The dim light that the Sun tried to push through the dirty windows of the Animal Shelter attempted to brighten up the room of cages that housed the prisoners of the cell block where Auntie Sophie and Butch were housed. As much as the attempt to brighten up their dark world was appreciated, all the light really did was show the despair and sadness of this horrible place and the unfortunate souls that were trapped there. Butch Chin was huddled against his Aunt, trying hard to keep staring at the back of his eyelids so that he would not have to face another day in the smell and noise of this world. The noise of shoes on gray floor meant that the peoples were coming to fill water bowls and give them more of the dry and tasteless brown bits of food. Butch missed his Chin dinner more than he ever thought he would. His brain would often show him moving pictures of chicken, rice and peas dancing around in a bowl… calling for him to eat them. He remembered lying on the big red deck, teasing his Sister and trying to find a way to get her ribby bone from her mouth to his without her knowing about it. Those were fun time… its funny how quickly fun times seem so much more fun when you are not there to have them.
“Auntie Sophie,” Butch said as he slowly opened his eyes and squinted in the dim sunlight, “Are we still here? I hoped that I would wake up and be back in the Old Brown House.”
Sophie raised her head and looked at her nephew. What a good boy he was to endure these horrors without complaining. She knew he looked after her as much as she looked after him. It was very unfortunate that he was here with her but, a bit selfishly, she was glad that he was there with her. She couldn’t imagine how slowly time would pass if she was alone.
“And how could we be back at the Old Brown House, dear one?” The Oldest One asked.
Butch shrugged his shoulders and sat up on the cage floor, stretching himself out a mile long to work out the kinks of a night sleep. “I kinda was hoping this was all a moving picture show on a glass picture box in my head and mostly not real at all,” he admitted. “Cause if it was a moving picture show, I would just turn it off and we could have our breakfast snack and go on with our day.”
Sophie smiled and his innocence and licked the night time off of his face. She too wished this was nothing more than a picture in their brains… those pictures ended quickly. This place went on for an eternity.
As the pair sat together, not talking but just staring at the walls and other cages surrounding them… there was slowly starting but quickly rising commotion in the walkway.
“PSSSTTTT… hey lady,” said an invisible and very odd sounding voice from the cage across the way from their cell, “look sharp. Here comes a shopper!! Maybe you are the catch of the day, you know what I mean??”
Sophie turned her indifference to “Caution” as she replied, “WHO is speaking and WHAT is a shopper?”
The voice giggled and continued, “Well, Grandma… I am who I am. I was Rex… and then I was Damon… and then, for awhile, I was Ronnie.” The voice spoke in riddles and Sophie didn’t like that at all. “The truth is, the first name I was given was Maxwell. I prefer Max to all the names I have known.”
“Why would you have so many names?” Sophie questioned.
There was a loud sigh from behind the bars of the cage, “Because I have been trapped here before… this is my third time!” The voice stepped forward from the back of his cage into the dim sunlight to reveal the form of a very long and very short dog. “HEY lady… what kind of dog are YOU? I have never seen anything quite like you before!”
“We are CHIN… the choosy ones… we have sat on the right hand of Umpires and stuff,” Butch Chin interrupted, putting himself squarely in the middle of the conversation. “Look look like a hotdog with legs!”
“Butch…” Auntie Sophie shook her head in displeasure, “We are the CHOSEN ones and have sat at the right hand of EMPORERS and leaders of the Peoples World.”
“Chosen for what?” Asked Max, still trying to figure out exactly what the pair really was. “You are dogs, ain’t ya?”
“We, Sir, are MORE than dogs… we are Chin.” Sophie corrected.
“Looks to me like you pee and poop on the cage floor, just like the rest of us Mutts, Lady.” Max countered, looking her up and down. “I think that makes us all just about equal.”
Sophie thought for a moment, “It appears that you are right, Max… I think our current situation does make us equals.” She smiled a bit as she thought about how the Oldest One was just bested by a walking hotdog. “I am Sophie Chin, the oldest Chin to ever live. This is my very vocal and very protective Chindren, Butch. We are pleased to meet you, Max.”
“You talk funny, lady. Chin this and Chin that,” Max mused in his very plain speaking style. “I’m just Max and I really don’t know how old I am.” He smiled a toothy grin from his cage to theirs. “Little man, I look like a hotdog because I’m a dachshund… they call us wiener dogs. But don’t put me on a grill or I’ll bite ya!!!” Max mused to Butch. “Pleasure to meet ya both, I just wish it was in a different place and at a different time.”
“It’s nice to see a friendly face in this place, Max,” replied the Oldest One. She moved closer to the edge of their cage, looking directly into the eyes of her new friend. “What did you mean when you said that a shopper was coming?”
“You guys ARE new, aren’t you,” Max said in amazement at her lack of practical knowledge. “Shoppers buy stuff… see. When the gray door opens during the daylight time… it’s probably going to be a shopper coming to look us all over to see if we are good enough to buy.”
Sophie was a bit confused by his explanation, “and what do they do with us after they buy us?”
“BOY… you ARE just off the cage truck, aren’t you sister???!!!!” Max shook his head in disbelief. “They buy you and take you home to live with them!!! It’s a sweet deal, you know. You get meals and a bed and get to go outside. It’s the best.”
