Freedom's Wonderland (Open)

[Nexus]

Shimmer was thoroughly enjoying her new found freedom since escaping from her human prison, but this place was by far the best. The food wasn't all that good and often smelt like it would make you sick for a week, the amount of toys it provided for her to play with though was immense.

Dashing about more like a pony than the 9 month old puppy she was, Shimmer chased her shadow happily whirling about and running off back the way she'd come on a narrow stretch of dirt in the miles and miles of garbage that surrounded her. Bounding up onto a half buried sofa she rolled over on her back chewing her left hind paw before rolling over and over again trying to get a better grip on it. The furry thing managed to evade her as she fell off the end of the sofa and onto something softer, it was a large teddy bear although its head was still buried.

She began digging at it furiously, a little dirt here... a little more from there and she had it free in no time picking up her new prize She bolted back to the narrow dirt strip she'd been running on before tossing her teddy into the air she jumped up to catch it then dodged it at the last second letting it fall to the ground before pouncing on it again. Shimmer was having a wonderful time oblivious to anything else that might have been going on around her, as she played a curious little seagull came to land for something to eat and to watch the show.

Shimmer was too busy playing to notice it land but as she threw her teddy up into the air again and caught it the seagull fluttered its wings getting ready to fly off she should try and catch him next. It was late afternoon in the Junkyard today and Shimmer's fur was already covered in plenty of dirt more than enough to camouflage herself against the trash if she was still but keeping this young pup still for more than a few seconds was nearly impossible.

Word Count: 361

[☼Åžrå☼]

A young white dog slowly walked into the junkyard. Her ears were perked up, listening for any sound that would be emitting from the junkyard. She heard nothing. Sandy lifted her maw to the air, using her quivering black nose to smell any scents that would waft her way. Nothing. A smile began to play on her lips at the thought of all the fun she could have in the junkyard. All the treasures she could find, then bury, small foodstuffs that could fill her aching belly. The samoyed's muscles in her haunches tightened as she prepared to spring into the air. Suddenly, a flicker of brown caught her vision. Sandy was caught in a half crouch, not wanting to move. She lifted her muzzle again, but couldn't catch the scent of the thing that seemed to be bouncing on the horizon. She slowly eased herself out of her half crouch to a standing position. She trembled, fear creeping into her very being. Sandy crept quietly over to the nearist junk pile, crawled to the top, then peered over. She didn't see anything. Suddenly, to her left, she saw the thing bounce into view again. It didn't look like it was jumping, but rather being thrown. A violent shiver nearly sent the samoyed toppeling off of the junk heap. Whatever is throwing that thing must be big. What if it wants to throw me like that?! Sandy slid quietly off of the junk heap (she actually made quite a ruckus, as she knocked many cans and such, sending them tumbling down the mound causing a miniature avalanche) and landed catlike on the ground. The now dirty white dog slowly crept toward where she had last seen the... thing. She peered around the corner and saw a young dog throwing a teddy bear in the air. Sandy sighed in relief that there was less of a chance that she would be eaten by a dark dog. At least I hope this isn't a dark dog! She debated on walking over and introducing herself, but decided that she was having too much fun watching the pup have fun with it's teddy bear.

[Nexus]

Shimmer paused then for awhile panting heavily as she shook the teddy violently, shaking some of the dirt off at the same time so that her merled blue coat shone through the mess of dirt and garbage she'd accumulated. She wasn't dark but it was good practice for catching small street rats to eat as none of the food here was any good it all made her sick, the teddy seemed to finally run out usefulness though as its head suddenly made a loud ripping noise and fell to the dirt Shimmer seemed depressed by this sudden turn of turn of events and picked up the head carrying it over to the teddy's body where she dropped it and nudged it closer as if putting the pieces back together would reincarnate her treasured toy.

The seagull seemed amused by this and squawked loudly flapping its wings restlessly as it scratched about for its next meal, Shimmer finally noticed the bird and growled at it barking lightly. Shimmer suddenly took off running hoping for a more lively friend that wouldn't break as easily but the seagull saw her coming a mile away and took off, Shimmer sighed boredly as she came to a slow halt and sat down for a rest. After that she had a quick poke around in the trash where the seagull had been hoping to find another treasure as fun as the last one, though this spot was only good for bugs and worms and she couldn't find any toys.

She hadn't heard the small avalanche of cans and trash as the samoyed arrived, though the scent of another dog slowly wafted up to Shimmer as she sat atop the pile of garbage the seagull had been sitting on moments before. Slightly intrigued Shimmer lifter her maw upwards to get a better whiff of whatever was lurking nearby, her nostrils flared as she took in the scent and sneezed with the large amount of air and dust she'd taken in with it. She hadn't met another dog in along time or seen a friendly one in just as much time she hoped this one was friendly because she was very bored and now she'd broken her toy and was looking for another one.

