Taming Terry

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 24: Hidden Deeds

Terry huddled in the corner, hugging his plush tightly to his chest and watching Barry wander the living room. For what felt like the thirtieth time, Barry leaned over the couch to look between the arm and the wall, pulled up the cushions to look under them, stuck his hand down the sides, climbed up to peer behind the couch, then climbed back down to look under.
John passed through the room, humming to himself as he continued into the kitchen, and pulled a bag out of the cabinet above the sink. He scooped some powder from it into a little purple cup and lifted the top of the hot liquid machine to place it inside, pressing a button and slipping a mug underneath to catch the liquid that would start pouring out in a few moments.
While it was running, he walked to another cabinet and took off the lock, pulling out two bags and setting them on the counter. He measured a healthy scoop of dry cereal from each bag into each of two dog bowls, then rolled down the bags and put them back in the cupboard, replacing the lock before humming to himself and carrying the bowls to the table. “Breakfast time, boys.”
Terry put his ears back and started hauling himself out of the corner, approaching his bowl with its smaller, softer kibbles in it and glancing over at Barry’s with its bigger, crunchier kibbles.
Barry put the couch back together before walking into the dining room and scooting into his seat. “Dad, have you seen my Switch? I was pretty sure I left it on the couch before I went out to hang out with my friends yesterday, but I can’t find it anywhere.”
Terry slid down in his chair, trying to hide behind the table, pulling his plush up to cover his face and putting his ears back. Nobody seemed to notice him.
“I’m sure you put it away somewhere, and it’ll turn up.” John poured cream into his hot bitter-smelling liquid and walked over to the table, taking his seat. “Terry, sit up in the chair. You’re going to hurt your back.”
Terry quietly slid back up and slouched, keeping his head as low as possible and burying his face in the plush. This seemed acceptable to John; he didn’t say anything about it.
Barry frowned. “I was sure… but you’re probably right. I probably did put it somewhere else and I’ll find it later and remember leaving it there.” He stuffed some kibbles in his mouth.
John sipped his drink and sat quietly with the two dogs. After a moment, he spoke. “Terry, why aren’t you eating? Aren’t you hungry?”
Terry blinked and looked down at his bowl, then put his ears back and started eating without a word.
John chuckled. “Feeling quiet today, huh? That’s okay, sometimes we don’t feel much like talking. Just make sure you eat all of your breakfast, okay?
Terry gave a little nod and continued eating. He knew he was acting suspicious, but John seemed to be misinterpreting it as simply being a little shy. He wasn’t going to correct him.
John sipped his drink again. “Oh! Before I forget, I have some chores I want you to do today, Barry. Nothing too bad- I just want you to take the towels out of the bathroom and put them in the wash, and hang up some fresh ones, then I want you to vacuum the floors, and check up on your brother’s snack drawer. He probably won’t tell me when it’s getting low, so we’ll have to keep an eye on that.”
“Okay.” Barry gave a nod, counting off the things on his fingers so he would remember. “Towels in the bathroom, the floors, and Terry’s treat drawer.”
Terry listened, and his eyes widened. That was where he had hidden the broken screen device, the one that Barry was looking for. He was going to have to find a new place to hide it, fast. He put his head down and tried not to draw attention to himself. He didn’t want them to notice that he was even there, ideally.
“Terry, I have a chore for you, too.” John added, taking another sip of his drink and turning his head to look at Terry. “I know, you’ve never had chores before, so I’m going to make it an easy one, okay? I want you to go out in the backyard and pick up anything that’s on the ground that’s not supposed to be. So rocks, sticks, or toys, okay? I want to mow the lawn this weekend, and I don’t want to run over anything that might upset someone or send rocks flying. Just pile anything you find on the porch, and I’ll take care of it before I mow. Can you do that for me?”
Terry put his ears back and gave a little nod. “I… um… okay.”
“Thank you.” He tipped his cup back and swallowed the last of his drink. “I have to get back to work. You boys be good, okay?”
“We will!” Barry called after John as he walked back toward his office. As soon as he was gone, he grinned and turned to Terry. “Hey… wanna not do any of that and watch a movie instead?”
Terry hesitated, then shook his head. “Won’t John be mad if we don’t do what he told us to do?”
“Well, yeah, I mean, a little, but sometimes irritating him is our job.” Barry’s tail wagged playfully. “Besides, you’d have to, like, break something in order to REALLY make him mad. You haven’t broken anything, have you?”
Terry yelped and found himself blurting out, “No, I haven’t broken anything! Why would you ask that? That’s such a silly question you asked, whether I broke anything, what would I even break, there’s nothing much that can break around!” He put his ears back and gave a nervous little chuckle, looking up at Barry nervously.
Barry snickered. “Okay, okay, settle down, I was just teasing. How about this, we’ll do our chores FIRST, and THEN we’ll watch a movie together. I know a great one, I think you’ll love it. It’s been on Petflix forever.”
Terry stared at him blankly for a few moments, then picked up his bowl and put it in the sink. “I’m going to go outside and do what John asked me to do.”
Barry giggled. “You can call him Dad, you know. He’d really love it if you did.”
He paused to stare at him. “But he’s not my dad. I don’t even HAVE a dad.” After a moment, he slipped outside and walked down off the porch, starting to walk back and forth across the backyard, picking up a bunch of Barry’s toys scattered about. He would pick up an armload and then carry them back up to the porch. “How many toys does one dog need?” He muttered crankily, snatching up a stick and throwing it on the pile. After several rounds of the yard without finding anything new, he let himself back in and started wandering.
He didn’t see Barry anywhere, but he could see track marks on the floor where it had been vacuumed, and the towels in the bathroom had been swapped out. He paused, thinking. Hadn’t there been something he needed to do imminently? His ears went back, and he gasped, running down the hall toward his room in a hurry. Too late.
Barry was standing in Terry’s room, the dresser drawer open, and the broken Nintendo in his hand. He looked up when Terry rushed in. Terry stopped and put his ears back, bracing himself for the anger he was sure was coming any second now.

