Wagging With Insanity

***Note: this is an alternate ending***

*Written by Ananasz. This features supercute dogs, like bitch, do you even know kawaii?*

*In this ending the original story has been translated to fit Mind and Dennim, who are now dogs. All other characters are still human, but their connection to the 2 main characters have changed.*

Mind is a high pedigree Saluki that was born in a household that specifically bred this type of dog. When she was just a few weeks old, she got sold to a man that planned to use her as a breeding dog. He presented himself to her original owners as a kind father who wanted to give his young, ill daughter an impressive gift. His sweet stories moved the gullible couple with every uttered word, until they had no doubts left that the visitor was a honest man with an honest purpose. The two got manipulated into handing over the fairly young Mind "in time for his daughter's birthday".

Despite not being wealthy, the man gladly paid full price for her, as to not ruin his act by suddenly raising suspicion and he expected to make a fortune out of his future business.

With Mind's impressive documents and award-winning family line, setting up shop was easy. Offspring from Mind's parents were rare and there was quite a queue of wealthy dog owners who wished to have a litter. This urged the inexperienced breeder to sacrifice Mind's health and happiness in order to speed up business.

The pricey pup was indeed quick to pay him back; and his earnings increased twentyfold of what the initial costs were just after having delivered the first litter. Even so, he showed little appreciation towards her, and it didn't help that Mind happened to have a natural disinterest for other dogs, making it hard to use her for the sole purpose he bought her for.

Because patience didn't earn him money, he decided to get involved during the breeding process by holding down the fragile dog every time. His strategy was needlessly aggressive, and as he never had any interest in looking up information about canines, or even the breed he bought, he often forced dogs on her when she wasn't ready to conceive. These practises made Mind develop an early fear for humans and unfixed male dogs.

After barely 6 months, her owner started to see her as a bother and wanted someone else to take the work off his hands. He believed there was no reason for her to sit in his living room if she wasn't continuously making him money, and didn't care for keeping her as a regular pet. He decided to house Mind in a nearby pound, where she got locked up in an empty kennel, as to keep the nervous dog from getting overstimulated. Or so the man argued. In actuality, he wished to avoid unnecessities in order to reduce the cost of housing her, as the price for the pound's acceptance towards his unethical wishes was high. He hired and trained a staff member to take his place of performing his heinous breeding tactic, and while the pound showed concern for this way of handling Mind, the man explained the dog's temper and managed to convince them there was no other way. They agreed to welcome his customers in his name, freeing him from responsibility.

The excessive breeding gave Mind 7 large litters in the short 4 years of her life. As her pups were taken away from her just 2 weeks after being born every time, she kept suffering from motherly heartbreak, adding onto the depression. The excuse from the customers about having a surrogate mother available and already having their trip scheduled to go overseas with the prized dogs, made the staff accept this further harsh treatment of Mind.

For the majority of her life she's been imprisoned in an oblivious, unloving environment, only used for her pedigree and fertility. She behaved like a typical broken animal since the age of 1, with her neurotic behaviour having multiplied over the remaining 3 years.

One day an unusual businessman arrives at the pound, with his equally strange wife and "high pedigree" Saluki. He announces to come for Mind, as was supposedly arranged. The staff member silently judges the strange-looking couple, but when he understands they indeed have an appointment and are rich, important customers, he decides to erase his distrust and makes way for overexcited hospitality.

He leads the couple to the back of the pound and shows them the lonesome, hunched female dog, sitting with her face in the corner of her cage. She slightly turns her head and points her noticeably blue eyes at the new visitors behind her, but disapproves and buries her snout back into her corner.

After this introduction, the customer comments on her beauty, to which the staff member gives a standard, but friendly response, insinuating he's heard the compliment more than once. The businessman's dog starts to wag his tail in Mind's presence and the employee remarks on his excitement. The businessman comments that his dog's fiery behaviour is rather surprising and claims he doesn't like dogs in general. He then laments that it makes it hard to breed with his prized possession, even though there's a global interest in him. The employee replies to his bragging that Mind is quite similar.

The customer feels it's relevant to ask about her gloomy look, whereafter the man tries his best to repeat his employer's explanation for it. The customer accepts the excuse, but wonders if it's save for his dog to enter her space when she's like that, to which he's given the answer that Mind is quite submissive and has never attacked anyone or anything.

After the short interview has run its course, the customer agrees to get things started, but when the staff member announces he needs to stick around and assist Mind, he shows disapproval for this. He announces that his dog cannot perform in the presence of others.

The staff member expresses his worry for this presented fact, and explains that Mind might not submit without human assistance. Nevertheless, the customer shows no concern for this and insists they not defile an intimate moment. The employee admits defeat and opens up Mind's cage. When the hairy guest in black and white is let in, he starts to playfully stomp his front paws onto the floor and wildly wags his tail as a greeting. Mind is unconvinced of his good intentions and stays frozen in the corner.

The employee's warning that the couple's visit might end up becoming a waste of time is ignored, and they head back to wait in the entrance room.

As soon they've left, the dog quits his act and takes on a normal, calm pose. Mind, despite her back being turned to him, picks up on this and occasionally watches the stranger from the corner of her eyes. When he attempts to move closer, she flinches, whereafter he sits back down again.

He informs her he's not planning to do anything, but she doesn't respond to this. He attempts to loosen her up by making jokes about the wide waistline of the employee they just met and criticizing the cheap appearance of the kennel room, but still gets greeted with more silence. After she refused to speak for 5 drawn out minutes and he's gone through all his jokes and small talk, he swiftly appears next to her and offers a casual hello. This greatly startles her and Mind lets herself fall to the ground, backing away and whimpering loudly in his presence. He is surprised by her reaction, but wastes no time following the fleeing dog and suggesting she shouldn't draw the attention of the staff at the other side of the door.

Mind finds the courage to speak to the intrusive character and begs him to keep his distance. He answers he can't, as she needs him to get out of the pound. While she heard these important words, she's overcome with stress and they don't sink in. Mind crawls to a new corner and sits as far away from him as possible in the small space.

