His last shift at work had left Ryan completely drained. Not only that, but the weather was God awful. He had a coat, at least, but his jacket's hood did little to shield him from the heavy rain. That, along with his now soaked socks, was making the evening even peachier.
A quick look over his shoulder told him he was alone. He briefly considered singing, but decided against it. This particular opportunity of being alone would have to go to waste- he was just too tired.
"I better not get sick...." he grumbled.
"Yip!"
Ryan froze. "Hello?" he called out.
No answer.
He continued his walk, listening carefully to the rain's rapid pitter patter. It sounded like a dog, but that didn't make sense. He never had dogs- but he supposed when an animal had to go, their owner was forced to oblige. It's one of the reasons he preferred cats.
He was thinking about his own pet, Ms. Shadow, when the sound repeated.
"Arf!"
"What...?" Up ahead, he could see a moving shape by a telephone pole. "Fuck, don't tell me...."
He quickened his pace, fast enough to be a quick walk but careful enough of slippery puddles not to be a full-on run. When he saw a tiny black dog by himself, his suspicions were confirmed. There was no tag on the collar- just a chain linking the poor thing to where it currently stood.
It was a Monday- meaning the dog could've been outside all weekend as far as he knew.
When Ryan bent down to double check for a tag, the dog sat down obediently. "Good boy," he said. He slid out of his backpack straps to fish out his pocketknife from the front pocket. He was currently studying abroad, so he saw abandoned animals pretty often- just not like this.
After being cut loose, the dog kissed his fingers. At that, Ryan couldn't help but smile. The dog panted and wagged its tail, then gave Ryan a thank you bark before sneezing three times in a row.
"Awww, little dude. C'mon, go find your owner. I need to get going."
With that, he gave the mutt a few reassuring pats before leaving the pole. He wasn't far from his apartment- but he was cold and hungry.
After a couple blocks, he turned back to see if the dog was still there, only to realize he was lagging behind with an obvious limp. Upon stopping, the puppy caught up to him, wagging his tail triumphantly.
"Son of a bitch."