[Amazee Dayzee]

If these were human siblings that ended up in this situation where one broke the other's game system and then they tried to hide it, a lot of anger and fighting would be coming up. With Barry and Terry though, I am pretty sure Barry won't care and will be more hurt that Terry didn't tell him because Terry was afraid he would hate him.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 26: Escape

Terry squeaked and hid under his blanket as the animated monster on the screen cackled wickedly and breathed a mouthful of bright green flames at the prince on horseback. Barry chuckled and peeked under the blanket, lifting the edge to look at Terry.
“Is it too scary for you? We can shut it off if you don’t like it.”
Terry’s ears burned, and he slowly slid his head up and out of the blanket. “I’m not scared! It’s not scary! I’ve seen WAY scarier stuff than this. I was just… surprised.”
Barry snickered. “That’s what you said yesterday about the cauldron zombies, and then I woke up to you in my bed this morning.”
Terry put his ears back and stammered. “That was… I mean… I was just cold, okay? Cold, that’s all.”
“More like cold PAWS.” Barry snickered. “Maybe these old movies are too scary for you. Maybe we should try something newer. The newer stuff isn’t as scary.”
Terry scowled. “I don’t like the newer stuff. It looks weird.”
Barry laughed. “Okay, okay. Just keep watching, then.” He sat back to watch the screen.
Terry hesitated, then scooted a little closer to Barry. “I will keep watching.”
John came around the corner and stared at them, then looked at the movie. “Hey… are you boys behaving yourselves?”
Barry nodded. “I’m just showing Terry some classic movies.”
John watched them for a moment, then looked down at Terry and frowned. “Hey… Terry, you’ve been here pretty close to two months by now, haven’t you?”
Terry hesitated, counting in his head. “About two moons, yeah. That sounds right.”
He grunted and started to go back around the corner, then paused. “Dinner’s gonna be ready in about ten minutes. As soon as this is over, start shutting it off and wash up.”
“Okay, dad!” Barry called back.”
John rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he turned away and walked back into the kitchen.
A few minutes later, Barry and Terry headed to the bathroom, returning after a moment to the dining room with slightly damp hands. Each took their respective positions at the table, and John smiled, serving up burgers for each of them. “Here we go. Medium for you, and medium-well for me.”
Barry grinned and added plenty of ketchup and pickles to his burger. “It looks great! Thanks, Dad!”
“Yeah.. thanks…” Terry added quietly, putting his ears back and giving a weak little smile in that shy way he had.
John grinned down at him. “You’re most welcome.” He watched Terry add just a little mustard to his burger before putting it together and starting to eat it mostly plain. He knew from experience not to question it; Terry tended to eat most of his food with little to no condiments. He turned his attention to his own food.
Once all the food was eaten and the dishes taken care of, John clapped his hands. “All right, time to clean up the living room for the day. Any toys not put away will be taken away! It’s an hour to bedtime, chop-chop!” He grinned as both dogs gave a yelp and scrambled for the living room, scooping up as many of their own toys as they could and running to their respective rooms with them before returning for another armload.
John chuckled and watched them scramble to clean up their mess. Once everything was cleaned up, he walked down the hall and paused to knock on the door to Terry’s room. “Terry? Can I come in, bud?”
There was a shuffle from inside the room, and then Terry’s voice sounded. “Okay, you can come in.”
John chuckled and opened the door, stepping over Terry’s squeaky toy to stop next to his bed. “Hey. How you doing, bud?”
Terry looked up at him from where he was sitting on the bed with his plastic dinosaurs spread out in front of him. “I’m okay. Just looking at my die-no-soars.”
He lowered himself down along the wall to sit on the floor next to him, grinning. “Yeah? Pretty cool guys?”
Terry nodded and picked up one. “Barry says this one’s called a tee-rex, and he was the biggest, meanest guy around.”
“Oh, yeah? That sounds nice. Nobody picked on him, I bet.” He smiled at the pup. “And… how are you settling in? This feel like home yet?”
There was a moment of silence as Terry looked up at John, then back down. “I guess… I mean, I’m not used to staying in one place very long… it’s kind of nice knowing where I’m going to wake up tomorrow, and I like having food regularly.”
John nodded, looking him over. He had definitely filled out; when he had first arrived, he was skin and bones, so skinny that he could have counted the pup’s ribs through his thin, stringy fur. Now, though his ribcage was still visible, his individual ribs were hidden, and his fur had become lush and shiny. “You look much better than you used to. Healthier.”
Terry looked at himself, then put his ears back. “Um… thank you… I guess?”
John reached down and unhooked the collar with the alarm to the invisible fence, pulling it off and holding it up for Terry to see. “I guess you won’t be needing this anymore, then, will you?”
Terry stared at it, reaching his hand up to touch his neck. “I… no, I guess not…”
John smiled. “Do you want a story tonight?”
It took a moment for Terry to answer. “Um… no… no thanks. I think I just wanna get right to bed.” He pushed his dinosaurs aside and lay down.
John smiled and pulled the blanket up, tugging Terry’s plush in underneath with him and kissing his head. “Good night, kiddo. I’ll see you in the morning, yeah?”
“Um… yeah, okay.” He watched John leave, then lay in bed, awake, watching time pass. After a long time, the lights went out, and he heard John go to bed. He waited a while longer, then sat up, putting his ears back and looking around the room by the light of his night light. He took off his collar, then stood up and tiptoed to the door, opening it and peeking out into the hall. It was silent.
Terry walked slowly, keeping his footsteps silent and his breathing steady as he walked to the living room, then unlocked the front door, opening it quietly and stepping out onto the porch before pulling the door closed behind him. The moonlight illuminated his path as he walked to the edge of the yard, then stepped over it into the street, flinching as he waited for an alarm.
It never came.
He put his ears back and started walking, going down the sidewalk until he found something that looked familiar. From there, he slipped into his well-trodden pathways, walking along in the grasses and the gaps between fences, which were tighter than he remembered, until he found the junkyard, right where he remembered it.
As he approached, he heard a lookout call. A few moments later, a voice sounded. “Who goes there?” There was a pause, and then a dog stepped out into the moonlight, squinting and sniffing at him. “... Terry?”
Terry gave a weak smile. “Hi, Bell. I’m back.”

