3 . 6 . 14

Puppies to Distractons to Questions and Risks ~ Chapter 8

(Astrid's P.O.V.)

Ouch. I have 5 words for you. I feel so frickin' sore.

I feel weak, drained, bloody (don't ask), dead. Just like first time in the game, I feel very much dead even though I know I can't die. I just feel dead, assuming I know what that feeling is.

Whenever I try to open my eyes, it's as though this external force is literally pushing them back closed. It takes about 75% of my energy to do just that. And, try again and again. In the end, I always lull myself to sleep with the sound of absolute nothingness ringing in my ears.

Well, guess what? Now is different! I can actually open my eyes with only 50% of my energy! It takes some energy to keep 'em open, but I'll live. 'Cuz seriously, I'm starving. My eyelids weighed 1000 pounds. Heck, it sucked. So much. My vision was really, really blurry. White spots danced here and there, everywhere. My head was throbbing, my muscles were aching. This was the best.

And it just had to get better didn't it?

~~~

Something-wait no, I don't even know what it is anymore landed square on my stomach., making me wince in pain. As soon as that thing got off me, I lurched forward, attempting to reduce the soreness. What the heck was that!?

Talk about mood swings, my glare softened and a goofy smile was on my face. The pain was still there, harsh as ever, but in front of me was the most adorable puppy I have ever seen. It was a black, gray and white Shih Tzu with warm, brown eyes and incredibly soft fur.

"I see you've met...uhh...whatever its name is." Kathrine said, popping out of the door.
"Yep! Name...umm...Oreo?" I suggested.
"It's yours, so Oreo it is!" Kathrine declared. "This is Misa my cat." she introduced, showing me a tiny black kitten.
"Heck no, you kept it?"
"Yep."
"And the dog?"
"Found it wherever. Thought you might like it, so I attempted to take it with me. I took forever. You know how I am with dogs..." she complained.
"That's it, whole story. Now."

She sighed.
"Okay...well, you see, Iwalkedallthewaytpthestoreearlierandthislittletroublemakerattackedme."
"Again?"
"I went to the store, and this little troublemaker attacked me. I shooed it away, but then, it came back trailing in my purchases..." she admitted.
"Which was?"
"Call this magic or coincidence, Oreo. I was in desperate need of chocolate."

My eyes twinkled in delight, I gladly hopped off the bed and gently picked up Oreo. "Who's a good girl? Now, Oreo. Let's play!" I cooed. I was too overly excited about this. Only explanation. "Calm down now Astrid! Today, we gotta learn to bear with cat and the dog. You hate cats, I hate dogs. We learn. Today." Kathrine said. Yay. A day with a cat. What fun...

I shook away my doubts (there were a lot of them), and with the most enthusiasm as possible, I said "Nya!"

Kathrine facepalmed. "Let's get to it!"

~~~

"Gah!" Kathrine complained as she very discreetly walked towards Oreo. "I swear, I need a protection charm to even go near that thing!" I laughed. I've succeeded at sort of touching Misa the cat, so now, it's Kathrine's turn to do it.

I made Oreo walk to Kathrine's let out hand.
"Nya!" Kathrine dodged.
"You're hopeless."
"Am not!"
"Are too!" I giggled.
"Gah! What the heck!? You could've told me!" she glared. Sneaky little Oreo cuddled into Kathrine's foot when she was too busy getting mad.
I decided to start stirring up her anger. "It was entertaining. Oh wait, very entertaining to watch."
"Y-you hopeless so-called best friend of mine! You suck. Very lazy, annoying and sarcastic."
"But you befriended me anyways."
"You suck!"
"And I'm well aware of that,"
"Ughh! You just...suck!"
"And so?" I asked with a fake sweet voice.
"That's my line! 'And so, and so'- "