The Return by Dayna Lorentz

such a thing until I’ve smelled it myself.” She shivered. “I have to believe that, with or without Pumpkin, we will find our families. The humans are here. The city is no longer abandoned.” Callie sniffed the air. “I can smell them, all around. Even if we just go back to our dens, I’m sure our families will return for us.”
    â€œI don’t want to go back.” Shep felt ashamed barking the woofs out loud. “I want to be free.”
    Callie smiled a gentle smile and rubbed her muzzle against his shoulder. “Wearing a collar doesn’t mean you’re not free,” she said.
    â€œYou won’t be able to see me whenever you want,” Shep grunted. “Or eat what you want. Or chase squirrels through the street.”
    â€œTrue,” woofed Callie. “But I won’t starve, or eat a poisonous plant trying not to starve, or lose fur over whether I made the right decision by letting a black Lab den with a Boston terrier. I’ll be well fed and in an air-conditioned den with a soft bed, just for me. And I’ll run around in a safe Park without worrying about whether a pack of wild dogs is going to tear my ear off.”
    â€œThere will always be a leash holding you back.”
    â€œNo matter where you go, Shep,” Callie snuffled, “there’s always something holding on to you, whether it’s a leash or a pack or your stomach.” She waved her snout at the trees, standing black against the lightening sky. “Life isn’t about freedom; it’s about choosing what you want to be free from . I want to be free from worry. This last moon-cycle, I’ve worried enough for one lifetime.”
    Shep closed his eyes. Callie was set on her track — he’d failed to convince her to stay. The only question was whether he should take off now and leave the dogs to find their way home alone, or stand by his pack and lead them to safety. Why did he even bother asking the question? There was no other choice but to lead his friends home. It’s what an alpha does.
    â€œIf it’s what you want,” he woofed, “I’ll take you home. But I’m staying free.”
    A frown clouded Callie’s muzzle for a heartbeat, but then she licked his nose. “Thank you,” she yipped.
    Â 
    Pumpkin woke with a scream. “GET IT OFF ME! GET IT OFF ME!” She bounded in small circles, kicking and scratching and biting her fur.
    â€œWhat?” barked Shep. “What happened?” He hadn’t smelled or heard Zeus prowling and couldn’t see anything near her.
    â€œA fly!” Pumpkin shrieked. “A horrible, buzzing, nasty, disease-ridden, spiny-haired ball of evil with wings!”
    Shep cocked his head. “You’re tearing your fur out over a fly ?”
    Pumpkin stopped bouncing and panted, nervously twitching every few heartbeats. “They’re evil, I tell you. Pure evil.” Then she shook herself from nose to tail, licked her jowls, and smiled. “I know how we can find the shelter!” Just like that, it was as if Shep were barking with a different dog. “I had this dream,” she yipped to Shep and Callie, who’d joined Shep in staring at the white dog like she’d morphed into an iguana.
    â€œI was back home,” Pumpkin continued, “sleeping in my favorite bed by the window, looking down at the beach.” She looked at each of them with a huge smile on her snout, her tiny tail waving.
    â€œAnd?” woofed Callie encouragingly.
    â€œAnd what?” barked Pumpkin, head tilted.
    â€œHow does this dream help us at all?” grumbled Shep.
    â€œThe beach , silly fur!” yapped Pumpkin. She slapped her paws on the dirt. “If we go to the beach, we can find my den!”
    Shep sank into a sit and scratched his scruff. “We’re nowhere near the beach,” he grunted. “And even if we got to the beach, how would you know where