[Amazee Dayzee]

I guessed that he would go out and look for his old pack but I didn't think that he would find them that quickly. I don't think that he will stay as they convince him to go back to his new life where things are easier for him.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Hello readers! The astute of you may have noticed that we went straight from chapter 24 to chapter 26! That was my mistake! Today's chapter will be the missing chapter that I missed. Please disregard Monday's chapter while reading this chapter, as it was meant to be in BEFORE that chapter.

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Chapter 25: Secrets

Barry turned the Switch in his hands, examining the broken device. He opened the flap to check the cartridge, checked all the buttons, then turned to look at Terry.
Terry flinched and put his ears back, lifting his plush up to his face and stepping back. “I’m sorry, don’t be mad…”
Barry looked back down at the device without a word and pushed the button on the top. Nothing happened. “Well… the battery’s dead.” He didn’t sound particularly angry even given the big crack across the device’s screen. “Otherwise, it looks mostly fine.”
Terry squirmed. “It’s broken. It’s CLEARLY broken.” He wished Barry would do something, ANYTHING, that would let Terry know he was angry. Instead, he just kept looking over his device. After a moment, Barry picked at the corner of the screen and peeled it right off. The crack came with it, leaving the screen looking shiny and new underneath.
Terry gasped and stepped back again, shocked. “What?! Magic!”
Barry laughed. “No, no, it’s a screen protector. It’s just an extra piece of glass that you put on on the front of the screen, so if something breaks the screen, the screen protector breaks instead.” He held up the piece of glass for Terry to see. “Is that why you hid it? You thought you broke it and you were worried I’d be mad?”
Terry nodded and put his ears back. “I’m sorry…”
Barry carefully set the device aside and stepped forward, putting his arms out to wrap them around Terry. Terry stepped away from him, and Barry stopped, putting his arms down. “Look, Terry. You’re my brother. Accidents happen. Even if you HAD broken it… I’d probably be upset, but I wouldn’t be mad at you. It’s just a thing. A fairly EXPENSIVE thing, but a thing. It can be replaced. It can be fixed. It’s all right.”
He looked Terry over. “I just wish you would have said something instead of trying to hide it from me. Is that why you’ve been quiet all day? You were worried you were going to get in trouble?”
Terry didn’t answer, just looking down at the ground and holding his ears back. Barry sighed. “Look, there’s no harm done, okay? I won’t tell dad that you took it because you thought you broke it. I’ll tell him I knocked it off the charger and it broke the screen protector. He doesn’t have to know.”
There was a pause where Terry didn’t respond much; he just stood there, shuffling his paws in the carpet. Barry put his ears back and frowned. “... Terry?” He reached out and touched Terry’s cheek, frowning when his hand came away damp. “Terry? You okay, buddy?” He put his hand down and pressed upward on Terry’s chin.
Terry’s head slowly turned up, and then he quickly looked away, but not before Barry could see that his eyes were full of tears. Barry put his ears back. “Oh… Terry, it’s okay. You’re not in trouble. Nobody’s mad at you.” He opened his arms to pull Terry into a hug, then hesitated and dropped them again. He wanted to comfort the pup, but didn’t know how; Terry didn’t like to be touched, so a hug would probably just agitate him more. “You don’t have to cry…”
He shook his head and walked past him, plopping down on his bed and rubbing his face with his hands. “It’s not… I’m okay, it’s… it’s not that.”
