Seven ➳ d.dixon's dog

p r o l o g u e

Photo above is Seven as a pup.
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Seven POV

My thin black fur tousled in the cold brisk wind of my first winter. I bounce up and down, my ears flopping, from the steps taken from the lady I've come to realize is my caretaker.

She carries me in a box with something written on the side that I'm incapable of reading. We continue down the pavement towards a gray car.

She sets down the box in the passenger seat with me in it, strapping me in before closing the door, and making her way to her side of the car where she straps herself in.

She twists the key in the ignition as the car rumbles alive. She then puts it in reverse backing the car out of the drive-way and beginning our drive, away from my brothers and sisters.

After awhile I begin to see scarcer houses and buildings, and more plentiful amount of fields and trees. I whine, trying to step out of the box, only for her to scold me for doing so. After that I remained in my box, not making any attempts to get out of it.

I look out the window, beginning to think of my siblings. Three boys and three girls — myself making it four boys — together we made a litter of seven. I am the runt and the youngest out of them all, I just hope I am able to become big and strong like my father.

She turns the car, making me grip on for dear life to the box. I see out of the corner of my eye her grinning at me but it quickly turns to a frown. I steady myself as the car rolls to a stop on the side of a road.

She unbuckles herself before getting out and making her way to my side where she unbuckles me and takes the box and I out into the cold winter.

The sky holds an ominous gray in its clouds, the rumbling indicating that it will soon rain. My fur whisks in the wind, it feeling much colder due to the angry gray clouds, and the fewer building that had been providing cover from the harsh winds.

She places me down on the gravel littered ground in front of a wired fence. She opens the back door before grabbing canned dog food and water bottles, placing them beside my box. She closes both doors on the passenger side of the car and crouches down to my level.

"I'm sorry Seven. I-I don't have enough room to keep you, and nobody has wanted you. A-And the pound is full so even if they did take you, they'd just euthanize you." She says patting my head with a closed eye sad smile. "You have a better chance out on the streets." I push my head into her hand and she lets out a sad laugh.

She hugs me around my neck before standing, "Take care." A single tear rolls down her face before she turns on her heel, going to her the driver's side of the car and starting it. Why is she leaving me? Did I do something wrong? I'm sorry for what I did. Please take me back! Please! What about my brothers and sisters?! And mom and dad?! Please don't leave me here. I don't know what to do.

The car screeches off, leaving me behind in the dust. I stay in my box as the sky rumbles and little drops of rain sprinkle the world beneath. Within five minutes it's pouring, with the sky over casted with dark looming clouds. Crack! The sky illuminates a bright purple for a brief second. I begin to whimper, but I refuse to leave the box the lady had told me to stay in.

Cars passed by, nobody stopping for me, and no sign of the nice lady who had once taken care of me. Soon there were no cars to be seen passing as night took over, but the rain and thunder hadn't seized. With every crack of lightning my whimpers grew.

I hear a rumble of a truck come to a stop near me. I'm shivering from the rain and temperature of the harsh weather. I hear feet step out, hitting the gravel — my head being tucked into my body in an attempt to keep warm and avoid the storm, hindering me from seeing the person. The footsteps approach me and soon my box is being raised. My head snaps up from the comfy place it had been in before, myself now staring at the man who holds my box. He raises my box reading the lettering under the flap.

"Seven?" he drawls in a thick southern accent "Tha' hell? Who's names a dog Seven?" I hadn't shifted my gaze from him as I shiver with pleading eyes. "Well alrigh' Seven, lets get you somewhere warm and then we can take you to the pound in the mornin'" I begin to wag my tail at the word warm, feeling it is something I may desperately need sometime soon.

He sets the box down, stuffing the canned food and water into the box with me before picking me up again and taking me to his rickety blue truck. He opens the door setting me down in the passenger seat, kicking on the heater before making his way over to his side where he buckles himself in.

I begin shaking my coat as water gets flung everywhere within the truck. He turns to me, water covering his face along with a 'really' look. He wipes his face of the water covering his mug and looks at me once more. I simply just give him a goofy smile as my tail thumps against the box. "Alrigh' I'll let that one slide, but don't cause' me too much trouble" I give a small yip as he pats my head before starting the car and making our way to who knows where.

We pull up in front of a worn down house, not too far away from where I had been abandoned. He takes the box with me and the items given to him, quickly trying to get to the house to avoid being in the rain too long. Once we make it inside he lets out a sigh that he had been holding in since we left the old blue truck.

The inside smells like cigarettes and booze, I scrunch my nose at the horrid smell. He lets a small smirk on his face, seeing my reaction. We quickly wipes away the smirk before hollering, "Merle! Get your ass down here, I got a surprise!" The man named Merle stumbles in with a beer in his hand.

"Tha' hell is that?" he slurs trying not to trip over the coffee table in front of him.

"It's a dog dumbass." he pauses, letting his thumb graze over his lower lip, "Saw em' on the side of the road shiverin' out in the rain. His name's Seven. Don't ask why his name is that, 'cause I don't fuckin' know." I curiously look between the two men as they continue to talk about me.

"Well, watcha' gonna do with him, little brother?" The obviously drunk man named Merle asked, the same question being I wanted to have an answer to.

"I was thinkin' about just takin' 'em to the pound." the man referred to as 'little brother' says with a shrug, making me rise and fall with his shoulders.

"What- what if we keep 'em?" Merle suggests, raising his beer why'll making a face.

"Just another mouth to feed. We're strugglin' on our own Merle." The man i've begun to think, name's is 'little brother'.

"Well, what if he can earn his keep? See if he's a fighter. If he don't, then toss 'em." Merle says sitting down on the not-so comfy looking sofa.

"What do ya' mean?"

"I mean if you can teach him some things, and maybe make 'im useful, then we can keep 'im." Merle says spinning the base of his beer around in circles, making the contents slosh around. 'Little brother' gives me a long hard stare, as he thought. My tail thumps against the box as I look up at him.

"Alrigh' we'll keep em' but the moment he ain't useful no more, he's gone." 'Little brother' says in conclusion.

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Hello, loves! I've started a discord server for my followers and this book. In the discord server you will be able to get more up to date announcements on Seven (or my other books) as well as be able to be in contact with myself and other readers!

So, I'll comment here to make it easier to find my profile. From there, there is a discord link to my server! Please join, we are nice and all respectful persons are welcome!

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