dogcatchers, Crystal's worried barking on the other side, Emerald's panting above him...it was too much.

Suddenly Emerald was hit in the side by something heavy. Pain shot through her limbs. Everything went dark. Skipper flew from her mouth. The Labrador puppy skidded across the street, landing at Crystal's paws.

"Crystal, what happened?" moaned Skipper, staggering to his paws. His left hind paw throbbed.

Crystal wasn't next to him anymore. She was leaning over the limp shape of their mother on the side of the road.

"No, no!" Crystal howled, head dipped toward the moon. "Mum! Mother, please, please get up! Don't be..."

"What is it?" Skipper hurried to her side. "What's wrong with her?"

Crystal's eyes filled with tears. "She's...she's..."

Suddenly Skipper felt dizzy. Numb. Something made the world swim around him. He heard a yelp, saw the blur of a net, heard someone call his name...

And fell into darkness.

Chapter 2

Skipper woke, feeling hot and stuffy. "Wha...?" he lifted his head.

He was in a human household...a kitchen. He could tell by the smell of garlic bread and boiling pots of noodles.

A large man was bending over him, thick hands on his knees, which were covered with an apron. "Joey!" he called, grinning over his shoulder and smiling down at Skipper. "A-look, Joey, he's awake!"

An Italian accent. Strange.

Joey was a thinner man with a less thick Italian accent. "Awwh," he cooed, scratching Skipper behind the ears. "A good thing we a-found him out a-there, eh, Tony?"

Tony glared at him and stood up straight. "We? We? What's a-mattah wit' you, Joey, who is a-we? It was me a-saving the little a-dickens!"

Joey rolled his eyes and put his hands up. "Okay, okay, a-Tony, you da boss!" he continued to grumble under his breath and went to check on the garlic bread in the oven.

Skipper realized he was in a soft basket. He stiffened. Mom. Crystal!

He scrambled to his paws, sneezing. Then he bolted for the open door.

"'Ey! Joey, a-look man, he's a-running out on us!" Tony cried.

Joey's head snapped toward Skipper. "Eh? A-Wait a minute!"

Skipper flinched and proceeded to exit the kitchen into a back alley. Gotta find Crystal. Gotta find Crystal.

When the little Yellow Lab puppy finally made it to the side of the street where he'd last seen his sister and mother, he stopped cold. She's gone. She's gone. Oh no. No no no no no...

Skipper tried to catch his breath, horrified. "M-Mom...Cry...Crystal..." He choked on their names.

Suddenly a shuffle behind him made fear snap in his mind. Skipper turned around.

A dogcatcher.

Skipper froze. Then he stopped to think for a second. They took Crystal. They killed Mom. His eyebrows lowered. His vision blurred when he thought of the cries Crystal had made before he'd fainted, how they had taken her without any thought of her saftey, how they had rooted the Labrador family out of their home and viciously driven Emerald onto the merciless streets where she'd been brutally run over. Skipper's lip curled. His teeth were bared.

A scowl formed on his muzzle.

Out of the top of his eyes he glared at the dogcatcher and made a snap at the man's ankles.

"Get. Back!" Skipper snarled.

Of course, this human couldn't understand him. But he looked different from the dogcatcher that horrible night. He looked younger. And more concerned at the sight of Skipper's teeth. The Yellow Lab may have been a puppy, but he still looked nasty when showing his fangs.

Skipper, at the back of his mind, felt guilty for scaring this new, unexperienced dogcatcher. But then he remembered Crystal and let out the deepest bark he could muster. "Step off!"

Skipper turned then, and bolted down the sidewalk in a blur. With the young human distracted, he could make his getaway and think of where to find Crystal.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The evening sky lit pinkish light on Skipper's cream-yellow fur as he trudged through the streets, stomach growling, eyes milky with thirst. His paws throbbed; he had to drag them across the sidewalk to take one step after another. He'd been searching for his beloved sister all day. Hours. It felt like a week, but it'd only been one day.

