Dither (discontinued)

Glass Shattering

▸Livin' On A Prayer - Bon Jovi

"Nat, it's time to wake up, hun." Someone gently shook me. I groaned in protest, pulling my comforter over my head. "Nat. It's the first day of school. Come on, wake up."

"No." I muffled out.

"Natalie-Nicole!" My aunt sternly called out.

"Go away. Please. I don't want to go to school. They won't even know I'm missing." I muttered, cuddling into my pillow.

"Clint, wake her up." With a woof, Clint jumped onto my bed and went underneath the covers. The comforter started to slide off the side of my bed as he wiggled around. My golden retriever's face popped up a few inches away from me with his tongue lolling out. He leaned his weight on his front legs, sticking his butt into the air. Clint crawled over to me, his tail wagging behind him.

"Clint, don't you dare." I warned him, trying to hide my face behind the pillow. His tail wagged faster.

"Get her, Clint." Aunt Hunter joked, a smile on her face. She was already dressed in her uniform for work. Clint yipped and jumped on top of me, pushing the pillow away with his snout and licking my face.

"Clint! Not fair!" I laughed out, trying to push the dog off of me. My dog wiggled his body with a doggish smile. I chuckled and stroked his head. "Okay, okay. You woke me up. Mission accomplished."

"Good job, boy!" Aunt Hunter praised. "Can you get her to stop eating all of the Twizzlers?"

"Ha ha. That's never gonna happen." I said, rolling out of bed. Raking my hand down my face, I went to my closet and grabbed the clothes that I had already set out for today. "Are you working late today?"

"I believe so, I have a lot of cases today. Either your brother or Araceli is going to pick you up after school." Aunt Hunter informed me, leaning against the door frame. "But I'll drop you off, so hurry up. I'll cook breakfast and have it ready by the time you're finished."

"Aunt Hunter, putting a pop tart in the toaster isn't consider cooking." I chuckled, walking into my bathroom to change. Closing the door behind me, I quickly changed into my blue skinny jeans, green spaghetti strap shirt, and my pastel plaid flannel.

"Well, sorry for not being blessed with mad cooking skills like my niece." I heard my Aunt scoff.

"I don't have mad cooking skills. It's called following the directions correctly." I replied back, opening the door. "Besides, I just Pinterest the recipes."

"Either way, I can't cook to save my life. Anyways, I'm gonna go ahead and cook-"

"It's not cooking."

"Your pop tart and let you finish getting ready." Aunt Hunter sent me a smile and walked out, heading towards the kitchen. With a huff, I finished doing my lady things and attempted to control my bipolar hair. Slipping on my black booties, I grabbed my backpack and Clint's purple service vest. "Come here boy, let's go ahead and put on your vest."

It's been about five years since Clint has been my service dog due to my PSTD and hyperacusis (sensitivity to sound). I remember when I first got him. My aunt had been trying to find a place to apply me for getting a service dog for years, ever since the accident happened and I lost both of my parents. I had anxiety attacks almost every other day. With her conflicting work schedule and trying to take care of her niece and nephew, it took time away from searching the right online website. After Aunt Hunter got all of the paper work out of the way and it was time to go get my service dog, I had already had a name in mind. Being a Marvel fanatic, I wanted to name my dog after my favorite superhero Clint Barton, AKA Hawkeye. However, I didn't name him Clint because Hawkeye was a superhero. No, I named him Clint because Clint Barton was deaf in one ear, just like me. Okay, almost deaf but it's close enough.