“Mof reporting in for duty!”
“Baj reporting in for duty!”
“Tef reporting in for duty!”
“Gat reporting in for duty!”
“Pim reporting in for duty!”
“Cor reporting in for duty!”
“Elp reporting in for duty!”
“Sah reporting in for duty!”
Sounding to the humans like barking from far away, the puppies’ senior Nique gave the usual directions.
“Continue digging the tunnel.”
Baj ran to be the first one through the hole they had dug under the wooden fence on the west side of their yard, but Mof beat him to it by half a second. Nosing into the space next to his brother, Baj tried to push Mof out of the way and be the first one through. Mof’s left front paw landed squarely on Baj’s right eye.
“Ouch! Hey, no reason to blind me!”
“Yeah, yeah. Just wait your turn. I’m the first one through!”
“Well, I’m the second one through!”
“Third!” Tef called out as he wriggled under the fence.
Several pushings, pawings, and scufflings later, all eight of the puppies were on the other side of the wooden fence and racing to their tunnel, which started on the far side of the yard next door.
Mof had a head start, so he remained in the lead.
Elp and Sah were the runts, and they lagged behind.
As they ran, Baj and his siblings all sniffed the air near the empty human den next door, making sure no humans had moved in.
So far, so good.
Different groups of humans came and looked at the human den every few days, and had been doing so ever since Baj could remember, but no specific human scent persisted.
The puppies also smelled the gophers who lived underground here, and the cat hair that lingered in the trees. They smelled the Rottweiler Kaxians who lived over their tunnel. There was also the scent of horses in the western yard, but that was an old, old scent, at least as old as Mom and Dad. Ancient.
Yesterday, a group of young humans had been inside the small shed out behind the human den for hours. They’d been laughing, talking, and keeping the Niques from digging their tunnel. It had been almost worth the delay when the puppies found food wrappers in the shed that made good licking. They tasted like hamburgers and tacos.
The day before yesterday, a hawk had swooped down from one of the tall pine trees and almost scooped up Elp. Dad had used his super Nique speed to run at the hawk and scare it away. Baj had been surprised. He knew Dad shouldn’t have used super Nique speed so close to the humans. Not in broad daylight. Dad must really love Elp.
Almost every day, something tried to eat the Nique puppies. Snakes and gophers popped out of holes and tried to grab them. Hawks and crows came out of the sky or the trees without much warning at all. Kaxians dug into this yard or their yard and attacked (which was odd, because Mom and Dad made sure that the Kaxians around here didn’t know they were Kaxians).
On the other days, humans came looking at the human den, making the Chihuahua puppies wait hours before they dared to go near their tunnel.
The small Niques were aware of the danger from the gophers, the humans, the cats, the birds of prey, and the four large Kaxians who lived over or near their tunnel site: two Rottweilers, a Pit Bull, and a Bull Mastiff. But Nique Duty made the puppies go dig the tunnel.
One thing was in their favor: it was winter. So long as it wasn’t raining or snowing, winter was a good time of year for Niques to be out digging tunnels here in the high desert. The grass was tall enough to hide a grown Chihuahua, let alone puppies. This was a desert. The ground only froze once every twenty years or so. It didn’t rain or snow often, but it did happen. It only rained enough to make grass grow in winter.
So they had to cross the large backyard next door to get to their tunnel. Running was the best way to avoid danger.
Mof and Baj were in the lead, followed a little ways behind by Tef and Gat.
And then Pim and Cor.
Then a long break.
Elp and Sah were in their usual place, far at the back.
All of them could see the welcoming brown of the tunnel up ahead, going under the western chain link fence, just big enough for a grown Chihuahua or two puppies.
Just keep running, each puppy told him or herself.
Keep running and you’ll make it. No problem.
Baj heard the cat in the tree a second before he heard it drop through the branches.
“CAT!” Baj yelled as he whirled around to see.
The cat was huge, tabby striped, and dropping right down onto Pim!
