A Scrappy Tale - Liberty

     Scrappy awoke to Dominic’s snoring. He rolled to his belly and waited, looking toward the Office door. Right on schedule the Woman came out of the Office and went outside the play yard entrance for a smoke and some fresh, hot, mid-June heat-wave air. This was as regular as a religious ceremony every night. The best part of all was that she always left the door open! Scrappy pushed on Delbert’s head with his paw. “Delbert! Ace, Zippy,” he whispered them awake. They all stirred with enthusiasm. “It’s twime.” He nodded toward the elevated window with bars above the bed. “Meet yooze uppa there inna da alley by ‘dat winda, huh?”

     They each split the food stash equally and ate it all. Then Scrappy reached under the blanket and removed the stolen cigarette lighter and then the stolen cigarette. He lit the cigarette being careful not to draw any smoke whatsoever into his young, tender lungs. He purposely dragged on it hard several times to get it to burn very hot. He walked to Dominic the Doberman’s bed holding the cigarette in his mouth. Ace picked the lighter up in his mouth and led the other two to the cage wall opposite their bed. Zippy carried the rubber ball as Scrappy had instructed him the day before.

     Scrappy stopped at Dominic’s bed feeling victorious. He quickly remembered several of the events, pains and injuries both physical and emotional inflicted on him by this monster. Finally! The moment had arrived to demoralize this scourge like never before. While Dominic snored on,  Da Scrappy Chihuahua bent down and pushed the burning end of the cigarette against the dry polyester fabric of the bed. He held it still. He smelled the pungent aroma of burning fabric all the way into his tiny sinuses. Then he saw little red embers burn in the edges of the hole that had begun to grow. Then he dragged on it rapidly and blew on it, feeding oxygen to it.

     Then it happened. A little yellow flame popped up on the top surface of Dominic’s bed and began to grow. A few seconds later when he was sure it was strong enough to survive alone, he dropped the cigarette in it and turned and ran to join the others. The cigarette paper, filter and tobacco fed the flame while the deep sleeping Dominic snored on. As seconds passed the flame spread. Leak ran out from his bed in the dark corner and began to whine. He bent down to bark but was stopped by a watchful Delbert clamping his jaw on Leak’s shoulder. Scrappy softly barked at Leak, “Don’t doowit! Nawt a woid.”

     Finally the flame had become a large, bed-consuming fire. Dominic awoke from it’s heat and smoke and howled in horror. He tried to escape but his injuries hindered him from getting up quickly. Delbert let go of Leak who looked at the fire with great worry. The Woman ran to the cell and unlocked the door in a panic. As the pups had expected she left the door wide open as was her habit at any time. She ran all the way into the corner to grab the terrorized Doberman and carry him to safety in the center of the cell. “Move!” Scrappy yelled to his friends as the Woman ran back to the corner to smother the fire. Ace and Zippy ran through the dog jail entrance. Scrappy stopped halfway to bark at Leak, “Choose! Now!” Dominic saw what was being attempted and barked his anger at the escaping dogs.

     Delbert told Leak, “Fawllow Scrap! He wawntsa you out.”

     When Scrappy saw Dominic looking directly at him while barking he knew it was time to go. “Delbert, step awnnit!” he barked running out to freedom.

     Leak looked frantically between Dominic and the threatening Delbert. “But… but…”

     Delbert snarled running toward Leak. Leak instinctively ran both away from Delbert and toward freedom through the cell door. Delbert was right behind him but the raging Doberman caught his shoulders in his jaws and slammed them together with crushing force. Delbert screamed in agony once. Scrappy stopped a few feet from the play yard exit and turned to see Dominic violently shaking the little Beagle pup from side to side. The crazed beast beat Delbert’s now silent body and skull on the concrete floor until the Woman shocked him with that zap-stick. He yelped dropping the dead puppy on the floor and reeled away from her. He tried to hobble out the door but she closed it before he arrived.

     Now Scrappy was furious. He turned and bolted out the building exit hearing Dominic barking in angry protest. Scrappy ran along the fence behind the wildly growing bush and crawled down the hole Zippy had prepared. He patiently but determinedly pushed his way underneath the alley and up to the unfenced land where Ace, Zippy and Leak awaited. As soon as he poked his head above the surface his ears were met with the sound of the imprisoned Dominic barking furiously 40 feet away. Followed by his three breakout mates he ran down the alley to the little barred window at the base of the building but high above their former cell floor.

