Chapter 1:

Darkness. Jane had never liked darkness. Not since two months ago, on the dreaded dark day she and her six siblings were born. Jane had gotten her first taste of the world, the world known as the German Shepard Show Association (GSSA). She remembered that day clearly; her mother protectively growled at the rough-handed care-giver in section B-12 kennels. Her 5 brothers pushing towards Belle, the beautiful mother of the feisty bunch. One thought brought tears to Janes deep brown eyes. She remembered her father. He had stood merely inches away, at the kennel door. He stood with great pleasure and happiness, his stance was wonderful. His light brown coat shone in the sunlight. Although he was not allowed in the kennel with them, Jane felt a strong connection to him. She stared up into his chocolate eyes, he stared back. That was all that Jane saw of him. Before she knew it, he was prodded along by his handler. Thats why the day was so dark. There was nothing bright about it. She wasnt even allowed to see her own father.

At 8 weeks, Jane was one of the few chosen to stay for show. It was only her and Flops, the rest were scooted off to the adoption kennel. Belle stood near her kennels door. She was obviously upset about her other pups disappearance. Sighing, Belle lay down and snuggled close to Flops. Being quite exhausted herself, Jane galloped over.

The night wore on, Jane and Flops stayed close, their mothers body heat keeping them warm. All of a sudden, Jane shook awake, a huge bolt of lightning shredded the sky. There was no thunder storm warning for the cool, August day, so the bunch were in the runner outside. They heard another crash, followed by another, except the next crash wasnt lightning.

Chapter 2:

Belles head shot up. Her motherly instincts surrounded her. In seconds she had scooped up both whimpering pups and literally threw them over the top of the short runner fence. The runner had been struck by lightning. It was slowly crashing into bits and pieces. Flames surrounded her. There was almost no way out at this point, the sides had caved in way too far. Belle was about to surrender herself to the hot, burning flames, when something happened. It was as if a guardian angel had been watching over Belle and her pups. Water sprayed into the kennel, voices were heard. A strange man lifted up the burning pieces of metal to free the beautiful Shepard. Belle sprang out and quickly rounded up Flops and Jane. The yelping puppies followed their mother faithfully out into the forest.

They traveled far. Almost no food was available in the burnt forest. The only time they stopped was for water from the creek. Flops was growing exceptionally thin, compared to his sister. Belle was becoming desperate, she was starving, and so were her only two pups. She noticed a tree not far away, that wasnt too badly burnt from lightning. She trotted over, Flops and Jane following naively behind her. Belle opened her mouth, and picked at the trees bark. It was crunchy, but it had no taste. Deciding it was satisfying enough; she pulled off a strip for Flops and Jane. Each dog crunched away, until a rustling was heard. Then a chattering. Belle looked over, and saw a Squirrel. Food.


Chapter 3:

Instinctively, Belle darted across the muddy field. As many hunters know, darting immediately at first sight of the prey is not good at all. But Belle was new to this world of killing her own food. Flops sat down on his haunches, as he hungrily watched his mom pursuit the Squirrel. Flops was fairly small, compared to his tall, lanky sister. He looked over and noticed the Squirrel had ran up a near by tree. His mother stood underneath the trees canopy, staring up at the Squirrel, as it taunted her. Giving up on the chase, she turned around and trotted back to Flops. Flops suddenly looked up. Where was Jane?!

Belle appeared to have noticed the dilemma as well. She stuck her nose towards the beautiful, orange evening sky and let out a howl. It wasnt any old howl though, this was a howl only mother could make, to call back young. Belle paused and eagerly listened for a reply from Jane. Nothing. She tried yet again, Flops standing beside her, scared for his sister. Where was she???
All of a sudden, a faint yip from the distance answered his question. Immediately Belle ran across the field into the forest, her nose to the ground. Flops tried his best to keep up, but his mother was moving way too fast. So he sat down, eagerly waiting for his moms return, hopefully with Jane.

It seemed like it had been forever, his small heart pounding fastly, as he sat there. Finally, Belle returned, with Jane limping beside her. Flops leaped up and started licking his sister happily. But then he looked down, and noticed a deep gash on her leg.
Chapter 4:

Jane nuzzled her brother, when he noticed Flops was staring at the deep gash on her foreleg. Jane whimpered, than backed away. No way was she letting anyone know about her injury.. no one. Belle ****ed her head and looked at her pup. She trotted over and then noticed the gash. Jane backed away even farther. Then she turned, and ran.

Jane ran and ran, at times she could hear her mothers foot steps, and at those times, Jane would nervously duck and hide in the thicket. Jane was scared. Scared for herself, her family, and her gash. The gash was from an animal, an animal Jane had never seen before. She didnt want to worry her family to be alert for the big black beast, so for their own good she had decided to leave. Jane lay in one particular thicket for some time. She recounted that horrendous day that her mother had almost died in the fire, and when her and Flops were merely bones from starvation. Jane thought a moment. All those things had happened with her whole family, and Jane couldnt take care of herself at 10 weeks old. She needed her family back. She let out a whimper, than a howl to call her mother. Someone heard the howl, and she did get a response, but not from her mother. It was a different howl. Yet it resembled a dogs howl, but what would a dog be doing out here? Jane jumped to her feet and bounded out of the thicket, and galloped.

Then she saw who had responded to her yelp, a great giant dog. He was gray in color, with tints of white. The dog towered over Jane, his bloody fangs bared. The mystery dog pounced, barely missing Jane. The Wolf pounced again, after the yelping puppy. This time he caught her. Jane held her breath as she felt the dogs hot breathing against her neck, and his massive paws pressing down on her delicate skeleton. Was this the end for Jane?!

