Fable Part 1: Road to Silver Pine
Story by Zinare on SoFurry
Imported from SF2 with no description.
“…Their so beautiful…," A female black and white border collie weakly whispered as she looked down at her belly. Five newborn pups were nuzzling around her thick furred belly in search of their only source of food.
“They sure are…," A large male border collie whispered back from the side the new mother. Dad was also black and white like mom was, but he had black speckles where the black fur met the white on his muzzle and legs. He leaned in and pushed a pup closer to its goal with his snout before adding, “I wish we can name them..."
“…You know that wouldn't be a good idea..." She softly said up to him. “We're not going to be allowed to keep any of them..."
That was the hard fact about being a dog that was used only for breeding. It would be extremely painful for them to see their pups go if they got attached to them. So the young parents took the advice that their parents passed down to them. Keep their puppies safe, teach them everything that they will need to know before they move on to their new families, and to never give them names. Their parents told them that not giving their young names made it a little easier when they did go. She doubted the advice would make things any less difficult on the young parents, but she would do anything to make things easier on them and the bundles of joy she just had… even if they will never get to see them grow up to their full potential.
Everything was blurry to the pup that just cracked open his eyes for the first time. There was also the sound of his brothers and sisters shuffling about and yapping all around him. But one noise that stood out from all of the ruckus of his siblings. It was a whispered. The pup shaking turned it heavy head until he found the source of the soft voice with his flopped over ears.
“…Hello there… pup…," A large white blur quietly said over the other pups. The figure's sweat but wild scented breath hit him as it leaned in closer. “I've been watching you for a while now… things will be tough for you, but I'll continue watching you from afar… Fable…"
The white blur leaned in further and gave him a few licks across his face. Somehow, the young pup had understood everything it had just said to him. He had heard other voices all around him, but what the figure said to him actually made since. After several more licks, he blinked a few times and like a stamp of a paw, the white blur was replaced with a slightly more focused black and white dog. It lowered its speckled muzzle down to deliver a flurry of licks to the pup face.
“You're going to lick his face raw if you keep that up." A familiar voice said from beside the pup with a light laugh.
“I know," the dog in front of him said after it finished slobbering up his face. “It's just our first pup that has opened his eyes."
All of the puppies' butts hurt after what they had all just been through. Each one was pulled out of the crate they were contained in and then manhandled by an older human wearing a long white coat. They were poked in the rump with something sharp and then they had a gross tasting liquid squirted into their muzzles before they were returned to their crate. One pup had already had his go round with the older human, but he was held slightly longer than his siblings were as the wrinkled man examined his face closely. Now, the young border collie was sitting in the back of the crate with his other siblings and a sore rump.
“Everything looks good," lab coat said as he placed his last victim back into their crate.
“What about the one pup with the blue eyes?" A human above the crate asked. He was just out of view thanks to the black plastic walls and roof on the crate they were all in. “His brothers and sisters and parents all have brown eyes. Even his grandparents and great grandparents had brown eyes."
The older human stepped back and rubbed his graying face fur. “While I have to admit, it is odd, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. The possibility that any of these puppies being mutts are very slim to none. I've been with them for every step of their short life. I was there when they were conceived, when we counted them with the ultrasound, and when they were born. Besides, those eyes make him unique."
“If you say so…," the voice from above the crate sighed. After a second, a human paw stretched out to lab coat that took a hold of it with his own paw and gave it a single pump. “Thank you so much doctor."
“My pleasure," he said before releasing the other humans paw. “Go ahead and set up an appointment with Beth for those little critters to get their second round of shots."
Suddenly, the crate that they were all in started to shift around as it got lifted up. It tilted back and the young puppy was in the direct line of fire as his brothers and sisters tumbled down onto him. He was slowly being smothered by a fluffy pile of black and white the yapping bodies.
“Why don't you want to play," a young black and white border collie asked as she was in the puppy play pose with her tail sweeping back and forth over her. She always seems wound up with energy and her brother was usually the same way, but today he felt wore out and exhausted. So he just glanced down at their chrome water bowl from his spot on the dirt. In the side of the round container was his reflection. He looked a lot like his dad with black speckles where his black fur met his white on his muzzle and legs and smaller than his dad with sapphire blue eyes.
“I just… don't feel like playing…" He quietly growled at his sister.
“You will never find a family if you keep acting like there is something wrong with you pup." She pointed out to him as she straightened up. He would love to jump and lick all over the humans that came over to see them, but he would have terrifying nightmares that he could barely remember when he woke up the day anybody would visit them. He would feel more tired than he did before he fell asleep and it would feel like his fur was made of stone. Any movement from him was next to impossible those days. And this just happened to be one of those days.
“I have a name," he growled at his sister with his flopped over ears pinned back. Her brother turned his head up from their water bowl and looked her in the eyes. “It's Fable."
It has felt like ages since that white blur spoke to him. He remembered the name she had called him. It was even the first word he spoke when he was able to talk. But no one wanted to call him by it. When his parents refused to give him that name, he took it upon himself to call himself Fable.
