Fly

Freedom of a sort

"Um, yeah, sure... Whatever helps you sleep at night I guess...", I managed to reply. Wow, I was being really dismissive of the young pup; something's wrong with me, it must be. This wasn't like me at all, I usually loved meeting new dogs.

Then it struck me; I was in a kennel, with another dog, and there were more surrounding me. The potent smell of fear and abandonment, the anxious whines of confused dogs, the deflating feeling of lost hope all around; I was back in a dog's home. Well, it certainly explained my change in behaviour.

I sighed, turned to face Bo, and apologised. Thankfully, he just shrugged it off.

"That's ok, Storm. I know what it's like to have to find out you've ended up in kennels, it's enough to change any of us.", he dismissed, a playful smile creeping to his face. "So, you wanna play tag?"

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"Walkies time!", one of the kennel staff called out, her words echoing down the long corridor. Instantly, the sound of excited dogs crashing against the mesh kennel doors drowned out the lady's voice. Bo and I knew we were two of the dogs who would be embarking on today's group walk.

Our carer, Sue, came into our kennel, clipped on out leads, and led us out of the kennel block, out into the courtyard where we all would gather. We were the first two to arrive, quickly followed by a Pug called Pearl, a Retriever who I believed was called Marlowe and two Terriers, Charlie and Luca. There were two new dogs on today's walk who neither Bo nor I recognised.

Once we were all gathered, the pack moved off towards the path we would be walking on. Bo jumped around excitedly next to me; this path, or so he told me, led to an enclosed field that had a river running through it, where all of us would be allowed off lead.

We reached the field about ten minutes later. Just like Bo had said, we were let off our leads as soon as the gate was closed. Marlowe, Pearl, Charlie, Luca and Bo all shot off down to the river. I was never guessed on water and decided to try and make friends with the two other dogs instead.

They were sat together a few strides away from me looking over the entire field. They obviously knew each other as they were happily chatting amongst themselves. I warily approached, careful to not scare them or provoke some unwanted reaction. When I was close enough, I was able to catch a snippet of their conversation.

"Nugget, what if Breeze doesn't come for us? I mean, I trust her, but how's she gonna get us out?"

"Come on, Natcho. This is Breeze we're talking about. The same Breeze who got us off that farm, and the same Breeze who gave us hope. I know she'll get us out. Besides, she went to get that dog... Storm I think, the one she always spoke so fondly about. If she can't get us out, I bet you all the squeaky toys in the world that he will."

"Breeze? Y...you know B...breeze?", I stammered. 'There's no way they're talking about my Breeze. It just couldn't be possible. The chance of them knowing where she is...'

One of the dogs-the one I took to be Natcho-turned to face me. "Well, that depends...", she replied skeptically.

"Quite small, brown and white. She's a Border Collie.", I quickly added.

The two now both turned to face me, a quizzical look covering their faces. "Yeah, we do. How do you know her?", the other, Nugget, asked.

"Well, I'm the Storm she was talking about. Is she alright? Where is she? Oh, frisbee, please tell me she's ok?", I said, panic beginning to creep in.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down there, pal. She was fine when we last saw her, she said she'd gone to get some help to get us out of here; That was only this morning.", Natcho replied calmly.

Relief washed over me like a rogue wave, thank frisbees she was alright! I didn't know what I would have done with myself I knew any harm had come to her.

"How is it you know her then, if it's ok for me to ask?"

"Well, it's quite a long story, but basically, we got stolen a long time ago and taken to a farm for dog fighting. Years later, the same thing happened to your friend, to Breeze. Well, she wasn't putting up with any of that and devised a plan to help us escape. It worked but we got spotted by the dog warden and brought here... Phew, that was a mouthful and a half!", an out-of-breath Nugget answered.

"Well, do you know where she went after that?", I was becoming desperate now; this was probably my last chance to find her.

However, both dogs just lowered their heads in dismay. "We're sorry, Storm,  we really are. And we want to help, but the only thing we can do is wait for her to come back for us...", Natcho trailed off glumly.

"That's ok guys. Thanks for looking out for her while you were on that farm. I'm sure she'll come back for you two soon."

We all sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes, listening to the happy sounds of the carefree dogs splashing about in the river. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the staff standing by the gate beginning to organise the leads for the journey back to the kennels. With a great reluctance, I motioned to Nugget and Natcho that I was going to head over to them, hesitantly rise to my feet and ambled over to the gate.

"Good boy, Storm", was what I was greeted with, followed promptly by a tickle behind my ears. The holder of my lead then called Bo over to her, clipped on his lead, and led us out the gate.

My head was held low on the walk back to the kennel block; I had failed everyone-my girl, Breeze, and in some level, Nugget and Nacho who had been living in the hope that I would come and rescue them. But I couldn't, I had never been able to. It was stupid of me to have ever thought I could. A cold nose to the shoulder soon sent my thoughts packing.

"Hey, Storm, what's wrong? Why didn't you come play in the river with me?", Bo asked confused.

I sighed. "It's nothing, Bo, don't worry about it, ok?", I dismissed. "Where are we, by the way?"

"Oh, uhhh...somewhere in Wales I think, I'm not too sure. Why'd you ask?", he said, answering my question with another.

"I thought I recognised this place is all; the road seems really familiar..,"

Bo tilted his head at me in confusion. "Hang on, I'll ask Luca. Lu..."

"No, that's alright.", I interrupted. "I defiantly know this place. It's...it's..."

Without thinking about anything else, I stopped, put my paws over my head and ran backwards. My actions got the results I desired; my collar flew over my head and I ran, fast.

I was going home!

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A/N
Ahhh, only 2 chapters and epilogue left! I can't believe how close we are to the end...

And thanks for the 1.2 thousand reads. That is absolutely insane! It was only twelve days ago that I was having a crazy attack because this book had 800 reads! Thank you everyone!!!!

Question today is...
Favourite Dog Show?
(Mine would have to be Crufts or the Open Junior Agility Championships. It'd be interesting to hear from you guys the type of shows you like, especially from my readers outside the UK!)

And also, have you been able to go to that show before??
(I've been to Crufts once and I've represented my country(Wales) at OJACs three times and will be again next year!!)

Waggs and woofs
Storm xx