakfast were a few apples and pears, an uncommonly good breakfast for the underground, and some slightly less appealing chunks of cooked rat meat. Autumn eyed her own plate then Snowflake's dog bowl. She gave him most of the rat, and herself most of the fruit. He didn't seem to mind too much. That's one of the things that made them such good friends.

         After Autumn had devoured the last slice of apple and Snowflake had somewhat enthusiastically eaten the last chunk of rat meat, the two decided to go to town and see Autumn's parents.