Deciding to be careful, well as careful as she ever dared to be she came prancing down the mountain of garbage like a foal in a grassy field putting her nose low to the ground as she pretended to look for another toy she started zig zagging as though she'd lost a toy earlier and had only to find it in all the garbage circling a little and backtracking to draw attention she suddenly came across a flat basketball which surprised her she drew back rearing slightly as she tried not to step on it. Shimmer tilted her head to one side when she landed as though it had suddenly jumped out in front of her, she was deciding whether or not to try and find her mystery scent or whether to play ball. She decided ball was too much fun to pass up as it was her favourite game when she was with her family.

So she grabbed the ball with her teeth and pulled as the basketball was buried under several layers of garbage and only a little edge hung loose, she growled with the effort and shook side to side as she tried to free the ball from the garbage pile but it was stuck and she needed some help if she was going to get it free. She lay down exhausted and briefly wondered if her mystery scent was still around "Hey!" she barked loudly wondering if anyone would answer and if it was going to be a friendly answer realizing it probably wasn't a good idea to shout out like she had, she sank low in the garbage hoping to hide from her mistake and hopefully avoid a potentially dangerous situation.

Word Count: 676

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The samoyed whimpered a bit when the pup called out to her, unsure about what to do. When she saw the other dog suddenly crouch down, she thought that maybe it would try to ambush her, so she decided to go around another way, the way the pup wasn't facing. Sandy crouched down with her belly to the ground and slunk around the garbage pile the pup was sitting on. Her paws didn't make a single sound on the trash she was treading on. The pup was now out of her sight, on the other side of the garbage pile. Now began the tedius climb to the top. She lifted her paw to the air and set it firmly on an old discarded table. The young samoyed then put her weight on it and hoisted herself up. She continued her climb, passing things that smelled good, some that smelled bad, and other objects that didn't give off any smell at all. Sandy desperately wanted to check everything out, poke her nose into the empty cups to see what they once contained, rip apart the old cushions, jump on the springy mattresses, but she wanted first to see who the other dog was. She wanted to see if she could play with the pup, or if she should run away from the dump and return when the pup was gone. Her fur was now crusted with mud and other rotting things, along with a layer of dust. She was almost to the top, just a few more steps and she would be there. Sandy looked down at her paws to be sure she wasn't stepping on anything that would give way beneath her, or would be slippery and make her tumble back to the bottom. If that happened then all the climbing she had just done would have been for naught. Just one more step now and I will be able to see that pup up close. Her paw lifted slowly, trembling from fright and excitement. She laid it carefully on a sturdy looking booksheld, then placed her other paw on it as well. As she hoisted the rest of her body up... IT COLLAPSED!! Sandy tumbled down headfirst to the next shelf of the rotten structure. When her head connected with it, that one collapsed as well. Her fall kept her going about five feet down untill she landed on the bottem of the shelfing unit. She looked up quickly and saw the blue of the sky shining in through the hole. Ah great, now what do I do. She thought about calling out for help, or attempting to climb out herself. She would probably have to do that anyway, with or without an audience. Sandy looked up mournfully at the sky. And this day had started out so nicely! The settling dust that had stirred when she fell made her sneeze violently.

[Nexus]

Shimmer froze as she heard the crashing sound of rotten wood, her ears twitching this way and that like a radar in attempt to locate the sound suddenly something sneezed it sounded smallish about Shimmer's own height or possibly smaller not too far away.

Lifting herself up off the ground she bounded over the mounds of garbage, it seemed pretty slippery here lots of loose bits of this or that. Luckily Shimmer was quite good at putting herself in dangerous situations so this was nothing new, skidding and sliding on junk as it slipped beneath her tiny feet she tried her best to stay upright but fell over a few times on her way to the other side of the garbage mound.

Forgetting her earlier realization that this might be a vicious enemy not some random plaything, she put her nose to the ground to see if she could find out what had made that loud crashing sound she quickly picked up the scent she'd found earlier what surprised her was that the scent moved around. Perhaps it was some sort of rat or bird? what had made that loud crashing sound though? tracking the scent down the garbage mound and then back up Shimmer traced the mystery thing to a hole in the ground that smelled vaguely of mushrooms and wet rotting wood a couple of things she'd learnt to avoid in her short life as a family dog on the streets.

