101 Dalmatians [(Open)]

[jake]

Jake strained against the tight hold on his collar. "Whoa now Jake, we're almost there!" Patrick said. The pair was heading towards the Dog Park, one of Jake's favorite places to go. The Dalmatian looked up at his human fondly, his tongue rolling out of his mouth. "I could be there right now if you let go!" Jake barked to him. Patrick, not understanding dog, just laughed. Giving up, Jake slowed his pace and matched Patrick's steps like a good dog should.

Years ago, Jake learned that good dogs got the yummy food and praise. And as tempting as chewing on Patrick's slippers looked, all that was going to get you was a smacked bottom. And who could resist the reward of bacon at breakfast? So the Dalmatian had changed from a rambunctious little pup to a perfect family dog.

The human patted Jake's head praisingly. "Good boy,"He said. Suddenly the sound and familiar tug of the led being unclipped occurred. Jake yipped happily danced around a bit on his paws. Freedom! He stopped moving and sat down, looking at Patrick expectedly.

The human laughed once more and began to fish around in his pocket. Jake's chocolate brown eyes followed his every move. Yes, yes, yes. This is it... The neon yellow of a tennis ball appeared and then disappeared in the human's large hands. Jake's spotted tail thumped strongly on the grass. A whine escaped him.

Suddenly, Patrick hurled the ball deep into the park. Jake shot off like a bullet, dodging dogs and two-leggers alike, after the tennis ball.

[solisticeofwinter]

Loyalty.

The sky was deep azure tint, dotted with pristine cotton plumes as the sun bore down on the city brightly. The birds that flew over head where the cheerful robins, cooing doves, and nosy pigeons that lived in the Church spires. An occasional airplane whirred in the sky above, deep in the heavens lurch. The sun heated the pale conrete below, where many people walked. Cars honked and tires squealed as traffic was in its usual backup of the morning. The warm summer air tickled all those in its path, and many of the city people were out and about. Tall men with wide bellys and short women with small frames. Disabled people and fitness trainers dwelled about the streets, common people going in and out of shops at their leisure.

In a small pet store in Downtown Harlow, a large Belgian dog lay at his owner's feet as she plundered through the goodies. The woman was in her thirties, with dark chestnut hair that had the faintest streaks of a darker lowlight. Her eyes were the color of a misty ocean current, and her face had the faintest hint of middle age. She wore a light power-pink lipstick and her makeup was clean and natural, shades of brown and gold highlighting her features, making her appear young. She wore a tank top of cotton blend the color of cotton candy. She wore a small diamond necklace in the shape of a dog. Her hair was pulled back into a high pony-tail, relieving the weight of her shoulder-length hair from her neck. Her legs were exposed knee-length in athletic shorts that dropped a little past the knee. She wore a pair of new athletic Addias running shoes. She held a long, 6 foot black leather leash in her palm. It wasn't taut or strained like that of an excited dog, but slackened and loose of that of a more docile dog. She hummed a merry tune while surveying and examining different kinds of collars. She picked up a deer-skin leather collar of tan collar with a gold rung.

"This is perfect Cal. Just gorgeous for you old man." She smiled as she crouched down next to him, unclipping his wore out black collar. He thumped is tail in response, licking the new wear with interest. She fitted it around his neck, and it was a perfect fit. She put the older, black collar in her large bag and picked up a matching lead and clipped it to his collar. She continued to browse the store, picking up a bag of Wellness senior dog food, some hip and joint supplements, and various chews for the Belgian. The friendly cashier popped Calypso a biscuit and totalled their shopping. The woman paid for all her wears and politely bid farewell to the store.

In the sunlight, the Belgian Teveurn was bearing a black masked face, with longer silvery-gray hair covering his entire body. His eyes were a liquid char-brown, watery and tired. He was pretty old, not an incapable elder, but a proud veteran. He was showing the slightest signs of aging, slowing down and wispy feathers of white hair in his black facial mask. The brown leather collar bounced off his chest with the clacking of his identity tags, and the click of his nails of black were bearly audible. His was alert and panting, his long black snout gaped to reveal an astonishinly pink tongue and white ivories. Saliva dripped from his tongue, but he wasn't heated. He just loved the feel of the sun on his back.

