“Anna will be home soon,” I had told myself to compensate for my worries.
The fireplace was lit this morning by Anna before she left for work. It’s almost noon now and the fire is crackling. And when the fire starts to crackle, Anna would be home in a few minutes. Here I lay on the neat brown couch that Anna had found lying in the streets a few days ago. I looked out through the metal barred window just above the couch into a shivering white cold and began talking to myself like usual.
“Anna will be cold when she gets back home” I stated, then I pondered on how I should surprise her arrival back home.
“Maybe I could jump on her! Or maybe I could kiss her! Or maybe…” I worked myself to a nap.
When I woke up the fire was out.
“What time-...” I glanced around the dark room. My squinted eyes widened. “Where’s Anna?!”
The room was silhouetted by a nearby lamppost outdoor that shown through the tiny window. The fire did not even embered. Anna had not come home that evening and I was determined to find her but Anna said to never go alone in the dark so I waited till the next morning.
The next morning was calm. The storm had settled and the snow was a lot taller than me. I packed a small picture of Anna in my pouch that she had knitted for me last christmas and opened the door to start my journey, beginning with the factory she had worked at. Anna has told me about all kinds of new people she meets everyday and old friends.  Fortunately I had my first suspect right as I had walked out the front door
“Hello Daniel,” he said to me, “Where is Anna, boy?”
I snickered my nose at him and glared him up and down. He smelled like her. Richard was Anna’s boyfriend and they haven’t gone out for that long. Just about a month or so I think.
“Anna hasn’t come home since last night,” I try to tell him, hoping to get some clues first.
“Ah I see. She is at work again. Like usual.”
He didn’t say much. Richard walked himself in and grabbed himself a cup of hot water from our sink and began to sip it to warm himself up while he glances around. I glared at him to get out but he didn’t take a bit to notice me. His eyes suddenly fixated on the neat brown couch. “Hm this is a nice couch. I looks like the one from the factory.” His eyes suddenly turned at me and then he looked out the window. He seems t6o be in deep thought. It was early morning and no one was out except for those who had already gone to work. “Well I’ll be off then! Seeya later Daniel, “ he shouted as he hurriedly runs out to the cold into an alleyway to work. I made sure to see no sight of him. Didn’t really like how Anna cuddled with him instead of me when he used to come over more often. He found a new, busier job and Anna was really happy about it. I was too. Anyways I continued on my journey, paddling through the snow.
Finally reaching the factory door a strong scent of musky sweat brushed against my hairs, loud clanking noise filled my ears and a great gust of warmth felt as a man had exited from the front door to clear out some metal scraps. The building was extremely tall and looked mean. But I was determined so I dragged myself in to find someone who might know where Anna was. I walked around the crowded building avoiding not to get stepped on by large men. Suddenly I heard a woman scream! I ran and ran to the source of it. Upon approach I saw a woman had gotten her fairly short hair caught on a machine. The men tried to pull her off of it, tugging real hard. She wasn’t Anna sadly. I left to continue onwards.
I went up the stairs of the factory up into a tiny room. There was a suspicious big man much bigger than Richard. He was in a suit and a tie, not in a ragged brown clothes like everyone else. I stared at him as he finished talking to the workers and turned to have notice me.
“Your Anna’s dog aren’t you?” he noted.
What? I had never seen him before till this moment. Where had I met him from? I heard workers call out his name.
“Mr. Dick! When will I get my yearly pay?”
“Don’t worry. The year isn’t even over yet.”
“But, my children! They-”
“I said not to worry about it.”
Something about him seemed quite familiar. His smell? I’ve wanted to talk to him but he seemed quite busy. Anna told me before, when she came back from works a few days back, that to never mess with busy, mean people or they’ll hurt you. So, I left before he got too angry with work. I went through the back door and everything was hard to see. It was getting dark. I had to search quickly before it gets too dark and I can’t get home. The back of the factory was much worse than the inside. Full of rubbish and smells of old meat that Anna would try to feed me with from her left overs. I didn’t like it much but we didn’t have much to pick from. I looked around for this old meat, I was quite hungry by this time. I sniffed around. Around the rotten trash bags, the rusty metals, and scraps of broken factory parts. I found it! There was a pile of it, with flies buzzing around it. It was a lot too. Enough to feed me and Anna for a whole happy week. I picked the least rotting big piece I could find. There were a lot of red stains on me now but Anna won’t be so mad when I bring her this. This long soft and bony piece that had a boot stuck at one end. Oh wait.. Where’s Anna again? I looked around one last time. I sniffed again. Then a sudden grasp of her smell came from somewhere! I tried to sniff it out as I dragged the meat with me. The smell was there but it didn’t lead me anywhere but in my circle. It was getting even darker so I set home. Bringing this meat with me,
On my way home this lady screamed as she saw me. I ran and ran before someone could call the police. She probably thought I stole the meat and wanted to rat me out. I finally reached home. The door was left open, I dropped the meat and barked inside the dark room, calling out to whoever broke in. No one. I continued to drag my meat inside. The couch was gone and Anna still wasn’t here. But it smelled like she was here. I glanced down at the meat below me. It smelt like Anna a bit but with rust and dirt and someone else. I laid with it missing Anna.
“I will go look for her again tomorrow,” I concluded as I tried to go to sleep.
As I awoke the next morning, there were lots of people outside looking through the tiny window and through the opened door. Staring at me. Why?  Have they found Anna and came to tell me? I stood up in excitement. Richard came to pick me up and I let him. Where’s Anna I shouted. Everyone backed away when I asked. They seemed a bit scared. Something was wrong. Richard suddenly slammed me on the icey road outside. I felt a searing pain throughout my whole body. I whimpered for him to stop. I tried to stand up but he kicked me, hard and harder. He was angry about something, and crying. There was more of that red stain again. But it was dripping from me. Is Richard trying to eat me? He kicked me hard again one last time. A snowflake fell onto my face. It’s whiteness was the only color I saw. I stood up. There was no pain and no blood on me. I turned around to see a familiar face. It was Anna. On her knees her arms opened to me, to embrace me. I ran to her and kissed her face and jumped on her. She laughed and it echoed in this white space. She stood up with a smile and we walked together though this white snow, going back home.