The Duty

This is for an assignment I had in my short story class. I rewrote a scene examining the conflict in the short story "How Far She Went". I chose to rewrite this scene from the dog's perspective, as I believe he deserved some justice. I hope you enjoy.

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She came back! She came back! I could smell her before I saw her coming, the stinging scent that accompanied the shiny beast, the decadent scent of the earth that rose up in clouds around it every time it moved. She hadn’t forgotten me! My heart raced and I pranced until she opened the door, and I hopped into my place, behind the younger human. My human, The Old Lady, climbed back in and I couldn’t help but twitch my ears, as I detected a change in her scent. It was sweet but cold, it made me sneeze and I wanted to climb over to her and lick her face, reassure her. Just as I made to move to her, she pulled the big wheel with a jerk and stomped her foot. I lurched forward and could only dig my claws into the soft ground beneath me to keep from falling.

A loud roar, distant but quickly approaching caught my ears and I turned my head. I felt the room shaking around us as the two-legged creatures caught up to us, two large humans on each, barking almost as loudly. It hurt my ears, and I pressed them tight on my head. I could smell the cold scent from my humans grow stronger. My fur bristled, “Go away! Go away!” I snarled and barked, as my humans did the same. The sounds were deafening, the two-legged creatures emitted a dense and acrid fog that seared my nose. It made my mouth water, and I lunged against the hard barrier, showing my teeth and growling.

Suddenly, a piercing screech cracked through the air all around us and it felt as if we might tip over. The road was thunderous, tiny stones plinking against the side of our beast as it shuddered forward. I was thrown and bounced across my perch, momentarily forgetting about the angry creatures and their angrier humans. There came a loud squelching, and a deliciously moist smell met my nose. Mud! I pulled myself from the floor, clambering over the seat and following The Old Lady out into the gloriously pungent world outside, and shoved my nose high into the air. A thousand trails came to me at once, each telling a story that teased me to seek it out. I felt the wet sticky ground beneath my paws and resisted the urge to chase a particularly musky aroma.

The Old Lady was urging the younger human to follow us, and I was snapped back into reality by that sickeningly sweet scent that poured from both of them. In the distance, the roar of the two-legged creatures told me that they were still chasing us. I needed to find a safe place for us. I needed to protect my humans. It was my duty. “I’ll find it!” I yelped to The Old Lady and dove into the brush, letting the earthy scents tickle my nose, snuffling deeply and searching for the path that would lead us to safety. Beneath the lively wooded smell of earth and pine, there was the faintest whiff of dry, ancient wood. I sniffed harder as I continued to move, focusing on that brittle, dusty scent. Breaking through a particularly dense patch of brush, I spotted what I was looking for: a house!

“Here!” I barked, triumphantly. My tail sailed above me as I turned and barked again, watching the humans as they tried to open the door. The whirring monstrous sound of the two-legged creatures filled the air around us. I watched The Old Lady cover her mouth and let out a strange, muffled bark. Something wasn’t right. She wasn’t going in. Maybe she didn’t like this spot. Eagerly, I trotted down toward the water, licking at my lips as I resisted the urge to lap it up. The water! I turned, and sniffed a few times, with my tail high, the way The Old Lady taught me to do when searching. She wasn’t looking at me.

“Here, here! This way!” She turned. I couldn’t contain my excitement as she walked toward me. I yipped and pranced around her until she stooped and scooped me into her arms. I stuck my nose into her face, under her ear, inhaling deeply. Underneath the cold scent that permeated her being was my favorite smell of all; another sort of sweet and musty smell of earth and the scraps she’d give me and the warmth of the bed I wasn’t supposed to sleep in every night but did anyway. As we moved together, I wriggled in her arms, against the cold of the wet now clinging to my fur. I buried myself deeper against her, licking her face, trying to remove that ugly cold scent that seemed to be stuck around her. Her breath was shallow, and I whimpered as I realized my attempts to reassure her were failing.

I felt a sudden change in her body, a stillness of her heart that had been thump-thumping wildly against me pressed against her chest. Her eyes met mine and suddenly, she plunged me deep into the water. I bucked, my paws scrambling out, desperately pushing off against her, grabbing helplessly at the chilling wet that engulfed me. I tried to yell, to tell her to stop, but my mouth only filled with the fishy dirty water. I couldn’t cry out. I could do nothing.

And then, I realized, this is what The Old Lady needed from me. This was my most important duty of all. I struggled one last time and then let my head fall against her arm. Beneath the smell of dirt and mud and fish and water, I could still smell her warmth and the scraps and the bed I was not supposed to sleep in every night but did anyway. The bed. I imagined I was in that bed now and let myself drift until the world all around us went black