Holy Cow! A talking dog! Run for the hills!
The Story of Doggirl
No, I'm not a freak and I'm not some guy in a dog suit. If ya would stop screaming for a minute and sit down I might be able to tell ya somethin'. Well, Whiteyoshi200 already wrote a story similar to this, but the way I see it, it's better coming strait from the horse's mouth. (Don't take that literally, I'm not a horse.) Anyway, in case you didn't already read Whiteyoshi200's version of my story, I'll reiterate for ya. This is the account of my life, written by myself.
This story really begins...well, when I was just a pup. I was playful, healthy, your basic cute puppy, part of a litter of four. My mother took very good care of myself, my two brothers, and my one sister. To add to that... our masters, a generous Yoshi family, took really good care of my Ma. I became particuarly attached to the youngest in the yoshi family: a playful, kind, white Yoshi who was curiously called, "Hey, kid!"
My mother used to tell me that I was different from the other puppies. She told me that I had a special gift, and she added that when I grew older she would help me develop that gift. Of course, I didn't know what she was talking about. I was just a puppy, how was I supposed to know?
After a while of depending on my mother, I finally became fully weaned and ready to begin exploring the world on my own. It was a great time for me (as with most dogs), and I quickly learned the "do's" and "don'ts" of doghood. The white Yoshi and I would play for hours, and I always remembered how she smelled like fresh Yoshi cake. (I know. It's weird. But dogs have a powerful sense of smell.)
Unfortunatly for me, my brothers, and my sister, our 'generous' yoshi family decided that their family wasn't big enough for all of us. Because of this, when I was only about a few weeks old, my brothers, my sister, and I were packed into a cage, thrown into the car, and shipped off to the Yoshiville Animal Shelter. This was a great shock to me, and my brothers and sisters didn't take it very well, either.
Anyway, after a few weeks... no, wait. It was months... or maybe years? Well, time isn't important. All I know is that sometime during my stay at the shelter, the shelter hired a very lovely and nice Yoshi, named Wanda, who was very kind toward me. In fact, when it was her turn to watch over the dog cages, she let us dogs out to roam around the Yoshi Kingdom... as long as we promised to be back before Wanda's turn to watch the cages was over. We always did, because none of us wanted to leave the food and safety of the animal shelter. I always took this opportunaty to leave the animal shelter so I could visit my Ma and the little white Yoshi I remembered from my childhood. These meetings had to be in secret, though, because I knew that if the rest of the little white Yoshi's family found me, they'd call the pound and get Wanda fired... or worse. Anyway, getting to leave the pound briefly became a habit quickly and I always looked forward to seeing Wanda and getting to visit my mother and the young, white Yoshi.
Meanwhile, back at the animal shelter, my sister and brothers started to disappear, one by one. This made me very sad, but also worried me, mainly because I didn't know what happened to them. After the disappearance of my sister, the last of my remaining siblings, I started to worry about my own fate. As I lay sulking in my cage one night, pondering my future, Wanda appeared in front of my cage. I found this rather odd, mostly because she didn't work that night. She had the keys to my cage in her hands. After some effort, she opened my cage, picked me up, and carried me to her truck. She then drove far away from the Yoshiville Shelter, and (from what I could see from the inside of her pickup) far away from Yoshiville itself. At the time, I couldn't tell that she was trying to save my life, but I did sense that she was taking a risk for me. The truck eventually stopped in front of a large forest. Wanda took me out of her truck, and placed me on the ground. She then motioned for me to run away, saying, "Go... run away... now!" I whined briefly, pleading with Wanda, but then she motioned once again for me to leave, so I crawled away into the bushes, to remain hidden by the shadows of the night. Wanda then turned toward her truck, cried softly, and drove away the way she came, not even turning back.
I never forgot that night. I probably would have disapeared, just like my brothers and sister, had I stayed at the Yoshiville Animal Shelter. Anyway, back to the story... I was stranded in the woods, in the middle of nowhere, with no food, no water, and no alternate source of transportation! What a pickle! (And I don't mean Dill.) As I wandered through the forest, it started to snow. I decided to stop and take a light nap. Dawn broke, and I slowly awakened. As I popped my head out of the blanket of snow covering my body, I glanced around, and saw a highway only a few yards away. Appearantly, I had not traveled as far as I had imagined the previous night. I stood up, shook the snow from my fur, and walked to the highway. I then sat down by the side of the road, hoping some sympathetic traveler would stop, pick me up, and take me to their home.
