My dreams were filled with joy. My paws thudded the ground and I howled with ecstasy to let the others know how it made me feel.

I heard many mixed noises back. Joyful and agreeing ticking, howls, roars, and screeches. The undergrowth brushed against my sides, but it didn't feel like it. It felt softer, warmer, and with more movement. It didn't change with each leaf that brushed me, size and shape, weed or twig. I looked to my left and saw honey-colored fur, a figure smaller than my own at my side.

I wasn't able to make out the full figure, but I knew that it was not an enemy. Nor was the feeling of a gentle lap of a tongue behind my ear. I turned to see what did it, but whoever had disappeared in the undergrowth again.

I didn't care. I went to focus on the ground ahead of me, the sunlight that forced its way through the tall trees and onto my pelt, warming me, and the light it provided along with it.

Nothing could describe the happiness I felt. I felt home. I felt free. The sound of pawstep surrounding me, behind me, grew louder. I wasn't running from the pawsteps, however.

I was running with them.

-:-

I woke up with a jolt, my ecstasy and joyful dream crashing down into disappointment and pity as rain soaked my skin.

Thunder rolled overhead, and a sudden pinch of cold replaced the sense of warmth that protected me in my sleep.

Shark? I whispered as I slid to my bare feet and hugged my arms over my chest. I got no response from her.

I looked around, feeling fear and utter hopelessness wash over me. I saw a light in the distance, and the shape of the glow it emitted was recognizable. My house.

I staggered through the thick brush, my determination seeming to outweigh any sharpness that sliced the skin of my legs and feet open.

Home home home.

I stumbled quickly into my backyard and staggered up the wooded patio, barely acknowledging the stinking in my heel from a splinter. I always forgot to turn my bedroom light off and lock the back door, both things being in my favor tonight.

I crawled through the back door and shut it behind me, leaving a bloody hand print over halfway down the glass. I leaned my back against it and broke out into more tears.

Something bad was happening to me. My body - my real body - was left lifeless back at the streets. That meant one thing:

I had to disappear. Whatever this was, whatever was happening, I couldn't be caught. I stumbled to my feet and slid to the counter where my phone rested. Turning it on, I tapped furiously away at the screen and saw a text:

Mom: Dad and I won't be home for another few days. Sorry sweetheart. There's some money in your account for groceries.

I dropped it back on the counter and bit my lip. So they weren't coming home tonight, which meant that I had enough time to pack a bag and get out of here fast.

I tried to reach out to Shark again, but my head remained silent and completely void of her presence. I went up the stairs and to my bedroom, opening my closet.

I grabbed four pairs of jeans, t-shirts, three sweatshirts, and one jacket and put them in a duffel bag. Along with undergarments, I packed my toiletries and the tiniest, shittiest, little first-aid Kit that came with the health class introduction at school. After years of working for college savings, I know I wouldn't be needing them for college. I reached under my pillow and gathered two bundles of cash and added them to my bag.

One more thing. A shower and fresh clothes. Once showered, I dressed in one of the outfits I hadn't packed and went to my bathroom again.

I pulled out the sharp scissors from my drawer and gathered my hair to one side. I stared at my own chocolate brown eyes in the mirror, debating harshly on whether to actually slice my hair off.

I did. What once reached my waist, now reached just to my collarbone, past my shoulders and chin.

I dropped the scissors and cleaned up the sink, then pulled my wet and chopped hair into a high bun. Turning around, I shut off the light to my bathroom.

I wanted to say goodbye to my home, but the faster I left the faster the sounds of police sirens would stop blaring in my ears.

I hesitated, before adding a picture of my parents and I to the duffel bag along with my favorite book of fairy tales, then leaving without anything else to say.

-:-

I slid the duffel back over my right shoulder from my left, throwing my hood over my head as rain poured down in harsh pellets.

Lighting flashed above me, seeming brighter than it usually was. I closed my eyes and froze for a brief second, watching as some of Shark's memories hit me.

She saw me for the first time and felt a bubble of excitement. She couldn't believe that I had chosen her to take home, and she promised to be my best friend for her whole life.

A pang struck the middle of my chest, sorrow. It was not Shark's emotions, it was my own. I closed my eyes and put my hands over my mouth as I continued walking, not wanting to sob.

The sorrow had hit me right in the middle of my gut like a ton of bricks. Tears were flowing down my eyes, joining the cold raindrops on the road as they trickled off my face.

What was happening to me? Why was I Shark? Why was Shark me?

At around seven thirty in the morning, I found myself in a small diner two towns away. I had taken as many buses as possible for the longest time they were willing.

An old, beat up juke box sat to my left. A little girl and her mother had approached the box not two minutes ago and selected Heartbreak Hotel by Elvis Presley.

I would be jamming out to him right now, if it weren't for the fact that I had bags under my puffy red eyes. I was both exhausted and out of tears, which I didn't know could possibly happen. But, to me, of course it happened. I wanted nothing more than to just continue crying at this moment, but no matter how much I tried nothing came out. It's like trying to force yourself to pee with only some dust results.

The young waitress set her coffee mug on the table in front of me and watched me. "You okay, hun?"

I pulled my hood down more, lifting the warm mug to my lips and sipping it. "No," I rasped, pulling my lips back and smacking them at the bitter taste. "Do you have sugar?"

"Mhm." She hummed and left. I took the opportunity to take a look around, searching for the possible signs of a television around.

When she returned with the sugar, three packs, and smacked them down, j jumped and turned back around. 

"Is someone after ya?" she asked me as I shook the little packet before tearing it open. "You're highly jumpy, there."

"I'm just hitch-hiking my way to a town," I lied. I honestly had no idea where I was going. I thought of making my way to a tiny town in Wyoming. Let's hope it worked. "Umm .. Is there a television here?"

"If you're askin' whether I'll be watching the news to rat you out for money, I won't," she said, leaning her arm on the counter and peeking under my hood. "I ran away when I was your age. Five years ago. Never looked back, and here I am." She paused, then smiled. "So no. We don't have a television."

"Awesome," I said softly, opening another packet and pouring into the still bitter coffee. I had to ask for five more packets before the coffee was drinkable to some extent.

Halfway through, the waitress, who I learned was named Gale, brought out a plate and set it in front of me.

"Oh," I said, lifting my head and pushing it away slightly. "I didn't order this."

"No, it seems you didn't," Gale agreed, rolling her eyes and stabbing a fork in the middle of the pancakes she brought. "But I had 'em made anyway. Eat up, kid."

I tugged the fork out of the pancakes and looked up at Gale, who raised her eyebrow and stared me down.

To get her from staring at me constantly, I took a bite of the pancakes and closed my eyes. "Bliss," I told her. "Absolute bliss."

-:-

Ugh it's so late. Only would I do this for you Animal lovers.

Shark above.