“I do not believe she is your sister, Max,” Butch said, just knowing he was right. “I have seen all the peoples and Chin at the Old Brown House and none of them look like hotdogs.”
“Butch, he does not really think I am his sister. It’s another way he addresses someone who is a friend… I think,” Auntie Sophie explained, or at least she thought she did.
“Okay… sister,” Butch replied. He was finding out that as much as he knew about being a Chin, he apparently knew very little about being a dog.
The Oldest One shook her head to show her displeasure, “That was wrong on many levels, my child. I am your Aunt, not your friend or your sister”
“Mamie is my friend AND my sister,” confirmed Butch, not really following the flow of the conversation.
Sophie turned her attention back to Max, “So, Max… a shopper could set us free and maybe help us to find our way back to the Old Brown House, the place that we belong.”
Max frowned, “Oh… I don’t know about that. When a shopper buys you, you belong to them. I don’t know how well they would take to the idea of buying you just so they could give you away, you know.”
“I see your point but I MUST get Butch back to the safety of the Old Brown House.” Sophie said, trying not to speak loudly enough for Butch to hear.
Max scratched his head for a moment, “What is the Old Brown House and why is it so important? I’ve learned that a home is a home is home. You really just stay where they put you and hope it sticks. Heck, I’ve been in three different homes in the past couple years.” Butch counted in his brain to make sure he was right, “Sure… first I was with the old man. Then there was the lady and man with the two young kids. After that I was with the old woman for awhile.”
Butch walked to the front of their cage and sat down, staring at Max, “What is the Old Brown House? Why it is EVERYTHING. It is our home, the home of our Chincestors, the place of our pack. The Old Brown House is in all Chin who have lived there. It is the big red deck and the Tall Wooden Fence and the Yard that Goes on Forever. It is the place where I have hid by Ribby Bones and the place where my sister and I have played since we were very little. It is the home of the Oldest One, it is safe and warm and it is always there. That Old Brown House that we live in… well I guess, it is our Forever.” Butch thought for a moment about what he had just said and, more importantly, something Max had said just moments before. “Why have you had so many Forevers, Max?”
“Forever… no way, kid. I don’t believe in it at all,” Max crept back into the darkness of his cage for a moment, “Forever is for suckers. Listen, I thought I had it once. I lived with the old man for years. We were a good team. He was my best friend, best friend EVER. One day he got sick, very sick, and he went way and NEVER came back. Then they brought me here.” Max thought for a moment, “That’s when I first saw a shopper come through that gray door. A couple came in and took me home to be THEIR dog. I thought I was in the money with that one.” Max sighed and put his head down, “Heck, it didn’t last a week. You see, they had a couple kids that pulled my tail and pinched my ears. No dog should have to take that… NO DOG. So I growled and snapped… just to scare them, see… not to hurt them. Well the lady and man said I was B-A-D… I don’t know what that was but if you are B-A-D you end up back here in jail.”
Auntie Sophie felt badly for Max, “What about the old woman, wasn’t that forever?”
“No… hardly,” scoffed Max, “Her place was the shortest stay of all. She slept a lot and I drank a lot of water. Those things don’t mix, you know. I ended up watering her plants for her… but not with water, if you know what I mean!!! After that, I was back here with three strikes against me. So, like I said before, forever is for suckers… and apparently Chins!!!”
The peoples footsteps became heavy on the hard, gray floor and the noise of the dogs became louder with every step taken. There was barking and howling, scratching and performing. Sophie didn’t quite understand what the fuss was about.
“Max, why are they all acting so wildly? It is only peoples… peoples are everywhere and they are put here to care for Chin.” Sophie said, feeling that she was missing something important.
Max laughed and snorted, “Oh kiddo… it’s all about the show, you know.”
“The show?” asked Butch.
“You know, little man… the show,” Max echoed his first statement. “Get noticed you have to a horse of a different color.”
Sophie and Butch both paused, turned to each other and tilted their heads in confusion. Sophie tried to clear up the massively large question that had just popped into both of their brains.
“Max… what does a colorful horse have to do with the show, or forever, or shoppers, or this Shelter?” She asked, hoping the answer did not lead to more questions in her brain. “Is there a cage here with horses? I have not seen it or heard their noises.”
“No, no… you aren’t following me.” Max shook his head in disbelief. “You guys are not with the program at all. I can’t imagine what it’s like at that Old Brown House of yours.” He tried a different approach to explain himself, “Listen… if you walk into a room of horses and all of them are brown with white manes and long tails, they would appear to be the same… right?”
“I agree,” confirmed Sophie. Butch shook his head yes, too… although his mind was locked in on a room of colorful horses all marching to a pretty tune.
“So, what if all the horses in the room were brown with white manes and long tails… except ONE. That horse was all black with a pure white tale. Then what would THAT be?” Max asked, hoping they would figure out the answer for themselves.
Butch answered, “That would be awesome… if the black horse would march to a pretty tune!!”
“I think I see, Max,” interrupted the Oldest One, flying by Butches unusual response. “The horse of a different color would draw more attention than all of the horse that looked alike. So that horse would be more popular because of its individuality… AH, I GET IT NOW!”
