{"sf1_id":500754,"sf2_id":"B1Qj0g6e","title":"Evolution Part I: Chapter Thirty-Four","author":"Shalion","words":2734,"posted_at":"2013-02-13T02:38:00.000Z","tags":["Collie","Dog","Fat","German Shepherd","Golden Retriever","Mobility","Obese"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/500754-evolution-part-i-chapter-thirty-four","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/B1Qj0g6e","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/a2/08/a20860b1-0ef2-412e-b60e-3d116013815d","description":"#34 of Evolution Part I\n\nAs the weather gets colder, there doesn't seem to be much point in leaving the yard anymore","content":"\\*\\*\\*\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nIt happened fast, so fast that I cannot clearly remember what happened.\u0026nbsp; Instead, I recall a series of snapshots, like bolts of lightning in my memory.\u0026nbsp; The opening of the gate, its metallic whine cutting through a thick haze of sleep and digestion.\u0026nbsp; The smell of men in the yard and the sound of their chattering.\u0026nbsp; I understood many of their words though their speech was low in pitch and heavily enunciated.\u0026nbsp; They were looking for something, specifically _somethings,_ some dogs.\u0026nbsp; Next I was on my feet and looking at the men who were sorting through us, a heavy sense of unease on me.\u0026nbsp; Then they had four dogs in loops about the neck.\u0026nbsp; I did not recognize any of them, I only comprehended that they were taking more dogs this morning.\u0026nbsp; Then they were being led away.\u0026nbsp; All this time, I stood and watched impassively.\u0026nbsp; Only after the gate had clanked shut and all hope of action had passed did it enter my mind that I had lost my brother and Pink Nose had as well.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThe chocolate lab's were the first eyes I found after the event.\u0026nbsp; They were hollow and uncomprehending, just as mine had to have been.\u0026nbsp; The shock would come later, but even then it was not as sharp as might be imagined.\u0026nbsp; In fact, Pink Nose and myself were the only ones in the pack to be affected at all by the removals.\u0026nbsp; At this point in time, Spinner's continued existence in the pack was more an oddity in itself as all the rest of the non-gaining dogs disappeared steadily and heavier dogs were taken in his place.\u0026nbsp; It was no surprise at all that Spinner should be taken at any of these sporadic rituals.\u0026nbsp; Dizzy himself was hardly less odd.\u0026nbsp; He had always been a poor gainer, only recently had he started putting on any real poundage, but too little and too late to fill out his figure by the average of the pack.\u0026nbsp; It was right and proper that these two should be chosen.\u0026nbsp; Or at least that's what most dogs thought.\u0026nbsp; And that's what I tried to tell myself.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nExcept that wasn't at all what I felt.\u0026nbsp; The yard seemed strangely empty without Spinner or Dizzy around.\u0026nbsp; The newest cull left most of the pack in a very obese state, the new median mark was what I would have described as the top 10% earlier this year.\u0026nbsp; The tribe as a whole was lethargic and sedentary.\u0026nbsp; Spinner and Dizzy had been among the last ones interested in chasing and rough and tumble games.\u0026nbsp; But that wasn't the half of what I felt.\u0026nbsp; What was this... longing?\u0026nbsp; Not for company, which I still had in spades, but for a specific member of the tribe.\u0026nbsp; Dizzy was irreplaceable, I realized quickly.\u0026nbsp; How could I have let him go without a fight?\u0026nbsp; Without even a sign that I was at all displeased with the notion that I'd never see him again?\u0026nbsp; What was he thinking as he was led away, watching my impassivity?\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nShame filled me, and sadness as well.\u0026nbsp; Not since I had parted with my mother the first nights I spent in the yard had I felt anything like this...\u0026nbsp; No that wasn't right.\u0026nbsp; I had felt this pain before, when the Black Lab had been taken.\u0026nbsp; All at once the strength in my legs leaked out of me like a cracked hydraulic cylinder and I went down on the grass.\u0026nbsp; A gaping void yawned under me, repressed emotion that I'd never had the courage to face.\u0026nbsp; What had I done?\u0026nbsp; What, by inaction, had I allowed to come to pass?\u0026nbsp; This time a mentor had not been taken from me, but perhaps something even more important.\u0026nbsp; My brother, my only brother was gone!\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI did not know from whence the howl came from.\u0026nbsp; I only belatedly realized that the mournful sound was coming from myself after it had started.\u0026nbsp; But it helped with the sudden pain, so I continued.