Vanessa, you were falling asleep again. You had been dozing off over that book I let you borrow when that hard knocking at the door jolted you right out of your chair. You rubbed your eyes because it was so early, too early, for visitors. The clock said... well, you couldn't make it out but the sun was not long from rising.
You stumbled over to the door, putting in a valiant attempt to clear your eyes. You weren't going to be able to locate the doorknob otherwise. Whoever was on the other side of the door wasn't going to knock again. Trying to see who it was through the peephole was pointless. It was patience, on the visitor's part, not your tremendous effort to open the door that brought you face to face with a blurry someone on your porch.
Even though you could barely see him, you knew him. Looking at him was the same as looking at yourself in the fogged up mirror after a shower. His body was so different from yours, but you knew it just as well. His presence took up the porch and was he broad. He could reach up and touch the roof without straightening his elbow, too. His feet stayed perfectly shoulder width under him. You didn't wear shoes but you liked the discipline of his boots, the laces you could not see the tips of but were so inextricably taut.
His eyes cleared yours with the intensity of his stare. You didn't know if he felt that same sense of silhouette between you, or if he just took it for granted. Expected it of you. That's how he looked at you, so early in the morning. He was the most powerful thing on the earth for that brief length of time until the sun rose to challenge him.
"Morning," he said. He didn't say it was good, or apologize for waking you. "What's your name?"
"Vanessa," you get out. It's the only thing you were capable of saying, other than, "What's in your hands?"
"What, this?" he said, opening his fist. A dog's leash and collar sat in his hand.
The next you saw, you were sitting on the floor, looking up at him. He seemed to stretch on forever. You were linked by a shining silver chain. His face bore down on you with expectation and moderated satisfaction. You realized you were totally naked.
"What?" you said. You tried to cover yourself and found your hands were bound.
He was no longer pleased. "Dogs don't speak," he said, as if he is reminding you. He obviously doesn't like to repeat himself.