by hirokas » Thu Aug 30, 2012 11:14 am
Username: Wwillow Dawwn
Name: Aluje
Short Story:
Aluje wasn't one of the normal puppies. You know, the cute, furry, cuddle-me-all-day puppies. She was always more difficult, off on her own. It was that which nearly killed her.
It was a decently nice day, a rarity where she lived. Her siblings were playing in the dewy grass, her parents watching happily. As usual, Alu was nowhere to be found.
Her parents had expected that she was playing with another litter. It wouldn't be too odd, she was known to do that when her spitefulness and friendly self conflicted after a fight with her littermates. They picked up a trail not far from the cave where all the children slept, and assumed all was well.
That wasn't it at all.
Alu had left, on a mission to find some prey. Her mother was low on food and supplying less food, and Aluje thought- no, knew, that she was the solution, the Chosen One. She was going to feed her family and become a hero.
As with most pup's fantasies, she was far from the truth. Her "starving" mother was just trying to wean her pups. Alu was far too young to hunt, and couldn't have found a better way to hurt herself- except taking a full-grown male Dialla's food. Which, of course, she did.
She had no way of knowing this, obviously. She, a pup of a few months, stumbled onto some freshly killed prey, and took it. Easy. And she'd be hailed as a hero when she'd done almost nothing.
Unbeknownst to her, a large gray Dialla dwelled where her food was found. He was right behind her.
The next part of the story is too sad to share, and I'll just say that the male did not take this well. Instead of returning a hero, Alu returned bleeding and pained to a shocked family who didn't know how to care for her.
But luckily, my mother did. She was one of the Dialla photographers, and picked up a great deal of information from the researchers living next door. She and I worked day and night to save that pup, and somehow Aluje made it through the stress of being almost killed, seperated from her family, and given to humans.
I gave her the name Aluje after a word that means "storm," for she truly is a storm, but in the best way possible.