I was so happy as the landbeast I sat in rolled towards a large nice looking house. It had a smooth coat of white over it and it’s top, Gail called it the roof, was red. I liked this house. Not because it was pretty but because around it there were fields, trees and plants for as far as I could see around it. Thanks to Gail, I had only waited two days to leave that hospital to get here. I could tell she cared about what I had told her. She let me see that she had listened to me, and it felt good to know that she had.
As soon as the landbeast stopped I swung the door open, having seen Holly and Gail do it, I knew exactly what to do. I think it surprised them, as they hadn’t told me how to do it. Walking away from the landbeast I let the smell of freshness fill my lungs. Gail and Holly got out a little less quickly than I did, but I was impatient to start exploring. I watched as they crept towards the house in what felt like a snails pace. In a bound I was at the door and eventually they joined me. A while earlier, when we were in the landbeast they had told me that before I could go explore I had to know where things were in my house and that I always had to be home before sunset. I would have told them that I haven’t been home for months now, but decided against it, seeming as they were being so nice to me I thought it would be unnecessarily cruel. They took me up some stairs and showed me my room. I was surprised; it was very colourful with a window that let me see outside! I was already happy with my room when they showed me where I would continue my work on learning twowalker tongue and playing all their games. This, too, had a window that showed a small river that passed behind the house. Instantly, I wanted to see this river. It reminded me of home and I wanted to go see it. But Gail still wanted to show me where her son would stay when he came tomorrow and where she and Holly were going to sleep. Also where the toilet was and that was just the upstairs part of the house.
Going back down the stairs they showed me where the kitchen, television room and dining room were. I was starting to become bored of all these twowalker things and wanted to be outside in the place that reminded me most of home. Then as I ran for the door and my way into the world that interested me more Holly called after me saying to make sure I remembered to be back before sundown.
Happily, I sped out into the world and shot into the trees until I knew I was out of sight of the twowalkers. Then I smelt the air, picking out where the river was and making my way for it. Eventually I came to it and could almost see the pups playing beside it. Looking at it, I saw it wasn’t nearly as clean as the river in my home. I dipped a paw into the water and felt that it was also warmer than the packs’ water. Smelling it I sensed it wasn’t a good idea to drink from it, although it was fairly refreshing so I presumed a swim to cool off would be all right. Eventually, I left the river and decided to go for a run before returning back to the house. The sky was threatening to go dark so I only had a brief run before being forced to head back.
When I returned, I found Holly waiting for me. I understood that she was anxious to see whether I would try to escape. I felt an itch of anger at her for her lack of trust, because unlike twowalkers, I kept my word. I stormed past her, without speaking a word, my body language and soft growl screaming hostility though. Finding my way to the kitchen I found no one, although the sweet scents of the before days met me on entry. Curiously, I searched for Gail and guessed that another place she could be was the dining room. Looking in the dining room I found it was empty. Now an itch of irritation struck me as I wondered where she could be. Dropping onto four legs I caught her scent easily and followed it keenly. It had been a while since I had had the chance to hunt something. I sensed that Holly had followed me into dining room, but could feel how little I cared. Scuffling up the stairs I smelt her scent lead to the toilet but that too was empty. Beginning to feel anxious about where she had gone I feared that a bear had followed my scent from outside. I caught myself and realized if there was a bear I would already have heard and smelt it.
I eventually followed the scent to Gail’s room and scratched on the door, whimpering slightly. From inside I could hear movement so I stood and waited patiently for the door to open. Out came Gail, her hair was wet and she smelt like shampoo.
‘Oh, Shilo!’ she exclaimed seeing me gazing at her suspiciously, ‘ready for dinner?’
Quietly, I followed her downstairs where Holly had disappeared and was serving up the food. Following Gail, I sat in the dining room, which I started to understand the point of.
‘So this is where twowalk-… people eat?’
‘Yes, well done, Shilo.’
I sensed that she was really impressed with what I had said. Holly brought in the food and placed it in front of Gail, and me before sitting down for her own meal. I was curious to see what they would talk about and ate quietly, looking down at my food to show I did not wish to speak with them as well. I could sense Holly’s gaze and was beginning to become uncomfortable underneath it.
‘What time is your son coming Gail?’ I asked hoping to veer Holly’s gaze from me.
‘He’ll be here around noon’ she replied ‘Oh and Holly you don’t mind taking over Shilo’s session in the morning?’
Finally I felt her gaze lift from me, ‘That should be fine, shouldn’t it Shilo!’
I was unsure why she seemed so tense about me recently; I could feel that there was something on her mind. ‘Yes.’
v
The next day I rose at my usual early time. I went downstairs to find the house was empty. I guessed that Gail had already left to get her son, as the landbeast was gone. Inspecting the house I found it much less interesting and decided to test my new learning toys.
The room was actually quite peculiar. I hadn’t thought of it before now, but it was very colourful and had lots of toys that needed the pictures matched with the names. I quite enjoyed this game, but only ever remembered the twowalker names for when they asked me. If I knew the picture I would remember what it was doing in my wolf pack’s territory. I would wonder what it meant to the twowalkers, after thinking about what it had meant to me. During this game I would often get sad, or angry because I knew that while I played the twowalkers little tests my pack was fighting for survival.
