Sam sat at his drawing desk, all inspiration gone, scribbling senseless sketches that he kept erasing. That wouldn’t do. He missed her too much. “I need to go out for a walk, to think of other things” he thought.

He wandered the quiet, dusty street, getting lost among the tall buildings that seemed to be looming over him. He had no idea where to go, what to do, how to take his mind off of her angel-like face and so sweet smile… Oh, how he missed her!

His musings took him to an old, worn, second-hand store. “Ah well, when you’re depressed, you spend money, I suppose… Not too much, though. I still need to eat, she made me promise.”

Inside, the lights were bright, too bright for his tired eyes, and there was music playing in the background. He couldn’t recognise the song, but it lifted his spirits and he started looking around. He knew he could find real treasures in there if only he took the time to look.

Plushies, clothes, notebooks, an old cape, a new mattress, guitars and violins, everything in a mess, there seemed to be no particular order but it made it all the more fun. Sam was, for the first time in a long while, enjoying himself.

“I haven’t seen this in ages!” he said, holding an old vinyl in his hands. “Oh, and I had the same toy as a kid!” He found lots of memories, sweet and sour, and eventually his eyes fell on a pencil and a block of paper.

“I could use a new one, I guess… This wouldn’t be money uselessly spent, I need more drawing material. And it is cheap, too.” He took the pencil, playing around with it, added the block of paper and headed for the counter.

“Ah, I see you have found the hidden jewel of the store! Let me pack it up for you while you take a last look around.” The store owner seemed like a nice fellow, almost as old as his shop but with mischievous eyes and a playful smile.

Sam wanted to go home now, to try his new pencil and get back to work. He had a client waiting, after all! Trying to remember the road, he managed to get lost only twice before finally, after an hour of walking, spotting the familiar shape of his house.

“Now. A shower, clean clothes, maybe a shave, and let’s get to work” he said as soon as he had closed the door. He felt excited, maybe more than he should, by his new possessions. He couldn’t wait to try them!

After he felt clean and refreshed, he took back his seat at his drawing desk and looked at what he needed to do. “Ah, another guy wanting a portrait of his dog… I’m so tired of drawing dogs all the time! Why can’t people own, I don’t know, a snake for a change?”

Sighing, Sam took the picture of the dog, his pencil, his new block of paper, and set to work. It wouldn’t take long, the chihuahua was really simple, not even spotted…

Two hours later, a very realistic chihuahua was posing on his paper, just as it was on the picture. Sam hadn’t lost his skill, at least. But… There was something odd with this dog… It seemed a little too real… Almost as if it was moving? No. That couldn’t be. Sam was just tired.

He got up, rubbed his eyes, stretched and went to the kitchen. “I could use a few strips of bacon and pancakes right now. I deserve it, after all, right?” Nobody answered, and he took it as a yes.

When Sam returned to his desk, he felt something odd… “What is this? Where is the dog?” It had disappeared from the paper! Sam looked down and… “What is going on here? I never owned a chihuahua, and it looks so much like the one I just… no. It can’t be. Can it?”