The Pup

My name is Champ. I know, weird name, sounds like a boy's name but I'm a girl and it fits. My dad's name is Tramp and my brother's name is Scamp. We all look alike so our parents thought our names should sound alike. My mom is Lady and I have three sisters; Annette, Collette, and Danielle. Those four all look like purebred Cocker Spaniels while dad, Scamp, and I look like mutts. I was the runt of the litter. My collar is a purple while Scamp's is dark green and dad's is red.

Our family was walking down the neighborhood with our owners; Jim Dear, Darling, and Junior. Junior is just a baby but he loves playing with Scamp and me the most. I'll admit I'm a daddy's girl and I love to do different and new things, even if it gets me in trouble. We passed our uncle's Jock and Trusty on our way to the house and we finally walked into our yard and into the house.

Jim Dear got a bath tub ready for the girls while I was in the living room, playing with a ball of yarn. Mom was on a chair and dad was resting on the floor, on a pillow. All of a sudden, Scamp pushes me out of the way and jumps on the yarn, making it roll away and dad catching it, giving us that warning look but with a smile.

Scamp keeps trying to get to a window but of course, Jim Dear shuts them all. Jim Dear calls out, "All right! Who's ready for a bath?"

The girls fight over who gets to go first while Scamp and I groan, "Gah! I hate baths."

I turn around when I hear dad's voice call up to us. "Just the same, you two. But when you live in a house, you have to be clean."

My brother smirks at me before declaring, "Well then I'm glad I'm a wild dog."

Scamp quickly turns to the window and starts whining, wanting to be let out to chase a cat and I jump down, rolling the ball of yarn around the room. I keep playing even though I hear dad's voice. "Scamp, get down from there before you break something." After a minute, I hear his voice call out again but this time, to me, making me run into a wall. "Champ, you're acting like a cat. Chase a real ball instead of a ball of yarn."

I turn to glare playfully at him as he lays his head back down on his pillow, sleeping. I see Scamp run over to dad and I follow, both of us jumping on his back. "Hey! You wanna do some dog stuff? Huh, huh?"

"Dig up bones?" I tug on his paw.

"Rip up flowers?" Scamp sticks his head under the pillow.

"Chase cats?!" We both grab the end of the pillow and start pulling on it.

Dad looks up, glares at us and demands sternly, "Guys, come on, now! You're gonna make a mess." We both cower slightly but perk right up when dad takes the pillow, running away with it. "Got it!"

We laugh and chase him around the room. He stops by the piano and the three of us start fighting for the pillow, rolling around the floor. Somehow the piano cover fell and made a loud banging noise. We all sat up when we heard Jim Dear yell, "Tramp! You better not be making a mess in there!"

We both silently chuckle, knowing he never gets in trouble. Dad gets up and smiles at us. "Alright, Whirlwind, Rascal. Time to settle down. Why don't you two go play with Junior?" It made me smile at our nicknames. Dad always called Scamp 'Whirlwind' while he called me 'Rascal'.

We see the baby boy sitting in the middle of the hallway, playing with a hat. We both run over to him and play tug-a-war with it. Junior lets go so I grab one side and Scamp grabs the other side, seeing who can win. It ended up ripping, causing me to slide into the wall behind me and Scamp to take his piece of the hat and chew on it some more.

"Scamp! Champ! Look what you did to my favorite hat." Jim Dear picks up his hat and sets it on the rack with all the other torn up hats we destroyed. He bends down and picks up Scamp. "Let's see if you can behave long enough for me to give you a bath."

I follow them to the kitchen and see my older brother get thrown into the tub. I start laughing at him and was enjoying the show until I heard someone clear their throat behind me. I quickly turn around and find my dad, who had a smug look on his face while looking down at me. "I wouldn't be laughing if I were you, Champ. You're next."

I whine a bit after hearing that news. Once he is done, Jim dear dries him off. "It's about time you settle down."

I see dad scoff at that, nearly glaring at Scamp. Suddenly Junior throws a ball out the window, wanting Scamp to follow it. I realize it distracted Jim Dear and I make a run for it. I run back into the living room, trying to find a place to hide but see Scamp chasing the ball, covered in mud. He pushes me out of the way, making me growl and chase after him.

We both run past the piano, shaking it, causing a picture to fall. Then he jumps into a garbage can, still after the ball and I follow him. The curtains fall on us and we jump out of the garbage can, running over to Junior. The little boy is laughing as we lick his face but everything stops as we hear yelling from our owner. "What a mess! This time you two have gone too far! You leave me no choice."

I slowly turn to face dad and I have never seem him so mad. He gives us the coldest glare in the world, making me whine and back up even further. Jim Dear picks up both us and walks outside. I was confused at first but then I saw we were headed for the doghouse, where the chains were. I start panicking, trying to get loose but it was no use.

Soon I found myself chained to the doghouse, painfully listening to my brother howl at the moon that was held high in the daylight. I tried covering my ear but I couldn't. I was about to say something when I heard a noise right behind us. We both yelped and turned around to find dad there with two bowls of dog food.