He then suddenly comments that his owner is a fair man and gives him anything he wants. Mind doesn't understand the insinuation, thus he repeats his intention of rescuing her; and presents a strategy that requires his caretakers to return and find the two of them shown visibly attached to each other. He argues that his owner might go out of his way to adopt her if they look like friends.

A short pause follows, afterwards Mind replies that she already has an owner and is not staying in the pound as an adoptable. The dog awkwardly responds that "humans possess stuff that allows them to get other stuff, and that a large quantity of this stuff makes them especially stupid". Describing money. He adds that his owner has all the "stuff" and never not got what he wanted. As Mind doesn't understand his words and doesn't give the punch line to his apparent joke, he hastily clarifies that his owner isn't stupid, despite having this many stuff. Mind still ignores the joke and hesitantly asks why he would do this for her, as they are strangers and just met.

The dog casually lies down on the blanket in her recently abandoned corner and claims to have known her since they were puppies, as he was born in the same home as her. Mind's ears slowly rise up to this news and she replies not to remember him. He explains they were both very young still, but he's always had a good memory that goes far back and her scent is memorable.

In order to make his story more plausible, he describes her and her parents, and the man who picked her up when she was barely able to walk. Mind is convinced he's telling the truth, though doesn't consider it the reason for his rescue and stays skeptical. She asks how he managed to find her and how his story provides any basis for his desire to free her.

He notices her fixed distrust in him, and attempts to erase the assumption he's a stalker by shrugging it's faithful coincidence. He quickly continues that "their family" used to teach a strong pack mentality and were all about sticking together, even after separation, clarifying his devotion to helping her. He suggests she should be thankful that they got to meet, opposed to being cautious of him.

As Mind is unable to remember much of her youth and sees no reason not to believe they shared the same home, she trusts his other claims too. Even so, the fact his escape plan requires physical contact makes her anxious, and she still shows little trust for her smiling guest. He tries to approach her in order to get things started, but she continuously flinches or crawls away from him when his shadow touches her.

The dog urges her to get her act together before the humans show up, but Mind moans that she simply can't stand his presence. Despite wanting to leave the pound, her behaviour is involuntary.

Because she can't relax herself for her own sake, she wonders out loud if it isn't better he abandoned his mission and headed back home. He can't find himself in her suggestion and keeps following her aroound the cage in the hopes she'll get used to his approach.

As precious seconds tick away and there's no improvement, the dog decides to take on a more submissive pose and makes another attempt by crawling towards her. When he's close enough, he lies himself down on his back and announces to the shivering bundle of fur that he is doing so. Mind raises her head and turns it to see he indeed is presenting her his stomach as a sign of docility, though isn't sure how to react to the unfamiliar sight.

The dog tries to move himself closer to her while still on his back, and puts his head against the side of her resting paws. In his new pose, he tries to argue with her again and repeats that they need to position themselves in a believable manner before the humans come to see them. Mind again refuses to move or speak. He clarifies that they can't stay like this, as it'll just look like he cornered her against a wall. Mind explains that she can't handle any form of touch, and despite his submissive state, feels paralysed with anxiety.

After an hour has passed since their initial meeting, a door is heard opening and familiar voices follow soon after. The dog realizes time is up, but also that he failed to make the abused female feel accustomed to him enough to help herself.

Nevertheless, he decides to take a bold step and shoots up, alarming Mind and urging her to bolt off again, but she is immediately grabbed by the neck and forced down onto the center of the cage with him. Before she can shriek in panic, he lands his heavy paw onto her muzzle and lies down next to her. He whispers not to ruin this for herself, whereafter Mind attempts to swallow her cries and starts to breathe heavily instead. The male repeats his tactic of decreasing his dominance by making himself smaller, and Mind succeeds in calming herself down to the best of her abilities, before the customers and the employee catch them in their sight.

The dog gently slides one of his paws over her back, and the two of them stay motionless until a reaction is given.

The dog's owner responds with glee upon seeing the two snuggling, while the employee is mostly baffled by the image. Even so, the man ends up complimenting Mind for improving and having made her first friend.

The male dog tries to stay as still as possible in order not to startle Mind and mess up the act, though this forces him to stay put when his master bends through his knees to call him over. The room notices his lack of response, and the owner supposes that the two lovers desire more time together. The staff member informs him that his boss prefers his dog not to stay with other animals longer than she has to, out of safety. The customer shows understanding for the measure and allows for the man to open up the cage for him.

But the employee starts entering himself, and as he comes closer to the pair, the plan gets disrupted and Mind shoots away in fear. The man stops in his tracks after this and guesses the customer can call over his dog now. The businessman mirrors his dog's expression and appears hesitant, but then clumsily tries to call him over. But the dog stays put and looks like he's still figuring out what to do. The staff member then suggests he should carry his dog out, thus the customer slowly approaches him and grabs him by the collar. The dog's face then looks enlightened, and he starts pulling back, preventing his owner from dragging him out.

The customer expresses his confusion for his behaviour and lets him go in response, but the employee is not content with his short-lived efforts and offers his help. He attempts to approach and grab the hard-headed canine, but he shows his teeth and menacingly growls at him, sending him back out as soon as he came in. The employee starts to complain to the two customers about his given rules that need to be obeyed, but the couple shows no genuine interest for his rant. The businessman reflects on the whole deal for a second and then asks how much Mind costs.

A hint of shock appears on the employee's face and answers that she's not for sale. But the man argues that everything is and insists that he phones her owner to set up a deal. The employee again says that Mind cannot be sold and uses her high value as an argument, but the customer refuses to give in and his serious wife breaks him the news that her husband is especially stubborn and won't leave until they've spoken to Mind's owner.

The staff member nervously heads back to his counter in the entrance room to call his employer about the situation. Mind's owner is quick to pick up the phone, but is confused about getting bothered with the request and confirms that he's not planning to sell an important source of money.