Barry watched him for a few seconds, then sighed and walked over, carefully sitting next to him on his bed. “Hey… what’s the matter, then? I don’t wanna see my brother crying…”
Terry shook his head again and squeezed his plush quietly for a few moments before answering. “With… with my pack… they used to blame me for EVERYTHING. They were always mad at me, calling me names… they would get mad at me when animal control chased us away, when we found food but it had been poisoned, when we DIDN’T find food… and then I broke your thingy, and you didn’t get mad at me for it, and… I don’t know… I couldn’t stop myself from crying for some reason.”
Barry’s ears went back. “Oh…” He looked over Terry with a look of pity. “I’m going to hug you. I think you need one.”
Terry scrubbed his eyes dry with the heels of his hands. “What’s a hug?”
Barry leaned in and put his arms around Terry, giving him a gentle squeeze. “This is a hug. People do it to other people when they’re sad, or just to let them know that they like them, or to make them feel better when they’re upset.”
Terry gasped when Barry grabbed him, then hesitantly closed his eyes. It felt nice, warm and soft and safe. After a few moments, though, he pulled away. “I… um… Just don’t do that too much.”
“What, hugging you?” He chuckled. “Don’t you like it?”
“We never did that in my pack. We never TOUCHED each other. Except that sometimes I would get in really close to Kendra at night when we were sleeping.” He demonstrated by pulling his plush in under his arm. “Like this. But she didn’t like it when I did that, so I didn’t do it very often. Only when it was cold.”
“That’s called cuddling. People do that with people they like as a show of affection.” He leaned back and stared at Terry quietly. “No wonder you don’t like being touched, if you’ve never really had any physical contact with anybody. You’re gonna have to get over that. We love to cuddle here.”
“Don’t touch me.” Terry glared at Barry, his tears forgotten for the moment. “Seriously. Don’t.”
“Aww.” He chuckled and leaned back further, looking at the ceiling. “Don’t worry, I’ll only do it in an emergency. For now. But one day, you’re going to want hugs just because you want them.”
“Never gonna happen.” Terry snorted, sitting cross-legged and setting his plush in his lap. “Any day now, John’s going to take this stupid alarm collar off, and then I’ll be out of here.”
“Well… that’s too bad.” Barry sat up to look at him. “You won’t be able to carry all your stuff with you. You’ll either have to leave it here, or try to take it with you and end up losing it as soon as you have to run away in the middle of the night.” He reached over and poked Terry’s plush pointedly.
Terry frowned at him. “I… hadn’t considered that.” He looked down at his plush. “But I won’t need this Kendra anyway, I’ll have the real one.”
“Maybe. If your pack will take you back. You’ve been gone a long time.”
“They’ll take me back. They took me in in the first place. They raised me.” Terry snorted.
Barry shrugged and stood up. “Well… I’m gonna go put my Switch on its charger and tell Dad that I broke the screen protector and I need a new one. You still wanna watch that movie with me?”
“I…” Terry hesitated. “... don’t know what a movie is.” He finished lamely, hiding his face in his plush a little bit.
Barry chuckled. “That’s okay, I can teach you. I’ll come and get you when I’m ready.”

[Amazee Dayzee]

I do find this sibling relationship that is developing between brothers Barry and Terry to be quite wholesome and I am happy that Barry is taking Terry under his wing as it will go a long way to getting him to accept everything. I'm not sure who is older even if it is by a few months but Barry does seem to be the big brother in this setup it looks like.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Now that I have my chapters in the correct order, we now resume the penultimate week of this story.