Luckly, after only a few hours of sitting by the road, a truck stopped in front of me. As I excitedly watched the truck slow to a halt, two Yoshies in white uniforms stepped out, and jumped at me! As I yelped and struggled, they slipped a muzzle over my face and threw me into the back of their truck. 'Miserable stupid jerks...' I thought to myself. The truck started up, and drove away. The ride was bumpy and irritating, adding more stress to the experience. When the truck finally stopped, I was taken out of the back and immediately transported into a large, fenced building. After going through many doors and hallways, I was brought to a room, similar in appearance to the Yoshiville Animal Shelter's dog pen, only bigger. The walls were lined with cages, each containing a dog. They were all barking their lungs out at the newcomer, me. In case you haven't guessed, this isn't a good greeting in dog society. These dogs didn't even look like the ones at the animal shelter, either. They were all unusually large and muscular, with extremely sharp-looking teeth. The uniformed Yoshies threw me violently into an empty cage and locked the door behind me. "Welcome to the Travis Animal Institute," one of them said while laughing. After that, they turned away and left me alone.
I quickly found out that this wasn't your normal pound. First of all, I discovered that no dog ever got adopted. They only disappeared like my brothers and sister did. I'd know if they got adopted. A Yoshi would come in, point at the dog they want to take home, and the dog keeper would ask for a few Yoshi coins. (Ya didn't think these pounds kept these dogs for free, did ya? Not in the Yoshi Kingdom, anyway.) Then, after the yoshi paid for the dog, the dog keeper would open the cage and the yoshi would take the lucky dog home. (Well, at least I think they went home.) I suppose that's why Wanda didn't take me home with her. And why the little white Yoshi's family didn't let me stay with them. It all comes down to money... or something legal, I'm sure.
But not one Yoshi came in to look for a family pet... Not one. The only Yoshies we dogs got to see were the ones in uniforms that cleaned our cages and fed us.
The second thing about this so-called 'Travis Animal Institute' that isn't quite like the animal shelter are these monthly 'tests' that the Yoshies do to me. I get dragged from my cage, placed in a bright room, stuck on a table, and then these Yoshies in weird suits stick thermometers and needles into me. It hurt like heck, and I usually expressed that pain with a good old-fashioned howl. After that, they stuck a new collar on me and tossed me back into my cage, acting as if nothing happened.
Well, as I stayed at the animal institute, years passed. (At least I think it's years.) One day, I got a rare treat. Someone actually came in and cleaned my cage! A Yoshi opened my cage door, then fed me a Yoshi egg as a distraction. While I licked up the yummy Yoshi egg, the cage keeper tied me by a leash to a pole in the back of my dog pen. He then began to clean up my cage. I finished my egg, turned to the cage keeper, and barked happily. This was just to humor the cage keeper, so when he smiled, I decided to bark again. Unfortunately, I didn't intend to yell out, "Hey!" instead of bark. The cagekeeper immediately turned to me, dropped his broom, and stared at me with widened eyes and his mouth dropped open. Apparently he was as shocked as I was, because I was doing the same thing. "You... I... me... didn't... just say that," I stammered. The Yoshi stood still for a moment, as if he were frozen, then he grabbed his broom and his cleaning cart and stumbled out of my cage. He forgot to untie me, or to even close the cage door! I just stood there, wondering if I just said what I thought I did, and then I plainly denied it. I figured that the cage keeper just saw a mouse or something, and that I was going insane. I had been staying there at the institute for quite a while, after all.
A few days later (or was it weeks?), my cagekeeper came in to clean my cage again. He acted more cautiously around me than he did before, and as he gave me my Yoshi egg, he quickly jumped away after handing it to me. Otherwise he acted casually. I ate the egg, and once again barked out my gratefulness, except this time it came out as, "Thanks!" The cage keeper gasped, and then tried to make a break for the cage door... too bad he accidentally closed the door and locked himself inside. As the Yoshi violently shook the cage door, he yelled out, "Help! Help me! Mad dog!" Seeing that there was little chance of getting out of my dog pen anytime soon, he turned around and leaned against my cage door. He spoke frantically, "Good dog. Stay there. Stay...stay..." I didn't want to hurt him. I didn't even care about this Yoshi. But since he was making such a big deal about it, I decided to try and calm him. "Look, look. It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you, Now just stop yelling and listen for a minute and we might actually get something accomplished," I spoke calmly. "You... You... But you're a dog..." he said in a calmer tone. "Well duh," I replied. "But dogs don't talk. You can't be... I'm dreaming. This is a dream. You're not real, and when I wake up, you will be gone. All gone..." he continued. "Fine. But until I 'leave,' why don't we just have a little chat, okay? Ask me anything," I offered. "Okay... Who are you? What do you want?" he asked impatiently. "I'm a dog. I've been here for years. I want the same thing you do, a reason as to why this is happening. Might I remind you of who you are and why you're here while I'm at it?" I replied sarcastically. The Yoshi didn't respond. "Look, there's no reason why we can't be pals. In fact, I might even be able to help you out, as long as you help me," I started. After a while, I convinced the cagekeeper that I wasn't a threat to him. And as the hours passed, we started to get to know each other.