Chapter 5:

Jane lay there, her lungs being crushed. She let out harsh, quick breaths, gulping for air desperatly. What happened next happened quickly, it was almost as if an angel had been watching over the loving Shep pup. The wolf's breathing got closer and closer, his drool dripped across Jane's cheek. All of a sudden, out of no where, the wolf released Jane and ran at full speed in the other direction.
Jane lay there a moment, breathing in the precious air that saved her life. She heard a crashing through the bushes. Belle came tumbling out, Flops right behind her. There was something different about them though; they were tugging, and panting. Jan noticed leather.. collars around each of their necks, then a man and woman came struggling at the other end of the.. leash?! Jane lay there, her mother tugged over to lick her baby to her feet. Jane stood, slightly wobbly, but she stood. Her breaths were still raspy and painful, blood poured down her sides where the beast had clawed her. Then, the man came over and put one of those collars around her neck, but instead of leashing her, the man picked Jane right up.
"This one'll need some recovery time. Might as well not make her lose energy." The man with a wrinkly face commented.
"Here, Joe. Lemme take 'er. I like the attitude of this one." the woman replied. Joe handed over Jane to the lady.
Do ye want that one, Terese?" Joe asked Terese.
"Oh, yes!!" She replied. "I'll take 'er right home, and giver 'er a good scrubbin'.. but what about the mom and brother?"
"You take the mom too, I'll take this 'ere young fella." Joe replied.

Belle tugged along like a train, occasionally turning and letting out a growl to Joe. She sensed that atleast one of them were going to be seperated.. she knew it. Flops trotted carefully, his neck had become sore from tugging.
"Hey, Joe. Whudd'ya think of Jane for this little girl, and Belle for 'er ma?" Terese asked.
"Perfect names, Teri. I'm namin' mine Flops, 'cause of his floppy trot." Joe commented, as he looked down at the small, trotting puppy.
"It's a perfect name!!" Terese laughed.

Chapter 6:

Flops sensed something odd was going on when he was nearing the monsters known as 'cars'. He knew something was not right, since he was the only one being led by the man. Especially when he was being pulled in an opposite direction of his loved ones. Flops cried in terror as he noticed Jane being forced reluctantly into cages, similar to the ones he had lived in at the GSSA. Belle struggled the most, she snarled and bit when she noticed she was being seperated from her baby.
"Be careful Teri!!"Joe yelled as he ran over to help get the struggling shepard in the trunk of the large truck.
I'm fine, Joe. Don't worry. She has the snarl of a bear, but the teeth of kitten." Terese reassured Joe. Finally, with one final tug, she got Belle into the cage.
"We outta bring 'em to the vet for a checkup. Then see if anyone's lookin' for stray dogs. If we can keep 'em, the mother should be tranqualized. She might be dangerous." Joe added. Flops was so scared that it hadn't taken much to get him in the cage.
"Well, off to the vet than." Terese responded cheerfully. "Allison will be delighted to meet them if we can keep 'em!! We havnt' had dogs since Riley was shot."
"That darn rommie of yours is a mess over that dog. Are you sure she'll be okay?"Joe questioned.
"Oh, Joe. With collage and all, she's probably forgotten about Riley to a point where she no longer grieves a bit!" Terese pointed out.
After some time of driving, they finally reached the local vertrinarion. When the trio were reunited, it was as if they hadn't seen eachother in years. Belle yipped like a puppy when she saw Flops again. Their excitment cesed when they were being tugged along agin. They were brought into the place that smelled familiar. It was where Jane and Flops had been born.

Chapter 7:

"Thank you, Joe and Terese, for being patient.. It's been quite busy in the office today." The vetrinarian said. "Now if you would come right this way." He pointed towards a room with a large examination table and a couple chairs in it.
Belle was first. She liked something about the man, and was quite obediant. But Jane and Flops were another story. They bit, snapped, fussed, and caused huge amounts of trouble. The vet tried his best, and eventually completed the fiesty puppies' check ups.
"They're very healthy. All three are a bit under-fed though. But that's not a big deal."The man re-assured them. "Now, do you want me to look through the 'LOST' ads for three German Shepards?" he asked.
"Oh yes, please. That would be wonderful." Joe said thankfully. The man walked out of the room, in search for the papers. After a matter of minutes, he was back.
"Hmm, looks like quite a few sheps are missing. Now, are these three together, or are they seperate?"
"Together, or atleast, we found them together." Terese replied. The vet handed them some of the 'LOST' papers.
"Go ahead and look."he said, smiling. "Take your time!" and with that he left the room.
"Hmmm, looks like we have a couple of chances here. Look, three shepards missing on both of these ads. One of 'em has to be it." Terese sighed. There was no way she could hide her sadness. "Yet, at the same time, I hope they aren't it. I like this trio."
"Oh Teri, you'll get them atleast tonight. By mornin' the vet'll have contacted the possible owners, and they'll want to see the dogs. But atleast you'll have a good, long afternoon with them." Joe commented. They called the vet back in the room, and handed him the ads. "These are the possible owners, Doc." Joe said politly.
"Thank you, Mr. Hendrix, and dear Ms. Loften." The vet said gratefully. "You can keep 'em for the night if you want. but we can keep them here if you want also."
Terese answered quickly. "We'll take them!!"