A Boy, a Dog Girl and a Beginning: Part One

Zack walked through the woods for the third day in a row, not so much depressed as he was annoyed. It wasn’t hunger or thirst or cold bothering him. Heck, he even had a beautiful and devoted girl at his side, a development he would have killed for days earlier.

His problem was twofold. One, he was pretty sure he was dead and this entire forest was some messed up afterlife. Two, the beautiful girl by his side was previously his loyal dog.

“Why are you so sad?” she asked, her giant brown eyes looking up at him. He did not know how to answer her question. There was the obvious, of course.

“I’m still pissed about getting shot,” Zack said.

“I know. It hurt,” she said, softly and sadly.

“Why did you jump in to rescue me? Dumb dog…”

“Why did you try to save the girl? You didn’t even know her.”

Why did he? Yet another question rattling around in his brain. He had always been an act first, think never kind of guy. It had made him tons of friends and enemies in his decade and a half of life.

“The girl was scared. The guy was gonna hurt her. I couldn’t…” Trying to rationalize it made him realize how stupid he sounded. Couldn’t let? He got shot. Killed. Well, probably killed.

“I couldn’t either.” Her answer was simple, honest. Dog logic. No further thinking needed. Her boy was in trouble. She jumped at the bad man. The end.

“Honey…” Zack felt ridiculous calling the girl the dog name.

“Yes master?” she asked, gripping his arm, a bright smile breaking her face.

“Yeah, you’re gonna have to stop calling me master,” Zack said, pulling away slightly.

“Why? You let me call you master when I was small and hairy.”

“Honey, when you were small and hairy I couldn’t understand you.”

“Oh yeah!”

The happiness in her voice combined with her obliviousness made Zack want to bang his head against a tree and hug her all at the same time.

“Look, I need you to…”

Honey grabbed him, dragging him to the ground. Her eyes were on a group of bushes some several dozen feet away. Her nose twitched ever so slightly, and her pupils were wide and alert.

“Let’s go another direction, master,” Honey said, her voice a calm whisper.

“Right. Okay. Wasn’t married to this direction anyways.”

They slowly, carefully walked in a more eastward direction, away from whatever had been in the bushes which made the former dog so alert. Zack tried to suppress a smile.

“What?” Honey asked as she finally allowed him to stand again.

“It’s weird. You being a person now, I mean. But there are definitely advantages to it.”

“Oh master, you make me so happy!” Honey cried out, grabbing Zack in a tight hug. He tried to ignore how her chest pressed against him through the thin dress she wore.

He tried incredibly hard.

“How did this become my life…”

*

The city was hot. The streets were crowded. Zack was desperate for an easy, relaxing night. No stress, no school, no assholes giving him crap.

“Movie?”

“Woof!”

Zack shook his head. The loyal golden retriever at his side looked up at him as they walked, her leash loose. She never pulled away. At the side of her boy was where she belonged.

“You’ve been giving me woof all night. How about burgers?”

“Woof!”

“Tacos?”

“Woof! Woof!”

“Ah! Getting closer!”

Zack stretched, wondering where on such a hot, lazy Saturday night he could get the best tacos.

“We’ve got two options. Crazy Chicken or Hot Maria’s. You decide.”

Honey sneezed, then looked up at Zack as if she had accomplished something.

“You’re absolutely right! Maria’s does have the superior chorizo! I’ve had too much chicken lately anyways.”

Such a simple decision. Where to eat. Chorizo versus chicken. Tacos versus burgers. Left versus right. Such is the cruelty of life. One simple decision changed Zack’s life forever.

He thought of his decision many nights as time passed. If he had done anything else, he wouldn’t have seen the girl with the blue hair being robbed by the asshole.

He wouldn’t have died.

They came upon a gas station, the harsh lights buzzing like insects, the smell of fuel and the sound of lame stock music overwhelming. They nearly missed seeing the robbery.

Her hair was blue in an unnatural way. Not dyed blue. He knew girls with hair dye. Her hair seemed more natural and completely unnatural at the same time, shimmering and glowing.

“I said gimme your wallet, bitch! Or purse! Whatever! Gimme some god damn money for some smokes, now!” the guy in front of her shouted. He was ratty, clothes dirty and stinking, hands shaking.

Honey was only a simple dog. Yet she had been with her boy her entire life, growing with him. She was with him when the bad man hit him, when his little body protected the woman.

She knew the look in her boy’s eyes when he heard the dirty man threatening the strange woman. She knew what her boy would do before he charged forward.

“Hey shaky! Drop the gun! Your smell is threatening enough!” Zack shouted, loud and distracting. The dirty man’s finger twitched.

“Piss off! Bitch said I’m cursed! I’m not cursed! I’M NOT!” the sickly looking dirty man screamed. The gun swung from the girl.

Zack tried to strike the man with his closed fist.

The bullets were faster.

Honey leapt, snarling and snapping. Her boy was hurt. He had tried to save the strange girl. It was like how he saved the woman at home.

How could Honey do any less?

More shots rang out. Zack reached for his dog. The pain had been brief. The numbness came quickly. The sorrow was worse.

He couldn’t die. Mom would be alone.

Honey couldn’t die. Not because he couldn’t protect her.

Then came the darkness, and he knew no more of Earth.