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Some songs are for specific scenes, and some are just there to add to the tone of the story.\n\nChapter 2, in order:\n\n\"Morning Glory\"\n[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVWJ4aFMbL8]Feels Like Today[/url] - Rascal Flatts\n\n\"Girl Talk\"\n[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO7eHJTm-wU]Love Gets Me Every Time[/url] - Shania Twain\n\n\"An Old Bitch Like Me\"\n[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJjgzkilfOM]Little Miss[/url] - Sugarland\n\n\"Colby On His Own\"\n[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyWqT7YSI2A]Stand[/url] - Rascal Flatts\n\n\"The Puppy Who Lost His Way\"\n[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv1PLKBfjdw]Scotch & Chocolate[/url] - Nickel Creek\n\n\"Chance Meetings\"\n[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I66F8rIjfys]For Give[/url] - Hey Ocean!\n\n\"Around\"\n[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gf4oLLCv68](Wanna Get To Know You) That Good![/url] - Shania Twain\n\n\"My Pleasure\"\n[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdX8KFVfojA]Close One[/url] - FIZZ", "description_bbcode_parsed": "After receiving some encouraging words from her closest friend, Smooch has a chance encounter while searching for a missing puppy.
(Also on AO3)

Each chapter will have it's own "soundtrack"; these are completely optional to listen to, but I feel that these add to the experience as much of this story was partly inspired by music. Some songs are for specific scenes, and some are just there to add to the tone of the story.

Chapter 2, in order:

"Morning Glory"
Feels Like Today - Rascal Flatts

"Girl Talk"
Love Gets Me Every Time - Shania Twain

"An Old Bitch Like Me"
Little Miss - Sugarland

"Colby On His Own"
Stand - Rascal Flatts

"The Puppy Who Lost His Way"
Scotch & Chocolate - Nickel Creek

"Chance Meetings"
For Give - Hey Ocean!