Zippy - Scrappy's Gardener, Landscaper, and Undertaker

     He looked in the window and saw Dominic standing in the middle alone, barking and searching. Then Dominic saw Scrappy in the window and charged him, standing on his hind legs and barking in Scrappy’s face. Only the thick iron bars kept them apart. “I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!" Dominic screamed. "I’ll hunt you down and kill you, you stoopid Chihuahua! I hate you! I hate ya guts! I’ma gwunna kill you! I’ll tear you inta little pieces when I get outa heah! You’re mwine!”

     Scrappy had lost 3 friends to this dog. He screamed through the bars in his little voice, “Licka mwy rump, you stray!” Then he hiked his right rear leg and let Dominic have it. He gave Dominic the Doberman the ultimate of canine insults. Dominic’s barking abruptly halted changing to coughing, gagging, spitting and clearing his throat. Softly he spoke to his arch-enemy, “Don’t… mess… wit’ Da Scrappy Chihuahua!” Turning away and breaking into a full sprint he yelled, “Twime ta move, bwoys!” Ace, Zippy and a reluctant Leak followed him many blocks down the Bronx alley thoroughly enjoying the rush of their new, long-coveted freedom.

     They stopped to rest at a momentarily quiet street. They were out of breath but they were finally free! The only problem was now that they had no more bars and walls and Man ordering their lives, they all sensed the possibilities of much greater dangers in the outside world. But they were free! They had talked and planned and worked so hard for this. And they succeeded!

     Finally having caught his breath Scrappy heard the rumbling of a nearby vehicle. He waited long enough to see which direction its headlights came from. "Bwoys," he called for their attention. "We awghtta celebrate our woik tonwight. Let'sa have a quick pawrty!" The other dogs wagged their tails and hopped in agreement. "Zippy, bawll!" Zippy released the rubber ball he had been carrying all the way from the dog jail to Scrappy. Scrappy grabbbed it, listened to judge the distance of the oncoming delivery truck, then tossed the ball between two parked cars into the street.

     Leak bolted after the ball out of a second nature. Just as he shot out from between the two cars into the street Scrappy turned his head to avoid seeing what he knew he'd hear: a loud klunk!, "Yelp!", and large skidding tires. Scrappy looked at Ace first, then Zippy. "I trust yooze won't be rattin' awnna ma friends, will ya?" They shook and bowed their heads. "Gwood! 'Cawze yooze da only friends I gawt left now." They heard sirens in the distance knowing the NYSPCA was now hunting them. "Let'sa git." They ran opposite the direction of the sirens.

     Eight blocks later they chose to crawl under a dumpster in an alley behind a downtown Bronx Chinese restaurant for the night. For the first time in ages Scrappy slept without interruption from some temperamental windbag's loud snoring. Liberty was something he looked forward to very much.

This ends the 1st epoch of A Scrappy Tale titled "The Rudder of LIfe". A Scrappy Tale will return soon continuing with his pre-mafia days. Join us to see how he built his reputation. 

A Scrappy Tale - Unity

     Scrappy sat in the middle of the floor between Dominic’s corner and his gang’s bed the following morning watching for Dominic to appear. Dominic stalked out with a cigarette dangling from his mouth and stopped to tower over Scrappy. “How did you know?” he grumbled under his breath.

     “I c’n read. Da Twimes ran ya stwory in da Commyoonity section. You made da front page. I saw it ovah there da othah day awn da flwoor. Even had ya picture innit. An’ I whizzed awn it!”

     Dominic could not stop the anger from rising up inside him mutating into a fury. He didn’t speak but he looked at Scrappy in ice-cold blooded hatred.

     “Go ahead,” said a calm and defiant Scrappy. “Kill me and set me free, Dumbinic. My prawblems will awll be ovah. And you’ll still be heah, day afta captive day bacawze nobawdy wawnts to adawpt you!”

     Dominic’s growling stopped when the Woman came in to herd the pups out to the play yard for recreation time. She took him first as usual giving Scrappy the opportunity to turn to the gang and quietly say, “Awlright, bwoys! When we get outswide play crazy, huh? Distract da Woman so I c’n check awn Zippy’s hole.” He walked into Dominic’s corner, got right into Leak’s face and whispered, “Remembah whawt I tolda ya. Choose wisely.”

     Scrappy was satisfied with the hole Zippy had dug behind some very thick, neglected brush leading to freedom on the far side of the alley on the other side of the fence. It was puppy-small so it wasn’t easily visible to an eye not looking for it.

