Just as the beast went to stick her nose between my legs she was jerked back and I caught sight of a familiar face. Why it was my missing master! It seems that she was already the master of another dog, an excitable, yellow Labrador. The scent of the canine was familiar. It could usually be caught at the base of a door that was rarely open leading to another dreaded staircase this one leading down. So this was where the girl had been all along. She must sleep underground with the other dog. I was both concerned and relieved to learn this news.

Later that day I had managed to reach the upstairs. It did not matter to me that I had been carried all that mattered was there was new places to see. The first room I entered belonged to the eldest daughter. I suppose I should feel cursed that I was blessed with such a great sense of smell. An assault of flowery scents and the sticky stench of hairspray sent me into a flurry of sneezes. Unfortunately leaving the area did not help much. The smell seemed to follow me wherever I went.

Next I found my favorite room. The boy’s bedroom was by far the warmest room in the house. I soon learned that if I stood on my hind legs they would gleefully lift me onto their soft beds, it was as if I were sleeping amongst the litter again.

Not everything in this home was to be loved though. Once the father came home from his daily adventure things turned loud. The mother and father would bark at each other insatiably. From all this noise the youngest would start to wail and even my kisses could not calm her cries. I once tried to retreat upstairs to find that many of the other children were quarreling over toys. Now I understood why the other dog stayed in the basement, much quieter.

Eventually I found that despite the noise I could sleep comfortably under one of the children’s beds. Within a few days I had come to see that this was a large, loud and busy home. Everyone seemed to stay in their place and the only times they really enjoyed each other’s company was when there was yelling involved.

Perhaps it is just my nature but despite all the chaos and noise I loved my new home and my new family. As I had said before I would gladly lay my life down for them despite my small size. There are many of them and they occasionally make me wonder but I would not trade them. This is my home. I am no longer a stranger though it still remains to be strange.