Mother, I want chocolate.

shOrt stOry

A dog laid there in a pit with his six puppies, he was cleaning one of them. He originally had had eight but two didn't make it, he was proud of his puppies. He sat up and took a deep breath, he yawned and laid his head on one of his puppies, relieved at the sound of a heartbeat. He laid down beside here pups, until he felt a stone whizz past him. He stood up and looked out of a hole, there stood a wolf with a gigantic spiked collar.

He was on his way to school, he sat there laughing as he threw stones at the puppies. He barked at him, desperation in every noise that left his mouth, he climbed out of the hole and bit his ankle without a warning because nobody touched his puppies. His mate had tried to devour the puppies as soon after they were born and of course, the dog had to chase her off and raise the puppies himself.

He held on, the wolf tried to shake his paw around but the dog just wouldn't let go, he grabbed a stone and threw it again, the dog let go after hearing the sound of one of the puppies yelping. "Stupid dog." the wolf snarled before kicking he dog into the pit, he laughed and took off. The dog walked over to his puppy, he gently nuzzled him and picked up the stone, moving it to the side.

"Maria." the dog whispered gently, the puppy didn't move. "hey, Maria, we're safe now."

He was hopeful, believing Maria would open her eyes and continue to squirm around. He continued to nuzzle Maria, who didn't move. He put his ear to her, there was nothing. He scruffed her gently and crawled out of the hole, he felt his heart pop and deflate almost as if it were a balloon, his paws were shaking and he felt as if there were more he could have done.

He began to dig, until he felt a raindrop lightly hit his nose. He retrieved his five puppies from the hole and continued trying to wake Maria up, but she had died. He felt tears burn his eyes, no matter how much he wanted to cry, he couldn't. He kept a sharp eye on his pups, who squirmed around as the rain stopped. He placed them back into the hole and began to think about what he'd do with Maria.

He crawled out and dug another hole, he rolled her lifeless body into it and buried her. He sat there for a few minutes until he walked back into his hole, he laid down with his puppies. He began to wonder how he would feed his puppies, he yawned and began to groom them.

Soon enough his remaining five puppies were bounding fluffballs, the ones remaining were Arthur, Dave, Valentine, Annie and Pie. He smiled compassionately as his pups played, Dave pounced onto Valentine, who was scratching behind his ear. The dog stood up, he looked around the small field, Annie and Arthur pranced over to their father, who smiled proudly.

"May we explore?" Annie asked sweetly, her eyes glittering as her white fur blew in the wind.

"You all are so small, I'd have to go with you." their father replied sternly "there are many predators, such as birds, foxes."

"Dad...!" Arthur whined "please let us explore!"

The dog thought for a minute, would it really be worth it? He couldn't bare the possibility of losing another pup, he didn't want to feel that grief again, knowing that Maria had a life ahead of her. "stay within my sight." He insisted, the two pups grinned and bounded off. Pie sat beside her father, mimicking his every move.

"stay within my sight." she repeated in a deeper voice.

He chuckled, she looked up at him "how was my impression?" she asked happily.

"It was well." he replied.

He sat there and kept a sharp eye on his puppies, little Pie was the runt. She stood up and ran to play with Valentine, but he didn't want to play because she was too small. She walked over to her father and sat down, he sniffed the air and stood up slowly, he smelt something suspicious. "come on, back into the hole!" he yelped, his puppies raced into the hole, Pie was behind.

A red car pulled up, a young bunny and her mother looked over. "mom!" the bunny cried "look at the puppies!" she took off after pie, the dog ran up to pie and began to growl. He would protect his children at all costs, Pie crawled under him.

"if you come any closer, I will bite you." he warned the rabbit, who began to reach for pie. She held a fabric doll in one hand.

Pie was quivering, she was afraid. The dog bit the rabbit's paw, the rabbit's mother raced over and picked her up. The dog and Pie raced for the hole, the rabbit was sitting there crying, she wanted a dog. Alas, the dog and his children were safe once again.

-

"There are-"

"I know!" Annie whined "you don't have to tell me, but I'm old enough to fend for myself."

"Yeah, she is." Valentine joined in "she can fend for herself so there's no use trying to control her."

"i'm not trying to control her, it's my duty as a father to make sure you all are safe." the dog replied sternly.

"Yeah, whatever." Annie spoke over him "you've been shielding us from the real world, so I'm leaving."

"Me too." Valentine snapped, Arthur stood up and joined them.

Pie was confused, Dave stood by his father's side. The three left, the dog sat there, he laid down his head, feeling as if he had failed at raising them. Dave looked back at him "let them leave, they'll regret it." he tried to reassure his father, who felt more grief than ever. Pie was quiet, she stood up and walked back to the hole, her head low. The dog sat up and began to howl, nothing came back to him.

-

The coyote looked at Pie, who stood in the field, trying to find flowers for her grieving father. The coyote hopped down the hill and walked over to Pie, who backed up, she was afraid. "What are you looking for?" the coyote asked playfully "hopefully I can help you with it."

"Oh-oh yes, that would be nice."

"Don't be afraid of me." The coyote requested happily "I'm just like you, plus, I can teach you a thing or two."

"R-Really?" Pie stammered, trying to calm herself down.

"Come on, I know this place like the back of my paw." he said as he held out his paw, she took it.

-

Pie grinned, she looked at her father, she stood with her mate, who was the coyote. "Goodbye father, see you soon.: Pie purred, the coyote smiled.

"Thank you." He thanked the dog, whose dull eyes scanned the place, soon he watched Pie and the coyote head into the forests.

His head hung low, Dave carried a small box in his mouth. The dog looked over, Dave handed it to him, the dog grinned thankfully, he opened the box. Dave smiled "it's for you, father." he mumbled, he cleared his throat "it's for you, father." he restated himself loudly, in the box was nothing. The dog was still grateful for his son's gift, Dave grinned

"It's my parting gift for you." he declared "there's a poodle down the road, her owners have agreed to take me in."

"I love you son." the dog spoke, his voice was weak, Dave grinned

"Same goes for you, dad."

-

The dog walked the streets alone, he sat on a hill where he gazed upon the hole he had raised his children in. He laid down, the field hadn't changed. He could still see his puppies playing and a slight silhouette of himself sitting there gazing upon them, making sure there was nothing suspicious in the horizon. He had fought to raise his remaining puppies and keep them out of harms way.

"Father." a dog spoke, she had a smooth voice.

The dog stood up and turned around, there stood Maria. She had the same brown fur as he remembered, but now she was an adult. Her down ears blew in the wind behind her "come on, we're waiting for you." she spoke, holding out her paw.

"My dear daughter, who are we?" He asked.

"You're family." she replied happily "now come on, we don't have much time."

-

Annie sniffed around, searching desperately for her father. She ran up the hill, only to find his lifeless body lying peacefully on the top of the hill, Arthur and Valentine followed. "I'm so sorry." Annie murmured to herself "I'm so sorry dad.."