Suddenly the horn is grabbed out of the employee's hand, and the subject of the call continues the conversation. He introduces himself and repeats that he wishes to buy his dog. But Mind's owner stays unwilling to consider, whereafter the tone shifts and the customer starts asking about Mind's age and the amount of litters she's had. He implies that her body has aged too much and the chance she'll have healthy litters in the future will only decrease. He then adds that since the dog is "staying in a low-budget animal shelter, where he got greeted by a greasy apartment-dweller who had the audacity to judge him as he entered the front door", he guesses he doesn't care enough about her to keep her at home in a normal environment, and should be willing to give her away.

The man at the other side, and the employee, responds shocked to the unannounced insults, but sounds noticeably less stubborn after this given observation. He apologizes for the rude greeting he might've gotten from his hired staff, but says Mind is needed to pay some very important bills. He brings up his rehearsed sob story about his non-existent daughter, but the customer ignores his spiel and cuts him off halfway by asking for the price. Mind's owner thinks to silence him by demanding 1 million dollars, but the phone call is ended with the customer agreeing to it and expecting him to show up with the documents soon. The horn is given back to the employee, who asks his boss what he wants to do. He announces to come over to deal with it personally.

After a mere 15 minutes, he shows up and greets the seated pale figure in the entrance room. The customer wastes no time to ask if he brought Mind's documents, and gets reassured it to be so. Mind's owner desires to know what for he wants his Saluki, and he replies that he's always wanted company for his dog, while he and his wife are off working. He explains that his pet dislikes other animals, though found his luck with Mind just a few minutes ago. Because Mind's owner's face does not show understanding for the severity of the problem, he adds that his dog having accepted another dog is a rare occurrence, and he can't let go of possibly the only partner he'll find for him. The man decides not to question his reasons further, though feels the price to be suspicious and tests the waters by suggesting to neuter her before going along with the sale. If she is only wanted as a companion for his dog, he argues it to make sense, as it'd be improper if it were just a plan to obtain 2 famous Salukis and set up a golden business.

The businessman laughs at this and responds that money isn't quite scarce in his life. He explains that he doesn't breed with his dog for the payment, but that it is an occasional thing he does for fans. When Mind's owner asks why he showed up to breed with Mind if this is his usual practice, he swiftly responds to have hoped to use his dog's offspring to function as "the companion".

As his answers sounds believable enough and the businessman comes across as a harmless, eccentric spender, the man starts to become more intrigued by his offer and considers selling Mind. They shake on the sale, and the customer pulls out his credit card to pay the pound the large sum of money in Mind's owner's name. Afterwards, they arrange to head off to the nearby vet together and have Mind neutered.

The two head back to the room housing the dog kennels, where the wife and the dog are still waiting. But upon seeing her old owner after years, Mind starts to lose her mind and screams loudly in his presence. The man quickly ensures the couple that it's part of her behaviour, and excuses it to be a fear of certain type of shoes that the previous owners are to blame for. He then hands them Mind's documents and enters the cage with a stone-cold face. He reaches out his hand to the twitching, wide-eyed Mind, and hairs fly around while she has, what looks like, an epileptic seizure the moment his fist closes around her collar. But her owner feels forever unimpressed by it and continues to drag her out. The black and white Saluki casually goes to stand next to her, not to attract any attention, but whispers that she should calm herself, as she just got sold to his caretaker. Mind's owner cheerfully announces to be ready, whereafter they head outside, again dragging the fearful Mind along.

When it becomes apparent that the man plans to transport her in his own car, which will mess up the upcoming act, the male dog sneakily creates a small puddle near Mind, and it doesn't take long for everyone to think she has soiled herself in her moment of panic. Mind's owner becomes angry with her and makes it clear he doesn't want to mess up his car's interior, whereafter the customer offers to transport the dogs together. Without doubting it for a second, he hands the leash over to him and gets in his own car. He informs them he'll be driving in front of them and they just need to follow.

The dogs are positioned on the backseat of the customer's car and they drive off. Mind looks unsure about what to do or how to act in her new environment and decides to lie down against the door. Her fellow passenger then suggest she should hold onto something, as his master is about to take a sharp turn. She doesn't respond and is confused by how he's able to know that, but surely, the car speeds up and takes a sharp right, launching her to the other side of the seat.

The other dog moves up to look out of the back window and laughs when he sees Mind's old owner continue on without them. Mind is puzzled by his excitement and asks if she wasn't already paid for. He explains that they were off castrating her, but they dodged that bullet and are now heading to her new home. She asks if her old owner won't come back for them, but he reassures her there's no need for worry, as they have her documents and there's a witness that can confirm she's been paid for. There's no real case to be made and he's convinced her owner won't succeed in finding them, anyway.

While she doesn't know how it all fits together, she's forced to believe him and decides not to ask further questions. She looks at the buildings passing them, but can't say where they are or heading to, as she'd been locked up most her life and never got to see much of the city. Not knowing what else to do during her first minutes of freedom, she lies back down again and points her snout to the ground. Her companion urges her to take in the outdoors now that she can, but she replies not to know what she is looking at, thus not having any kind of feeling towards it. He argues that she needs to become familiar with something in order to get a feeling, and that it requires effort.

After they've exited the city, they arrive at a large house in the grassy hill landscape outside its borders. With no other buildings in sight, the house's location looks like it could easily end up forgotten by the outside world, and silence lingers in the air.

The married couple at front silently get out of the car and the passenger door opens. The male jumps right out and waits for Mind to follow, but as expected, she stays put. As he knows she'll likely won't listen to sweet invitations, he pokes his head back inside and takes her leash in his jaw.

She is dragged out with healthy force and he guides her inside her new home with their 2 caretakers. In the hallway, the businessman tries to pet her on the head, but Mind lets out a loud yelp the moment his hand makes contact. He and his wife then walk away without saying a word to them or each other, leaving her unsure of what to think of their odd response, but still feeling relieved now that they've left the room.

Her companion stays with her and sits down, watching her for a while. Mind is paralyzed on the spot and shows visible uneasiness for his staring. He then asks her if she wants to leave.

She slowly rises her head, but doesn't know how to respond to his sudden question or what he wishes to hear. He continues that he can open the door for her and let her run off. He claims to know how to read human language and operate their devices; and could use her documents to deactivate her chip online, in order to prevent the chance of being brought back to them or her old owner if she were to get captured. He promises to eat the documents afterwards, ensuring that nobody can ever confirm her value and use her for breeding again.

