THE YARD

Chapter 11

"We can find another good stick to wrestle over again," Jax suggested as he headed away. White Dog turned to follow, his thin tail whipping.

"I don't want to do that. You always break the sticks," he conversed. Their voices started to blend in with the twittering birds as the male dogs went behind the dog-houses.

"Such an odd duo. They hate each other and yet can tolerate only each other," Shadow commented.

"Agreed," Flare said sincerely. White Dog's wide arrange of knowledge went well with Jax's inexperience. And Grey Dog's dominating antics matched well with Mocha's passive and accepting mindset. Bad as it sounds.

"How come we don't play?" Shadow said randomly. Taken aback, Flare looked at him uncertainly.

"We're not pups," she began.

"Not pup-play. But we could find sticks, or race each other like they do."

"Seems like pup play to me," Flare said. Even as the words left her muzzle she realized how defensive she sounded.

"It gives us something to do," Shadow said imploringly.

"I suppose." She looked away lazily, head on her paws. The real reason Flare didn't want to play was because she was nervous about the other dogs noticing her and saying something, though she wouldn't admit it. For the majority of her life, she hadn't truly played with any dog or anything.

"Come on, let's do it. When's the last time you had fun around here?"

Never, she thought, and looked at him seriously.

"Wow. Okay." Shadow began searching around on the ground for a play-thing. He found a flattened, slightly-decomposed pinecone that almost fell apart when grasped.

"This will do," he stated matter-of-factly as he disposed of it near Flare's tail.

"How could we play with that?" Flare asked, starting to warm up to the idea. Shadow was very persuasive. And of all things, the brown dog had chosen a rotten pinecone.

"Well, there's aren't any sticks over here, okay?" He said amusingly. Flare let her sandy tail wag and rose into a sit, studying the pinecone.

"Go on, grab it. Won't poke you since it's flat," Shadow encouraged. Flare gripped it between her canines delicately, then let her lips fall over it when she confirmed that it wasn't prickly. The pinecone both tasted and smelled of tree bark.

"Okay, now I'm gonna try to take it away from you. You can either run, dodge, or wrestle me away."

Flare felt nervous anticipation turning in her belly. She didn't have time to think about it, though, because Shadow moved almost instantly.

He was was a sleek blur of motion as he made for Flare's pinecone. When Flare turned her head away, Shadow followed and made several snatching attempts with his muzzle.

Flare was so nervous that she almost dropped the pinecone. It was her natural reaction to want to run away, even in something as innocent as a game. She had to jerk her teeth forward to catch it before it slipped, and soon after that her legs were carrying her across The Yard.

The tan dog followed the fence line in a natural attempt to escape Shadow's flurry of swipes. When she was finally cornered by the two sides of fence joining, she released the pinecone and let it fall.

Shadow came up with concern. He cocked his head slightly, questioning. "Why did you drop it?"

Flare had no answer; naturally, she had dropped something that the opposing dog wanted. Nearly ashamed, she tucked her tail and looked away.

"It's okay, Flare." She stiffened. Shadow hardly ever used her name.

"I can tell that being chased by another dog ain't natural for you. It doesn't feel like play. Why don't you do it to me instead?"

This time, Flare was determined to try and experience what Shadow was aiming for. They returned to the porch, and when Shadow grabbed the pinecone he didn't run. Instead, the male jerked his head this way and that, as Flare made a futile attempt to gently grab it out of his mouth.

She could soon tell that her attempts weren't willful enough to do anything. Becoming more engaged in the task, she felt her muscles burn as she tried again and again for the flattened pinecone.

Their heads collided, but not painfully; and Shadow jumped from the impact. He threw his front legs up in a playful gesture and starting running with his rear-end close to the ground, tail dragging along. Any supervising humans would've called this the dog's 'zoomies'.

Bemused, Flare followed him with a slower-paced trot. When Shadow saw she was behind him, he sped up.

Flare did as well and let her tongue loll out. The brown planks of the fence flashed by as she pursued Shadow. He made it to the back fence and turned around just as quickly.

Flare was gleeful by the time he darted around her advanced. She pounced towards the pinecone but was too slow to find purchase with it. Her teeth closed on empty air.

Excited by the chase, Flare followed Shadow around The Yard as he zig-zagged and sprinted in circles. They stopped and romped around together every now and then. At one point Shadow dropped the pinecone and gave a soft growl. The tan dog knew by the light tone of it that it was merely play, and she began doing so herself. After that, she snatched the pinecone in her jowels and raced away with it, Shadow in pursuit. She was no longer nervous about Shadow chasing her. All too soon, Flare was panting with exhaustion, and her legs were burning- but it was overall a nice sensation. She played through the pain for awhile longer, occasionally nibbling Shadow's face and neck playfully. He seemed to enjoy every bit of it. All the rest of the evening, Flare didn't think about the other dogs. When she played like this, it was easy to distract herself from the negative things.

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Image shown below is Flare sleeping. (I finally found a pic that is true to how furry she is!!!)