The morning sun lit Marcus’s face as he sat at the dog bowl-shaped fountain in the town center. He traced his hand - no, his paw - through the cold and trickling water, looking down at his own rippling reflection. What looked back at him was a furry yellow stranger, similar to the faces of the dogs all around him. That was, except for his distinct green eyes and brown hair, which were the only remnants left of his former self.
He sighed under his breath as he ran his paw gently across his muzzle. He could hardly even remember exactly what he used to look like, but it certainly wasn’t… this. And after lifetimes of seeing nothing but an empty void of black and white, the bright color of this new world he’d found himself in nearly made his eyes hurt. Marcus splashed at the water with his paw in frustration, distorting the mirror of his new form; he felt like he was going to get nauseous from existential dread if he looked at himself for too long. Was he still even the same person he once was?
Did he even want to be?
Meanwhile, just on the other side of the fountain, a little orange Beagador was quietly humming to herself with a giddy smile and lying flat on her stomach as she pressed a crayon down on a piece of paper. Scooch glanced over as Tag colored her picture, which was clearly a drawing of herself being held bridal-style by the mysterious new dog who had saved her life last night, surrounded by hearts. Scattered around her were several other pieces she had been working on over the last hour, each one with a similar romantic theme.
“Um… Tag?” Scooch finally spoke up. But Tag was far too immersed in her own drawings, slowly kicking her legs back and forth in delight and gently biting her tongue as she colored her hero’s yellow face.
“Taaag. Can we, I dunno… do something?” Scooch continued, rolling his eyes. He honestly didn’t mind just relaxing with her like this, but not if it meant Tag was too busy crushing over some stranger to pay any attention to him. “You always have some kind of crazy adventure planned, right?”
“Yeah, sounds great, Scooch,” Tag responded, though Scooch’s words clearly only went in one ear and out the other. “Did you see that dog who saved me last night? He had green eyes. Green!”
“Yeah, you’ve only been talking about him all morning,” Scooch sighed, feeling increasingly jealous of Tag’s new obsession. If only he’d been there to save Tag instead, then he’d be the one she’d be falling head-over-paws for right now.
Tag sighed as well, only longingly. She had never felt this kind of strange feeling in her chest before, which was racing as fast as her car on the racetrack. Just the thought of meeting that dog again made her feel like she was going to pop from excitement.
“Oh, hey. It’s you.”
Her ears perked up at the unfamiliar voice, noticing a pair of furry yellow feet suddenly standing before her. Her eyes moved slowly up the figure, her stomach dropping as she looked up at the very same dog from her drawings now eclipsing the sun.
“You’re that racer girl from last night, right? How’re you holdin’ up?”
Tag inhaled sharply, frantically grabbing all her embarrassing drawings and shoving them into her mouth before chewing up and swallowing them with a loud gulp.
Marcus blinked twice.
“Did you just… eat paper?”
The little orange beagador coughed hoarsely as the crumpled-up paper slid down her throat, standing up and thumping her fist against her chest to ease it down.
“Y-yeah, it’sh… edible paper! Mmm, delicioush!” she said with a wince, her body tensing up in reaction to his presence. Scooch crossed his arms and grumbled something under his breath.
“O…kay. So anyway, you’re doing alright then? No injuries?” Marcus asked.
“I’m better than alright! I-I mean, I’m good! Great!” Tag said as she rubbed her arm shyly.
“That’s good to hear, I just wanted to be sure. Alright then… see you ‘round.” Marcus gave the young dog a polite wave before heading on towards… well, he didn’t even know where he was going. At this moment, his life felt completely aimless. After everything he’d been through, now that his story was over, where was there to even go from here? Where does one even begin to search for a normal life?
“Wait!” Tag shouted, following him.
“Wha-?” Scooch scoffed in frustration as Tag left him all alone at the fountain. “What am I, chopped liver?! …Actually, that sounds pretty good right now. I guess I could go for some lunch.”
Scooch picked up the littered crayons that Tag had left behind, heading for the nearest eatery to satisfy his growling stomach.
“Wait, I never got to thank you for yesterday!” Tag said as she caught up to the yellow Labrador, running up to his side and sticking closely to him. He smelled strangely good, almost like a newborn puppy. “Did you really catch my car mid-air? That's what my family said happened, but….”
