Lousy Companion

My mind needed a break from all the unanswered questions compressed.

 

 

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Chapter (3): Lousy Companion 

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I think elderly humans are a sad sight; their dreams are sighs behind withered youth, the crowns of hair fading into strings of unpolished silver, and skin shriveled and mottled. They drag across unchanged carpet very slowly and moaned like the walking dead.

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I rubbed my nose with a sniff as I pulled the black gate open with the free hand, taking one last, long look at the old shack before turning around. My bicycle and satchel remained right were I left them, I noticed as I walked towards them, my foot slightly stepping on a flat, plastic object.

My phone! Luck seemed to improve ever since I walked into that orchard. I picked it up with a smirk, and re-lit the main screen, clicking the recent calls button with a finger, rubbing my arm with my free hand, as a faded cloud of steam departed from my lips beneath the pinkish, cold nose.

[5 Missed Calls: Dujaun]

 

"All animals are wonderful in each of their differences. Don't you think?" Madam Shams said stroking the bird's feathers, its black, button eyes examining my new unfamiliar face, "They don't tire of you or disappoint you like humans do, even when you can be a lousy companion sometimes."

Well, that was true, I remembered, especially the last part.

 

I mean, even if Dujaun had been trying to call me, he still wasn't here like he said he would be. My phone had been out of my reach for the last two hours and he should have assumed I was in trouble and in need of help. He must have already reached the woods and started setting up those tents while laughing hard at every unfunny joke Ali made up. I wasn't being dramatic, I just…Nevermind.

I didn't need anyone right now. I would come everyday to this old shack with its wonderful flock of colored birds. I was always welcome, Madam Shams told me.

I slid the phone in the pocket of my white and beige parka, proceeding to my slanted bicycle by the cedar tree.

"Who are you?" a wary, soft female voice called from behind.

I turned around, a young woman with a travel bag in one hand stood by the black gate. She had long black hair, pale, supple skin, and Asian-like, contrasting dark eyes. She was dressed in an unadorned outfit, similar to a house-maid's, and a caramel winter coat. "Have you been inside this house?"

"I'm Jad--"

"Forget the first question. Have you been inside this house?" her tone confirmed the question; Plain, clear and cold.

"Yes. I just got out of there." I answered with hesitant honesty.

A weak frown surfaced in her eyes as she turned around and pushed the gate open. "Don't come near this orchard again." She sounded sharper than she actually looked.

"Why?" I asked, skeptically raising an eyebrow.

She didn't even bother changing her route into the orchard, locking the black gate behind her.

I shrugged turning back around to mount on the bike saddle, where the blue-eyed, grey husky from before stood perfectly still, staring at me.

"Eeeh..." I griped in a low voice, slowly stepping backwards, the hairs on my arms spiking up, and the Husky's paws resumed towards me. A yelp grew from my wobbly throat as I stumbled backwards, both the bicycle and me hurtling down onto the pavement.

 

"Walak(1) what the f**k," I groaned in pain, "do you want from me!?" I scowled at the dog, disappointed that I cursed again. I wasn't an uptight nerd. I just thought cursing in sentences was unnecessary.

The dog quietly took a few steps forward, and I dragged my bottom backwards against the cold pavement, my back freezing at the unfortunately, unmoving cement wall behind me.

The dispassionate baby-blue eyes triggered a shiver in me, and the fact that it didn't even slightly glower did NOT make me less scared.

Maybe it didn't need to glower, I thought, I was a defenseless, already-dead-meat target.

I slightly cringed at the vibrating phone in my parka, but my ordinary dark brown never departed the mystical shade of blue.

My eyes opened wider upon hearing a male, noisy exhale.

Where did it come from?

"I'm fed up with trying to make you understand."

The dog turned around, leisurely walking away, "Do as you like."

Who said that?

My head turned to look around in random directions. It was just me and that dog.

"Hey, wait!" I called, but the dog wouldn't pause, so I pulled myself back up and sprinted after him.

"Oi, Husky!" I didn't know what else to call him.

"Did you just talk to me?" I said as I ran, barely able to believe I was actually assuming that.

