Candara and Puppy

Silver begins the school year by making friends with the foreign exchange student, a shadow, and a puppy. You won't understand until you read it.

Hello there. My name is Argentum Aurum Luna Sharpe. Believe it or not, that translates to ‘Silver Gold Moon’ in Latin. So everybody calls me Silver Sharpe.

    I got my name not because of my hair color or my eyes, unlike most people I know. My mother was named Igneus Rutilus Sol Priar, which means ‘Fiery Red-Gold Sun.’ so everybody called her Fiery Priar, which isn’t a normal name.  The sky and the moon and the stars had a big influence on my family.

    If you paid attention, you would’ve noticed how I saw ‘had’ when I told you about my mother’s name. And if you put the pieces together, you would’ve realized that my mother is dead. My father is a big question mark, since he ran off when I was born.

    My mother’s last wish was for me to go to this upscale school in Canada. Despite the really high security, this place is in the middle of nowhere. If I looked out the window, all I would see was trees stretching on for miles. But rumor has it that the city is out there somewhere, and eventually we’ll be there.

    But I had more pressing matters to attend to.      

    At the moment I am walking down the Main Hall, and I am the only one out since I was in the Library when lights went out. The moon shone through tall glass windows, illuminating my shadow. And something else.

    I had been followed for a while now, but I don’t know what has been following me. I can see out of the corner of my eye that there is a shadow, but nothing more. Maybe it is the shadow itself.

    And I had enough.

    I turned to that I was facing the wall and flipped out my flashlight. It blazed on and I saw that beside my shadow was a creature. Totally black, with small ears and cat-like eyes. It was a huge cat, but the strange thing was it had wings.

    “What do you want from me?” I ask calmly.

    Beside the creature’s head a speech bubble popped up. I shined my flashlight directly on it so it would show up better.

    ‘I am Candara. Help me escape.’ The speech bubble read.

    “Where are you trying to go?”

    The cat pointed out the window, out at the forest. I understood immediately. But I couldn’t let it hitch a ride since that would set off the alarm. So I had to do something else.

    I let it come with me back to my empty dorm, since my roommate hadn’t come in yet. Class didn’t start for a week so I was okay.

    That night the creature flitted around the room, taking shelter in the shadow of my dresser or my bed. I didn’t mind as long as he was quiet.

    The next morning at breakfast, I looked around for Yana, the foreign exchange student from like Finland or something. She brought along her two dogs when she moved, and I heard her roommate saying that they had puppies.

    “Hello Yana.” I say as I dump my tray into the sink.

    “Hi.” She said shyly.

    “I heard that Mrs. Marigold had puppies.”

    “Oh yes they are wonderful! So small and squirming, and I think they are growing fur already!” She exclaimed.

    “Well, do you mind if I have one? My mother used to breed puppies before she died, and I want to be reminded of her.” Half the truth. Our neighbor had puppies and gave one away to us before my mother died. The puppy went back to live with her family though.

    “Oh sure!” She said, and I followed her out of the cafeteria.

    “So what do you think of Telgemier Academy?” I ask as I watch her bottle-feed a puppy.

    “It is very nice, and my roommate is nice too! So many friendly people here, except for Zarma. She is the girl next door, and she gives me willies!”

    “I haven’t met her yet.” I say.

    “You don’t want to. She nasty.” Yana said before tucking the puppy under a blanket. “So, which one do you want?”

    “Which one is the oldest?” I ask, getting down on the floor beside her.

    “This one.” She said, tapping the darkest puppy. It already had fur, and was sleeping contentedly.

    “Then I will take that one.” I say. “How much?”

    “Oh, they free!”

    “Thank you Yana.” I say expressionlessly before leaving.

    “You are welcome!” Yana’s voice carried behind me.

    The small puppy in my arms squirmed before I tucked it in my jacket pocket. It got into a comfortable position before drifting back to sleep.

    At my dorm, the shadow-griffon was waiting for me.

    ‘So you got a carrier for me?’ Her speech bubbled said.

    “Yes.” I reply, setting the puppy down by her shadow. She sniffed the puppy gingerly before looking up.

    ‘He smells like that blond-haired blue-eyed girl from Finland.’ Her speech bubble said.

    “He? How do you know that the puppy is a boy?”

    ‘Girls and boys have a specific smell. You smell a lot like vanilla.’

    “Is that a compliment?”

    ‘Sure.’

    “So where do you come from?” I ask, sitting on my bed.

    ‘I’m from the Shadow Zoo, which is in Ireland. My parents are shadow griffons, and they always have wanted to escape. So one day they tricked a zookeeper into letting them out but only my brother and I away.

    ‘I’ve been looking for somebody to help me find him, but it’s hard when you’re a shadow. So when I saw this place, I hoped that maybe one of you guys can help me. And here I am now.’

    The speech bubble was so long that I didn’t comprehend what it said until a few seconds later.

    “Wow. So your brother is out there? Cool.” I say, picking up the puppy.

    ‘Yeah. What are you doing?’ She asked.