“Your name is whatever the humans call you." His sister pointed out to him with her head tilted. She was one of those pups that refused to call him by his name. He was about to protest more, but barking erupted from their parent's chain link pen beside theirs'.
"Humans!" Their father barked. Fable's sister bounded over to the gate as a male and female human approached with their owner. Both strangers were immediately greeted by an energetic border collie when they stepped in. She jumped, licked, wagged her tail, and rolled all over there covered bottom paws to get their attention. And she succeeded. All Fable could do was set up for a few seconds before he got lightheaded and wobbly legs and had to lie back down.
“Come on!" His sister barked as she padded over to the less energetic dog. “Quit acting so mopey every time a family comes to look at us."
He would if he could, but he knew this was going to have to him when he woke up several times last night from terrors. This has happened to him for the last three siblings that had gotten new families. And now it was happening for a fourth time.
“Aww, she's such a sweetheart." The female human said as the male human took out a leash and collar from his skin covers. While the humans fumbled with the collar, Fable's sister stayed with him.
“I guess this is goodbye…," She quietly said down to him before giving his cheek a tender lick. His sister was the closest thing to him other than his parents. And now she was going to leave him for a better life. “...I hope you find a nice family to be with... I'm going to miss you Fable..."
“I'm going to miss you too…," He quietly said back to her. She gave him one more lick to his muzzle before being called back by the humans. They attached her new collar and leash and then begin leading her out of the pen. All Fable could do was watch with burning and tear filled eyes until she disappeared behind the house they were born in. He was alone. After what felt like an eternity of staring where his sister was led away at, a whine escape the lonely border collie's muzzle.
A snail sliding across the ground move faster than the world around Fable after his sister left. He was now a few weeks shy of being eight months old. Nobody really wants a dog as old as he was. That's why nobody has come over to look at him for several months. At least his night terrors and un-restful sleep had stopped. The only time he lost sleep was when his parents were fooling around for nearly a week straight a few weeks ago. That was very awkward for the young border collie. He stepped out of his dog box that morning and caught his parents rump to rump and playing the adult canine version of tug-of-war. He immediately dove back into his dog box with a yelp. After the adults separated, they coaxed out the mortified dog and explained what was going on… in shockingly graphic details. They started by telling him that he was old enough to be told about mating, but his young adult mind wasn't prepared for that.
Six months prior to this, their owner separated his parents by placing his mother in his house and leaving Fable's father outside in the pen. Dad barked, whined, and howled for nearly a week straight. Fable asked what was going on, but his dad was dismissive and extremely vague about it. Now it was apparent that their owner had separated them when his mother came in heat to prevent them from having another litter while Fable was still around. It was effective, but extremely annoying.
“Humans!" Someone barked from his parent's pen. Fable crawled out of his dog box and stretched the stiffness out of his hide in the cool spring morning. Sure enough there were a lot of humans heading towards his pen. Four were children that seem to be a year apart in ages. The youngest was short and pudgy and the oldest kid was tall and lanky. But they were all greasy and looked like they had just bathed in a mud hole. Fable's owner led a pair of older humans that looks like someone had wrapped one in a floral print bed sheet and tossed a pair of dirty overalls on the other one.
“There he is," Fable's owner said as he pointed at the border collie's pen. The children were already around him, drooling, and jerking at the chain link fence like a pack of rabid zombies. His owner popped open the gate to let the rampant children in. Fable quickly pressed himself against the fence that divided him from his parent's pen as the children assaulted him with their greasy paws.
Bite them! Bite them! He snarled in his head as they roughly petted him against the grain and dug at his head with their jagged claws. He began to growl, but a bark erupted before he could bare his fangs.
“Be nice…," he heard his mom growl from behind him. After doing as he was told and enduring their petting for another minute, the oldest kids left his pen to try and find a way into his parent's pen. The two younger kids stood a few feet away from him, patted their legs, and talk to him, but fable just looked back at the older border collies.
“I really hope they don't want me." He said to them.
“It won't be that bad," mom said to her son with dad sitting beside her. Fable was now just as tall as his father with less muscle.
“I beg to differ," the young border collie said to his parents as he looked out of his pen. Passed the younger kids trying to get his attention, was the older kids wrestling around in the backyard after they'd given up all hopes of getting into the older dog's pen. Their father was standing by his owner and scratching his exposed chest fur from his lack of a T-shirt. The pudgy man was clearly unfazed by the cold. All Fable could picture in his head was being tied up in the back of a junkyard with no contact with anybody but these humans. Horrible.
“They'll settle down after a few days when the new wears off." Dad reminded him. They had already told him that the humans would get excited for a few days before it rapidly died down. But them being excited over him wasn't what he was worried about. Most loving families would continue giving their new pet attention for their entire life. He just didn't see these humans being that kind the family.
“Crap…," Fable quietly growled when he saw overalls reach into his pocket and handed the dog breeder a wad of green stuff. That was a clear sign that the visiting family was going to be leave with a dog and that dog was clearly Fable since he was the only one left. His heart dropped almost like his sister has left him again and he turned his head back to his parents. “I guess this is goodbye..."
