I perched on a fence post and tried to think my way through the next problem.

It had taken four trips to carry everything back from the store, but in the end I got everything moved back to my house. I left most of the stuff there, then carried the food, treats, and one of the balls to the house with the dog.

A sturdy fence surrounded the backyard so I decided to let the dog into that area first. If the dog turned out to be a threat - if I opened the door and a rottweiler or a pitbull came rushing out to eat me - then I could simply glide over the fence and be done with it.

I really hoped the dog inside was a friendlier breed, though. Other than random birds and squirrels I still hadn't seen a single living creature since I had woken up in the lab. And this city was depressing. Having a friendly creature around would be a big comfort.

But I had to figure out some way to get the door open first.

The back door was locked - and even my attempt to open it had sent the dog running to investigate the noise, and now I could hear it scratching at the floor on the other side. Whatever breed of dog this was, it was definitely a breed that loved to dig.

I had thought about throwing a rock through one of the windows and trying to open the door from the inside, but I was certain the noise would just cause the dog to come running. I did not want to become trapped in a house with no means of escape beyond a jagged hole lined by sharp edges, and then discover the dog was an angry German Shepherd trained to run down criminals.

I thought about breaking multiple windows, so the poor dog would run around the house and hopefully be on the far side of whatever entrance I picked, but I wasn't too happy about that idea either - I wasn't sure what the inside of the house would be like, since curtains covered all of the windows, and with how eager the dog was to get outside, I wasn't certain it wouldn't try and escape through any hole I broke in the windows.

I thought about trying to break down the door... and remembered I was now a creature that only weighed a couple pounds, stood less than a foot high, and was built light in order to fly through the air. Unless I could breathe fire...

I blinked in surprise as the encyclopedia in my head informed me that I actually could breathe fire, or at least, would be able to. There was a strong sense of a foul, oily taste in my mouth that went along with it. Apparently there was some sort of saliva I could produce and ignite, allowing a lot of heat to build up very rapidly inside my throat which could then be expelled in a stream of fire... or at least, I might be able to one day. The encyclopedia suggested newly hatched dragonets couldn't produce the specific saliva until a few months of additional growth, so I might not be able to just yet.

I eyed the door for a moment... then shook my head. Even if I could produce fire, it probably wouldn't be smart to try burning through the door. I didn't see that ending in any way other than the door resisting the flames, or the entire house catching fire and burning down. Neither was an outcome I was hoping for.

I sat for a few more minutes listening to the random whines and scratches coming from the other side of the door, but nothing came to mind. I frowned and launched off the fence to take another look around the house.

A flower pot by the door caught my eye, and I remembered back to when I was trying to get into my house. Could it really be that easy? I fluttered towards the pot and pushed up on it, heaving a little to move the dirt and heavy ceramics. Metal glinted in the shadows, and I used my tail to swipe the key out from under the pot.

The pot clattered back down to the ground as I grabbed the key and flew back into the backyard. I hovered at the level of the doorknob and tried the key, and felt my tail curl in satisfaction as the key turned and the lock clicked open. Yes!

I turned the doorknob and dashed back to the fence.

The whining and scratching stopped. There was silence for a moment... then the door slowly swung open as the dog nudged it with its nose.

A shaggy brown border collie barked in excitement as it dashed into the yard. It ran around the entire yard, its tail wagging a hundred miles a second, and did three excited laps before suddenly collapsing in the center of the yard and panting.

I felt a sense of relief. A border collie... that was better than I had hoped. I had grown up with an Australian Shepherd, and I knew they were similar; they were smart dogs, but even better than that, they had been bred for herding and watching over sheep and farm animals. That meant that instead of having the instinct to hunt down and kill animals my size, the dog would have the instinct to watch out for and protect me... though from a few times I could remember while growing up, it might try and be overly insistent on me going where it decided I needed to go.

Still, it wasn't going to try and rip my wings off and use me as a chew toy. This was a huge win.

I let out a short whistle and saw the dog's ears perk. It looked towards the fence, then tilted its head in a curious expression. I whistled again and the dog barked excitedly, then rose to its feet and ran over.

"Hey doggie! Want some food?" The dog's tail wagged faster in response to my chirps and whistles, then barked in excitement.

I tried to stay confident - body language was important - and swooped down from the fence to land next to the bag of dog food. The dog ran over and sniffed at me, pushing its cool nose right against my scales and nudging at me. I tried not to tense, but it was hard not to - the dog was much bigger than I was, and a panicky voice screamed at me to fly away as fast as I could. I fought to stay calm, though, even though I did spread my wings a little just in case.

Instead of teeth I felt the soft tongue of the dog lick at me. I giggled and leaned with the pressure, shifting my wings so I could stay upright. The dog huffed and kept licking, and I reached up to push back at it with my hands. "Stop, stop!" My giddy chirps and nudges didn't dissuade the dog, who only pushed back harder, and before long I had fallen over beneath the slobbery onslaught.