Full of anger I threw the cards against a wall. I paused, feeling my chest rise violently as I panted angrily. I didn’t like this feeling. It was so angry, is this what the twowalkers feel? When I’m with my pack I never feel this angry. When I’m with my pack I know what to do with myself. I don’t feel so alone, because in a pack you know that no matter what they’re there for you. Slowly, I collected the cards and put them away. I didn’t feel like having a session with anyone today. In fact I just wanted to spend my day outside.
It was then that Holly entered the room, the thing that had been distracting her yesterday still with her. She walked over to me; oblivious of the emotions I was feeling. I could sense that she didn’t care about how I was feeling, something was more important to her at that moment.
‘Shilo, I’m going to get you some breakfast and then…’ she paused looking at the time keeper on her wrist, ‘would you mind not having a session? Instead can you spend your time outside until midday?’
I wanted to ask why, but was too relieved by the fact that I was allowed to be outside all day. I followed her to the kitchen where she made me a sandwich; I ate it quickly and easily. These soft foods were no challenge for my sharp teeth, and I had to admit I wasn’t missing pack food. Did that make me bad? Not missing my home. I was confused and decided that a good run should make it all better.
Leaving the house I was still a little curious to know why Holly had wanted me to be gone. So I decided to get back a little earlier than I was told. Running through the grass was quite enjoyable; I could go as far as I wanted as long as I came back. I knew that this was really just like when I wore the harness; I can go only so far as the harness allows.
Eventually I decided that the sun was so nice I would just stop and lie beneath it. The warmth wrapped around me and made me feel like nothing bad could happen. I could feel the crushed grass beneath me create a kind of cushion. This kind of cushioning effect reminded me of the moss that grew on the rocks around my home. It wasn’t long before fatigue reached around me, urging me that a quick nap would do no harm. In only a few minutes I gave way and curled instinctively into a ball and let sleep take me.
When I awoke I saw that the sun was almost in the middle of the sky. I rushed to the house and slowed only when in the bushes in front of it. Outside the house lay a sleeping landbeast and I suspected that the contents of this landbeast were what Holly was so worried about. Something about this landbeast felt familiar, like I had seen it somewhere. Then I picked up the scent of an animal that stood behind me. Spinning around I was surprised to see that there, in front of me, stood the dog from the park. It wagged its tail at me, obviously amused at my spying on its landbeast. I liked this dog. It had the same look that a wolf would give its pup that was chasing a leaf. I wondered why it looked at me like this, was I on to something by observing its landbeast?
I hadn’t been able to pinpoint where that landbeast was from and just hadn’t put who owned the dog with the dog itself. I was just looking to play with the dog when a familiar voice called out from behind me.
‘Sandy!’
The dog shot past me towards the twowalker. Slowly I emerged behind it, my guess was right. Standing in front of me, in front of the landbeast and with the dog at his side, stood Andy. He was coming for me I knew that he would. He looked at me smiling as though I reminded him of someone.
‘I’ll come back for you Shilo,’ he called to me ‘Don’t worry! I’ll save you!’
I tried to reach him before he escaped in his landbeast. It confused me that he was still leaving me with Holly and Gail, but I believed that he would return to save me. I stood where his landbeast had been and gazed after him, a smile spreading happily over my face. He was going to save me!
When I turned around, Holly was standing there, with an angry expression on her face. She walked towards me, and as she approached I could see that she was less distracted but was now worried. Was Andy what had been distracting her? Did she know he was coming and not told me! I could feel my disdain for her growing quickly and viciously.
‘Why did you come back Shilo! I said midday!’
‘Why did you keep Andy from me!’
We stared at each other; stubborn rage being sent from her and released from me. It was only when Gail arrived in her landbeast a minute later that our eyes broke contact. From the landbeast emerged a boy who was a little taller than I was and Gail who seemed somewhat sad. I sensed anger from her son and could tell that something had happened between them as well.
‘We passed a car on the way here, who was it?’ she asked Holly.
Holly simply signalled for Gail to follow her inside. Gail’s son looked at me curiously and I returned the gaze. It was a while before I realised the twowalker manners that I should be demonstrating.
‘Hello, I’m Shilo.’
The boy looked at me as though curious about something. ‘I’m Eric’
I was unsure what else to say. What was it that twowalker pups wished to speak of? I walked towards him, catching his scent easily, and then moved towards the bushes I had previously emerged from. Stopping I was unsure about whether I should invite him to explore with me.
‘Do you want to… come with me?’
He looked at me, then at the house. I sensed vicious anger as he looked at the house and could tell that he held great distaste for his mother.
‘Sure… it’s better than hanging in this dump!’
What he said was somewhat confusing, but I understood that he was going to come with me. Crawling through the bushes I disappeared into the fields behind. I paused on the other side and watched as he hastily crawled through after me, he reminded me of a pup that secretly didn’t want to be left behind but wanted to look strong. I padded slowly through the fields and he walked beside me. For a while silence was all there was between us, we just walked and thought about our own ideas.
