Rex looked around, then continued his journey down the street. As he passed the town of Tooknik's small boiler room, a few tears filled in his eyes, remembering all the bitter-sweet memories of Rachel. He slowly smiled, the tears falling down his cheeks, and he continued home to the farm.

~~~~~~                                     ~~~~~~

  "Excuse me sir!" a strange looking German Shepherd yelped. Rex, a tall, lean completely black Husky, looked up from his shoe he was chewing and snorted,"You talkin' to me?"

  The strange dog nodded,"Yes, umm, is this the city of Tooknik?" Rex nodded and ripped the tongue off the shoe. The dog smiled,"I'm Danny. I'm from California, and I-"

  "Dude," Rex mumbled,"congratulations, but I'm a stray and I don't associate myself with pets like you." Danny frowned,"But, I'm not a pet!"

Rex stood up, laughing,"How the heck did you get up here?" Danny shrugged,"I just hitched a ride in a pick-up truck." Rex shook his head in wonder,"You're crazy, who are you?"

  Danny bowed,"Thank you! And I'm Danny." Rex laughed,"So, you need someone to show you around town?" Danny nodded,"That'd be great."

 

Rex showed Danny the only main road in the whole town. The main street had a few roads sticking off into a neighborhood and some factories. On the main street there was the Town Hall, a bank, a restaurant, a coffee and donut shop, a boiler room, and a general store.

  "This town isn't much," Rex concluded at the end of the tour,"but it's home."

  Danny nodded,"It's great! I love this place." Rex nodded as well,"So do I."

  The two spent the rest of the windy October day together in the small boiler room. "Hey," Danny sighed sleepily as the sun started to set.

  "What?" Danny smiled,"You know what season it is?"

"Duck season?"

"No."

"Deer season?"

"No."

"Bear sea-"

"No!" Danny yelled. "It is no type of hunting season, Rex! It's mating season!"

  Rex frowned,"Oh..." Danny sighed,"Does this town have any cute girls?" Rex thought a moment, then chuckled,"Sure there are. I can take you to one now if you'd like!" Danny nodded,"Sounds like a plan!"

 

  "Here it is," Rex whispered to his new-found friend. They were at one of the houses in the small neighborhood. Rex began to dig a hole under the backyard fence. Danny licked his lips,"Oh boy!"

As soon as Rex had the hole dug, Danny slid under the fence. Rex peeked his head in, but went no further.

  There was a beautiful tan Husky with black paws. She gasped,"What are you doing?!" Danny smiled,"I'm here to make all your dreams come true." After Rex saw the Husky smile, he left.

  "Maybe I should find a mate..." he whispered to himself. He fell asleep in the middle of an alley, finding a nice shoe to snack on.

 

  "HEY!"

  Rex groaned. He opened his eyes,"Wha..?" There was a female Collie standing over him with panic in her eyes. "Mister, are... Are you ok?"

  Rex sat up and sighed,"Lady, strays like me lay out here in allies like this all the time. I'm fine."

  The Collie blushed,"Oh... I... I didn't know. I'm not from town. I live out on a farm the west of this God-forbidden place. My name is Rachel."

  Rex eyed her, she was rather pretty. Her eyes were lovely. She was brown with a white tail tip, white paws, and a white muzzle with a white blaze going up in between her eyes, which were deep brown.

  "I'm Rex," he stated simply. Rachel smiled,"Nice to meet you!" Rex nodded and lay back down, but as he began to close his eyes Rachel whispered,"Do you think you could help me?"

 Rex stood up and grumbled,"What do you need?" Rachel smiled,"I was wondering if you could help me out of town."

  What Rex wanted to say was "What the HECK woman! There only one frickin' street! How the HELL could you get lost in this place?!" but all he said was,"Sure."

 

After Rex brought her to the end of the road, where miles of farmland began, he smiled,"Well, here you are!" Rachel smiled,"Thank you, Rex. Maybe we'll see each other again?" Rex just nodded and whispered,"Maybe." With that, she turned and left Rex standing alone on the road.

