The girl with an endless future.
"A hearts door
once closed
refusing
entrance
For many
years
remaining
as so
Somehow you
appeared
with the
key
Offering your
love
with endless
possibilities."
Kennel Number Forty-four ;; K.N. 44
Scrolling through the kennel list, I smiled at several lovely designs, but none blew my mind or inspired me like this gorgeous girl. She is natural but has a nice, natural feel to her. Her coloring and looks remind me of one of my good friends, and I'd love to someday call her mine. Kennel number forty-four is definitely a true beauty.
Raina
"RAY-nuh"
Meaning Queen
Slavic
Raina doesn't really like when others make up nicknames for her, as Raina is rather short as it is.
Fae ;; Female
Raina is a female, though she has no girly side and rather only looks feminine. She is more of a tomboy in personality.
Border Collie xx German Shepherd
Raina's mother was a Border Collie, while her father was a German Shepherd.
Calm
Raina is extremely calm and level-headed. She's always been very collected in personality and never freaks out. As the oldest sibling of her litter, she always had developed a protecting type of feeling that makes it so she is always ready to keep her little brother and sister in check. When she lost them and was taken to the shelter, she kept the trait. Her calm personality makes it easy to talk with her because she rarely raises her voice or becomes angry. Keeping her head helps make others around her feel more relaxed and comfortable, even if she truly inside isn't.
Brave
Raina is often teased about her strange body coloring and other boy-like features. But though it may be hard for many, Raina isn't afraid to bravely stand up for herself and others that get picked on. Though this trait has always made it hard for, it helps her gain true friends that too want to stand up for themselves and be themselves.
Stubborn
Maybe her only known "bad" trait, Raina can often be stubborn. If she thinks she's right about something, she will stop at nothing to prove her point and will strand her ground. Though her stubborn attitude can be annoying sometimes she is right. But even if she is, she won't use the common phrase "I told you so" because she knows that that would be rude.
Righteous
Always by your side
Imagination is endless
Never lets you down
A great girl to know
I honestly feel very connected to this character already. She is beautiful and perfect in so many ways. And her design just goes to show that everyone is special in their own way. Even though she is a very basic color with no markings, she still speaks to me and inspires me like no other character has done. How basic she is but how much I love her just shows how much I'm attracted to her.
This girl has a lovely color combination, making up for her lack of markings, and though some may think she is "boring", I find her amazingly gorgeous and perfect. She would be loved greatly by me, spoiled with art, and hugged daily. I now devote my heart to this girl, and with all of my love, I promise that if I win her, she will have a great home.
I will always remember the day. The day that I was forced to leave everything I loved behind, and was left with nothing at all, except the cold, cruel city before my eyes. How could this horrible place really be my once wonderful home? And how would I make do with living alone? Everything was darkened now, including my heart which had always been warm and welcoming until he died. But I guess I should start from the beginning. My name is Raina, and I'm a Border Collie German Shepherd mix. I used to live in an apartment with my owner, an elderly man with a somewhat frightening appearance. We had so much fun together though; he had a good heart. He couldn't walk me every day, so he'd just let me run along the sidewalks, alone in the park by our home.
It was a beautiful place there, so I went everyday. My favorite days were ones with cloudless, pure blue skies and bright sun. In the afternoon, morning, the grass would almost glow; it was so lush and pretty in the sunlight. There was also a lake in the middle of the park, bordered with flat silver stones, and several old wooden benches that look like they could fall apart at any time. A few trees dotted the grass, most planted next to a bench to give the person sitting there some shade. There was a place near the lake without any benches or trees, too, perfect for picnics. There was always at least three blankets laying over the ground, except for in winter, when the park was covered in snow. No one was there in the winter but me; the shady trees and benches were bare. Most people were wrapped in coats and scarves, hurrying down the street to get to their houses before the turned into popsicles. I only went to the park a few times in the winter; the snow was so deep there it was too difficult to get through. Usually, I spent those day snuggled up in my silky pink and orange dog bed, right beside the radiator, chewing on a rubber Cong-toy filled with peanut butter while my owner read a novel silently in the torn armchair beside me. Every night he'd get up painfully from the armchair and hobble into the kitchen. Soon a wonderful aroma starts to float out of it, and he emerges, holding a plate of human food and a plastic fork, and a red dog bowl that says in curly blue litters, “Raina” on the front. He always gives me my favorite brand, the kind that makes its own gravy when you add water. And, sometimes if I don't chew up a sofa cushion, he adds a little piece of chicken, which used to be kind of rare (Well, I stuck inside all day, aren't I?), but I'm getting better.
