The Life of Joey the Street Puppy

Chapter 1

Joey stumbled around in the large cardboard box, his little legs barely big enough to hold him up. He was only a few weeks old, and could barely walk, let alone fend for himself. He looked out of the side of the box into the rain, snuggling into the warm blanket tucked into the corner of the den.
"Momma? When is father coming back?," he asked his mother, who was sitting out in the rain, guarding the den.
"Soon Joey. It's his turn to hunt today. Go to sleep. I'll wake you when he comes back."
"Ok, Momma." As Joey drifted to sleep, he glanced back outside one last time as a flash of lightning lit up the alley they were in. Come home soon father. I miss you. With that last thought, he fell asleep.

Joey slowly opened his eyes as daylight crept into the cardboard box. "Mother? Why didn't you wake me up when father got home?"
His mother sadly turned back to her pup. "He never did come home, Joey. He is still out there, in the city." Joey instantly sat up in fear. His father had now been gone for two days. That was the longest he had ever been away.
"He is going to come back, right Momma?"
She turned back around, not being able to face her pup as she said, "Of course he will, little one. He'll be back soon." She couldn't even admit to herself that he probably wouldn't. It was dangerous for a dog to be alone in a city. There were cars, large dog packs, and worst of all, dog catchers.
She had to hope though, so she kept on watching and waiting. He never came.
                       2 months later
Joey hopped around in the alleyway, playing with anything he could find. He yipped in excitement as he found a particularly interesting piece of trash to play with. As he ran around, his mother watched worriedly as she wondered how she could keep up with taking care of a puppy all by herself.
"Momma! Look what I found!"
"Ohh. That's very interesting Joey," she replied distractedly. Joey stopped and looked at her. She had been growing skinnier every day, and her fur was loosing its shine. Her fur used to be white with large brown spots, but now she was only brown, covered in filth. Joey knew she was exhausted, but he could do nothing to help. He couldn't hunt or defend himself yet. He walked over to a puddle nearby, and looked at his reflection. He looked exactly like his mother and father, his fur white with brown spots as well.
"Come on, Joey. It's time for bed," his mother called.
"Coming," he replied as he walked back over to her. They both walked into the box and snuggled together in the blanket, watching the light disappear from the alleyway, as night overtook it.
I need to start taking care of myself, Joey thought. Tomorrow, when mother leaves, I will go hunting for myself too, and help her. Maybe she will get better if she can relax. I can do this. Tomorrow, I will leave the alleyway for the first time.

Joey's mother woke up with the sun, and glanced down at her sleeping puppy. Sleep well, little one, she thought as she left the den and set off to find food. Joey opened his eyes as he watched his mother leave. He sat up and followed her, making sure she wouldn't see him. As they left the alleyway, Joey blinked in surprise at the large buildings, loud cars, and bustling humans. He never imagined that the city would be this big. He followed his mother around humans, down streets, and through alleys, making sure he was always with her. After a while, his mother suddenly sped up, glancing around nervously and sniffing the air. He tried to keep up with his mother, but soon lost her in a large crowd of humans. As he scrambled to find her, he ran into the path of a human. He froze in terror as the human didn't stop, and Joey was kicked across the sidewalk and into an alleyway. He yelled in pain as he hit the ground. He was about to stand up and look for his mother again, when he heard a deep growling behind him.
He turned around in horror as he looked up to see a massive husky staring down at him, drool and foam dripping from his mouth.
"Why are you in our territory, mongrel," he snarled angrily.
Our?, Joey thought, as he then heard more growls. He looked behind the large husky and saw 3 more huge dogs, one a brown pit bull, one a black lab, and one a gray Newfoundland.
"Answer me runt," the husky shouted.
"I... I didn't mean too," Joey stuttered in fear.
"Sure you didn't," said the Newfoundland. "How could you not smell that it was out territory?"
"Please. I'm only a puppy. I couldn't tell," Joey pleaded with wide, scared eyes.
"Well, if you are 'only a puppy' then we need to teach you a lesson at a young age so you will never do it again, pipsqueak," the black lab said excitedly.
At the same time, all 4 dogs advanced on Joey, trying to surround him. Just as they almost succeeded in trapping him, Joey shot backwards and ran for his life. back onto the street, dodging humans. The pack started chasing after him, barking loudly, causing all of the humans to scatter. As the chase began, Joey knew he couldn't escape them. There were 4 of them and they were bigger and faster than him.
Soon, Joey was tired, and the pack was gaining on him, so he had only one option to escape him. As the husky was just about to lunge for him, Joey pivoted left and ran into the street, straight into oncoming traffic. He know he had a chance of survival by dodging cars, but if he got caught be those dogs, be would surely die. He was almost across the and was starting to feel hope, when he ran head on into a speeding car.
Joey felt the entire front of his body slam into it, his front right leg getting ran over by the wheel. Pain exploded through his body as he fell to the ground. He knew what a dangerous situation he was in, so he crawled to the sidewalk. When he looked behind him, he saw the pack across the street, staring at him hungrily. As cars raced by, they didn't dare cross the street, heading black to their alleyway, glaring at him as they left.  Joey stood up and limped to another alley, leaning against the wall when he reached it. He glanced up at the opening of the alleyway in fear, hoping the dogs wouldn't come back. After a couple of seconds, he couldn't take the pain anymore. I'm sorry, mother. I failed you, was his last thought, as he stumbled to the ground, and passed out.