Chapter 1 - Puppy Days

PART I: Puppy days
CHARACTERS
Charlie Barkin
Falia Barkin
Tom Barkin
Hart Barkin
Loni Barkin
Burt Barkin
Flo Collieon
Puppies

Now, Charlie is still a pup, no more than two weeks old. Let’s enter the life of Charlie Barkin. “Ha, ha!” You can’t reach it!” a very young Great Dane teased as he waved Falia’s beloved stuffed toy in the air. Falia, being a collie shepherd mix, was much smaller than her brother was. “Hey! Give that back!” Charlie said, seeing the commotion. Falia and Charlie were not only siblings, they were also the best of friends.
“What are you gonna do about it, fatso?” the Great Dane, Tom, taunted. Charlie jumped on him, growling, and so a fight was started. Charlie, being a little overweight, he was often teased by his siblings. Loni, the mother, had heard the commotion and had rushed over to the fight scene. “It was all Charlie’s fault. He was taunting Tom and started a fight with him. Tom had no choice but to fight.” One puppy, a collie, said. “That’s not true! Tom was teasing me and Charlie was protecting me!” Falia said. “Why do you always take Charlie’s side?” “Because I don’t lie!” Falia said and headed toward the fight to see if she could stop it without mom stepping in again. Charlie was constantly starting fights with the others, but it was almost always in her defense. He also always got scolded on her behalf.
“Charlie! Why do you always start fights like this?” Loni asked. Burt, the father entered the room. “What’s going on?” “Charlie started another fight.” “Again? Loni, come here for a second.” The two dogs went into the hallway and soon heard the growling and squabbles of the puppies. “Loni, maybe it’s time I took Charlie out for a walk, just him and me. You know, a little father son time.” “Maybe. I just don’t see why he does these things. I hope you can do something. I don’t want to have to do this until they all move out. I’ll go crazy.” “Calm down Loni. I’ll find out. Don’t worry.” Loni nuzzled Burt before he went in the room and called Charlie out of the room. “He’s gonna get it this time for sure!” “I don’t think so!” Falia said. “That’s what you always say, but we’re always right.” Tom said. “Beat that, goody-goody! Ha!” Hart, the Collie/Shepherd mix said. “Maybe it’ll be different this time.” They soon heard some talking in the hall and went to investigate. After listening and hearing the door open and close, Tom and Hart were shocked. “Goody-goody was right.” Tom said. “Uh-huh.” Hart replied. “Yeah, that shouldn’t be a surprise to you. And I am not a goody-goody! Humph!” And with that, Falia headed to her room, wondering what would become of Charlie.
Meanwhile, in the park, Burt is talking to his son. “Why do you do these things, Charlie?” Charlie didn’t reply right away. After a minute or so, Charlie said “They make fun of Falia and I wanna protect her. Then they make fun of me, so I fight.” “You sound like a street dog. You’re showing signs in action and speech that you are not growing up in the proper manner. Do you want extra lessons?” Burt asked Charlie. “No way! I hate those things. They all seem so pointless to me. Not to mention boring!” “Well, if you want to become a proper housedog, you must learn the rules.” “Who said I wanna be a housedog? Nuh-uh. No way I’m gonna take more o those things than I need.” “Charlie, please restrain yourself from using that language!” Burt was appalled by how much slang Charlie had been using lately. “You make it sound like I’m cursin or somethin.” “Please, just try to restrain yourself from using that language as much as possible!”
“I don’t see no reason to do that.” “Just control yourself, Charlie!” “Why should I? I got no reason to, so I ain’t gonna.” “Charlie! Sometimes you’re impossible!” Burt almost yelled and headed back to the house.
Falia, who was still at her window, saw a discouraged father and a spunky Charlie approach the house. “How’d it go?” “Not too well. He has begun to use quite a bit of slang and has developed a bit of an attitude.” “Oh. Well, do you think we could do anything for him?” Loni asked, hoping for a definite yes. The reply she got was the farthest thing from what she wanted. “There’s not much we can really do for him. At this rate, he’s bound to get in trouble when he gets older.” “Well, what can we do?” Loni asked. She was getting more and more concerned about her son. “Well, all we can really do is give him extra lessons, pay a lot of attention to him and hope for the best.” Burt replied, knowing it was not the answer that Loni was hoping for, but it was the truth. “Well, I guess that’s what we should do then.” Loni said sadly. By now, tears had started to flow from her eyes, which Burt was wiping away from her cheeks with his paw.
Falia, who had been listening to the conversation, was also sad. She decided to have a talk of her own with Charlie. She would tell him what he was doing to the family. She walked downstairs and went outside. She found Charlie in the backyard, rolling the flowerbeds. “Hi.” Falia said. “Hey.” Charlie said, stopping his flowerbed rolling to talk to her. Falia flinched, then paused. “I heard what mom and dad were saying about you after the walk.” “Yeah, so?” “Maybe, if, you, um, well…” “Yeah?” “If you want, I could help you with your lessons if you’re struggling.” Falia said hesitantly. She wasn’t sure how Charlie would react, but hoped it wouldn’t be too bad. “If ya wanna, sure. But I ain’t easy to work with.” Charlie said. This was a better reaction than Falia had expected, but she still flinched at the way he talked. “Um, great. So, we should start off with the way you talk.” “What’s wrong with it?” “Well, in the lessons, we were taught not to talk like that.” Charlie just rolled his eyes at this remark. Falia shook her head at Charlie’s gesture. This was going to be harder than she thought. But then again, she did kind of owe him for all the times he had stood up for her.