Mind doesn't understand most of the terms used, but realizes how the mentioned measures will grant her definite freedom. Even so, she's uncertain if he's serious about his offer and just silently looks at him. The dog understands that there's no use in explaining anything further and jumps at the front door's knob in order to open it. The breeze from outside causes it to swing open all the way, and he steps back, waiting for her decision.

Mind looks at him and then at the sunny hills outside, and without saying a single word, sprints off into the distance.

Meanwhile, Mind's old owner has returned to the pound to complain about the customers that fled with his intact dog. The pound's staff member shows understanding for his frustration, but adds that he at least got paid the 1 million dollars, as was confirmed by their system that morning. The man acknowledges this and then reminds himself that it should be possible for them to get an address out of the transaction; but when they try to look it up, they can no longer find the payment.

The man starts to panic and looks up the customer's name he was previously able to find on the internet, but gets no results, as if he never existed. The man is quick to call the police about his pedigree dog having been stolen, but they discover her chip has been deactivated and are also unable to find an address, name, or any proof that the license plate of their car has ever existed. This causes alot of doubts with the man, and one of his theories start to involve the pound; who he thinks worked together with the businessman to set up a scheme to steal Mind. Naturally they deny this and their business relationship ends on a bad note.

Night falls, and Mind is still traveling the hills alone, without a destination. The landscape offers no distinguishable features and she's forced to conclude her day without having managed to find any buildings or signs of life. Nevertheless, as she lies down to rest in the grass, she wonders if she even prefers to.

Now that peace has returned to her and she's able to use her rational mind, she tries to figure out if she should look for a new caretaker or live the life of a stray. Because it's difficult to make a decision as a dog that's never had to take care of herself, she figures it's wise to sleep on it. She closes her exhausted eyes and attempts to relax in the abandoned wilderness, but soon gets awakened by the sound of something approaching her.

She looks up and the moonlight shows her a familiar shape, carrying what sounds like a plastic bag with unknown contents.

Mind is shocked to meet up with the dog she fled from hours ago and asks how he managed to find her. He offers a simple reply and says to have a good nose, and places the plastic bag next to her. As is customary, Mind flinches upon his approach, but doesn't crawl away this time. He figures she is tired.

She sniffs the contents of the bag and wastes no time eating the chunk of raw pork inside. The dog urges her not to end up starving and says she should find someone to take care of her, fast. Mind expresses her uncertainty about where to go and brings up the possibility of staying a stray. He says that to be fine, but that there are no wild dogs in the area and it'll be difficult for her to survive on her own. She understands his points, but replies that she prefers it to human company.

The dog then asks what her opinion is of him, and she replies to appreciate his help, but is still cautious of him as a male.

He sits down and thinks for a while. He then brings up that she'd be able to live at his house without ever having to see their caretakers or him, for the most part. He explains to know how to feed himself and can fill her bowl for her every morning, or open de back door whenever she wants to sit in the garden. Mind asks what the humans will think of her avoiding them while living in their house, but the dog explains that they bought her to be *his*. His choice of words make her visibly nervous, thus he quickly tries to drive her mind away from his clumsily worded statement by reassuring her that no one will have any problems with her staying herself. She should accept their comfortable home and the given luxury of not having to fulfill any duties as a pet. Mind still responds with hesitation, whereafter he asks where she'll go to when she wakes up tomorrow.

She understands the question is more like a comment, but is still unable to answer. He explains that there's no other home waiting for her, and nothing will change for the better as long she doesn't rehabilitate herself and learns to trust others again.

Mind agrees with that, but says to have had little success in her life and thinks good dogs and people are rare. The dog argues that her old owner kept her in a world with people who preferred to stay gullible and oblivious, which acquainted her to only the worst the world has to offer. He jokes that most people are just a little bit evil, but those she met would've probably treated her better if they met in a different circumstance. He promises her that "good boys", like him, still exist, while he wags his tail in his moment of self-flattery.

Mind ignores the pompous statement and ponders his words for a second. She looks at the shadowy figure patiently awaiting her verdict and then at the grassy hills surrounding them.

When taking into account what she is, and isn't, she admits that it's the best opportunity she'll likely ever get. The dog becomes excited after having won her back and advocates for leaving right away. Mind replies that she's tired after today and it'll take hours to reach the house, but he claims she ran in circles and they're closer to home than she thinks. Mind feels embarrassed by this reveal.

He turns around and tells her that she may follow him if she wishes to go now. He starts walking and silently listens for her decision. He hears her get up from the grass and obediently follows him from a distance.

Back at the house, Mind is immediately brought to the study across the entrance. Upon entering, she sees a lowly lit fireplace with a sheepskin rug in front of it, and two expensive red seats on both sides. The dog gives her the room for the night, but she asks him if it isn't supposed to be a living space for humans. He ensures her that not even the chairs have ever been used and promises that no one will interrupt her. Mind sniffs the seats and concludes that they're indeed unused, and fails to pick up any scent that indicates that there ever has been a human or animal present in the room before. But when her nose draws closer to her host during her investigation, she starts to notice his equally strange lack of scent. Before she can put any thought into it, he comments on her intrusive behaviour, whereafter she pulls back and deeply apologizes.

He drives her away from the subject by asking if she wants more to eat, but she answers just to want to sleep. He says to place food and drink for her outside her door before she wakes up, and says goodnight.

The following morning Mind wakes up in a seemingly abandoned villa. She gets up and peeks her head around the corner of her room, into the next. As promised, she finds a bowl of water and one with kibbles sitting on the floor. She hesitantly approaches it and starts eating, but her anxiety makes her hear things while she chews, making for a stressful breakfast. When she manages to finish her meal, she hears a door open somewhere and feels a gust of warm wind move through the house.

When she goes to check it out, she sees the back door has been opened. She enters the spacious garden and sits down in the grass, rather contentedly. A figure from inside watches her, but after she's been sitting still for 15 minutes, it leaves the shadows and approaches.

