Puppylove

Chapter 5

A faint feeling of loneliness and worry accompanied Alejandro for the next two days. He barely felt anything, really. He could think of nothing else than sushi, although had he asked Tilly, that would have been a plus. She loved the sudden sushi finessing craze he had suddenly fallen into, and she praised every single one he made. Luckily for Alejnadro's recluse mood, Tilly and her father departed for the full day he had to wait, to see some movie or another. Even in his ordinary state of mind, Alejandro would have declined the offer to join them. As progressive and understanding as he was, watching ambulatory automobiles punch each other in the jaw for an hour did not sound like a good use of his time. He instead took care of Tilly's herb garden, and in fact, got it halfway weeded before the shade from the tree above moved too far in and he had to escape indoors. Then the rest of the day he spent in the company of the red diary.

When night finally fell on the second day, Alejandro felt a simultaneous jolt of joy, and dread, as he took the plastic box with sushi he had prepared earlier from the refrigerator and snuck out the back door. The night was young, and Fetcher had specified no time for their meeting, but Alejandro was willing to wait, if it meant knowing Fetcher needn't do so.

Finding his way back to the clearing was somewhat difficult in the dark. He had visited the place during day time just to ensure he knew where to be, but in a dark forest, everything looks different. In there nothing is silent, yet you feel simultaneously alone and like someone is watching you the whole time. When it does get silent, that is where it really gets scary.

He soon gave up on trying to see in the dark, not possessing night vision, magic or the ability to give him one with magic even if he had any. He reluctantly transformed into a bat, and discovered he had walked past the spot he was supposed to turn at anyway- Luckily, now equipped with echolocation, he could find his way to the clearing with no issues at all. Once he arrived, he set the box of sushi on the grass and sat down at the edge to wait. The night sky was bright with stars, and in a more open area, he would have had no issue finding anything. Even the clearing seemed almost fully lit once his eyes adjusted.

A human would most likely have nodded off in the hours that went by in waiting, and Alejandro was deep within his thoughts by the time Fetcher arrived. Or rather, the sorry-looking dog-like creature that loudly crawled out of the bushes, snapped Alejandro back to the present moment. For a short instant he mistook it for a wild animal, but the way its ears and tail perked up just slightly from the slumped way it wore them, he knew who it was. The weremain looked at him expectantly, without stepping any closer. Alejandro smiled, fetched the plastic container, and set it back in the grass with the lid taken off, a little ways away from himself. The shaggy figure came closer then, and without a thought dive right in. Alejandro wasn't entirely sure if the food was even going down the correct pipe, as the creature huffed and growled as it ate. When the container was half empty, it suddenly stopped for an instant, then barely missed the box as it hurled the food back out. It seemed greatly saddened by this once it was done dry heaving.

Alejandro was about to ask if it was okay, when it dove back in again, now even hungrier. When he opened his mouth and let out a sound of unease, it growled at him, with its ears pressed tight to its scruff. Then it threw up again. This time it wasn't fast enough to avoid the box entirely, but that didn't seem relevant. This time it didn't brush it off so easily. The creature stumbled about drunkenly and growled at empty air. Alejandro shot up to try and help it but almost had his hand chomped off for his troubles. He listened to the poor thing wrenching, as it tried desperately to cleanse its system of whatever had it in such a horrid state. Finally, it grew exhausted from all of it and slumped in the middle of the clearing. In its hysteria, it had sent the little plastic box tumbling somewhere off, perhaps off the side of the cliff, but Alejandro didn't pay mind to it. He approached the dog again, more carefully this time. It panted loudly but still had the energy to sit up and eye him in suspicion. He sat next to it without speaking. He then laid down, when the creature still didn't seem pleased. The grass was cold and damp, but Alejandro was wearing a jacket, so he paid no mind to that either.