“Who are you?” I ask, but he doesn’t respond. He just stands there looking at me. Tattoos run the length of both arms, and he wears a sleeveless white T-shirt and long black shorts.
“I think you might be a stray,” he says.
Stray. What is that?
“I don’t know what’s going on,” I say. “I think something happened to my head.”
He squints at me, curious.
“I need help.”
“You’re barking a lot, girl. I’m guessing you’re hungry.”
Barking? I’m talking directly to him.
“Can you understand me?” I ask, slowing down the words in case he’s confused.
He looks at me, not comprehending.
This is weird. I can understand everything he’s saying, yet for some reason, he doesn’t understand me.
The man smells of strange dogs, and I look behind him, expecting to see them. But there are no dogs.
Why would a man smell of dogs with no dogs nearby?
I detect another scent, too.
Fresh meat.
He reaches into his pocket and holds out a chunk of meat in his hand. My stomach rumbles, and my mouth begins to water.
“Do you want something to eat, girl?”
I really want something to eat, but who is this guy?
“I help dogs like you,” he says as if he can sense what I’m thinking. “Lost dogs. Strays.”
“I’m not lost. I just can’t remember who I am.”
He smiles, again misunderstanding, and he puts the meat on the ground. He backs up a few steps, giving me space.
The man is smiling and his voice is friendly, but I’m suspicious. Why is he in this alley? Why is he talking to me?
But the smell is magnetic!
I edge toward the meat, sniffing. It seems okay to me, so I dart forward and grab the cube. I scarf it down and back up before the man can get near me.
“Wow, you’re fast. You’ve got good instincts, girl.”
More meat appears from his pocket. This time he flings it high into the air. I jump for it, all four paws leaving the ground as I snatch it from midair, land, and back away from him in a split second.
He laughs and applauds. “Bravo. My name’s Ruben. I’ve been looking for a dog like you. A dog with game.”
“I don’t know what game is.”
“It looks like you ate right through that thick leash. You must be strong, huh? Strong and agile. I could use a dog like that.”
“Use me for what?”
Ruben disappears around the corner without answering, and I follow him, peeking around the wall.
He’s standing by a truck with a lightning bolt painted on the hood and an enclosed cargo bed in the rear, the doors open wide. He spills an entire bag of meat cubes across the bed of the truck, and my stomach does somersaults.
“I think you earned yourself a feast,” he says. “I’m going to treat you like a princesa.”
A wave of dizziness comes over me. My body feels like it’s floating, and I’m having trouble concentrating.
Ruben pours water into a bowl, and he gestures inside the truck, offering it to me.
My instinct screams for me to be cautious around him, but it’s hard to think clearly with food and water so close—
I give in to temptation and hop into the truck. I bury my nose in the water bowl, tongue lapping at top speed. The bowl becomes two bowls, then three, the images dancing up and down.
“What’s happening to me?” I ask. My voice sounds far away, like it’s coming from a different dog.
“I’ve got a good feeling about you,” Ruben says. “I think I’ve hit the jackpot.”
I swallow hard, and I notice a bitter flavor in my mouth. There’s something wrong with the water, a chemical aftertaste I missed in my desperation to fill my belly.
I panic, knowing I’m in trouble. I try to run, but it’s like I’m moving in slow motion. By the time I turn around to jump from the truck, it’s too late.
The door slams shut in my face.