Max turned around in a quick circle to celebrate her discovery, “That’s it, kiddo… you got it now!!”
“So the horse of the different color will gain the most attention from the shopper and is likely to be chosen to leave this awful place.” The questions faded quickly from Sophie’s brain. Butch, however, had left that question behind a long time ago and was now wrestling with the question of how to get a black horse with a white tail to march to a pretty tune.
Their celebration was quickly interrupted by peoples voices and close footsteps. The shopper was being guided by a familiar voice… it was the man peoples who had captured the Oldest One with his rope on a stick. Sophie did NOT like this peoples, at all.
“Here are the last two cages, buddy,” said the peoples with the rope on a stick. “Really, I doubt if any of these is what you are looking for. See… it’s a three time loser of a wiener dog. He’s been back here so many times we reserve a room for him. That pooch is headed for better places soon… so don’t waste your time with him. You’ll just be back in a couple days.”
The shopper looked down at Max who came out of the light, wagged his tail and spun in a circle. The shopper laughed and tried to pet Max through the cage bars. Soon their attention turned to the cell of Sophie and Butch Chin.
“And these two… it’s an old lady and her son,” the evil peoples said, incorrectly. “He might be okay but he’s got a bit of an attitude. The female is so old she wouldn’t be worth paying for. I’d say she’s on her last leg.”
“Well, honestly…” spoke the shopper in a midrange man peoples voice, “I’m just looking around. I’m pretty sure I don’t want or need a dog. I just know that storm the other night displaced a lot of animals and I thought I’d see if I could do anything to help.”
“You’re right about that storm,” agreed the evil man peoples, “I got a lot of these mutts that night. Some of them, like that little jerk,” he continued, pointing at Butch, “They weren’t easy to take. But I always get them in the end.” The people was proud of himself and his rope on a stick.
The shopper gave the evil peoples a dirty glare and shook his head is disapproval of his obvious pride. “Each one of these poor souls is a pet, a companion, a friend and a family member of somebody who loves them. They all likely represent something special in some person’s. It would be wise if you’d remember that, Sir.”
The evil peoples with the rope on a stick replied, “To me… they are either cash or they are in the way. I’m just doing my job, buddy. Don’t blame the messanger.”
After a moment of uncomfortable silence between the two peoples, the shopper turned and looked the evil peoples in the eyes, “Could I have a moment alone with them? I think your presence here upsets them. How am I ever going to see the real dog personality if they all afraid of you?”
“Sure pal,” the peoples with the rope on a stick allowed, “I’ll leave you alone. If you make a decision, let me know. I need to take inventory soon and figure out who is over their due date.”
The evil man peoples walked back out the gray door and left the shopper with the prisoners in the cages. Max took this opportunity to howl a bit and spin around on his short, stumpy legs.
“Horse of a different color, kiddo!!” he shouted out to Sophie and Butch. “Just watch me go, go, go.”
The shopper laughed at Max, then bent down to his level and spoke, “Such a good old man, aren’t you, buddy. I’m sorry you are here, in this place. I wish I could take you all home with me, all of you… but, then again, I’m not really looking for a dog. I’m sure someone will come to find you, my friend. You have to have family missing you somewhere.”
The shopper turned and looked across at the cage with the two Chins inside. Butch hid behind his Auntie and Sophie sat up tall, almost defiant and very proud.
“And what is your story, old girl? Is that your child behind you? I won’t hurt him at all, I promise.” The shopper appeared to be a good peoples man. He had a certain kind quality in his voice. Sophie relaxed a little, for she felt there was nothing to fear from this peoples. “I wonder where you came from, I wonder where you belong.” The shopper gently and slowly placed his hand into the cage for the Oldest One to sniff. “See, missy… there is nothing to fear. I would never hurt you.”
Sophie sniffed his hand and her brain lit up. This scent was oddly familiar, as if she had smelled it before… but she couldn’t place it. Her eyes grew large and round as this peoples rubbed her head and scratched under her fuzzy chin.
“I don’t know what kind of dog you are, old girl… but you are NOT very pretty, no not at all,” the shopper teased her, “you are flat faced and bug eyed… who could love a girl like you?”
Sophie leaned into his hand as he rubbed her more. How long it had been since she had enjoyed the touch of a peoples. She had spent the majority of her life in the company of her pack, of other Chin. She never had much time or caring for peoples in general. After all, they were put there to serve and care for the Chin… nothing else.
“And what about you, Jr?” the shopper peered around the Oldest One and looked at Butch who as still hiding behind his Auntie. “I would never hurt you, little man.”
Butch quickly glanced out from behind his Aunt and looked at the shopper, then ducked back behind Sophie Chin.
“Okay, okay buddy… I will leave you alone,” the shopper said with a smile on his face. “It’s a shame, though because we could have been fast and wonderful friends.”
Slowly the shopper withdrew his hand and stood up next to the cage. He turned to Max and petted him on the head again. Then he quickly glanced over his shoulder at the two Chin in the prison cell and a sad look came over his face.
“Sorry gang… I’m just not looking for a dog. I have a life you know, no time for animals.” The Shopper said. Sophie was not exactly sure who he was trying to convince. The shopper glanced in the cage again and started a slow walk towards the gray door.