“O-oh, well… yeah. But it was nothing, really, don’t mention it. Please.” Marcus replied as he looked away. He didn’t want to draw any unwanted attention to himself, especially so soon, but what was he supposed to have done? Just let her crash and die?
“How did you even get onto the track so fast? And why are your eyes green? How strong are you? You must be really strong,” Tag said with just a hint of flirtiness. “Oh! By the way, I’m Tag Barker! What’s your name?”
Marcus stopped for a moment. His name… his identity. Did he even want to be the same person he was before? Now was his opportunity for a new start. A second chance. A new and normal life, one he’d always wanted. But this dog’s name was apparently ‘Tag’, as in a ‘dog tag’… so would ‘Marcus Colburn’ even be considered a normal name here? If he was going to become a new version of himself, he wanted to fit in as well as possible. He glanced around for a brief moment, searching for any suggestions for a name that would make sense in this world. It was then that Marcus noticed a poster for some kind of circus show, starring a white spotted clown dog named Cheddar Biscuit. Cheddar… Colburn… Colby.
He liked the sound of it. That seemed like a decent name for a dog such as himself, and it was a relatively normal name as well.
“I’m Colby. It’s nice to meet you, Tag.” Marcus gave her a smile. Although Colby was not his given name, he didn’t consider it a lie. From here on, he was Colby. Now and forever.
“Colby…” Tag smiled bashfully, finally knowing the name of her first crush. “Huh, that’s kinda funny. Like the cheese, just like my sister, Cheddar Biscuit.”
“O-oh, she’s your… sister?” Colby casually gestured to the poster as he resumed walking, failing to see much of a resemblance between the two. “What a coincidence.”
“Yep! I should introduce you to my family sometime, I’m sure they’d love to meet you!” Tag’s tail started waving back and forth excitedly as she followed him, wanting to know everything she could about Colby as questions started spilling out of her mouth. “So when did you get to Pawston? How old are you? What do you like to do for fun? Do you have a best friend? What kinds of food do you like? How many-”
“Woah woah, slow down for a minute.” Colby hesitantly distanced himself from her by a few inches as they walked.
“One thing you should know about me, I don’t really do ‘slow’.” Tag made a gesture with her paw like a zooming car. “I’m more of a ‘GO’ dog!”
“A ‘go’ dog, huh?” Colby raised an eyebrow. “I’ll say, seeing as you almost landed on my head at two hundred miles an hour.”
“So how did you catch me, anyway? And how did you get onto the track? You still haven’t answered.” Tag asked.
“Oh, well…” Colby mulled over it for a few moments, unsure of how to respond that didn’t sound absolutely insane. They passed by a newspaper stand with the front page article reading in big bold letters,
‘MYSTERIOUS PHENOMENA ‘THE BLINK’ LEAVES WORLD SHAKEN’
He knew he couldn’t just tell her that he’d just teleported there by pure luck from beyond all of space and time after recreating the entire universe - every universe - from scratch. Who in their right mind would ever believe that?
“I, uh… just happened to be in the right place at the right time, I guess. My instincts just sort of kicked in, but I'm just glad I could help. I know it's probably hard to believe, but… sometimes crazy things can happen, right?" Colby nervously laughed it off, hoping he had been convincing enough.
“Hm… I don’t think it’s that crazy,” Tag replied, looking up at Colby with a longing look in her eyes and her paws coyly behind her back. “Who knows, maybe it was destiny.”
Colby looked down at Tag as they crossed the street together, feeling a slight warmth in his cheeks when he saw the way she looked up at him with her big puppy-dog eyes. This little dog who had been following him was much shorter than him, and appeared to be quite young, but he couldn’t deny that she was rather adorable.
“Destiny, huh… you believe in that?” Colby turned away again to look straight ahead, avoiding eye-contact with her.
“Absolutely!” Tag said happily. That was, until she remembered the day before, and her face fell. “Or at least… I thought so. I was so sure yesterday that I was going to finally beat Sam Whippet.”
“Who?” Colby asked.
“Wha- Sam Whippet! Y’know, Pawston’s own racing champion?! He’s won ninety-eight- no, ninety-nine races in a row? The Sam Whippet?!” Tag said, appalled that there was a dog alive who didn’t know who Sam Whippet was. Had this dog been living under a rock for the last five years?
“Oh, okay.” Colby said indifferently, as if he weren’t impressed in the slightest. “I’m sorry you couldn’t beat him, but hey, at least you’re still alive. That’s the important thing.”