Those words his sister had spoken to him all of those months ago, echoed through his head when he recited them to his parents. He poked his muzzle through the chain link so they could come into contact with him once more. Mom gave his muzzle a lick and dad just poked his nose with Fables' and the pup took in their scents before a collar was snapped around his neck and he started getting pulled away.
“Take care of yourself son," dad said to their pup.
“I don't want to go!" Fable yelped as he pulled himself back to the fence. Fear of being alone was overwhelming for him. He again thought about whipping around and biting the human that was trying to drag him away. But that would put him in the pound or it will be a one-way trip to the vet.
“You have to," mom said to him as the pulling got stronger. “I'm sorry this is how things have to work, but I hope you find happiness with your new family..."
Fable whimpered and whined as he gave in and allowed the family to drag him out of his pen and away from the only family he had left. They got further and further away until his line of sight of his parents was broken by his now ex-owners home. The child leading him pulled him to a large white van that was covered in dents, scratches, rust, and a plastic sheet that was where the rear window used to be. The humans began piling into their ride and Fable locked up his legs when they tried to lead him into the free candy van. They got snarled at by their parents from the front and an older child got back out, scooped up the young border collie, and hauled him into the deathtrap.
The van's interior reflected how its exterior looked. Like crap. There were stains everywhere caused by god knows what, windows covered in layers of dirt and grime, tears in the seats that revealed the yellow stuffing in them, and a strong odor that smelled worse than the pen he was raised in with all of his siblings. The older child carried him passed a set of seats filled by the younger kids and sat him down in the center of a long seat between him and another kid. Fable nervously shook as the van fired up and they begin leaving. When he tried to whine, the oldest kid beside him growled and gave his ribs a jab with their upper paws which silenced him immediately.
It wasn't a very long drive, but having four kids fighting over whose turn it was to pet him made the trip feel like an eternity. They passed by fields dirt which barely had any vegetation, through a few patches of forest that were beginning to bud out with new leaves, and a small town before coming to a large city. It had a welcoming sign that sat beside the road as they entered the city's limits. Fable couldn't read the chrome human symbols on the large slab of tree trunk, but he was able to make out all of the shiny pine trees at the bottom of it before they passed.
Overalls drove them through a busy part of town before reaching a white picket fence community. Homes had lush green grass and neatly trimmed shrubs in front of high-end houses. Kids were bundled up in warm clothes as they ran around their yard and rode their bikes on the path beside the road on this cool spring afternoon. For a brief moment, Fable thought this wasn't going to be that bad. Until the van stopped. That's when he found himself in the driveway of a house that looked like it had been through several natural disasters. It was missing many of its black shingles and the white siding was barely visible through all of the dirt and moss on it. There was a baby stroller, random toys, old lawn furniture, and several rusty bicycles were all lying on the un-kept yard.
“Come on Beaver," one of the younger boy said as he tugged on fables camouflage leash towards the van's open door. All of the kids have been calling him Beaver the whole ride up here. He figured it was his new name they had given him, but he will never go by it.
“Move it Beaver!" The older kid that had jabbed him earlier snarled as he pushed the border collie out of the seat. Fable hit the floor board hard from the shove and when he got up, he was just pushed again until he was outside on the lawn. The younger child holding onto his leash led him around back of the house with Fable fighting him every step of the way. He was dragged to a rundown square dog house that sat beside a large pine tree. A nameplate was over the entrance, but like the welcoming sign coming into town, Fable couldn't read it. A heavy chain attached to the worn dog box replaced his leash and he quickly bolted into the doghouse when the tension on his collar disappeared. Several of the children attempted to drag him out by the chain, but he placed his paws on both sides of the entrance to keep from being pulled out. He won the tug-of-war match when the children's parents bellowed for them.
“Finally…," He whined a sigh of relief when the coast seemed clear. Once fable was 100% certain that nobody was around, he poked his head out. The backyard wasn't all that big since the house was so close to the tree line, but there was enough room there for a rusty car and truck to sit beside a pile of scrap metal from various things. At the edge Fable's dirt circle near the tree line was a set of rabbit cages. He slowly stepped out of his hiding place and approached the small mammal's cage.
“H-hi," Fable nervously said to a solid black rabbit. Its pink nose just wiggled back and forth, but it remained quiet. “I'm new here."
“So was the last dog several months back." It said back as it scratched at its big ear. That didn't sound good.
“What happened to it?" Fable asked the hare. He didn't get a response until it hopped over to the other side of its cage.
“No idea. One day it was here and the next day, it was gone. It had only been here for a month before disappearing."
That definitely doesn't sound good. Fable just spun around and went back into his dog box. He curled up in a tight ball over the dusty straw bedding and whined to himself. He missed his parents, he missed his sister, and on top of it all, he hated where he was at. This wasn't the family he pictured himself with. Passed out on a porch in the sun located in a quiet neighborhood was more like it. One could only wish.