Silver Creek through the streets and column cracks

title from "Venezia," by CK Baker

Ellis stared blankly at the roiling silver water as the drizzle slowly soaked into his fur. It was summer, though it did not feel like it today. He watched the fish squirm through the water, vaguely aware that he was hungry but not in the mood to exert much energy. He was far, very far, from anyone and anything he had ever known in his short life. There were much more important things to think about than food…

… like what he was going to now.

The water lured her from cover, and as she plodded towards it her head was low, nose pressed against clusters of grass or fern or dirt, investigating every inch. The novelty of being without a master had worn off days ago. Now, with a nagging hunger to perpetuate the sense of otherness she was experiencing, Blackheart knew something had to change.

She sought the water without paying enough attention to her periphery, so when she arrived at the flowing edge and began to greedily lap at it, her focus was limited by her tunnel vision. Water dripped from her snout as she raised her head after, contented, she noticed she was not alone. Her triangular ears shifted slightly, her expression alert, and her tail whipped at the grass.

A little boof broke the stillness in the air, as if she needed to garner the stranger's attention; Blackheart hadn't seen any dogs or really anything besides the occasional bird for a while, so to suddenly find a wiry-looking dog here, lost as she was, was more unnerving than comforting.

Ellis saw the strange-looking canine but her presence did not bother him. She was not attacking him; in fact, she did not seem to notice him at all. He continued to sit and stare into the water while she drank, not speaking or otherwise drawing attention to himself. He did not imagine that she wanted to speak to him.

But after a moment, she called to him. His ears flicked towards her and he glanced at her for a moment before looking away again. “Hello,” he said softly, his voice raspy from disuse.

When he spoke, she was further conflicted. Here in the middle of the woods, where not a single man could be found, nor road, nor any recognizable piece of the life she had once lived, was a dog. He could speak, and he seemed as stunned by her as she was of him. Something about his scent made warning bells go off inside of her, but Blackheart wanted to ignore them, as she was so starved for the attention and affection of her kin, but... Those warning bells were damn loud.

She opened her mouth and out blurted, W.. where, what-- what are you doing out here? Where's... She didn't finish the thought, and looked around (frantically at first, her ears fluttering), but recalled how long she'd been alone while she'd hiked, and knew there was nothing in this place that would be recognizable. She didn't even have words to explain where she'd come from, not yet. Is this.. your home?

Ellis pulled back a little in shock at her sudden outburst of words. Having been around men who spent their lives mostly in silence for so long, this new experience was a bit frightening. He tried to keep up with what she was saying, or asking him, but even she didn’t seem to know what she was saying. He shook his head a little after she stopped speaking, trying to piece together words that made sense.

“Do I…?” he began, eyes flicking around as he processed. “N-no, this is not my home. I… have no home.”

Well, that answered that. But it didn't make much sense to the dog. To her, this whole space was like an endless park. Somewhere she might have hiked with her man if she had one, but certainly not a home. A home was warm. There were soft places. The food was plentiful. This place was so far from being a home in Blackheart's mind that she found the other dog's answer suspect; however, she wasn't about to question the stranger.

He smelled of the forest. She reached with her snout to gather his scents and even drew towards him with an eager little step, but drew back a moment later, feeling awkward. She couldn't hide the mixture of emotions which played across her face.

Do you know where to find food? She finally asked, tilting her head in the manner of a lost puppy - watching him.