Hotdogs At The Park

Mutt

The echoing noise that bounded off the metal walls of the culvert was deafening. It seemed like traffic would never stop on this day. Mutt was doing his best to tune it out and think about something else, but it was starting to get to him. The white canine layed on the cold metal floor slowly but surely losing his temper. It seemed like just when it quieted down long enough for him to get some sleep, some other vehicle would come speeding down the street like they were the king of the highway.

Was the park really that special that the humans needed to be back and forth all day every day? No it wasn’t.

In any case, Mutt was too stubborn to nap anywhere else. Once it finally got quiet once again, the mixed breed finally relaxed, drifting ever so closer to sleep. He was just about there… and then…

He fell asleep. A miracle really.

That was until another FUCKING car had to come and ruin it. It couldn't have been more than five minutes, but Mutt was pissed. “THAT TEARS IT!” He growled at nobody.

Leaping out from his little den, the white dog angrily stormed off into the park. Being annoyed made him hungry, and these humans could afford to lose one or two hotdogs. Making sure to stay out of sight, he watched as the car, most likely the one that woke him up, slowed down and stopped. He watched on as a human and her dog got out.

Mutt didn’t pay attention to the human, but he eyed the strange dog, she was smaller than him and didn’t give the impression that she was a threat, being too occupied with her human. Deciding that it was safe to sneak by, Mutt slinked through the grass and tall bushes before looking for someone to rob.

That was before he felt a presence behind him. Jumping to his defensive stance, hair bristled, and muscles tensed, he waited for the other dog to make a move, Clearly he wasn't sneaky enough.

Damn it.

---

Gilly

Peering out from the holes in the door of her molded plastic travel compartment within the moving vehicle, Gilly watched the trees pass through the window and searched for landmarks to pinpoint their impending destination. The steady thumping of her slender tail against the side of her kennel had been ever increasing in its rhythm the closer she recognized the route they were taking.

The park. THE PARK.

It was one of the few places that Robyn, her human, allowed her to roam off-leash as long as she was well behaved and didn’t go wandering off too far. The temptation was often a challenge when it came to maintaining her composure, but the reward of being untethered was worth it. When the vehicle began to slow down and turn into the entry point of the greenscape was when she finally sat up, the movement a bit too quick and the braking of the car's wheel sent her bumping into the side of the crate with an undignified thud.

She didn’t care though, as she was too busy bouncing off her paws, waiting for the moment when the car door would open and she would be released from the box. The click of the latch sent her body trembling with excitement until at long last the door opened and she… waited. Like a good dog, because she knew if she tried to bolt then she would be leashed immediately. So with her body tensed, she glanced up at her person with anticipation until she was given the cue and was able to bounce onto the pavement of the lot with an exuberant hop in her step.

The lean, wiry sighthound perked her tall tufted ears and took in the surroundings of the open space. The grass was finally growing greener as spring was arriving, though the trees were still working on forming their buds so the only shade was provided by their sprawling criss-crossing of branches. It was still early in the day and yet there was a fair amount of people around who were taking advantage of the warming temperatures. Some kids were playing on their obstacle course with their parents watching, some humans running or biking on the paths. What she was really on the lookout for was some company that she could interact with.

A certain aroma on the breeze caught her attention, and when she traced it to one of the vendors selling hot dogs along the trail for the people to eat there was something else that caught her attention. The pale canine was slinking through the foliage to the side of the path.

Quickly, she cast a glance behind her to see that Robyn had claimed a seat on the bench nearby and pulled a book out of her shoulder bag. Fortunately, that meant her attention would be on reading the pages in her hands rather than where she was, at least for the moment.

Without further hesitation, Gilly loped off in the direction of the other dog until she could see where he was lying low in the shrubs. He seemed focused very intently on what he was doing right up until she approached behind him. The male gave a startled jump and she gave a friendly wiggle of her frame.

“Hey!” she barked, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sneak up on you. My name is Gilly. I don’t think I’ve seen you around, but that’s not unusual. I just moved here not too long ago, but I would never forget a face. What’s your name? Do you live around here too?”

She always got a little too excited at meeting someone new and the words had a habit of tumbling out of her jowls in a manner that made her talk faster the longer she spoke, only pausing when she needed to take her next breath.

---

Mutt

The friendly tone and demeanor of the unknown dog was quite the unusual surprise for Mutt. Most of the time whenever Mutt was met with another canine, or anyone in general, he was met with either indifference, or hostility. That or they just wanted something from him. So when he turned around slowly to see the stranger wiggling in a legitimately playful manner, he was a bit speechless.

