I dreamt of warmth. Of a home. A bonfire. Or maybe a hearth? It was comfy, so it did not really matter. I was lying on something soft. It was moving up and down, slowly. Regularly… It was lulling me into sleep. Wait, I was already sleeping, right?

Then there was pain. I couldn’t breathe. Something pushed against my head from all sides. It passed only to grip my chest in a vice. It thankfully slipped quickly before I landed on something. My breath was racing. Something came out of my mouth with every convulsion of my chest. There was movement around me. Unsure of what was going on and still somehow blind, I did the only thing I could think of.

Status!

Species: Samoyed (newborn)

Age: 0

Name: -

Gender: female

Status: sapient, healthy

Level: 1

Class: -

Strength: 3

Constitution: 2

Dexterity: 2

Perception: 1

Intelligence: 12

Wisdom: 8

AP: 0

Skills: locked

This again? And I was a dog, now? Samoyed was that super fluffy breed, right? With the long white hair. Ugh…

Voices spoke around me. I could not hear clearly but they sounded a bit like English. Something picked me up and washed me. I cried in protest at the sudden contact with water. Even though it was warm. Soon enough, I was let go and someone softly petted me down. I was too exhausted to think much more and embraced sleep as soon as I was no longer being jostled.

The next days went by in a blur. It was almost as bad as my days as a newly hatched owlet. At least I could move a little. My status showed some progress in my physical Attributes but not much more. Oh, and I had a name.

Species: Samoyed (newborn)

Age: 0

Name: Molly

Gender: female

Status: sapient, healthy

Level: 1

Class: -

Strength: 4

Constitution: 5

Dexterity: 3

Perception: 2

Intelligence: 12

Wisdom: 8

AP: 0

Skills: locked

Molly. They were calling me Molly. I was not a Molly. Right? I was a… slurp… What was I thinking about? Oh, right. Food. This had to be mum’s teats I was suckling on. We were in a pile of fluff, fighting for the best ones. Of course, I was the strongest. But I was content with suckling on the less-than-top teats. We were too many for all of them, anyway. So I could just drink from two! Ha!

Mmm… Sleepy again… Good night.

Finally! My eyes are working! I can SEE! And, yes. Samoyed was the white and fluffy dog breed. This also was clearly Earth. Or something of a similar level of technology. Because I heard a phone ring just now! And there was some constant noise in the background, like a TV. The people taking care of us were humans.

Oh! Sister wants to play? She was yapping at me and so I yapped back and swiped my paw. Yap, yap!

We fell over. I was lying on my back and leaning on her.

Steps! Someone was coming! I quickly got to my feet (yes, quickly. Definitely!) and ran to the incoming human. She was a large woman with a cute face and she smelled like roses and freshly cut grass. Hmm, looking at that doorway… She wasn’t that large. Just compared to me. Her hands could fit all the way around my torso!

Which they did right now. I yipped happily (that’s different from a yap, which is aggressive) and swiped my paws.

“Oh, aren’t you a cutie, Molly!”, she grinned, “Yes, you are. You’re a cutie!”

I yapped and swiped at her nose but my legs were too short.

She put me down again into the pile of fluff surrounding her feet. Someone else was picked up but I couldn’t pay any more attention to that. My brother was trying to smother me. No. He was trying to climb up Jane’s leg and fell on top of my face.

Jane was the woman’s name.

And then, my brother was picked up. I could breathe again! But I was tired. I snuggled up to the closest thing I could find (Jane’s foot) and fell asleep.

-----

It took almost one month before I looked at my Status again. Something was weird here. Jane spoke English, right? Yes. She did. I confirmed that because there were English letters on our dog food. Hmm… Maybe it was more than a month? I haven’t had mum’s milk in like… a few days at least.

Argh! There it is again! That distractedness! The super short attention span! No wonder I had been unable to properly think about my situation. But at least it was fun. We were playing all the time. Even when Jane (or her boyfriend, Lucas) weighed us, they were playing with us. I knew he was her boyfriend because their smells were sticking to each other all the time. And the sounds I sometimes heard at night. Maybe they were married? If not, I wanted to be a flower girl at their wedding!

I shook my head. Constructive thoughts… Molly? I am Molly. But I knew that was not my only name. I had another one before. Something like Mushroom? No, that was not it. But it was something like a mushroom. And…

Oh! More food!

Of course, I made sure everyone got enough to eat. Jane was always praising me for looking out for my siblings. I really liked it when she ran her fingers through that spot right below my ear. On the side of my head, not the back. Lucas did not understand that. It was a little funny. They had guests over, today. Some people that were looking at the puppies. At us. They wanted to sell us for new homes. I guess Jane and Lucas were dog breeders? It did not really matter. Life was great.

Oh, right! My Status! Why did I have a Status when we were on Earth? Somewhere in the states, as well, judging by the miserable spelling on some of the packaging. And other stuff. I did not look much at other stuff. Other stuff did not smell tasty. And that was a thing to get used to. Smelling absolutely everything. Not that it was all that disturbing to smell bodily excretions of whatever type. The smells just… existed.

Oh, sure, some of it hurt. Like that one time when Jane and Lucas made Chinese food with a lot of chilli. They did have us locked away in our playroom on the other side of the house. But I had snuck out, anyway. I am sorry, brothers and sisters, for opening the door. I truly am.

Oh? Jane was pointing at me? I tilted my head. She was talking to a slightly older couple. Were they interested in seeing me?

“Molly, come here!”, Jane called after a bit. I obliged and elegantly made my way over to them.

