I’m scared. There are no other words to describe what I’m feeling right now. My heart is beating faster than a rabbit’s and it’s getting harder to breathe. What is happening? The only thing I know is that I saw my humans packing their things as fast as they could, shoving things into bags that were almost bursting, shouting at each other while reeking of fear. When I least expected, they were gone just as fast as they had arrived.

Judging by the things they grabbed, they were taking their most prized and important possessions with them. Where were they taking it? Are they going somewhere? For how long? And what about me? Aren’t they going to take me as well? They forgot about me. I wondered how could they simply leave me behind. Were they abandoning me? Along with the house? 

Am I going to starve? My bowl is empty. I’ll eventually be hungry. The thought of feeling the pain of hunger makes me feel restless. Since I’ll be on my own, I’m probably expected to take care of myself. Where am I going to find food? Unlike humans, I can’t simply go shopping for more. Should I start hunting from now on? Like my wolf ancestors? I’m just a Russian greyhound.

Is this house mine now? No. It reeks of them. It will only hurt my feelings if I stay. I shall go on a quest for a new home, somewhere I won’t be abandoned by my family. Without thinking twice I get out of under the table and walk towards the house’s front entrance. The door is wide open due to them leaving in a hurry.

Goodbye, my old house, I had good memories with you. With some hesitation, I take the first step outside of my home.  A part of my brain whispers that I should change my mind, stay in the house and hope they will come back. No, I won’t be waiting like an idiot. I’m on my own now, they won’t be coming back.

My steps are now filled with determination as I walk through the streets. The world is enormous and a bit scary, there are unfamiliar scents all around me. But I must be brave and go on! The streets reek of people and trash. Why do people litter? Seriously, something must be wrong with people who litter. I can’t count how many pieces of plastic I already spotted, there are too many!

I walked for a long time now, I’m pretty far from my old home. Where am I going to sleep tonight? Probably somewhere in the streets, like stray dogs do. Is it going to be cold tonight? I hope not, the idea of shivering the whole night makes me want to go back to my old home. At least, in there I would have a roof over my head. The only problem would be food, I would have to go out to find some.

My stomach growled like a ferocious lion, threatening to swallow anything edible nearby. My dark brown eyes wandered to an alleyway nearby, there are trash in there. Should I go search in the trash? If I’m lucky, I may find something good enough to eat.

With quick steps I approached the alleyway, my eyes fixated on the trash bag before me. It is simply sitting on the alleyway. How should I open it? Should I just tear it apart like a savage animal? Will it taste bad? I gulp at the thought of it having a putrid taste. Approaching my maw towards it was hard, my teeth were inches away from sinking into the plastic. No, I just can’t do that. I flinch away from the trash bag, almost falling on my back. I need to find another way to feed myself.

My eyes wandered to the alleyway's entrance. On the other side of the street, there is a small group of fat pigeons. I heard from a few creatures that pigeons were nothing more than rats with wings. Do they taste the same? Since it’s a bird, I hope it will taste at least decent.

I crouched down, trying to imitate the big carnivores I sometimes saw on the tv, and slowly walked towards the birds. Don’t notice me, I beg of you! My posture is inexperienced and awkward. And just like I had predicted, the pigeons quickly notice and fly away. I cursed in my mind as I sighed with frustration. Getting food was not easy. How do strays survive?! If things continue like this, I’ll surely starve.

“A white Russian greyhound alone in the streets? Where are your owners?” a raspy voice suddenly said beside me. My ears perked up and I almost jumped in surprise. How did I not notice the dog beside me?! It was a green-eyed sand-colored canine with semi-prick ears and a short tail. 

“Pardon me, who are you?” were the words that quickly left my jaw. I hadn’t expected to be approached by another dog, especially by what seemed to be a stray.

“You can call me Tick,” he said with a smile. “Tick?” I repeated with wide eyes. “Like the parasite?” with hesitation I asked. “That’s it! It’s a nickname that ended up sticking with me,” the sand-colored canine said with a smile.

“Enough about me,” he said as he took a small sniff towards me. “Aren’t dogs like you always companied by your owners? I don’t see any human with you.” “Dogs like me? What do you mean?” I asked while tilting my head.

“I mean fancy dogs,” the stray chirped. “Fancy? Do you think I’m fancy?” “Look at you! You have silky and clean fur! I have never seen a stray with that,” he said while walking in circles around me before stopping before me. “Thank you! My humans take…err…they took care of my fur very well,” I said while averting my gaze away from his figure. “They took? Isn’t that past tense?” he said with a tilt of the head. “Uhm…yeah…” I said awkwardly.

“So you are telling me that your owners left such an elegant dog like you behind?!” he said with wide eyes and perked-up ears. “You are definitely going to die if you are left on your own,” he said as he shook his head. “Most pets do,” Tick added. “Don’t worry! I’ll take you under my care!” the sand-colored dog said excitedly. “How exactly are you going to help me?” I asked curiously as Tick started to walk and motioned me to follow him.

“I have my own pack, we take care of each other and we will also take care of you from now on,” the smaller canine said as I followed him. “How are you so sure your packmates will accept me as one of their own?” I asked while I saw a rat hide from the corner of my eye. “Well, they are pretty friendly and very accepting,” the stray explained while turning a street. “I'm sure they will warm up to you.”

“I’ll believe your words,” I said with a nod, hoping they were truly as friendly as Tick had said. The idea of being chased by stray dogs was quite scary, especially since I don’t know how many of them there are.

We walked for a while, many turns were taken, and we stopped at an old decaying house. “Is this the…place where your pack lives?” I asked while looking at the glassless windows that had their view blocked by planks of wood. “Yep! Isn’t it charming?” the sand-colored stray said as he bounced to its entrance, the house lacked a door, it basically allowed anyone to enter it. 

With hesitant steps I entered the house, my eyes looking at my new surroundings. It lacked any furniture, nothing more than a barren house. Lifting my snout into the air, I was able to sense the scent of many different dogs. 

“Gang, I’m home and I have a surprise!” Tick barked loudly. My ears perked up upon hearing the footfall of multiple canines. Were they waiting for Tick’s return? I wondered what they would look like. Would they be scary-looking?

“What did you bring home this time?” an exasperated voice said from another room. Soon the voice’s owner stepped into the room they were in. Judging from her appearance, the newcomer seemed to be a german shepherd and golden retriever mix. “C’mon Emballage, don’t be like that,” Tick chirped with his eyes closed. 

Emballage looked at me with wide eyes, she had golden fur and a black snout. “Did you just bring a purebred home?!” she barked suddenly. “Tick brought what home?” a confused male voice said from the other room, its owner appearing with two other dogs. The voice’s owner was a very small dog, chihuahua sized, with floppy ears. One of the bigger dogs seemed to be a mastiff mix with erect ears and a fluffy tail, the giant blinked his eyes multiple times as if he was seeing things. The other dog was a medium-sized, skinny white dog with dark brown patches.

“This is the new member of our pack! Their name is…their name is…,” Tick turned his head towards me. “Gosh! I didn’t even ask your name!” the sand-colored dog said with perked-up ears. “Don’t worry about it, my name is Charlie,” were the words that left my mouth before I softly smiled. “Well, you guys heard them! Their name is Charlie!” Tick chirped while his tail wagged. “They may look fancy but they are still a dog!” the sand-colored canine simply said. The green-eyed dog looked at me. “The big gal is Monta, our small pal is Cap and the skinny fella is Poisson,” Tick introduced all of them to me.

“It’s a pleasure to meet all of you,” I said while bowing my head. “Please, take care of me since I’m not experient in the ways of living as a stray.”