Without warning, Mind's new housemate appears behind her with a squeaky bone toy in his mouth and nearly gives her a heart attack after sounding the loud object. Despite his good intentions, Mind falls to the ground as if she got hit by a bat, and looks him dead in the eyes while she whines loudly. The dog attempts to keep the mood pleasant and continues playfully inviting her over to join him and the obnoxious toy, but his loud presence keeps her in her state of panic, until there's nothing left for him to do but to let the toy rest in his mouth and silently mosey off back inside. As there were no words spoken during the entire interaction, Mind watches him depart and shows confusion for his visit, but eventually manages to calm herself down enough to stop looking over her shoulder to check if he's coming back. Even so, as she prefers not to come across him again, she stays in the garden till evening falls.

On the second day, Mind's curiosity drives her farther into her new luxurious home and she gives herself a tour through some of the rooms on the ground floor. She goes through another day without having seen her caretakers, and her housemate stayed mercifully absent as well.

On the third day, she plans to explore the second floor, but as most of the doors are shut and she doesn't know how to open them, she aborts her adventure early and heads back to the stairs. But when she reaches the edge, she finds herself unable to descend and stuck on the second floor. Her housemate then suddenly appears at the foot of her obstacle and criticizes her decision for going upstairs without knowing how to walk stairs. She says to have forgotten, and he replies that most dogs do.

He announces to her to go up and help, but Mind objects and says to want to do it herself. But her attempts are not going anywhere, and after nearly falling off the steps a few times, the dog decides to go get her anyway. While he makes his way up, she keeps asking him to stay put and let her do it herself, but eventually he's a breath away from her face and grabs her by the scruff before she can run off.

Mind howls and screams as he pulls her towards him and lets the twitching dog lean against his chest out of safety, whereafter he guides her down stepping backwards. Her erratic behaviour makes it challenging to get her down flawlessly, nevertheless, the dog manages to get her to the ground floor and immediately releases her afterwards. Mind stops her screaming and looks at her saviour as if he just told her the sky had fallen, but says nothing.

The dog wastes no time to comment on her overreactions and suggests she does something about them. Mind feels embarrassed, but argues he said it was fine for her to stay herself. He confirms that to be so, but adds he also said she was supposed to improve for her own sake. Mind falls silent.

He says to know that she is lonely and explains that avoiding others, despite giving her that temporary feeling of ease, won't increase her happiness. She asks how he can presume such a thing about her, but he claims it makes sense, as she used to be more often alone more than with company, which obviously never improved her spirits. Mind doesn't question his knowledge concerning her life, and tries to defend herself by saying she thinks to do better without people around. She gives her eagerness to explore when alone as an example and believes their current situation to work out fine for her.

The dog admits she gets more ballsy when she thinks no one's looking, but that exploring the house will not cure her loneliness or boredom; and it's actually a sign of these two mental states.

As he walks off, he warns her that she'll realize this after more days have passed and there's still not a face that welcomes her in her own home. Mind feels skeptical about his observation, but is still worried about the possibility of being dependent on people she can't stand being around.

In the 2 weeks of her stay, Mind ended up confirming her housemate's prediction. Her exploring days she presumed where the start of her healing process came to a quick end and she spent most of her days lying on her designated rug. She hadn't seen or heard any signs of life during this period and became aware of the fact that a change of location alone doesn't fix anything.

On the last day of the second week, the dog shows up in her doorway and wishes her good morning. Mind looks over her shoulder and scurries away behind one of the chairs when he walks up to her. He remarks to be glad she hasn't changed, but she picks up on his sarcastic point of criticism. Still, she doesn't comment on it and hopes her silent treatment is accepted as an answer. But as he sets himself down onto her rug, she realizes he's waiting for her to speak up this time.

Mind says to know that he doesn't understand her and noticed the facial expressions he pulls whenever she becomes upset, or whenever he just does his thing. The dog just smiles his smile in response to her statement and decides to allow her mind to keep going at it. Mind continues not to recall having ever seen a dog make the kind of faces he does, only humans, and that the things he knows and is able to do are equally unusual. She assumes he is quite intelligent, which is why he can't help her get over herself, as he's unable to empathize with a common dog. He promises her he's not less of a dog than she is, and asks her if she thinks she's stupid. She believes it to be so and further explains her standpoint by describing her inability to be thankful to him and his caretaker. The dog replies that her intelligence doesn't have much to do with that and says she just needs to force herself if she doesn't think things will improve gradually. Mind believes the solution doesn't sound as helpful as he makes it out to be, but before she can dismiss it, the dog jumps her and pulls her down onto the sheepskin rug with him. Mind loudly cries her pitiful song again, but he keeps her scruff between his teeth and prevents her from moving. She keeps going for a good hour, whereafter her voice loses volume, and after 30 more minutes she has finally fallen asleep. Satisfied, and with ringing ears, the dog releases her and rests his head next to hers.

The following days he keeps forcing her next to him during bedtime, until she no longer flees from him in the morning, and the first day arrives that she willingly lies with him without his coaxing. The dog comments on this, making her aware of her progress. After the way she treated him, Mind feels it's important to thank him for the effort he's put in her, to which he jokes that he will soon. Mind doesn't get the perverted innuendo and makes herself comfortable on his body. But before she closes her eyes, she realizes she never got to learn his name. The dog reveals it to be "Dennim", whereafter she wishes him goodnight.

The next day Dennim decides to repeat an old tactic and interrupts Mind's quiet morning in the garden with his dreaded bone toy. She lets out a short yelp when he wakes her from her peaceful trance, but to Dennim's surprise, she manages to regain most of her composure when she sees it's him.

He says they should celebrate yesterday by playing together, but she responds not to know how and not to be interested in such childish activities. Dennim calls her boring and teasingly pushes her around the field. His sudden excessive physical contact makes her nervous at first, but his persistence soon tests her patience and her body starts to move on its own. She slowly and clumsily swipes her front paw at him, and Dennim takes the "attack" as permission to go further. He throws his weight onto her and starts wrestling her around like a big stuffed animal.