Pim was just standing there with her mouth wide open, watching the cat fall down closer and closer to her.
Baj yelled some more. “You leave my sister alone, you big ugly cat!”
Cor shoved Pim out of the way at the last second.
Dad was there now, yelling at the cat, too. “You leave our babies alone!”
Baj was confused. Where had Dad just come from? He hadn’t been there a second ago.
Whoa, Mom was here by his side now, too! She was growling at the cat. Huh?
Baj looked back and forth at his parents, and then way over to the hole under the eastern fence where they had to have come from. There was no way they could get here so fast! Yet, here they were.
The next thing Baj knew, Mom was biting down hard on one of the cat’s hind legs, and Dad on the other.
“MerOWwwwwwwwwwwL!”
The cat dragged her legs back, spun about looking at all the angry Nique faces, turned, and ran up and over the chain link fence into the back alley.
All the puppies ran to Mom and Dad, nuzzling and kissing them.
“How did you get here so fast, Momma?” Sah said.
“You were all the way over in our yard yelling at Buttons!” Tef said.
“I love you, Mom and Dad!” Pim said, squishing in between them and licking both their faces.
Mom and Dad looked at each other. Dad shook his head no. They kissed and hugged all their children by turn, oldest to youngest, and then Mom urged them all to their duty.
“Run to your tunnel, kids!”
“We’ve got your backs!”
The puppies took off toward the beckoning brown mouth of their tunnel.
Dog Aliens 2 - Chapter 4: Neya
Nanny Fon had died defending the new wolf puppies from a recent attack by coyotes. The scout, Porl, had notified the pack in time for them to kill most of the coyotes, but Nanny Fon was gone.
The pack’s alpha male, Scur, had promoted Belg up to the scout position and promoted Porl to join the hunters, as a reward for bringing the pack in time to save the puppies. Porl was one of Neya’s litter mates. He walked much taller now that he ran with the hunters.
Neya noticed that Belg watched sadly whenever his own litter mates ran off with the hunters. She also saw that Ordn, Tolt, and Kess never noticed their littermate Belg’s sad face. They were too busy being glad they ran with the hunters now.
The pack’s alpha female, Fleek, had made Neya her new official nanny wolf.
Neya was a responsible grown-up now at two years old, which was older than half the wolves in the pack. She had a new litter of brothers and sisters to babysit while almost everyone’s mother, Fleek the alpha female, was off hunting with the pack.
Patiently, Neya cleaned the wax from Stulp’s ear. The female pup stretched out her front paws as far as they would go and yawned a big long yawn, wagging her tail.
Stulp’s yawn was contagious, and Neya yawned, too. She envied Stulp her absolute contentment. Neya had been content once with her role in the pack. Now, she wanted more. She wanted pups of her own to raise. She had seen them in a dream, once, more than a year ago.
Oh, she was proud of what she’d already accomplished. The last litter of pups she’d raised had turned out very well, three good hunters and a good scout.
Glar’s wobbly legs were trying to carry h
im outside the cave.
Neya rose to her full height, planted her front paws quickly, and called him to him.
“Glar! Come back.”
“But I need to...”
“I’ll clean it up. You must stay inside the cave. It’s for your own safety.”
“Aw, can’t we go outside? We’ve been inside all day!”
“No. Not until the pack gets back.”
Glar’s ears and tail went down, and his shoulders slumped.
Neya tried to explain why the pack being gone was a good thing.
“They'll bring more meat when they come home!”
Glar’s tail started wagging.
Neya smiled. “Yep! That’s why they have to go, so they can bring meat.”
“I guess that’s OK, then.” Glar perked up and trotted back to his nanny.
She nuzzled him and licked the goop out of his eyes.
Caring for this new batch of brothers and sisters on her own while the pack hunted was exhausting. With the pack gone and no one to help escort the pups outside, clean up after them, feed them, and keep them quiet, Nanny Neya’s only break was while all the puppies slept.
