Author's Note: I wrote this in like an hour, so don't expect anything grand.


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    I was still getting used to having two names. My parents still called me Dingo, while Stephen used my new name, Gus. I have no idea why Mom and Dad named me Dingo. I wasn't anything like those wild dogs. At least, I don't think I was, I've never seen one. I was very frail and weak, because I was the runt. It was kind of a pet-name (no pun intended) and comforting being called Dingo, because Mom and Dad only called me that, while everyone else knew me as Gus, even as I grew older.

    "GUS!" Stephen's mother yelled. I winced at the tone of her voice. What was I in trouble for now? I lowered myself to the wooden floor as far as I could when she came into the room. I hoped that as long as my tail was in between my legs she'd show me mercy, but my doggish ways failed to convince her otherwise. She grabbed me by my dark leather collar and drug me outside. I hacked when the collar tightened around my throat. I struggled to keep up with her stomping, but it's hard to do when your front legs are practically lifted off the ground. She dropped me and pointed at the trash laying around the back of the house.

    "Look at this! Look what you did! Don't ever do this again or you're GONE!" she screamed as she slapped me on the nose and stomped back into her house, closing the door in the process. I sighed. That was the last time I helped Dakota rip through out\r trash. My brother always got me into trouble. But thankfully Stephan's mom was rarely like this. I shook myself because it still felt like she was grabbing onti my neck, when she wasn't.

    I walked down the side of the buildings, tail and head lowered. (I never wandered into the middle of the street.) I needed to find someone to talk to. It was always days like this when no one was around...but it was also days like this when she came to me.

    "Hey Gus!" called the giddy voice of a teenage human.

    I looked back with an instant smile on my face. I knew exactly who it was. It was Eryn, the red-headed human girl who always enjoyed my company. I ran up to her, slowing my pace to a crawl when she reached out to pet me. As her hand lowered to my head, I lowered my body to the ground and let her stroke my back and head with her soft, slender hands.

    "How are you, buddy?" Eryn asked me, smiling.

    "I'm fine now," I replied, wishing she could understand me. I pushed my face into her hand to encourage more petting. It always worked. She always knew what I wanted. Well...almost always. She stood up from a kneeling position and started walking away, motioning to get me to follow her, which I would do anyway, unless she told me not to.

    "I'm going to go sketch some scenery, want to come?" she asked.

    "Yes, I do!" I barked. This is what we normally did. I loved watching her draw. She was very good, as far as I could see, because I didn't fully understand human activities like this. She picked a spot outside the post office and took a seat on a bench; I took one at her feet. I wondered if she was going to draw me. Sometimes she did, but it was weird looking at myself, whenever she showed me. She put her sketchbook beside her and took the time to pet me some more, which I didn't mind. I loved her touching me. I was rarely pet at home, especially nowadays, sinec Stephen was always out with his dad. When I was a puppy, he always had time with me, but not anymore... Now I had Eryn.

    I stood on my hind legs on the ground and rested my upper body on her lap. She ruffled my fur as I tried licking her face. She would laugh. I enjoyed hearing her laugh, and licking her always made her laugh harder. I settled when she took my face in her hands and rubbed her forehead onto mine, some of her wavy hair cascading over my neck. She then scratched my ears. I loved when she did that, it felt so wonderful, I could've just fallen asleep right there. but I woke up when she placed a kiss on the tip of my nose. I gasped in surprise because she never did that before.

    "Alright, Gus, I need to start drawing." she giggled. I then sat back on the ground, leading on her legs. She was the only one who treated me like this... She was so kind and affectionate. I loved her. I just wish I could tell her how I felt.

    We stayed like that for a few hours, at least until it started to get dark, and Eryn was losing her light. I had fallen asleep, being so comfortable around her. She told me she had to go inside because it was starting to get too cold, so I licked her cheek and left, telling her good-night, well-knowing she couldn't understand me.

