Fantasy Forest 3: Ressurection

3. Smart Choices

"Y/n are you home?" I could hear Talia knocking at the door and calling out my name. She had gotten here fast which made sense since we lived in the same building.

"Are you alive n there?" She asked, a slight nervous squeak in her voice. I looked back at the dog as it sat there starring up at me. Panicking, I pick up a used white towel from the floor and through it over the animal before running for the door. I opened it just as Talia goes to knock again. She looked at me surprised and then slowly looks me over from head to toe.

"Good." She said with a smile. "For a second there I thought you were dead."

"If I was dead I wouldn't have been able to call you over." I stated.

"True." She said as she moved to come in but I block her path with my body. She looked up at me with a raised eyebrow.

"What's up?" She asked.

"Nothing."

"Then why cant I come in?"

"I don't have a specific reason..." I mumble and then look back at her to see her looking past me over my shoulder. I look back and see a wadded white towel shuffling around the carpeted floor after me. It seemed to be moving blindly but eventually it seemed to track me down as it stopped by my feet and sat there. Talia looked up at me then down at the towel then up at me again with a glare.

"What did you do!?" She snarled. I quickly pick up the towel wrapped dog just as she barges her way inside. She sat down on the couch with her arms folded against her chest and looked up at me like a parent about to scold their child.

"What is that?" She asked.

"A dog."

"A dog?"

"Maybe?"

"What do you mean 'maybe'? Why do you sound so unsure!?"

I sigh as I unwrap the animal and shove it in Talia's face. For a second she is silent as I am sure all she can see is a dog but then she see's it's eyes and she jumps back, falling off the couch.

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" She screamed as she scrambled to stand up. I dropped the dog and ran to her, grabbing her by the shoulders and forcing her to sit down.

"Lets just be calm."

"FUCK BEING CALM! WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT-" I put my hand over her mouth to shut her up and she quieted down and glared at me.

"Please calm down." I begged and she sighed as she removed my hand from her mouth.

"Please explain." She said and I sat down with her and slowly told her everything that happened in the woods. She listened intently but didn't look at me as she kept her gaze fixed on the small black dog.

"I can't believe Vince just abandoned you like that but right now this is more important. So what is it?" She asked at the end.

"I'm not sure."

"What are you going to do with it?"

"I don't know." I answered honestly. "I guess I could take it back to the forest but its hurt and-"

"It will be fine." Talia assured me but it didn't feel right.

"Just a day or two." I tell her. "Then I will take it back."

"What if it attacks you or something?"

"It probably won't."

"Probably?"

"Well you can never be certain." I said before looking back at the animal. It quietly jumps up onto the couch and sits next to me with its back pressing into my side. Anyway I look at it, it looks like a dog. Everything about it is dog like except those eyes.

"I don't want to leave you alone with this." Talia said. "So I guess I'll stay here with you tonight."

"I'm not scared."

"That's what worries me." She said as she got up and headed for the bedroom. "Is your dad coming home tonight?" She asked.

"No, not until tomorrow."

"Ok, then we will sleep in your dads bed tonight and we can leave the...thing...in your room."

I nod in reluctant agreement as I get up and set up stuff in my room. I put out a bowl of water and a bowl of dry cereal since it was the closest thing I had to dog food. I figured it would work. I also put down a few towels in case it needed to pee or something and then I picked up the pooch and put it in the room.

"We will be just down the hall." I whisper to it as I give it a friendly pat and then close the door. I stand there for a second in the hall listening to see if it would cry but it remained silent so I joined Talia in my dads room where she had already put on a movie and laid out snacks.

We watched television for hours before finally falling asleep to some late night documentary show about dinosaurs and how they could still exist. I woke up in the night as I felt something move by my feet. I looked over and Talia was fast asleep next to me. I sat up a bit and looked down at me feet to see the dog staring at me.

"How did you get in here?" I whispered, as I was quite positive that I had shut both doors. The dog didn't say anything, of course, and just kind of hobbled over and laid down next to my stomach. I sighed as I looked at Talia to make sure she was still sleeping before turning off the TV and laying back down. The small warmth near my stomach was comforting and when I put my arm down I could feel its soft fur. I knew Talia would be mad when she woke up in the morning but at the moment I didn't much care. I figured the dog was lonely and I knew the feeling well enough to sympathize.