Ralph and the Millers

A middle aged Hispanic woman comes through the open door. “Oh good, you’re up. I was worried I’d be showing the fam a sleeping dog.”

“I’m not a dog,” you say, “Please let me out.”

“Shh, no barking. Robert won’t like that,” she says, grabbing a leash from the shelving above your cage. She easily flicks the latch open on the cage. What had you done wrong? Why wouldn’t it open earlier? She reaches in clipping the leash to your collar. You crawl out the now opened door, and go to stand up. “Aaah, down boy,” she says pushing on your shoulder, stopping you from standing up.

You’re taken off guard, falling back to your hands and knees. Looking up at the woman, you consider trying again. You’re not the toughest guy around, but surely you can take a middle aged woman. But what about that Robert she mentioned, is he around? Plus you still don’t know how you wound up in that cage. Despite the sinking feeling in your stomach, you crawl where she leads you on the leash.

She guides you through the house. The decor is odd an eclectic mix that doesn’t quite feel right. “Sit,” she commands when the two of you reach a living room. You stare for a second still taking in your surroundings. “Sit,” she repeats. This time breaking through to you and you sit where she stopped you. “Good boy,” she coos, ruffling her fingers through your hair.

You hear a door open, a cute blond teen appears in the archway in front of you. “Aaaaah!” she squeals, dropping the bags in her arms. Canned food rolls across the floor. “We got a dog!” she squeals, dashing across the room. And in a flash, she’s hugging you tight, your head pressed against her chest. “Thank you, Mom!” she squeals again, swinging you back and forth, seemingly not caring about your nudity.

“Damn it, Sofia. Pick up these cans,” a gruff and angry voice calls out. You’re released from her grasp, as she scrambles over to the dropped groceries. “Camila, I thought I said no to the dog,” he scowls seeing you sitting on the floor, as he passes with his arms loaded with grocery bags. Robert won’t like that. You assume this must be Robert.

“You did, but I said yes,” Camila replies, walking with him to the kitchen.

“Luis, Nicole, Mom got us a dog!” Sofia excitedly states as two more young people appear around the corner. A grumpy looking teen-aged boy and a gorgeous girl buried in her phone. It’s fairly easy to guess which is Luis and which is Nicole. The both of them are darker than Sofia, whose complexion looks to have taken after her pale father. They also both sport their mother’s black hair instead of Sofia’s blond.

“Whatever,” Luis huffs.

Nicole barely glances away from her phone to say, “Cool.”

“Don’t mind them, they’re just too cool to admit they’re excited,” Sofia tells you, petting you as she crosses the room with her recollected groceries. “Grandpa Jack, look we got a dog,” she says as an older gentleman enters the room.

“We sure did,” he said. He cups your chin, forcing you to look left and right, “Cute little guy, huh?” he says, releasing your head to ruffle your hair.