The Animal Whisperers

. . .2. . .

Shane Whitlock

"No, you may not have another piece of bacon! Not until we get home, at least." I groan as Prince gives me sad puppy eyes. "Well, can we hurry it up, then? It's getting cold."

"Just one more stop at that fire hydrant," Prince yips, pulling me along. His collar strains against the tension. "And I don't see why you need to keep me on a leash, I've told you I'm not going to run away. You're the only steady supply of bacon I've got."

What is it with dogs and food? "I've told you already, It'll look suspicious. And it's kind of illegal around here to walk a dog without a leash. People have strict no-dog-on-lawn laws," I say as I follow Prince down to the fire hydrant for the gazillionth time.

Okay, you're probably thinking, who's this creep that's talking to his dog? That's what the neighbors think. Nobody says it out loud, but you can see it in their eyes. I've learned only to talk to Prince alone so I don't draw suspicions. But once the neighbors catch wind of a rumor, they never let it go.

Let me start at the top. It was on my fourteenth birthday that I discovered I could hear animals—at least, I could hear Prince and the other neighborhood dogs and cats. What's strange is I can't understand any other animals, just the larger ones. I tried talking to my older sister's goldfish, but after about two minutes—and some staring from my confused sister—I gave up. I'd love to say I know what's going on, but I really don't. I just know that I can understand specific animals, and they can understand me.

Prince finally declared the fire hydrant was 'safe'—whatever that means—and we started heading home. As we were passing the middle school, I noticed a girl looking at me curiously. It was odd because people don't usually regard me curiously, especially girls. She walked over to me and said quietly, "Weird question—were you talking to your dog?"

I decide to be honest and see how long she'll hang on before signing me off as crazy. There's also something about her that makes me want to tell her. "Yeah," I say finally.

Her eyes light up. "Finally! I mean, it's only been a day, but—"

"Hold on," I say. "Do you mean . . .you can also? Like, hear them, right?" I'm half expecting her to run away, but instead she quickly replies. "Yes, I mean, I think so. I heard my friend's hamster," she pauses, looking at me with a new light in her eyes. "Do you know why?"

"I can't say that I do," I admit sheepishly, staring down at Prince, who asks, "How long is this going to take?"

"A few minutes. Be quiet for a bit, will you?" I order to Prince.

"Did he speak to you?" the girl asks.

"Yeah. It started after I turned fourteen—about two months ago. But the strange thing is, I've only talked to Prince and our neighbor's alley cat. I've tried talking to . . .other animals." I flush, not ready to tell her about my embarrassing goldfish conversation—or lack thereof.

"What's your name?" I ask, changing the subject.

"I'm Samantha, but you can call me Sam," she replies. "Yesterday I was spending the night at my friend' house when her hamster started . . .speaking to me." she laughs. "He was talking about sunflower seeds the whole time. I know this probably sounds crazy. . ."

"I'm Shane, and no, it doesn't sound crazy," I reply seriously. "I mean, sure, it would, if I wasn't going through the same thing." I brush my hair out of my face, excited that I've finally found someone else who's like me, and confused on what to do next.

"But . . .why us?" Sam says, putting my thoughts into words. "There's a million other kids out there. Why are we the only ones who can speak to animals?"

I pause for a second, then a crazy thought comes to me.

"What if . . .we aren't the only ones?" I ask. At Sam's incredulous look, I quickly back up my idea. "Well, there's thousands of different animals in the animal kingdom. Isn't it funny that we both found each other and we both can hear them? What if there's lots of us?"

Sam's light brown eyes widen at the thought. "You may be onto something, Shane!" I blush at the praise. Suddenly, Sam looks around and a panicked look falls over her face. "Oh no! I was supposed to be home twenty minutes ago!"

"And I was supposed to be home half an hour ago, but you two are still making eyes at each other!" Prince grumbles, and I'm suddenly very glad that Sam can't understand him. I nudge him with my foot and glare at him, my cheeks heating up.

"What did he say?" Sam asks.

"Um . . .he wants to go home also," I say, which is half truth.

"Thanks for telling me all this," Sam says. "It's a relief to know I'm not the only one who can talk to animals. I thought I was going to go out of my mind!" she smiles.

"Do you want to . . .go to the pet store and test our theory sometime?" I ask hurriedly before she turns around, half out of curiosity on our strange case and half because I'd like to see her again.

Her eyes light up. "That's a really good idea!" she says, but then her face falls. "Oh wait. I have to babysit my brother most nights because my mom is working late all week. Are you free Saturday afternoon?"

"I think so," I reply. "Should we try that pet store behind Beech? The one with all the red and white decorations in the front window?"

"Murdley's Pet Store?" She replies. "Yeah, that's a good idea. I've got to go now, though. See you Saturday!" she waves, and I watch as she runs down the street.

"Should have asked for her number while you were at it," Prince says mockingly.

"Shut up," I reply half-heartedly to my dog. I turn around and head home, Prince happily leading the way back to the bacon.