"Marcelline, are we going to the dog park?" He whined softly. Marcy gave him a reassuring pat on the head with a gentle hand that sweeped from his forehead to his neck base. "We will be at the park soon." Calypso wagged his tail furiously. They walked a distance, Marcy toting bags and Cal walking placidly by her side. But excitement twinkled in his brown eyes. When they arrived to the park, Marcy unlatched the gates and unclipped Calypso's lead. Cal barked his pleasure and began a small sprint down toward the pond, where an over exuberant Dalmation was splashing about. Cal watched with interest, before plunging into the greenish water. The water swirled around his knees and soaked into his belly fur as he treaded deeper into the water, he surged into deeper water, and snapped at the little splashes. He made his way to the grassy land, and gave himself a relieving shake. His soaked fur was now spiking and light, drying in the wind.

[jake]

Jake snatched up the neon yellow tennis ball in his long jaws. Rejoicing the success, the Dalmatian wagged his lengthy, spotted tail viciously. He spotted an older looking dog shaking himself out on the bank of the pond. Having short hair himself, Jake didn't really find a need to shake. The water moved off his glossy coat and dried quickly in the sun overhead. In the distance, he could hear Patrick praising him and encouraging the dog to run back, ball in mouth. Jake took a moment to look at his familiar human.

Patrick was easily recognizable in the crowds of people at the park. His curly brown hair was receding and thinning but only on the top, the sides of his head were still thick. The two-legger's kind, dark eyes wrinkled up in joy. It was so easy to please him... The corners of those kind eyes bunched up in compassion for his faithful companion. Jake debated on whether he should run to the old man now or wait awhile - maybe enjoy the perfect day? Chuckling at himself, the dog moved on. Why wait?

The two-legger's smile reached his ears when Jake finally loped back. "Good boy, Jake! Ready now? Go!" After one last pat, Patrick let the ball sail. Without thinking, Jake hurled after it like a racehorse.

WHAM!

Jake wasn't looking ahead - his eyes were trained to that yellow ball. So that's why he ran headfirst into that older dog from the pond. Jake tripped over the dog and landed on his spotted side in the grass. Jumping up, the dalmatian hurriedly stepped closer to the dog. "Oh! I'm s-so, so sorry! I-I just didn't see you there...."

[solisticeofwinter]

Loyalty

Ebonite mask dripping with crystalline drops of pond water, veteran Calypso rolled his silvery tresses on the grass to dry them further, the spongy texture milking a summery scent into his long pelt. His leathery lips were curled in a grin, worn, but ivorn canines poking through the pink tongue that dripped sticky saliva. He closed his sepia hued eyes and drank in the scents around him, the sounds of dogs and humans rummaging and playing all around in the emerald confines of the dog park, the silver chain link glittering in the distance.




Calypso rolled over, and shook the rest of the water out of his long steely silver coat. The water oozed and rolled off the thick tresses and dripped down to the clovers and grass on the ground below. Calypso drew his ebon snout to the air, drawing in the scents around him. He sensed a whirrrr...whoosh above his head, but before he could draw his liquid brown opticals to look, a scent of Dalmatian flooded his nose, and he was swept off his feet by a powerful burst of energy. He tumbled head over tail and rolled off the shore back into the water, his head submerging slightly. He yelped in surprise to find himself submerged, and the adrenaline took his body. He sprang out of the water, to find a sheepishly, yet exuberant Dalmatian apologizing. He shook his coat out, spraying all the closet things around him.




Calypso's mouth was twisted in a good-natured grin, and woofed with reassurance. "Its fine youngster.Though, my stiff shoulder twinges a bit, I think I live to see another weekend at the Dogpark." He chuckled and and looked at the Dalmatian. "The name is Calypso. Cal as my Marcelline calls me." He looked at the Dalmatian and with a twinkle of humor in his old, brown eyes.

[/color][/size][/center]