Mirror Castle

Dog

I'm back on the strange road. Now a thick blueish hue. I pass by colorful trees, countless flowers, all their small leafy limbs reaching out to brush my lovely dress. Play with my unbraided hair. The fibers tickle me, and I tickle them back, amazed by their soft lovely texture. Have I just felt? Have I reached out and enjoyed the world around me? I don't know if I ever did, but now I want to feel every tree, every flower. I want to enjoy the morning hair, to sing with the wind, to run with the clouds. I want to experience life like never before. 

Life opens before me. I watch birds sing in their nests, feeding young chicks. I watch as fat squirrels chitter at me, munching on nuts. Deer jumped over the road, waiting for their young who tentatively touched the road. With nervous bubbling joy, they raced across to meet up with their parents. 

Bears munch on honey, foxes lie lazily on the ground, their young playing with a ball of weeds. Wolves howl nearby, chasing weasels who dart underground chittering playfully. 

There's a shift in the tone. From all the laughter, and chittering I hear a soft little whimper, barely audible. I stop staring down a path. It's not blue, but a strange white red mix. It melds more into the ground and takes a large step to get across to it. The whimpering increases, as I step forward. 

In a grove of black lilies, I find a small dog. Old and weak, lying next to a large tomb. It notices me, grey muzzle sniffing the air. It turns back to the tomb whimpering increasing. I tentatively walked over to the dog kneeling beside it. 

The grave is fresh, new. It is a single stone with words scrawled across it. "Best friend to a dog. Loyal to a fault. Died of ripe good old age. Will forever be missed by all."

The small dark brown dog, covered in a dusting of white, is very old but muscular like all dogs are. Broad square head, with round dark brown eyes, it's tail thumps as I brush a palm over it's back. It's very, very soft like down feathers. The dog leans further against me, head flat on my leg. 

We sit like that for a while, maybe for eternity. I don't know, I just remember whispering hoarsely, "Your best friend died. You poor dog." 

The dog whimpers in agreement. I brush it's head, "Must be hard. To lose someone so precious to you. I've never felt it before, but I suppose I can imagine how painful it must be for you. You see I just made a friend, my first ever friend. And if anything happened to him, I'd be very sad." We sit a bit longer, when an idea pops in my head, "Would you be bothered if I make you my second ever friend?"

The dog tilts its head at me.

"Your friend wouldn't want you to be lonely. I mean, if I was this friend, I would think I'd hope for your happiness. Can I give you that happiness? Can I become your next friend? Not to replace them, but so that you won't be lonely?" 

The dog thinks about this carefully. Sniffing me, then it sits up and licks my cheeks. I smile, "Can I take this as a yes?"

The dog barks gleefully getting up. It turns to the tomb pressing its nose to it, then walks back to me. Standing up I pat it's head, "Let us go then. I am on a journey. I'd love for you to come with me." 

It barks once more and we are on the blue pathway. Along the way, I jabber to the dog. "I'm a very bad person dog. My parents are bad people. I did such horrible things, now that I question." I shake my head, "I wonder if I can ever atone for what I've done? I mean, I was a child... and I only wanted to survive, but does that make it any better?"

The dog huffs licking my hand. I giggle, "Guess you are right. I'm not a bad person, am I? But I'm not good either. Not yet anyway." 

For what seems like a startlingly long time, the night sky finally made its appearance. Lights flash, bugs overtaking the sleepy birds. Their crickets, and chirps filling the entire night sky in a cascade of music. The moon high above sways to the beat, clouds rushing away finding the next morning. Stars flash overhead, energetic and eager to shine. 

"Do you think we should sleep?" 

The dog yips finding us a comfortable place to rest. I lie down against the soft grass, feeling a warmth spread across me when the dog curled up in front of me, head under my chin. Reaching over I tug it closer to my chest, feeling my heart beating with it's. "I've never felt warmth like this." 

The dog licks my under-chin. 

I hug it closer to me, "I've never felt this warm except when that old man placed me in that bed. Is this the warmth of love? Did he love me then? And do I love you? Do you love me? The heart is very strange isn't it?" I pull out my hearts showing the dog, "I feel as if each time I get a heart, I change... is the change good? Or is this in a way as bad as when I was a tool?"

It huffs. 

I laugh, "Dog, you are so sure of yourself aren't you..." I brush its soft ears, "I met an old man, who gave me a heart. He taught me questions. And then I met a young broken boy... he told me the old man took my pain... then I met an old hag, I wanted to kill her... and when I decided not to she gave me a heart. I met a bug... a really nice bug, and he taught me how to be a child. during that time I met a ghost, and this ghost was so lonely and sad..." Warm tears fell off my nose, "She gave me a heart because I listened to her story... I don't know how many hearts I need. Or if I'm even close to finishing this journey... but when I do..." I sob, "I hope I can enjoy the real-life like this life here. I want to be a bug, I want to be an adult. I want... I want happiness... now that I have a taste of it. It's addicting. This warmth..."