If she were the Alpha female of her own pack, then she could be the one out hunting, and one of her own grown daughters would be staying home as the nanny. Yes, that was what she wanted. Now if only a male lone wolf would come calling for her…
Still daydreaming, Neya chewed up some of the meat the pack had left and passed some into each pup’s waiting mouth. The pups had been weaned yesterday and couldn’t quite eat on their own yet. They were always hungry.
The pups were always thirsty, too.
“Filp! Crom! Stulp! Glar!”
“Yes, Neya!”
“Remember, stay inside! I’ll be back with water for you first, Filp.”
All the puppies rolled over onto their backs to let Neya know she was boss.
Filp smiled at her before he rolled over.
Some boss she was! Yeah, puppies rolled over for her while they were young and helpless and she still fed them, but as soon as they could eat on their own, they would be independent of her and given their own assignments. She hadn’t been completely in charge of the last litter because Fon had still been alive, but she knew what was coming soon.
Neya thought fondly of the puppies in the first litter she’d cared for. Ordn, Tolt, and Kess had been allowed out hunting with the pack for almost a year now. Belg stayed home with her, but as a scout. At first, Porl had stayed too and trained him, but now Belg was a full defender scout on his own. Being a scout looked like a lot more fun than being a nanny. All Belg did was run around all day and have fun chasing squirrels!
Sniffing the air outside first to make sure no predators lurked, Neya went out to the nearby trickle of water down from the snowy peak, which had made the pack choose this small cave. It filled up a small puddle where Neya drank her fill and then made eight trips back and forth, two mouthfuls of water for each pup. She gave them the water the same way she gave them the meat, passing it straight from her mouth to theirs.
She wished sometimes that she never had seen that vision of how life could be so different for her, if she were the alpha female of her own pack. She wanted to be content. The vision had ruined her contentment, yet she had to do her duty anyway. It wasn’t fair.
When Neya returned to the cave for the eighth time that hour, Filp had found a cricket in one of the cracks in the cave wall. His tail wagged gleefully behind him while his little paws jabbed toward the cricket. They were still too clumsy to quite reach in and kill it, but he sure was trying.
Neya watched Filp with admiration. OK, and she harbored a little envy. Some amusement crept in when he barked at the cricket.
Filp’s little tail was out wagging as he romped from one crack to the next, following the cricket as it jumped around. Each time he romped, he called out to the cricket.
“Come out, Cricket!”
“Get out here and let me kill you!”
“I see you in there!”
“You can’t hide!”
An hour after the last feeding, Neya fed all the pups again, made them promise to stay inside again, and again went to sniff outside and make sure no predators lurked between the cave and the small trickle of water that ensured her family’s survival, or anywhere nearby.
This time, she smelled trouble.
“Belg! Come quick!”
In the distance, Neya heard Belg’s reply.
“On my way! What is it?”
“Too many deer! They’ll drink all our water! There must be ten of them!”
Belg said something she hoped the puppies didn’t repeat when their parents were home.
Deer didn’t usually come this far south. They liked it better up north where there was more greenery to eat. Neya and her pack would be going up there themselves, come spring. The extra rain down here this year must have made the deer venture farther south than usual, out of the cold.
Neya felt her heart beating faster. It urged her to go out and shoo the deer away from the pack’s water. The puppies would go thirsty if all those deer drank from their little pond.
But she had to stay with the pups in case a predator came. Nature is cruel, and Neya’s instincts told her the chances of a predator coming while she and Belg had the deer and the water to worry about were good.
Finally, she saw Belg run by. She barely heard him speak.
“I hear the deer. I’ll try to turn them away from our water.”
A few seconds went by, and then she heard Belg shooing the deer.
“Get away! This is our water! There’s more in the next canyon! Go over there!”
She wasn’t at all sure the deer understood what Belg was saying, but his voice echoed off the canyons. If she didn’t know better, she would think ten more wolves were coming down to join him. She stood tall in the cave mouth.