\u0026nbsp; Not long after I began howling, another voice joined mine.\u0026nbsp; It was Pink Nose on the far side of the canopy.\u0026nbsp; His voice was higher than mine, but no less sad.\u0026nbsp; It was some small measure of comfort to know that another shared my pain and knew of only one way to release it.\u0026nbsp; It was the first time that I mourned.\u0026nbsp; Somehow, I knew even then that it would not be the last.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nBreakfast was comforting, but only as long as the food was sliding down my ever-hungry maw.\u0026nbsp; The belly ache that followed was accompanied by a lousy torpor and I did not want to be touched, even by the friendly hands of humans, no especially by the hands of humans.\u0026nbsp; Some spark of anger lit in me then, as I watched them gather their things and walk out of the yard.\u0026nbsp; I was jealous of their freedom to come and go, jealous of their wisdom and their works.\u0026nbsp; But more, for the first time, I blamed them for something.\u0026nbsp; For it did not feel right and proper that I should be parted from my brother.\u0026nbsp; I stewed in my newfound anger for most of the day.\u0026nbsp; The other dogs could smell it on me and kept their distance.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nBut later I did have a visitor.\u0026nbsp; Pink Nose came to me late in the day.\u0026nbsp; A stiff breeze was blowing and I was lying on the windward side of the concrete house which was warmer, though it was in shadow.\u0026nbsp; The worst of the anger had smote itself already, but it continued to smolder under the surface of my thoughts like breaking clouds.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Topsy.\"\u0026nbsp; Greeted Pink Nose.\u0026nbsp; I grunted in response and he laid his round, bulging form on the ground near me.\u0026nbsp; \"You haven't said a word today, Topsy.\" He added after I refused to speak.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Maybe I have nothing to say.\"\u0026nbsp; I grunted impishly.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"After all that noise this morning, I beg to differ.\"\u0026nbsp; Said Pink Nose.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI realized then that Pink Nose was the _only_ dog who could possibly understand this pain.\u0026nbsp; So I began again.\u0026nbsp; \"I'm sorry.\u0026nbsp; I just...\"\u0026nbsp; But I couldn't find the words, perhaps they needed to be invented for our language.\u0026nbsp; \"...Dizzy.\"\u0026nbsp; I finished lamely.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nPink Nose surprised me by switching over to English, \"You are longing for your brother.\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI met his eyes.\u0026nbsp; That was exactly right of course, but though the words were right, the idea was foreign.\u0026nbsp; \"I miss him.\"\u0026nbsp; I said, switching to English as well, \"It is wrong that he should be taken and is no longer with us.\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"He isn't dead.\" Said Pink Nose weakly.\u0026nbsp; He wasn't trying to defend the humans so much as think through the situation in order to understand it.\u0026nbsp; \"Spinner isn't dead.\u0026nbsp; They are only somewhere else now.\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI tossed my head, some anger spilling forth. Pink Nose's eyes darted with some fear, I was twice as heavy as he was at least.\u0026nbsp; \"Away is as good as dead if we never see them.\"\u0026nbsp; I clenched my paws in the turf and pointed my nose down, \"The humans...\"\u0026nbsp; I didn't finish my thought as I was quivering with impotent rage.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nPink Nose could only sag, but with his ample flesh, he was capable of sagging quite a lot.\u0026nbsp; \"There is nothing that can be done.\"\u0026nbsp; He sounded like he was talking as much to himself as me.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI gasped and let my forequarters fall.\u0026nbsp; Closing my eyes, I admitted, \"We are helpless.\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nPink Nose had nothing to offer but mute agreement.\u0026nbsp; After several moments, he said, \"We are destined to serve the masters, their will is our world.\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI'd never heard our philosophy put to words like that.\u0026nbsp; It had never needed to be stated, it was understood by all dogs intrinsically, and yet there it was in a nutshell.\u0026nbsp; \"We serve humans.\"\u0026nbsp; I echoed.\u0026nbsp; \"Whatever they decide is how things should be and we should be happy in serving their needs of us.\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nPink Nose grinned pathetically, but the words fell like stones between us, offering none of the comfort I'd sought in conjuring them.\u0026nbsp; \"But...\"\u0026nbsp; The syllable escaped my mouth like a swear.