“Please, shopper… please take the boy,” spoke the Oldest One to the peoples man who had been so kind as to spend a moment with three dogs he did not know.
The shopper stopped in his tracks, looked over his shoulder at Max and said, “Did you hear something, boy?” He looked in and around all the cages and said loudly, “IS SOMEONE IN HERE.” Oddly enough, no peoples replied to him. The shopper looked back at the two Chins and the funny wiener dog, “I’m losing it kids… just losing it.”
He started to walk away and Sophie made her case for Butch again, “He is nothing but a boy… this place is no place for a young one. Please, take the boy so he may live.”
Again the shopper stopped. “Okay, very funny. Who the heck is talking?” He turned around and faced the trio of dogs he had spoken to just before. He looked into the cage that housed the two Chins, “Is there a speaker in there?”
“I do not know what a speaker is… but I assure you there is nothing more than my nephew and my old bones in this cage,” Sophie said directly to the shoppers face.
There was a long silence as peoples stared at Chin and Chin stared at peoples. The shopper looked over his shoulder at Max and asked, “Did you hear that dog just talk?” Max looked unimpressed and nodded his head yes. The shopper turned back to Sophie Chin and stated “I don’t know what is going on but you, my dear, did NOT just speak to me. No, no, no.”
“And I assure you, shopper, I have never spoken directly with a peoples… well, except the Round Man but that as mostly just in my brain and not here in the Real World.” The Oldest One responded.
To this very day it is unknown if the shopper was born with the ability to hear Chins speak or if Auntie Sophie’s desire to see Butch free from this horrible prison called a shelter allowed her voice to be heard in the shoppers ears… but at this moment in time, only the second peoples ever to speak to a Chin was having a very real conversation with the Oldest One of the pack of the Round Man.
The two exchanged words for a few moments, Sophie pleading her case for the shopper to take her young nephew… which was followed by the shopper telling the dog that he didn’t have time or space for Butch. Sophie bargained, begged and prayed that the shopper would have a change in heart.
“All I can tell you is this,” Sophie continued the conversation, “on this day, at this time, in this moment YOU can make a difference. You can take this boy and make him your own… take him from this place of despair and ugliness, away from the filth and horrors. Please, please make these old and round eyes able to see this beautiful child escape this Shelter.”
Sophie Chin, Auntie Sophie, the Oldest One of the pack of the Round Man shifted to her right so that Butch, her beloved nephew, could be fully visible to the shopper.
“NO Auntie, I will NOT leave you,” exclaimed the determined Butch. “We are devoted and I must be here to be with you… always.”
“Butch, my love, “explained the Oldest One, “This peoples man, this shopper, he is kind and wise. I believe he will care for you and maybe, just maybe, the two of you… together… might find the Old Brown House and your sister. You see, child, you must go with him… it is your destiny, your time. My time has past, my Chindren. This is the time of Butch Chin, not of Sophie May. It is your beginning and my end. So you must go and I will stay behind here with Max. He would likely appreciate the company of an old lady Chin.” She smiled a weak smile and pushed her nephew forward a few inches so he could see the shopper.
“I… I can’t take you both. It would simply be too much. Heck, I don’t even want one and I couldn’t have two. I’m sorry, so sorry,” the shoppers eyes filled with water. “I hope you understand.”
The Oldest One nodded her head in understanding, “Take my boy, shopper. He is all that matters here. Take him and treat him with the respect and love that peoples have for Chin.”
The shopper nodded his head yes and reached into the prison cell known as a cage. He gently petted Butch on the head, showing the young pup that there was nothing to fear. Once Butch understood he was indeed safe that this peoples would not hurt him, the shopper lifted the small dog out of the cage and held him close. The shopper looked down at the Oldest One and a single drop of water fell from his eyes and onto the cage floor.
“I promise I will care for him like he was my own family,” the shopper said with sadness in his voice. “I promise we will speak of you often and I will learn about Chin and I will make his life the best I know how… I will do this for you.”
“You will call him Butch, for that the name given to him at the Old Brown House. He is Butch, Warrior Chin from the pack of the Round Man, “the Oldest One urged the shopper.
“I will. His name is Butch now and forever, right Butch?” the shopper stroked the small dog who whimpered with sadness. “We need to go. This will only get harder if we don’t leave now.”
The shopper nodded to the Oldest One and started the walk to the gray door. Butch peered over his shoulder at his Auntie Sophie, crying out to her as the shopper walked.
“NO… NO… I NEED YOU AUNTIE. I NEED TO BE WITH YOU… AND YOU NEED ME!!!” He begged and pleaded. “WE ARE DEVOTED, YOU AND I… YOU PROMISED, YOU PROMISED.”
Sophie Chin watched as Butch became smaller and smaller in the distance. She shouted after him, tossing words of encouragement and love to him as he walked.
“I WILL BE FINE BUTCH, I LOVE YOU MY CHILD. I AM FINE, I WILL BE FINE. THE PEOPLES FROM THE OLD BROWN HOUSE WILL FETCH ME SOON. GOODBYE BUTCH, GOODBYE, “ she watched as the gray door opened and her nephew passed through to the other side. She knew he would be safe with the shopper. He would live a good life, the life of a Prince… the life of a CHIN!! “GOODBYE BUTCH, MY DARLING ONE… YOU MADE IT, YOU MADE IT OUT, JUST AS I PROMISED. YOU WERE THE HORSE OF A DIFFERENT COLOR.”