    I walked home with my head held high. Eryn made me so happy. I looked forward to spending every day with her forever. Well, I didn't always see her, she was a busy girl, but when I could, those were good days. And nothing ruined my mood.

    "Falling in love with the humans, huh, wolf-dog?"

    Except Iron. I looked behind me to see the black and blonde malamute-mix walking towards me, with long strides and a smug grin on his face. He was bigger and stronger than I was, and usually he'd only pick on me if Dakota was with me, even though my older brother could easily take him on. I couldn't even stand up to him, let alone fight him. I looked away, trying to ignore him and continued for my house. Iron continued his taunting.

    "What, can't get any girl dogs to be with you? Man, I didn't know you were sick enough to even THINK about being with a HUMAN." Iron laughed. "Even I think I'd pick a wolf over someone like her!"

    "She's...not so bad." I mumbled, still not looking at him when he started walking at my side. Iron guffawed.

    "She's a HUMAN. You two aren't even the same species! Man, are you stupid. Though, I must say, isn't that what desperation is, Gus?" he asked. "She's the only female who ever touched you. THAT'S why you like her. It's probably the only thing you can get!"

    "No...I just..." I tried telling him I didn't love her, but I did love her. Just the thought of her excited me, and Iron knew it.

    "Yeah, whatever." Iron scoffed, and walked away, mumbling "sicko" before I reached my home. This was terrible. I never thought of such things until Iron brought them up, now what was I going to do? I loved her and everyone probably knew it now. Except for her. The only one who needed to know. And there was no way for her to find out. A kiss on the cheek, even TELLING her wouldn't make her understand. I layed down under the house and felt myself choke up. My blue eyes were tearing up.

    "Why was I born a dog?" I softly sobbed. "Why couldn't I have been born a human?" Tears dried around my eyes as I fell asleep.

    No more than a few minutes of sleep, and I heard a voice coming from outside the underside of the house.

    "Dingo..." the voice called quietly, over and over. Who would call me Dingo other than my parents or my brothers and sisters? I peeked my head out from my sleeping place and looked around. It was snowing large snowflakes, and there was no wind. I looked down the street. No one was there, but I headed to the west side of town. The voice sounded again. It was closer, but I still couldn't tell who it was. It was a deep voice. I heard the voice again and it came from the sea, so I headed in that direction and stopped when I came to the shoreline. No one was there, but the voice still called.

    "Here I am," I called back, looking around for someone to answer. Eventually I saw a large white form walking towards me from the calm water. It was a wolf...walking on water!? I nearly panicked, but tried my best to keep my calm, even though my tail cowarded beneath me. The wolf came closer, and I realized it was female, and it helped sooth me a bit. But it was still wild and strange to me, and possibly dangerous. When it was a few feet away from me, the she-wolf smiled, and I lowered myself to the ground in submission, whining.

    "There's no need for that, my grandson." the white wolf said, her golden eyes sinking into mine.

    "Grandson?" I thought to myself. I asked who she was out loud.

    "I am Aniu," she replied. "Your grandmother."

    "My..." I was a bit confused about who she was still. I didn't know anything about any of my grandparents.

    "I know, you're confused. But I am here to help you."

    "Help me? With what?" I asked as perplexed as ever.

    "I understand that you are in love, but you're not able to tell her how you feel based on what you are." Aniu walked closer to me. "I know you feel that you're alone, but you aren't. You have a family who loves you."

    "I know...but I just...never felt this way about anyone...and its hard for her to not know how I feel, even if she doesn't fele the same way..."

    "Yes, it's difficult. But that's why I'm here. With my help, you will be able to tell her how you feel."

    "How?"

    "You will take on a new form and tell her." she explained. "But it's just for tonight. Because you must stay true to yourself." She closed her eyes, only to open them again, only this time they were aglow. I was about to object to how she was going to change my form, but before I could even speak, my entire body lit up like a lantern and hovered in the air, with help from the wind. My body changed to its new form in a matter of seconds, but it felt like I

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