He slowed down, gradually coming to a stop, and I finally caught up, bending lower to refill my lungs with air, fog escaping my lips with every breath, both my hands over my knees.

"And you just heard me talk to you?" he asked back, sounding almost as amazed as I was. Oh my God…I was right.

I raised my head and nodded, standing straight again.

"Am I some sort of a new Dr. Dolittle(2) ?" I asked.

"What?" he turned around to face me, apparently annoyed by my use of figures of speech.

"How can I possibly hear you speak?"

"It's probably something she injected you with."

"You mean Madam Shams? Oh no, she's not like what you hear around here." I explained, clearing the misunderstanding. "She's actually a nice person."

"Just as I thought," he said in a self-assured, slightly sickened tone, "You're too dumb and too young. You make the perfect guinea pig for that witch."

"Eh…? I just told you," I naively insisted. "She's not like what people--"

"Alright, I get it. Just shut up and come with me. You stink of that disgusting bird odor." He coldly interrupted, mumbling, in an edgy tone, words I couldn't hear anymore.

Even without owning the ability to linguistically understand him, he was already ferocious and now he was verbally attacking me…Sheesh. I thought, wincing at his turned back.

"Wait," I irately said, "why the f**k should I come with you?" I cursed again, feeling good that I did this time, "You almost gave me a heart attack, chasing me near that old shack!"

"The intention was to chase you away and further from there." He clarified without turning around, "But you intelligently jumped right into the orchard, where--"

"Okay, hold on a second," I snickered sarcastically, as the dog continued with the flow of insults, my hands motioning him to stop, "Wait, wait, so, I was supposed to translate your wordless, mime-actions just like that? You'd call me smart then? And why were you driving me away from there anyhow?"

You could visualize how awkward the situation was when viewed from the angle of an old gatekeeper who happened to pass by, unable to decide what to make of the scene of a dog staring silently at a boy who kept retorting words, sincerely engaged in a one-sided debate in the middle of the street.

 

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I stared at the howling entrance of the cavern of marble before following him inside. The hill was coated by cold, mist and topped by muddy skies still holding back the immeasurable confetti of snow, but inside the cave, all the walls around us were of rock-hard ice. The touch of my fingers examined the almost opaque crystal. If you polished the surface with your sleeves, you could see some of the roughly, preserved, God-knows-what kind of creatures inside.

I turned away and ran trying to catch up with the distant figure of a Husky almost disappearing inside the darkness.

My eyes unconsciously wandered up at all the naturally, hanging shafts of frost as I quietly walked behind him. My left shoe rasped against something slippery and I clumsily fell backwards on my poor a*s.

"Would you mind paying more attention to your steps?" he said in a stingy tone.

"S-sorry…" I sheepishly said.

Wait…what was I sorry for? I winced, rubbing my lower back. I'm the one who tripped, and it wasn't completely painless.

"Look." The Husky said, stopping before the disarray.

My eyes opened wide, and my mind was congested with question marks at the sight of what seemed like an animal cemetery.

"This is Madam Shams' waste dispenser."

"No you're wrong. I was in there…in her house, in that backyard, there were a lot of birds and-and she asked me to help her take care of them. She loves animals--"

"Jad,"

How did he know my name? I wiped my forehead with a shivering palm.

My mind needed a break. I thought as my pulse accelerated, sending unhealthy quivers down my stomach.

"Why should I believe you?" I asked, trying to sound more cold than pathetically confused.

The dog wordlessly approached the scattered hill of bodies and bone-white remains, not taking too long to find an object to carry in between his teeth, and turned around to face me.

It was a shard of a white, floral-patterned tea cup. Like the one I saw in Madam Shams' living room.

I looked away from his powerful shade of baby-blue, hiding the defeat in my eyes and glanced at the silent aftermath of an inhuman massacre.

I wiped my face again with a sigh, looking up at the shafts of solid ice draping from the roof.

"A shredded tea cup isn't a strong evidence," I said, "but, supposedly, she abuses animals and hides slaughters in a cave right down the hill...What do you suggest we do?"