"Around"
(Wanna Get To Know You) That Good! - Shania Twain

"My Pleasure"
Close One - FIZZ", "writing": " A white, lonely sky above. A black, heartless ground below. Both, equally infinite in measure. Swirling and spinning, an overwhelming storm of despair and hopelessness. Standing on the event horizon. A sudden sensation of falling into a dark void. Empty, and cold. No… not falling. \n [i]Diving, [/i]headfirst and willingly into the deadly abyss.\n Teeth. So many teeth.\n\n Colby suddenly jolted up as he awoke to the pleasant sounds of birds chirping outside, finding himself in a familiar room as the memories of the day prior returned to him. He could feel his heart pounding as he leaned forward and clutched the fur on his chest, taking several deep breaths to calm himself down. The sweat on his palms felt as cold as ice. It was just a nightmare. It was over now. \n It was over.\n The Labrador looked down at his own furry body as he sat alone in his host’s comfortable bed, slowly running his fingers through the yellow fur on his arm. Colby brought his paws to his face, feeling the canine muzzle protruding from it and his cold wet nose at the end. He laid back down in the bed with an exhaustive sigh, staring up at the ceiling just as he had done the night before. A small part of him wanted to never leave this bed ever again. \n This all felt so wrong.\n Before he could fall back asleep and potentially be subjected to another nightmare, he eventually tilted his head and looked at the full-body mirror across the room, seeing that unfamiliar yellow dog staring back at him. After gathering all of his mental strength to get out of Smooch’s bed, he crossed the room and walked up to it. The longer he looked, the more he didn’t recognize his own face. He crouched down and got as close to the glass as he could, trying to reestablish his sense of self. Some parts of himself were familiar, like his brown hair and green eyes, while nearly everything else was like looking at a complete stranger. The mere sight of his reflection began to make him feel uncomfortable. Afraid. Even angry. But most of all, nauseous.\n [i]Extremely[/i] nauseous.\n Colby’s head darted around as he tried to find something, [i]anything[/i] he could relieve this sickening feeling in. Thankfully, Smooch had a waste basket with a lined bag kept neatly in the corner of the room. With little time to waste, he sprinted over to it. \n And up came yesterday’s pizza. \n [i]‘I’m still the same me,”[/i] Colby told himself reassuringly, his paws tightly clenching onto the waste basket for dear life as he desperately tried to believe his own words in repetition. Once his stomach had settled, he tied the bag closed before turning away and making the bed, neatly tidying the blankets and pillows he’d strewn about from his tossing and turning the night before. As he did, he was still trying to shake off the uneasy feeling he’d gotten from seeing himself for what he was. \n It was best not to think about it too much.\n When Colby entered the hallway with the garbage bag in hand, he was greeted with the alluring sounds and smells of brewing coffee and sizzling sausage. He stopped at the doorway to the kitchen, silently watching his lovely host for a few seconds as she rolled the sausage links over in the cast iron pan on the stove. His eyes couldn’t help but wander a bit down the blue terrier’s short but well-rounded figure as she stood at the oven, privately taking in the appealing sight of her slightly plump curvature.\n “Mornin’, Colby. Sleep well?” She asked without turning her head, nearly giving the captivated dog a heart-attack. But he played it cool, casually faking a yawn as he entered the kitchen while discreetly dropping the garbage bag in the larger bin.\n “Good morning. And yeah, I did. Thank you so much again, Smooch. I’m feeling a lot better now.”\n “Good to hear! Breakfast is almost ready, have a seat.” Smooch gestured to the table, where her son Scooch was already sitting. \n “Hello, Mr. Colby. I’m Scooch Pooch.” Scooch politely gave a little wave and a friendly smile. “I like chickens.”\n “Heh, I can definitely see that.” Colby raised his palm in a wave back, noticing the many, [i]many[/i] drawings of chickens hanging on the fridge, as well as the chickens on the kitchen’s wallpaper. “I like chickens, too. It’s nice to finally meet you, Scooch, your mom had nothing but good things to say about you when I met her.”\n “Mom had a lot of nice things to say about you, too!” Scooch’s eyes lit up, already taking a liking to the yellow Lab the moment he expressed an appreciation for chickens. “She said that-”\n “Breakfast is ready!” Smooch interrupted, abruptly ending the conversation to avoid any embarrassment as she ushered Colby to the chair. “Sit, sit!”\n “Oh, but…” Colby hesitated as he noticed something about the table, not wanting to be more of a burden than he already was. “There’s only two chairs. Where’ll [i]you[/i] sit?”\n “I can stand just fine, don’t you worry.” Smooch smiled with a happy hum as she placed the breakfast sausages evenly on their plates. “You’re our guest here, and we don’t get guests too often. [i]Sit.”[/i]\n Rather than continue trying to argue with her, Colby conceded. Something about the way she repeated that word made him feel oddly compelled to obey her more and more. \n “O-okay. Thank you.” Colby sat down at the table and looked down at his plate, which was completely [i]overflowing[/i] with sausage - and nothing else. Not that he minded, the sight of it made him salivate like nothing he could ever remember experiencing before. Just as he picked up his fork, the country song playing on the radio on the kitchen counter ended and a voice spoke up.\n\n[i] “And now, for today’s morning news. No one has come forward claiming responsibility for yesterday’s unusual worldwide phenomenon, which officials have begun referring to as ‘The Blink’, though top researchers believe that this was a [/i][i]natural[/i][b] [/b][i]occurrence and [/i][i]not[/i] [i]any sort of dog-made event. Even [/i][i]more[/i][b] [/b][i]strange is that ever since the incident, hospitals all over the world have been nearly clearing out as all known allergies, diseases, and even [/i][i]cancers[/i][b] [/b][i]have seemingly been completely [/i][i]eradicated[/i][i][b] [/b][/i][i]from patients. Medical scientists across the globe are scratching their heads as they conduct rigorous tests to confirm if this is true, but we’ll keep you updated as soon as more information comes out. Stay tuned for more daily morning news, I’m Rufus Growly.” [/i]\n\n[i] ‘So it’s true…[/i] [i]What [/i][i]happened[/i][i] yesterday?’ [/i]Smooch thought, feeling somewhat conflicted. For something that had caused her family so much suffering, just to be conveniently gone in a flash without any explanation… it almost felt like the cruelest kind of irony to her.\n “Oh, by the way, do you drink coffee? Got some brewed here, want some?” She asked Colby with a feigned smile as she managed to push the darker thoughts aside, the sight of his bright green eyes already brightening her day.\n “Yeah I’d love some, it smells good. What kind is it?” Colby replied as his sensitive dog nose could detect the strong and intriguing scent, his tail beginning to wag. \n “Corn coffee.”\n [i]‘First corn tea, and now corn coffee. She must really like corn, huh…’[/i] Colby smirked letting out a small chuckle as he thought to himself, finding her niche passion for corn endearing. \n “Take anything with it? It goes great with a little sugar, honey.” \n “W-what?” Colby blinked, sticking a finger underneath his floppy ear to clean it out.\n “I said it goes great with a little sugar or honey.” Smooch played it off innocently; definitely what she had said the first time, for sure. \n “Oh, sure. Honey and cream if you have any, thanks.” Colby looked down again at his sausages, stabbing his fork into one of the links before taking a bite. He quietly hummed with satisfaction at the taste as it hit his tongue and he quickly chewed, sticking his fork into another piece and raising it to his mouth as he swallowed. But before he could bite down on his second piece, he noticed that the little blue pup sitting across from him, Scooch, was giving him a perplexed look. \n “My hair’s probably a mess, isn’t it?” Colby raised his paw and flattened down the stray spikes of brown hair sticking out from his yellow head, with little success. “It always ends up looking like this in the morning.”\n “Not that, you use a holding-fork to eat?” Scooch asked, looking at the silverware in Colby’s paw. “Why don’t you just eat off the plate?”\n “Scooch, mind your manners. Remember what we talked about yesterday.” Smooch turned around, pointing her spatula at her son before turning back to keep an eye on the remaining sausages.\n “I… don’t get it. Isn’t that what a fork is for?” Colby looked at the fork he held in his paw, trying to see if there was anything particularly unusual about it before looking back to the blue terrier standing at the sink. “And… what’d you talk about yesterday?”\n “Mom said you were kinda-”\n “Scooch.” Smooch gave him a stern gaze, wordlessly telling her boy to keep his mouth zipped.\n “I… I’m sorry, I think I should probably just go.” Colby spoke quieter than normal as he stood from the table, awkwardly making his way to the front door as he saw himself out. “Thank you so much for everything, Sergeant Pooch. It was really nice meeting you both.”\n Living a normal life in Pawston might be more difficult than he’d initially thought.\n [i][b]‘[/b][/i][i]Sergeant[/i][i]?’[/i] Smooch thought as she turned around in time to see him leaving the kitchen, immediately noticing the way he hadn’t called her by her first name just then.\n “Colby, wait!” Smooch turned the oven off before she followed, catching up to her guest just as he put his paw on the door handle. \n “I don’t want to be a bother.” Colby avoided eye-contact with Smooch, even when she put her paw on his arm. “I’ve probably already overstayed my welcome.”\n “You’re not a bother at all! Please, stay for breakfast. You haven’t even had coffee yet. Was it somethin’ I said? Somethin’ I did?” Smooch gently tugged at Colby’s arm to coax him into changing his mind, but with little success.\n “No, nothing like that. I guess I just feel kind of… lost. I think I just need some time to get myself sorted out.” Colby turned back to look at Smooch, showing her a subtle but genuine look of affection in his green eyes. “I really did enjoy spending time with you yesterday, though. You’re really cool, Sergeant Pooch.”\n [i]‘“Cool”? Me?’ [/i]Smooch thought, her cheeks turning a light pink.\n “Just call me Smooch. Please,” she insisted; although she normally didn’t give such things a second thought, for some reason she really wanted to be on a first-name basis with Colby in particular. “That’s what my friends call me.”\n “O-okay, sorry. Smooch.” Colby nodded, honestly feeling more comfortable calling her that as well. While he still thought it was a rather unusual-sounding name, it was quickly growing on him. \n “If you feel lost, why don’t I show you around town more today?” Smooch stepped closer to Colby, though her legs were seemingly moving on their own. “We could-”\n “I don’t mean that kind of lost. Thanks for the offer, though. I’ll… see you around, I guess.” Colby gave her one more polite but half-hearted smile, opening the door and gently loosening from Smooch’s soft grip before walking down the porch alone.\n Smooch tried to think of something - anything - she could say to convince him not to leave, even though she wasn’t even sure herself why she was so desperate for him to stay in the first place. But of all the different possible replies she thought of, the only one that came out of Smooch’s mouth was,\n “See you around.”\n\n “-[i]‘See you around’[/i]?”\n Maw Barker repeated back to Smooch in disbelief as they chatted together on their lunch break at the Big Bowl Diner later that day. Although the two worked completely different jobs - Smooch as Pawston’s police chief and Maw as a blimp pilot - the two were very close friends and would often schedule their lunch breaks so they could catch up with each other and talk about how their days were.\n “Yeah, just ‘see you around’.” Smooch reiterated with a small shrug as she tried to play it off casually. “Colby just moved to Pawston yesterday, so… I’ll see him around.”\n Maw set down her pawnini sandwich and rubbed her temples with an audibly frustrated sigh.\n “What?” Smooch rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t you sigh at me like that.”\n “Girl, you [i]obviously[/i] have a thing for this guy. I could see the glow through the fur on your cheeks the whole time you were talking about him!”\n Smooch patted her face.\n “Not [i]literally[/i]. But I can just tell, you [i]like[/i] him. I mean, you let him sleep in your bed!” Maw grinned, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively as she picked up her pawnini again and took another small bite. \n “Can you quiet down? Yer makin’ it sound weirder than it was.” Smooch whispered harshly, leaning in closer to keep their conversation more discreet. \n “And now his scent is [i]all over[/i] your blanket, your sheets, your pillow…” Maw closed her eyes and inhaled deeply with a smile as she playfully teased her friend, exhaling with a satisfied hum. \n “Oh, hush yer mouth! It’s not like that!” Smooch said with a scowl, reaching over the table and giving Maw’s shoulder a light but firm smack with her padded palm. She wouldn’t have mentioned yesterday’s events to Maw at all if she knew she’d be mocked for it. “It’s not like I was in bed [i]with[/i] him, I already told you. I slept on the couch to let him get a good night’s sleep after I accidentally ran him over!”\n “Bet you’d like him to run [i]you[/i] over.” Maw muttered with a wink. \n “Maw!” Smooch gasped, giving her another slightly harder slap with her paw. “Bad!”\n “Look, I’m sorry for having a little raunchy fun at your expense. It’s just… y’know… ‘that time of year’ for me,” Maw said as she finished the last bite of her lunch, wiping her muzzle with her napkin. “All I’m saying is, you should let love in when it’s practically knocking on your door. Or in your case, the hood of your car.”\n “That was so hilarious, I almost exhaled through my nose.” Smooch scowled, rolling her eyes. “I mean, I guess he’s cute and all, but I don’t [i]love[/i] Colby, I only just met him yesterday. Barely even know anythin’ about him. Besides, my son gives me all the love I could ever want, thank you kindly.”\n “But Scooch can’t give you the kind of love that a woman like you [i]needs,[/i] now can he?” Maw replied.\n Smooch sat silently, crossing her arms and slumping into her seat as she shut herself in. Her face felt like it was on fire. As much as she hated to admit it, Maw was right. Although she always told herself that her son Scooch was the only boy she’d ever need in her life, she sorely missed having a romantic connection - the kind of butterflies in one’s stomach that only came around from meeting someone truly special. But she wondered, was this feeling a betrayal to her late husband?\n “Look, I know you still miss Kernel.” Maw spoke up again, as if she could tell what was on the terrier’s mind. “No one’s telling you that you have to forget about him. Just… be open. Allow yourself to be happy! Isn’t that what he would want for you? It sounds like you had a nice date with this guy yesterday, didn’t you?”\n “Whad’ya mean, ‘date’?” Smooch scoffed, taking a drink of her ice-water. “That wasn’t a date.”\n “[i]Really?”[/i] Maw raised her brow, now crossing her arms as well. “You drove him all around town to go sight-seeing with him, you took him out for lunch at your favorite pizza place, and then you brought him back to your home for him to spend the night! That sure sounds like a date to [i]me.”[/i]\n “Well it wasn’t. I just gave him a friendly welcome tour as the local law-enforcement of Pawston. Nothin’ more to it than that.” Smooch huffed, wishing this whole conversation would just end already. “Besides, he probably didn’t see it as a date either.”\n “Then you should ask him out on a [i]real[/i] date the next time you see him!” Maw’s eyes lit up, her tail wagging behind her at her own brilliant idea. \n “What?! You’re crazy. No way.” Smooch shook her head, putting her police-hat back on her head as their lunch break was coming to an end.\n “Come on, sergeant! I’m desperate for some spicy excitement in my life, and nowadays my only hope is to get that vicariously through you.” Maw put her pilot-cap on as well. “Don’t get me wrong, my marriage with Paw is perfectly happy and I wouldn’t change a thing about it, but we’ve been married for over 20 years now so there aren't exactly butterflies anymore. I want Cheddar Biscuit to find herself a nice boy, but I’m starting to worry she might be a lost cause… but you’re [i]single,[/i] you’re free to have as much fun as you want! So just have some fun! You do remember what ‘fun’ is, don’t you, officer?”\n Maw smirked, though Smooch was much less amused.\n “Well, let’s just say I did. This boy, Colby - he’s only twenty-six, did I mention that? A young bachelor all alone in a new town and he has his pick of all the other single gals in Pawston, so…” The blue terrier sighed. “Why on Dog’s green earth would he ever settle for an old bitch like me?”\n The tall lavender dog sitting across from her gasped.\n “Don’t talk about yourself like that, Smooch. That’s not true, you’re-”\n “I’m [i]forty[/i], Maw. I have a son. And it ain’t exactly a secret that I’m a bit…” Smooch placed her paws on her belly and jiggled it up and down a little. “‘Solid’. That’s three strikes for most eligible dogs. No, I’m better off just puttin’ the thought aside. No use in gettin’ hopeful over nothin’.”\n “Oh well…” Maw shrugged and smiled coyly, “Since [i]you’re[/i] not going to go after this stud, you won’t mind if I try setting Cheddar Biscuit up with him, do you? He sounds like he’d make a [i]great[/i] son-in-law.”\n “N-now wait a minute, you can’t just-!” Smooch adjusted her posture in her seat, unsure why she was suddenly feeling so flustered all of a sudden. \nMaw laughed. \n “Clock’s ticking, what could it hurt to give it a shot?”\n “Well for starters, my pride, my self-esteem, and… my heart.” Smooch replied as she slumped back, having been through enough heartache already; unlike the common saying, part of her felt it was far better to have never loved at all than to have loved and lost.\n “You’re the strongest dog I know, Smooch.” Maw rested her paw on Smooch’s arm reassuringly. “And if you’re an old bitch, then you’re the old bitch in [i]charge[/i]. You can take my advice or not. But as your friend, I say just go for it.”\n “...Thank you, Maw. I know I can be a bit stubborn at times, but you always seem to know just what to say.” Smooch finally smiled a bit, knowing that Maw truly was her closest friend in Pawston that she could always trust no matter what.\n Maw then leaned in closer, her expression becoming more stern for a change as she spoke in a hushed tone.\n “But just to warn you, as a mother, I am serious about setting my daughter up with him. Don’t tell Cheddar I said this, but she [i]really[/i] needs to get laid already. So don’t take too long to decide.”\n Smooch gulped.\n “Duly-noted.”\n\n At the same time in the town square, a certain yellow Labrador dipped his head into the large orange dog-bowl shaped water fountain. He brought his head back up and shook off the water dripping from his hair, the strange triangular tag on the collar around his neck jangling as he did so. Strangely enough, even without any shampoo, his hair quickly returned to its normal state. Colby looked down wordlessly at the distorted reflection of the green-eyed canine looking back at him. The longer he looked, the less he recognized that face. He reached down and slowly swiped his paw through the almost cartoonishly-blue water, making it almost completely indiscernible before the waves receded again and showed him the truth of who he was.\n Colby turned around to sit at the edge of the bowl, looking up at the bright blue sky dotted with green birds flying from tree to tree. Although he thought he’d have much more weighing on his mind, for some reason, all he could think of was that blue terrier he had met. The way she smiled. The way she smelled. The sweet honeyed sound of her voice. \n He shook his head, brushing those intrusive thoughts aside. He couldn’t allow himself to get close to anyone. Never again. Or rather, he couldn’t allow anyone else to get close to him. \n However, that wasn’t Colby’s choice to make.\n\n “Sorry Scooch, it’s not my choice to make,” Tag Barker, Scooch’s next-door neighbor and best friend said as she stood at the doorway of her home with her magenta-colored baby brother running around the two of them and barking happily. “Everyone in my family’s busy with stuff today, so I’m in charge of taking care of Yip until my mom gets home from work.”\n “It’s okay, Tag! You’ve helped me with so many of [i]my[/i] chores for so long, I don’t mind helping you look after Yip for a while.” Scooch shyly rolled his ankles as he stood in place, finally bringing up something that had been on his mind all day. “I [i]was[/i] hoping we could go together to see the windmill museum today, but… maybe after that?”\n Tag rolled her eyes a little; as much as she loved her best friend, and as difficult as it was to look after her energetic little brother, she’d honestly rather be puppy-sitting and was content with [i]never[/i] going back to that boring windmill museum ever again. She often wondered how Scooch and his mom could be so interested in certain things that just seemed so… uninteresting.\n “Uh, sure… maybe.” Tag grimaced, already dreading it. “Okay Yip, lets-”\n It was then that she suddenly realized she could no longer hear Yip’s playful barking.\n “Oh no, not again!” Tag picked Scooch up and quickly ran to her scooter, tossing him into the side-car and hopping in. “This is exactly what happened the last time!”