Pride surged within her as she watched Belg herd the deer. No, she hadn’t taught him to know which one of this herd was the lead deer or to run up to the lead deer and bite at its legs so that it turned, not directly.
However, she had been the one to tell Belg the Kaxian story of the deer. The tale showed all young wolves how deer should be handled, in a general way. Neya knew that Belg’s effectiveness was largely to her credit. That gave her some job satisfaction.
She watched him skillfully run in, nip at the key deer’s legs, then run out, turning the herd. While he was out, he barked up into the canyon in strategic places so that his barks echoed back to the deer and made them think more wolves were coming.
For Neya, watching Belg turn the deer was entertainment, like watching people dance is for humans. Turning deer was a wolf art form.
There was music to go along with the deer dance, too. The deer’s hooves made a thunderous sound as they raced by the cave. The sound modulated whenever the herd turned, and it got louder when it entered the cave and bounced around inside, looking for a way out. There was an eerie rhythm to it that she found pleasing.
She stood in the mouth of the cave and watched Belg long enough to be sure the deer kept right on running and didn’t deplete the pack’s water. She smiled at Belg once the deer were gone, and he raised his nose to her as he left to run his scouting patrol around the cave again.
"Tell us a story, Neya."
This was Crom talking now, the runt of this new litter.
Neya sighed. Part of her duty as nanny was to tell the puppies stories—both to teach them wolf ways and to keep them from missing their mother. The trouble was, the story of warning against the dog aliens was the next one up for her to tell. It was about how the dog aliens had come to their world from another world out there in the stars thousands of years ago. The story showed that the dog aliens were the wolves’ enemies, and it told how bad an idea trusting the dog aliens was.
Because of a vision Neya had seen of herself starting a family with one dog alien in particular, she found telling that story difficult. She
didn’t want to tell it. She knew she would have to eventually, but she just couldn’t bear it right now, for some odd reason.
Neya smiled at Crom and started a different story, one that suited their situation. Surely, that was appropriate.
“Do you know who Woll the Scout was?”
All the puppies spoke at once, jumping up and wiggling their tails as fast as they would go.
“Yes!”
“Tell me, Stulp.”
“Woll the Scout protected the puppies while his pack was out hunting!”
All the puppies were still jumping around and wagging their little tails.
“That’s right! How did he protect them, Glar?”
“He ran and he ran around their den!”
“Yes! What did he do while he ran, Crom?”
“He sniffed the air!”
“Yes! What was he trying to scent, Filp?”
“Meanies who would try to eat the puppies!”
“That’s right!”
All the puppies were fully engaged in helping Neya tell the story. Their tails were out and wagging. Their ears were up and alert. Their tongues hung out of their mouths, which were all smiling. They skipped around and around her, excited. From memories of being a puppy herself, Neya knew that each pup played the role of Woll the scout in his or her imagination.
“What did Woll do if a meanie came to try and get the puppies, Crom?”
“He howled to the alpha male!”
“That’s right! And then what did Woll do, Glar?”
“He ran to the puppies and stood in the way!”
“Yes! Show me how you run to the puppies here and stand in the way so nothing can come in the cave and eat them!”
All the puppies bravely stood in the cave mouth, fending off the imaginary meanies from coming to eat the imaginary littler puppies.
Neya felt a little guilty for thinking earlier that Belg was just running around. She knew better. He was doing the essential task of making sure she and the puppies ate and drank in peace. He had come right away when she called, too, without any of the sass that Porl used to give their old nanny, Fon.
Yes, she had a right to feel proud of the job she’d done teaching Belg and his litter mates. He was a fine scout, and Ordn, Tolt, and Kess were fine hunters. Soon, they would be back with more meat.
Dog Aliens 2 - Chapter 5: Raffle
I’ll wager my humans had second thoughts about Oreo almost right away—and third, fourth, fifth, even sixth thoughts. I pride myself on being a ‘good boy’. I try my hardest to figure out what my humans want, and then I do my best to do what they want me to.