My Light in the Dark
"Sal?" Blink poked her head into the freshly dug hole under the porch. She'd been trying to track down Salami all morning, and his scent trail had led her here. Thankfully, her glowing angler lure lit up the dark enclosure. The much larger bulldog half-heartedly blinked against the light. "There ya'r, I was lookin' e'rywhere." Blink herself wiggled through and crawled next to Salami. He barely huffed to acknowledge her presence. "Y'okay?"
"What does it matter," Sal moaned, sighing heavily.
"Whatchu talkin' bout, big guy? 'Course it matters! I'm worried bout'cha!"
"Only because Becca got you to be my therapy dog," he mumbled sourly. Blink furrowed her brow, lure twitching.
"You think that's the only reason I'm checkin' on ya? I'm checkin' on ya because I wanna be your friend, Sal!" She sneezed angrily mid-sentence. The bulldog risked peeking one eye open at her, and Blink sighed, settling back down. "Look, big guy. Movin' to yer farm ain't been as easy on me as ya migh' think. New place, new duds, new critters- mosta which are heccin' huge n' scary, if ya ain't noticed. If they ain't scary they're already paired off n happy with their own lackeys, dang cliques. 'Sides Becca's busy all day; can't stick 'round her so... yer all I got."
Awkward silence fell over the two. Not even the creaky porch floorboards above could break the building tension. Cheeks hot and growing increasingly uncomfortable, Blink stood. As upright as she could in those close quarters at least. "Anyway," she coughed, "if ya don't wanna be friends, fine, I'll give ya space. But there ain't reason for ya to mope n' feel sorry for yerself un'er here. Get some sun a'least, fer goo'ness sakes." She turned curly tail and wriggled her way back out the way she came.
She hadn't shuffled more than a few feet from the porch when she hesitated, glancing around and wondering what came next. Becca was nowhere to be found and the other animals did their best to ignore her so if even Sal had rejected her, then... where did that leave Blink? She groaned, exhaling heavily. Sal must've really gotten to her, because all she felt like doing was curling up and moping herself. Tail tucked, she resolved to find a quiet, warm rug inside when scraping claws caught her attention- Salami clambering out from under the porch.
The large dog had a harder time pulling himself up, and didn't notice Blink watching him until he'd fully cleared the boards. A bulldog, his eyes were always dark, sad and baggy. But now as their gaze locked, there was a glint of something more. Embarrassment? Shame? "Sorry," was all he was able to mutter. His ears drooped and gaze fell to the grass.