     The afternoon went relatively event-free until time to collect the food stash. Marco insisted on getting food this day. It would be the last opportunity to do something for the little Chihuahua he had come to respect so much and “He’sa like a brothah,” he pleaded with the others. Tomorrow life would be so different. No guards. No walls. No cages. No schedules. Right on schedule Marco mimicked every move he ever saw Zippy make. The other pups were impressed. Marco went back for a second mouthful. Halfway back to the bed he was pounced upon by the dark, diving hulk of Dominic from his corner. He hadn’t been sleeping as always before. Dominic bit the back of Marco’s neck. Marco froze petrified. He could not bark, yelp or cry out for the food stuck in his jaw. Dominic bit on his neck with full force. Marco’s eyes went to a blank stare as dog food fell out of his mouth. Dominic dropped the dog’s body and, piece by piece, picked up the fallen food and ate it. He looked at the puppies and snarled, “Finally I cawght yooze stealin’ mwy food! Never let it happen again!”

     Scrappy was more furious than devastated this time. He walked to the middle of the cell and barked “C’mere, you unwawnted waste of fur! Now!” Ace, Zippy and Delbert instinctively left the bed and formed a perimeter around Dominic as he stopped and sat two feet from Scrappy. Scrappy stared straight into his eyes intently, then made the expression of looking past him in shock yelling, “Delbert, no! Don’t setta his rump fur awn fiyah wit’ ‘dat lighta!”

     Dominic spun around in panic to see Delbert but Delbert wasn’t there. Before he could think another thought he felt needle-sharp chihuahua teeth piercing into his… into his… his… yeah, his doghood! The Doberman howled, writhing from side to side trying to get Scrappy in the clutches of his jaws but could not reach him. Scrappy held on and shook Dominic’s personals violently as if they were a rodent. As Dominic’s agony increased his resistance decreased. That’s when Ace and Delbert each got ahold of one of his hind legs, Zippy grabbed an ear and they chewed with all their might and snarling furiously. After several minutes Scrappy and the gang released him and he crawled back to his corner whining all the way.

     The Woman came to check out the commotion and was angry that another puppy was dead. She carried the body of Marco out of sight, took Dominic to the infirmary, patched him up and returned him to bed. She called for an assistant to come to the shelter. Scrappy pushed a rubber ball across the cell from the gang-bed. As he had expected, he saw Leak race from the dark corner to fetch it. He ran to the center of the cell and released the ball to bounce back to Scrappy but ran back to his hideout. Scrappy had watched him in the play yard everyday. The Woman would throw a ball or stick and Leak would never fail to pursue it. He knew Leak had told Dominic about Zippy sneaking food for him and the others. He knew now that Dominic pretended to be taking his usual daily nap. In Scrappy’s mind Leak was a marked mutt and his days were numbered.

     Scrappy walked right up to Leak’s bed and whispered in his ear, “Remembah whawt I tolda ya. Ya choice will be freedom, or slavuhry, capice?” Then he returned to bed and began his scheduled short sleep.

…to be continued…

A Scrappy Tale - Bluff Called

     Leak was frightened awake in the middle of the night by the sound of the puppy’s whisper just above his ear commanding him to, “Wake up!.” Leak looked up to try to discern the puppy’s silhouette in the darkness. The puppy spoke again heard only by Leak because of Dominic’s snoring. “You make-a one sound and we nueta’ ya, capice?” Leak began to tremble. He could feel the other pups very close by. “Answer me now!” the puppy hissed.

     “Yes!” Leak whispered scared and softly.

     “Get ya stupid butt up an’ come wit’ us.” He got to his paws and followed the Chihuahua puppy to the gang’s bed while surrounded by the other pups. The puppy stopped at the brick wall, turned and said, “Lay down against da wall.” Leak did as he was told. The puppy stood above him and spoke directly into his ear. “You gonna get a choice ta make real soon. I advise-a you ta make da smart choice. An’ one word of ‘dis to ya bawss, you’ll be walkin’ on three legs for da resta ya life. An’ I mean one woid.” The puppy grabbed Leak’s neck in his jaw and put enough pressure to cause pain without injury. Leak relaxed in submission. “Now get ya rump in bed.” Leak quickly got up and quietly returned to his bed. Halfway there the puppy hissed, “Leak!”. Leak stopped and looked back for the final warning. “Watch ya back,” the puppy winked.

     After Leak went to sleep Ace confided to the puppy, “I don’ like-a ‘dis at awll! We’ve invaded a killa’s territwory!”

