C O L D

'The sequel to I C E, following Buddy and his Humans after the end. It shall be finished later today, though, and I wouldn't read it yet.'

"Humans...? Amanda? My Amanda? My dearest Amanda?"

It had seemed like the world was about to go dark forever, and I could not raise my head, let alone move my paws. I know that I should have felt a chill--a freeze, a draft, anything that could remind me of the real world--but I did not. I felt no emotion, other than the slight, soft, faded feeling of comfort that my Amanda was with me, that we were piled under this mound of swiftly-falling snow together. That my perfect Amanda, my sweet, sweet Amanda, my Human that I would die over and over again for, was not alone. I could not feel anything, could not feel a single bit of cold, and my entire brown-and-white body was just...numb. I could not tell if my Amanda's chest was rising and lowering with her sweet, wonderful breath, nor could I even tell if mine was.

I was accepting of the darkness. If only it meant that I could stay with her--that I could be with her, that my Human would not be alone--then I would gladly go with her. I knew she was fading, and that was all I needed to. I was fading with her, my mind straying from my body atop hers, my snout delicately draped over her neck, my front paws wrapped lovingly around her shoulders. I would die here with her. We would go together, my heart insisted, or not at all.

I did not pay attention to the sound of the chilly wind howling, nor did I care for the fearful chattering of the chipmunks, the squirrels, the birds of the forest, as the snow laid on thicker and thicker. I paid no mind to the crunches of the snow, assuming that deer, or opossums, or whatever else lived in this freezing place of woods, were only trying to escape the cold, lest they have a fate like my perfect, sweet Amanda and I. I did not care if pumas, or wolves, or coyotes, or something else tried to eat us; by then, we would be gone, away from this place. We would be together, and I would not leave her. That was all that mattered, I thought. I would stay with her. I would be a Good Dog. I would be her good boy. I would not leave. I would not leave. I...would not...leave...

It was then that I heard the muffled footsteps, though I didn't care, and I was faintly aware of the snow being cleared from my fluffy back, though I did not care. Light poured across my snout and face, and I felt hands--warm hands, not cold, listless, numb hands--on my back. I heard a sharp inhale. My ears detected a scream of shock and terror.

Humans... my dazed mind whispered. There are Humans taking the snow away.

"Is that a ''dog?!" ''shouted one afraid voice, and there were gloved hands at my back, pulling me up. Deep, brown eyes weakly, tiredly flitted open to peer into horrified green ones, and I felt my black nose twitch. A hand reached down to touch my forehead, and my tail started wagging softly, trying to greet them. Maybe they would take my Amanda and I somewhere, so our darkness could come in peace. Yes, I could meet my Amanda there with their help. Yes, yes, yes...yes... The Humans ran their hands along my snout, checking for heat, and I closed my eyes once more. They would help us. I became so absorbed in my thoughts, I didn't care when one of the Humans began to speak to the other. It was the same one who had shouted about me earlier. "Oh, gosh, oh, gosh...ANDIKA! Andika, get me a blanket! The dog has a girl under it! CALL AN AMBULANCE! NOW!"

The Humans--were there two? Three? Four, five, six?--started to pet me, started to try and warm me up. One of them took out one of the little silver boxes Amanda's friends so loved to speak at, the silly Humans, and began to rapidly fire words into it. Gradually, the world became muffled, and one of the Humans leaned over to stroke me, scratching behind my fluffy ears and leaning into me for a hug. They were shaking.

"Don't worry, little guy," they whispered, voice low and soft and warm. "We're gonna get you out of here."

My tongue flicked out to trace along the Human's face. I did not understand the words that came out of the Human's mouth, other than a few that I did not know the right meaning of, but the tone was kind. Gentle. Friendly. "That's nice," I woofed softly. "But my Amanda needs me now."

Then I sighed, and everything went black.

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Four.

Four days, my internal time-teller told me, had passed. Three sunrises were spent in a place I did not like. It smelled of metal, the awful scent stinging my nose for a long time. There were fear, and sad, and anger emotions that littered the metal place. Other aromas were less familiar to me, and they were not something I enjoyed. There were liquid smells that burned my nostrils, and burned the mouths of the cats they were supposed to be for. There were small, round objects I did not understand that were hidden inside the treats that Good Dogs ate, that were swallowed whole and made the stench of illness fade away to nothingness. Sometimes, I would pick up a faint scent that was metallic--like the scent on my Amanda, when we were in the snow. I didn't like when that happened, because it seemed like another dog, or a cat, or a bird, or a guinea pig, had found their darkness in the metal place. I did not want my darkness to come here. I wanted it to come with my Amanda, wherever she may be.

My Amanda. Where was she? Was she here, with me, in this metal place? I did not know. Though I could smell many things inside the metal place, I, too, was subject to the small, round objects that the Good Dogs ate. They disoriented my senses, and the only reason I was able to tell how much time went by was because of my internal time-teller. I could not, hard as I tried, pick up the sweet, sweet scent of my Human. Oh, how I missed her... Her perfect smile, the scent that wafted off of her. Her crystal-blue eyes, her perfect, perfect eyes, that always seemed to spark with happiness. Oh, how I missed her eyes, how I missed her voice, her warm, loving voice, her arms as they wrapped around my brown-and-white body that leaned into her side. Where was she? Where was she? Where was she?

Let it be known that I was not alone in the metal place.