"That’s not her original crime."

"What do you mean?"

The Husky's eyes looked at me with an uttering clutter of sorrow and intellect "She uses humans for mad experiments. She changes them to animals."

My eyes grew wider in disbelief. I was almost sure I knew what he meant, but I asked just in case, "And you know all this because?"

"Because I was once human too."

I could absorb the shock because that couldn't be true. In fact, most of it just had to be a crazy flash in a long…long nightmare, the night before my awesome camping trip.

He ignored my slow-processing state of mind, walking past me back towards the exit.

"That is why I tried to warn you before." He spoke in a composed, yet concerned tone, "Do not. Come. Near. This. Hill. Again."

"Why?"

"Why…?" he asked back starting to get irritated again, "After all I've told you, you're still as--"

"No, I mean…why did you try to warn me earlier about the old shack? It wasn't your problem. It still isn't."

Silence met my question as the Husky's paws persisted forward against the icy cave floor.

I turned away, detaching myself from hoping to get an answer, when he finally said,

"Consider this the late gratitude I once owed you."

So, I had actually met him before?

My head slightly jerked back once the phone vibrated in the pocket of my parka again.

Author's Note

* (1): A disrespectful pronoun, (Arabic) similar to informal ways of calling: oi/ hey/you/
* (2) A fictional character from a story (adapted into a 1998 American family comedy film) about a vet who learned to accept and use the gift of being able to talk to (and understand) animals.

Okay, not much devouring into rising action as much as giving new important details in this chapter. Here's what happens, I see a strange scene in a dream last night or the night before, I like the scene, I turn it into a short story, and I write it down so it would become a fresh, interesting tale that I surprise myself with. But sometimes it just takes alot of patience and effort, and I wish I could just skip and jump into the ending...my dream wasn't that LONG..Anywho, I hope you liked this improved version of Snowdrop (previously titled: Husky and Me) oh and another thing is, there are very few Arab English Language writers who tend to introduce their mother-tongue into conversations or narrations, but I'm trying to do so while slowing down, sometimes I explain meanings of phrases and sometimes I don't (they would mostly be obvious greetings or expressions) Comments and constructive advice is welcome here. : )

Reviews

[Deviant Works]

Very good chapter. One of the most important. In this chapter you tell us where this story is heading and to be honest I will read it just because it has magical content. Not to mention it is also a good story, I like the characters and the plot as well. Love the twist on Madam Sham, glad you showed us early so I didn't start liking her to much only to find out she is an animal killer slash human brain washer.:) Great chapter.

[Havatara]

Ah, I get where this is going now! Anyway, I noticed that you had some punctuation mistakes. You used commas where they were unnecessary. Maybe you could quickly reread this and see if you can spot them? I only saw a couple. I think your character development is fine, for now. It takes time to develop characters, and you can't just have it done in 3 chapters. Good job so far.

[Blossom]

wow. that was a twist. I nver expected the dog to talk. it was certainly surprising. can't wiat to see future developmen

[Wondering Mind]

You use twists well and the conversation feels natural.

[Erin]

Huh. An interesting turn of event if I do say so myself. It seems to me that you're becoming a fan of underlining things, and I guess that can be your style, but I'm not big on it. This is why we created the italics, to add emphasis to words. And for thoughts. I don't really understand, but I'm not a fan of underlining things.
It's been going somewhere, but I feel like the map has been found and the destination has been pinpointed. I kinda have a sense of what might happen. This chapter is better. I liked the way you ended it. Good job.
PBP

[tshigg]

Excellent! Nice twist. You have me hooked and inticipating the next chapter!

[Zane]

This story is very interesting, I love the characters. Keep up the good work.

[Coyote Poetry]

A very strong chapter. I will read on. I like the situation and the characters. You gave some history making the story stronger.
Coyote

[My Fair Lady]

Still reading on...more please.

[Lucid Smile]

Tis interesting....i like it :). I never would have guessed that the husky was once a human. Good job on it.
P.S. thank you for having me read this story i really liked how it kept me interested in reading more :)