The gray door closed behind the shopper and as it closed, Sophie Chin exhaled a sigh of relief and of sadness. She looked across at Max and her heart sank further. It was then that she realized that she was not the only one left behind. Max was still without his forever and together, in a room full of noise and sadness… they were very alone.
“Auntie Sophie,” Butch said as he slowly opened his eyes and squinted in the dim sunlight, “Are we still here? I hoped that I would wake up and be back in the Old Brown House.”
Sophie raised her head and looked at her nephew. What a good boy he was to endure these horrors without complaining. She knew he looked after her as much as she looked after him. It was very unfortunate that he was here with her but, a bit selfishly, she was glad that he was there with her. She couldn’t imagine how slowly time would pass if she was alone.
“And how could we be back at the Old Brown House, dear one?” The Oldest One asked.
Butch shrugged his shoulders and sat up on the cage floor, stretching himself out a mile long to work out the kinks of a night sleep. “I kinda was hoping this was all a moving picture show on a glass picture box in my head and mostly not real at all,” he admitted. “Cause if it was a moving picture show, I would just turn it off and we could have our breakfast snack and go on with our day.”
Sophie smiled and his innocence and licked the night time off of his face. She too wished this was nothing more than a picture in their brains… those pictures ended quickly. This place went on for an eternity.
As the pair sat together, not talking but just staring at the walls and other cages surrounding them… there was slowly starting but quickly rising commotion in the walkway.
“PSSSTTTT… hey lady,” said an invisible and very odd sounding voice from the cage across the way from their cell, “look sharp. Here comes a shopper!! Maybe you are the catch of the day, you know what I mean??”
Sophie turned her indifference to “Caution” as she replied, “WHO is speaking and WHAT is a shopper?”
The voice giggled and continued, “Well, Grandma… I am who I am. I was Rex… and then I was Damon… and then, for awhile, I was Ronnie.” The voice spoke in riddles and Sophie didn’t like that at all. “The truth is, the first name I was given was Maxwell. I prefer Max to all the names I have known.”
“Why would you have so many names?” Sophie questioned.
There was a loud sigh from behind the bars of the cage, “Because I have been trapped here before… this is my third time!” The voice stepped forward from the back of his cage into the dim sunlight to reveal the form of a very long and very short dog. “HEY lady… what kind of dog are YOU? I have never seen anything quite like you before!”
“We are CHIN… the choosy ones… we have sat on the right hand of Umpires and stuff,” Butch Chin interrupted, putting himself squarely in the middle of the conversation. “Look look like a hotdog with legs!”
“Butch…” Auntie Sophie shook her head in displeasure, “We are the CHOSEN ones and have sat at the right hand of EMPORERS and leaders of the Peoples World.”
“Chosen for what?” Asked Max, still trying to figure out exactly what the pair really was. “You are dogs, ain’t ya?”
“We, Sir, are MORE than dogs… we are Chin.” Sophie corrected.
“Looks to me like you pee and poop on the cage floor, just like the rest of us Mutts, Lady.” Max countered, looking her up and down. “I think that makes us all just about equal.”
Sophie thought for a moment, “It appears that you are right, Max… I think our current situation does make us equals.” She smiled a bit as she thought about how the Oldest One was just bested by a walking hotdog. “I am Sophie Chin, the oldest Chin to ever live. This is my very vocal and very protective Chindren, Butch. We are pleased to meet you, Max.”
“You talk funny, lady. Chin this and Chin that,” Max mused in his very plain speaking style. “I’m just Max and I really don’t know how old I am.” He smiled a toothy grin from his cage to theirs. “Little man, I look like a hotdog because I’m a dachshund… they call us wiener dogs. But don’t put me on a grill or I’ll bite ya!!!” Max mused to Butch. “Pleasure to meet ya both, I just wish it was in a different place and at a different time.”
“It’s nice to see a friendly face in this place, Max,” replied the Oldest One. She moved closer to the edge of their cage, looking directly into the eyes of her new friend. “What did you mean when you said that a shopper was coming?”
“You guys ARE new, aren’t you,” Max said in amazement at her lack of practical knowledge. “Shoppers buy stuff… see. When the gray door opens during the daylight time… it’s probably going to be a shopper coming to look us all over to see if we are good enough to buy.”
Sophie was a bit confused by his explanation, “and what do they do with us after they buy us?”
“BOY… you ARE just off the cage truck, aren’t you sister???!!!!” Max shook his head in disbelief. “They buy you and take you home to live with them!!! It’s a sweet deal, you know. You get meals and a bed and get to go outside. It’s the best.”
“I do not believe she is your sister, Max,” Butch said, just knowing he was right. “I have seen all the peoples and Chin at the Old Brown House and none of them look like hotdogs.”
“Butch, he does not really think I am his sister. It’s another way he addresses someone who is a friend… I think,” Auntie Sophie explained, or at least she thought she did.
“Okay… sister,” Butch replied. He was finding out that as much as he knew about being a Chin, he apparently knew very little about being a dog.
