Hat

*This story is one of my favourite stories, about a dog and girl's strong, unbreakable bond.*

**Nivea loved Hat. Hat was her dear sweet Otterhound. Hat was whitish-grey in colour, sort of like fresh soot mixed with white powder. Hat was a big dog, almost as tall as Nivea. He was a furry creature, and was always covered head to paws in mud. Nivea wasn't certain, but she was sure she saw an article that Otterhounds were one of the most dirtiest pets you could find. They were stubborn, mischevious, and just not Nivea's kind of dog. But that didn't mean she didn't love him. Hat was a sweet dog. Nobody couldn't stop loving him.**

\*

A typical hot Sunday, as the tropical air blew in Nivea's face. Her sweaty palms reached for Hat's collar, leading him away from the road. 'Sorry, Hat. No walkie for you today,' she said, wiping her hot face covered in streaks of sweat. The colourless sun brew out hot air, making it hard for Nivea to easily find shade, and her box of Maltese chocolates was beginning to feel damp, caused by the melted chocolate. Nivea popped a sweet sugary ball of chocolate into her mouth, and saw Hat looking at her with longing beady brown eyes. She sighed. 'OK, OK, here,' she gave him a dog biscuit, but as he tried to take it, Nivea quickly pulled her hand away. 'Sit,' she said. Hat obeyed, and she gave the biscuit to him. Hat scuttled next to her, and she put her arm around him, as they watched the sun slowly rise up, and the purple clouds moving away.

Soon, it was the evening, and the breeze wasn't so hot, and the air didn't make you thirsty. 'Mum, I'm going to take Hat for a walk,' she said, opening the gates. Hat obediently walked beside Nivea's heels, into the bushy area of the village. It was quite shady there, and Nivea sat down, because it was still slightly hot. She didn't notice Hat's impatient face as he waited there for Nivea to stand up so he could smell that interesting thing down the bush that dragged itself so slowly and had two massive things dangling out from its face, with balls all the end of it and black things inside the ball. He liked balls. He could play with that ball thing. He licked Nivea, and turned around in circles. She ignored him, and then Hat started running away. Nivea didn't take much notice of this, as Hat was a tame thing, and would always come to Nivea, but after a while of texting her friends, she left her phone on the floor of the Bush, and said 'Hat! Hat?! Come on, it's time to go now! You've played enough already.' At this point, Hat would come running to her and lick her face, and then Nivea would laugh and hug him. But there was no sign of him, so she went home, thinking Hat would be there, waiting for her.

But he wasn't. She started panicking, looking around for him everywhere. 'Hat?! Come back now! Please!!' she said, wiping away tears. 'Please!' There was a low growl, from far away. Nivea, forgetting about her phone left in the Bush, started running to the direction of the growl. Perhaps that was Hat. She had never heard Hat growl before, but maybe something came to attack him? If she wasn't mistaken, she thought, she was heading for the forests. Deeper than the Bush, wider than the village. 'Hat! Come back now! Stop it, your tricking me!' she convinced herself that Hat would just be in the corner of the road. But he wasn't. Nivea's thoughts rushed to her. *This is my fault. I never should have left him alone. I wish I didn't.* She sniffed, and turned around. Maybe her mother would help her put up posters of Hat. *A $200,000 dollar reward,* she thought. Suddenly, she heard the growl again. Where was it? She started running towards it, and finally went inside the forest. The growl was very loud now. She ran and ran and ran, until finally, she saw him. Stuck in a tunnel, growling. He tried climbing, but heard his paw. Nivea couldn't bear seeing him like this, so she bent down with a tree vine. Hat held onto it with his teeth, and Nivea pulled him up. When he was finally free of the tunnel, Nivea hugged him. 'I won't ever let you out of my sight again,' she said. She stood up, and was about to go out the forest, when she realized the horrible truth. She was lost. She had read people lost in stories, but it wasn't as scary as actually being lost, actually being the person. She bent down, to the height of Hat. 'Where's home?' she whispered. This time, Hat didn't move a single inch like he normally did.

He had no idea where they were either.