     “Don’t worry about Leak. He obeys fear. Now he’s confused which fear ta obey. T’anks fwor da help. Sleep well now.”

     In the morning the Woman filled the bowls. The puppies gathered around to eat. As expected Dominic came out of his dark corner to scare the puppies away. But today he came out followed by Leak and sat down. The Chihuahua puppy walked between his friends and Dominic. He watched Leak light a cigarette well behind the Doberman's back where he could not see. Then he brought the stinky burn-stick to to him. Dominic puffed on it blowing smoke in the puppy’s face. The puppy asked, “Breakin’ da rules already, huh?”

     Dominic glared at him as he stood up and walked to tower over the little dog. “You tawlkin’ ta me, runt?”

     “Yeah I’m tawlkin’ ta you, ya mworon.”

     Dominic’s expression went soft for a moment. He could not believe his ears or eyes. “Whawt rule you tawlkin’ about and who you cawllin’ a mworon?”

     “Didn’t you read ‘dat sign she put up there yestaday?”

     Dominic glanced at the sign and back with an expression revealing he’d been taken completely off guard. “No!”

     “Well, you inna lawtta trouble ‘den.”

     Dominic looked back at the sign and back at the puppy uneasily. “Why?” The puppy gazed at the sign momentarily then smiled looking right at his adversary. Dominic began to shift more agitated looking back and forth between the sign and the puppy. “Whawt’s so funny? Whawt’s it say?” The puppy’s already big, round eyes opened even wider to display surprise.

     “Ooops! Sounds like-a ya big, blab mouth jussa showed ya hand, huh? You can’t read! You no Dawminic. You a Dumbinic! So ta answer ya second question, I’ma cawllin’ you a mworon, ya mworon!”

     All the puppies and Leak stopped eating and looked at the two enemies in suspense. Relying on what had worked before, Dominic bellowed “ROAF!” in the puppy’s face. “’Dat’s it, ya little mouse pellet!” he grumbled advancing on him. The puppy slowly backed away step by step toward the gang’s bed. “You awre go-win’ ta be wit’ ya goilfriend when we get inna da yawrd,” he growled as they walked. “I’ma gwunna kill you!”

     The puppy stopped at the corner of the bed and said calmly, “Dummy, I ain’t afraida you no mwore. You ain’t smawrt. Ya just mean. Ya just stoopid! A dumb, stoopid, illiterate, bed-wettin’, unwawnted, useless, looney oaf! You so stoopid you gawt no idea ‘dat killin’ me would be betta fwor me ‘dan fwor you. I’d be outta ma misery and you wouldn’t have me ta beat up no mwore. But as lawng as I live you needa whawtchya back. I been wawtchin’ you. I know ya weaknesses. And wunna ‘deze days I’ma gwunna whack you once an’ fwor awll. I own you, Dummy!”

     Dominic went into such a blind rage he couldn’t even see. “Who do you t’ink you awre?!!”

     “I… am… Da Scrappy Chihuahua! I may be tiny, but I am mighty!”

     “’Den I’ma gwunna kill you now!” he sizzled through his teeth.

     “No ya ain’t.” The puppy reached under the bed blanket with his paw and pulled out the stolen cigarette lighter. “Ya gonna run fwor ya lwife bacawze da house is awn fiya!” he screamed as he lit the lighter and held it up right in front of the young 60 lb. doberman’s face. Dominic recoiled yelping as if he’d been struck. He turned and bolted to his corner whining loudly in pure terror. He was heard whining in his corner trying to calm himself and regain his composure. The newly self-pronounced Scrappy Chihuahua returned to the food bowls where he stood and glared at Leak. Leak slinked into the dark corner to his bed very quietly. Scrappy glanced at his friends and happily proclaimed, “It’sa dinna twime, bwoys! Let’sa eat! Yeah.”

…to be continued…

A Scrappy Tale – The Fire Within

     The puppy awakened in the morning to the sound of Dominic laughing at him from the center of the cell. It didn’t really bother him at the time. He was too numb inside to feel anything at all. The Woman came to feed the dogs and the one time Dominic didn’t run the pups off with a time limit, the little Chihuahua couldn’t bring himself to eat. Dominic sat and laughed at him quietly while they ate. The puppy closed his eyes and began to daydream about the cape again. A mask would be good. That way criminals like him wouldn’t know who destroyed them. His dreaming ever so slightly aroused a sense of justice in him. But the emptiness of loss still owned him.