The absolute speed of the questions she was asking him also left him dumbfounded. The maligator mix squinted his eyes at her distrustingly, his tense muscles never loosening up, as he tried to gather his thoughts. What? What is happening? I’m- HUH!?... You know what? Whatever. Deciding that she was harmless for the time being, Mutt stopped tensing.

Finally gathering his thoughts enough to form an actual sentence he responded. “Good to know...” He was still a bit suspicious about her intentions, but nonetheless sat down. “I’m Mutt.” He looked down, unsure how to respond to her energy. “Or at least that’s what they call me.” Nervously he darted his eyes up to look at her, just to make sure that she wasn’t trying to pull a fast one on him before looking back down. “I’m not telling ya where I live, but no we haven’t met. I just got here recently as well.” He mumbled his words out. Being genuine with someone who wasn’t trying to fight you was something that he was out of practice with.

“Look, if we can wrap this up soon, that would be great. I’m kind of in the middle of something important.” He stood back up, shaking his coat in a dismissive manner. Giving his unexpected guest another look over, he nodded his head as a goodbye and turned his attention back to the park behind him.

Eyeing the nearest hot dog vendor, Mutt began to nonchalantly make his way toward it, acting like he was going to do something else. When he was sure no humans were looking at him, he snuck into the nearest bush and waited.He had spent days studying the routine of this particular human, and he knew that he always kept some uncooked weenies in a packet on top of a cooler for easy grabbing. (For both himself and now for Mutt) He was going to get his hot dogs one way or another. Now all he needed was a distraction and an opening.

Luckily enough, both the opening and the distraction came quickly. A couple of kids came and took the vendor’s attention away from the weenies, and onto them. Mutt didn’t understand them, nor did he care what they were saying anyway but as soon as the man was preoccupied, he made a break for it.

Only for barking, that wasn’t his, to come from his direction, bringing the man’s attention back to his stand, and Mutt, who was barely a couple feet away from stealing his meal. The man wasted no time in yelling at Mutt, using a stick that he picked up off the ground to shoo him away.

The mongrel growled at the man but reluctantly cantered off only to physically run into and trip over another dog. Not just any dog, the dog from earlier. Gilly. She was the one who barked, ruining his plans. Was that why she was so nice to me? Just wanted me to go hungry, huh. Wants me to die of starvation, huh? Mutt laid there on the ground defeated, angrily grumbling obscenities to himself, before turning his gaze to Gilly and glaring daggers. Gritting his teeth, he mumbled out,

“Why did you have to do that?”

---

Gilly

Mirroring his behavior in hopes of putting him at ease, she took a seat in the lush grass when he did and finally took a good look at him. The edges of his ears were tattered, his fur was dingy in a way that you couldn’t tell if his pelt was truly tan or if it would be white if he had a bath. And the fur around his neck was bare with no collar to speak of. She knew there was a population of stray canines that resided within the city, only she had yet to meet one until now. At least she knew what to call him now.

He seemed visibly uncomfortable with the interaction, his eyes shifting and his words mumbling when he spoke. Doing her best to keep her posture relaxed, she didn’t want to spook him off when they finally got to beginning a conversation. But to her dismay he seemed quick to want to move on and turned his back to her.

“But…Um, okay then…” At a loss to what to say to coax him back, her ears dropped to the side as she watched him walk away. This wouldn’t be the first time she came on too strong and warded off another by being too eager. Humans were so much easier to figure out. Just sit there and wag your tail and behave friendly and the majority of them welcomed her into their space, stroked her head and seemed genuinely pleased to be around her. Dogs… Not so much. They were more complicated creatures and while most of the dogs she encountered were polite to a point, it was difficult to really make friends.

Not wanting to immediately return back to Robyn’s heel, she chose to continue to track Mutt with interest in his endeavors. He stalked across the ground and disappeared into the bushes, compelling her to follow just to keep him in sight. At the edge of the path was the same food cart that had lured her over to find Mutt in the first place, and the male was headed directly to it.

There were links of meat left out in the open while the man selling them was preoccupied with serving some human pups. He didn't appear to be the giving sort, stern of brow and large in stature. She couldn't believe that Mutt would think the vendor would be amicable to giving up the hotdogs and would surely be scolded for such a transgression.