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Chapter 27: Back

Bell stared at Terry for a few moments, then turned to the lookout. “It’s all right, it’s just Terry. Call off the evacuation.” A few shadows on the edges of Terry’s vision retreated, and Terry hesitated, rubbing his neck.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” He looked around.
Bell reached over and gave Terry’s elbow a tug. “Come with me. Let’s go find Andy.”
Terry put his ears back and followed Bell, frowning at him. His voice sounded irritated for some reason. He hadn’t exactly expected applause on his return, but for Bell to seem actually upset that he’d returned seemed weird.
He followed Bell as he led him through the maze of wrecked cars. After a few minutes’ silence, he tried to talk. “I was starting to think I’d never get back to you guys. Animal control grabbed me out of the park, I was only alone for a minute and then-”
“Shut up.” Bell grunted at him, opening a car door, leaning in to look inside the car, then closing the door again and pointing toward a wrecked bus. “He must be in there.”
Terry closed his mouth and frowned, following him as he went inside the bus. The seats had been removed, making it a wide, flat floor ideal for sleeping. “Andy.” Bell grunted, nudging the other dog with his paw to wake him up.
Andy sat up abruptly and looked around. “What’s up? Problem?”
“Terry’s back.” Bell grunted, reaching behind him to pull Terry around in front of him.
Andy stared at Terry for a moment, then sat back on his haunches. “... Oh.”
“Yeah.” Bell crossed his arms over his chest.
“Er… you don’t seem too happy about that. I’ve been gone three moons, didn’t you miss me?” Terry looked between the two of them, frowning. “Well… I mean… I didn’t expect ANDY to care, but…”
“Why are you back?” Bell interrupted, glaring at Terry.
“I-” Terry started, but was interrupted immediately.
“You should have stayed away.” Andy huffed angrily.
“Andy, relax.” Bell grunted back. “Let him speak.” He put a hand on Terry’s back. “Terry, you should have stayed in whatever nice house you ended up in. There’s nothing for you out here.”
Terry put his ears back. “But… didn’t you miss me? Weren’t you worried?”
“Of course not, you idiot.” Andy snapped, glaring at him. “After we-”
“Andy! Gently, he’s just a pup.” Bell interrupted, then sighed, turning to Terry. “Terry, we had hoped you would stay put. You were someplace better. Someplace where you could have all the food you wanted, shelter every night, someplace safe to sleep. Everything a pup needs. Out here, you don’t have ANY of that.”
Terry looked down at the floor, kicking at what was left of a fixture where one of the seats used to be for a few moments. “But I… I mean, I missed you guys. I missed Kendra. I came back as soon as I could get away…”
Bell sighed and shook his head. “Terry… go back to your new home. Do you remember where that is? Do you need me to take you?”
“No! I mean, yes, I remember how to get back, but… I don’t WANT to go.” Terry stammered out. He was confused. Bell had seemed to like him, had been nice to him most of his life. He couldn’t understand why he wasn’t happy to see him now.
Andy snorted. “Stop coddling the kid, Bell. He needs to know.”
“Know what? What’s going on? Why are you mad that I’m here?” Terry held his ears back and looked between the two pack leaders.
Andy locked eyes with Bell and glowered. “Tell him. Tell him, or I will.”
Bell stared back at Andy for a few moments. “Okay, fine. But gently.” He turned to Terry. “Terry, let’s go for a walk.”
Terry hesitated, then exited the bus with Bell. Bell started walking with him, sighing. “Okay… where to begin…”
Terry stayed quiet, letting Bell begin to collect his thoughts. “Terry, what do you remember about the day that animal control got you?”
He frowned. “Well… Kendra took me to the park and told me a story. Then you showed up and she went to speak to you, and as soon as she was gone, animal control was there and put me in their van. I was yelling for her to come and help me, but she didn’t hear. She must have been so worried about me these last few moons…” He put his ears back and wrung his hands together.
Bell tilted his head back to stare up at the moon for a few moments. “I was the signal to let her know that animal control was almost there, actually. To give her the chance to get away before they got there.”
Terry’s ears perked, and he looked over at Bell, surprised.
Bell sighed. “Andy was the one that called animal control. He waited until he saw Kendra entering the park, then used the pay phone across the street to report your location. My job was to keep an eye on the roads going into the park and give Kendra the signal when they were out of their van and ready to go.”
Terry put his ears back. “You two? You’re the reason animal control got me?!” He stopped walking and stared at Bell in horror. “But I thought- you were supposed to help protect us from animal control! You’re the pack leaders!”
Bell turned to stare at Terry, shaking his head and giving a sad sigh. “You don’t understand, Terry. We’ve been having a hard time getting enough food for everybody as it is. We decided that letting animal control get you before you were too old to be guaranteed adoption was the best thing we could do for you.”
There was a moment’s silence, and then Terry shook his head, tears prickling at the corners of his eyes. “And you made Kendra go along with it. I can’t believe you. Well, it didn’t work. I’m back. Where is she? I wanna say hi.” He turned to walk off, looking around and sniffing the air.
“Terry… She’s not here.” Bell stepped toward Terry, moving to put his hand on Terry’s shoulder.
Terry jerked away from Bell and glared at him. “I don’t want to talk to you right now. Where’s Kendra? She’s been missing me this whole time. You made her give me up!”
“It was her idea.” Bell sighed, shaking his head. “It broke her heart, but she knew it was the only thing she could do.”
“You’re lying!” Terry turned and scowled at Bell, putting his ears back. “You’re just LYING! Kendra would never do that if she didn’t have to! Now where is she?!”
“Terry… Kendra’s dead.” Bell reached for Terry, then hesitated and pulled his hand back, sighing. “Let me tell you the whole story.”

[Amazee Dayzee]

I'm wondering if Kendra knew that she was dying and that the pack leaders went along with Kendra as a last request because I can't see Andy giving a toss that Terry was safe after she was gone. She came up with the idea so that Terry would have a chance at a better life because she knew once she was gone the pack would ultimately just abandon Terry.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 28: Three Moons Ago