Shimmer lay down on the garbage and crawled in for a closer look, the one thing she'd learnt playing here was that things were very unstable here. Crawling closer scratched her soft belly but her curiosity was overwhelming, when she was close enough she put her paws over the edge and dragged herself closer so she could see over the edge. At first when she looked down she couldn't see much, the hole was dark and smelled strongly of rotting wood and dust so much so Shimmer sneezed and almost fell in herself.

Backing up slightly so she couldn't fall in should she sneeze again, shimmer poked her head back over the edge of the hole "Hello...?" she called quietly trying not to be too conspicuous though there really wasn't any option. Shimmer thought she could see something moving at the bottom but it was a fair way down, she didn't want to call out again in case something else was nearby as she wasn't entirely sure this was her mystery thing she was for once being cautious.

Word Count: 433

[☼Åžrå☼]

The small samoyed pup heard the voice above her. She looked up and saw that the circle of light had a dark spot in it, someone was blocking the light. Her heart began to beat faster at the thought of someone having an advantage over her. Her hackles stood on end and she lifted her lips a little. A small sound that was mixed between a growl and a moan of fear escaped her maw. When she saw the dark spot leave she suddenly got even more scared. What if she was trapped here? What if she had to die the slow painful death of starvation? Her hackles and lips abruptly dropped at those thoughts. "He... he... hello?" She stood up on her hind legs and reached planted them on the edge of the broken shelf. She stretched herself out to her full length and tried to reach her head out of the hole. She was a good two feet short of her destination. "I'm... kinda trapped down here." Sandy let her rump sink back down to the bottom of her prison. She sank down to the bottom of the prison, crouching. Her muscles bunched tightly. Suddenly, she launched herself up toward the opening. The tip of her nose poked out of the hole for a second and her paws scrabbled on the sides of the enclosure and found hope in the fact that they did catch a bit, but she then sank down to the bottom of the caibnate thanks to gravity. Her eyes held a depressed darkness, afraid that she would never be able to feel grass beneath her paws again. Fear began to take over her mind and she began to jump frantically toward the top of the cabinate. Her nose always poked out of the top, but she just couldn't hook her paws over the top.

[Nexus]

At first Shimmer didn't know whether to attack or help the white fluffy thing jumping up into her face every few moments, but then she realized somewhere in between jumps that it was a puppy like her and she wanted to help. "My name is Shimmer... I think I can help... just stay here a minute." she answered dashing off to another mound she thought she'd seen the remnants of what appeared to be a large chew toy but as she found it and started trying to free the rope end she realized it was just a piece of rope and it was pretty ragged and torn up as well, hoping it would hold the puppy's weight Shimmer ran back to the hole and dropped her end in quickly moving to the other end but as she scrambled trying to grab the other end before it fell into the hole it did just that and Shimmer sank back down on the edge.

"Sorry..." Shimmer panted all that running and she hadn't been much use, sliding over to the side again she looked down to see if the puppy was still inside but ended up falling inside herself scrambling quickly she managed to keep her front end out of the hole and kicked with her highly strung back legs to bounce herself out before she slid down the moldy bookshelves to the bottom some of the wood tore off in chunks though and fell further down "Phew that was close..." she breathed not daring to get close to the edge again. "Are you okay in there?" Shimmer added hoping the other dog was okay as she had been a little focused on her own escape than her new friends safety, though now she was safe again she began looking about for something else to use suddenly she noticed a pretty sturdy looking ladder sitting atop a pile of garbage and ran over to get it.

Moving it over to the hole though was a bit of a problem as it was heavy and hard to drag across the mounds of junk without tearing up everything else, Shimmer finally managed to get it there but trying to slide it in the hole end first was proving to be difficult. "I found a thing to help you climb out... but its getting stuck" Shimmer explained to the hole not knowing if her friend was okay or not as she'd ran off to find the ladder before getting an answer. She slid the ladder over the edge of the hole but it only fell down halfway before getting stuck where Shimmer had fallen to earlier, Shimmer poked her head around the ladder and down into the hole getting as close as she dared without falling in to see if her friend could now escape that was if the samoyed hadn't already.

[☼Åžrå☼]