“I know…” Tag said somberly, “But now, I’ll ever be able to race again.”
“Why’s that?” Colby asked in surprise.
“It’s my family… as much as I love racing, I can’t do that to them again. I almost did… die, after all,” Tag replied, the memory of her accident still fresh in her mind.
“Listen, I get that family is important. Sometimes you might have to do things you don’t want to, for them. To protect them.” Colby paused, wiping the tear that formed in his eye. “I know how that feels. But if there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that being happy is important too. In fact, it’s the most important thing. So if racing makes you happy, then I think it’s what you should keep doing. If your family truly supports you, then I’m sure they’ll understand.”
“You really think so?” Tag asked, touched by Colby’s encouraging words.
“Yes. I don’t think anyone ever looks back on their life and says, ‘I wish I hadn’t done what I loved’.”
“Thanks, Colby,” she said with a sniffle as she stopped, suddenly wrapping her arms around Colby’s waist in a hug from the side. She was more sure now than ever that this had to be love she was feeling. “I feel better already.”
“U-uh, sure thing, Tag.” Colby was taken aback at first by the sudden show of affection, but soon lowered his guard and accepted it. He gently rested his paws on her back, returning the gesture. Colby couldn’t help but blush a little, having been completely touch-starved for a long, long, long time. Tag’s tangerine fur felt so warm and soft under his paws as he gently stroked it, and she smelled so nice too… like sweet cinnamon. He cleared his throat awkwardly as he slowly broke the embrace and pushed any intrusive thoughts out of his mind.
“Sooo…” Tag broke the ice as they resumed walking. “Where are you going, exactly?”
“Uh, nowhere in particular, I guess. It’s not like I know where anything is, anyway.” Colby shrugged apathetically.
“So you are new to Pawston!” Tag exclaimed, skipping gleefully ahead before turning around to face Colby. “Then allow me to give you the grand tour! Wait, are you here to stay, or are you… just visiting?”
Tag’s tail lowered a little, hoping that Colby wasn’t just a tourist passing through.
“I guess I’m… here to stay,” Colby said as he faked a smile, although something in the tone of his voice seemed unhappy about it.
“YES! I-I mean, cool! You’re gonna love it here. Come on, I wanna show you everything that makes Pawston so great!” Tag took Colby by the paw, suddenly skipping down the block as he struggled to follow her lead. As he looked on at her long ears cutely flopping in the wind behind her, Colby felt a comforting, yet terrifying flutter in his heart.
“First stop, the ball store! Wanna get one?” Tag said as they stopped in front of what appeared to be a ball-dispenser the size of an entire building, which she demonstrated by jumping up and spinning the lever. The balls in the large glass dome wobbled and shook as the internal gears made a loud *ker-chunk*, and at the bottom rolled out a red rubber ball. She picked it up and bit it down hard as she rapidly shook her head, squeaking it repeatedly with glee like the dog that she was.
“Go ahead, try it!” she said as she looked back up at him, her voice slightly muffled by the ball.
Colby hesitantly reached his paw up and spun, receiving a tennis ball from the door.
“Nice one! How is it?” Tag asked after spitting her ball out into her paw, and Colby bounced it on the pavement a few times.
“It’s bouncy, alright.”
“No, I mean how does it taste?” Tag giggled, at first assuming Colby was just fooling with her.
“Uh…”
“Don’t tell me you’ve never chewed on a ball before!”
Colby looked down awkwardly at the tennis ball in his paw. Of course he hadn’t, he hadn’t even been a dog for hardly 24 hours.
“I’ve… never chewed on a ball before.”
“Oh, you gotta try it! Trust me!” Tag said before chewing on her own ball again in visible delight to encourage him. She was visibly drooling.
The Labrador nervously licked his lips, feeling embarrassed at the thought of acting like a dog. But he was a dog now, he had to remind himself. And if he wanted to fit in, he had to ‘do as the Romans do’. Or in his case, the dogs.
He brought the tennis ball to his mouth and cautiously gently bit down, cringing slightly at the velvety texture. But the longer it remained in his mouth, the more comfortable Colby felt, and before long he couldn’t help but enjoy the rubbery sensation of it between his teeth as he squeezed it in his jaw.
“See, what did I tell ya?” Tag asked with a wink as she spat the ball out and put it behind her back. Colby looked in confusion, wondering if Tag had done some kind of magic trick as he wondered where it had gone. He spat his own ball out, doing the same without knowing how.