Because Mind is unsure how to respond to the new experience, she lets him throw her around, whereafter Dennim decides to offer a bit of playtime guidance; and instructs her to bite or push him down. Mind thinks it's not polite to do so and asks if they can't play a more quiet game. Dennim lists more overly-active activities, until she notices the glistening of water in the distance and asks if the pond is suitable for swimming. Dennim looks at the small pond and asks if she can swim, but she remembers she never even had the chance to learn. Dennim's mood stays undiscouraged and he suggests they should take the opportunity to teach her.

As said as done, Mind is helped into the pond and an attempt is made to teach her the basics. Even so, Dennim spends more time taking advantage of the situation by making intimate contact whenever he can, but Mind pays no heed to his antics and accepts it as a genuine lesson in swimming. But it doesn't take long for her to get exhausted, and after a mere 2 minutes of clumsy peddling, she puffs some mutterings about needing a rest and exits the water again.

She climbs up the slope to the garden and momentarily looks back to offer a genuine thanks to Dennim for his help. Dennim has an internal laughing fit.

She shuffles back to the grass field and lies down. Dennim follows right after and boldly places his body against her back, and starts to groom her. Mind is unfamiliar with this new approach, but her exhaustion and the comfortable touch makes her less jittery than she'd normally be, and allows him to carry on. While he carefully handles her fur in his moment of character diversion, she is reminded of something and decides to address him about an issue.

She asks what his reasons are for not liking other dogs, whereafter Dennim asks what sparked the question. She says to know a few human words and was able to understand bits of the conversation his owner had with the pound's employee on the day of their meeting. She understood that he didn't like being around other dogs, but not why that is. Dennim replies that he has no excuse.

Mind finds his answer to be unsatisfying, thus asks if he feels the same way about humans. He confirms it to be so, but again doesn't clarify why. After his vague responses, Mind is urged to ask him why he invited her over to stay at his house if he can't stand any form of company. He answers they'd make the best couple, as they are the same, yet amusingly different. Mind doesn't entirely understand the meaning of his answer, but feels mainly bothered by his couple remark and wonders if he saved her with a more personal goal in mind. Dennim tries to calm her eternal phobia for possessive remarks and flirting, and reassures her he's just describing how well they can provide each other a reason to carry on. He adds it's the main reason he took her with him. Mind thinks about his given excuse and then presents the question if he feels lonely. Dennim replies he wasn't, until he knew of her.

She's unsure whether or not the remark is meant to be flattering or sad, but decides to apologize anyway, and says to know it's a nasty feeling to have. But Dennim insists it feels great, because it's a sign he's alive. Again she finds his answer to be on that strange edge of positive and depressing, but this time she feels it's proper to agree with him.

She looks at the clear sky above them, while soaking in the conversation that just met its end. While there's alot she doesn't know about the cheeky young male grooming her, she can't criticize his replies, as she's been in a situation that makes many of his answers strangely apply to her as well. Her mind starts to wander off and she tries to figure out what life even meant for her when it was still dictated by her abusive owner. But she finds that she never thought about it back then and is unable to think about it now. Because she had no dreams or desires, outside of escaping her situation, she never held anything close to her heart; and had nothing she used as a crutch through life. She just stayed alive because she was already alive. This realization makes her feel a bit strange, but at the same time, she feels content being with the dog she once perceived to be another enemy, and wonders if this is what she's always wanted, perhaps unknowingly.

Before her thoughts start making any hasty conclusions, though, she blanks out her mind and rests her head in the grass for a nap. She falls asleep to the sound of Dennim's tail hitting the blades of grass as it wags.

An unknown time later, Mind is awakened by a few raindrops hitting her body. When she opens her eyes, she sees the once flawless sky is now filled with dark clouds and a strong wind is blowing. Dennim is no longer present in the garden. Before rain officially starts pouring down, she runs back inside the house for shelter. Mind contemplates about pushing the backdoor shut, expecting Dennim to not be outside anymore, but notices that the door is missing and she can't protect the kitchen floor from the intruding rain. While a bit puzzled by this, she decides to leave it at that and goes to look for Dennim inside. When she doesn't meet him in the study, but finds its door to also be missing, as for the 2 chairs, she becomes a bit distressed. She pick up the pace and starts to call out for him. She checks whatever room she's able to enter and keeps shouting out his name, but the place appears abandoned, and every time no answer is given back, Mind becomes more uneasy.

She increases her walking speed, until she's sprinting around the house in a state of panic. She finds more random objects to be missing and starts to think there might've been a robbery while she was asleep. With Dennim missing, she presumes he got involved one way or another. Her nativity makes her guess the robbers stole him as well, but she figures he wouldn't be the type of dog to allow that, and then goes over to imagining the possibility of him having been killed trying to protect his home.

Mind is unable to open the front door in order to check for clues that can confirm her worries, therefore decides to summon a more positive outlook on things first and goes to double-check the garden, hoping that Dennim has simply moved himself to a different spot while she was asleep.

She runs outside and tries to look for any areas where one could lie and stay protected from the rain, and then notices the thick trees surrounding the pond. She shouts out Dennim's name into its direction, but still gets no response. When she comes closer, she spots something in the water, but the rain and evening sky make it hard to see any helpful details. Then the flickering light of a faraway thunder strike clears up the view for 2 brief seconds, and Mind is shocked to see what looks like the head of a black and white Saluki drifting face-down in the water. She cries out Dennim's name as she sprints towards the pond and jumps in. She immediately realizes her fatal mistake, as the inexperienced swimmer struggles to keep her head above water. When her spastic paws hit the "dog's head", she discovers it's merely a piece of a birch tree covered with stringy gunk from the pond.

She attempts to swim back to safety, but is unable to move herself from her locked position. Her wet fur is starting to weigh down heavy on her and the rain only speeds up the drowning. She calls for help and whimpers, but quickly understands there's a chance she'll die. The increasing exhaustion hurts her chest and she tries to keep her head up, but the idea of passing away in a backyard pond as reward for the life she's lived weakens her with the crippling feeling of defeat. When the last bit of strength leaves her body, utter misery fills her head and she whimpers for the last time. When she can no longer keep her nose above water, a body suddenly jumps in and hastily pulls her out onto the grass.