\n\n Colby left the town square to clear his head with a walk around town, familiarizing himself with the sights. Most places in town appeared to be normal - there was city hall, a store selling props and toys for magic tricks, a post office; but then, there were also some things he had never seen in his entire life, such as a gigantic ball store resembling a gumball machine, a ten-story ladder in the middle of the sidewalk, and a hedge maze. As he continued walking past the maze on the other side of the street, he noticed two dogs - one small and yellow, the other big and green - standing on top of one of the trees in an empty block where one would’ve normally expected a house to be. \n “Hey, what’re you two doing up there?” Colby called up to them. “Do you need some help getting down?”\n “Who, us?!” The grumpy little yellow dog wearing goggles sneered as he peered over the edge of the tree. “We [i]live[/i] here, you pickle-head!”\n “[i]Pickle[/i]-head?” Colby raised his brow, feeling more confused rather than hurt by the insult. “How old are you?”\n “None of your beeswax!”\n “Hi Mr. Pickle-head! I’m Beans!” The large and much friendlier dopey green dog gave an innocent wave as he peeked down over the leaves as well, his eyes completely obscured by his massive furry brows. He then turned to the yellow dog beside him while patting his own belly. “Oh boy, now I’m hungry for some pickles and honey, Frank. Can we go get some?”\n “Of course, Beans, I know that’s your new favorite, for some reason I’ll never understand… and you, new dog, whatever your name is! Paws off our tree!” Frank pointed his finger at Colby before the two climbed down the ladder on the other side of the tree and hopped into their large red motorized toy-wagon before driving off at a breakneck speed, presumably to the grocery store.\n “What the hell’s [i]his[/i] problem?” Colby shook his head as he quietly spoke to himself, glancing his eyes over to the maze again as he spotted a small magenta puppy in his peripheral vision bounding on all-fours into the entrance and barking playfully all the while without a care in the world before disappearing behind the hedge. \n “Yip! Yip!” it yipped.\n He thought nothing of it, however, continuing his walk down the street as a little orange dog on a familiar purple scooter zipped right by him. \n\n Afternoon soon became evening, and Tag had never felt so worried in all her life. Normally she’d always be able to find him in eleven minutes or less, usually in a fun and comedic little adventure of sorts; but this was the longest Yip had ever been missing before, and Tag was having quite the opposite of fun. How could she let this happen? Why couldn’t Yip ever just stay still for once when she had to watch him? She was going to be in so much trouble if her parents ever found out, she just knew it. Not to mention, Yip was still just a baby puppy who could get himself injured, or worse. \n And it would be all her fault. \n She began asking every dog she passed by if they’d seen a small magenta puppy running around, yet not a single one had seen even a hint of him anywhere. Not Manhole Dog, Lady Lydia, Sam Whippet, no one. Even with their help in searching, it was like Yip had completely vanished. \n The sun was starting to slowly meet the mountainous horizon, and Tag felt her heart racing faster and faster with each passing minute. She didn’t even care if she was grounded forever at this point, all she wanted was to find Yip safe and sound. \n Then, she spotted a familiar police car driving down the street towards her. She had avoided going to Sergeant Pooch about the situation, as she didn’t want her to go telling her mom about it, but now she was getting desperate.\n “Sergeant Pooch!” Tag did a quick U-turn to drive beside the cop car as Sergeant Pooch looked on in surprise to find tears welling up in the little orange beagador’s eyes. \n “Tag? Scooch? What’s wrong?” Smooch asked, slowing down to a stop beside the curb.\n “I… I… I lost Yip!” Tag stammered, feeling fearful tears welling up in her eyes. \n “Okay, try to relax, Tag. I’ll help you find him.” The police-dog calmly reassured Tag, exuding her motherly aura. “Where’d you last see him?”\n “A-at m-my h-house…” The little orange beagador sniffled before Scooch handed her a tissue from a compartment in his side-car and she blew into it. “I’ve been looking for [i]hours.”[/i]\n “Alright, maybe he headed back there then, you best head on home and let me take care of it.” Smooch gently patted the helmet on Tag’s head, making feel a little better already. “I’ll find your baby brother, Tag. I promise.”\n “O-okay… Thank you, Scooch’s mom.” Tag nodded hopefully, wiping her eye with her arm. \n “It’ll be okay, Tag. If Yip’s not already at your house, my mom will find him. You can count on her.” Scooch said with confidence, having complete faith that his mom could do [i]anything.[/i] \n\t Smooch waved them off, leaving her alone with her thoughts; if only she believed in herself as much as her son did.\n “Now, where would a curious puppy disappear to…”\n\n Tag sped home on her scooter with Scooch still in tow, slowing down a bit when she passed a yellow dog with brown hair about to cross the street.\n “Hey, try to be careful, you don’t wanna run anyone over. Oh, hi, Scooch.” Colby took a step back in surprise before raising his paw as he greeted Scooch.\n “Sorry, sir,” Tag replied politely as she drove circles slowly around him, with Scooch giving Colby a little wave as well. “I’m just in a rush because my baby brother is missing. You haven’t seen a purple puppy running around by himself, have you?”\n “Uh…” Colby thought for a moment. “No, I don’t think so, sorry.”\nTag sighed.\n “Okay, thanks anyway. Yip! Yiiip!” She shouted as she drove off down the road, then turning to face Scooch just as she realized something. “Hold on, how’d that dog know your name? I’ve never seen him around before.”\n “Oh, that’s Colby. He slept in my mom’s bed last night.” Scooch commented innocently as Tag sped home.\n “...Wait, [i]wha?”[/i]\n\n “Wait…” As he watched the two drive away, Colby muttered to himself when he finally remembered the puppy he’d noticed running into the hedge-maze earlier that day. “Wait, I think I [i]did[/i] see him!” \n\n “The playground would be the most obvious place, but someone would’ve called in about an unsupervised puppy by now.” Smooch talked to herself as she drove down Waggy Way, her police-sirens blaring loudly. “If there’s anywhere to easily get lost in Pawston, it’s…”\n She came to a stop in front of a large green wall, getting out of the car and standing at the entrance; Colby, meanwhile, was just arriving at the entrance on the other side.\n “The hedge maze.”\n\n “Yip!”\n “Yiiip!”\n Colby and Smooch both traversed through the narrow corridors on opposite ends of the hedge maze as the sun set, a brisk chill winding through the darkening passageways. Colby couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy at the feeling of being lost with no way out, but he knew he had to keep on going. He couldn’t turn back now - not when there was a lost little puppy that might be alone and afraid. \n Alone… and afraid.\n Two things that Colby knew all too well. \n Two things that Smooch knew as well. \n Neither would ever allow anyone to feel as alone and afraid as they had felt. Not if they could do something about it.\n “Yip…” They each whispered as they went this way and that, equally determined to reunite the puppy with his family.\n “I’m coming to save you.”\n [i]“...Awooo…”[/i]\n At the same time, both of them suddenly heard the pitiful and tired cry of a young infant puppy down the path and around the corner. They each ran as fast as they could to the source of the whine, sharply turning the corner and spotting Yip curled up on the ground. \n “Yip! I found you!”\n Without even noticing the other was there, Smooch and Colby both grabbed Yip and picked him up at the same time. \n They looked up to see who else had grabbed the puppy, and gasped. \n “I-it’s you.” Smooch spoke first, hardly expecting to see Colby again here and now, of all places.\n “It’s you.” Colby replied, feeling his heart skipping beat after beat the longer he looked into her eyes. \n They both stood silently for a moment with Yip now comfortably nestled in their warm arms, his short little tail wagging again as he already knew he had been rescued.\n “Hi.” \n “Hey.”\n They spoke over each other, their stammers turning into awkward chuckles as they shuffled back and forth with the baby puppy between their accidental embrace. \n Colby cleared his throat, making some distance between them as he tried to hand Yip over to her.\n “H-here, you found him first.”\n “I dunno, Yip seems to really like [i]you, [/i]Colby.” Smooch hummed happily as she watched Yip jump back to the yellow Labrador, who climbed up Colby’s arms and around his neck to place himself on his shoulders before holding onto the brown hair on his head for support. “C’mon, let’s get outta here and bring this little one back home. He doesn’t look hurt at all, but the poor thing’s probably starvin’.”\n They walked out of the maze together, with Smooch leading the way; this hadn’t been the first time she’d had to help someone out of the maze, and it certainly wouldn’t be her last. Smooch quietly snickered when she looked back to find Yip already idly chewing on a clump of Colby’s hair, still attached to his head. \n Colby knew.\n\n “Alright, you Barkers have a good night now. Take care.” Smooch closed the front door of the Barker house after they had brought Yip back to his home. She had put in a good word for Tag, who was able to avoid any serious scolding; however, Tag was still grounded for a day, and it would be a while yet before she would be entrusted to puppy-sit Yip again - which was perfectly fine with her.\n “I’m so glad he wasn’t hurt at all, tonight could’ve gone much worse.” Colby said as they began walking towards Smooch’s car.\n “You’re tellin’ [i]me,[/i] feels like every week or so I get a report there’s another clumsy little pup playing in traffic.” Smooch placed her paws on her hips and huffed, remembering the stress for everyone involved. “A few close calls here and there, but thankfully nothin’ too serious. There may be a lotta ‘go’ dogs here, but they still follow the traffic laws, just like the ‘slow’ dogs. We all look out for each other.”\n “And what kind of dog are you?” Colby asked softly, unconsciously taking one step closer. \n “S-slow.” Smooch gulped. \n “It’s good to live slowly. If you go through life too fast…” Colby reached his paw towards Smooch’s cheek, sending a shiver up her spine as his finger just barely grazed her fur before he pulled out a leaf from the hedge-maze that was still stuck in her fur. “...you might miss it.”\n “Colby, I…” Smooch exhaled, finding that she had been holding her breath without realizing. “About this morning…”\n “I’m okay, really.” Colby interrupted. “It’s just… this is all a big change for me, living in a new town. It’s like I’m…”\n “Livin’ in another world entirely?” \n Colby nodded.\n “I know exactly how you feel, Colby. I moved here with Scooch just over a year ago now, and I’m [i]still[/i] trying to get comfortable.” Smooch sighed; even after living in Pawston for over a year, sometimes she still felt like she was out of place. “Give it time.”\n Colby remained silent.\n [i]‘What could it hurt to give it a shot?' [/i]Smooch heard Maw’s voice repeating in her head, [i]'I say just go for it.’[/i]\n “Can I… say something?” Smooch took off her police cap, nervously fidgeting with it in her paws as her mouth began to feel dry. “Not as a sergeant, but as a… gal?”\n “Hm?” Colby tilted his head, unsure of where she was going with this. “Of course, what’s up?”\n “Maybe this is a little forward of me, but… there’s somethin’ about you that makes me feel… some kinda way.” Smooch looked up into Colby’s eyes. Those bright emerald eyes that almost seemed luminescent in the moonlight. “In the hedge maze… you went lookin’ for a lost puppy you didn’t even know. I think that’s… really admirable.”\n “I mostly just happened to be at the right place at the right time, that’s all.” Colby shrugged. “But what kind of person would just do nothing when someone needed help?”\n “Well even so, I think you showed a lotta character. And I… I liked what I saw. You may have some funny ideas about things I ain’t ever heard of, like ‘alcohol’ and ‘money’, but I think that just makes you… intriguing. What I’m tryin’ to say is, i-if you’re free, I… I’d really like to see you again tomorrow. And not in a ‘see you around’ kinda way, but in a ‘let’s meet up’ kinda way. Whaddya say?”\n “You mean like, you want to… hang out? And spend time together? With me?”\n Smooch nodded shyly, her heart racing as her brain fed her ideas of Colby rejecting her. She was no spring chicken. Not a young and fluffy poodle or a sleek and skinny greyhound, just a short and stout middle-aged terrier.\n Colby, meanwhile, had his own myriad of emotional issues to sort though. He had been alone for so long - why put himself through more loneliness? More misery? In the end, what good would it really do? After all, the long nightmare he’d lived through was finally over. \n It was [i]over.[/i]\n “I’d… love that, Smooch.” Colby blushed, though it was thankfully difficult to see under the dim streetlamps.\n “G-great! Come pick me up at, let’s say, 9 A.M. to go out for breakfast?” Smooch stomach almost growled at the mere mention of breakfast, but she managed to hold it in. \n “I don’t have a car.” Colby’ blush suddenly turned from one of infatuation into embarrassment.\n “I know, I just meant it figuratively. I’ll drive.” \n “O-okay. Your place. 9 A.M.” Colby nodded, making a mental reminder to wake up on-time for it.\n “Oh, by the way, did you find a place in town to live yet?” She asked.\n “Well, uh… no.” With no car and no place to live, Colby certainly felt pathetic. “But I did meet a couple of dogs today that apparently live in a tree, so I was thinking I could probably just-”\n “You’re always welcome to spend the night again!” Smooch covered her own mouth, realizing she’d said that a bit louder than she’d intended. “I-I mean, you were already such a gracious guest, it’d really be no trouble at all…”\n “You don’t think it might be a bit, I dunno… inappropriate?” Colby asked hesitantly. “I wouldn’t want any kind of rumors spreading around about you because of me.”\n “Well… maybe a little rumor or two wouldn’t [i]be[/i] such a bad thing.” Smooch blushed, inching closer. “Dontcha think?”\n Colby gulped, feeling his flustered face getting steadily hotter. He wasn’t completely oblivious to Smooch’s advances, but part of him was still strongly in denial that she was actually flirting with him. For even after everything he’d been through, Colby still saw himself as nothing special. He was just… Colby.\n “I-I guess I wouldn’t mind staying one more night.”\n\n They arrived back at the Pooch residence next door, and upon Colby’s request, Smooch set up a sleeping bag in the living room for him. As comfortable as her bed was, Colby was feeling much better than the day before and felt it wouldn’t be right to take it again. \n After tucking her son into his bed for the night, Smooch came back downstairs to find Colby looking around at more of the framed photos on the walls. As she watched him for a few moments, quietly peering from around the corner of the hallway, she couldn’t help but notice that as he walked around her living room, there was something about this dog that seemed to fit perfectly. Like he naturally filled a certain emptiness within it. \n “I’m guessing this is your old band?” Colby suddenly said, turning to face her as he gestured to a photo of her with several other dogs on the wall. Smooch blushed deeply, now realizing he knew she had been watching him the whole time. \n “Y-yeah, that’s me and the gang.” Smooch replied as she walked over to him, looking at the picture as well. “But please, don’t mention them to Scooch.”\n “Huh? Why not?” Colby asked.\n “I don’t want him to feel bad. I gave up my passion of bein’ a singer to start a family with his father and live the life of a farmer’s wife. If Scooch ever found out, he’d probably blame himself, even though that’s not true at all. So to him, these are just some old friends of mine.”\n “Don’t you miss it?” Colby looked at the photo again, getting a good look at each member. Smooch in particular looked the happiest to be there.\n “Oh, do I miss it. What I wouldn’t give to sing with them again, even just one last time.” Smooch wiped her glossy eyes, clearing her throat. “But enough about all that, wanna come out to the porch with me for a bit? I like to look out at the stars before I head to bed.”\n She gestured with her head over to the front door.\n “Y-yeah, okay.” \n\n Once they were outside, Smooch took a seat on the swinging bench on her porch and patted the spot next to her with a nervous smile. Colby sat down on the bench beside her, and they began swinging slowly. They sat in silence for quite some time as several lightning bugs began to light up around them, neither of them sure what to say to each other now that they were completely alone.\n “I owe you an apology, Colby.” Smooch sighed as she watched the stars twinkling in the sky above Pawston.\n “What? You don’t owe me anything,” Colby responded, confused. “You’ve given me a place to sleep twice now. If anything, I owe [i]you.[/i]”\n “No, I mean about this mornin’. I think I understand now what might’ve upset you. When I kept it a secret about what I told Scooch about you yesterday.” Smooch looked back at Colby, her heart skipping a beat or two as she realized just how close he was sitting next to her. “I told Scooch that you were a little… different.”\n “Oh. Y-yeah, that is why I kinda left in a hurry. I just felt a little embarrassed by the whole fork thing. Sorry.” Colby replied as he looked back at her, admittedly feeling a bit self-conscious about it. \n “I [i]also[/i] told him that bein’ different’s not such a bad thing.” Smooch’s finger delicately flirted with Colby’s as they rested side by side on the bench. “In fact, sometimes bein’ different is one of the best things you can be.”\n After holding their eye-contact in silence for a little longer than what might be considered normal, they each turned back to face forward again as they cleared their throats.\n “Anywho… I feel like I’ve talked so much about myself lately, but I still don’t really know much about you.” Smooch was the first to finally speak up as they felt the brisk night air brushing the fur on their faces. “So what’s your story, Colby?”\n “Oh, uh, th-there’s not much to tell, really.” Colby’s expression became sullen as he avoided eye-contact with her. “Nothing all that exciting, unlike you.”\n “Me, [i]exciting,”[/i] Smooch modestly gave a hearty chuckle, “I am probably the [i]least[/i] exciting dog in Pawston. You just haven’t gotten to know the whole neighborhood yet.”\n “Are you kidding? You’re honestly amazing.”\n They looked back at each other for another short-lived moment before turning their heads in opposite directions again, both trying to hide their feelings as Colby internally screamed at himself for making things even more awkward. \n Smooch, meanwhile, couldn’t contain the smile on her red face; she could only remember one other dog who had ever made her feel this way. But then, the more she remembered Kernel, the more her smile began to wane. Was it really okay for her to feel this way about another dog? Her husband was no longer with her, and surely he’d want her to move on and be happy, but still… \n “Well, I suppose we should get some sleep.” Smooch stood up from the bench as she cleared her throat, and Colby followed.\n “Yeah, me too. Thank you again for letting me spend the night here. I… I really don’t like being alone.” He said as they entered the living room.\n “It’s my pleasure,” Smooch replied as she turned the lights off, and the two dogs stood in the dark living room exchanging glances in an uncomfortable silence. \n “Well, um,” Colby swallowed, slowly turning his body towards the sleeping bag on the floor. “Good-night.”\n “R-right.” Smooch nodded, her heart still racing from what he’d said a moment ago. That she was… amazing. Just then, without much thought, she did something incredibly impulsive and daring by her own standards. As Colby turned to the sleeping bag, Smooch took a step forward, stood on her tip-toes, and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek.\n Colby turned back to look at her, and their eyes both widened. As she looked into his eyes, Smooch truly noticed just how vibrantly [i]green[/i] they were, even in the darkness. It was like they were [i]glowing.[/i] In all her life, she had never seen a dog with such color in their eyes; as far as she knew, irises were only ever black. \n Just another strangely-unique thing about him.\n “Good-night.” She whispered as her tail wagged uncontrollably behind her, backing away slowly before turning and disappearing down the hall and into her room as Colby held his cheek. \n He got down on the floor and slid into the sleeping bag, rapidly feeling something firm poking against the sheet in excitement as he continued pressing his palm to his warm face. \n That moment replayed over and over in his mind.\n\n As Smooch closed her bedroom door behind her, she noticed that Colby had apparently made her bed that morning. As she got under the covers, she could instantly smell his scent all over it from sleeping in it the night before, just as Maw had so crassly suggested. She laid still in bed, staring up at the ceiling to distract herself as her nerves began to quake and tremble from what she just did. She restlessly turned to her side, quickly giving in to her feminine needs as she buried her sensitive canine nose into her pillow and taking in the natural masculine aroma he’d left behind. Her paw found its way between her legs.\n\n It would be quite some time before either of them would finally fall asleep that night.", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "            A white, lonely sky above. A black, heartless ground below. Both, equally infinite in measure. Swirling and spinning, an overwhelming storm of despair and hopelessness. Standing on the event horizon. A sudden sensation of falling into a dark void. Empty, and cold. No… not falling.
            Diving, headfirst and willingly into the deadly abyss.
            Teeth. So many teeth.

