O brave new world

Untitled Part 5

I crash to the ground, falling on my butt and left arm. Something heavy settles on top of me. My imagination is going wild, spitting out countless possibilities. Rapist, Murderer, robber... Robbers! It's the robbers that broke into our house! They found me! I'm going to die!

A slobbering tongue licks my arm while a soft wet nose nuzzles me. I take a breath. This is not a person. Therefore it's not a rapist or anything of the kind. Carefully, I open my eyes. A smiling face looks down at me, a gentle soul peering through soft brown eyes. I silently laugh in relief. It's a dog. Only a dog. Nothing to worry about.

The dog moves his face away from me and lets out a few sharp barks. I quickly make a grab for his muzzle; the robbers are going to here him! They'll find me! The dog looks back at me, tilting his head almost quizzingly. Amazing. I didn't know dogs had so many expressions. I gently push him, hoping he'll get the hint and get off me. He doesn't. Instead, he just shifts around so that even more weight is holding me down.

Oh, well. My fingers are curling up in his soft golden fur. I had actually imagined it being softer and fuzzier, but this texture is nice as well. Smooth. I'm sure a wide, dopey grin is plastered over my face, but I don't care. I'm outside. I've walked on grass, seen some crocuses and met a dog. A real dog! It's like a dream come true. What more can you want? Well, yeah, there are those robbers in the house with my mother... I should go help her.

Determined, I push at the dog. He doesn't budge, just barks loudly. I try shutting his muzzle, but he just ignores me. Stupid dog. He's going to get us killed by the robbers.

"Are you okay?" a masculine voice asks from behind the dog. I squeak and jump in fright. Well, I try, but with my voice not working and my body pinned down by a dog, there's not much I can do. The robber found you! A panic filled voice tells me. The robber found you! He's going to kill you! I desperately try to say something along the lines of "I don't have any money, please leave me alone!" but the only sound that manages to escape my lips seems closer to a grunt than anything.

"Sorry about my dog" the voice continues. The person steps around the dog so that I'm staring up into emerald green eyes. The ones I saw through the window. I tense up even more, if that's possible. What will he do? Will he kill me so that I can't tell anybody that they broke into our house? Is he going to kidnap me and sell me as a slave?

I see how his eyes shift as he recognizes me. Help! "Get off her, Max" he says, and the dog moves. I should run. This is a robber, I should run. But before I can move, he's already reaching for me. Coaxing me up from my position, holding me in place. "You're that girl I saw through the window earlier, right? You live in that house?" I stare at him, frozen. Not like I could speak if I wanted to, anyway. "Hey, don't look so scared. I won't hurt you, I promise. Can you take those three steps to the porch over there? Then you can sit down, all right?" Why is he doing this? He's a robber. Shouldn't he be loading stuff in a getaway car and driving off by now? My eyes dart to the porch before focusing back on his. He's got glasses on, I notice. How did I not notice that before?

"Come on, you can do it. Just one step at a time, nice and easy." He guides me to the porch and we both sit down on the steps. He's not holding on to me anymore, and I breath a sight of relief. Still, I don't think making a run for it would be the smartest move. He could easily catch me, I'm sure. I've not had a lot of practice running. Besides, where would I go? I sneakily look him over. Besides the glasses covered emerald eyes, he's got brown hair, and is at least a head taller than me, with a cool confidence surrounding him. Surprisingly enough, he doesn't seem that much older than me.

"Hey!" He snaps his fingers in front of my face, and I tense, freaked out that I just zoned out on him. That is not a good sign. "Do you understand me? English?" I stare at him. What does he want from me? I have nothing to say and no voice to say it.