Chapter 3 - A Lonely Husky

Chapter Three: A Lonely Husky



“Why?” Chance asked to no one in particular. “Why does she hate me so much?” He continued to run around the town, tears filling up in his soft brown eyes and then falling gently to the cold, hard sidewalk. He was running away to nowhere, and he knew it. Lying down in front of a large tree to catch his breath, he then stared up at the sky, which was now a mix of orange, pink, and red from the beautiful sunset, showing him that day was almost over and darkness would soon cover the land.

“Who are you?” came a voice. Chance jumped to his feet, abruptly searching for the sound.

“Over here, silly,” the same voice was heard again. Chance looked behind him to see a gorgeous black and white puppy, slightly larger than him. She wore a purple leather collar with a green bow attached to it. Her green leash was tied up to the large tree.

“Well, aren't you going to say something?” the black and white puppy asked politely. “I am so bored and I need someone to talk to.”

“Same here,” Chance replied. “My name is Chance, what's yours?”

The other puppy paused for a moment and looked down on the ground, and then she looked back up at Chance and answered quietly, “Éclair. I'm a Siberian Husky.”

“You don't sound so happy. What's the matter?”

Éclair sighed. “I didn't think you would care, Chance. My owner has forgotten me.”

“What do you mean by that?” Chance asked out of curiosity.

“Well,” Éclair began, “My owner, Audrey, tells me that she needs to go grocery shopping, or something. She ties me up to this tree to make sure I don't run away, right?” Chance nodded. “Well, she's been gone for about an hour now, and has she come back yet? NO!” Éclair screamed. “She's forgotten about me! She has forgotten…” Tears began to well up in Éclair's eyes, making her unable to finish her sentence without sobbing to death.

“Please don't cry…” Chance gave Éclair a friendly lick in hopes to cheer her up.

“Thanks Chance,” Éclair replied with a small smile on her face. “You're a good friend. So, where is your owner?”

Chance sighed, but he decided to tell her anyway. “I ran away from home.”

“Why?”

“My older sister. She treats me like dirt. I cannot tolerate to be around someone who wants to murder me.”

“That's it?” Éclair asked. “That's the only reason why you are running away from home?”

Chance nodded sadly.

That was when, all of a sudden, Éclair burst into strange laughter. Tears of laughter were about to stream down from her eyes, but she prevented herself from doing so just in time. Chance stood there, confused, giving her a blank look.

“Wh-what's so funny about that?” Chance asked her.

Éclair stopped laughing and looked at Chance. Then she spoke. “I am sorry. I didn't mean to offend you in any way. I just find that the weirdest reason for running away.”

“Why?”

“Chance, don't think that your sister being mean to you is not a normal thing. Brothers and sisters are supposed to be like that. It is in their nature to annoy and be mean to each other.”

“Really?”

“Yup. Haven't you had any brothers or sisters in your litter?”

“Actually no,” Chance stated. “It's a long story. There were supposed to be four other siblings in my family. I was supposed to have two brothers and two sisters. However, something strange had happened. When my mother gave birth to the five of us, my four other siblings could not breathe when they were born. The doctors desperately tried to get some oxygen into their lungs, but not a single one lived. I was the lucky survivor, so I was raised as an only puppy all my life.”

Tears were beginning to leak out of Éclair's dark eyes. “That is so sad. Life must have been rough for you, with no one to talk to, no one to play with. You must have been so lonely and miserable! So, is that how you got your name, Chance?”

Chance shrugged. “I guess so.”

“Hey, can you do me a small favor?”

“Sure, anything for you Éclair.”

“Can you figure out how to break this leash? I am desperate for my freedom.”

“Okay, I'll give it a shot.”

Chance knew that the leash was tied too tightly to one of the lower branches on the tree for him to untie with his mouth, so he would have to bite on the leash.

As he began to gnaw on the thick green leash, he thought to himself, Man! This material is too hard to crunch through! It's times like these when I wish I had opposable thumbs. Then I could just untie this stupid thing. Éclair noticed that Chance's jaws were aching, so she said, “You take a break. I think you've weakened it enough for me to finish the job.” Chance moved out of the way quickly, allowing Éclair to gnaw on the part of the leash that Chance had weakened for her. Snap! The leash broke in two.

“Thank you Chance. I really appreciate it.” Éclair began to walk away.

“Where are you going?” The little beagle asked.

“I am running away from home,” Éclair replied. “I will find a better home with a better owner who loves me much more than stupid Audrey.”

“If you are running away, then I shall come with you,” Chance said as he followed Éclair.

“No way Chance, you should go back home to your sister and your owner. You don't have a reason to run away. I, on the other hand, do.”

“Who said I didn't have a reason?” Chance asked, trying to get in the husky's way. “I am running away not because of my sister, but because of my purpose.”

Éclair gave him a confused look. “And just what do you mean by that, exactly?”

“Well, every dog has a purpose, right? I am running away so I can find mine.”

Éclair let out a sigh of annoyance. She was not in the mood to argue with the little rascal, so she just said, “Follow me.” She then ran off.

Chance chased after Éclair as the two disappeared into the starry night.

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