{"sf1_id":327308,"sf2_id":"Oe54y801","title":"Dog Tag","author":"Rtlstien","words":1654,"posted_at":"2012-01-17T12:43:00.000Z","tags":["Character Development","Dog","First Person","German Shepherd","Human","War"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/327308-dog-tag","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/Oe54y801","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/fb/63/fb631fd9-9ab6-4e94-8fec-0ee6dd5eb107","description":"","content":"\u0026nbsp;\n\nDog Tag\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThe piece of jewelry hanging around my neck embodies the bond that we share, and the debt that I owe to you.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI am literally a Dog of War, and I am yours to command.\u0026nbsp; Give me any order and I will follow it with complete obedience.\u0026nbsp; I have killed people as well as put my life on the line for others.\u0026nbsp; I do not fear death.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nNeed me for something more subtle?\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; I can sneak around as your scout to alert you of any hidden dangers.\u0026nbsp; I can even perform quiet assassinations on targets of your choice.\u0026nbsp; There is always the risk of me being discovered, but it won't deter me from carrying out my order.\u0026nbsp; I do not fear death.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI can fall asleep to the sounds of bullets firing overhead.\u0026nbsp; I can remain relaxed even when I grenade detonates a few yards ahead of me.\u0026nbsp; Not even the sounds of your comrades in agony can deter me from slumber.\u0026nbsp; Pain is only temporary.\u0026nbsp; You either live through it or you die from it.\u0026nbsp; I do not fear death.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nFailure is not an option for me.\u0026nbsp; Failing to protect you or complete my assignment would be a disgrace to me; something that I could not live with.\u0026nbsp; I would prefer to die than to be a failure.\u0026nbsp; I do not fear death.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nBut... I did fail.\u0026nbsp; I failed to prevent my original master from dying.\u0026nbsp; I failed to give my life for his.\u0026nbsp; Without him I have no master.\u0026nbsp; I have no orders.\u0026nbsp; I have no meaning.\u0026nbsp; I am a disgrace.\u0026nbsp; What's worse is that I am still alive.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI was brought back from the battlefield not long after.\u0026nbsp; I was not welcomed back with open arms.\u0026nbsp; I could not return to where I was raised and trained.\u0026nbsp; No one wanted me under their command knowing that I had failed.\u0026nbsp; I was shunned by everyone, even by my fellow Dogs of War that I grew up with.\u0026nbsp; There was no place for me anymore.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThe only thing I have left to remind me of my former glory is the dog tag hanging around my neck.\u0026nbsp; The piece of metal bears nothing on it except for my name, one that's been disgraced.\u0026nbsp; A name is all I've ever needed.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI finally had a place to go.\u0026nbsp; It was a place I had heard about before, but never thought I would ever end up in one.\u0026nbsp; Now that I'm here, I'm actually relieved.\u0026nbsp; I have heard what happens to those like me who stay for too long at the pound... I was looking forward to it.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nDays passed... then weeks.\u0026nbsp; I've watched many people walk by my pen.\u0026nbsp; Some displayed some interest in taking me home, but they would all instead go for a 'younger' or 'cuter' choice.\u0026nbsp; I'm neither, and thankful for it.\u0026nbsp; All the time I've spent in battle has hardened me, both physically and mentally.\u0026nbsp; I am not the type of dog that most normal people would want to take home.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThough you weren't normal were you?\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI knew my time was coming.\u0026nbsp; Soon I would be put out of my disgraced life and make amends for my failure.\u0026nbsp; But it wasn't meant to be...\u0026nbsp; I remember you walking by my pen.\u0026nbsp; You looked at me for a moment and walked off.\u0026nbsp; I figured that would be the last time I see you, but you came by my pen again.\u0026nbsp; Again and again you would walk off and come back, and each time you would stand in front of my pen longer.\u0026nbsp; Eventually you stopped going anywhere and just stood there.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nYou can't be serious.\u0026nbsp; You couldn't possibly be thinking about taking me.\u0026nbsp; Please.\u0026nbsp; There are many other dogs here that would make much better protectors than me.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nYou smile at me.\u0026nbsp; My eyes widen.\u0026nbsp; A smile was something I received only when I did a good job on an assignment.\u0026nbsp; What had I done to warrant one from you?\u0026nbsp; You kept on smiling; that's something I had never seen before.\u0026nbsp; The smiles I've seen were brief.\u0026nbsp; I didn't understand what made you so happy.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nAfter that you took me out of there.\u0026nbsp; I couldn't believe it... I had been denied that fate I desired, and instead was given a new master.\u0026nbsp; You had given me a second chance.\u0026nbsp; I promised I would not fail you.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI was ready to get back into the fighting, but where I wound up was a place unlike the battlegrounds I'm used to; a small house in the suburbs.\u0026nbsp; What was there that you needed my protection for?\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThe first few days at my new home were hard.\u0026nbsp; I couldn't sleep at night.