\u0026nbsp; Pink Nose's ears twitched violently and he turned his gaze down to meet my face.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"But?\"\u0026nbsp; he asked tentatively, afraid of asking, mortally afraid of hearing an answer.\u0026nbsp; But the common pain we both shared drove him to it.\u0026nbsp; I however, was the only one bold enough to ask the real question.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nA million questions came to mind of a nature varying in rebelliousness and perversity to the known order.\u0026nbsp; I tried to find the least offensive to myself and to Pink Nose.\u0026nbsp; \"What if the humans can be served differently?\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Differently.\"\u0026nbsp; Pink Nose echoed.\u0026nbsp; I waited for a long while for more, studying his expression as it changed moment to moment, first shocked, and then thoughtful.\u0026nbsp; \"Differently in a way that we can keep Spinner and Dizzy.\"\u0026nbsp; He finally said with no little amount of sarcasm.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI flopped my ears playfully, \"Why not?\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nPink Nose chuckled at my impudence.\u0026nbsp; But he said seriously. \"But that would imply that the humans did not know what was best for us.\u0026nbsp; That we know better than them.\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThat was a thought that had run through my head, but even I had lacked the confidence to say it like that.\u0026nbsp; But Pink Nose was correct in his implication.\u0026nbsp; \"Well...\"\u0026nbsp; I shrugged, feeling a little more comfortable in the realm of hypotheticals with Pink Nose.\u0026nbsp; \"Maybe, in some ways.\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Really.\"\u0026nbsp; Prodded Pink Nose, but his tail was wagging slightly now.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Yes.\u0026nbsp; I said more strongly.\u0026nbsp; \"We know better about what makes us happy and about making a happy pack.\u0026nbsp; They can't know more about that than we do.\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nIt was a strong argument and Pink Nose even added to it.\u0026nbsp; \"They don't know we can talk, or at least most of us.\u0026nbsp; They probably think we are all dumb like the mute ones.\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI nodded my head, thinking about this fact.\u0026nbsp; But then, could we really know if they were ignorant of that?\u0026nbsp; We had made no special effort to hide our communications.\u0026nbsp; However, I could conceive of no way they humans had of discovering our abilities save for conversing with us; I had little conception of the power of observational science then.\u0026nbsp; \"They are ignorant of the fact that we can think clearly, so they way in which they treat us can't be completely correct.\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Ignorant he says!\"\u0026nbsp; laughed Pink Nose.\u0026nbsp; The blasphemy was ludicrous at this point, but we were both clearly enjoying the novelty.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Do you see a flaw in my argument?\"\u0026nbsp; I intoned rising now to sit stooped over the weight of my midsection.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nPink Nose laughed, but quickly silenced himself.\u0026nbsp; \"None that I can detect.\u0026nbsp; However, short of speaking with the humans, there is no way to change the way they treat us and therefore no way to get Spinner or Dizzy back.\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI cocked my head and thought about my words for a while before speaking.\u0026nbsp; \"Well, maybe we should talk to them.\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nPink Nose's eyes widened in alarm.\u0026nbsp; \"Topsy, are you serious?\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"I've been serious from the start.\"\u0026nbsp; I said, \"And there's a chance that they would bring Dizzy and Spinner back.\u0026nbsp; If they knew that we wanted them back.\u0026nbsp; Maybe this has all been a big misunderstanding.\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nPink Nose's breath got heavy all of a sudden, but he shook his head slowly.\u0026nbsp; \"That... is very doubtful.\u0026nbsp; How could they think we would be better off without Spinner, Dizzy or the rest of the thinner dogs?\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI shrugged.\u0026nbsp; Grasping at straws, I said, \"Maybe they think the thinner dogs are a bother to us bigger dogs?\u0026nbsp; Maybe they want to prevent us from getting over crowded.\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"And maybe a million things.\"\u0026nbsp; Countered Pink Nose.\u0026nbsp; He covered his snout with a paw for a second and then said, \"But the point is from the start we've hidden our nature from the humans.