When I wake, I’m around others. My eyes still fail to open and yet I know that I can detect my environment better through scent than I could see. The world though is still just a haze, scents that are like emotions hang in the air around me and if I focus on any one scent then I can tell what emotion it is. It’s a strange sensation to be able to tell emotions through scents, but it does lead me to a conclusion about what I am.
Dogs have great noses, and my lack of any ability to stand on my own two legs leads me to think I’m an animal of the four-legged variety. If I put these together, then I am a canine of some sort? It’s a question I’ll have to ask myself more on later. At the moment I’m among things my size, I can feel them against my body while we all nest against one another for warmth. I myself am in the center, perhaps left there by the father presence I smelt before passing out.
Perhaps that means the man who smelled like father… A strange sensation to relate a smell to the one who would be Father. But maybe that has to do with my species? A question I can’t even begin to understand as I don’t even know my species. I’m sure I’m a canine but what kind? Am I even an Earth type of canine, am I on Earth? Releasing a growl of frustration, it disturbs one or two of those things around me so I silence myself and snuggle down further against them as I get comfortable.
Let’s see, the first thing I need is the strength to open my eyes. Or perhaps it’s just about time? Well, I should seek out the smell of Mother to get her milk as I feel my hunger within my stomach. An almost constant hunger at that, I realize I was hungry from the moment I woke but it’s only when focusing on it that it comes to the forefront of my thoughts. Shaking my tiny head, I’d push that hunger back and down. It may be because of my species, the hunger comes from a lack of meat.
I’d open my mouth, rolling out my tongue to feel the tiny nubs of teeth that are still growing. If I am a canine, I don’t have a very long life to live, but that’s if I am an Earth-based canine species. For all I know I may be in a different world and the lives of canines are measured in the span of centuries rather than a couple of decades. All these thoughts, questions, I can’t answer any of them and can only console myself in the belief that the answer will arrive with time. For now, I settle down to sleep, my mouth closing as I let myself drift into the dreams while waiting for the day to truly begin.
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The damned bus was late, AGAIN. I had classes in an hour and the bus would take almost that long to get tot he college. My teeth ground against each other in frustration as I pulled out my phone, checking the time and found that the bus was almost five minutes late! Trying to distract myself, I’d open up the next chapter on the web novel I was reading.
It was a violent work, or at least the main character was violent. But I loved those literary-RPG novels and this one had a Main Character that I enjoyed. He constantly pushed forward with determination, even seeming to accept himself as the harbinger of cataclysm. Of course, those would just make him your average character to me, what REALLY got me interested was his cooking skills. I couldn’t help but smile as he was impressing his girlfriend with a seemingly simple salad but one with a great dressing.
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I think I was too into things because I didn’t hear the honking was getting closer to me until it was too late. My head lifting to see the bus that had been late barreling forward. Others had dashed away, not realizing my own ignorance and their yells were at me. Seriously, a damned bu-
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I snort awake, twitching and trying to jump yet my found legs make me stumble and I hit one of the other small things that are like me. The thing growls at me and instinctually I growl louder to make it quiet before catching myself. Cutting the growl short I worked my four legs into a stumble while sniffing the air. My eyelids seemed to lift a fraction of a millimeter, the light that came in was too much so I just closed them back. Releasing what I believe to be a sigh, I’d follow the scent of Mother. The air was growing colder but eventually, I found her and with a little nosing I’d feel a cold nose poke me in the side. I almost growled at the thing but the scent was of her. Instead of growling I’d move closer to her, nudging my head to get at a nipple and suckled on it. While I did so I would move to press myself against her, relaxing against the warmth that mother gave me.
I’d feel myself drifting in and out of just suckling on the teat for sustenance and sleeping soundly against Mother’s warm fur. It’s strange to be so content, my mind usually filled with hundreds of thoughts but right now… I really can only think of how nice Mother smells and how comfortable things are. I hear none of the sounds of my old life, and I haven’t heard a single human speaking so I think I’m out in the wild. Does any of it matter though? I can hear mother’s breathing if I press the side of my head against her chest. It’s a comforting sound, and the warmth lulls me into sleep finally as I stop suckling with a full belly. I still hunger, but I also feel full right now.
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When next I wake, wherever I am is a little warmer so I’m assuming it’s later in the day. I’m awoken because Mother woke. Her mouth grabbing the back of my neck as I’m carried over and dropped into the pile of other small things like myself. I squirm a bit but form an idea. The light from before was too bright but what if…?
I lower myself down, nestling myself until I can feel those other small things covering my face. I feel more energetic too, more strength even. So I focus on my eyes, the effort of pulling on the foreign muscles a strange sensation. I think that was my difficulty, I knew the muscles were there, I had used them frequently enough as a Human. But now, they were muscles completely unused until now but ones I had to use. If I couldn’t open my eyes I might not be able to be of use to this pack of canines.
As my eyes opened, I’d notice the reddish-pink skin that was helping to shield my sight from anything too bright. Everything is blurry but I’m patient and I wait. After a minute I’m able to see more clearly and the light that is coming through between their bodies isn’t as painful. So I lift my head, not too quickly and get a glimpse of what’s around me. For the first time, I see…
I’m inside a cave, and it’s definitely Wolves. They have strange fur, streaks of a turquoise streak down their spines and finally take up the full color of their tails. Many are resting, the scents from them telling me I should know them one day but for now, they are simply… Family, pack, strangers, allies. A mixture of sensations and emotions. Shaking my head a bit, I continue to look.
Finally, I see what the smell of Mother looks like. She doesn’t look too different from others, but she lays instead of moving about. Along with a few other females that are laying about, perhaps waiting for their young to awaken. Despite the fact that she doesn’t look too different, the smell though tells me how different she is.
The other mothers don’t have power in their scent, they aren’t as strong and seem still weary and exhausted from birthing. But Mother is strong, despite having had to get up to bring me back, she’s not just collapsing onto the floor to rest. She lays and she watches, she can see me looking and I smell surprise from her but I also smell pride. The smells make me feel pride as well, I can see when the others can’t and my Mother is the strongest! I try to laugh, releasing a few yelps that quickly turn into a yawn before moving to lay back down.
I don’t take my eyes off Mother until I finally drift to sleep, but I know that Mother is proud of me, and is that really all a son hopes for? To feel their parents pride. Though, as I’m starting to fade, I wonder… Where is the smell that is Father? He wasn’t in the cavern, perhaps he was out hunting. No matter, I’ll worry about those thoughts later, I hope Father will feel pride as well.