Dad gently pushes the bowls our way. "I…thought you two might be hungry." We smell the food but push it away, not liking it. "I'm sorry, guys. Scamp, you're just gonna have to shape up a little, that's all. Champ, you're gonna have to try to be more like your sisters."

I turn away, not wanting another lecture of how I'm not like my perfect sisters. Scamp leans against me, letting me know he was here for me. "We always get blamed for everything."

"Sometimes it's hard being part of a family. You have to obey certain rules."

Scamp stands up and runs past dad, tripping. "But I wanna run wild and free. Like a real dog!"

Dad helps him up, untangling him from his chains. "Son, the world out there is filled with traps. Here, you—you have a family that loves you."

Scamp was about to say something but I beat him to it. "As long as we do what you say."

Scamp sighs, putting his head down. "Pop, I just don't feel like I belong here. Didn't you ever feel this way?"

"I was just like you when I was your age." Dad scratches his head, letting his tongue hang out then shaking his head.

"You were never like us." I spat. Scamp and I scratch our heads, letting our tongues hang out before shaking our head, not realizing the similarities.

"You've been a house dog all your life. How would you know?"

"Aw, you'd be surprised." His voice was filled with amusement before turning serious. "Guys, I'm only trying to protect you."

Scamp gets up first, upset. "By putting us on a chain?!"

I get up, following him. "And trying to make me be like the other's!?"

"Those are the rules, son. And Champ, you have to know how to act like a lady sooner or later."

It seemed like we were all having our own arguments. Scamp was going on about rules while I was going off about being like my sisters and mom. "All I hear is rules, rules, rules. Don't do this and don't do that! What good are teeth and—and claws if you can never use them!"

He starts howling again as I make my statement. "All I ever hear from you is how you want me to be like Annette, Danielle, and Collette. I'm never going to be like them!"

"Stop that howling! And you better get your act together young lady or you're gonna be in big trouble!"

Scamp stops for a moment, glaring at dad. "I can't help it, Pop. Wild dogs howl at the moon!"

"How much more trouble can I get!? I'm already chained outside!"

"There will be no wild dogs in this family! And if you don't straighten up, Champ then you can just find yourself a new home!"

"Then maybe we don't want to be in this family!" Scamp and I shout together.

"Well, like it or not, you are a part of this family. Both of you! And until you start acting like it, you two can get used to sleeping out here every night!" Dad yells, stomping back into the house, leaving us outside.

Scamp jumps on top of the dog house, laying up there by himself while I slowly walk inside the dog house. I start whining, wanting to cry. Dad and I have never been in a fight like that before. Sure, we've been in a few arguments but we never yelled. I've never seen him this angry but I was just so tired of listening to everyone saying how I should be more like the girls. Don't they understand that I'm different?

I felt someone beside me and when I lift my head up, I see my brother there, looking mad but sorry. I knew he was mad at dad and he felt sorry for me. He understood my pain. Everyone telling him to be like a gentleman and to settle down but he wants to go out in the world and find new things to discover. I thought that this would be our home for life but I guess I was wrong since I heard dad say, "Find yourself a new home…" Did he really mean that? Did that mean they would kick me out and then I really would be on the streets alone?

About an hour later, I was laying down still in the dog house; Scamp was laying his head on my back, both of us comforting each other without words. Just being there for each other is enough. All of a sudden, we hear barking in the distance.

We both got up and looked over toward the fence. We stick our heads out from some of the holes and we watch the scene. A small gang of dogs come running around the corner and start jumping on the dog catcher's car. A smaller dog came up behind them and she stopped and smiled at Scamp while he was staring at her in awe. I rolled my eyes and kept watching the other dogs.

The dogs came over to us and the bigger one started speaking. "Why don't you guys come on out, ok?"

We try but I remember our chains. We looked up at them sadly and replied, "We can't."

The smallest dog that had a French accent gasped. "The puppies in chains!"

We hear a loud bark coming around the corner and the others dogs hid. We see a large dog that looked like the leader, run towards us with the dog catcher following him. "Come back here, you mangy mutt!"

They both started running around the car, soon the dog vanished, making the catcher confused. "Hey, where'd ya go?"

The leader quickly surprised him and took the catcher's hat. The others dogs came out from their hiding places and they all started playing catch with it until it flew into our yard. Scamp quickly picked it up and gave it to the small girl dog, who had golden fur with a bushy tail. The catcher came over and almost got his hat back but the girl bit his butt, making me smile and laugh.

They kept tossing the hat but soon the leader dog got catch in the net. I didn't know how but he got out and got the catcher stuck in the net instead. The dog took the hat and jumped on top of the car, winking at us, seeing us stare at the group in awe. They started running away from our location, seeing that the catcher was back on his feet. They turned around the corner once again with the car following them.

Scamp and I started backing, wanting to go with them. I got my head out of the hole but Scamp had trouble so I grabbed his collar and nearly threw him. We both came back to the fence and start hitting it, seeing if it would open but it was locked. Scamp kept jumping to see over the fence but I knew it was hopeless. We were still chained.

"Scamp, give up. We're not getting out of here."

"No way. We're getting out of here one way or another."