Skipper raised his head and glared straight ahead as he walked, trying to pick up his feet more and keep his tail from dragging the ground, the picture of hopelessness. I'll never stop searching. Never. Crystal wouldn't have stopped searching for me.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

And he didn't stop searching. Skipper searched for days. A week. Every building, every house, every yard looked the same. He had found food in old garbage cans and had even gotten some from generous passerby humans, but it did nothing to ease the ache he felt. His family had been stolen from him in one night. He would never feel happy again, he was sure of that.

All he wanted was a place to stay. And not with some stupid human either. Humans had taken his mother and sister. He wanted a home of his own, somewhere he'd call his personal territory, a place he'd feel warm and safe again.

A sudden chittering sound made Skipper's ears leap.

A squirrel was right in front of him. Feeling playfullness well up inside himself, the Yellow Lab sprang after it, following it through an open, iron gate and into a grove of trees. He chased the squirrel, legs pumping faster and faster, a laugh bubbling up out of him. Skipper pounded through the grass, ignoring the leaves of bushes swishing in his face, twigs caught in his fur, the dead leaves on the forest floor tripping him up. He'd never felt so free in his life.

He glanced around.

His smile fell. He stopped running. Confusion swept over him.

The squirrel raced back up a tree, out of reach. Skipper's eyes cut from side to side.

Where the heck am I?

He felt afraid for a moment. Looking back over his shoulder, he saw a sign:

Town Park.

"The Park?" he murmured aloud. Skipper cocked his head, arching a brow. He mouthed the word 'wha...?' without a sound and clenched his teeth, glancing around again.

Then the sunshine blazed against his fur. Birds chirped. Skipper felt contentment inside himself.

For a while he walked through the Park. Sometimes he'd see other dogs, pups and human families having lunch at long wooden tables or on a blanket in the grass. He came across a charming little red bridge over a river that led into a wonderful, cold-but-not-too-cold lake. Skipper swam in it for a while, cooling off and opening his eyes underwater to see the fish that swam about. He chased a few more squirrels. By nightfall Skipper knew he'd found it.

Home.

This would be it. It was perfect. His new home.

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've been testing this sort of thing out in stories, hoping your imaginations will serve you when reading and using these links. Click the link in a new tab or window that I give you here. You can imagine it as Skip singing or it playing while he roams the park. Just CLICK THE LINK AND PLAY THE SONG! Hopefully your imagination will do the rest, but this part in the story really called for it. Here ya go. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JAqLGSd2ac )

 Skipper went to the red bridge after having dried off from swimming. He sat down and gazed at the stars, green eyes glittering.

"I’ve got my memories,

Always inside of me,

But I can’t go back,

Back to how it was.

I believe you now.
 

I’ve come too far.

No, I can’t go back,

Back to how it was.

Created for a place I’ve never known…

This is home!
 

Now I’m finally where I belong.

Where I belong,

Yeah, this is home!

I’ve been searchin’ for a place of my own,

Now I’ve found it,

Maybe this is home,

Yeah, this is home…"

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: STOP THE MUSIC NOW!)

The next week or two, Skipper was alone and had the Park to himself. He desperately missed his sister and mother, and the first few nights there were terrifying without them. But what had the dogcatchers done to Crystal? The young Lab knew he'd never see his mother again, but his sister had to be out there somewhere! Skipper grew territorial and antisocial with the other dogs and humans that entered the Park, staying only in woods near the river, bridge, gate, and lake. It was the only place he felt safe. He learned to climb a few small, still-growing trees, and even to catch fish. He never really caught up with a full-grown squirrel, but he came close. He was without a doubt the fastest dog in the Park.

And he was used to it. This was his life. He had to put the past behind him and start anew, on his own, in his new home in the Park.

But he was never the same pup he had been. He had changed.

Chapter 3

{Three months later...}

Sun peaked over the treetops. Birds chirped.

A disturbance arose, sending the birds fluttering in a noisy array of screeching and feathers.

A squirrel, with thick red fur, sprinted across the grass, darting between trees and rocks. Its breathing was almost as fast as its heartbeat, tail fanned out behind it.

Suddenly the squirrel spotted its ticket to saftey. It shot up the tallest oak in the forest. Then it sprang out to the tip of the highest branch and