The Wolf's Marine

Thank You

"Storm." Grandpa says as he pulls away from our awkward hug. "Grandpa." I smile.

"Come over here and sit down. You have some explaining to do young missy." Grandpa says sternly as he pulls a stool out from under the counter.

I walk behind the counter and sit down, Cowboy sitting at my left side. I stare at my knees for a moment before telling him the whole story of why I left.

The whole time he just nods his head, and occasionally gasps at the horrid things Mark had done and the horrors of war I experienced.

"You lost your leg, but you've never looked taller." Grandpa says as he looks at me with amusement at our inside joke. I smile at him, giving him my best grin.

"Well, I assume you need a job." Grandpa says as he gets up from his chair and reaches for something under the counter.

"Was it that obvious." I chuckle as I rub Cowboy's ears. "Just a little." Grandpa laughs as he pulls out a big box from under the counter.

"This is for you." He grunts as he tries to pull the box out. I stand and gently nudge him aside.

I gingerly wrap my fingers around the edges of the box and I lift it up. It's rather heavy, but my training has my muscles built for this kind of work.

I carry the box to my stool and set it down beside Cowboy. My dog sniffs the box and looks at me with those big puppy dog eyes. He wants to pee on it. I can see it in those eyes of his.

"Don't you dare." I whisper growl at him. He glares at me before laying down, clearly not happy with my decision.

I carefully open the box, inside is...towels?

I take the towels out and set the beside Cowboy, under the towels is what made the box so heavy.

There in that dusty old box was multiple boxes of shotgun shells. 20 gauge to be precise.

I look at Grandpa with confusion. I don't own a 20 gauge shotgun, and he knows that.

"Go to the back store room. It's in there." I quickly stand and make my way to the store room.

I flick the light on and it nearly blinds me. Grandpa must've got a new lightbulb, way brighter than the old one.

Once my eyes adjust to the bright light I see it. There hanging in the gun rack is a beautiful shotgun.

I move a few boxes of tackle and shuffle over to the wall. I carefully take the gun off the rack.

My eyes automatically catch on something. There engraved on the side is three ducks.

I smile as I run my fingers over the ducks, trying my best to memorize them.

(Not quite sure if those are actually ducks, but for the sake of the story, we are gonna say they are.)

I pull the gun up and look down the barrel. All I see is the wall though, there's no actual ducks in here to shoot.

I open the barrel and walk out to Grandpa and Cowboy. I set the gun on the counter and pull Grandpa in a tight hug.

"Thank you so much!" I whisper in his ear as I hug him. "You're welcome."

I let him out of my embrace and just grin at him. This day has turned out better than I hoped.

"When do I start working?" "Tomorrow would be great. Be here at 7:45, so you can help me open up."

I nod my head before grabbing the box, I carry it to the door and push it open. I set it in the back of my truck with little struggle.

Then I go back in for my gun, lures, and wax worms.

"Can I leave Cowboy with you for awhile Grandpa? I don't wanna bring him with when I'm fishing. I just want to be alone for awhile and I don't feel safe leaving him at home."

"With Mark around, I can see why. So sure Storm, I'll watch him for ya." He says as he rubs Cowboy's ears.

I grab my things and head for the door. I feel something brush my leg as I get close to the door. It's Cowboy.

"Stay here boy. You have to watch Grandpa for me." He looks up at me with his big brown eyes, then he whines.

"It'll be okay Cowboy, Grandpa will take excellent care of you." He whines one more time before walking back to the counter.

He lays down and looks at me with sad eyes as I leave. I feel bad for leaving him behind, but I just want to fish and not have to keep an eye out for him.

I open up the truck door and set the gun on the seat. I'm going to have to put this and the shells in my room before I go fishing.

Hopefully Dad's stupid hired farm hand isn't around when I do that. Cause if he is, it's not guaranteed that my new shotgun won't put a hole through him.

Brutal I know. But he's an asshole, so he deserves that and more for what he did.