Stark Shadow

This morning, Tess Harpsie woke to the wet licking of an affectionate dog’s tongue on her arm. As she rolled over in a fit of restlessness, the morning sun breached the cyan veil on the window and she woke up, reluctantly. Tess let her mind slip out of the dream and sighed at the pleasant thought of having a pet dog. Without waking her slumbering husband, Larry, she stealthily left their elegant bedroom. Light seeped in the windows lining the walls of the hallway, casting Tess’ moderate shadow on the regal paintings occupying the opposite wall. Looking back to the computer down the hallway and tempted to check her e-mail, Tess turned instead to the kitchen for a quick bite of food. Munching on some juicy red grapes, she marked off another day on the calendar and happily recalled her 35th birthday celebration from a week ago. Smoothing her long, bright-blonde hair, Tess yawned and stuck the remainder of her grapes in the fridge for later. Making her way to the bathroom in the middle of the hallway, Tess stumbled drowsily into the doorway and, quickly glancing around, made sure to softly shut the door. After using the laser on her teeth, she flashed a magnificent smile at herself in the spotless mirror. Locked with her image’s glistening sapphire-blue eyes, Tess playfully made expressive faces at herself and quietly giggled. Circling back to her bedroom, she sat on the vacant space next to Larry and checked the ornate, analog clock on the heartwood table next to her side of the bed. It was only 5:32 in the morning, so Tess intended to sleep until 7:00 A.M. with the curtains closed. Shortly before then, however, she was awoken yet again by the sound of the phone. In frustration and exhaustion, she reached for it and accidentally knocked it off of the charger. “Ugh… who is calling at this time?” Tess glanced at the clock and sighed hazily at the time. “Maybe I should have gotten to sleep earlier last night.”Tess reached down and grabbed something as the message machine had finally started up, and pulled it towards her only to hear a small whine. Her eyes opened wide in shock as she glanced over the side of the bed to see a small, fuzzy brown and white tail wagging vehemently for a few seconds before it vanished under the sheet draped over the bottom of the bed, which concealed the various containers and items stored under it. Tess shot a quick look at her snoozing husband and started to get out of bed to look under it as her message machine went off. “Hello, this is Tess. What’s up?”There was momentary silence, followed by two short chuckles. Her husband continued, “No, this is actually a message machine. We can’t get to the phone right now, or we’re away or something like that.” Tess’ voice finished, “You’ll hear a beep in a few seconds, so please continue then. Thanks!” The two laughs echoed through the hallways of the house as Tess dropped to the floor to investigate the mysterious sound. “Hey, this is Ciara!” rang the phone. Tess lifted up the dangling sheet, but it was still quite dark underneath her bed, so she got up and started looking for a flashlight. “I’m calling about this new project I’ve recently started… I think you’ll like it, but it’s a surprise until you see it!” She found the flashlight and lied down next to the bed again. “Until then, Tess!” Ciara hung up, and Tess groaned slightly. She was about to lift up the sheet again, when something wet rushed out and touched her nose lightly. “Agh, yuck! What was that?” Angrily, she wiped her nose and looked down. There was a dog, slowly squirming its way out of the tight space. Brown and white tail whapping anything in range, its nose continued to probe everything it could reach. Its small paws scratched once or twice behind one of the large, floppy beagle-ears on its long face. Now out in the open, it stared expectantly at Tess, who was astonished by this dog’s sudden appearance. She spotted the collar, which was colored to match the fur around the dog’s neck; camouflaged. She snatched the tag and skimmed the details. “No! No, wait a minute, that can’t be right…” Tess looked at the dog again, who was moving closer to her to avoid being practically choked by Tess’ iron grip on the collar and tag. It seemed affectionate, as though not the slightest bit unfamiliar with her. Tess checked the dog’s gender; she was female. The tag read: {Fuzzball} {Tess Harpsie} Naturally, Tess assumed that her awakening earlier had been a dream, and that this dog was only part of it. Larry turned over and Tess glanced at him for a half-second before spinning back and pinching herself. “Ow!” She looked at the dog again, who had leaped onto the bed and was making herself comfortable on Tess’ pillow. Tess slapped herself, and Fuzzball jumped up at her action. Finding this situation rather strange, Tess held her cheek and decided to answer the message on her phone, being sure to mention her ‘guest’. Since Ciara is such a good friend to her, she may be able to set things straight. Almost immediately after having started the call, Ciara answered, “Nuh-uh, Tess! I know you hate surprises but I’m not going to give in to my urge to tell you this time!!” Tess could practically sense the wide grin on the other side of the line. “Hello, Ciara. I was wondering if you remember me getting the dog that’s shedding on my pillow at the moment.” “Heh, dog? When did you get a dog?” Tess’ eyes widened in curiosity, and then she began to elaborate. “When I woke up this morning, a dog was licking my elbow. She has a tag, and it says she’s mine. Her name’s Fuzzball, she’s a beagle and I found her under my bed just a moment ago.” “Wow, you’re not joking, right? Hmm. This is strange… let me think.” There was silence for a moment. “You really don’t remember where you got her? You should look up the location of the nearest shelter and take her there.” “No, I don’t want to get rid of this fuzzy, adorable dog!” Tess pet the dog. “At least, not just yet. I just want to find out where she came from.” Larry stretched and wiped his eyes.