Kendra climbed down off the bench and started to walk away, toward Bell. It was taking everything she had not to turn back around, grab Terry, and run off with him, apologize for what she had almost done, and hold him tight to her chest. Her eyes filled with tears when she realized she would probably never see him again.
A thought occurred to her, and she hesitated. She needed to say something to him, last words to remember her by. But what? She turned around and looked at him for a moment, then called out to him. “Hey, Terry… Be a good boy for me, okay?”
The pup smiled at her and waved, calling back. “Okay, Kendra!” He was watching her, but she wasn’t watching him. She could see them, the animal control officers, with their catch rods, walking down the path toward him. They were still around the corner, and probably couldn’t see her or Terry. She gasped and turned to run, her stomach flipping.
Bell grabbed her as she reached him, pulling her quickly into the bushes. “Cutting it close. They almost saw you.”
Terry’s voice floated to them, frantic and faint. “Kendra, help!” There was a pause, and a yelp of pain from one of the humans, and Terry’s voice sounded again. “Kendra, please! They’ve got me! KENDRA!”
Kendra put a hand over her mouth and put her ears back, choking back a sob as she listened to the pup crying out for help, desperate for her to come back and save him. She wanted to run to him, to tell him it would be all right and that she was doing what was best for him, even if it didn’t feel like it at the time. She almost DID, but Bell kept his hand firmly gripping her arm.
When Terry’s voice finally faded to silence, Bell turned Kendra to look at her. “Are you going to be okay? I know it was hard, but it was for his own good. He’ll have a much better life than we could have given him.”
Kendra nodded. She could feel her heart breaking into a million pieces. “I… it was my idea, after all. I just didn’t think it would be so… HARD. Hearing him crying like that… He needed me, and I betrayed him. I feel so… dirty.”
Bell pulled Kendra in and let her cry against his chest for a little while before patting her back. “We need to get moving. We have to meet up with the pack.”
Kendra nodded, scrubbing her eyes with her wrists. “I’m… I’m coming.” She reached out for the hand she was so accustomed to holding, the small and frail one that had been by her side for years, but it wasn’t there, and would never be there again. She put her ears back and stood up, grabbing her elbow instead.
Over the next few days, Bell kept an eye on Kendra. She went with the pack, but was always trailing behind, looking behind her. She seemed sad, and after all, shouldn’t she be? She’d raised Terry for almost five years and then given him up in a single day. But worse, she wasn’t eating. When the rest of the pack raided a dumpster or hunted rats, she stayed behind, watching without a word.
After a few days of this, Bell kept some food and approached Kendra with it, holding it out for her. “You need to eat. I don’t think you’ve eaten since-” He trailed off. He didn’t want to mention Terry and open up the wound afresh. “... Since the park.” He finished lamely, pushing the stale buns into her hand. “Please.”
Kendra looked down at the bag and sighed, holding her ears back and looking vacantly at the ground. “... Terry loved it when we found bread. It was one of his favorites. He used to say he liked how squishy it was.”
Bell sighed and nudged her. “Kendra, I know you miss him, but you’ve GOT to eat.”
She handed the bag of buns back. “I’m… not hungry.” She turned to walk away. Bell sighed, watching her.
“Kendra…” He sighed and started walking after her, then stopped and shook his head. “You’re going to make yourself sick.”
That night, Bell found Kendra as they camped on the far side of the landfill from the bulk of town, way out close to the forest. He lay down next to her and watched the stars sparkle high overhead. The two lay there in silence together for a long time.
Kendra was the first to speak. “What kind of family do you think adopted him? Or… probably… will adopt him?”
Bell glanced her way, then back up at the stars, watching them sparkle for a moment longer before answering. “I bet he’s got a nice family now. A mom, and a dad, and maybe two little children that just adore him. Maybe, if he’s lucky, there’s another dog there that can show him the ropes on how to be the family pet, guard the house when they go out, protect the kids from bad dreams, and bark at the mailman when he comes to bring the mail.”
He paused for a few moments, then added more. “They’ll go on picnics in the park every Sunday, and Terry will be able to run and play like we were never able to let him. He’ll start giggling again, just like he used to when we found him, when he was a pup.”
Kendra rolled to look at Bell, then back to stare up at the sky. “I think he’s going to just have a mom. She’ll give him all the attention that she possibly can, and they’ll cuddle and watch television together every night. Then, at bedtime, he’ll crawl into her bed- even though he’s not supposed to- and they’ll snuggle all through the night. Then, in the morning, she’ll make him pancakes, with extra syrup, and they’ll be light and fluffy, just like he likes, and won’t have any mold on them. He’ll get extra bacon strips with his, of course, because he’s such a good boy that he deserves them.”
Bell smiled. “That WOULD be something, wouldn’t it?”
The silence returned, only the sounds of the wind in the tall grass and the crickets and the occasional night bird filling the time as they watched the stars together. After a long while, Kendra sat up and looked over at Bell, then scooted closer and lay next to him. “He always liked to cuddle, even though I pretended not to like it. I don’t know why. I think… At first, it was because he reminded me so much of my own pup. And then… It was just because I had already started doing it.”
Bell reached over and squeezed Kendra’s hand quietly. She needed comfort, and he didn’t know how to give it to her, so he decided to just be an ear for her rambling.
“Do you think… do you think my pup’s waiting for me in heaven?” Kendra turned to look at Bell quietly.
Bell looked at her, surprised, then nodded and looked up. “Yeah, I suppose he is. I bet he’s been waiting for you all this time, looking down on you and proud of how well you’ve done raising another pup. I bet he wishes he could have stayed here with you.”
She smiled over at him, a weak, sickly smile. Bell squeezed her hand gently and smiled back. They chatted for a while longer, about Kendra’s pup, and about Terry and the future they hoped he would have.
Bell didn’t notice when he fell asleep, but his sleeping form noticed when the warmth started to fade, and he turned away from Kendra to curl up and hug his knees to keep warm.
Kendra never woke in the morning.

