text: [Themes: modern, animal perspective]
  
  You blink open your eyes to see blackness all around you. Your mother and siblings are all very close to you, giving you comfort. You feel a cold rush of air as your mother gets up to leave. You and your siblings yip at her to stay, but she keeps padding towards a tunnel leading out of the Den.
  
  She does come back. Life doesn't get any better than this. You think.
  
  But everything you know is about to change forever.
  
  [Author's Note: This is a game where you get to decide if you stay a stray or not. You're a female. Sorry, but the story would be ruined if you were a male.]
  
  > One month later
  One morning you wake up to find that your mother has left! You whine and yip at her to come back, but she doesn't answer. You hobble to the Tunnel. You blink several times as you walk into a blinding white light.
  
  When your eyes adjust, you see your mother slinking away, the forest in front of you and a road above the Den.
  
  > Mom! Wait for you!
  You run to catch up with your mom.
  
  She growls at you when you come close.
  
  You stop, confused. She turns and slinks into the forest. All she leaves behind is her lingering scent and your memory of her.
  
  > guess you'll go into the forest.
  You dash into the forest, not sure what to expect.
  
  You come upon a clearing, and when you stop, you hear the pounding footsteps of your littermates.
  
  You snarl at them, and the dominant one laps at you. You growl and bite down hard on his foreleg. You smile as you taste the sweet tang of blood. They run away and you yip angrily after them.
  
  When you are alone, you realize that you have nothing to do!
  
  > go hunting!
  You decide to go hunting. You sniff the air, and being really bad, you bound towards a prey-scent. You see a squirrel nibbling on a nut at the bottom of the tree. You charge it, barking your head off. It squeaks in alarm and darts up the tree, leaving the nut behind. You sniff the nut then gobble it up. After tasting it, you spit it right out.
  
  Man, that was gross! They actually like that stuff? You think.
  
  What now?
  
  > find a camp and make a territory!
  You run into the forest, amazed and excited by what you see. You are so excited that you run right over a pack's boundaries.
  
  "What are you doing here, runt?" One growls.
  
  "Thistle, it's just a pup. It's not as if it poses a threat to us." Said another.
  
  "An intruder's an intruder, Moon. You're just saying that because it just came out of its den." Snarls the one called Thistle. Then he turned to you. "Here, let's put it to my apprentice. What do you think we should do, Snow?"
  
  "I think the pup should be taught a lesson." Snarled a young, pretty female. "One it'll remember."
  
  "So be it." Thistle barked.
  
  You run before Snow could hurt you. You thank your extremely long legs. But Snow is older, and catches up to you just the same. You yip as she pins you down to the ground.
  
  "Look, I don't want to hurt you." She says. "Run along now. Don't come back."
  
  "W-why'd you-"
  
  She interrupts. "Don't ask why. Hurry, or they'll kill you!"
  
  > escape to The Road!
  You dash to the road and watch all of the cars streak by. You sit down and try to look hungry. After a long time, a car stops and a man climbs out. He roughly picks you up and hurls you into the back of his truck. You land awkwardly on your back and struggle to get to your feet.
  
  When the truck stops moving, you find yourself alone. The man had left and gone into a building full of barking, whining dogs. Hey! They foolish person had made the mistake of stopping in direct sunlight!
  
  I might as well take a nap. You think as you curl up to sleep.
  
  When you wake, a woman is looking into what had become a furnace. She looked angry. You weakly whimpered. She disappeared from view. Then a rock came crashing through the window. The woman leaned in and scooped you up.
  
  "Aw, you poor, poor, puppy!" She said, holding you up.
  
  At that moment, nothing felt better than the stream of water cooling you off. Feeling your strength replenish, you nip at the water playfully.
  
  "I think he'll be okay." Said a woman. "I found him just in time."
  
  "He was really lucky that it was you, and not some animal abuser." Said a deep-voiced man. "He almost died in there."
  
  When you opened your eyes, you saw that it wasn't a full-grown person, it was a person pup! You bark at her and lap her face. She giggles and holds you tight.
  
  "You're coming home with me, little guy." She said, getting to her feet. She carried you into a waiting car and rolled down a window for you to stick your head out of. "Mom, you won't believe who I've just rescued!" She said to a woman in the driver's seat.
  
  "Who?" The woman, who's name was aparantly Mom, asked.
  
  "A puppy!" The girl yelled, excitedly.
  
  I yipped along with her excitement.
  
  "Molly, you know we can't have a dog!" Said Mom.
  
  "But Mom, he's a male! He won't have puppies!" Molly said. "And our rental contract-thingy says that the maximum amount of pets is two!"
  
  "We don't have money for a dog! And what will your father say?"
  
  "But Dylan will love him!" Molly whined. "I know I do!"
  
  "Fine." Mom sighed. "You win the battle with me. But the battle with your dad will not be pretty."
  
  > The House
  When you get to the house, you leap out of the car. The people don't bother to pick you up, they don't even put a leash on you. They have given you the foolish choice of running into the nearby forest.
  
  > want to go inside!
  You run after Molly into the house. She smiles as you jump up onto their couch.
  
  "Get that dog off the couch!" Mom screams, running to you.
  
  "But mom, she's just a little puppy!" Molly says, scooping you into her arms. "She can't possibly shed that much!"
  
  Mom sighs before saying, "Molly, a little puppy will grow into a big dog, who sheds everywhere she goes. She needs to learn to stay off the couch."
  
  Molly sighs, putting you on the ground. "Okay."
  
  A year passes
  
  "Happy birthday, Molly!" Mom says, carrying a cake over her growing belly.
  
  "Thanks Mom!" Molly says as Mom puts the cake in front of her.
  
  Dad kisses her on the forehead. "Make a wish sweetheart."
  
  Molly squeezes her eyes shut and mutters something then she opens them and blows out her candles. Mom and Dad cheer and I howl with them. They laugh and cut up the cake, putting a little bit into your bowl with your kibble.
  
  > Two Months Later
  A new person joins the family. Mom brings him home wrapped in a blanket. She shows him to you and you lick his face. He looks at you and grabs your nose, pulling you closer. You nuzzle him and he giggles.
  
  Dad hugs Mom and gives her a kiss. "Welcome to the family, Ethan." He says to the baby.
  
  Ethan squeaks as you nibble his ear gently. Molly comes over and picks him up, scratching you behind the ears as she went.
  
  You live a long life with the whole family watching over you. You die at the age of 10, 70 in dog years, of old age when Ethan was nine and Molly sixteen.
  
  You have fulfilled your purpose watching over the kids until you could no longer live. Thanks for playing!