     When recreation period arrived he very slowly walked outside, far behind the others. The Woman picked him up and took him into the Office and sat him down beside her on the floor to watch the first Scooby-Doo movie. As she talked on the phone he noticed her cigarette on the ashtray. His sense of smell hadn’t gotten used to it yet but at this point everything was dulled. Suddenly it rolled off by itself onto the carpeted floor. He looked at her then back at the cigarette. Now he smelled another bad smell. Twisting his head he looked more closely and saw the carpet giving way to a hole under the cigarette flame and the hole was growing. Just as a little yellow flame popped up the Woman stepped on it and rubbed it out.

     The puppy began scrapping his brain for the first time since the horrific experience the day before. He had just thought of one answer to several issues. Now his anger was awake and he vowed in his heart to find a way to do to Dominic what he did to Daizey. After the Woman left to get the dogs from the play yard, the puppy pulled one of her cigarettes from the pack and raced out to the cell. He carefully nudged it under the frame of the bottom of the cell. He found just enough room to fit it completely out of sight. He ran back into the Office just in time to be missed by any of the puppies coming in from the play yard entrance. The Woman picked him up in both hands and returned him to the cell.

     The puppy lied a foot away from the gang bed looking toward the cell door. The Woman entered the area and hung a large wood, painted sign reading “Smoking by Dogs Prohibited in This Facility”. The puppy barely twisted his head perplexed as he read it. After she had returned to the Office Dominic came out of his corner to sit in the middle of the cell and stare at him. He laughed. The puppy stared at him. And he burned inside. Dominic stopped laughing to stare some more. The puppy didn’t budge. Dominic began the laughter again. Then he stared again. “Ya kyoot little goilfriend is gwunna be… 'late' fwor dinna tuhnwight! Aaahh-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-haaah!" Dominic began to laugh uncontrollably. Now the puppy began to fume inside. But he didn’t move a muscle. Finally his tormentor went back to his corner where the puppy could see a lighter flame flare up a few feet away from Dominic's bed. Then he saw the cigarette ember quickly move from where the flame was and stop where Dominic’s bed was. This was interesting to the puppy.

     “Izza there anyt’ing we c’n do fwor you?” Ace quietly asked the puppy. “You needa eat. We still gawt summa last nwight’s stash ovah heah fwor ya.”

     “Is da lighta still over there?” the puppy asked without breaking his gaze.

     “Yeah.”

     “Has Zippy got ‘dat hole almost ready?”

     “Awlmost. You okay?”

     The puppy gestured with his head for Ace to come to him. “I’m finally stawrtin’ ta figger out what my mamma meant by the code of silence.”

     Ace asked very distinctly, “What… did… you… say?”

     “I didn’t stutta, Ace.” The dachshund sat down to listen with great interest. “Dominic is an arrogant blowhawrd. He’s so proud he couldn’t keep his mouth shut in a thong-strap muzzle! I’ve held in so much he’s got no idea what I got in mind for ‘im. I t’ink I know how ta get outta here. I like yooze guys but if we’re gonna get out alive we need each other. And we cannot speak much. We’ll hafta signal wit’ looks sometwimes. And nunnuvit’s gonna work without loyalty to each other.”

     “You awre tawlkin’ about ‘Omerta’. Awre you…?”

     “My pop was.”

     “So was mine!”

     “Let’s take ‘dis up later. We gotta get ‘dis plan ready. Follow me to the door and block ma view.”

     Ace walked between the puppy and Dominic’s lair so he was not completely visible to Dominic or Leak. The young Chihuahua pulled the stolen cigarette from its hiding place and carried it back to the gang’s bed with Ace shielding him from view. “You taken up smokin’ awlluvasudden? You know ‘dat’ll kill ya bafwore ya twime, huh?”

     “No. Ace, I’m gonna ruin that loud-mouthed piece-a gawrbage if it’s da last thing I ever do. Before I die I’m gonna crush ‘im! Guys, gather inna here. I think we can split ‘dis joint and pay back ‘dat stupid palooka in da corner over there.”