A drenched Mind tries to stand on her trembling limbs and then sees Dennim standing in front of her. He asks her if she is able to make it inside, and she answers to think so. They hurry themselves into the kitchen, whereafter Dennim closes the backdoor.

Mind collapses her wet body onto the expensive floor and pants heavily. When she catches some of her breath, she asks him where he was and goes on to report that furniture is missing from the house. She then notices the previously absent backdoor Dennim just shut, and he quickly claims that their owners were busy with a few repairs and nothing serious was going on. He jokingly expresses his worry for her decision to kill herself after having experienced such a small change around the house, but ensures her it won't happen again and she can relax. Mind ignores the joke and isn't sure what to think of the explanation, but finds no real reason to doubt it, nor has the motivation to, as she is more occupied with being physically and emotionally drained after her near-death experience.

Dennim gets a small towel from one of the kitchen drawers and dries her off using his paws. He suggests it's best if she lied down for a bit. Mind follows him to the study, where the door and its 2 chairs have returned to their old location, and they both lie down on her trusty sheepskin rug.

Mind pants for a while with her heart beating in her chest, until she notices Dennim is looking at her. She raises her head and returns the eye contact, but can't find the words she wishes to say to her saviour. Dennim stays suspiciously silent as well, and just stares at her with his familiar smile on his face, which reveals surprisingly little of his thoughts.

Their eyes pierce into each other's for a while, until Mind leans her head against his neck and moans to have been worried. Dennim answers she could've waited for him inside, but she responds that the house was empty and thought he had drowned in the pond. His expression relaxes after this, and Mind continues to thank him for having come to look for her when he did. He teasingly asks her since when an empty house upsets her this much, to which she admits to have grown more fond of him than she likes to admit, and feels like she took him for granted.

While the confession is appreciated, Dennim isn't sure what to tell her next, as Mind has unknowingly created a dilemma;

Dennim, who is not a real being and the creation of Mind's depressed mind, can only exist if she either stays miserable or falls in love with him. While Mind says to have grown fond of him, he detects it doesn't concern romantic feelings, and it won't be enough to keep him and the house he spawned for her inside the realm of existence. The more her mood keeps improving, ironically thanks to his influence, the less powerful he becomes. As Mind is still emotionally recovering and tends to be screamish around the subject of romantic affection, he knows he cannot speed things up, or reveal his nature to enable the possibility of urging her to feel an emotion she doesn't feel in the first place. While he has his feelings set for her, he knows it cannot be forced.

Dennim's face becomes stern and Mind picks up on it. She asks if something is the matter, but he still can't find the right words. Because it starts to worry her, Dennim decides to give her a vague warning; and says there might be a day when he and their owners will be gone.

Mind becomes alarmed by this and asks for more details, to which he replies not to know the details. She keeps asking more questions, and eventually becomes emotionally distressed by the lack of answers, and asks if they want to ditch her because she's a bad dog. She continues to be sorry for not letting the man pet her and starts to speculate that her behaviour caused the 2 humans to have avoided her ever since. She begs Dennim to call the couple right away and have them pet her, but Dennim reassures the rambling dog that it's not the issue.

Mind then hands Dennim an excuse and asks if her old owner is perhaps looking for them and causing a threat, but Dennim decides not to awaken any unnecessary stress within her and doesn't use the easy solution. He answers that she is safe and wanted, but that it concerns her stance towards him. Mind thinks for a moment on what that could mean, whereafter her thoughts bring her to another self-denigrating conclusion. She immediately apologizes for her behaviour towards him and says to regret distrusting him after all his earlier efforts. She asks him if there's still a chance to convince their owners that they do like each other, so that nobody has to leave. Dennim understands that it's pointless to prolong the discussion, as there's no use in Mind knowing what needs to be done and she'll just keep drawing her own conclusions in response to his unclear explanations.

He decides to play along with this particular excuse and agrees that they should appear friendly whenever they can. Mind smiles that it shouldn't be a challenge, and promises to play with him next time.

Despite the odd path their conversation took, Dennim senses that she possesses a lingering feeling of worry and hopes it'll keep her from achieving ultimate happiness, prolonging his existence long enough until a more favourable result has been reached.

The next morning Mind wakes him up with theatrical excitement and invites him to play with her outside. She argues their caretakers might see them before leaving the house, giving them an early start to their plans. Dennim doesn't yet question her decision to stage a friendship and silently follows her to the garden.

Mind exits the house first and checks all the windows that look out on them. Despite not seeing any movement, she starts hopping around the field and squeaks out a few pitiful barks, in the hope to attract attention. Dennim is too entranced by the silliness of the show to join her, and stays a smiling spectator. Mind urges him to look busy before they're spotted, but he asks if she perhaps doesn't want to wait till their owners show up. She insists they should avoid raising suspicion that they're pretending, but Dennim reassures her humans don't think dogs are that smart.

But as a reward for her efforts, he spawns their long absent caretaker at the opened door, contentedly watching the two with some tea in hand. Dennim immediately runs over to the man to jump and greet him, and suggests Mind not to leave him hanging and do the same. She shows reluctance to assault their owner like that, but Dennim claims he likes to be jumped on.

She hesitates, but after some more urging, drags her feet towards the tall figure in dark and sits down. The man reaches out his hand, making her turn her head away, but allowing for it to further stroke her head. He pets her in the next few awkward seconds, gives her some compliments Mind is unable to understand, and then heads back inside.

Dennim congratulates her, but Mind replies they shouldn't put their guard down yet and keep pretending to play for a bit longer. He objects to her choice of words and comments that they should hang out because she wants to, not just to impress someone. Dennim then asks if she cares for a game of tag, but Mind says not to know what that is and repeats not to care for children's activities. But he just grins at her response and stomps his front paws threateningly. As she stays unwilling to participate, though, he warns he'll bite her in the butt if she doesn't run away from him. She commands him to stay back, but eventually the two are sprinting around the garden at high speed, one of them more entertained than the other. Mind keeps asking under her breath to abort his game, but is only met with the promise of getting nipped.

