Another day begins, the sun rises, its golden rays laying bare the waking world. A beam travels down, down, through clouds, further down, filtered through the leaves of the tree surrounding a cabin before spearing through a window. It lanced straight and true, falling upon the closed eyes of a sleeping wolfpuppy as he lay prostrate in his bed. The puppy, at first glance, seemed alright, there was nothing truly visible that hinted at the pain beneath. Pain inside his heart, pain inside his head. It tormented him night and day, from it he had no lasting sanctuary. On occasion he found something that took his mind from the pain, but this was few, far between, and quite fleeting. The sunbeam caressed his eyelid tenderly, spreading warmth. The eye twitched as the puppy dreamed of something far away...

***

Toby found himself in a brightly lit room, one with a high ceiling and soft carpet below. The color scheme was soothing, pale blues and greens defined the room. Toby looked around in amazement, drinking in the sights with his turquoise eyes. He saw a low table, made of dark wood, and on it something shiny. He padded over to the table and knelt before looking down at the shiny, pretty thing. It was a silver disk with a raised border, a mirror actually. He hefted it up in his little puppypaws and looked into his reflective surface expecting to see his own ugly face. To his surprise, however, he saw a face unlike his, more like his master’s. At the same time he also saw a face like his in it too and that made him happy to think he was pretty like his master. His ears perked a bit as he gazed in the mirror, lost in his own reflection.

“Toby” Toby’s ears dropped as he heard that deep, mellow voice. He laid the mirror down with trembling paws and began to slowly turn towards his master. “Come along Toby,” Prank said softly, soothingly, sinking to one knee and beckoning with a finger, “come to me.” Toby didn’t even bother getting off his knees, he just sank his shoulders down and cralwed over to his master. His tail and ears were low as he got close to his massive master. At last he reached Prank and laid at his feet, submissively nuzzleing his footclaws. “Silly puppy,” Prank chuckled as he lifted Toby and held him in his arms, close to his chest, “you know I love you lots, don’t you Toby?” He cradled the puppy with one arm and used the other to lightly stroke his chestfur. “I see you like the mirror,” he said softly, picking it up and holding so Toby could see himself in it, “don’t you?” All Toby could do was nod softly as his master’s peircing blue eyes stared at him from the mirror. “Well, I guess you can have it, eh pup?” Prank broke into a friendly chuckle as he placed the mirror in the pup’s paws, “I know you’ll like this toy.” Toby took it in trembling fingers as Prank sat down, placing the pup in his lap gently. As soon as he was settled Prank began to lovingly stroke and caress Toby’s ears and back.

Toby was in bliss as he was petted. All his troubles melted away as he felt the love of his master seep

******

Suddenly his internal alarm clock went off and Toby jerked awake, tangling himself in his ratty blanket. With horror he listened to a claw snag a loose thread and cause a rip in the thin fabric. As an added bonus he got a toe wrenched back at the same time. So he left his cardboard box in pain and sadness, a condition not new to him. He slowly rose, still bruised from the day before, whimpering softly as throbbing pains flared He padded over to the wall calendar and lifted the marker on a string to mark the day. It was an interesting calendar, custom made with a different picture of Toby for each month. Each photo had been taken after he had been punished, showcasing the brutality that he had rightly deserved. The photo for that month had been taken when Toby was eight, a younger, smaller Toby. Yet he was no less bloody. Prank had started taking pictures when he was 4 and had a year for each month, at least that was the plan. So far there were only enough years of pictures for the first eight months. As the marker descended on the calendar Toby’s eyes widened and his paw stopped. Taped to that day was a small wallet size photo of Toby as a very young puppy. It seemed innocent, but Toby knew what it meant. It was his birthday. Toby began to tremble even as the thudding footsteps of his master approached. As the door swung open he closed his eyes and flinched a bit from his master.

“You lazy fuck! Get your ass in here!” was the low growling threat Prank issued as he grabbed Toby’s neckscruff and hauled him to the kitchen. He threw the pup across the room, makign him hit the wall hard before falling next to his bowls. “Here’s breakfast you fucker,” Prank muttered as he emptied a greasy can of dogfood into Toby’s food bowl, “eat it all up.” Prank glared down at Toby as the puppy obediantly thrust his muzzle into the bowl, paw on either side of it, slurping up the low-grade meat. Prank grabbed from the counter a variety of bottle and began to empty them, one of each type on the counter. There was a vast assortment of pills, all shapes and colors. Usually he would give them all to Toby with breakfast, but this morning he separated the tranquilizers, sedatives and cooperation drugs from the vitamin supplements abd other assortments. Prank wanted Toby’s mind to be completely clear on this day.

After Toby had eaten, and licked his bowl clean of course, and swallowed his pills Prank left for a moment, returning dressed all in black. His eyes blazed as he roughly shoved Toby’s shoulder down, forcing him to all fours. He turned to the counter and pulled out a bouquet of roses and brandished them before the frightened pup’s nose. “See these you little fuckhead?” Prank asked, completely rhetorical, “Open your mouth.” Toby’s eyes began to water tears as he opened his muzzle wide, giving Prank the opportunity to stuff the bouquet in lengthwise and clamp the young pup’s muzzle shut. Closing his muzzle so forcefully drove the rose’s thorns into the pup’s tender palates, giving him the coppery tast of his own blood. His eyes bulged and he whimpered softly, muffledly, as pain shot through his muzzle. “Keep that shut,” Prank said, in a voice like ashes, “heel.”

Toby crawled behind his master as Prank strode through the backyard, heading for a towering oak tree. As they got closer Toby saw that beneath it was a flat grey stone. It was at that stone that Prank stopped. “Drop them there,” Prank pointed at the base of the stone, his voice wrapped in steel. Toby gratefully opened his muzzle, letting the roses fall, followed by some of his blood. He slowly backed away as his master knelt by the stone, one paw resting on top of it as he gazed into space, his ice-blue eyes focused on something far away. Toby watched him carefully, looking for a sign of some kind. Suddenly Prank’s head snapped towards toby and he lunged, wrapping a massive paw around the puppy’s neck. He effortlessly lifted the small wolf, squeezing on his throat, eyes burning. “Stop looking at me with those eyes!” he was enraged, beyond control, that massive fist closing tighter around Toby’s neck, cutting off air and blood to his brain. Toby’s slender paws clutched at Prank’s wrist as he dangled, his vision becoming blurry and dark. Prank suddenly squeezed harder, screaming, “I’ll kill you you fucking murderer!” Toby finally blacked out, his last vision that of yellow gleaming on Prank’s fingers.

End Part One