Me, My Notebook & I

Chapter 03

How? How is my name the one on the receipt as the person who bought it? When and how did I buy it? I look at Milo, engrossed in my own thoughts... wait, what? I just called him Milo. I called him what the person wanted me to call him. I laughed starting to think that I'm insane.

Back to the important issue, there are two possibilities to what's happening. If I do things and forget to the extent of buying myself a dog and forgetting maybe it's a sign of Alzheimer. Could I be going through some kind of memory loss? Is that what causes the unbearable pain I sometimes get?

Or maybe I have a stalker that comes into my room at night, leaves me messages and leave... and gets me a dog. But what if these two aren't related? Why would my stalker get me a dog? Do I have a secret admirer but the timing wasn't in his favor? While thinking of this, I remember the message in the letter I found with the dog.

"How or when you know me depends on you; depends on how intelligent you actually are. - Unknown"

Sounds normal enough to be from a secret admirer.

I hold the receipt closer to inspect it when it hits me.

A menacing laugh falls out of my mouth because the most evil genius plan just crossed my mind. This receipt is the first step to help me know who the mystery person is! I think I can finally catch whoever's doing this! I memorize the shop's name which is "Claws" and stuff the receipt in my pocket and head to the door with Milo following after me.

The shop is very close to me so I walk the distance there. Milo was running in front of me while I'm holding his chain attached to the collar around his neck. He doesn't know the neighborhood yet, so it was necessary. On the way there, I am filled with a sense of happiness and optimism because I feel that I am very close to know the person.

Finally, I arrive to the shop. A sign is hanged on the door that says "open" making me thank my lucky stars. I lower myself to reach Milo's height and unhook his chain so that I can carry him inside. Kissing Milo on his head, I enter the shop.

Upon entering, I notice an old man standing behind the counter with white hair and wrinkles on his face.

"Hi." I say while walking up to the counter with a wide smile full of determination on my face.

"Hi, can I help you?" The old man replies with a kind smile on his face.

"Actually, yes. Do you know this dog?" I ask while showing him Milo who looks pretty comfortable in my arms.

"Oh, Yes!" His face lights up with recognition. "This is Milo! I love him so much! I was really upset when I found out this morning that he was sold. Is there a problem with him?" He asks.

I exhale from relief that I'm at the right shop. "No, no, there is no problem with him. I just want to know who bought it from you?"

He starts to look at me apologetically and says, "Um... sorry, I can't help you. I'm not the only working here. There are shifts. I work four days and he works the other three."

"So, if I want to meet the other person when I can find him?" I ask, starting to get frustrated because I thought I was close to finding out the truth.

"Tomorrow. But maybe I can help you. What's wrong with Milo?" His face is worried and he looks like he genuinely cares for the dog.

It caught my attention that this man called the dog Milo, too! "How do you know that his name is Milo?" I ask surprised.

"I've called him Milo ever since he was a little pup. He is a smart dog; understands a lot of words. He even knows that his name is Milo! He won't respond to any other name. Would you like to give him back?" He tries to conceal the happiness on his face at the idea of getting his favorite dog back.