…to be continued…

A Scrappy Tale - Tragedy

     The puppy was awakened once again by the familiar jaws of Dominic around his shoulders. He was shaken violently and thrown against the brick wall. Fighting through the pain he looked at Dominic who sat down in the middle of the cell and laughed at him. Then he bolted to the little Chihuahua and scooped him up again. He threw the pup completely across the cell against the door. Before the puppy could get up, Dominic towered over him barking and snarling furiously. The Woman ran to the door, unlocked it and came in with a long black stick. When she touched the end of it to Dominic’s hind quarters it snapped loudly and Dominic yelped and recoiled away. The puppy stood up and wagged his tail when he saw it. This angered Dominic even more. He stretched toward the puppy and barked his rage drawing another snap! from the Woman’s prod. He stopped long enough for her to leash him and take him out to the play yard.

     As she led the puppies out to the yard upon her return Ace said, “Maybe you shouldn’t be messin’ wit’ him, huh? He’s really mad.”

     “Yeah, he’s mad alright,” answered the puppy. “He just caught me too relaxed. An’ I ain’t got enough health to wait for justice ta happen around here. I’m scrappin’ ma brain every day. An’ someday, I’ma gonna catch ‘im when he slips up just da wrong way!”

     He ran with his friends in the play yard wrestling, yapping, and marking bushes until he saw Daizey come out with the girl pups. She wagged her tail at him and he happily hopped his way to her. “You looka like you’ve hadda rough stwart ‘dis mwornin’,” she said sympathetically.

     “Yeah,” he groaned gently lying down in front of her. “Another Chihuahua-bag tawss.”

     “Aww,” she pitied him. She lied down opposite him and began washing his paws. “I hope someone claimza yoo soon. I know you’ll get outa heah.”

     “So do I,” he answered. “And I am gettin’ outa heah soon, too. If I knew how, I’d find a way ta take you too, Daizey.”

     “Aww, you’re sweet. Hey, I hoid about Dawminic wettin’is bed an’ him blamin’ you. Who really put ‘is paw inna da wawtah bowl?”

     “Who said anybody put it in there? For all any of us know it coulda’ just fell in there in his sleep.”

     She stopped washing his paws and thought for a moment then said, “Oh, now ‘dat’sa good! You’re getting’ really smawrt. Where you come from?” She resumed washing.

     “Sicily.”

     “Really?! Whawt’sa it like there?”

     “Hawt. But green. And clean. I had a great family ‘til we got split up. I missa my mamma. Her last words to me were defend what I believe, help others who need it and obey the code. I still don’t know what ‘the code’ is.”

     Daizey stopped washing again to look at him stunned. “I’ve hoid of ‘dat! ‘Doze ‘dat live by it cawll it ‘Omerta’, da code of silence, bacawze ‘dey nevvah tawlk about it inna da open.”

     “About what?”’

     “’ Cosa Nostra di Cane’, Our Little Dog Thing. ‘Dey say it’s a gang of dawgs nawt related by blood but helpa each othah like family. ‘Dey’s dangerous animals.” The phone inside the dog-prison rang and the Woman went inside to answer it.

     “Cosa Nostra di Cane! ‘Dat’s what my Papà showed me about! ‘Dat must be why he was away from home so much. And he never talked about it. I wish I knew what it was.”

     “I’m shyoor you’ll figgerrit out. You’re smawrt. I’ll bet you’re scrappin’ yer brain now. You do so much wit’ so little help. You’re a very scrappy Chihuahua.”

     He relaxed so much at the sensation of her washing his paws his eyes almost entirely closed while his head was still above the ground. Then he felt something inside his soul. Something bad was raising the fur on his neck. Before he could think another thought he heard Daizey’s voice screaming in pain and saw the little Pekingese in the jaws of Dominic who had swooped in from behind him without a sound. Dominic chomped hard on the the little dog’s neck. The puppy stood to his paws devastated by the sound of her bones breaking. Dominic deliberately forced his crushing jaws closed again. More bones snapped but her screaming stopped. Dominic chomped again looking directly into the puppy’s eyes. He saw Daizey’s shaggy body slump out of the sides of the beast’s mouth and he felt empty of all feeling inside.

     Dominic tossed Daizey’s body inside the girl’s cell through the doorway. He looked right at the puppy and laughed softly, then walked away. The puppy looked at Daizey lying in a clump many feet away. He was unable to think. He was unable to feel. He was unable to speak or even hear anything around him. He was crushed! The Woman returned from the phone call to herd the girl pups back to their cells but didn’t notice anything out of place until the head count. She finally found the body and quickly herded the boys to their cells.

     The Chihuahua puppy lied down by himself in the corner to the left of the gang bed. All was quiet. No one went near either him or Dominic. He managed to sleep for a couple hours before being awakened by Dominic softly laughing just above his ear.

...to be continued...