bright

good golly

i shut my eyes to mute the whines and whimpers coming from the other dogs. the floor felt harder then ever. they were gathered around one of the dogs who had recently collapsed. did he faint, or was he dead? as a volley of panic barks pierced through the air, i cracked my eyes open. salsa, the norwegian lundehund, turned to me and padded up. "skidder?" he said, looking at me puzzled. i lazily raised my muzzle up. "yeah?" i mumbled. salsa's ears pinned back. "are you alright?" he asked. i blinked in confusion. "of course." i replied quietly. i suppressed a sigh. i was lying. i was actually worried about the dog, merlin. i loved the west highland white terrier, but if he had died id be so depressed, and when i get depressed i don't get sleep. salsa huffed. "okay, just checking." he turned back to the crowd of dogs, beginning to chatter again. i shut my eyes again, calming down slightly and feeling myself relax. my paws didn't ache anymore and the ground didn't feel hard. is this what wonderland feels like?

my eyelids snapped open. i couldn't hear a sound. i had noticed i fell asleep. i lifted my muzzle up and gave my head a shake. no dogs were around. merlin's body wasn't. i stretched my jaws into a wide yawn and leapt up to my paws. i shook my fluffy coat and trotted across the floor, looking for the others.

i finally caught someone's scent. it was bubba, the bulldog. i greeted her with a friendly yap. "hiya bubba!" i yelped. she sat up and gave a satisfying lick of her jaws. "hello, skidder." she replied. i yawned again. "did merlin d-die?" i choked out, stammering. it was a habit, and it needed to stop. bubba didn't look disappointed, she just looked at me with no emotions. "i don't know." she said quietly. i nodded, sitting on my haunches beside her. i looked up at her. "bubba, where do dogs go when they die?" i questioned curiously. she lowered her head and didn't make eye contact back. "to a happy place." she murmured. i cocked my head, perplexed. "what is this happy place?" i asked again. she huffed out a sigh. "it has a lot of clouds," she began, perking her head up. i fell on my belly, interested. "and endless food and water," at this point my mouth started to bubble with saliva. "but," she said, looking off into the distance. her gaze softened with sadness. "we can't see them anymore."