I shot up from a horrible nightmare, panting. My long, red hair stuck to my face and I had to pull out a couple of strands from my mouth. I sat in silence, trying to recall the order of events that happened in my dream, but soon all the events disappeared from my memory and the only thing I could remember was a huge snake that ate me. It was still sort-of dark outside, but I knew I couldn't get back to sleep after that. I looked at my little Yorkshire Terrier, Twig. He was a pampered little dog and was sleeping peacefully in his brown fluffy dog bed.
I walked across my room, the cold floorboards creaking a little. I almost ran into the side of my white Ikea desk as I stumbled in the dark. This woke up Twig, and his big brown eyes caught whatever light the room had to offer as he blinked at me. I ran my fingers through his soft, tri-coloured coat, instantly feeling calm. Sitting next to him, the smell of dog and mud hit me, and I groaned. I focused my attention on the sun as it slowly began to rise, pulling the sky into an assortment of purples and pinks. Stars were still out but they were being hidden by the orange light. Even though my window was small, I felt like I could get lost staring out of it.
"Rosaline?!" My mother called. Twig jolted up onto his feet. I swear, she's nocturnal. Even though I thought I was the only one awake, she managed to quietly get up and ready.
"Yeah?" I shouted back.
"Get ready for school!" She said.
Right. School. That exists.
I came back after a long day. The first day back didn't go as smoothly as I thought it would. We were assigned a ton of homework and honestly my brain exploded at least twenty times.
"Oh my gosh! I can't believe you lost him!" My mother's voice boomed from the dining room.
"I'm sorry! I just – I took my eyes off him to take a phone call and I look back at the backyard and he's gone!" My dad's best reasoning voice was on.
It took me a while to realise what had happened. Twig had run away. My heart sank, making me feel heavy. I felt many tears roll down my cheeks and onto my shirt. My mother rushed out from the room into the small hallway I was standing in. Through my tears, she had a red face from stress and she looked worn out. She stared at me in shock, then she frowned and shook her head. She didn't even say anything when she ran upstairs, leaving me sobbing.
After taking a long shower and trying to regather my thoughts, I lay in bed, texting my friends who live near my house to tell them what had happened. I was full of hope for Twig being found near them, and them giving him back to us. I really wished he was here with me, as I watched Youtube and did homework. My friends did not reply. I thought that maybe they were busy, but they usually responded right away. Suddenly, I was removed from the group chat by my close friend Kate. I was extremely confused but then I remembered that none of them seemed to enjoy being around me during school that day.
Did they hate me now?
I felt a sharp stab at my sunken heart. 'Yes,' Was all I could think of. They did hate me. I began to cry again, feeling extremely weak.
I woke up the next morning, my whole being feeling depressed. I didn't get much sleep, and when I woke up from a nightmare, I cried because there was no Twig to watch the sunrise with. I had fallen back asleep after crying for a while. I felt hurt and alone.
Dragging my bag against the laminate floor, I walked slowly to the dining room.
"I'm sure someone's already found him," My father said calmly.
"So that's why we need to look for him! He's our dog!" My mother reasoned. Were they arguing about looking for Twig? Did my dad not want to find him?
Oh no. Dad's super persuasive. Whenever he argues he always wins.
I'm not going to get Twig back. Not if Dad's arguing against it.
"Please, Dad!" I screamed, rushing into the dining room with my schoolbag, "We can't just leave him! He's the best puppy ever and you're not going to look for him?!"
"Rosaline," My father said sternly, "He ran away yesterday, and he's probably long gone now. He might've been adopted by another family. Besides, the only thing Twig ever did was make a mess."
My sunken, stabbed heart now shattered. While it was shattered, something new inside me grew. It got my blood boiling and shrouded me in anger.
"NO!" I screamed, raising my voice to the loudest it had ever been. My vocal chords seemed to strain, but I was ready to scream like a toddler until Twig was safely in my arms.
"Rosali-" My mother began, obviously shaken at my sudden rage.
"NO! WE ARE GOING TO LOOK FOR HIM!" I screamed again, tears flooding my vision. I began to scream as though my life depended on it.
"ROSALINE!" My parents screamed over me, "ENOUGH!!"
I ran off, slamming my door as loud as I could. I thought that I had broken it.
"YOU ARE GROUNDED!" My father's voice boomed from downstairs. I didn't care. I was fine with that, it's not like it made a difference.
No friends, no dog, and now I'm grounded.
A couple of days passed and I barely spoke to anyone anymore. In school at lunchtime, I would sit in the furthest corner and read about anything. I contributed nothing on class discussions. The relationship with my parents seemed to deteriorate.
Then I saw him.
My hair stood on end, a shiver raced down my spine and a lump came to my throat. It was him.
I smiled the biggest smile I had ever smiled in a while. I was too happy, too relieved to even speak his name. But he saw me and ran up to me, beautiful tri-coloured coat now even muddier than usual. I ran up to Twig, and everything felt right again.