            Colby suddenly jolted up as he awoke to the pleasant sounds of birds chirping outside, finding himself in a familiar room as the memories of the day prior returned to him. He could feel his heart pounding as he leaned forward and clutched the fur on his chest, taking several deep breaths to calm himself down. The sweat on his palms felt as cold as ice. It was just a nightmare. It was over now.
            It was over.
            The Labrador looked down at his own furry body as he sat alone in his host’s comfortable bed, slowly running his fingers through the yellow fur on his arm. Colby brought his paws to his face, feeling the canine muzzle protruding from it and his cold wet nose at the end. He laid back down in the bed with an exhaustive sigh, staring up at the ceiling just as he had done the night before. A small part of him wanted to never leave this bed ever again.
            This all felt so wrong.
            Before he could fall back asleep and potentially be subjected to another nightmare, he eventually tilted his head and looked at the full-body mirror across the room, seeing that unfamiliar yellow dog staring back at him. After gathering all of his mental strength to get out of Smooch’s bed, he crossed the room and walked up to it. The longer he looked, the more he didn’t recognize his own face. He crouched down and got as close to the glass as he could, trying to reestablish his sense of self. Some parts of himself were familiar, like his brown hair and green eyes, while nearly everything else was like looking at a complete stranger. The mere sight of his reflection began to make him feel uncomfortable. Afraid. Even angry. But most of all, nauseous.
            Extremely nauseous.
            Colby’s head darted around as he tried to find something, anything he could relieve this sickening feeling in. Thankfully, Smooch had a waste basket with a lined bag kept neatly in the corner of the room. With little time to waste, he sprinted over to it.
            And up came yesterday’s pizza.
            ‘I’m still the same me,” Colby told himself reassuringly, his paws tightly clenching onto the waste basket for dear life as he desperately tried to believe his own words in repetition. Once his stomach had settled, he tied the bag closed before turning away and making the bed, neatly tidying the blankets and pillows he’d strewn about from his tossing and turning the night before. As he did, he was still trying to shake off the uneasy feeling he’d gotten from seeing himself for what he was.
            It was best not to think about it too much.
            When Colby entered the hallway with the garbage bag in hand, he was greeted with the alluring sounds and smells of brewing coffee and sizzling sausage. He stopped at the doorway to the kitchen, silently watching his lovely host for a few seconds as she rolled the sausage links over in the cast iron pan on the stove. His eyes couldn’t help but wander a bit down the blue terrier’s short but well-rounded figure as she stood at the oven, privately taking in the appealing sight of her slightly plump curvature.
            “Mornin’, Colby. Sleep well?” She asked without turning her head, nearly giving the captivated dog a heart-attack. But he played it cool, casually faking a yawn as he entered the kitchen while discreetly dropping the garbage bag in the larger bin.
            “Good morning. And yeah, I did. Thank you so much again, Smooch. I’m feeling a lot better now.”
            “Good to hear! Breakfast is almost ready, have a seat.” Smooch gestured to the table, where her son Scooch was already sitting.
            “Hello, Mr. Colby. I’m Scooch Pooch.” Scooch politely gave a little wave and a friendly smile. “I like chickens.”
            “Heh, I can definitely see that.” Colby raised his palm in a wave back, noticing the many, many drawings of chickens hanging on the fridge, as well as the chickens on the kitchen’s wallpaper. “I like chickens, too. It’s nice to finally meet you, Scooch, your mom had nothing but good things to say about you when I met her.”
            “Mom had a lot of nice things to say about you, too!” Scooch’s eyes lit up, already taking a liking to the yellow Lab the moment he expressed an appreciation for chickens. “She said that-”
            “Breakfast is ready!” Smooch interrupted, abruptly ending the conversation to avoid any embarrassment as she ushered Colby to the chair. “Sit, sit!”
            “Oh, but…” Colby hesitated as he noticed something about the table, not wanting to be more of a burden than he already was. “There’s only two chairs. Where’ll you sit?”
            “I can stand just fine, don’t you worry.” Smooch smiled with a happy hum as she placed the breakfast sausages evenly on their plates. “You’re our guest here, and we don’t get guests too often. Sit.”
            Rather than continue trying to argue with her, Colby conceded. Something about the way she repeated that word made him feel oddly compelled to obey her more and more.
            “O-okay. Thank you.” Colby sat down at the table and looked down at his plate, which was completely overflowing with sausage - and nothing else. Not that he minded, the sight of it made him salivate like nothing he could ever remember experiencing before. Just as he picked up his fork, the country song playing on the radio on the kitchen counter ended and a voice spoke up.

