DUKE

I suck on the milk, along side my siblings, there's no milk left in our mother but we suck anyway. She leaves us as we dangle on searching for milk she can't provide. We whine as she leaves, hoping she'll come back.

She ravages the bins at the back for food, she always finds something but it's never enough for all three of us. 

Three because two of us don't survive birth.

And one of us went missing.

She comes back with tasty delicious food that we gobble into. We were hungry but we were together.

And that's okay.

We grow with her, she keeps us safe barking at hands that try to steal us but once, the oldest of us was taken by those hands. We never saw him again.

She takes us to the best places to find food. She barks at the hands that chase us with sticks that have hurt her skin from trying to feed us. She always makes sure we get away.

We run. We live. We eat. We sleep together in the cold. There's me, my sister and my mother left. We're eating at the same place we always find food at. We break through the plastic with our teeth. There's a man sitting near by. We don't go near him.

Sister finds food, and I bark over hungry from not finding anything. She turns to give it to me but the man stands, he barks at us. Mother growls at him. He throws something at us. 

Some man gives us food.

This man gives us pain. 

I hadn't moved away in time, so it hits me. I yelp. 

Sister rushes to him. She's angered.

The man runs, but he barks at us as he goes.

She comes over to lick me, and mother helps me up. She gives me her food and her and mother share. It is not enough.

The next day we try for food at the same place again.

The man is there. 

He's looking at our spot for food.

Mother tells us not to go there today.

But sister sees the man has found food. Our food.

She is unhappy.

She doesn't want to go away.

Sister barks at the man.

The man has something in his hand.

Mother knows what is is, she barks at us to run.

I run.

Sister follows.

There's a horrible sound. I yelp. Sister yelps. The sound hurts our ears. We keep running. Mother said to run. When we stop. We don't see mother.

We turn back.

Where is mother?

We sniff. 

I'm better at finding her.

I lead, sister follows.

The smell goes back to where the man was with the sound.

I listen for him

Sister listens to.

We don't hear him. We smell her. Too much of her. She doesn't smell good.

I howl.

Sister barks at me to stop.

She runs forward.

I don't stop howling.

When I do. I find mother. She's not moving. Sister is trying to make her move. Sister pushes mother's head, licking her face. 

I bite her collar, trying to move her away. Before the man comes back. When sister howls. I know we've lost mother.

Sister and I don't go near the man, but we watch him. He comes to our bin and we try not to go there. 

We go to other places mother has shown us.

Sister takes care of me. We are careful to avoid the man. When we smell him at our food spots. We stay away. 

We live. We survive. 

We never know a full stomach.

Men chase us and we're too scared to fight.

Then one day, our bodies hurt with hunger. Our paws can't go walking, we fall by one of the food spots, hoping for man to give us food.

I smell him before I see him.

I tell sister.

She doesn't move.

So I grab her collar and pull her. I pull her away from that man.

But she's so hungry.

And that man finds food.

And we can't take it. So we run from where we hide, our teeth up and we're growling. The man takes the food and walks away. We don't go closer.

But sister is hungry.

And so am I.

So we charge for him. She bites his shirt and I get the food.

I bark at her to run, and we run. The man throws rocks at us. It hits us both but we have food. So we run. Sister yelps. He chases after us. Throwing rocks. It hits her again. I turn. I see sister.

She's not running fast enough. One paw is up. It must have hit her paw. 

I am angry. I turn to look at the man.

Run, I tell sister.

She does.

I growl at him, and jump at him. I bite his hand. I taste blood.

Then as he cries in pain. I run after sister.

We eat together, the food is never enough. But it is all we have. We finish the food together and curl to sleep. Her paw is injured still, and no amount of licks heals it. She always runs with one paw up now.

When the man sees us, he doesn't come near. We get more food now.

We are happy.

Then one day, as we cross the place where there's big dogs. Big and many. They don't share food. The growl when they smell us. They take our food. They chase us when they see is.

We are hungry.

And they eat all the food.

We plan. Sister and I to steal it when they sleep.

One night. They are asleep. 

The food is almost done.

But there is scraps left.

We try.

Softly.

Quietly.

Our paws make little to no sound.

But one dog is awake.

We don't know. 

And it jumps awake when we are near enough to lick what's left of the food.

It wakes the others with a bark.

And we run.

We are hungry.

Sister doesn't run fast enough, and I watch as the big dog bites sister. I howl.

Because sister is like mother. She doesn't move.

Without sister, I find it difficult to get food. I can't open the food places before. I get pain in my stomach. The hunger doesn't go away. 

And one day, I'm to weak to move. 

I sit curled up, waiting for man to give food. One man always does.

Then that man appears, on the ground.

I am angry.

He is the reason sister walks with one paw up.

Why sister can't run fast.

I growl.

I ignore the other man lying down, my eyes ready to give this man pain. So he will have one paw up instead of two paws down. This man sees me, and runs. I look at the other man. Smells like blood. He is on the ground.

He looks at me.

He says "Good boy."

Like the men who gives mother, sister and I food. I go to his hand. But there is no food.

The man on the floor hold me, warming my cold skin. I wait for food, but I can't wait long. Already I'm too weak.

AN

It's been a long hard week with no chapters to publish save this one which I was saving for when the book ended. I don't think it's fair of me to keep you guys waiting so long. But I'm trying to write it through. I have a plan for EVERY CHARACTER in this story but sometimes it DOES overwhelm me. 

I hope you enjoy this brief update.

Alsoooo, I just wanted to let you all know I've finished uploading ALL the chapters of Noah's Guide to Catch a Cat. It's set in the same universe as Royally Screwed & Blue Blood and Belgium Chocolate.

It's a really light read and I hope you guys would give it a chance.

Cheers,

Pain.

(Currently deciding if it's better to lock myself in an attic and write with the -hopefully - friendly neighbourhood ghost.)