Ember

“ He can’t be too far off.” I told Chase, “ He isn’t usually the type to run off on us like that. His owner is a real dick- I mean... he’s really strict and all I guess. I don’t know why he ran off in the first place.”

“ Us?” Chase questioned as we pushed through the trees.

“ Uh, yeah. I’ll introduce you to them.. I guess.” I said uncertainly. Maybe it was a bad idea. Bringing in a normal kid into a group of freaks… oh well. There was something strange about him and the way I found him…

“ What’s the dogs name?” he asked.

“ Sarge. He-”

“ SAAAARGE!!!!” He wailed into the forest.

“ Don’t scare him off!”

“ Oh… Right.” He laughed nervously. “ Saaarge?” he whispered. I shook my head, a smile spreading across my lips. I pushed a branch away and saw the dog standing there, wagging his tail and waiting patiently. I held onto his collar and kept walking, Chase trailing behind.

“So uh, You like dogs huh? I thought you said you were looking for your dog, but then you just were talking about the dog’s owner in a way that said the dog wasn’t yours, so… is the dog yours or not?” words tumbled from his mouth in a constant stream.

“Uh… no. This is Jack’s dog.” I explained.

“Ohhhhh.” Chase said as if everything had become clear. We kept walking, and he didn’t say anything else. I was aware of his deep breathing, as if each step we took made him more nervous. Why? I dunno. “ Want some chocolate?” he blurted out suddenly.

I turned and looked at him. His eyes widened and his lips formed into a frown. I had to resists myself from laughing. Why was he giving me that face? It’s not like he said anything wrong. “ Sure.” I smiled, and kept walking.

“ Really? Oh- well… Okay.” He swung his bag around and fumbled around with the zipper. When he finally opened up his bag and pulled out two chocolate bars, he handed one to me happily.

“ Thanks.” I ripped the top of the wrapper off with my teeth, keeping one hand secured on Sarge’s collar, and took a bite. Chase gave me a quick look and then shrugged it off, taking a bite of his chocolate bar. “ So you didn’t tell me,” I said, snapping off another piece of chocolate. “ Why were you way out there in the middle of the woods?”

“ Oh.. Haha.. It’s uh… a Long story.” He stuttered.

“ I got time.”

“ Does that mean this is a long walk?” he whined.

“ No,” I laughed. “ but I bet the story isn’t as long as you say it is.” I smiled.