Tag then took Colby’s paw again, leading him across the street to a store with a massive bell hanging over it before stopping in front of the entrance.
“This is the doorbell store, my dad’s the owner!” she said proudly, placing her paw on the handle and turning it. However, it wouldn’t budge as it was locked shut.
“...’Out to lunch,’” Colby said, squinting his eyes and reading a small sign aloud that had been placed on the door.
“Aw, we just missed him. Wow, is it that time already?” Tag’s stomach let out a soft growl at the word, ‘lunch’, which Colby admittedly thought was kind of cute. She pulled Colby’s arm along back in the direction they’d came, around to the other side of the town square.
“This way, to the Big Bowl Diner!”
The little bell chimed above the door as Tag and Colby entered the diner, and with the smells that filled his canine nose, soon Colby’s stomach was rumbling now as well. Now that he thought about it, he still hadn’t eaten anything since he’d arrived in this world, so his stomach was one hundred percent empty - after not having anything to eat for an untold amount of time, he’d practically forgotten what food even was. But now that his body had needs again, his hunger was clearly catching up to him.
“Good afternoon, Wagnes!” Tag said with a cheery smile as a tall chubby blue female dog wearing a white apron suddenly appeared from behind the kitchen door, who only gave her a subtle nod and a faint smile in return as she led them to a booth and set menus on the table. “This is Colby! He just moved to Pawston. Did you know he saved my life last night at the race?”
Colby blushed slightly at the recognition, rubbing the back of his head idly. He made eye-contact with the waitress, who only gazed back at him with a glazed expression that only appeared to be listless indifference. The longer they held their staring contest, the more awkward Colby felt.
“...No,” Wagnes finally replied, her croaky voice cracking slightly.
“It was amazing, you should’a seen it!” Tag said, with more than enough energy for the three of them. “Anyway, I already know what I want, so I’ll take a glass of ice-water with some of your famous blueberry-cinnamon pawcakes! Extra syrup!”
Wagnes nodded once, turning to Colby again. Her silent staring made Colby feel a little uneasy as he frantically skimmed the menu to see what kind of food this universe even had. Thankfully, everything seemed relatively familiar; it seemed that ‘pawcakes’ were simply this world’s version of ‘pancakes’, just like back home. However, Colby had to do a double-take when he noticed some of the flavors besides blueberry-cinnamon. There were the standard flavors of banana, strawberry, and plain buttermilk of course, but then there was also ‘kibble chips’, ‘garbage & cream’, and ‘chunk of wood’.
‘What the hell…’ Colby thought as he shook his head in befuddlement, immediately turned off from those for obvious reasons. Thankfully, that’s when he saw the last one on the list - good ol’ chocolate chip.
“I’ll have water too, and the chocolate chip panca-. uh, pawcakes, please. N-not kibble chips, chocolate chips,” Colby clarified with importance. Wagnes nodded again wordlessly, returning to the kitchen and leaving Tag and Colby to themselves.
“Do you not like kibble chips?” Tag asked curiously.
“Eh, I guess I’ve never been much of a ‘kibble’ guy… I mean dog…” Colby shrugged. Maybe someday he’d give it a shot, but now was not that time.
“I’m just kinda surprised you prefer chocolate of all things! That’s like, the least popular flavor ever. I’m honestly surprised they even still have it,” said Tag.
“Oh.” Colby replied, looking down. “I guess that makes me a bit… odd then, huh?”
“Oh no, I didn’t mean it like that! I just meant that you’re unique. And… I really like that.” Tag blushed. “So what’s your story, Colby? Where are you from? And how did you end up in-”
Tag stopped when she noticed that Colby’s arms were shivering, and his paws were clasped together in front of his snout as he continued looking down wide-eyed, like he was terrified out of his mind.
“A-are you alright? Are you cold?” she asked naively.
Colby closed his eyes, trying to overcome whatever was happening to him. He felt as though he were going to pass out, yet he felt jolts of adrenaline surging through him. He was unfocused, yet at the same time overly-alert to everything happening around him. It was then, at the worst possible time, that the sound of a frying pan falling onto the floor came from the kitchen, causing a loud clamor.
“NO!” Colby shouted loudly as he quickly shot up from the booth, his tag and irises flaring a neon green as he faced the kitchen with his fists raised. He had a death-glare on his face, his paws crackling with a viridescent electrical discharge.