She then runs towards the pond and disappears down the slope, but when Dennim jumps after her, expecting her to be in the water, he sees she psyched him out and is holding onto a tree near the edge. He calls her out on her trickery mid-air, and then disappears in the deep water.

Mind sits down up the slope and releases a satisfied dog-smile. Dennim slowly exits the pond, seemingly lost motivation and announces not to want to play anymore, but then shakes himself off next to her and drenches her as revenge. He runs off snickering and Mind ends up being the one chasing him around.

After a short minute, she discontinues the pursuit and excuses herself to be tired and thirsty. Dennim stops in his tracks and calls her boring, but then gets a quick nip in the rear himself as she passes him. The cheeky move leaves him silent, but pleasantly surprised. Mind looks back smiling, but makes sure to get away from him before he can return the favour.

Dennim lies down panting and watches her enter the kitchen, where she finds a bowl of water already waiting for her. Mind has her drink, and looks at Dennim lying in the grass from the corner of her eyes. He has his back turned to her and seems to spend their intermission sunbathing. She realizes just now was the first time she enjoyed herself or had the urge to be mischievous, but never thought she was able to experience both these things. Dennim proved to be a special kind of influence, despite his exhausting games.

Suddenly, Mind notices her drinking has been interrupted and looks down. She sees the water bowl is now nowhere to be seen, leaving her confused and futilely searching for it. She heads back outside through an ignored doorless passageway, to report to Dennim, but sees he has disappeared as well. She walks over to the spot she last saw him and tries to sniff him out, but finds no signs of an animal ever having been in the area, except for her. Then she remembers she's never been able to pick up Dennim's scent and understands this tactic likely won't help her find him. She looks around and starts calling out his name, initially thinking he's playing with her, but a familiar pattern makes its return and she starts to panic when only the sound of the breeze answers back.

But when she turns her head, Dennim is suddenly standing next to her, asking what she wants. Mind jumps up, but is quick to accept his return and tells him about the bowl. She figures to have gotten a sunstroke and informs him she's going to stay the rest of the day inside to rest. He says to come with, even after she insists not to waste his day for her, and they both go to lie down onto their sheepskin.

Mind pauses for a bit and watches Dennim. Like her, he looks willing and able to fall asleep after their busy morning, but as she carries a face of concern, he stays awake to return the eye contact for as long her thoughts are occupied with something.

She then asks him if he can make sure to be there when she wakes up. Dennim offers a strange expression, so she quickly lies down her head and apologizes for her request. He says it not to be a problem, whereafter she explains to worry whenever he's not around, but knows it shouldn't be his task to console a paranoid dog. Dennim replies to be surprised she became so attached to him, considering how she was when they first met. She shares the surprise, but is happy that things turned out the way they did, even though she became more dependent on him than she would've liked. Dennim thinks it makes sense she doesn't want to be alone anymore, and promises to do the best he can.

Mind then points her nose at his body and comments on his lack of scent. She suggests he should mark his territory more often, so she's able to determine his recent whereabouts. He answers to be too shy for those kind of practices, and doing it in the house will probably give him trouble. She comments that he has less of a problem with that than he thinks, as he let her take the blame of his accident back at the pound. He smirks that was for a good cause.

Mind then asks him what he would've done if that hadn't worked and she entered the vehicle with her owner. He admits not to know, but she probably would've been neutered. Mind pauses and then responds that it might've been for the best, as it would've permanently freed her from further possible pain. The answer surprises Dennim. He asks her if she wasn't planning on having more offspring in the future, to which she stays silent.

Mind takes on a more depressed look and avoids eye contact, but then asks him if she may tell him about her children. Dennim answers to be willing to listen if it makes her feel better.

She starts off by mentioning how her first childbirth experience was a lonesome and scary one, much like all the other births, but that the puppies erased those feelings instantly. Her stories start off nostalgic, but when she tries to recall more details of her children, she finds that she remembers very little and becomes increasingly upset. She only manages to name a few given names or the colour of fur, but when she's unable to move the story to her 4th litter, she stops and starts to softly whine over her failing memory. Dennim says she shouldn't worry about it, as it's impossible to remember this many children. He attempts to further cheer her up by saying none of her puppies remember her at all, and despite their short stay with her, are probably better off where they are now than in the cage where she was. Mind answers that to be likely, but the objective statement doesn't appear to improve her spirit that much.

It becomes apparent that the conversation has emotionally drained her, causing her to abort it and close her eyes. Dennim licks her snout a few times and then joins the nap.

Nearly 3 hours later, Mind opens up her eyes. She finds Dennim to once again be missing, but after she's groggily called him once, he quickly walks into the room to greet her. She greets him with slight relief in her voice, and he places a meaty bone in front of her. He says that their early rise made them forget to have breakfast and he was getting her something from the refrigerator. Mind asks him how he's able to open such a contraption, and he smiles it to be a government secret. She doesn't understand what he's saying, but happily sinks her teeth in the wet bone placed in front of her.

As Dennim is rather attentively watching her eat, she asks if he wants some and moves herself to the side, but he says she should have it. He eventually asks her how she's feeling, to which she answers that the nap gave her the much needed time to think about the conversation from earlier. In retrospect, his arguments made sense and she realizes she needs to learn not to think back too much. Dennim says that it's not strange for a mother to do this, but Mind murmurs that she's hardly been a mother in her life. As all litters have been taken away from her after merely 2 weeks, no relationships were established and the statement that her puppies do not know of her existence is far from false. Her eyes then drop to the floor, and she silently continues with her meal.

Dennim says she still has the chance to become a proper mother, and boldly suggests they should give it a try sometime. Mind's body shocks in response to his answer, but she says nothing afterwards and just half-heartedly keeps on chewing on her bone. Dennim thinks he might've been a bit too risky with his choice of words again, but then notices the tip of her tail actively wagging, while the rest of her body does a more believable job of ignoring him.

He smiles to himself and then announces to go get a snack as well.

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