"Name's Denning. How 'bout you?" the yoshi questioned. "I never really had a name. Dogs don't really keep names, just smells that help identify individual dogs from one another. My former owners didn't keep me long enough to name me, anyway. But I think that was their plan all along," I answered truthfully. "Well, you're a dog, you can talk, you're a girl, how's 'Doggirl' sound?" Denning joked. I snickered. "I think you like that name. Fine then. I'll call you Doggirl. Whenever I see you, THAT'S your name," Denning proclaimed.
The next morning Denning's fellow workers recovered him from my cage. He was quickly examined by a doctor and sent straight home, from what he told me. I found out a few other things from Denning that night. He told me that the Travis Animal Institute was a secret research facility that tested the brutality of dogs by taking in strays and subjecting them to monthly tests. These 'tests', as they were called, were designed to stimulate a hormone in dogs that makes the dog unusually strong and territorial. (Whatever the heck that means.) After the dogs were thoroughly 'tested', they were sold to the military as guard dogs. He went on to say that since the tests proved ineffective on me, the institute was considering my extermination. (I understood THAT.)
From then on, Denning would visit my cage more often. He always brought me a Yoshi egg to eat, and then we would talk for a while.
One night, while I was asleep, some Yoshies in drench coats walked into the room. I woke up, stretched, and approached the door of my dog pen. The Yoshies stopped before my cage. As I peered up at them, one of the Yoshis pointed at my cage while saying to the other, "That one. We need to get rid of her..." I didn't need to hear another word. I slowly backed away from the cage door and sat down near the back wall. 'Oh no...' I thought to myself. 'I'm toast!' (And I don't mean bread.) Then the Yoshies walked away, muttering something I couldn't hear over the constant barks of other dogs.
When Denning visited the next day, I told him what I had heard. Denning didn't act too surprised. "Doggirl, we need to get you out of here," he told me. "How? This place has fences around their fences!" I said in distress. "I need more information. Hold on. I'll be back," Denning told me. With this, he got up and left the room.
Denning told me the next day that I had about a month until they put me to sleep. 'Very encouraging,' I thought to myself. Denning informed me that he was doing everything he could to help me, but the institute has a policy against employees taking home animals. A few days passed, and we tried to keep a positive attitude on the situation, but that didn't help. We needed a plan.
The situation didn't get any better, either. Denning disappeared from his job shortly after one of our visits together, and I never saw him again. I wondered if the 'Travis Animal Institute' was on to us.
It didn't take long for me to find the help I needed, though. I was in my cage that day, taking a nap (or at least trying to, no thanks to the barks of the dogs in the next cage), when a wonderful scent passed by my nose... it smelled like... like... fresh Yoshi cake! I lifted my head and sniffed the air. I could hear the footsteps of someone approaching. As the sound of footsteps grew nearer, the scent became stronger... and stronger... and stronger still! (I again remind you. Dogs have a powerful sense of smell.) I couldn't take it anymore. I stood up, walked to the door of my cage, and peered out my cage door, but I didn't see anyone. Then a Yoshi stepped out in front of me. A beautiful white Yoshi with long, dark hair, a sweat voice, and the smell of fresh Yoshi cake spoke, "What's wrong with this dog? Why isn't he big and mean like the others?" A second Yoshi, dressed in a black suit, stepped out in front of her to answer, "This one did not do as well as the others. She will be put down on the third of next month." "Oh," the white Yoshi replied. "Isn't there anything I can do?" she inquired. "I'm afraid not, Madam. Releasing these dogs to the public could be dangerous," the Yoshi in the suit spoke. "Well, you don't figure there's any way I could purchase this dog..." the white Yoshi questioned. "It would take alot more than you could offer, Madam. Now, shall we continue?" the Yoshi in the suit spoke. The white Yoshi nodded, then allowed the Yoshi in the dark suit to escort her out of the room. As I watched my last hope leave the room with some guy in a suit, I saw the white Yoshi briefly turn back, and wink at me. I didn't know what that meant, but I had a good feeling about it.