“Colby?! Colby, relax!” Tag shouted, getting up and wrapping her arms around Colby in a tight hug to try and calm him down. “Everything’s fine! It’s just Wagnes in the kitchen! Stop, dog, stop!”
Colby blinked and came back to the present, looking down at the little orange beagador doing everything she could to comfort him. He looked around at the diner, noticing the several other customers that were staring at him in a mixture of utter confusion and fear, and some even annoyance. He lowered his fists, exhaling through his teeth as he sat back down.
“I… I don’t know what happened…” Colby mumbled, suddenly feeling drained. Although he so badly wanted to hug her back, he kept his paws away from Tag as the energy on his palms dissipated. “I’m so sorry for scaring you like that. Are you alright?”
“I should be asking you that,” Tag said, refusing to let go of him.
“I’m…” Colby wanted to lie, but couldn’t. “No… I’m not alright. Not at all. You deserve to know that much, at least. But I’m sorry, I don’t feel like talking about myself. Not yet. You can let go of me now.”
Colby glanced at the other patrons, who were still watching them.
“Mm-mmh.” Tag shook her head in Colby’s chest, looking up at him. “What you need right now is a hug. And a friend. So… c-can I be your friend, Colby?”
“...I think I’d like that.”
Tag inched Colby closer to the wall in his side of the booth, squeezing into the seat beside him as the other dogs in the diner resumed eating their meals. She rested her head against his shoulder, holding onto his arm with both of her paws. Although Colby still felt some reluctance to Tag’s physical affection, his tense body seemed to disagree with him as his breathing slowed to a comfortable pace, and his heart was no longer pounding.
They both sat in peaceful silence with each other’s company as they waited for their meals to arrive.
“That hit the spot!” Tag exclaimed as they exited the diner some time later, stretching her arms in satisfaction. Colby agreed; he wasn’t sure if it was because he hadn’t experienced the joys of food in several millennia or if it was simply a testament to Wagnes’s cooking, but he could’ve sworn those were by far the best chocolate chip pawcakes he’d ever eaten. Although he’d felt a little silly having to eat them with his mouth right off the plate, instead of with a fork and knife.
“It sure did, thanks for bringing me there. So, do you wanna try showing me the doorbell store again?” Colby asked.
“Yeah, totally! Let’s- actually, maaaybe not.”
Tag looked over and noted the long line of dogs that was forming the block outside of the store.
“Wow, you dogs sure do love doorbells, huh?” Colby wondered as he saw the line as well, confused as to why what would be a one-time purchase for most people would be in such high demand. Tag looked up at him, confused by his wordage.
‘You dogs?’ she thought, ‘What did he mean by that?’
“I just remembered, my dad just got a brand-new doorbell model in today, so now everyone is wanting one. But that’s okay, we’ll save it for another time when it’s a little less crowded.” Tag suddenly took out a little purple remote from behind her back, pressing a green button on it. Almost immediately, an empty one-wheeled purple scooter with yellow stripes and a sidecar came veering around the corner of the block, stopping at the curb exactly where Tag and Colby were standing. She hopped onto the driver’s seat.
“C’mon, hop in!”
“Thanks, but I think that sidecar might be a little… small for me,” Colby said as he noted the small size of the vehicle. “Don’t you think?”
“Oh, no worries!” Tag pressed another button, and suddenly the tiny sidecar morphed and shifted into one that would be big enough for a full-grown dog like Colby to fit in. “See? Easy fix!”
“Woah, that's pretty neat!” Colby’s eyes widened in disbelief at the engineering of Tag’s scooter, approaching it and stepping into the seat before putting his seatbelt on. It wasn’t so unusual compared to the high tech he’d been accustomed to, but it was still quite impressive nonetheless. “And did you just summon this thing to you?”
“Thanks! Yeah, that was just a simple autopilot GPS rig, really.” Tag shrugged modestly as she put her foot on the pedal, and off they went. “As for the sidecar, all I did was install a series of hydraulic actuators integrated within the sidecar's frame. They’re powered with real-time sensors by a compact yet high-capacity hydraulic pump that exerts precise forces at key points of articulation, facilitating controlled expansion and extension of the sidecar's dimensions. But to be able to handle the hydraulic pressure to begin with, the chassis is made from a variety of high-strength alloys and composite materials-”
Colby’s jaw hung as Tag verbosely went into a tangent while driving down the street. He never would’ve expected her to have built this herself; he’d initially assumed Tag was just a young girl no older than ten, based on her short stature and the high pitch of her voice, but perhaps she was just a smaller breed of dog. That made much more sense in retrospect - she was a professional racecar driver too, after all.