“Well, ya gonna help me or not?” Falia flinched before saying, “I told you, the way you talk.” “Fine, fine.” Charlie said, reluctantly came over to her. “This is beginning ta sound like extra lessons.” Falia giggled and started teaching. From inside the house, Burt and Loni were watching as Falia taught Charlie. “It’s sad and nice at the same time.” Loni said as she looked out the window. “What?” “The fact that we can’t talk to Charlie without back talk saddens me. Falia seems to be the only one that can reach and understand him.” “That is saddening, however, the good thing is that at least one civilized dog can talk to him.” “I wonder what they’re doing.” “Well, from the looks of it, it looks like Falia is teaching him.” “Good. Hopefully she can do something about him She has always been the top of the litter.” “I don’t think it has to be the top of the class, Loni. Just someone who can understand him.” “You’re probably right, Burt.” They continued to watch Falia and Charlie as the two pups continued the lesson.
Despite all of Falia’s help, Charlie only got worse. One day, when Charlie and Falia were two months old, they had just finished their own little private lessons when Charlie said to Falia. “I don’t fit in here. Never have, never will.” “Charlie, don’t say that. Just a little more time, and maybe you’ll get there.” “Falia, you don’ t understand. We’ve been going at this for a month and a half and it’s not doin any good. I’ll never like it here. I’m gonna leave today.” “Charlie, you don’t mean…You’re running away? Charlie, don’t do it! Please! I’ll be lonely, and you’ll never survive out there.” Falia started crying and held on to her favorite brother’s leg. Charlie shook her off, pinned her to the ground, and ran toward the fence.
He pushed aside the loose board and struggled to get through the small hole. He was still a bit fat, so he was stuck for a bit. He struggled out of it and ran off. Falia watched him go until she couldn’t see him. She whispered a tearful goodbye and then ran inside. She ran up to her room, crying. When her parents came up to see what was wrong, she only said this: “Charlie’s gone.” She then broke into a hysterical crying fit. Loni and Burt looked at each other. Then Loni picked up a still sniffling Falia, and Loni, who now also had tears in her eyes along with Burt. Loni rocked Falia to sleep with tears in everyone’s eyes. After Falia had gone to sleep, Loni and Burt went into their own room and decided not to tell the other puppies just yet.
Pretty soon, they went to sleep for much needed rest. In the morning, Falia was not at breakfast. Loni made breakfast as usual, but neither Burt nor Loni ate. Falia rarely came out of her room. The next day had only little improvement. Burt ate, but Loni and Falia did not. This went on for a week or so, then Loni and Falia started eating private meals with just the two of them. Eventually, they began eating with the family again and the days became normal again.
Meanwhile, Charlie had met a dachshund named Itchy and a crazed girlfriend named Flo. As everyone began to recover, happiness just couldn’t seem to find and stay with this family. Just after life had begun to take a normal pace again, a terrible thing happened. Burt died. This put the whole family into a down spiral. For a while, no one ate, again. However, the worst part was, that just before Burt had died, Loni had given birth to another litter. Most of the puppies, excluding Falia and Hart and one from the new litter, Alex, had been adopted. It was only these three left.
One day, when Charlie, Falia and Hart were six months old, Charlie stopped by his old home only to find a beautiful collie shepherd mix in the backyard. This was Falia. At first, she didn’t recognize Charlie and jumped back. “Hey.” Charlie said. Falia now knew it was Charlie. “Hi.” She said as she began to approach Charlie. Charlie had become quite thin and grown quite a bit since they had last seen each other.
“You look so different.” Falia said to Charlie. She now had to look up at him instead of looking straight. “You look beautiful.” Charlie said to Falia. “You too.” Falia said before nuzzling him. They talked for a while, then Charlie asked this: “Anything happen while I was gone?” Falia’s reply was this: “Well, it’s just me and Hart now. Mom had another litter, only one of them is left, Alex. Father’s gone too.” Neither talked until they heard a desperate cry for “CHARLIE?” Charlie recognized the voice, quickly said his goodbye, then ran off. Falia just stood there, confused. Not long after, a collie ran by, yelling “Charlie! Charlie get back here right now! Puppies! Get em!” Soon after a dozen puppies ran by, yelling “Uncle Charlie! Uncle Charlie!” Falia, not knowing what to make of the scene, just laughed to herself and went inside.
She never told anyone about her conversation with Charlie. She tried not to mention him at all. She kept it a secret until she forgot about him. Pretty soon, Falia and Hart became good friends despite their past experiences. They moved out, leaving Loni and Alex together in their peaceful home in New Orleans. Loni was often sad, but lived with it. That house held a lot of memories. She and Burt had married in this house. She had had Tom, Hart, Charlie, Falia and the rest of the puppies in this house. They had grown up in this house. Charlie had run away in the backyard. Her second litter was born. Burt had died. She couldn’t bear the pain of the painful memories, but she couldn’t make herself leave either. She would remain here for as long as she could.

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