“Sit”, Jane said when I arrived. I scoffed and sat down, looking between her and the other couple. A guy with long hair and piercings. He smelled like smoke and alcohol with a hint of thyme. The girl had short hair and more piercings. She smelled of the same smoke with less alcohol and something sweet. Was that peaches or mango? I would need to have a direct comparison. Fruits were not really on my dinner plate all that often… Though there was that banana yesterday. And a strawberry the day before… Hmm…

Oh, they were talking again.

“… as you can see”, Jane said, “She’s a real thinker. And very smart. Scarily so. If I didn’t know better I’d say she was a princess turned into a dog by some witch.”

I scoffed again and rolled my eyes.

“Huh…”, the guy made. He looked a little distracted. A little out of it.

“She’s super cute!”, the girl squealed.

“Right? She always looks out for her siblings, making sure everyone had their share before digging in.”

“Huh…?”, Guy sounded doubtful.

Jane nodded sagely.

“I almost don’t want to give her away. But if you’re looking for a dog that’s easy to train, she’s probably your best bet.”

I yapped and bit Jane’s leg. Gently, of course. I did not want to hurt her.

“Hey! Don’t just undermine what I’m saying, you little rascal!”, she laughed.

I let my tail whip back and forth. It was not worth it to show a grin. She was reading dogs properly and would have taken it as a sign of aggression.

“… she just bit you?”, Girl asked.

“She is super gentle, really. I barely even felt it. She does that when she doesn’t like what you’re saying.”

“Huh…”, Guy made his sound again.

“Does she like… understand?”, Girl asked.

“A little bit. All dogs learn a few words. She’s just a little smarter than average.”

I yapped again. A little? Who do you think you are?

“So, what do you think?”, Jane asked.

“Hmm, I don’t know…”, Girl said.

Yum! Food! Lucas was cutting up a piece of cheese for some of the others and my eyes shot there as soon as the smell hit my nose. The only thing I still got from the conversation was another “Huh…” from the guy before I was off on my quest for snacks. Snacks are justice!

It was a few hours later. Or maybe thirty minutes? Anyway, the couple had left again and decided against adopting me. I was snuggling with Lucas right now. The two humans were watching TV and resting on the couch.

“So what did you think?”, Jane asked, “Those two gonna take care of a pup?”

Lucas made an uncertain motion with his hand.

“Maybe? The guy was stoned as hell which isn’t really what I’d want in a dog owner but he didn’t seem to be the one looking for a pet. Was mostly the girl’s thing. She… might do okay?”

I woofed (a calm way to get attention, as opposed to ruffing, which is aggressive) and both of them turned their heads to me. Jane smiled and reached over to rub my head.

“And what did you think?”, she said in a dog-talk voice.

I shook my head.

Jane blinked.

“Did she just?”

I nodded.

“Um, Lucas?”

They looked at each other.

“Am I going insane or is Molly nodding and shaking her head to answer my questions?”

I did not nod. Because the question was not directed at me. Instead, I looked at Lucas expectantly.

“I… think so? Molly, can you understand what I’m saying?”, he asked.

I nodded.

“Like, everything?”

I huffed and nodded again.

“Are you… what are you?”

I shrugged. Then I pointed at one of my siblings playing not too far off.

“Shit…”, Jane whispered.

“What’s going on?”, Lucas asked. It felt like he was going to stand up so I bumped my nose into his hand. He opened it and I pressed my head into it until he calmed down and resumed petting. He calmed down remarkably quickly. Something in the back of my mind told me I should not be enjoying this kind of treatment as much as I did. But I ignored it.

Jane’s hand was shaking so I bumped it with my tail. Mum came over just moments later and looked between them and me. She was smart enough to see that Jane was the one with a problem and I was perfectly fine so mum pressed her head into Jane. It probably took a few minutes for everyone to calm down properly.

Eventually, Jane got up and brought over a notepad and a pen. Mum had gone back to caring for my siblings.

“Okay, here’s how we’re doing this. Molly, I’m gonna write down some letters, okay?”

I nodded. She was speaking a little too slowly as if talking to a toddler.

“You tell me when you understand them, okay?”

I nodded again.

A few minutes later, Jane and Lucas sat flabbergasted as I was pointing at the letters in the proper order to spell my name. She had just barely enough time to write down the alphabet before I took the notepad from her.

“You can read and… write?”

I held up a paw and flexed it, eyeing the pen. Jane gave it to me and I tried to hold it but I simply could not. I shook my head sadly.

“We could get finger ink?” Lucas suggested.

I yipped and nodded my head.

Jane giggled.

“This is insane”, she said, “Nobody will ever believe us.”

I patted her knee with my paw.

“So, what are you, Molly?”, she asked, “Were you a human? I mean, you’re definitely Coco’s pup…”

I nodded twice. Then I took the notepad and spelt out: Remember not all was human

“You don’t remember everything?”, Lucas asked and I confirmed, “But you know you were human?”

I nodded again.

“What was your name?”

I shrugged.

“Okay. That’s fine. Do you like Molly?”

I almost shook my head before weighing a paw. It was not terrible but it could be better.

“It could be better?”, Jane asked.

I nodded.

“Okay. Well, we’ll stick with Molly, then. Unless you remember more.”

I thought for a moment before nodding. Then I yawned.

“Oh, you’re tired. Let’s get you to bed, then. We’ll take good care of you, Molly.”

I let my tail wag. It felt much better than going for a smile. My instincts, huh?

“We will”, Lucas said, “Don’t you worry. Glad to have you here.”

I nodded and rubbed into his hands. I was asleep before he had the slightest chance of standing up. This new life was looking to be fun!