“Er, sorry. I’m over-explaining everything, aren’t I?” Tag blushed when she glanced over and noticed Colby staring at her with his mouth hanging. “My brother Gilber says I have a bad habit of that.”
“N-no no, not at all!” Colby replied reassuringly. “You’re not just a professional racecar driver, but you’re an engineering genius too?! That’s pretty amazing, if you ask me.”
Tag’s face turned bright red, the scooter wobbling a bit as she lost her composure. Colby just called her a genius. A professional.
Amazing.
“Heh, thanks… oh wait, sorry, but I gotta turn this up! I love Kelly Korgi!” Tag turned up the radio, tilting her head from side to side as she jammed along to the upbeat pop song.
“Baby, I feel it creepin’ inside
Why don’t you come on, everybody take a ride, ride, ride,
Maybe, I think it’s startin’ to flow
You know I’m gonna start the party so let’s go, dog, go-”
Colby watched as Tag’s long ears flopped back and forth, finding himself becoming more enamored with her as the day went on. He had been so alone for so long. There was a time when he thought he would never get to experience this feeling ever again. There was once a time when he just wished he would die. Wished he could die. But now, this sweet little orange dog was slowly but surely filling Colby with a warmth he thought was long gone.
“Hold on tight, looks like we’re going through Pothole Road,” Tag said, noticing the many potholes littering the street up ahead.
“Pothole what?” Colby asked, hanging on tightly as Tag haphazardly swerved and weaved through the dozens of potholes in the pavement.
“It’s a street with lots of potholes.”
“Yeah, I can see that! Why hasn’t the city just, I dunno, fixed it?” asked Colby.
“There’s a lot of paperwork, petitioning, all that kinda stuff. Plus, Mayor Sniffington always has her paws full as it is,” Tag answered, “So in the end, it was just easier to rename the road.”
“Apparently,” Colby said in return, “still seems like it’d be worth the time to prioritize, though.”
“Whew, finally through it,” said Tag, straightening herself as she continued down the street.
“So Tag, uh…” Colby spoke up again apologetically, “I want to say sorry, again. For everything back at the diner. I don’t-”
“Hey, don’t worry so much, it’s okay. I can imagine moving to a new town might be stressful.” Tag gave him a lovable smile that made Colby’s stomach flutter. She was so genuine, and kind, and smart. And cute.
Damn, was she cute.
“But you saved my life, Colby. So the least I can do is help you feel at home here. And speaking of which, I was thinking, since we’re officially friends now, maybe you and I could… spend some time together again tomorrow?” Tag asked shyly. “Maybe I could introduce you to my family?”
“That sounds nice, Tag. I feel so lost here, so… I appreciate it.”
The two of them looked away from each other in silence, trying to hide their smiles from the other. Once the butterflies in her stomach settled a bit, Tag turned back to him. Something strange she’d seen at the diner was still lingering on her mind.
“Hey, so… when that whole thing happened… did you-”
“What is that?” Colby interrupted, pointing at a comically-tall wooden yellow ladder standing upright on the sidewalk as they approached it. It must’ve been at least ten stories tall, if not higher.
“That? Oh that’s just the town ladder,” Tag replied. “I honestly keep forgetting we even have that thing.”
“What is it for?” Colby’s eyes narrowed in confusion.
“I’m not sure, really. It’s just kinda… there.”
“That looks extremely dangerous, what if it falls?” Colby questioned, “Or what if it gets struck by lightning? That’s a total fire-hazard just waiting to happen!”
“Thankfully we don’t get too much lightning here. Or any rain, really.” Tag shrugged. “You’re not wrong, but it’s been there since before I was born, and for it to be taken down there’s a lot of-”
“Paperwork?”
“Exactly.” Tag nodded. “Hopefully someday Mayor Sniffington will finally get around to it, though. Oh! Did you know I was actually the mayor of Pawston for a day?”
“No, you hadn’t told me that. Really?” Colby asked. “How did that happen?”
“It’s a long story.” Tag said modestly. “Well, maybe not that long, I could probably tell it in eleven minutes. It all started when-”
“Tag Barker, just the young dog I was looking for!”