    I opened my drawer and rooted around in it before pulling out a small white collar. The charm in the middle was ivory with blue lines that gleamed eerily.

    Grabbing a syringe out of my First-Aid bag, I loaded it with the same blue liquid in the charm, and then tapped it.

    “This liquid makes animal’s talk. It seeps into the brain and the collar speaks what the animal is thinking.” I say, picking up the puppy’s paw.

    I fingered a vein in the puppy’s foreleg, and then aimed the syringe for the small line. The small puppy whimpered as I pushed the liquid into the vein.

    When I pulled the needle out, the puppy yawned before curling up on my bed. I went into the adjoining bathroom and cleaned out the syringe, making sure the liquid went down the sink.

    A knock at my door startled me. Smoothing my hair, I opened the door to see Yana, standing there with a grin on her face.

    “Hello again Yana.” I say.

    “Good morning to you too Argentum.” She said, looking past me. “May I come in?”

    “Sure.” Holding the door open, she walked in before I shut it behind her.

    “What did you come all the way over here for?” I ask as we both sit on my bed.

    “I wanted to give you this stuff for puppy.” She said, handing me a bag. I dumped it on the bed, and a pile of chew toys, a bottle of milk, some food and a couple of dishes.

    “Here.” I say, handing her the bag back. She pushed it back.

    “Keep it. I made it myself out of fabric scraps.” She said, and I examined the stitching.

    “You did a great job.”

    “You are most welcome! Where is your roommate?”

    “She hasn’t come in yet.”

    “Well, I also ask if you have fabric I can use.” She said, and I nodded. “You do? Yay! Nobody else bring fabric with them.”

    I pulled out the bin of folded up fabric and let her examine the fabric.

    “I make you jacket for letting me borrow fabric.” She said, tucking a yard of dark brown fabric under her arm. “This goes great with your light brown hair.”

    “Thank you.” I say, sitting down at my desk. Pulling out a small palette of eye shadow, I started dusting it on my eyelids.

    “Makeup! I love makeup! You has more?” Yana asked, and I opened the bottom drawer of my desk. Gleaming under the light was small boxes of every color imaginable. “Oh yay! You give me makeover?”

    “Sure.” I say, getting up to let her sit in the chair. I pulled out a small box of makeup and began swabbing some on her eyelids.

    After swishing on some lipstick and a slight twinge of blush, I pulled away. “Here you go.” I say, holding out a small handheld mirror and showing it to her.

    “Oh I look beautiful! I give you makeover!” She said, pushing me into the chair before I could protest. I sighed and closed my eyes as I felt the brush move over my eyes.

    Ten minutes later, she was done. I examined myself in the mirror and saw that I looked stunning.

    “Whoa. I look amazing.” I say, and she squeals.

    “I do good job?” She asks, and I nod. “Yay! Now we good friends!” She said, hugging me. I awkwardly hugged her back before she left, saying that she had puppies to feed.

    A few minutes after she left, the small puppy on my bed woke up. He yawned a big yawn and then let out a small yip before nudging me.

    His collar blazed blue before a mechanical voice sounded. “Me hungry.” He said, and I stalked off to the kitchens to steal some meat.

    A few minutes later I was back, a small baggie of meat in my hands. The puppy sniffed it delicately before recoiling.

    “Not milk. Where milk?” He asked.

    “I know it’s not milk but you need to get used to eating meat.” I say, nudging the meat closer. “You aren’t going to live without it.”

    The puppy sighed before dipping its head down to nibble on the meat. After a moment it swallowed, and then pulled off a chunk.

    “Yummy! Mama’s food taste good.” He said, and I scratched the small puppy behind the ears.

    After a few more bites the small puppy curled up, content, and drifted back to sleep. On the wall, shadow-griffon created a speech bubble.

    ‘When are we going?’ She asked.

    “Tonight.” I say, and he nods. “What is your name anyway?”

    ‘I am Candara. My brother is Calypso, and I believe he is waiting for me.’ She said, and I nodded.

    Pulling out a book called ‘the Golden Compass,’ I settled down to read.

             A Few Hours Later (It’s nighttime now)…

    It was a couple minutes after midnight. Curled in my pocket was Puppy, and Candara trailed behind me.

    Down the Main Hall we went, keeping to the shadows so Candara could keep up. Huge stained-glass doors loomed in front of us, the moon making the floor gleam purple and blue.

    I opened the door softly and closed it, keeping a small rock between the doors so it wouldn’t close all the way. Then I sat the puppy down on the last step and waited for Candara to appear behind him.

    “Listen Puppy.” I say, pointing out in the woods. “Can you take Candara back to her brother? You don’t have to come back, but that would be nice.” I add.

    “Sure Mommy-Friend.” He said, and then started waddling down the bridge connecting Telgemier and the woods. Lamps aligned the sides, making Puppy’s shadow loom behind him.

    He talked to himself happily as he pottered down the bridge. “Bye Mommy-Friend! Come on bird-cat, we need to get to the woods.”

    I watched until I couldn’t see him anymore before turning and walking back inside. As I curled up in my bed, I wondered what I would tell Yana.

Author's Note

Review.