Another Day, another bone: A little glimpse

  On the San Francisco streets, three dogs were walking down chatting. Charlie, Itchy, and Zero. Zero was on his break from the Fleabite Cafe, and decided to hang out together with their free time. Todays debate: Best food on the planet.
  "... I still say the Fleabites chili is the best." Charlie said, narrowing his eyes at the other two. In reply they shook their heads.
  "You're way off Charlie, steak of any kind is the best." The black dog said, then looking at Itchy as he tugged his tail.
  "You're just as wrong, soups the best thing."
  "At least the chili is a bit spicy and puts some shock through your limbs."
  "And steak works on jaw strength and is flavorful."
  "Soups good for colds."
  The three went on and on about why their choice was better. They started crossing the street to the apartment.
  "Look, why can't you just admit I'm right and you-" He heard a huge honk and looked over, seeing a car coming right at him.
  "Charlie, move!" Zero yelled, pushing the big dog out of the way and shutting his eyes tight as he heard Itchy yell his name and felt the impact and all was black.

  "Zero... Zero... Wake up." The voice spoke softly. Zero groaned a bit and opened his eyes... But this wasn't San Francisco. It was to pink and perfect to be Francisco... And his neck felt odd. He reached up and felt... His collar wasn't there.
  "Where am I...?" He asked, looking around until his eyes finally came to rest on the pink Whippet that suddenly appeared right in front of him. He gave a bark of surprise and backed up... Which was surprisingly easy, considering he was floating.
  "You're in Heaven Zero."
  "You mean I... But I was just down there.. With Charlie, and Itchy!" Zero's mouth gaped open.
  "You aren't dead exactly. You see, you're in a near death experience, limbo, if you will. Come, follow me." She nodded a direction and started floating off somewhere. Zero, still unsure, followed slowly.
  "You see, all dogs go to Heaven, but you're only here temporarily. That was a brave thing you did, protecting Charles." The Whippet continued as she showed him around.
  "You seem to know a lot about me. What's your name?"
  "My name is Anabelle. I am the head angel here." She replied as they passed a cloud field where a few dogs were digging. When they got deep enough, geysers of bones shot up, to which Zero chuckled at.
  "I bet these guys feel lucky." The black dog said, and he noticed something out of the corner of his eye.
  "What's that?" He asked, pointing at a separate area.
  "That is our Guardian Angel training for dogs to go back to Earth and do missions to help people and other animals." Anabelle explained, then leading Zero elsewhere.
  "That seems cool... Something I wanna do when I get up here properly."
  "It's a rarity for a near death you know."
  "I don't feel like going any time soon..."
  The two went along all over Heaven, Anabelle showing him the sights. The choir, sauna, halo polishing... But the thing that always caught Zero's attention was the Guardian Angel training. Anabelle noticed and stopped them at the pearly gates of Heaven, watching dogs with robes, shirts, and of course wings flying or floating by.
  "Zero, you seem distracted."
  "Sorry Anabelle, it's just the idea of a Guardian Angel job fascinates me." Zero said, watching the training from afar. "I help people already... But maybe one step further couldn't hurt."
  The pink Whippet nodded understandingly. "Maybe that would be a job suited for you... When you come to stay."
  "Maybe I wanna stay up here now... This place is amazing." He replied, looking around.
  "I had a feeling you'd say that..." Anabelle muttered, reaching into a deep cloud while Zero wasn't paying attention. What she pulled out: A giant mallet.
  "Who wouldn't wanna stay here."
  "Ask Charles that question when you get back."
  "... What?" Zero turned around to look at her, but the last thing he saw was a mallet coming right towards his face.

  "I think he's waking up..."
  "Are you sure he's not... Y'know..."
  "I'm sure Charlie, look his tail just twitched."
  "C'mon, wake up. It's my fault you got hit anyway. If you wake up I'll get you a nice mound of steaks, just wake up Z!" Zero stirred a bit and opened his eyes, only able to see through one. His other eye was covered by a bandage that was wrapped around his head.
  "I had the weirdest dream... That I got hit by a car and I went to this strange place... It was perfect."
  "To much perfect." Charlie muttered under his breath.
  "What'd you say Charlie?" The German Shepherd mix shook his head.
  "Nothing Z. I knew mentioning steaks would wake you up. I'll go get you some ice for that thick head of yours." And off he went.
  "... What happened Itch?"
  "Well, the car had stopped enough where the impact didn't... Y'know..." The Dachshund made a cutting motion at his neck. "It just knocked you out. That was a very brave thing you did Zero, pushing the lazy mutt out of the way."
  "Weird... You sound like someone I saw in that dream... Some pink Whippet, name of Anabelle."
  "You must have got hit pretty hard. I'll go see what's taking that mutt so long to get the ice." Itchy left just as fast as Charlie. Zero looked confused, shrugged, then closed his eyes to try and doze back off in his bed.

  "So your saying he was about to go?" Charlie asked, looking at his reflection in the dark glass... But it wasn't his reflection, it was Anabelle.
  "Yes, so I decided to show him around awhile."
  "What did you do to get him back down, cause I'm sure he wanted to stay."
  "Let's just say I had a friend help me." She replied, smiling as she pulled the mallet into view. Charlie shook his head.
  "I bet he'll have twice the headache from that in the morning."
  "Make sure he takes it easy Charles, he has to rest after two strikes to the head in one day." And with that, she was gone, leaving the mix to look at his reflection. At that moment Itchy ran in.
  "What'd I miss Charlie? Anything important? New mission?"
  "Nope, just saying we should keep Z off his paws awhile from being knocked around by a car and a certain someone." Charlie said, looking up at the sky through the window.