On his 5th birthday, James Lake Jr's father left him and his mother behind. His reasons were unclear and rumored to have been the result of an affair.

On his 7th birthday, the local shelter delivered a small kennel with his name on it. The letter attached claimed it was from his father. A final farewell, it said.

The letter addressed to Barbara explained it was actually from his uncle, Jim Lake Sr's older brother. A last ditch effort to give the boy a good final memory of his father after waiting 2 years for him to come around.

Inside the kennel, a 2 month old border collie-golden retriever pup with the brightest, bluest eyes Jim had ever seen and a dark golden coat that reminded Jim of his mother's nicest silk blouse.

He named her Lacey for the lace ribbon attached to her collar.

She followed him everywhere: She waited at the door when he left for school and was there when he got back; she sat beside him at the kitchen table; she had as much trouble as he did getting on his bed (his mother didn't want her on the bed, but he loved burying his face into her fur.); she walked beside him when he and Toby went to the park.

When he was 12, Steve Palchuk shoved Jim into the canal and he broke his leg. Steve and his friends didn't even get to laugh at him before Lacey had bitten the bigger boy's leg hard enough to break through his jeans and skin. The three ran off screaming as Lacey scurried down the cement slope to the sobbing child. She curled up beside him and licked his face till someone finally spotted them while walking on the bridge above.

He spent 2 and a half months with a cast that every kid in school but Steve and his lackeys signed. Lacey whined at him every time he tried to walk until it came off, then licked his leg till he cried from laughing, then she licked his face.

When his mom decided he was old enough to go out on his own, Lacey followed him and Toby anywhere they rode their bikes to. It became a normal sight to see the gold and white pup outside the school, the library and the clinic when Jim visited his mom at work.

Where Jim Lake Jr went, Lacey would follow.

Not even destiny could keep a dog from her boy.

Jim wakes to the radio playing the same old station and groggily slaps the off button. Taking a moment to wake, he gets up to get dressed. Lacey yawns and stretches, watching sleepily as he moves about the room. Shirt, pants, jacket, socks and shoes, a quick brushing of his hair and one joking attempt to brush the fur atop her head into some silly style later, they head downstairs, a spring in Jim's step.

She sits at her usual spot by the entrance to the kitchen as Jim goes about cleaning and whipping up lunch for himself and Toby, as well as dinner for his mother when she finally wakes up.

Lacey whines and walks over to paw at his leg, eyes big and pleading. Jim chuckles and reaches down to rub the dog's ear between his fingers.

"Don't worry, I remembered to pack something for you." To prove his words, he pulls a treat from the box on the counter and tosses it into the air. Lacey is quick to jump up and catch the little bone-shaped biscuit.

An omelet is quickly whipped up in true Jim Lake fashion, then he heads to the stairs with the tray of breakfast, Lacey going on ahead of him to nudge the door open.

She heads back downstairs as Jim does a quick cleanup and tucks his mother in properly. Slipping her way into the garage, the dog finds her boy's helmet hanging off his bike's handlebars and carries it by the straps to the bottom of the stairs.

He comes down with a soft smile that broadens at the sight of his dog wagging her tail faster at the sight of him. He takes the helmet, patting Lacey's head as he puts it on.

"Thanks Lacey." She yips and leans into his touch happily. Lacey happily trots over to the garage door and watches Jim glance from his magazine of Vespas to his beat up old bike. He sighs and sets the magazine down, moving to pick up his bike.

The garage door is barely open before Lacey squirms her way outside and trots over to Jim's best friend.

"There's a good girl!" Toby grins, leaning down slightly to rub the dog's face between his palms. They both look up as Jim huffs about raccoons raiding the garbage again, but Toby quickly turns his attention back to petting the happy pup, cooing at her about how she was such a good girl.

"We're late for school, Jimbo!" Toby says, turning and picking his bike up, giving Lacey a final pat for the morning.

"Sorry Tobes," Jim says as he sets the trash can back up. "Busy with the lunches." He tosses a milk carton up, nearly missing. "One for me, one for mom, and-" Jim reaches into his bag and produces a little brown bag, which Toby takes with a excited grin. Lacey yips and walks around Jim's legs with her tongue lolling, panting happily.

"Ah!" Toby takes a deep whiff. "Mmm, balsamic mushrooms, meatloaf, chunky, sun-dried tomatoes." He peeks into the bag.