            “And now, for today’s morning news. No one has come forward claiming responsibility for yesterday’s unusual worldwide phenomenon, which officials have begun referring to as ‘The Blink’, though top researchers believe that this was a natural occurrence and not any sort of dog-made event. Even more strange is that ever since the incident, hospitals all over the world have been nearly clearing out as all known allergies, diseases, and even cancers have seemingly been completely eradicated from patients. Medical scientists across the globe are scratching their heads as they conduct rigorous tests to confirm if this is true, but we’ll keep you updated as soon as more information comes out. Stay tuned for more daily morning news, I’m Rufus Growly.”

            ‘So it’s true… What happened yesterday?’ Smooch thought, feeling somewhat conflicted. For something that had caused her family so much suffering, just to be conveniently gone in a flash without any explanation… it almost felt like the cruelest kind of irony to her.
            “Oh, by the way, do you drink coffee? Got some brewed here, want some?” She asked Colby with a feigned smile as she managed to push the darker thoughts aside, the sight of his bright green eyes already brightening her day.
            “Yeah I’d love some, it smells good. What kind is it?” Colby replied as his sensitive dog nose could detect the strong and intriguing scent, his tail beginning to wag.
            “Corn coffee.”
            ‘First corn tea, and now corn coffee. She must really like corn, huh…’  Colby smirked letting out a small chuckle as he thought to himself, finding her niche passion for corn endearing.
            “Take anything with it? It goes great with a little sugar, honey.”
            “W-what?” Colby blinked, sticking a finger underneath his floppy ear to clean it out.
            “I said it goes great with a little sugar or honey.” Smooch played it off innocently; definitely what she had said the first time, for sure.
            “Oh, sure. Honey and cream if you have any, thanks.” Colby looked down again at his sausages, stabbing his fork into one of the links before taking a bite. He quietly hummed with satisfaction at the taste as it hit his tongue and he quickly chewed, sticking his fork into another piece and raising it to his mouth as he swallowed. But before he could bite down on his second piece, he noticed that the little blue pup sitting across from him, Scooch, was giving him a perplexed look.
            “My hair’s probably a mess, isn’t it?” Colby raised his paw and flattened down the stray spikes of brown hair sticking out from his yellow head, with little success. “It always ends up looking like this in the morning.”
            “Not that, you use a holding-fork to eat?” Scooch asked, looking at the silverware in Colby’s paw. “Why don’t you just eat off the plate?”
            “Scooch, mind your manners. Remember what we talked about yesterday.” Smooch turned around, pointing her spatula at her son before turning back to keep an eye on the remaining sausages.
            “I… don’t get it. Isn’t that what a fork is for?” Colby looked at the fork he held in his paw, trying to see if there was anything particularly unusual about it before looking back to the blue terrier standing at the sink. “And… what’d you talk about yesterday?”
            “Mom said you were kinda-”
            “Scooch.” Smooch gave him a stern gaze, wordlessly telling her boy to keep his mouth zipped.
            “I… I’m sorry, I think I should probably just go.” Colby spoke quieter than normal as he stood from the table, awkwardly making his way to the front door as he saw himself out. “Thank you so much for everything, Sergeant Pooch. It was really nice meeting you both.”
            Living a normal life in Pawston might be more difficult than he’d initially thought.
            ‘Sergeant?’ Smooch thought as she turned around in time to see him leaving the kitchen, immediately noticing the way he hadn’t called her by her first name just then.
            “Colby, wait!” Smooch turned the oven off before she followed, catching up to her guest just as he put his paw on the door handle.
            “I don’t want to be a bother.” Colby avoided eye-contact with Smooch, even when she put her paw on his arm. “I’ve probably already overstayed my welcome.”
            “You’re not a bother at all! Please, stay for breakfast. You haven’t even had coffee yet. Was it somethin’ I said? Somethin’ I did?” Smooch gently tugged at Colby’s arm to coax him into changing his mind, but with little success.
            “No, nothing like that. I guess I just feel kind of… lost. I think I just need some time to get myself sorted out.” Colby turned back to look at Smooch, showing her a subtle but genuine look of affection in his green eyes. “I really did enjoy spending time with you yesterday, though. You’re really cool, Sergeant Pooch.”
            ‘“Cool”? Me?’ Smooch thought, her cheeks turning a light pink.
            “Just call me Smooch. Please,” she insisted; although she normally didn’t give such things a second thought, for some reason she really wanted to be on a first-name basis with Colby in particular. “That’s what my friends call me.”
            “O-okay, sorry. Smooch.” Colby nodded, honestly feeling more comfortable calling her that as well. While he still thought it was a rather unusual-sounding name, it was quickly growing on him.
            “If you feel lost, why don’t I show you around town more today?” Smooch stepped closer to Colby, though her legs were seemingly moving on their own. “We could-”
            “I don’t mean that kind of lost. Thanks for the offer, though. I’ll… see you around, I guess.” Colby gave her one more polite but half-hearted smile, opening the door and gently loosening from Smooch’s soft grip before walking down the porch alone.
            Smooch tried to think of something - anything - she could say to convince him not to leave, even though she wasn’t even sure herself why she was so desperate for him to stay in the first place. But of all the different possible replies she thought of, the only one that came out of Smooch’s mouth was,
            “See you around.”