The Oldest One shook her head to show her displeasure, “That was wrong on many levels, my child. I am your Aunt, not your friend or your sister”
“Mamie is my friend AND my sister,” confirmed Butch, not really following the flow of the conversation.
Sophie turned her attention back to Max, “So, Max… a shopper could set us free and maybe help us to find our way back to the Old Brown House, the place that we belong.”
Max frowned, “Oh… I don’t know about that. When a shopper buys you, you belong to them. I don’t know how well they would take to the idea of buying you just so they could give you away, you know.”
“I see your point but I MUST get Butch back to the safety of the Old Brown House.” Sophie said, trying not to speak loudly enough for Butch to hear.
Max scratched his head for a moment, “What is the Old Brown House and why is it so important? I’ve learned that a home is a home is home. You really just stay where they put you and hope it sticks. Heck, I’ve been in three different homes in the past couple years.” Butch counted in his brain to make sure he was right, “Sure… first I was with the old man. Then there was the lady and man with the two young kids. After that I was with the old woman for awhile.”
Butch walked to the front of their cage and sat down, staring at Max, “What is the Old Brown House? Why it is EVERYTHING. It is our home, the home of our Chincestors, the place of our pack. The Old Brown House is in all Chin who have lived there. It is the big red deck and the Tall Wooden Fence and the Yard that Goes on Forever. It is the place where I have hid by Ribby Bones and the place where my sister and I have played since we were very little. It is the home of the Oldest One, it is safe and warm and it is always there. That Old Brown House that we live in… well I guess, it is our Forever.” Butch thought for a moment about what he had just said and, more importantly, something Max had said just moments before. “Why have you had so many Forevers, Max?”
“Forever… no way, kid. I don’t believe in it at all,” Max crept back into the darkness of his cage for a moment, “Forever is for suckers. Listen, I thought I had it once. I lived with the old man for years. We were a good team. He was my best friend, best friend EVER. One day he got sick, very sick, and he went way and NEVER came back. Then they brought me here.” Max thought for a moment, “That’s when I first saw a shopper come through that gray door. A couple came in and took me home to be THEIR dog. I thought I was in the money with that one.” Max sighed and put his head down, “Heck, it didn’t last a week. You see, they had a couple kids that pulled my tail and pinched my ears. No dog should have to take that… NO DOG. So I growled and snapped… just to scare them, see… not to hurt them. Well the lady and man said I was B-A-D… I don’t know what that was but if you are B-A-D you end up back here in jail.”
Auntie Sophie felt badly for Max, “What about the old woman, wasn’t that forever?”
“No… hardly,” scoffed Max, “Her place was the shortest stay of all. She slept a lot and I drank a lot of water. Those things don’t mix, you know. I ended up watering her plants for her… but not with water, if you know what I mean!!! After that, I was back here with three strikes against me. So, like I said before, forever is for suckers… and apparently Chins!!!”
The peoples footsteps became heavy on the hard, gray floor and the noise of the dogs became louder with every step taken. There was barking and howling, scratching and performing. Sophie didn’t quite understand what the fuss was about.
“Max, why are they all acting so wildly? It is only peoples… peoples are everywhere and they are put here to care for Chin.” Sophie said, feeling that she was missing something important.
Max laughed and snorted, “Oh kiddo… it’s all about the show, you know.”
“The show?” asked Butch.
“You know, little man… the show,” Max echoed his first statement. “Get noticed you have to a horse of a different color.”
Sophie and Butch both paused, turned to each other and tilted their heads in confusion. Sophie tried to clear up the massively large question that had just popped into both of their brains.
“Max… what does a colorful horse have to do with the show, or forever, or shoppers, or this Shelter?” She asked, hoping the answer did not lead to more questions in her brain. “Is there a cage here with horses? I have not seen it or heard their noises.”
“No, no… you aren’t following me.” Max shook his head in disbelief. “You guys are not with the program at all. I can’t imagine what it’s like at that Old Brown House of yours.” He tried a different approach to explain himself, “Listen… if you walk into a room of horses and all of them are brown with white manes and long tails, they would appear to be the same… right?”
“I agree,” confirmed Sophie. Butch shook his head yes, too… although his mind was locked in on a room of colorful horses all marching to a pretty tune.
“So, what if all the horses in the room were brown with white manes and long tails… except ONE. That horse was all black with a pure white tale. Then what would THAT be?” Max asked, hoping they would figure out the answer for themselves.
Butch answered, “That would be awesome… if the black horse would march to a pretty tune!!”
“I think I see, Max,” interrupted the Oldest One, flying by Butches unusual response. “The horse of a different color would draw more attention than all of the horse that looked alike. So that horse would be more popular because of its individuality… AH, I GET IT NOW!”
Max turned around in a quick circle to celebrate her discovery, “That’s it, kiddo… you got it now!!”
“So the horse of the different color will gain the most attention from the shopper and is likely to be chosen to leave this awful place.” The questions faded quickly from Sophie’s brain. Butch, however, had left that question behind a long time ago and was now wrestling with the question of how to get a black horse with a white tail to march to a pretty tune.
Their celebration was quickly interrupted by peoples voices and close footsteps. The shopper was being guided by a familiar voice… it was the man peoples who had captured the Oldest One with his rope on a stick. Sophie did NOT like this peoples, at all.