"And cardamon." Jim says, rolling his bike on past, glancing down with a light laugh at Lacey staying right beside him.

Toby 'ooh's in surprise. "Takin' a chance there, Chef Jim."

"What's life without a little adventure?" Jim looks back as he steps up on his bike.

The two start their usual bickering about Toby's "diet" so Lacey's attention wandered, dropping into her chase pose of rear in the air as her sights settle on a butterfly on the front yard. She hops over and swipes at it, yipping excitedly as she bounces back and forth.

"C'mon Lace!" Jim calls as he starts off down the road. "We're gonna be late!"

"We're already late!" Toby corrects, trying to catch up.

Lacey spares a last glance at the butterfly, then bolts off after, barking. She breaks into a sprint, cutting across a few yards to catch up with the boys.

"Take the canal, Tobes!" Jim calls, taking the beaten dirt path with a quick turn. "It'll save us five minutes!"

"N-n-n-not the ca-nnaaaaallll!" Toby's voice distorted by the bouncing of his bike on the rocky path. Lacey sprints on past him, barking loudly as if to encourage the boy.

"Oh, live a little!" Jim calls before jumping over an oddly placed ramping of the path.

"It's living that I'm worried about!" Toby calls, huffing as he looks from his best friend to the over excited dog letting out a howl as she jumps over the same ramp.

"Come on Tobes! Don't you ever want a little more excitement?" Jim grins as Lacey catches up to him, running alongside him with legs moving so fast they blur.

Toby chuckles dryly and shakes his head slightly. "No!"

Jim grins and pedals even faster, jumping over the edge of the canal wall. The world almost stands still as he basks, just for a moment, in the feeling of weightlessness as he and his bike almost hang in the air before dropping about half way down the side and skidding to a stop at the bottom and looking back to wait for Toby.

Lacey is quick to slide down the side and then trot up to Jim with a bark. He knows she can't technically, but he swears she's smiling as he ruffles the top of her head.

"Come on Tobes!" Jim calls, attention being quickly diverted as a distorted voice calls out his name from some… oddly placed pile of stones that definitely didn't come from the canal.

Dog and master pay no mind as Toby comes flying down the side, screaming. Jim slowly sets down his bike as Lacey puts herself between him and the odd pile, ears back and growling softly in the back of her throat.

Jim glances back as Toby finally stops, falling flat on his face before removing his helmet and slowly approaching the pile. Lacey whines and hurries to stay as close to his side as she can without tripping him up.

"Tobes. Hey, Tobes. Did you hear that voice?" Jim asks, the other boy jogging over.

"What voice?"

As if on a cue, the voice calls Jim's name again, loud and haunting, surprising all three. Jim and Toby yelp, falling onto their bottoms. Lacey yelps and bolts behind Jim, whining loudly and nudging his shoulder with her nose.

"That!" Jim quickly crawls back to the pile. "That-that pile of rocks knows my name!"

"It's a pile of K-spar! Minerals don't talk!" Toby points out, quickly crawling over as well. "There's gotta be a walkie talkie or something in here!"

Jim picks up some of the rocks, looking at them curiously. Suddenly, he notices a bright blue glow under one rock. He carefully removes the rock. A bright, glowing, odd looking device that is weirdly reminiscent of a large pocket watch seems to call for him.

"Huh… it looks like an amulet." Jim remarks softly as holds up the device, turning it this way and that as Toby starts shouting, demanding whoever might be playing this joke on them to come out.

Lacey whines and leans over Jim's shoulder to sniff the amulet, before whining and cowering behind him.

"Hello? I'm listening." He holds the device up to his ear, Toby quickly moving closer to hear as well.

Not far off, the school bell goes off, startling both boys.

"Ah! Final bell!" Jim shouts as they race back to their bikes, Lacey scrambling to follow after them.

"We're so late, our kids are gonna have detention!" Toby yells as they run.

"Come on Tobes, we can still make it!" Jim jumps on his bike and starts pedaling, Toby following as quick as he could. Lacey barks as she runs ahead, stopping atop the canal wall to watch them, nearly squeals in panic at the sight of glowing eyes in the sewer grates behind where they'd been.

"Lacey?" Jim looks back, the eyes vanished now, then shakes his head. "Come on, we gotta go!" He urges and the pup quickly follows him towards the school, looking behind them the whole time.