            “-‘See you around’?”
            Maw Barker repeated back to Smooch in disbelief as they chatted together on their lunch break at the Big Bowl Diner later that day. Although the two worked completely different jobs - Smooch as Pawston’s police chief and Maw as a blimp pilot - the two were very close friends and would often schedule their lunch breaks so they could catch up with each other and talk about how their days were.
            “Yeah, just ‘see you around’.” Smooch reiterated with a small shrug as she tried to play it off casually. “Colby just moved to Pawston yesterday, so… I’ll see him around.”
            Maw set down her pawnini sandwich and rubbed her temples with an audibly frustrated sigh.
            “What?” Smooch rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t you sigh at me like that.”
            “Girl, you obviously have a thing for this guy. I could see the glow through the fur on your cheeks the whole time you were talking about him!”
            Smooch patted her face.
            “Not literally. But I can just tell, you like him. I mean, you let him sleep in your bed!” Maw grinned, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively as she picked up her pawnini again and took another small bite.
            “Can you quiet down? Yer makin’ it sound weirder than it was.” Smooch whispered harshly, leaning in closer to keep their conversation more discreet.
            “And now his scent is all over your blanket, your sheets, your pillow…” Maw closed her eyes and inhaled deeply with a smile as she playfully teased her friend, exhaling with a satisfied hum.
            “Oh, hush yer mouth! It’s not like that!” Smooch said with a scowl, reaching over the table and giving Maw’s shoulder a light but firm smack with her padded palm. She wouldn’t have mentioned yesterday’s events to Maw at all if she knew she’d be mocked for it. “It’s not like I was in bed with him, I already told you. I slept on the couch to let him get a good night’s sleep after I accidentally ran him over!”
            “Bet you’d like him to run you over.” Maw muttered with a wink.
            “Maw!” Smooch gasped, giving her another slightly harder slap with her paw. “Bad!”
            “Look, I’m sorry for having a little raunchy fun at your expense. It’s just… y’know… ‘that time of year’ for me,” Maw said as she finished the last bite of her lunch, wiping her muzzle with her napkin. “All I’m saying is, you should let love in when it’s practically knocking on your door. Or in your case, the hood of your car.”
            “That was so hilarious, I almost exhaled through my nose.” Smooch scowled, rolling her eyes. “I mean, I guess he’s cute and all, but I don’t love Colby, I only just met him yesterday. Barely even know anythin’ about him. Besides, my son gives me all the love I could ever want, thank you kindly.”
            “But Scooch can’t give you the kind of love that a woman like you needs, now can he?” Maw replied.
            Smooch sat silently, crossing her arms and slumping into her seat as she shut herself in. Her face felt like it was on fire. As much as she hated to admit it, Maw was right. Although she always told herself that her son Scooch was the only boy she’d ever need in her life, she sorely missed having a romantic connection - the kind of butterflies in one’s stomach that only came around from meeting someone truly special. But she wondered, was this feeling a betrayal to her late husband?
            “Look, I know you still miss Kernel.” Maw spoke up again, as if she could tell what was on the terrier’s mind. “No one’s telling you that you have to forget about him. Just… be open. Allow yourself to be happy! Isn’t that what he would want for you? It sounds like you had a nice date with this guy yesterday, didn’t you?”
            “Whad’ya mean, ‘date’?” Smooch scoffed, taking a drink of her ice-water. “That wasn’t a date.”
            “Really?” Maw raised her brow, now crossing her arms as well. “You drove him all around town to go sight-seeing with him, you took him out for lunch at your favorite pizza place, and then you brought him back to your home for him to spend the night! That sure sounds like a date to me.”
            “Well it wasn’t. I just gave him a friendly welcome tour as the local law-enforcement of Pawston. Nothin’ more to it than that.” Smooch huffed, wishing this whole conversation would just end already. “Besides, he probably didn’t see it as a date either.”
            “Then you should ask him out on a real date the next time you see him!” Maw’s eyes lit up, her tail wagging behind her at her own brilliant idea.
            “What?! You’re crazy. No way.” Smooch shook her head, putting her police-hat back on her head as their lunch break was coming to an end.
            “Come on, sergeant! I’m desperate for some spicy excitement in my life, and nowadays my only hope is to get that vicariously through you.” Maw put her pilot-cap on as well. “Don’t get me wrong, my marriage with Paw is perfectly happy and I wouldn’t change a thing about it, but we’ve been married for over 20 years now so there aren't exactly butterflies anymore. I want Cheddar Biscuit to find herself a nice boy, but I’m starting to worry she might be a lost cause… but you’re single, you’re free to have as much fun as you want! So just have some fun! You do remember what ‘fun’ is, don’t you, officer?”
            Maw smirked, though Smooch was much less amused.
            “Well, let’s just say I did. This boy, Colby - he’s only twenty-six, did I mention that? A young bachelor all alone in a new town and he has his pick of all the other single gals in Pawston, so…” The blue terrier sighed. “Why on Dog’s green earth would he ever settle for an old bitch like me?”
            The tall lavender dog sitting across from her gasped.
            “Don’t talk about yourself like that, Smooch. That’s not true, you’re-”
            “I’m forty, Maw. I have a son. And it ain’t exactly a secret that I’m a bit…” Smooch placed her paws on her belly and jiggled it up and down a little. “‘Solid’. That’s three strikes for most eligible dogs. No, I’m better off just puttin’ the thought aside. No use in gettin’ hopeful over nothin’.”
            “Oh well…” Maw shrugged and smiled coyly, “Since you’re not going to go after this stud, you won’t mind if I try setting Cheddar Biscuit up with him, do you? He sounds like he’d make a great son-in-law.”
            “N-now wait a minute, you can’t just-!” Smooch adjusted her posture in her seat, unsure why she was suddenly feeling so flustered all of a sudden.
Maw laughed.
            “Clock’s ticking, what could it hurt to give it a shot?”
            “Well for starters, my pride, my self-esteem, and… my heart.” Smooch replied as she slumped back, having been through enough heartache already; unlike the common saying, part of her felt it was far better to have never loved at all than to have loved and lost.
            “You’re the strongest dog I know, Smooch.” Maw rested her paw on Smooch’s arm reassuringly. “And if you’re an old bitch, then you’re the old bitch in charge. You can take my advice or not. But as your friend, I say just go for it.”
            “...Thank you, Maw. I know I can be a bit stubborn at times, but you always seem to know just what to say.” Smooch finally smiled a bit, knowing that Maw truly was her closest friend in Pawston that she could always trust no matter what.
            Maw then leaned in closer, her expression becoming more stern for a change as she spoke in a hushed tone.
            “But just to warn you, as a mother, I am serious about setting my daughter up with him. Don’t tell Cheddar I said this, but she really needs to get laid already. So don’t take too long to decide.”
            Smooch gulped.
            “Duly-noted.”

            At the same time in the town square, a certain yellow Labrador dipped his head into the large orange dog-bowl shaped water fountain. He brought his head back up and shook off the water dripping from his hair, the strange triangular tag on the collar around his neck jangling as he did so. Strangely enough, even without any shampoo, his hair quickly returned to its normal state. Colby looked down wordlessly at the distorted reflection of the green-eyed canine looking back at him. The longer he looked, the less he recognized that face. He reached down and slowly swiped his paw through the almost cartoonishly-blue water, making it almost completely indiscernible before the waves receded again and showed him the truth of who he was.
            Colby turned around to sit at the edge of the bowl, looking up at the bright blue sky dotted with green birds flying from tree to tree. Although he thought he’d have much more weighing on his mind, for some reason, all he could think of was that blue terrier he had met. The way she smiled. The way she smelled. The sweet honeyed sound of her voice.
            He shook his head, brushing those intrusive thoughts aside. He couldn’t allow himself to get close to anyone. Never again. Or rather, he couldn’t allow anyone else to get close to him.
            However, that wasn’t Colby’s choice to make.

            “Sorry Scooch, it’s not my choice to make,” Tag Barker, Scooch’s next-door neighbor and best friend said as she stood at the doorway of her home with her magenta-colored baby brother running around the two of them and barking happily. “Everyone in my family’s busy with stuff today, so I’m in charge of taking care of Yip until my mom gets home from work.”
            “It’s okay, Tag! You’ve helped me with so many of my chores for so long, I don’t mind helping you look after Yip for a while.” Scooch shyly rolled his ankles as he stood in place, finally bringing up something that had been on his mind all day. “I was hoping we could go together to see the windmill museum today, but… maybe after that?”
            Tag rolled her eyes a little; as much as she loved her best friend, and as difficult as it was to look after her energetic little brother, she’d honestly rather be puppy-sitting and was content with never going back to that boring windmill museum ever again. She often wondered how Scooch and his mom could be so interested in certain things that just seemed so… uninteresting.
            “Uh, sure… maybe.” Tag grimaced, already dreading it. “Okay Yip, lets-”
            It was then that she suddenly realized she could no longer hear Yip’s playful barking.
            “Oh no, not again!” Tag picked Scooch up and quickly ran to her scooter, tossing him into the side-car and hopping in. “This is exactly what happened the last time!”

