The Puppy in the Window

Chapter One: An Average Tuesday Morning !

<Myla's POV>

My alarm went off at 6:45AM, causing me to emit a low groan as I rolled over to tap the snooze with precision. The snooze button was probably the best thing ever invented, besides maybe hamburgers and the Internet. I drifted back off for exactly nine minutes, before my alarm went off once again. Normally, I'd repeat the cycle several times, however... I decided to put some effort into my appearance today. After all, I did have to be at work at 9:00. May as well try to look like I care.

I rolled out of bed, apologizing to Rosie, my beloved, and overweight, cat. She looked at me, affronted, as I had disturbed her resting place at the bottom of my bed. She let out a disgruntled meow and tucked her nose beneath her tail, watching me as if to make sure I wouldn't disturb her again. Just because I could, I walked over to her and ruffled her fur, smirking as she glared at me and began to smooth her fur back into place. Grabbing a pair of underwear off of a rather large and unorganized pile of clothing that I never got around to putting away, I headed to the bathroom to shower.

Once I was clean, I took a brush to my dark copper hair, fighting with the natural curls. My hair was somewhere between "loose ringlets" and "beachy boho", but, try as I might, I could never get it to look like one or the other... It was always some weird-looking in-between cross of the two. Fighting the urge to throw it into a disaster bun on top of my head, I pulled out the flat iron and started slaving over my hair.

After an hour of manual labor, my hair was straight and my face, after a little bit of eyeliner and mascara (two other things that were up there in the "best things invented" list) was fixed, I walked over to the window, observing the great outdoors, that I normally preferred to stay away from. The weather looked clear and sunny. I smiled to myself. Early summer was amazing, especially since I only had classes one day a week. The rest, I could work... pay off some of that tuition that was ridiculously outrageous for no reason whatsoever. What are they even charging me for, breathing? I stepped away from the window, looking at the clock. 8:15AM. I still had 15 minutes until I had to leave. Since I wasn't much of a breakfast person, I grabbed a cookie. Unhealthy, sure, but it's impossible to pass up homemade chocolate chip. After I finished it, I threw on my uniform, gave myself a once-over in the mirror, kissed Rosie's head goodbye, grabbed my bags, and was out the door.

It was an average Tuesday morning, and my drive to work was just as average. Idiots that drove 35mph when the speed limit was 45, (A/N: MY STRUGGLE EVERY SINGLE MORNING LIKE PLEASE PEOPLE CAN'T YOU READ?) people walking or biking to the store, cars beeping at each other in either annoyance or in greeting... the same things that I witnessed every morning. I stopped for a cup of coffee, because the cookie wasn't unhealthy enough, before making my way to the mall plaza where I worked. Yup. Perfectly normal.

What wasn't normal was the little white puppy that scampered up to me when I got out of my car. Being an animal person, I reached down to pet him. He was all white, with little black ears, a real cutie pie. I had a fleeting thought that he looked EXACTLY like Akamaru, from one of my all-time favorite animes. I chuckled, deciding to secretly call him that, hoping no one was around to hear me. Stay in touch with reality, Myla.

"Hey little guy, where did you come from?" I asked. He barked in response, and I giggled. I picked him up, and noticed he was well-groomed and well-fed. I didn't see anyone looking for him, and I didn't hear anyone calling, so... I slung my purse over my shoulder, hoisted the little puppy into my arms, and headed into the pet store to start my day at work. As soon as I walked into thestore, my co-workers greeted me. Then they noticed the dog.

"Who's dog?" one of my coworkers asked. I shrugged.

"I found him in the parking lot, I didn't want him getting hit or stolen, so I brought him here, where he can be safe and entertained," I said. I picked up a chewtoy and a doggie blanket, quickly swiped my card, and laid the blanket in the window. I tossed the chewtoy up onto the wide sill, giggling as the puppy jumped up after it. I told him to stay, and, amazingly, he did so, plopping onto the blanket and gnawing at the toy, wagging his tail at passersby. I turned to my coworker, grinning. "It's also good advertising, apparently," I added as a little girl glued herself to the window, looking at the Akamaru doppleganger.