The Lands of Ralosia & Ranuulo- Short Story Collection

~Charred Chest Chapter 2 - The Boy and his family~

~Chapter 2- The boy and his family~

~ Age 991 B ~

~25 Years later~

As old age visited Veena, her hair greyed, and her body weakened a bit. But she stayed active, continuing to help new and old clients of the area. People knew they could always count on her for help.

But unfortunately, some took that for granted. One night Veena was awoken by the chirps of quiet barks and whines outside her door. She found a small wooden cage sitting outside. In it were a few newborn Shepard puppies.

Veena figured that whoever owned these puppies didn't want to take care of them, so they assumed she would.

They were right.

Veena would've preferred not to have this responsibility thrust upon her, but she wasn't going to leave the puppies on their own. At least until she found someone else who would take care of them.

She nursed them through their infancy. Veena asked a few boys from the nearby town to help build a small pen for the litter of puppies. Whenever any of her clients came to her home, she would solicit them to see if they wanted one of the puppies. Unfortunately none of them did.

After a few months the pups were running around with boundless energy. This breed of canine would grow to a size where one person could ride them. Veena knew that in a few months they could be as large as her.

At Veena's age, she was struggling to rein in the pups. She wouldn't be able to handle them if they got much bigger. Maybe if she was still in thirties or forties she could. Either way, Veena needed to find an owner for each of them soon.

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Veena was prepping food for the pups, she was making the same high-protein meal she used to prepare for her old dog. The puppies weren't as picky as he was, so they ate it up ravenously.

Veena carried the bowls of food out to their pen... it was getting too small for them. As they ran around in it, the dogs kept bumping into each other. She'd need help making a larger pen for them soon. With how big it would need to be, she'd need more than the help of the neighborhood kids.

As the pups scarfed down their food, Veena watched the sky as it neared dusk. But she saw something approaching from the green plains on the horizon. A great canine with pointed ears and legs long enough to walk beneath. For a moment she mistook it for her old dog.

She recognized the white and grey fur of the dog. A young man with rough black hair and a big grin on his face was riding on the dog bareback. She smiled right back at him as he approached. It was an acquaintance of hers, a young man by the name of Aero, with his dog, Hopper.

As they marched towards her, Veena noticed three other men traveling with them.

The group stopped near the old woman. Hopper squinted at her until his eyes were filled with recognition. The dog stooped his head down near her so that he could be pet. Veena was more than happy to oblige, rubbing the top of his head.

"Hello again, Hopper." Veena said as she petted him.

"Hey Veena! It's been a while!" Aero greeted her with and honest grin from atop Hopper. He appeared to be around sixteen-years old now.

"Yes, it has been too long. You've grown!" Veena smiled sweetly at Aero. She glanced at the group he traveled with, "Who is that with you?"

Aero backflipped off of his dog and landed soundly on the ground in front of her. 'Just as athletic as always' Veena thought.