Barking for Breakfast

Valerie stood up, headed to the door, and lead Lucy out onto the landing. Lucy was nervous leaving the bedroom with Henry in the house, but the raised voices had stopped and her mistress was by her side, so she felt safe enough to crawl downstairs where Valerie opened the door to the yard.

After Lucy had relieved herself by the bushes, she was lead into the kitchen where Dan was waiting for them. To Lucy's great relief, Henry was nowhere to be seen.

Valerie walked up to her husband for a good morning kiss, after which they shared some words in hushed tones. Then they busied themselves making their breakfast, but to Lucy's surprise nobody bothered filling her bowl. It sat empty and forgotten by the counter.

Lucy wasn't sure what to do. Should she wait and hope her owners fed her after they had eaten? While she was still crouched on the floor thinking, Lucy noticed Valerie looking at her like she was waiting for something to happen. Was she supposed to do something?

Hesitantly, Lucy crawled to the bowl and looked back at her mistress. No response. They just stared at each other for a moment, Valerie looking at her expectantly. Softly, Lucy cleared her throat. Then she opened her mouth, took a breath, and... "woof?"

Valerie smiled. "Is something the matter, girl?"

"Woof. Woof!" Lucy barked, pawing at the bowl.

Valerie's smile grew as she stood up. "Good girl! That's how you get your owners' attention."

"Did you teach her that?" Dan asked his wife while she opened the cupboard to retrieve a can of pet food.

"Mmmhm. The poor thing's been speaking like a person all her life, so she doesn't know how to express herself properly yet. We'll be learning with her as she figures out what sounds right. As long as it doesn't sound like words!"

Dan chuckled. "Of course not. So she barks?"

"For now. It seemed like a good place to start, but we should encourage her to find her own sounds." Valerie sat back down, having filled Lucy's bowl.

The human-turned-pet yipped gratefully and dug in. The canned food tasted surprisingly good, and she was starting to not mind the way she had to eat it. By now she was used to doing everything on all fours, so the worst part was how hard it was to avoid making a mess. Even if nothing spilled onto the floor, she couldn't empty the bowl without dirtying her chin and nose.

It didn't help that the sight of her food-stained face amused her owners, but at least Valerie didn't make her suffer long before coming to her rescue with a damp hand towel. The way her hand stroked over Lucy's naked back while she cleaned her face was oddly comforting too.