I flailed for a little bit... then sighed and let the dog get it out of its system. It had been stuck in that house for who knew how long, and must have been lonely. A few happy licks wouldn't hurt me.

And it was a huge relief to have company.

The dog finally stopped sniffing and licking me. It stood up again, then looked around the yard with a whine. I rolled back up and walked slowly towards the bag of food, still doing my best not to provoke the larger animal, then reached up to slice open the bag.

Hard balls of food spilled out onto the ground, and the dog barked in excitement. I barely managed to hop out of the way before the dog could trample me, and I flapped up to the fence to watch it eat. I pulled my wings back in and just grinned, feeling warm inside as I watched the dog eagerly gobble up all the food. Slobber coated my scales, but I didn't mind. Seeing that I had made something else that happy had done wonders for my mood.

After a few minutes the border collie stopped eating and took off around the yard again, then ran up to where I still rested on the fence. It leaned down and stretched out its paws before it let out a shrill bark, and its tail wagged furiously. I gave a quick flap to stretch out my wings, then glided down to land next to the ball I had brought. The dog bounded over, but before it could reach me I used my wing to flick the light ball across the yard.

The dog growled and took off after it, scooping the ball up in its mouth just before it reached the fence, then started back towards me. I thought it was going to drop the ball for me to throw again, and I braced myself against the fear of an animal twice my size rushing right at me... but the dog growled and veered off at the last second, tail wagging as it dashed away with the ball.

I grinned and laughed out an excited warble. Fine. You want me to chase you, well... I spread my wings, stretching them as far as they would go... then hopped into the air and flew after the dog.

We chased each other around the yard for hours. The dog was much better at holding on to the ball than I was at prying it out of its mouth, but in the air I was faster than it, and a lot of times I managed to surprise the dog and send the ball flying from its jaws with a well-timed flick of my tail.

The dog tried to wrestle with me a few times, and even gave a playful nip at my wing once, but I made sure to make an exaggerated shriek of pain and fly up to the fence whenever it did. The dog looked sad each time, and it would whine pitifully before walking slowly back to sit in the doorway of the house. The border collie just rested its head on its paws and watched the section of the fence I had retreated to, expression radiating regret and guilt, but before long I would glide back into the yard and toss the ball again. The cheerful collie quickly learned to be gentle with me, and I found myself relaxing around it.

Finally the dog collapsed in the center of the yard and panted. I looped through the air above it, still feeling giddy from all the play. I had worn out the dog... which I suddenly felt worried about. It was a hot summer afternoon, and while the heat just felt nice to me, I imagined it might not be as much fun with the fur coat.

I flew into the house... and immediately regretted that decision. There was a pretty bad smell coming from... well, everywhere. The dog hadn't been able to get outside, and my sensitive nose was quite well aware of what that meant.

A quick check of the kitchen came up empty, as did the living room, but I found what I was looking for in one of the hallways. I grabbed the metal bowl and carried it outside, dropping it close to the fence (and far away from the smell of the house), then started breathing again. The dog watched me as I retrieved one of the bottles of water and sliced through the plastic. It took three bottles before the bowl was full, and once I hopped away the dog slowly climbed back to its feet and walked over. It noisily slopped up all the water, then rolled over onto its side with a satisfied 'whuff'.

I giggled another musical warble, then hopped up on the fence. It was getting late. The sun was setting, and a glance at the watch on my tail told me it was eight in the evening - or rather, that it was eight hours from when I had guessed noon to be. And now that I wasn't actively rushing around after the dog I began to notice how tired my body felt. My wings burned a little, and there was a soreness in my tail from all the times I had used it to flick and swipe at the ball. Not to mention the scales that were now covered in dog slobber and likely in need of a bath. I turned away and stretched out my wings, rolling my shoulders a little to ease out some of the burning.

A soft whimper came from behind me, and I stopped in the middle of my jump. I glanced over my shoulder and looked back at the dog. It was staring up at me with big, sad eyes, and was slowly wagging its tail. It saw me looking at it and let out a sad, dejected whine.

I sighed and settled down from my prepared leap. I didn't really have to go back to my house to sleep. There wasn't anything there for me except the supplies I had brought, which I could easily go back for in the morning. That building was empty. Lonely.

But there was company here.

I crawled around the fence post and glided down to land next to the dog. Its eyes lit up and its tail wagged faster, and I chirped out a greeting to it.

The dog had finally stopped moving, and I took a closer look at the collar around its neck. A short metal tag hung off of it, and I squinted to read it, warbling out the words. "Susie... Brindle Border Collie..." There was an address underneath it, but I ignored that and looked back up at the dog's face. "Good girl, Susie."

I knew the dog couldn't have understood the sounds I was making, but she still let out a happy bark. I hopped happily, then jumped up on the dog's side to sprawl out in the soft fur. The dog lifted its head up to glance at me, and I stared back at it with as unconcerned an expression as I could manage... until the dog finally snorted and lowered its head back to the ground.

The dog's chest rose and fell with its breathing, creating a soft rhythm. I yawned, and soon drifted off to sleep.