Anyway, one day my owner got out of his seat and wobbled to the door, pulling on a too-small jacket on the way. He also stopped and tugged a pink and black plaid doggie hoodie over me, and gestured me to come with him. The stone steps outside our apartment were slippery and covered in snow. Icicles clung to the rails, and it took him about five minutes just to get down them. “Gotta go get my medicine.” he whispered gruffly in my ear. Now, you might think that I have no idea what medicine is. Well, you're wrong. Its what humans get at the vet.
But what I wasn't sure about was why he needed it for. I mean, he had gotten a bit slower, and stopped interacting with me like he used too, he was still the same guy. The poor old man was always stuck in the house, so he almost never used his car, which had sat in the driveway ever since he'd taken me home from the shelter. It was an ugly red color, but the paint was so chipped it actually looked more brown to me. He opened the rusty door and and sat down on an old black seat. There was a long tear down the one he placed me in. Soft tan fluff was falling out all over the ground. He turned the key, and the engine sputtered and then came to life. We began to move, slowly, of course, down the road, which was cluttered and crowded as usually.
The ground looked swishy and wet; the snow had begun to melt. Spring would soon be here, and I could prance happily through the park again, at least, that's what I thought. But nothing would ever be like that again. We were nearing my least favorite part of our neighborhood. The place where the buildings were mostly dark and boarded up. An old apartment we passed was falling apart; its windows' panes were cracked and dusty. Cans and paper littered the streets so badly that the tar were barely visible, and people got mugged almost every day.
Peering out the window, I though I saw a flicker of movement among the trash cans in a darkened ally. Yup, there was something in there. It moved into a patch of sunlight, and I could finally see it clearly. It was a dog! He was large and black with several cinnamon patches dotting his flank. He was looked half starved; his ribs stuck out from under his fur, but he held his head proudly. I noticed huge, sharp looking claws protruding from his black paws. Just then, I realized he was looking at me; his amber, almond shaped eyes narrowed. And I could have sworn he muttered something that sounded like, “wimp,” before he melted away into the shadows of the alley like a spirit.
I'd been paying so much attention to the strange mutt, I didn't realize that the man in the car ahead of us had...fallen asleep? His car drove closer....and closer.... until, CRASH! It slammed into the curb and flipped over. My owner tried to step on the brakes, but it was to late. SMASH! We ran right into the side of the vehicle, and our car seemed to me crunched right into it's rear. I sat in the seat behind the old man's, so we were both hit hard. Pain shot up one of my legs as I was crushed into the side. I was suffocating...then everything went black.
I opened my eyes what felt to be hours after the accident, but it was just seconds before. Someone big was lifting a very bent up side door off of me, and I suddenly felt horrible pain in my leg again. A large, muscular African American man wearing a blue uniform and gold badge on his chest put out his hand to me. I sniffed it. He smells safe, I decided, and I let him lift me gently from the debris. It turned out that that one man had caused about four more cars to collide with ours. I could see him, standing and talking to another guy in blue clothes. Police, I thought, coming to give that dumb man a ticket. He looked very surprised and confused. “I just drifted off for a minute.” he muttered to himself, getting into the police car to be driven home. “And this happens?”
Then a though struck me like lightening. Was my owner alright? Looking around, I saw him laying motionless on a cot. Two men were lifting him into a strange vehicle with bright flash lights. My ears dropped, and I whimpered, sniffing again at my large rescuers' hand. He stroked my shivering white head. “I'm sorry, girl.” he whispered sadly to me. “But I don't think he's gonna come back.” A tear trickled down my cheek, and he put me down. I looked on miserably as he hopped on one of those odd human things that I see so many people ride on the sidewalks. They have only two wheels and two handles bars. Now I was all alone. My owner was dead. So here I am. In a dangerous, horrible place with no one to protect me. I wished I had died with him.
The sun was beginning to sink below the clouds, and the sky turned a pretty scarlet color. The growing darkness cast shadows over everything, making it look as though black sheets were hanging from their sides. It had taken me a while to process what had just happened through my mind, but once I had, I didn't know what to do with myself. I was not abandoned, but just the same, I felt as though no one else was there for me. Because I was getting cold, I slunk under a pile of broken wooden fence that was heaped beside a trash can, deep within a near-by alley. Before I knew it, there was a loud crash and a bright flash lit up the darkened streets. Soon after, I heard a pitter-patter of drops on pavement; a storm had blown in and now the rain was beginning. I should have known that my make-shift shelter would be no use; moments after the rain started I felt a drop hit my nose. Soon I was drenched with cold water, and to miserable and weak to do anything about it. The storm had become worse outside, and so, sighing, I slipped into a restless sleep.