“Here are the last two cages, buddy,” said the peoples with the rope on a stick. “Really, I doubt if any of these is what you are looking for. See… it’s a three time loser of a wiener dog. He’s been back here so many times we reserve a room for him. That pooch is headed for better places soon… so don’t waste your time with him. You’ll just be back in a couple days.”
The shopper looked down at Max who came out of the light, wagged his tail and spun in a circle. The shopper laughed and tried to pet Max through the cage bars. Soon their attention turned to the cell of Sophie and Butch Chin.
“And these two… it’s an old lady and her son,” the evil peoples said, incorrectly. “He might be okay but he’s got a bit of an attitude. The female is so old she wouldn’t be worth paying for. I’d say she’s on her last leg.”
“Well, honestly…” spoke the shopper in a midrange man peoples voice, “I’m just looking around. I’m pretty sure I don’t want or need a dog. I just know that storm the other night displaced a lot of animals and I thought I’d see if I could do anything to help.”
“You’re right about that storm,” agreed the evil man peoples, “I got a lot of these mutts that night. Some of them, like that little jerk,” he continued, pointing at Butch, “They weren’t easy to take. But I always get them in the end.” The people was proud of himself and his rope on a stick.
The shopper gave the evil peoples a dirty glare and shook his head is disapproval of his obvious pride. “Each one of these poor souls is a pet, a companion, a friend and a family member of somebody who loves them. They all likely represent something special in some person’s. It would be wise if you’d remember that, Sir.”
The evil peoples with the rope on a stick replied, “To me… they are either cash or they are in the way. I’m just doing my job, buddy. Don’t blame the messanger.”
After a moment of uncomfortable silence between the two peoples, the shopper turned and looked the evil peoples in the eyes, “Could I have a moment alone with them? I think your presence here upsets them. How am I ever going to see the real dog personality if they all afraid of you?”
“Sure pal,” the peoples with the rope on a stick allowed, “I’ll leave you alone. If you make a decision, let me know. I need to take inventory soon and figure out who is over their due date.”
The evil man peoples walked back out the gray door and left the shopper with the prisoners in the cages. Max took this opportunity to howl a bit and spin around on his short, stumpy legs.
“Horse of a different color, kiddo!!” he shouted out to Sophie and Butch. “Just watch me go, go, go.”
The shopper laughed at Max, then bent down to his level and spoke, “Such a good old man, aren’t you, buddy. I’m sorry you are here, in this place. I wish I could take you all home with me, all of you… but, then again, I’m not really looking for a dog. I’m sure someone will come to find you, my friend. You have to have family missing you somewhere.”
The shopper turned and looked across at the cage with the two Chins inside. Butch hid behind his Auntie and Sophie sat up tall, almost defiant and very proud.
“And what is your story, old girl? Is that your child behind you? I won’t hurt him at all, I promise.” The shopper appeared to be a good peoples man. He had a certain kind quality in his voice. Sophie relaxed a little, for she felt there was nothing to fear from this peoples. “I wonder where you came from, I wonder where you belong.” The shopper gently and slowly placed his hand into the cage for the Oldest One to sniff. “See, missy… there is nothing to fear. I would never hurt you.”
Sophie sniffed his hand and her brain lit up. This scent was oddly familiar, as if she had smelled it before… but she couldn’t place it. Her eyes grew large and round as this peoples rubbed her head and scratched under her fuzzy chin.
“I don’t know what kind of dog you are, old girl… but you are NOT very pretty, no not at all,” the shopper teased her, “you are flat faced and bug eyed… who could love a girl like you?”
Sophie leaned into his hand as he rubbed her more. How long it had been since she had enjoyed the touch of a peoples. She had spent the majority of her life in the company of her pack, of other Chin. She never had much time or caring for peoples in general. After all, they were put there to serve and care for the Chin… nothing else.
“And what about you, Jr?” the shopper peered around the Oldest One and looked at Butch who as still hiding behind his Auntie. “I would never hurt you, little man.”
Butch quickly glanced out from behind his Aunt and looked at the shopper, then ducked back behind Sophie Chin.
“Okay, okay buddy… I will leave you alone,” the shopper said with a smile on his face. “It’s a shame, though because we could have been fast and wonderful friends.”
Slowly the shopper withdrew his hand and stood up next to the cage. He turned to Max and petted him on the head again. Then he quickly glanced over his shoulder at the two Chin in the prison cell and a sad look came over his face.
“Sorry gang… I’m just not looking for a dog. I have a life you know, no time for animals.” The Shopper said. Sophie was not exactly sure who he was trying to convince. The shopper glanced in the cage again and started a slow walk towards the gray door.
“Please, shopper… please take the boy,” spoke the Oldest One to the peoples man who had been so kind as to spend a moment with three dogs he did not know.
The shopper stopped in his tracks, looked over his shoulder at Max and said, “Did you hear something, boy?” He looked in and around all the cages and said loudly, “IS SOMEONE IN HERE.” Oddly enough, no peoples replied to him. The shopper looked back at the two Chins and the funny wiener dog, “I’m losing it kids… just losing it.”
