The Life of a Great Dog: Clover's Story....by Riverwind!

[Riverwind]

It's not completely done, of course...there will be a lot more than this, but this is just a start. Let me know what you all think!

The Life of a Great Dog:

Clover's Story

          Hi! My name is Clover, and this is my story. You should know a few things before I get started. First: I am a dog--an Australian Shepherd to be exact. Second is that you may want to grab a box of tissues, 'cause my life is like an emotional roller coaster...and you can be sure that I'll start from the very, very beginning. And last is that, you should probably get nice and comfy--this may take awhile.

          My story begins in a wire cage in the back room of an animal shelter. I couldn't tell you where in the world this shelter was located, but I do know that, for a little while, that shelter was my home. The stone floor, at first, made my paw pads uncomfortable, but then I eventually got used to it. There was a soft blanket laid out in one corner, where I would sleep with my mother and my brother and two sisters. The blanket was a very pale yellow, and every time I looked at it, it made me feel sleepy.
          We were not the only animals in that room. There were several other cages, as well. The one to the right of mine held a white german shepherd named Carla, and her four two-week-old pups. All were boys, except one, and all of them were white, just like herself. The cage to the left of mine held a black pit bull named Shadow, and her two three-week-old pups, both girls.
          And, across from Shadow's cage was the strangest of my friends: a black maine coon named Storm. Half of his left ear was torn off, and his fur was gone in patches. At least, that's how he looked when I first saw him. He was brought in about eight weeks after I was born, and at first, I went just as wild as my siblings and cage-neighbors. We'd never had a cat in here before. Even my mom couldn't remember a time when the humans brought a cat in the back room.
          Soon, I decided that it was time to get some information out of this strange new presence. I barked in his direction, "Who are you?" I remember him looking at me with mild curiosity, and I thought he wasn't going to answer. But he did. "Name's Storm. And you are?"
          "Clover."
          "Well, Clover, what makes you want to talk to a rag like me?" He asked, continuing his bath.
          "I don't know. I--I was just wondering what made them bring you in here? They never bring cats in the back room."
          He nodded. "It's too crowded up front. So many are being picked off the street, and so many of them aren't leaving after that. No one wants anybody like us."
          That,  must say, put me in a state of shock. The shelter had always been home to me, so it never occurred to me that other animals weren't also born here. That some were born somewhere else.
          He looked at the shock on my face, then asked me, "You mean you don't know? Humans don't care about animals. They leave them on the streets to starve. Some even go as far as beating us. It's madness out there. And it just keeps getting worse. They're running out of places to put us."
          I sat there for a minute, taking in what the raggedy cat had just said. Something deep inside my gut twisted, as I envisioned animals dying from starvation, disease, and abuse.
          "You ain't never been outside these walls, have you, youngster?"
          I looked up at him, shaking my head. "I was born here. They take me outside into the yard every day, but I don't go past the fences."
          "You're a wise one, then. The only halfway decent humans are here at the shelter, and at the other shelters. You're lucky, to be so ignorant to the world beyond them fences."
          After those last words, something sparked in my heart. Just a small spark, but a spark all the same. One that would soon light up a bonfire.

          When the lady came the next morning to take us out to the yard, I was lost in thought. I sat off to the side, rather than play with the other dogs. I lay on my belly in the soft grass with my head resting on my forepaws. The warm sun made me sleepy, and just as my eyes began to drift shut, Storm appeared at my side, silent as a ghost.
          "Something bothering you, young one?" he asked as he sat down beside me.
          I lifted my head up to look at him. After a moment, I said, "Oh, I was just thinking about what you said yesterday. It doesn't make any sense. Why would anyone want to harm animals?"
          When Storm looked at me, there was a sadness there that I'd never seen before. "Why would they want to hurt us? I haven't a clue, Pup. All I know is that they do it. Whether they take pleasure in doing it, or they think it is the right thing to do, I don't know...I have seen a lot in my lifetime. I grew up on the streets, you see, so I've never really known any better. I was born in a dumpster, and even my own mother had to abandon me. She left me and all my littermates in that dumpster, because she didn't know what to do. To this day, I'm still not quite sure how I survived, just that I must have survived or I wouldn't be here today. I'm sure that there are some good people out there, because they can't all run shelters."
          "But...isn't there something we can do?"
          He let out an amused huff and began washing his face. "Of course there isn't! We can't speak human, and they can't speak animal. And we're just animals to them. We don't mean anything."
          Feeling down, I put my head back on my paws and concentrated on the warmth of the sun on my back. I drifted off to sleep thinking, there must be something  that I can do...

          I was jerked awake by the sound of the calling whistle. It was time to go back inside. Looking around, I noticed that Storm had been napping beside me. We padded side by side back into the building.
          Back in my pen, my siblings bounced up to me, over-excited.

[Riverwind]

Lol and I'll even work on it some more now. ^_^

ETA: Done for now...

[Riverwind]

Updated...will be working on this a lot more from now on. (I hope!) xD