 

  "Hey, buddy!" Danny barked that following night. Rex had been sitting in the boiler room with some other strays. Rex smiled,"Danny! How did that female treat you?" Danny bit his lip and laughed,"Well, I just left her house!"

  The room exploded with laughter. Rex smiled,"Guys, this is Danny. The one I was telling you about." All the dogs barked at the same time,"Hi, Danny!"

  Danny smiled,"Rex, I'm going to take control." Rex frowned,"What do you mean?" Danny shook his head," I mean, I'm going to take over the town."

  Rex cocked his head to one side,"I still don't get it." Danny shook his head and sighed.

"Listen, I'm going to take over. All dogs will bow to me. I'll be like... The king of the town dogs. This town is small, but there are many dogs. They need a good ruler, like ME. And as newly appointed ruler, I'm going to appoint you as my second in command."

  Rex frowned,"Who died and made you the leader?" Danny growled, then whispered,"I DID, and anyone who dare challenge me shall be killed!"

  Rex frowned, then laughed,"Good luck with that." Danny snarled with anger, and grabbed Rex by his hind leg, then flung him against the wall. Rex landed with a loud thud.

 "I will rule you all, Rex. Mark my words. You are either with me, or against me!"

Rex narrowed his eyes as another stray helped him up,"I guess I'm against you. I thought we could be friends, but not with you like this."

Danny smirked and shrugged,"Suit your self."

 

Rex limped back into his alley, then collapsed with exhaustion. "Uhnn..." he whined. He curled up in a tight ball, slowly falling asleep.

 

  Rex bounded through snow. He saw something in the distance. What is it? "Who are you?" yelled Rex. There stood Rachel, the Collie smiling wide. She said in a ghostly voice,"Hello Rex. Hello. Wake up!" Rex frowned,"What?"

     "Wake up! Wake up!"

 

"Wake up!"

  "Wha...?" Rex weakly lifted his head. There stood beautiful Rachel. She smiled,"Your leg is bleeding." Rex frowned,"I know."

  Rachel frowned, too,"What happened to you?" Rex shook his head,"Uhh... I-I don't remember." He didn't like to lie, but he didn't want her to think he was weak. Rachel smiled,"Come with me!"

 

"Wow."

  Rex looked around at the beautiful farm that lay before him. He smiled, his heart beating fast. Rachel laughed,"C'mon, I'll take you to the barn."

  The two entered a large red barn. Hay scattered the floor, and to the left of them two horses slept in their stalls. Rachel trotted over to the right side of the barn. There was a ratty old blanket laying on the floor in the back right corner of the barn. She beckoned Rex to come lie down.

  "Rex, just a tip. When my human comes to feed us, cower. Don't look threatening." Rex nodded, and suddenly the door opened.

  What Rex expected to see was a tall human, but instead it was a slim light grey husky with a white underbelly, white paws, and a white muzzle. He had a black patch of fur over one eye (Like Kaltag's).

"What the...?" he grunted, shocked. "Rachel, who is this?" Rachel looked frightened as she whispered,"A friend of mine, his name is Rex. He was wounded, and, he's a stray, so I figured..."

The husky frowned,"You figured he could stay here, huh?" The husky approached Rex with anger in his bright blue eyes,"I'm Jack." He snorted, looking at Rachel,"He doesn't deserve to stay here, just because he's-"

  "Dinnertime, puppies!!"

A middle- aged woman walked in, carrying two bowls of food. The smile on her face faded as she looked around the room, and seeing Rex, she screamed,"SAM! There's a dog in here! Sam!!"

  A few seconds later, a tall fat man walked in, the snarled,"Why the little, I'll... I'll kill 'im." Rachel gasped, and, without thinking, curled up beside Rex, licking his face.

  The woman gasped,"Sam, Rachel, she... she's.." Sam sighed,"Margi, I can see what she's doin'. Come 'ere, Rachel. Come 'ere, girl."

Rachel didn't move. Jack sat angrily over by Sam. Margi came closer and studied Rex's leg, then went back inside, and came

1 2 3

Next page