A blue and white greyhound sporting a sleek mustache suddenly pulled up to them in a shiny blue racecar, taking off his helmet and lowering his sunglasses. “How are you holding up after that nasty tumble on the track yesterday?”
“Hey Sam…” Tag said quietly as she pulled aside to the curb, her cheery attitude suddenly fading, “I-I’m okay, I guess.”
“Great to hear,” Sam turned his attention to the unfamiliar adult yellow Labrador seated next to her, holding out his paw. “And I don’t believe we’ve ever met, Mr…”
“Colby.” Colby shook the blue and white greyhound’s paw. “And you’re Sam Dippet, right?”
“That’s ‘Whippet’,” Sam corrected with a chuckle, “But yes, the one and only. Now please, no autographs today, haha. Oh, who am I kidding, maybe just one couldn’t hurt!”
Sam took out a pen and a small piece of paper from inside his mustache, already scribbling his signature on it.
“I’m good actually, thanks.” Coldy said politely, with a dismissive wave of his paw.
“Oh. I… see.” Sam crumpled up the paper in his paw, continuing to smile as he put the pen and paper back into his mustache before turning back to Tag. “Anyway, Tag, I just wanted to let you know that I’m going out to Colliefornia for a while for a Whippet family reunion. So if you still want a rematch with your wise and, if I may say, dashingly handsome mentor, I’ll be back in Pawston in time for the race on June 1st, so I hope you keep practicing until then! To think, just one more win, and this will be my 100th in a row! Hope to see you then!”
Sam put his helmet and sunglasses back on, his tires screeching against the pavement as he pressed down hard on the pedal.
“Doggy Book of World Records, here I come!”
Tag and Colby looked on as the racecar sped off down the street, leaving them in the dust.
“Huh, June 1st. That’s on my birthday,” Colby commented.
“Nice! How old are you gonna be?” asked Tag, her mood improving now that Sam was gone.
“Twenty…” Colby paused for a second, doing some quick math in his head. How old was he when he got trapped in the timeless void? “...seven. I’ll be twenty-seven.”
“Wow, almost twenty whole years on me!” said Tag.
“Wait… t-twenty…?” Colby’s eyes slowly drifted to Tag in realization. “So you mean you’re…”
“I just turned seven!” Tag exclaimed innocently, wagging her tail happily behind her.
Colby’s face went completely pale. It suddenly made sense to him why she had been drawing with crayons earlier. His stomach twisted into knots as he recalled his infatuated thoughts of how cute she was. How good she smelled. He’d thought that with her intellect, Tag was just a small adult dog. When in reality, he’d unintentionally felt hints of attraction towards a seven-year-old girl.
“S-seh… seh… seven,” he repeated, horrified. “I see.”
“Y’know, hanging out with you has been really nice, Colby. I… I needed this distraction today,” said Tag, taking off her helmet and giving her new friend a hug.
Colby, however, tensed up at her touch. If he had known her age before, he might not’ve been so lax about spending time with a young girl he didn’t know. He thought back on the looks the dogs gave him back at the diner, wondering if they had assumed the worst of him.
“I… I… I have to go now,” Colby said suddenly, breaking free from Tag’s embrace and getting out of the sidecar in a hurry. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Tag.”
“Aw… okay,” Tag said sadly, wondering if she’d done something to upset him. “It was nice meeting you too! But you’ll still come over to meet my family, right? I live at 380 Dogwood Drive.”
“I-I don’t know if…” as Colby was about to decline, Tag gave him the saddest, most pathetic puppy-dog eyes he’d ever seen in his life. After some consideration, he supposed it couldn’t hurt to simply be a little sociable - he did save her life after all, and maybe meeting her family could be good for him to adjust to interacting with others again. But now, he had to be much more mindful about the context in which he interacted with this young girl in the future. He sighed in defeat.
“Okay, I guess I’ll come over and meet your family… for a little bit, at least. Is 9 AM alright with you?”
Tag beamed with delight, leaping out of her scooter and hugging Colby again.
“Yes yes yes yes yes! 9 AM! I’ll make sure breakfast is on us! I can’t wait! See you then! I lov- I mean uh, bye!” Tag leapt back into her scooter, zooming off at top-speed before Colby could say anything else.
The yellow Labrador simply stood alone on the sidewalk, trying to process everything that had just happened today.
“What the fuck have I just gotten myself into…”
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