[Amazee Dayzee]

So it looks like Kendra either died from a broken heart or she starved herself to death because her heart was broken when she made sure Terry went to a good home where he could be taken care of. The two things obviously are not exclusive and both could have happened with her broken heart stopping her from eating but it looks like she didn't know she was dying nor was she dying in that case.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 29: Graveside Goodbyes

“It would be poetic to say she died of a broken heart, but really, she just starved to death.” Bell shook his head quietly with a sigh. “Maybe she did it on purpose. With you gone, she couldn’t see any reason to keep going, and just gave up. Who can really say?”
He put a hand on Terry’s shoulder and looked him in the eye. “I gave her the best burial I could- which is to say, a shallow grave out the back of the landfill. I marked it with an old bean can, if you wanted to-” He trailed off, then sighed.
“Anyway, you can’t stay here, with us. We don’t have any place for you, Terry. Go home. Go back to your new family. They’ll be missing you soon.” He turned and nodded to the pink beginnings of the sunrise. “I have to go take care of my pack. I wish you all the happiness you can possibly find.” He turned and walked away, leaving Terry all alone at the hole in the junkyard fence.
Terry watched Bell go. “Bell?”
Bell paused and turned to look at him.
“Goodbye.”
There was a moment’s silence, and then Bell turned and resumed walking away. “May your feasts be many and untainted.”
Terry smiled sadly. It was a stray dog blessing, one given usually at a ceremonial marker whenever a pack member didn’t come back from the day’s foraging. After Bell disappeared from view, he turned and squeezed out through the hole in the fence.
He wandered for a while as the sky got slowly brighter, then sighed and looked around. The town was a lot lonelier than he remembered without Kendra at his side. It took him until the sun was fully above the horizon to reach the landfill, and he started wandering around the grass behind it until he found a bean can stuck, open-side down, in the dirt. He didn’t know if this was the right place, but he supposed it didn’t really matter.
He plopped down next to the can and stared at the sky, watching the clouds drift in the fading orange color from the sunlight. It felt like the longest time that he sat there, collecting his thoughts and trying to decide what to say. Eventually, he decided to start with, “Hi.”

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There was, of course, no answer. He wasn’t sure what he had been expecting; maybe an unexpected breeze to ruffle his ears, or maybe a butterfly to land on him, but instead, he got nothing. He waited a few more moments before continuing.
“I… went to see Bell. He told me what… what you did for me.” He wiggled his paws, tilting his toes in and out and back again as he sat in the grass. After a few moments, he continued.
“I just wanted to say… sorry. I’m sorry I wasn’t always the best pup you could have had. I didn’t always listen. I slowed you down, and I made it harder for you just by being there.” He leaned back, placing his hands on the ground and straightening his arms to support himself.
The silence stretched on, and Terry quietly considered the sun, slowly climbing in the sky. He thought about Bell’s story of Kendra’s last days, and he gave a weak smile.
“I did get a family, just like you thought. A small one, just me, one other dog, and a guy. His name’s John. He’s super nice, and patient too. I’ve bitten him a couple times, and he didn’t get mad. He just let me do it and asked me if it made me feel better.”
“Oh, and I have… I guess he’s kind of my brother. His name’s Barry. He’s older than me, but not as old as you were- oh, no offense, I didn’t mean it like that- and I think he used to be a stray, too. He’s never told me the story, but I heard him talking to John once, and John mentioned that he used to be just as jumpy and nervous as I’ve been. He’s nice, too. One time, I broke his favorite toy, and he didn’t tell John.”
Terry smiled sadly and looked down at the bean can, then back up at the sky. “I miss you every day, Kendra. I miss you so much. I wish you could have come with me. I bet John would have adopted us both.”
He gave a little laugh. “I have a stuffed animal, I named after you. It looks JUST like you, you know- thick fur, extra squeezeable. She’s helped me get used to living in a house. It’s really strange- we don’t move around, we just stay put. I have my own room, and Barry has his, and John has his, but we all share a bathroom. Every week, John gives me a bath, but he says when I’m older, he’ll let me take showers like him and Barry.”
His laugh trailed off into a sigh, and he lay back to stare at the clouds directly overhead. “I know why you did what you did, and I’m grateful that you did, but… I wish you had at least told me what you were doing. I spent so long trying to get back to you… but you were already gone, and I didn’t even know it.” He put his ears back and rolled to face the bean can, carefully touching it on the top.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to visit you again, but I’ll try, okay? I’ll try to come back as often as I can. Maybe one day I’ll bring John and Barry to meet you. It’ll be one big family reunion. Don’t worry, we’ll bring the snacks.” He sat up and stared down at the can for a few moments, thinking if he had anything else he wanted to say.
“I hope Bell was right, and your pup was waiting for you up in heaven. Then you would be together again, and you wouldn’t have to be so sad all the time. Don’t worry about me, I’ll live my life as best I can, and then I’ll come up there to see you, and we can be together again, and for once, we won’t have to be hungry. And then we can run around, and play, and laugh together, just like we should have been able to do here, if the world had been kinder.” He watched a cloud drifting past, and he thought maybe it looked just a little bit like Kendra smiling down at him from heaven.
“For now, you and your pup just have a good time up there in heaven. Eat all the best foods, dance in the moonlight, say hi to all our friends that we’ve lost over the years.”
“Oh! John said he’s going to start teaching me how to read next week! He says it’s important for pups like myself to know how to read letters and do basic math, whatever that is. I bet it’s going to be fun.” He stood up and stared down at the can.
“I… I have to go. I kind of… ran away. John and Barry are probably up and worried sick about me.” He looked around, then plucked a dandelion and carefully laid it on the ground next to the bean can. “I have a lot of explaining to do. I better go apologize and beg them to let me come back.”
As Terry turned to go, a light breeze rustled through the grass, gusting up against Terry’s face and making his ears bob a little. He closed his eyes and let it brush against him, and for a moment, he would have sworn it felt like a hand was ruffling his headfluff, and the wind felt like it was whispering his name. He smiled and chose to believe it was Kendra giving him one last farewell from the beyond.