‘So… I hear you’re pretty fast, for a chick at least.’
I gazed at him with my hazel eyes. I could feel his attempts at sounding strong and dominant. For some reason my gaze made his cheeks turn red and he avoided my gaze uncomfortably.
‘Would you like to run with me?’
He looked up at me, smiling. ‘Sure!’
I was gone in a flash and ran at my top speed. It was only after a while that I realised that he was not beside me. Slowing to a stop I looked around for him. Smelling his scent I darted back towards him, the sound of a gasping breath nearby made me worry.
‘Eric?’ I called uneasily.
I approached him; he was a field behind me and only a field from where we had began. He lay on the grass and tried to catch his breath. I perched above him and examined his exhausted body.
‘Damn! You know you’re pretty quick!’
Adjusting to sit he looked at me and sighed. I wondered if my lack of exhaustion is what interested him.
‘You wouldn’t mind a rest… would you?’
I looked at him and suspected that perhaps twowalkers were just very slow, and couldn’t do a lot in a short amount of time. Anyway, I could sense that he wanted to talk, and I had a few questions for him as well.
‘If you would like.’
Sitting, I waited for him to speak his mind. I could feel his anger about what he wanted to say. I wondered what it was that could make him feel so angry, and how I could help it to go away. I had felt angry and did not wish it on anyone.
‘So… how’d you put up with her?’ he asked looking at me, ‘you spend more time with her than I do, how do you do it?’
‘You mean your mother?’ He nodded to me ‘I don’t know… what is it you mean?’
‘She’s taken you from your home, you belong to the government and she works for them. You are like a prisoner to them! How do you deal with it?’
I looked at him, I had already asked all these questions, but I did not see why he was so upset about it. ‘I know what she has done. I know that being mad will only hurt me. I survive because that is what a wolf does; I survive because it’s the only way that I will ever stand a chance of freedom. If I acted defeated and like I was their pet, then I would already have lost.’
He looked at me, as though he was inspired, but didn’t understand. ‘But don’t you miss your family?’
‘I miss my pack. You probably mean my human family, but I can’t even remember them. I do wonder sometimes if they miss me, whether it would feel like I do for my pack. If it is I would hope that they find me.’
Eric looked at me and I could feel something from him, it was like he understood something about what I had said. It was then that I realised that I had heard nothing of his father. He had not come with Eric to the house and the sentiment that Eric gave off reminded me a lot of the feeling that was given when a pack member perished.
‘Where’s your father, Eric?’
A silence spread across him that told me the answer I had searched for. But sadness was not the only sense he gave, but also a deep anger.
‘He’s dead. He was in the army. A slave to the government… he died in battle, doing something that the government wanted him to!’ I watched as angry tears rolled down his face.
‘Why are you so angry at your mother though?’
He seemed almost surprised that I had guessed his anger was not aimed completely at his father’s death. ‘Because even after he died she refused to leave the governments power, she keeps working for those dogs!’
‘Dogs?’ I asked. ‘Wait, you mean a meta-phor? So they are like mindless slaves?’
Eric looked at me; he seemed amazed at what I had just said. ‘Yeah… well you sure aren’t stupid, either.’
‘Stupid… why would think I was that?’
Suddenly, he seemed somewhat uncomfortable, ‘well, I mean you never lived in society and barely even get our language… I just thought… I mean you being a government project and all…’
I knew I should feel offended, but he was a twowalker, and could never understand. ‘Let’s go back… they will be wondering where I am.’
As soon as I mentioned returning I could sense the same fury at his mother as before. ‘You understand she was not the one who killed him? It was this war. I do not think her leaving her job would have helped anything’
I heard him grunt indignantly at my words and could sense a foolish pup’s anger drifting from him. He stood and prepared to leave, but I sat for a minute longer.
‘She also lost someone close to her; all you have now is each other. When we lose someone we may be angry, but it is important to never blame your pack. Your pack is all you have; your pack is all you need. If your pack is broken then you will be broken as well.’
He didn’t look at me, but I could tell my words had meant something to him. Rising I led him back to the house silently. We entered the house and he left me to go to the television room. I didn’t like television, which watched things then let us see them. It seemed sneaky, but apparently nothing bad happened because of it.
Following Gail’s scent I came to her room, but could feel frustration and angry tones coming from inside. Instead of knocking or pawing to enter, like I had planned, I decided to listen.
‘No, look there’s no way we could have seen this coming!’ shouted Gail.
I could hear a vague response that vibrated viciously in anger. I figured out that it must be a telephone that Gail was using. I had heard of these things that meant two twowalkers could speak without being near each other.
I could barely make out every word that was being shouted through the telephone. ‘That… Brat! … Can’t… he … give-up… none… business!’
‘If he’s demanding a blood test we can’t deny him!’
‘Who… he… talk to? Could’ve… handled… better... like… lied! She… mine! I… coming… will see… progress’
There was desperation in Gail’s voice now. ‘You don’t have to do that Mr. Davis!’
‘It’s… done. See… you… tomorrow.’