            Colby left the town square to clear his head with a walk around town, familiarizing himself with the sights. Most places in town appeared to be normal - there was city hall, a store selling props and toys for magic tricks, a post office; but then, there were also some things he had never seen in his entire life, such as a gigantic ball store resembling a gumball machine, a ten-story ladder in the middle of the sidewalk, and a hedge maze. As he continued walking past the maze on the other side of the street, he noticed two dogs - one small and yellow, the other big and green - standing on top of one of the trees in an empty block where one would’ve normally expected a house to be.
            “Hey, what’re you two doing up there?” Colby called up to them. “Do you need some help getting down?”
            “Who, us?!” The grumpy little yellow dog wearing goggles sneered as he peered over the edge of the tree. “We live here, you pickle-head!”
            “Pickle-head?” Colby raised his brow, feeling more confused rather than hurt by the insult. “How old are you?”
            “None of your beeswax!”
            “Hi Mr. Pickle-head! I’m Beans!” The large and much friendlier dopey green dog gave an innocent wave as he peeked down over the leaves as well, his eyes completely obscured by his massive furry brows. He then turned to the yellow dog beside him while patting his own belly. “Oh boy, now I’m hungry for some pickles and honey, Frank. Can we go get some?”
            “Of course, Beans, I know that’s your new favorite, for some reason I’ll never understand… and you, new dog, whatever your name is! Paws off our tree!” Frank pointed his finger at Colby before the two climbed down the ladder on the other side of the tree and hopped into their large red motorized toy-wagon before driving off at a breakneck speed, presumably to the grocery store.
            “What the hell’s his problem?” Colby shook his head as he quietly spoke to himself, glancing his eyes over to the maze again as he spotted a small magenta puppy in his peripheral vision bounding on all-fours into the entrance and barking playfully all the while without a care in the world before disappearing behind the hedge.
            “Yip! Yip!” it yipped.
            He thought nothing of it, however, continuing his walk down the street as a little orange dog on a familiar purple scooter zipped right by him.

            Afternoon soon became evening, and Tag had never felt so worried in all her life. Normally she’d always be able to find him in eleven minutes or less, usually in a fun and comedic little adventure of sorts; but this was the longest Yip had ever been missing before, and Tag was having quite the opposite of fun. How could she let this happen? Why couldn’t Yip ever just stay still for once when she had to watch him? She was going to be in so much trouble if her parents ever found out, she just knew it. Not to mention, Yip was still just a baby puppy who could get himself injured, or worse.
            And it would be all her fault.
            She began asking every dog she passed by if they’d seen a small magenta puppy running around, yet not a single one had seen even a hint of him anywhere. Not Manhole Dog, Lady Lydia, Sam Whippet, no one. Even with their help in searching, it was like Yip had completely vanished.
            The sun was starting to slowly meet the mountainous horizon, and Tag felt her heart racing faster and faster with each passing minute. She didn’t even care if she was grounded forever at this point, all she wanted was to find Yip safe and sound.
            Then, she spotted a familiar police car driving down the street towards her. She had avoided going to Sergeant Pooch about the situation, as she didn’t want her to go telling her mom about it, but now she was getting desperate.
            “Sergeant Pooch!” Tag did a quick U-turn to drive beside the cop car as Sergeant Pooch looked on in surprise to find tears welling up in the little orange beagador’s eyes.
            “Tag? Scooch? What’s wrong?” Smooch asked, slowing down to a stop beside the curb.
            “I… I… I lost Yip!” Tag stammered, feeling fearful tears welling up in her eyes.
            “Okay, try to relax, Tag. I’ll help you find him.” The police-dog calmly reassured Tag, exuding her motherly aura. “Where’d you last see him?”
            “A-at m-my h-house…” The little orange beagador sniffled before Scooch handed her a tissue from a compartment in his side-car and she blew into it. “I’ve been looking for hours.”
            “Alright, maybe he headed back there then, you best head on home and let me take care of it.” Smooch gently patted the helmet on Tag’s head, making feel a little better already. “I’ll find your baby brother, Tag. I promise.”
            “O-okay… Thank you, Scooch’s mom.” Tag nodded hopefully, wiping her eye with her arm.
            “It’ll be okay, Tag. If Yip’s not already at your house, my mom will find him. You can count on her.” Scooch said with confidence, having complete faith that his mom could do anything.
\t            Smooch waved them off, leaving her alone with her thoughts; if only she believed in herself as much as her son did.
            “Now, where would a curious puppy disappear to…”

            Tag sped home on her scooter with Scooch still in tow, slowing down a bit when she passed a yellow dog with brown hair about to cross the street.
            “Hey, try to be careful, you don’t wanna run anyone over. Oh, hi, Scooch.” Colby took a step back in surprise before raising his paw as he greeted Scooch.
            “Sorry, sir,” Tag replied politely as she drove circles slowly around him, with Scooch giving Colby a little wave as well. “I’m just in a rush because my baby brother is missing. You haven’t seen a purple puppy running around by himself, have you?”
            “Uh…” Colby thought for a moment.  “No, I don’t think so, sorry.”
Tag sighed.
            “Okay, thanks anyway. Yip! Yiiip!” She shouted as she drove off down the road, then turning to face Scooch just as she realized something. “Hold on, how’d that dog know your name? I’ve never seen him around before.”
            “Oh, that’s Colby. He slept in my mom’s bed last night.” Scooch commented innocently as Tag sped home.
            “...Wait, wha?”

            “Wait…” As he watched the two drive away, Colby muttered to himself when he finally remembered the puppy he’d noticed running into the hedge-maze earlier that day. “Wait, I think I did see him!”

            “The playground would be the most obvious place, but someone would’ve called in about an unsupervised puppy by now.” Smooch talked to herself as she drove down Waggy Way, her police-sirens blaring loudly. “If there’s anywhere to easily get lost in Pawston, it’s…”
            She came to a stop in front of a large green wall, getting out of the car and standing at the entrance; Colby, meanwhile, was just arriving at the entrance on the other side.
            “The hedge maze.”

            “Yip!”
            “Yiiip!”
            Colby and Smooch both traversed through the narrow corridors on opposite ends of the hedge maze as the sun set, a brisk chill winding through the darkening passageways. Colby couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy at the feeling of being lost with no way out, but he knew he had to keep on going. He couldn’t turn back now - not when there was a lost little puppy that might be alone and afraid.
            Alone… and afraid.
            Two things that Colby knew all too well.
            Two things that Smooch knew as well.
            Neither would ever allow anyone to feel as alone and afraid as they had felt. Not if they could do something about it.
            “Yip…” They each whispered as they went this way and that, equally determined to reunite the puppy with his family.
            “I’m coming to save you.”
            “...Awooo…”
            At the same time, both of them suddenly heard the pitiful and tired cry of a young infant puppy down the path and around the corner. They each ran as fast as they could to the source of the whine, sharply turning the corner and spotting Yip curled up on the ground.
            “Yip! I found you!”
            Without even noticing the other was there, Smooch and Colby both grabbed Yip and picked him up at the same time.
            They looked up to see who else had grabbed the puppy, and gasped.
            “I-it’s you.” Smooch spoke first, hardly expecting to see Colby again here and now, of all places.
            “It’s you.” Colby replied, feeling his heart skipping beat after beat the longer he looked into her eyes.
            They both stood silently for a moment with Yip now comfortably nestled in their warm arms, his short little tail wagging again as he already knew he had been rescued.
            “Hi.”
            “Hey.”
            They spoke over each other, their stammers turning into awkward chuckles as they shuffled back and forth with the baby puppy between their accidental embrace.
            Colby cleared his throat, making some distance between them as he tried to hand Yip over to her.
            “H-here, you found him first.”
            “I dunno, Yip seems to really like you, Colby.” Smooch hummed happily as she watched Yip jump back to the yellow Labrador, who climbed up Colby’s arms and around his neck to place himself on his shoulders before holding onto the brown hair on his head for support. “C’mon, let’s get outta here and bring this little one back home. He doesn’t look hurt at all, but the poor thing’s probably starvin’.”
            They walked out of the maze together, with Smooch leading the way; this hadn’t been the first time she’d had to help someone out of the maze, and it certainly wouldn’t be her last. Smooch quietly snickered when she looked back to find Yip already idly chewing on a clump of Colby’s hair, still attached to his head.
            Colby knew.