With a warning yip, she called after him "Hey. Hey, Mutt! Be careful!”

Unfortunately her bark had alerted more than just the other dog she had intended it to. The man turned at the sound as well, and caught sight of Mutt reaching for the hotdogs sitting on the cooler. She winced as the man started waving a stick around to chase the dog away in a threatening manner. When he fled, she couldn’t get out of the way fast enough before he barrelled into her.

“Why did you have to do that?” he growled at her.

“Sorry…” There she went, apologizing for her actions again. “I-I didn’t want you to get into trouble with that man. Humans get really mad when you take their food when they don’t give it to you...” Not that she spared him the trouble anyway. The way he looked at her made her feel terrible, tucking her tail between her legs and taking a couple steps back.

---

Mutt

Mutt was a mix of emotions right now, none of them good. He reluctantly stood back up, shaking the dust off his fur, just to go back to scowling. On one hand the mix knew from her body language that she truly didn’t mean to mess up his mission. But previous experience from before he ended up in Canidale made him have his doubts. It wouldn’t be the first time someone faked being nice to him just to screw him over, and he was sure it wouldn’t be the last. Usually he could catch it but he was having such a difficult time telling if the hound in front of him was trying to bullshit him or not. Either she was really good at faking, or -

It was then that Mutt remembered her hopping out of a car with a human, and he finally noticed the collar around her neck. She’s a pet. He thought bitterly. He never envied pets, but the fact that most of the ones he has met were so ignorant to the struggles he went through every day- Struggles that they would probably NEVER go through in their entire lives - Pissed him off to no end.

“Of course you would know that.” He spat in a low voice, his anger finally bubbling over. He couldn’t hold it in anymore, and although he had no intentions of attacking her, Gilly was unfortunately the target of Mutt’s rage. “Guess what, I know it too.” He shot a glare at the hound. “Humans don’t like me, you know.” He started pacing back and forth, head low, ears pinned back.

“That’s ok.” He paused for a second. “It’s FINE, cause I don’t like them either.” His lips curled up into something that wasn’t exactly a snarl but more of a bitter smirk. “I bet you figured it out by now that I’m a stray.” He chuckled, though there was no humor in his tone. “And I know this is so HARD for you to understand, seeing as you have one of those two legged weirdos waiting on you hand and feet- But life isn’t sunshine and rainbows for me.” He grit his teeth, continuing his pacing around the ibizan hound. “If I don’t steal from them, I STARVE!” He finally raised his voice.

“Nobody’s just gonna hand me food if I ask nicely, I have to TAKE it. Dog or human, it doesn’t matter and I don’t care if they like it or not. Humans don’t like you if you’re not pretty enough for them. I can’t just go begging around like a pup does.” He looked back at her bitterly. “And unlike YOU- I CAN’T GO BACK TO A NICE WARM HOUSE. I DON’T GET MY FOOD DIRECTLY PLACED IN MY MOUTH! I DON’T GET WATER- I DON’T GET ANYTHING UNLESS I TAKE IT!” He howled, finally being genuine with someone for once. He knew he was assuming a lot, but to be honest he didn’t care, he needed to get this off his chest. “Hunting is good and all, but prey is far and few between as of late… and scrounging through trash has been nothing for trouble for me.” He finally let his voice drop. “So it doesn’t matter if you wanted to get me in trouble or not, you did, and now I’m out of a meal and I don’t know when I’ll be able to get another chance.” He finished off, before sitting back down and sulking, back against her. Let her attack him. He didn’t care anymore.

---

Gilly

The anger that spat from Mutt’s harsh words made her back pedal in order to give him space. It wasn’t as if she felt a stray had an easy life, but she assumed that if they chose not to live with a person they must have a means to take care of themselves rather than be cared for. That was, after all, the natural trade off that canine kind signed up for when they became pets. A warm place to sleep, food when they needed it, help when they were sick or injured. She never took her lifestyle for granted, but it was clear that he felt that it was enough to dislike her.

Gilly had never met a person who treated her badly if she treated them well in kind. She didn’t want to blame the bitter male for his feelings towards people, especially not in his agitated state. And yet, she couldn’t help but wonder if he ever genuinely tried to approach a human with anything other than hostility.

Maybe he didn’t even know how. If his overall suspicious nature that he had displayed since she first walked up on him was any indication it was doubtful he had been shown much kindness in his life. And that was enough for her to feel sad for the suffering that he obviously endured every day. Perhaps that was how she could fix the situation, at least the immediate problem at hand.

