Chapter 9
We all sat around Molly’s bed, stroking her and giving her as much affection as possible.
One hour later, and she had her first puppy! It was a female, with Molly’s liver and white markings and Buddy’s head, and was just really cute. We had prepared some soft pieces of coloured ribbon, to identify the dogs with, and tied the blue one (Loosely!) around the first puppy’s neck.
The next was a male, who was all white, like Buddy, with a brown spot over one eye. We gave him the red ribbon, which contrasted his light coat greatly. After him was another male, Green, with the liver markings of his mother, then two females, both with white markings, Pink and Yellow.
Finally was another male, Orange, with the liver markings. Everyone was delighted that it had went successfully, and without a hitch, so we celebrated with some Coca-Cola Life, which had come in on the latest shipment.
But then arose the problem that no one had thought about, how on earth were they going to take care of six new born puppies, in the middle of a Z-Day?!?
The first thing? Where? These puppies were noisy, and the Library seemed our best bet. But it wasn’t the staff who objected. It was Sophie.
She refused to stay in the Library. Nothing would persuade her otherwise, but nobody understood until they saw the bottles. The empty bottles. The empty alcohol bottles.
“Sophie!” Courtney yelled. “Get a hold of yourself!”
“No!” Sophie yelled back. “You don’t control me! You can’t control me! I don’t even know you properly!”
“Sophie, don’t do something you’ll regret!” Courtney was desperate by then, trying to keep Sophie sane, but she was beyond help.
Storming out of the doors, she threatened to kill anyone who stopped her. But her drunken screams, which ripped through the silence, would continue to haunt me forever more. What… what had I done?
“It wasn’t your fault.” Daniella tried to tell me, but I wasn’t listening. I was past listening. I was past everything.
I sat down, listening, but not watching. I heard bottles clinking, and remembered the empty bottles. How had they came to be in Sophie’s possession? Hot tears spurted down my face, and rolled to the floor, my fears confirmed. I was fighting an already lost battle, trying to save people who were already doomed, trying to do something, anything, just to get her off my mind. But nothing worked. Nothing.
Well, nothing, until I heard the squeals. Those faint cries, and tiny barks, which brought me back to reality. The puppies. They needed help. They needed… they needed me. It couldn’t be… someone needed me.