I melted to my knees, feeling the card fold in my jeans pocket, pinching me a little through my tight jeans. My dog was missing or could have not even existed. There was no way. Tony was real. Tony had been real. He had been too alive, too present to be just my imagination. I stood up, clearing my throat and using the back of my sleeve to wipe my face. I will make Tony's food, arrange his bed and everything else too. He will come back and I knew it. My dog was a bit different, a bit too clever, a bit too human sometimes, but he was still my little dog, the one that was helping me out of my heartbreak. I sniffed hard, taking time to walk to the room. I carefully arranged my closet first, then my bed, then Tony's. It was hard on my heart to arrange it, but I did. I arranged the kitchen and the sitting room, then proceeded to cook. I finished up quick enough and made Tony's food, then set it where I always keep it, right in front of the couch where I like to sit and eat. So I can watch him eat, and he can watch me eat. I sniffed again, the tears stinging the back of my eyes, then sat on the couch, my legs crossed. Food around me, but no appetite. I heard the sound of dogs playing outside and ran out, my heart pumping fast in my ears. A couple of dogs were bounced by a leash, their owner walking them as they barked and tried to jump on each other. No particularly beautiful husky, with beautiful eyes. I sighed, feeling deflated, and walked back in. There, munching hard on the food i set down for him, close to my couch was Tony. His tail was down and he had dust stains on his normally clean white fur. I wanted to be angry and contemplate the reality laid out before me, but my legs had a different plan. I ran, much beyond my own self control and scooped the surprised dog into my arms. It seemed shocked at first, before warming up to me. "Where have you been?" I was crying now, my body shaking hard. "I looked everywhere for you!" He gave a small purr and I set him down. His eyes looked apologetic, his ears down, and I instantly forgot about it. "Its fine." I said sniffing. "Don't worry about me. Eat up, okay?" He didn't need another invitation, and dug in, in the cute weird way he always did. I sat on the couch watching as he ate. Had he been scared i was going to give him up? For adoption or have another family take him? "I won't send you away, Tony." He looked up, then went back to eating. What had he been so scared of? Why didn't he come out in front of the doctor? What was behind the mysterious eye color and the shawls? I was going to find out, I just wasn't sure how.
"Hey, that's a cute dog." A small child said, pointing to Tony as we walked to the park. I wanted to hang out with nature for just a little while. I smiled at the kid, Tony going behind me. The mother didn't seem to share the opinion of her son as she walked away, saying; "probably one of the reasons he ended up a dog." I cocked my head to the side in confusion. What did she even mean by that? It took a while for me to notice. She had the eyes too. The same colour eyes Doctor Kelly and Tony have. I ran after her, thinking I would find her, since she had been walking so slowly, but she wasn't anywhere. I later on, due to a gathered crowd found the boy right in the middle of the crowd, slumped. Tony was barking incessantly, jumping around restlessly, and It was here I knew, there was more to Tony, and to everything that had been occurring than any of them is apparently willing to let on.
"What's the total?" I said, adding a can of hot dogs. I planned on staying indoors, and attending only online classes after calling in sick and taking an excuse. I needed to find out the mystery behind Tony. She looked at me, her eyes caught Tony, and she almost reeled back in horror. "Dogs are not allowed in here. I mean, pets!" She looked absolutely horrified and red in the face, I almost laughed. "I bought him here." I said, a duh look on my face. She shook her head. "That cant be. This is a mall, not a pet shop." I stopped for a minute, then cleared my throat, unconsciously pushing out my chest to assert dominance. "The tall, slim redhead sold it to me, saying it had been stray and had been looking to sell it." She scoffed and bit the corner of her mouth. "Say that again, slowly. Why would we keep a stray dog and sell it? If we find a stray dog somewhere, we take it to the vet first, who will send it to the dog care center and they will look for a family to adopt him. Why would we get a stray dog then sell it?" She was fuming, and I didn't even have anything to say. Nothing fit. Nothing around Tony seemed right at all. I swallowed hard, my head reeling. What was I going to do? Tony was looking at me, and his eyes seemed almost teary. I shook my head. "I am already done, so just give me the total." I managed to not let my voice break. She hissed under her breath and punched in the digits. I handed my card over to her and after a moment, she handed it back, with my bag of groceries. I collected it, made sure she saw the annoyance in the way I looked at her, then walked out. "Keep your pet at home next time!" She shouted after me and I flipped her the middle finger over my head.