Choice

ch. 7 - alley

Shaking, I tried to ignore it or him rather, pinching my arm to make sure I wasn't having a freaky dream.  I tossed the doughnut inside the trash.

            "Hey!" the dog yelled again; I jumped a little.  I turned slowly around to stare in amazement, eyes probably comically still wide open.

            "Yes?" I said in a quiet voice.  I looked around but the street was disserted.  I was thankful no one was watching my display of insanity.

            "Do you mind giving me that perfectly fine," he licked his furry lips, "doughnut from that cylinder thing?  I'm really hungry and it's hard to find food around here, especially dodging crazy drivers just to cross the damn street.  But I don't want to go to the pound," he shook his head and shuddered, "too harsh.  Anyway, do you mind?"

            "Uh… n-no," I said in reply as I reached in and pulled out the doughnut with the napkin.  I then walked slowly toward the dog.

            "Don't worry I won't bite you," he said with a smirk, at least I thought it was--his whiskers went up a little.  I took the napkin off and gave it to the dog and he took the doughnut from my hand.         

            " 'anks," the dog replied with a stuffed mouth, "see ya 'round."  He then trotted across the street and disappeared behind the block.  It took a few seconds for me to gather myself together.  No other words could describe the experience as… whasifaladida?  I checked my watch and realized I should've have been home ten minutes ago.  I continued to walk when my phone rang, startling me.  It was a text from Jake.

            The message said, 'Hey, I'm on my way 2 Alloid's come 2 -Jake'  Tutorial wasn't that short, so I only assumed Jake decided to just bail out; no wonder we weren't doing so hot in school.  I changed directions, then noticing the path I was on was the same path the talking dog took. 

            It's just a coincidence I thought.  As I approached the tree house, I saw the one and only talking dog waiting at the front door. 

            "What are you doing here?" I asked incredulously.

            "I see you've just met Rufus too?" came a voice from the side of the house.  Jake came out with a smirk.  I was about to ask how he was able to get here so fast when the dog looked back at me.

            "What are you doing here?" Rufus asked raising a furry eyebrow at me.

            "For your information," Jake answered for me, "we are here to see a friend."

            "I can talk you know," I said to Jake, who turned red.  I didn't know what was up about that.

            "And…," Rufus replied thoughtfully, "that would be Alloid, wouldn't it?"  He spoke with perfect articulation.

            "How do you know Alloid?" I asked, a little impressed.  Just then the door opened and Alloid poked out his head.

            "Can you three please come in?" he said agitated. "You might be making a scene."  He held the door opened for us as we walked in.  It was impossible to make a scene with no one around to actually watch.

            The main room was a bit more organized.  It seemed as though Alloid tried to mend the furniture, unsuccessfully, by hand.  Jake and I took seats at the table while Rufus sat by, or under, a window facing the front of the house.

            "Who's this mangy dog?" Jake said, rudely, breaking the silence.

            "Who are you calling 'mangy dog' pretty boy?" Rufus replied, growling. "I'm smarter than you are, you--"