He started to walk away and Sophie made her case for Butch again, “He is nothing but a boy… this place is no place for a young one. Please, take the boy so he may live.”
Again the shopper stopped. “Okay, very funny. Who the heck is talking?” He turned around and faced the trio of dogs he had spoken to just before. He looked into the cage that housed the two Chins, “Is there a speaker in there?”
“I do not know what a speaker is… but I assure you there is nothing more than my nephew and my old bones in this cage,” Sophie said directly to the shoppers face.
There was a long silence as peoples stared at Chin and Chin stared at peoples. The shopper looked over his shoulder at Max and asked, “Did you hear that dog just talk?” Max looked unimpressed and nodded his head yes. The shopper turned back to Sophie Chin and stated “I don’t know what is going on but you, my dear, did NOT just speak to me. No, no, no.”
“And I assure you, shopper, I have never spoken directly with a peoples… well, except the Round Man but that as mostly just in my brain and not here in the Real World.” The Oldest One responded.
To this very day it is unknown if the shopper was born with the ability to hear Chins speak or if Auntie Sophie’s desire to see Butch free from this horrible prison called a shelter allowed her voice to be heard in the shoppers ears… but at this moment in time, only the second peoples ever to speak to a Chin was having a very real conversation with the Oldest One of the pack of the Round Man.
The two exchanged words for a few moments, Sophie pleading her case for the shopper to take her young nephew… which was followed by the shopper telling the dog that he didn’t have time or space for Butch. Sophie bargained, begged and prayed that the shopper would have a change in heart.
“All I can tell you is this,” Sophie continued the conversation, “on this day, at this time, in this moment YOU can make a difference. You can take this boy and make him your own… take him from this place of despair and ugliness, away from the filth and horrors. Please, please make these old and round eyes able to see this beautiful child escape this Shelter.”
Sophie Chin, Auntie Sophie, the Oldest One of the pack of the Round Man shifted to her right so that Butch, her beloved nephew, could be fully visible to the shopper.
“NO Auntie, I will NOT leave you,” exclaimed the determined Butch. “We are devoted and I must be here to be with you… always.”
“Butch, my love, “explained the Oldest One, “This peoples man, this shopper, he is kind and wise. I believe he will care for you and maybe, just maybe, the two of you… together… might find the Old Brown House and your sister. You see, child, you must go with him… it is your destiny, your time. My time has past, my Chindren. This is the time of Butch Chin, not of Sophie May. It is your beginning and my end. So you must go and I will stay behind here with Max. He would likely appreciate the company of an old lady Chin.” She smiled a weak smile and pushed her nephew forward a few inches so he could see the shopper.
“I… I can’t take you both. It would simply be too much. Heck, I don’t even want one and I couldn’t have two. I’m sorry, so sorry,” the shoppers eyes filled with water. “I hope you understand.”
The Oldest One nodded her head in understanding, “Take my boy, shopper. He is all that matters here. Take him and treat him with the respect and love that peoples have for Chin.”
The shopper nodded his head yes and reached into the prison cell known as a cage. He gently petted Butch on the head, showing the young pup that there was nothing to fear. Once Butch understood he was indeed safe that this peoples would not hurt him, the shopper lifted the small dog out of the cage and held him close. The shopper looked down at the Oldest One and a single drop of water fell from his eyes and onto the cage floor.
“I promise I will care for him like he was my own family,” the shopper said with sadness in his voice. “I promise we will speak of you often and I will learn about Chin and I will make his life the best I know how… I will do this for you.”
“You will call him Butch, for that the name given to him at the Old Brown House. He is Butch, Warrior Chin from the pack of the Round Man, “the Oldest One urged the shopper.
“I will. His name is Butch now and forever, right Butch?” the shopper stroked the small dog who whimpered with sadness. “We need to go. This will only get harder if we don’t leave now.”
The shopper nodded to the Oldest One and started the walk to the gray door. Butch peered over his shoulder at his Auntie Sophie, crying out to her as the shopper walked.
“NO… NO… I NEED YOU AUNTIE. I NEED TO BE WITH YOU… AND YOU NEED ME!!!” He begged and pleaded. “WE ARE DEVOTED, YOU AND I… YOU PROMISED, YOU PROMISED.”
Sophie Chin watched as Butch became smaller and smaller in the distance. She shouted after him, tossing words of encouragement and love to him as he walked.
“I WILL BE FINE BUTCH, I LOVE YOU MY CHILD. I AM FINE, I WILL BE FINE. THE PEOPLES FROM THE OLD BROWN HOUSE WILL FETCH ME SOON. GOODBYE BUTCH, GOODBYE, “ she watched as the gray door opened and her nephew passed through to the other side. She knew he would be safe with the shopper. He would live a good life, the life of a Prince… the life of a CHIN!! “GOODBYE BUTCH, MY DARLING ONE… YOU MADE IT, YOU MADE IT OUT, JUST AS I PROMISED. YOU WERE THE HORSE OF A DIFFERENT COLOR.”
The gray door closed behind the shopper and as it closed, Sophie Chin exhaled a sigh of relief and of sadness. She looked across at Max and her heart sank further. It was then that she realized that she was not the only one left behind. Max was still without his forever and together, in a room full of noise and sadness… they were very alone.