Keeping her head low, she kept quiet for once to avoid upsetting him further and paced away further along the path that winded through the park. She wouldn’t blame him if he wasn’t still where she left him by the time she got back. But she had to do something to make things right after making him go hungry. There also had to be a way to get him a meal without stealing from people as well.

A bit of movement caught her attention, and a gray shape emerged from a cluster of shrubs near a quiet edge of the park. Perking her ears, she fixated on the rabbit and let her body go tense, freezing in place so as not to alert the prey.

It was perfect.

And yet… She would get into so much trouble with Robyn for what she wanted to do. Perhaps even having to remain leashed when they came to the park in the future. Still, she couldn’t shake the look in Mutt’s eyes when he was yelling at her, like she had betrayed any chance she had at gaining his trust. It was enough to make up her mind, and before she could talk herself out of it she darted.

The rabbit had been busy grazing on the growing shoots of grass on the hillside, but as soon as she started on it the creature fled. Unfortunately for it she was built for speed, her long legs and streamline body allowing her to cover distance like a deer. It tried to change directions on her, but she veered smoothly to cut it off and pounced just as it made a dive for a hole tucked under a shelter of bushes. It squealed briefly when her jaws closed around it, but she shook it quickly and silenced it so it wouldn’t suffer.

Carrying the limp rabbit in her mouth with a spring in her step, she ignored the horrified gasps from the park goers and she passed. She was too busy trying to keep her focus on finding Mutt, sweeping her gaze up the slope and retraced her path back to where she had left him.

‘Please be there…’ she thought to herself, keeping hopeful as she approached the place between the hot dog vendor and her owner. And to her relief, she saw that he had not gotten far from where she had left him.

Loping in front of him, she held up her catch with her chest puffed with a sense of pride and dropped it in the space that lay between their front paws. Giving the smallest wag of her tail tip, she gave him a remorseful grin and pushed the prey towards him.

“I know it won’t feed you for long… But hopefully it will fill your belly for one night at least. I’m sorry… again. I hope there’s no hard feelings about what happened with the hot dogs. If we meet again and you need something to eat… Just ask. Okay?”

“GILLY! Leave that and come here!”

Robyn’s voice carried from over by the benches. Gilly winced at the tone, knowing her human was not happy with her. No doubt her little hunting venture had gotten her notice and now the consequence was that her time in the park was to be cut short.

Throwing Mutt a glance with a sheepish grin, she said, “Humans don’t really like it when you chase animals either… But I’m sure you know that too. I guess sometimes you just have to break the rules.”

---

Mutt

The white dog continued to sit there, still sulking. He didn’t even notice the hound that he just chewed out was no longer there. He wasn’t even sure how long he had been there before his ears pricked at the sound of humans young and old gasping in shock. He didn’t pay them any mind, they sounded far enough away from him that he didn’t deem them a threat.

He sighed deeply, trying to gather his thoughts back together so that he could work out a new plan for some dinner. Maybe I could try again later? No. That human is probably gonna be on guard for at least a week now! Maybe I could try and steal something from one of those small humans?

He gave it some serious consideration before deciding against it. Nah, the big ones get super mad when you do stuff to the small ones. He looked up and noticed some birds, jumping up to his feet without really thinking. No. They’re too high! Damn it!

He shut his eyes as he shook his head. I guess today he would just have to skip a meal. The canine was just about to trot away before he heard the sound of someone running at him. He braced himself for an impact that never came. Opening his eyes only when he heard the sound of something hitting the ground, he saw a rabbit, and as his eyes drifted up, he saw Gilly.

His mind raced as the hound apologized and ultimately left him be. He couldn’t bring himself to say anything as he watched her run back to her human. Mutt just couldn't believe it. Nobody had ever done anything of the sorts for him, without a price. He closed his mouth, which he had just noticed was slightly ajar and swallowed the lump in his throat that he didn’t know was there. So this is what guilt felt like?

She… got this for… me?

His mind came back to reality when he heard the sounds of a little kid shouting and pointing at the mongrel. The larger human made a face that Mutt was all too familiar with. Wasting no time, he picked up the rabbit and dashed off towards the culver where he lived, he didn’t care who saw him or not. The mix only slowed down when he saw the sight of the ibizan hound. They made eye contact, for the first time an apology was in his eyes. He didn’t have time to stop but he made a note that if they ever crossed paths again that he would need to thank her properly.