Prologue
"Stupid, stupid, STUPID!" She screamed. Quick footfalls echoed down the corridor. "Stupid. . . " Chailyn rolled on her spot on the carpet and balled herself into an egg, holding her stomach and squeezing her eyes shut, letting the tears continue to streak out. An arm suddenly lifted her and squared her firmly in an indian style sitting position. Chailyn didn't open her eyes. "Stupid. . ." she whimpered again.
"Chailyn honey, what's stupid?" At this Chailyn jumped to her feet and let her emptiness rip through her again,
"STUPID, STUPID DOG!!!" She glared up into the eyes of her mother, "I HATE HER! I HATE HER! I HATE MARA!" Kate Richard let her eyes roll toward the sky and took a deep breath,
"What happened, Chailyn?" Chailyn was attempting to regain her composure, but large tears were still dropping from the corners of her eyes, and when she spoke her voice came out in a croaky whine,
"L-look at P-pokey. . ." She fell forward onto her mom and gave in to sobbing. Kate's gaze dropped to the floor, and she moaned,
"Oh for heaven's sake. . . Mara, get down here," she called toward the ceiling. A rustling answered from the floor above and a short girl of about fourteen came bounding down the stairs. A large smile was cracked on her face, but as she caught sight of the scene in front of her it faded away. Her eyes, too, dropped to the floor. She bit her lip,
"Oh," she said. She grimaced and watched her six year old sister clutch their mother, "I- I'm sorry, Chay. . ."
Mara looked to her mother, wondering if that was what she was supposed to say. Kate pulled herself out of Chailyn's grip and made the girl look her in the eyes,
"There, Chay, she's sorry. Now if you pick him up--"
"SORRY?!" Chailyn yelled, her immature inner drama getting the better of her once again, "I HATE YOUR STUPID DOG! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" Mara glared at her,
"Juji is not stupid. If you would grow up enough not to have stupid little stuffed animals then there wouldn't even be a problem. And it's not like I told her to eat the dumb thing anyway." Mara folded her arms, Kate closed her eyes, and Chailyn exploded,
"POKEY WAS NOT STUPID! I HATE YOU! I'M NEVER SPEAKING TO YOU AGAIN!" Chailyn ran up the stairs that Mara had come down not three minutes earlier, a whirl of blond hair and anger.
"What is wrong with you?"Kate breathed scathingly. "Why couldn't you have just said sorry and left it at that?"
"Well why did she have to act like it was all my fault? If she would just grow up--"
"She's six Mara! She doesn't need to grow up! Your dog ate her teddy bear!"
"Like Juji knew any better!"
"She should!"
"She's a dog!"
Kate threw her hands into the air, "She's your dog Mara! It is your job to train her. Now go apologize to your sister." Mara threw her hands into the air in a gesture remarkably like her mother's,
"I'm not apologizing to her. It wasn't my fault." She turned on her heel and marched upstairs. Kate was left standing alone in the living room with the remains of Pokey the teddy bear.
Mara flopped face first onto her bed and groaned into her pillow. She hated fighting, it was one of the stupidest things to do, especially when everyone really wanted to get along anyway. Who in the hell had thought of fighting anyway? They deserved to be shot. . . probably were, now that she thought about it. Or hung. Maybe hit on the head with a club if it was early enough in time. She groaned again. Now she felt guilty, too. That was even worse than fighting. And she wasn't getting anywhere either. She couldn't talk to her mom until she apologized and she obviously couldn't talk to Chailyn. Little brat. She really did need to grow up. . . but Mara didn't really believe that. She remembered being six. It was all about getting what you wanted and doing what you wanted, and that's the way it probably should be, she figured. There was only one thing to do, she decided.
Mara sat up and gave a loud whistle. A jingle suddenly sounded down the hall, and a six-month old beagle puppy trotted into the room, drooling all over the place. Mara got down off her bed and beckoned to the dog. Juji gave her a stupid smile and Mara bit back her own grin as the dog approached. "Do you know what you did?" She asked, keeping her voice decidedly firm. Juji continued to smile stupidly. "Nope," Mara said, patting the dog on the head and letting her grin slip out. "Are you going to learn from your mistake?" She asked Juji. The dog gave her a huge slobbery lick on the cheek. Mara shook her head. "Nope," she said, standing up. "Come on, let's go find Chailyn." Juji dropped her front paws in a kind of let's-play dog gesture. Mara shook her head again, "Come on, stupid."
Chailyn's room was at the end of the hall. The pale yellow walled room fit the six year old girl perfectly. Everything from the trash can to the pictures on the walls were animals. Which, Mara though with a bit of a smirk, was why it was funny that Chay now said she hated Juji. The kid loved the dog. Mara leaned against the door frame, "Knock-knock" she said, surveying the room for her sister. There was no answer. "Come on, Chay. . ." Juji panted at Mara's side and licked her hand. There was still no answer from Chailyn. Mara walked in with a small smile, hide and seek was a good six year old thing, too. Mara pulled up the covers on Chay's bed. Nothing. She peered under the bed. Nothing. "Chaaaiillyyn," she called in a singsong voice. She crept to the closet door and yanked it open. She looked inside, perplexed. Nothing. There weren't all that many places to hide in Chailyn's room. She lifted the lid to Chailyn's toy trunk doubtfully, only a pile of dolls, stuffed animals, and broken crayons stared up to greet Mara. She was definitely up here, Mara thought to herself. She had run upstairs. There was nowhere else to go. . . "Chay," she called, "come on, babe, come out and talk to me. I really am sorry about Pokey."