The following night, after my late meal, I took the time to gaze out my tiny, basement window high up near the ceiling. Through the tiny opening, I could see some early night stars. As I became fasinated by these small, bright dots hanging in the dark sky, a shadow darted by my window. "ARF?" I barked curiously. I approached my window, to get a closer look. The figure of a Yoshi appeared before my window. The Yoshi, which I couldn't identify by sight in the dusk light, smelled like...fresh Yoshi cake! I started to bark, but I was quickly silenced by a wave of the Yoshi's hand and a harsh female voice. "Shh! Be quiet! I'm going to get you out of here," she instructed me. I sat down and wagged my tail to show my excitement while I patiently waited. The Yoshi got to work immediately. She brought out a tool box, which enabled her to unhinge the metal bars from my window and climb down into my cage. As she dropped to the ground next to me, I stood up and started to bark, but she harshly whispered, "Shh!" so I quietly sat down again. The Yoshi then pointed up at my window and whispered to me, "Up! Go dog! Go!" I looked at her curiously, and upon her realizing that I didn't know what she wanted me to do, she shrugged. "Ah, never mind." The Yoshi lifted me up on her shoulders and carried me to the window, where she squeezed me through the tiny opening. She quickly followed me out. "Com'on, this way! Come, girl!" the Yoshi whispered, then she began to quietly walk toward the back fence. I barked out cheerfully, which to my dismay, triggered several more barks from inside the building, which set off some alarms. I panicked, but the Yoshi remained calm. She took off running, and yelled out, "Let's go! Now!" There was no need to whisper anymore. I followed her swiftly, until we arrived at a large fence. We turned back, only to see some Yoshies in uniform, accompanied by dogs, charging at us from all sides. Their flashlights blinded us as we glanced back at them. It appeared that we were trapped. I looked up at the Yoshi who tried to rescue me, and I could definitely see that she was the white Yoshi I had met earlier. I whimpered, pleading with her to think of something. She looked around, and after a frantic glance upwards, she yelled out, "Catseye!" in a loud, deliberate tone. This yell was then followed by a fierce roar, which stopped the guard Yoshies in their tracks. A moment of stillness, before a huge cat, a tiger, leaped out over the fence! The tiger landed upon the ground between the white Yoshi and me, and the pound guards. The guards gasped, then the white Yoshi began shouting out commands. "Walk. Forward, Forward..." she ordered. The tiger began to approach the guards, and the Yoshies recoiled in fear. As she continued to calmly give out orders, the white Yoshi lifted me up over the fence, and then began to climb over the fence herself. The tiger was suddenly charged by a few renegade dogs, but they were brutally mauled by the tiger's swift paw swipe. Upon reaching the other side with me, the white Yoshi gave a final command: "Catseye! Come, Catseye! Heel!" The tiger immediately ceased the assault on the pound guards and hopped back over the fence the way she came. The white Yoshi, the tiger, and I quickly made our escape into the forest, thanks to the tiger.
Pretty heroic, Huh? That one Yoshi and her tiger going through all that just for me. Well, I later got an explanation, soon after the white Yoshi escorted me back to her home. As it turns out, the white Yoshi (codenamed Whiteyoshi200) is a chief officer of the Y.V.A.P.S (Yoshiville Animal Protection Service.) The Y.V.A.P.S had been trying to close down the Travis Animal Institute for years, but they hadn't had enough evidence to do so until now, due to Whiteyoshi200's keen investigation skills. The tiger, affectionately called 'Catseye', has belonged to Whiteyoshi200 ever since the tiger was recovered from a circus a few years ago. The local circus claimed that the tiger was too old to work in the act, and when they were considering putting the tiger to sleep, Whiteyoshi200 intervened and offered to purchase the animal. (This is legal because she has a license to keep and care for exotic animals.) As for me, Whiteyoshi200 knew that when the Travis Animal Institute would close down, a few of the animals would be confiscated by the Y.V.A.P.S, but most of them would be exterminated, including myself. Whiteyoshi200 said she couldn't stand to have me put to sleep, especially since I seemed to be such an innocent dog. And when she found out that I could speak, Whiteyoshi200 never thought twice about allowing me to stay with her.
Well, I have stayed with Whiteyoshi200 ever since. She owns a nice little animal farm: complete with of sheep, dogs, cats, a tiger, plenty of Yoshi eggs to eat, and I get to help run it! But the best part is knowing that I'm part of a family, and that the Travis Animal Institute won't be seeing another dog for a long while...
So, how did Doggirl get to talk? Did she have the gift all along? Was her mother right? Was it the tests performed at the animal institute? Was it the Yoshi eggs? If so, then who did invent the speech egg?
The world may never know...