Temporary Title

Chapter Four: My New Roommate

*Scratch Scratch*
*Scratch Scratch*
*Scrape*
What in the...
*Scratch SCRATCH*
I sat up in bed with a start. The clock on my phone read 3:03.
(The witching hour) I thought. What a perfect time to hear strange noises in my creepy old house! The scratching had died down for the moment but that didn't make me feel any better. My heart was already pounding. I quietly and hesitantly made my way downstairs, like a stupid white girl that dies first in horror films. I made sure to take my phone and an old color guard rifle, just in case. Although, I don't know what good that would do against an axe murderer. The scratching returned, a bit urgent now. It was coming from the front door. (Atleast it's not coming from the basement) I peeked through the hole in the door and saw nothing. Cautiously, I decided to turn the porch light on. Very slowly I opened the front door. A small dark nose sniffed the opening I had just made. I opened it a little wider and soon a small furry head squeezed through. The puppy pushed the rest of the door open using its big paws. It was about 3 months old and already the size of a bobcat. She (as I discovered) was a fluffy mound of dark brown and black fur. I guessed a mix of Australian Shepherd and German Shepherd. Maybe some lab? She inhaled the bit of leftover chicken I gave her and promptly made a bed on my kitchen rug. My heartstrings were pulled in all the right places, I wanted to keep her so badly. But I knew exactly where she had come from. It started with a Facebook post about some puppies for sale. I didn't get one because school would be starting and I just don't have time to train a dog and work. Who knows how much I'll be home, and I just couldn't do that to a pet. A few days later after I saw the post, my neighbors down the road (my only neighbors) were leading something around in the yard by a leash. They were the Cannons. For the whole summer they could be seen and heard. Whether they were shooting pellet guns, hosting backyard concerts or setting off fireworks weeks after the Fourth, they had made their presence known. The only time I had actually talked to them was when their younger kids were riding four-wheelers and dirt bikes across Grandma's (ahem) MY property. Usually I'm very patient and laid back but twice already tools and materials were missing when I came back from lunch, after working all day in the blazing sun. And I knew it wasn't the birds carrying off my stuff. That's one of the reasons I lock up the House so tightly.
It wasn't long after the puppy came that I heard knocking at my door. I kept the color guard rifle in my left hand and opened the door with my right so it was concealed. The man of forty that stood before me was wearing a torn and dirty white T-shirt and pajama pants. He was barefoot and behind him were headlights of a company truck, glaring into the front windows of the House. His breath smelled of whiskey and cigarettes.
"You seen any dogs round here?" He asked. I shook my head and then decided I should probably give him an audible, "No"
I could not, I would not, return the sweet angel on my kitchen floor to the man standing in front of me. I had already seen the way their family functions, just by how their kids interacted with each other. Part of me knew that even if they didn't have the puppy back, it was only a matter of time before another dog was in their possession, and I can't just save them all. But this one had chose to come to my front porch in the middle of the night, that had to mean something.
He started to turn away just as I chose to continue talking, "If I see one I'll definitely let you know."
"What?"
"I mean I know what it's like to lose a pet so if I see one around I will contact you." I blabbed, gripping the rifle a little harder. He gave me a tired drunken nod before sauntering back to his vehicle and leaving; taking care to leave muddy tracks all over my front lawn. I locked the door up and went back to the kitchen to find the puppy sitting with her ears perked. I raised and eyebrow and smiled, which made her tail wag. I took her back to bed with me, only to get up a few hours later so she didn't pee in the house. I woke up super tired but seeing those two little different colored eyes made my morning and following day much better.