\u0026nbsp; If we reveal ourselves now then all that time before would have been pointless.\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Ah, but not so, Pink Nose.\"\u0026nbsp; I said, \"Only now do we have the means to converse with the humans in their own tongue.\u0026nbsp; The one we are speaking in right now.\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nPink Nose blustered for several seconds.\u0026nbsp; I could tell he was tempted but afraid, dreadfully afraid of the possible outcomes.\u0026nbsp; \"We don't know what will happen if they find out Topsy.\u0026nbsp; Terrible things could happen.\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThe pain was dull now, faded from talking about it, but it was still there, deep in my chest.\u0026nbsp; \"Could it be worst than never seeing Spinner or Dizzy again?\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nPink Nose opened his mouth, but then bit down on his words.\u0026nbsp; He swallowed and then seemed to be fighting tears.\u0026nbsp; For the first time I realized that his pain might really be as deep, or deeper than my own.\u0026nbsp; But he turned his head back around and looked up at me.\u0026nbsp; \"It might very well be.\"\u0026nbsp; He said, eyes wide enough to show the whites all around.\u0026nbsp; \"And if we did, it'd be a decision for all the pack, every one of us.\u0026nbsp; Not just you and me.\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThat was what drew down my lofty thoughts back to reality.\u0026nbsp; The crazy scheme of talking to the humans, the only plan that was possible with our powerless state, would be an all or nothing affair.\u0026nbsp; Worse than nothing, in fact, because one thing was sure, if it was attempted, then nothing would be the same afterwards.\u0026nbsp; It took a while for my head to cool, but when I spoke it was from my heart.\u0026nbsp; \"I can't possibly be that selfish.\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nPink Nose glanced to the side.\u0026nbsp; \"Neither can I.\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI drew in a deep breath of cool air though my nose.\u0026nbsp; \"Well then.\u0026nbsp; I suppose that settles it.\u0026nbsp; We'll have a talkie about revealing ourselves to the humans.\u0026nbsp; If we decide to stay secret then we'll never mention this again.\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nPink Nose silently approved.\u0026nbsp; I knew he was grateful for taking the decision from his paws.\u0026nbsp; Most any dog really is grateful to have something simply laid out before them.\u0026nbsp; Even if it hurts.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThat evening we had our talkie.\u0026nbsp; All the dogs who were interested were involved which at this time meant about three quarters of the whole pack.\u0026nbsp; From nearly the moment that I brought up the idea, Fat Gut predominated.\u0026nbsp; He set his formidable will and voice against the idea.\u0026nbsp; With his crafty tongue, his spun a web of all the misfortunes which might come as a result of revealing ourselves as other than what our masters intended, up to and including death for us all.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"They might have no choice but to cull us all if we've gone wrong from their point of view.\u0026nbsp; They could restart our pack from scratch, from fresh pups that don't talk.\"\u0026nbsp; Fat Gut roared propping up his fat flooded body on three legs.\u0026nbsp; There would be no convincing most of them that the risk was worth theoretical annihilation after that, and I wasn't sure that I wanted to.\u0026nbsp; I had introduced the idea with the intention of being a neutral voice, but quickly I found myself the only proponent of the idea against the onslaught of Fat Gut.\u0026nbsp; I shouldn't have been surprised really. \u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nEven Pink Nose fell silent pretty quickly against the growing outrage from the other dogs.\u0026nbsp; After that, I had hardly the strength to continue, dogged with doubt as my own thoughts were.\u0026nbsp; The discussion faded after a final tumult between myself and Fat Gut.\u0026nbsp; Only during the debate did I realize that I was left supporting a highly dangerous and unpopular idea in front of the other members of the pack.\u0026nbsp; When I let the last stinking wisps of the idea of revelation go, I wondered how much damage to my own authority I'd just inflicted.\u0026nbsp; But then, I realized I didn't really care.\u0026nbsp; What I did care about was that the only hope of getting Dizzy back had just gotten thrown back into my face like so much effluent.\n\n  \n  \n\n","series":{"name":"Evolution Part I","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/500750-evolution-part-i-chapter-thirty-three.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/500755-evolution-part-i-chapter-thirty-five.json"}}