[Amazee Dayzee]

I guess that is it for Terry's association with the pack and now he will be able to commit to his new family with the closure that he has gotten. Also I am pretty sure that John knew that Terry would take off and believed that he would come back soon because he needed to find a conclusion to his previous life.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

That wraps it up for this story. Don't worry, there's a LOT more of Terry's story that I want to tell- I had to cut myself off when I was writing this because it was getting too long! Thank you so much for reading, and we'll see you in the next one!

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Chapter 30: Homecoming

Terry watched the ground pass by underfoot. It looked like he was pushing the ground backward, rather than pushing himself forward as he walked. The sun was pretty far along its arc by now; not high overhead, but at least a hand’s width from the horizon. He looked up and paused, staring at the house from the street.
His home.
Where his new dad was waiting for him with his new brother.
He put his ears back and trudged up the driveway, then the sidewalk, then finally the porch, grabbing the door handle and letting himself in.
John was sitting at the table with his coffee, and Barry was sitting next to him with his breakfast. They looked at Terry, and Barry did a double-take.
“Wait, I thought you were still sleeping…” Barry mumbled, clearly confused.
Terry stepped forward and put a hand on John’s elbow, feeling his eyes well up with tears. “J-john? I’m sorry I ran away… I’m sorry… c-can I please come back?” His voice was wobbly and weak, like he was having a hard time getting the words out. He WAS having a hard time getting the words out, he realized; something inside of him was getting in the way.
John looked down at him, then set down his coffee and turned in his seat to put his arms around Terry, gently lifting him up into his lap and pulling him into his chest, putting his arms around him. “Of course you can come back. You’re always welcome here, no matter how long you’ve been away.”
Terry let himself be pulled into John’s body, then buried his face in his chest. The embrace felt nice, warm and safe and everything he’d ever wanted out of life. He let it go on and on. Something inside him finally broke, and a sob slipped free.
Terry put his arms up and around John as far as he could reach, pulling himself closer and letting out all the tears he’d been holding inside him for as long as he could remember, sobbing and putting his ears back.
John didn’t try to stop him or tell him he was being a baby; he just raised an arm to rub the back of Terry’s head and started rocking him, humming gently to him, a soft, tuneless hum. “There we go, it’s okay. Just let it all out, good boy. You’re safe now. John and Barry are here, we won’t let anything hurt you anymore.”
Barry stepped over and leaned up to join in the hug, burying his muzzle in Terry’s back silently.
Terry sniffled and nuzzled into John’s chest. “... Kendra’s dead…” He murmured quietly. “She died before you ever brought me home.”
John paused in his loving strokes, then resumed. “Oh… That’s pretty sad.”
“She didn’t lose me to animal control. She gave me up. She knew she couldn’t take care of me anymore, so she made sure I got to someone who could.” He looked up at John, putting his ears back and blinking away the last of the tears. “She sent me to you.”
John looked down and used his index finger and thumb to clear the tears from Terry’s eyes. “Did she, now?”
He nodded quietly, then looked down as his stomach gurgled. “Hey, Dad?”
John didn’t say anything about it, but Terry didn’t miss the little glint of happiness in his eyes when Terry called him dad. “Yes, Terry?”
“I’m hungry.”
John looked down at Terry for a moment, then chuckled and set him on the floor, standing up. “Well, then. I guess we’d better find you some breakfast then, shouldn’t we?”

THE END

[Amazee Dayzee]

I do really like stories that have a happy note to end on and I am glad that Terry finally is at peace with his new life. It isn't too much of a favorable ending as Terry's surrogate mother died but I suppose that was the only way Terry was ever going to accept that he couldn't be part of the pack anymore and to stop coming around and trying to reunite with Kendra and Kendra who deeply loved Terry might have eventually succumbed and taken Terry back.