\u0026nbsp; It wasn't because of the noise, but rather the lack of it.\u0026nbsp; I've been used to sleeping while battle waged around me.\u0026nbsp; I was able to fall asleep at the pound that was filled with the barking of other dogs.\u0026nbsp; Silence... silence was something I wasn't used to.\u0026nbsp; Silence was usually a bad sign in battle.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nIt was nerve-racking for me every time you left the house without me.\u0026nbsp; Where are you going?\u0026nbsp; Don't you need me to protect you?\u0026nbsp; What if something happens to you and I'm not around?\u0026nbsp; I can't relax while you're gone.\u0026nbsp; I can't eat.\u0026nbsp; I can't sleep, though I already have a hard time doing that.\u0026nbsp; I can't think of anything else other than wondering if you're alright.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI'm so relieved when you come back unscathed.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nYou bring me outside every day.\u0026nbsp; I stick close to you to keep everyone else away.\u0026nbsp; There are other dogs and their masters outside as well.\u0026nbsp; Sometimes they would get too close to you and I would bark at them.\u0026nbsp; I thought I was doing the right thing, but instead of praising me you scolded me...\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI haven't been scolded since I was in training... what was I doing wrong?\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nYou would look a bit angered for the rest of the time we're outside.\u0026nbsp; Was I not performing well?\u0026nbsp; I still remember everything I learned in training.\u0026nbsp; I'm doing everything I was taught... so why are you upset?\u0026nbsp; Perhaps I have lost my touch... surely you wouldn't want me now.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nWhen we get back home I expect you would bring me back to the pound, or at the very least scold me some more... but instead you place your hand on my head and... rub it?\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI close my eyes.\u0026nbsp; What is this?\u0026nbsp; My original master never did this to me.\u0026nbsp; It feels... good.\u0026nbsp; I start to relax as you rub and scratch every inch of my head.\u0026nbsp; Oh... behind the ears feels great.\u0026nbsp; Your hands go down my neck and back.\u0026nbsp; My body starts to feel limp for some reason...\u0026nbsp; I slowly collapse to ground onto my side.\u0026nbsp; You continued to rub me all over.\u0026nbsp; I couldn't believe how amazing this felt... what else had I been missing out on?\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI couldn't sleep that night either.\u0026nbsp; It wasn't from insomnia, but rather I had something on my mind.\u0026nbsp; I was beginning to realize that my new life was so much different from my old one.\u0026nbsp; Everything I was taught must not have applied to this new environment.\u0026nbsp; I would have to learn to adapt to this new life.\u0026nbsp; I would have to disregard everything I know... perhaps that would make you happy.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nOn the next walk I widen the gap between us, but only slightly.\u0026nbsp; I still had to protect you, right?\u0026nbsp; Whenever another person approached to talk to you I would repress my urge to growl or bark at them.\u0026nbsp; It was agonizing having someone unfamiliar to me be so close.\u0026nbsp; To my surprise, when the person left I got my head rubbed; first by the stranger, and then by you.\u0026nbsp; You would then smile at me.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nAt least I knew I was doing well now.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nOver the next few months I slowly forgot everything about my old life filled with fighting and death, and developed a life filled with smiles and belly rubs.\u0026nbsp; My desire to protect you, my master, was the only thing that remained unchanged.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThe Dog Tag around my neck was the only reminder of the life I once had.\u0026nbsp; I had no desire to take it off.\u0026nbsp; Doing so would mean shunning my past, including my original master.\u0026nbsp; No matter how much my life has changed, I couldn't cast off everything I had once been.\u0026nbsp; It was a reminder.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nOne day you decided to borrow my Dog Tag.\u0026nbsp; I didn't mind you taking it.\u0026nbsp; I trusted that you would return them... I just didn't expect it to take so long.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nWhen you finally did return it, something was different.\u0026nbsp; On one side of the tag was my name, but now on the other side was yours.\u0026nbsp; I did not realize it, but it had been an entire year since you brought me home with you.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThis tag now had another meaning.\u0026nbsp; Not only did it represent my old life, but now the new life I was almost denied.\u0026nbsp; I happily jump up onto you.\u0026nbsp; You weren't ready for me though... you fall backwards.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nAs I stand over you, you place the Dog Tag around my neck before you start to scratch my head.\u0026nbsp; I enjoy that so much.\u0026nbsp; I collapse on top of you as you reach behind my ears.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI do not fear death... but now I pray it doesn't come soon.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n------------------------------\n\nJust a quick short story while I'm still working on my series.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nSorry if anything seems confusing. \u0026nbsp;I wrote this at four in the morning ^\\_^ '\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nGo ahead a post what you think.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThank you for reading ^\\_^\n\n  \n  \n\n"}