A Safe Place

The next morning, A boxer named 'Tyson Jeremy' keeps punching the boxing bag as hard as possible. He punches the bag in pain and anger. At that moment, his friend Brad, who is also Tyson's boxing manager, sits beside on a bench and looks at Tyson. After a few punches, Tyson stops punching and starts panting.Then Brad says, "Ty! you gotta forget about last week's match, you did give a good fight. You just can't win all the time. Besides, he is a rookie, he has much more stamina than you. You've been doing this for the last 10 years Ty, it's time you take care of your health."

Tyson replies, "No!! This is my life Brad, I live to do boxing. I can't imagine giving up on myself, NEVER in terms of boxing!"

Brad lets out a sigh.

Tyson says, "I'm just 35 Brad, I can't consider retirement already. I need to go much further, I can still improve my skills."

Brad replies, "I ain't asking you to retire. I'm just asking you to take a step back and try to play in big tournaments. You don't have to participate in these kinds of small exhibition street fights. They just make you feel much weaker."

Tyson says, "I can't stop playing and wait for a tournament to come. The next big tournament is in 3 months from now."

Brad replies, "You can just practice until then and give yourself the rest you deserve. Not a lot of people get a chance for it."

Tyson, "You don't get it, I need to be boxing well before the next tournament and I can't be training by myself with this boxing bag, I need a competitor."

Brad says, "Aight man, I'm just a manger and a friend, it's you who needs to decide what you're gonna be doing."

Tyson says, "I know what you're suggesting bro, But... I just can't... stop boxing."

Brad says, "Alright, I'll meet you later Ty, take care of your body."

Tyson says, "See you man!"

Brad leaves the boxing arena.

Tyson picks up his towel and goes to the shower. After having his shower, Tyson goes back to his home which is right above the boxing arena. He looks at the trash and his messy room, he lets out a big sigh and picks the trash up to throw it near the dumpyard. After reaching the dumpyard, he'll throw the trash cover. Just as he turns and is about to return, Elan howls with a very low voice. Tyson looks at Elan and gets surprised after looking at the bruises and injuries of Elan. He thinks for a few seconds and picks him up. He then takes Elan to a veterinary hospital. He makes sure that Elan gets patched up and then the doctors say, "You may take your dog now sir, it's probably been hit with a vehicle. What happened exactly?"

Tyson replies, "Um... I don't know doctor, this is not my dog."

Doctor says, "Oh wow, it's nice that you brought a stray dog here, you don't need to pay for it then. Have a great day sir."

Tyson says, "Oh, Thank you so much doctor. I actually don't know where do I take this dog now, do you know any stray dog shelters nearby?"

Doctor replies, "I actually don't. I suggest you take home the dog for now, maybe you can find it's shelter later on."

Tyson thinks for a while and says, "Okay. Thanks again doctor."

Tyson goes to a pet store from the hospital and he looks out for a dog chain and leach for Elan. He looks at Elan's collar and reads out his name, "E-Lan".

Just as he calls his name, Elan looks up at Tyson straight into his eyes. Tyson says, "So... that's your name, huh buddy?"

Elan still will be looking straight into Tyson's eyes.

"Okay.... I guess you don't need a collar then, you already have one." says Tyson. He buys a leash, a food and water bowl and some dog food. Then, he tries to put the leash on Elan's collar. But as soon as he links the leash to the collar, Elan breaks it with it's paws. Tyson gets surprised and says, "Woah! How'd you do that? you just broke the metal link of the leash. Aw man, we're gonna have to buy another one." Saying that, he checks out for another leash and tries to check the other one on Elan's collar. Elan breaks the link again. Tyson gets shocked. He speaks to himself, "How is he doing that? he's just a puppy." Then, Tyson just buys the food and it's bowls. He walks back to his home while carrying Elan with his hands. He then asks Elan, "Alright buddy, are you hungry? you probably didn't have anything since last night." Elan shakes his head up and down. Tyson gives a quick laugh and says, "Wow, you just shook your head like you understand what I just asked." he then picks up a bowl of water and a fills the food bowl with some food and gives it to Elan. Elan looks at the food and starts eating. Tyson says, "Good boy, finish it quickly and have a nap. I've got some work to do." saying that, he goes to his bedroom to checkout on some papers. Just after 30 seconds, Elan comes to check on Tyson. Tyson looks at Elan and says, "Hey! aren't you hungry? why didn't you eat the food?" Elan looks back at the food bowl. Tyson goes back to the food bowl and gets surprised again, looking at the empty food bowl and water bowl. Tyson looks at Elan with a stunned face. He doesn't seem to understand how the dog is so different. Tyson then asks, "Who are you? are you an alien? what kinda dog are you?"

Elan rotates his right paw and shows Tyson a white skull symbol. Tyson looks at the symbol and asks, "What is this symbol?" Elan tries to howl in a tone which is very similar to English, but Tyson doesn't seem to understand it. Then, Tyson asks

"Okay, I don't understand what you're trying to say. You sleep for now, maybe I'll call someone who knows this symbol." As soon as he says that he starts walking back to his room, but quickly Elan runs and shuts the door. Elan starts to howl again.

Tyson asks, "I don't understand what you're trying to tell me. Are you asking me not to tell anyone about you?"

Elan shakes his head up and down. Tyson says,

"Okay, I won't tell anyone. But can you stop shaking your head up and down? It's freaking me out."

Elan smiles with a side eye look.

Tyson gets shocked again, "You can smile too? you gotta be some human trapped in a dog body."

Tyson then says, "Okay, you take care of yourself. I'll meet you when I'm done with my work, in the evening."

Elan barks.

"Jeez... Okay, you do have a strong voice, anyway see you in the evening."

In the evening, Tyson comes back home after 6 hours. He opens the door and comes to check on Elan. He can't find Elan anywhere in the living room. Then, he opens his bedroom and looks at Elan laying on his bed. Tyson gets amazed, he asks Elan, "How'd you get on my bed?" He then realises that Elan grew much bigger than in the morning. Tyson asks surprisingly, "How did your legs grow so tall?! You look like a 2 year old dog now!" Elan speaks out in a dog tone, "I am an experiment." This time Tyson kinda understands what Elan says. He falls down to the ground and shouts, "Did you just talk to me?!" He asks, "WHO ARE YOU?!"

To be continued...

Upcoming,

Chapter 3:- The Identity