My snooze was quick and dreamless; I could tell because when I awoke, the sun had not risen, and the rain had not yet eased. I was currently soaked to the bone, and my stomach was growling almost louder than I could. I lay there, huddled up with my nose wrapped around my tail, for several minutes until I heard a scuffling outside; it sounded as though something was sniffing the ground around me.
I peered cautiously out from under the heap on fence to see the stocky white figure of a dog padded closer and closer to me, nose to the pavement. He stopped abruptly when he saw my head poking forth, his expression both surprised and nervous, and, to my relief, not aggressive.
“Er, hi.” I murmured, my ears dropping, embarrassed by my condition. The white dog's tail shot up and he replied back, “Hi! Who are you?”
“Um, I'm...Raina.” I hold him. “I, um, I don't really belong out here.”
The dog curled his tail. “I can see that.” he barked cheerfully, running a tongue over an untidy tuft of hair on his back. “Well you'll need a better shelter then that. Another big cloud's moving in,” the stranger yipped, eying my shelter with disapproval. He nosed away a plank of fence and helped me up.
“My name's Bolt,” the white dog told me and we began to walk deeper into the alley. “I live with a group called the City Dogs. We're basically just a group of strays living out in the old dump. No one's worked there for years, and humans don't seem to see what a great place it really is.”
We turned into a wide space that's center piece was an enormous heap of trash and debris. “This is where you live?” I couldn't hide my surprise.
“Yep.” Bolt answered, gesturing to a large empty oil can tipped on its side. “That's my den.” he guided me onto the wreckage and pointed to a car on its side. And inside was the dog I'd seen earlier! He was still standing strong; his black fur blended into his home so that I could barely see the tints of cinnamon on his flank.
“That's Choker.” Bolt murmured, pointing with his nose to the handsome male. “Those two are the twins, Angel and Abigail,” (Two young teenaged Shiba Inus), “That's Ruby,” (A slender female Husky), “And that,” Bolt whispered, gesturing to a stocky golden yellow lab, “Is Toaro.”
My eyes widened when they fell on him; his ginger coat glimmered like silver even in the murky downpour we currently endured. The handsome dog turned and caught my eye; I looked swiftly away. “This is all very nice,” I told Bolt, trying not to smile as Toaro eyed me with interest, “But what do I do now?” I was starving and the pounding rain on my back was a cogent reminder that I was not safe in my home, but in a junkyard with a pack of strange city canines.
“Oh, you can stay here!” Bolt yipped happily with a little bounce. “You've shown that you can stay alive out here for a night, didn't you? I'm sure Choker would be happy to have you call this place home.” I looked around, unconvinced. Could this dump, with its rotting trash, soggy junk, and pungent smell really be a home?
Bolt must have seen a look of reluctance on my face, because he sounded a bit down as he said, “You can sleep in there for tonight, I'll talk to Choker for you, you know, ask him if you can stay.” I nodded and followed him into the debris, relieved that I wouldn't have to speak directly to a dog that had called me a 'wimp' once before, and looked as though he could tear you apart if you got him mad.
My paws were slightly sore from stepping constantly on pieces of metal and shards of sharp glass; luckily we were almost at the top. When we stopped, I could see all the dogs my new friend had described to me, and a few others who seemed to be appearing every so often from the alleys.
I turned back to look at Bolt, who was gesturing to a crevice in between two thick shredded mattresses. I looked at it reproachfully; the fluff tumbled from the sides, reminding me of the old man's car seat. “Well, go on!” Bolt encouraged, and I slipped underneath. Other then a protruding spring or two, the bed was actually pretty soft. It was certainly an improvement from standing in the cold rain, which I was glad to be protected from.
“Thanks.” I murmured to the white male, who was becoming blurry as my vision slurred; I had just realized how tired I was. My eye-lids were dropping as though someone had placed heavy weights on them, and I just caught a glimpse of Bolt padding away down the junk-heap as I slipped into a calm, dreamless sleep.
Will be continued if I win her.^^
Going Green
Being a Leader
Appreciation
Rainy Days
Bullies
Seaweed
Mosquitoes
Prickly Cacti
Thanks for the chance to get such a lovely character!<3