            “Alright, you Barkers have a good night now. Take care.” Smooch closed the front door of the Barker house after they had brought Yip back to his home. She had put in a good word for Tag, who was able to avoid any serious scolding; however, Tag was still grounded for a day, and it would be a while yet before she would be entrusted to puppy-sit Yip again - which was perfectly fine with her.
            “I’m so glad he wasn’t hurt at all, tonight could’ve gone much worse.” Colby said as they began walking towards Smooch’s car.
            “You’re tellin’ me, feels like every week or so I get a report there’s another clumsy little pup playing in traffic.” Smooch placed her paws on her hips and huffed, remembering the stress for everyone involved. “A few close calls here and there, but thankfully nothin’ too serious. There may be a lotta ‘go’ dogs here, but they still follow the traffic laws, just like the ‘slow’ dogs. We all look out for each other.”
            “And what kind of dog are you?” Colby asked softly, unconsciously taking one step closer.
            “S-slow.” Smooch gulped.
            “It’s good to live slowly. If you go through life too fast…” Colby reached his paw towards Smooch’s cheek, sending a shiver up her spine as his finger just barely grazed her fur before he pulled out a leaf from the hedge-maze that was still stuck in her fur. “...you might miss it.”
            “Colby, I…” Smooch exhaled, finding that she had been holding her breath without realizing. “About this morning…”
            “I’m okay, really.” Colby interrupted. “It’s just… this is all a big change for me, living in a new town. It’s like I’m…”
            “Livin’ in another world entirely?”
            Colby nodded.
            “I know exactly how you feel, Colby. I moved here with Scooch just over a year ago now, and I’m still trying to get comfortable.” Smooch sighed; even after living in Pawston for over a year, sometimes she still felt like she was out of place. “Give it time.”
            Colby remained silent.
            ‘What could it hurt to give it a shot?' Smooch heard Maw’s voice repeating in her head, 'I say just go for it.’
             “Can I… say something?” Smooch took off her police cap, nervously fidgeting with it in her paws as her mouth began to feel dry. “Not as a sergeant, but as a… gal?”
            “Hm?” Colby tilted his head, unsure of where she was going with this. “Of course, what’s up?”
            “Maybe this is a little forward of me, but… there’s somethin’ about you that makes me feel… some kinda way.” Smooch looked up into Colby’s eyes. Those bright emerald eyes that almost seemed luminescent in the moonlight. “In the hedge maze… you went lookin’ for a lost puppy you didn’t even know. I think that’s… really admirable.”
            “I mostly just happened to be at the right place at the right time, that’s all.” Colby shrugged. “But what kind of person would just do nothing when someone needed help?”
            “Well even so, I think you showed a lotta character. And I… I liked what I saw. You may have some funny ideas about things I ain’t ever heard of, like ‘alcohol’ and ‘money’, but I think that just makes you… intriguing. What I’m tryin’ to say is, i-if you’re free, I… I’d really like to see you again tomorrow. And not in a ‘see you around’ kinda way, but in a ‘let’s meet up’ kinda way. Whaddya say?”
            “You mean like, you want to… hang out? And spend time together? With me?”
            Smooch nodded shyly, her heart racing as her brain fed her ideas of Colby rejecting her. She was no spring chicken. Not a young and fluffy poodle or a sleek and skinny greyhound, just a short and stout middle-aged terrier.
            Colby, meanwhile, had his own myriad of emotional issues to sort though. He had been alone for so long - why put himself through more loneliness? More misery? In the end, what good would it really do? After all, the long nightmare he’d lived through was finally over.
            It was over.
            “I’d… love that, Smooch.” Colby blushed, though it was thankfully difficult to see under the dim streetlamps.
            “G-great! Come pick me up at, let’s say, 9 A.M. to go out for breakfast?” Smooch stomach almost growled at the mere mention of breakfast, but she managed to hold it in.
            “I don’t have a car.” Colby’ blush suddenly turned from one of infatuation into embarrassment.
            “I know, I just meant it figuratively. I’ll drive.”
            “O-okay. Your place. 9 A.M.” Colby nodded, making a mental reminder to wake up on-time for it.
            “Oh, by the way, did you find a place in town to live yet?” She asked.
            “Well, uh… no.” With no car and no place to live, Colby certainly felt pathetic. “But I did meet a couple of dogs today that apparently live in a tree, so I was thinking I could probably just-”
            “You’re always welcome to spend the night again!” Smooch covered her own mouth, realizing she’d said that a bit louder than she’d intended. “I-I mean, you were already such a gracious guest, it’d really be no trouble at all…”
            “You don’t think it might be a bit, I dunno… inappropriate?” Colby asked hesitantly. “I wouldn’t want any kind of rumors spreading around about you because of me.”
            “Well… maybe a little rumor or two wouldn’t be such a bad thing.” Smooch blushed, inching closer. “Dontcha think?”
            Colby gulped, feeling his flustered face getting steadily hotter. He wasn’t completely oblivious to Smooch’s advances, but part of him was still strongly in denial that she was actually flirting with him. For even after everything he’d been through, Colby still saw himself as nothing special. He was just… Colby.
            “I-I guess I wouldn’t mind staying one more night.”

            They arrived back at the Pooch residence next door, and upon Colby’s request, Smooch set up a sleeping bag in the living room for him. As comfortable as her bed was, Colby was feeling much better than the day before and felt it wouldn’t be right to take it again.
            After tucking her son into his bed for the night, Smooch came back downstairs to find Colby looking around at more of the framed photos on the walls. As she watched him for a few moments, quietly peering from around the corner of the hallway, she couldn’t help but notice that as he walked around her living room, there was something about this dog that seemed to fit perfectly. Like he naturally filled a certain emptiness within it.
            “I’m guessing this is your old band?” Colby suddenly said, turning to face her as he gestured to a photo of her with several other dogs on the wall. Smooch blushed deeply, now realizing he knew she had been watching him the whole time.
            “Y-yeah, that’s me and the gang.” Smooch replied as she walked over to him, looking at the picture as well. “But please, don’t mention them to Scooch.”
            “Huh? Why not?” Colby asked.
            “I don’t want him to feel bad. I gave up my passion of bein’ a singer to start a family with his father and live the life of a farmer’s wife. If Scooch ever found out, he’d probably blame himself, even though that’s not true at all. So to him, these are just some old friends of mine.”
            “Don’t you miss it?” Colby looked at the photo again, getting a good look at each member. Smooch in particular looked the happiest to be there.
            “Oh, do I miss it. What I wouldn’t give to sing with them again, even just one last time.” Smooch wiped her glossy eyes, clearing her throat. “But enough about all that, wanna come out to the porch with me for a bit? I like to look out at the stars before I head to bed.”
            She gestured with her head over to the front door.
            “Y-yeah, okay.”

            Once they were outside, Smooch took a seat on the swinging bench on her porch and patted the spot next to her with a nervous smile. Colby sat down on the bench beside her, and they began swinging slowly. They sat in silence for quite some time as several lightning bugs began to light up around them, neither of them sure what to say to each other now that they were completely alone.
            “I owe you an apology, Colby.” Smooch sighed as she watched the stars twinkling in the sky above Pawston.
            “What? You don’t owe me anything,” Colby responded, confused. “You’ve given me a place to sleep twice now. If anything, I owe you.”
            “No, I mean about this mornin’. I think I understand now what might’ve upset you. When I kept it a secret about what I told Scooch about you yesterday.” Smooch looked back at Colby, her heart skipping a beat or two as she realized just how close he was sitting next to her. “I told Scooch that you were a little… different.”
            “Oh. Y-yeah, that is why I kinda left in a hurry. I just felt a little embarrassed by the whole fork thing. Sorry.” Colby replied as he looked back at her, admittedly feeling a bit self-conscious about it.
            “I also told him that bein’ different’s not such a bad thing.” Smooch’s finger delicately flirted with Colby’s as they rested side by side on the bench. “In fact, sometimes bein’ different is one of the best things you can be.”
            After holding their eye-contact in silence for a little longer than what might be considered normal, they each turned back to face forward again as they cleared their throats.
            “Anywho… I feel like I’ve talked so much about myself lately, but I still don’t really know much about you.” Smooch was the first to finally speak up as they felt the brisk night air brushing the fur on their faces. “So what’s your story, Colby?”
            “Oh, uh, th-there’s not much to tell, really.” Colby’s expression became sullen as he avoided eye-contact with her. “Nothing all that exciting, unlike you.”
            “Me, exciting,” Smooch modestly gave a hearty chuckle, “I am probably the least exciting dog in Pawston. You just haven’t gotten to know the whole neighborhood yet.”
            “Are you kidding? You’re honestly amazing.”
            They looked back at each other for another short-lived moment before turning their heads in opposite directions again, both trying to hide their feelings as Colby internally screamed at himself for making things even more awkward.
            Smooch, meanwhile, couldn’t contain the smile on her red face; she could only remember one other dog who had ever made her feel this way. But then, the more she remembered Kernel, the more her smile began to wane. Was it really okay for her to feel this way about another dog? Her husband was no longer with her, and surely he’d want her to move on and be happy, but still…
            “Well, I suppose we should get some sleep.” Smooch stood up from the bench as she cleared her throat, and Colby followed.
            “Yeah, me too. Thank you again for letting me spend the night here. I… I really don’t like being alone.” He said as they entered the living room.
            “It’s my pleasure,” Smooch replied as she turned the lights off, and the two dogs stood in the dark living room exchanging glances in an uncomfortable silence.
            “Well, um,” Colby swallowed, slowly turning his body towards the sleeping bag on the floor. “Good-night.”
            “R-right.” Smooch nodded, her heart still racing from what he’d said a moment ago. That she was… amazing. Just then, without much thought, she did something incredibly impulsive and daring by her own standards. As Colby turned to the sleeping bag, Smooch took a step forward, stood on her tip-toes, and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek.
            Colby turned back to look at her, and their eyes both widened. As she looked into his eyes, Smooch truly noticed just how vibrantly green they were, even in the darkness. It was like they were glowing. In all her life, she had never seen a dog with such color in their eyes; as far as she knew, irises were only ever black.
            Just another strangely-unique thing about him.
            “Good-night.” She whispered as her tail wagged uncontrollably behind her, backing away slowly before turning and disappearing down the hall and into her room as Colby held his cheek.
            He got down on the floor and slid into the sleeping bag, rapidly feeling something firm poking against the sheet in excitement as he continued pressing his palm to his warm face.
            That moment replayed over and over in his mind.

            As Smooch closed her bedroom door behind her, she noticed that Colby had apparently made her bed that morning. As she got under the covers, she could instantly smell his scent all over it from sleeping in it the night before, just as Maw had so crassly suggested. She laid still in bed, staring up at the ceiling to distract herself as her nerves began to quake and tremble from what she just did. She restlessly turned to her side, quickly giving in to her feminine needs as she buried her sensitive canine nose into her pillow and taking in the natural masculine aroma he’d left behind. Her paw found its way between her legs.

            It would be quite some time before either of them would finally fall asleep that night.", "pools_count": 1, "title": "Love is Lawless - Chapter 2 - Mazed and Confused", "deleted": "f", "public": "t", "mimetype": "image/png", "pagecount": "1", "rating_id": "2", "rating_name": "Adult", "ratings": [ { "content_tag_id": "4", "name": "Sexual Themes", "description": "Erotic imagery, sexual activity or arousal", "rating_id": "2" } ], "submission_type_id": "12", "type_name": "Writing - Document", "guest_block": "f", "friends_only": "f", "comments_count": "0", "views": "212" }