Sandy finally had run out of stamina and just lay on the bottom of the cabinate. She could hear the scuffling of the pups paws, but didn't even try to look up. I'm doomed. The thought moved like a dark cloud across her thoughts. The samoyed's eyes slowly closed and she thought about sleeping the last of her pathetic life away. Suddenly, she heard a thump. Sandy's eyes opened and her head turned up toward the top of the box. She saw the pup's rump hanging over the top of the prison. She gasped a bit, hoping that the pup, No, she told me her name was Shimmer Shimmer wasn't going to have to share the same fate as her. Sandy looked around at the floor on which she was standing and noticed the bit of rope that Shimmper had dropped down into her enclosure. It smelled musty and old, it would have probably broken with her weight anyway. Up on the ground above she heard a loud scraping sound. Sandy looked up quickly and saw the end of a ladder fall into the hole. She made a little yelp as she thought it would land on her. When it stopped only half-way down she breathed a sigh of relief, for she didn't want to be trapped in a cabinate AND be pinned under a ladder. When she looked up again at the ladder an idea formed. The dirty white dog crouched down tight against the bottom of her enclosure, tightening up her muscles for one last leap. Her legs abruptly launched her strait up toward the waiting point of light above. Her paws wrapped around the bottom rung of the ladder and she clung on for dear life, her hind legs scrabbling for purchase on the shelf. Her left hind paw caught on a nitch, and she hoisted her weight on it. Her right front paw lifted and reached for the next rung. When that paw was secure, she lifted the other paw and hooked it on the same rung. She could then lift her hind leg to rest on the bottom rung. She continued doing this until the earth was right by her nose. Almost there, almost there... Sandy then threw herself toward the edge of the bookshelf and the upper half of her body clung desperately to the garbage. Her hind legs thrusting furiusly for something to boost her up. A small whine escaped her maw as she feared that she would fall again. Her front paw caught on something big that was deeply buried in the mound of garbage and she was able to pull her rump up and over the edge of the prison. When she felt all four of her paws securely on land she collapsed in a heap and panted happily, exausted by her escape. She looked quickly at the Austrailian Koolie and her eyes were filled with gratitude. "Thank you so much! If it wouldn't have been for you... I don't want to know how long I would have been stuck in that hole!"

[Nexus]

Shimmer's head tilted to one side in a questioning glance then back the other way as the samoyed shared her gratitude, she was a little odd looking appearance and not at all what Shimmer expected to find here. Shimmer herself looked like some sort of mixed breed halfway between a german shepherd and a cattle dog she had all the energy of a collie, with the speed, agility and intelligence of a german shepherd it seemed only her colours came from the cattle dog though she was as tough as one she wasn't very stocky or fluffy only her tail seemed to show some sign of being a collie as it ruffled in the breeze.

"What were you doing down there anyway?" Shimmer asked as she moved over to inspect the dog sniffing wildly and yet with great caution she doubted this dog would hurt her seeing as she'd help save its life though she was still naturally suspicious and curious at the same time. When she was finished her inspection she sat down heavily next to Sandy, then flopped onto her side to inspect her injured stomach it was only scratched but she began to lick it clean anyway disliking the mixed taste of garbage and her own drying blood.

Word Count: 218

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Sandy looked down and away from Shimmer. "Well... when you called out, I got scared and didn't know if you were a dark dog. I didn't want to run strait into a trap, so I tried to sneak around you so I could see who you were before you saw me. I didn't know that this... this... thing, would be so rotten and I fell through." The samoyed cast a shy glance at the other dog. She watched the pup wander around her with her own nose twitching as she took in the pups scent. Sandy's fluffy fur billowed as the breeze picked up. It didn't move around as much as it usually did, for most of it was plastered to her body under a coating of mud and garbage. She didn't have her usual white coloring at the moment, more of a greyish brown. She didn't care though, she loved to get wet and dirty. The samoyed looked up at the sky, hoping her day would get better and a thunderstorm would come through. She loved thunderstorms. Sandy dropped her eyes from the sky back down to the pup. She was a little surprised to see her laying down and licking herself, but then Sandy noticed the cut on her belly. "Oh no! Are you hurt bad?" She grew worried, thinking that Shimmer could get sick if something bad like rust got into the cut. She felt bad, thinking that the pup got the cut because of her. She wanted to make Shimmer feel better, so she cast her eyes around to look for something for she and Shimmer to play with. Everything looked inviting, from the shiny mirrors, the pretty colored glass bottles, then her eyes landed on a small peice of brightly colored rubber. Sandy bounded away from the pup toward the rubber, more careful this time though so she wouldn't fall down any more bookshelves. When she reached the bright colored thing, she reached her maw down and sniffed it. Only the sharp smell of rubber caught her nose. Her maw opened and her white teeth caught the rubber tightly. When her jaws closed tight, she was surprised to hear a sharp squeal emit from the thing. She leapt backward from the sound, but didn't relinquish her hold. The rubber squeaking thing ripped from the hold of the trash pile and dangled from her maw. Sandy slowly set the peice of rubber back down on the ground and looked at it. It had a bulgy nose, bulgy eyes, bulgy... everything. The samoyed opened her jaws again and closed them on the new toy. It once again squealed. This time her eyes lit up with joy. Sandy tossed her head up in the air and released her grip. The toy flew through the air then arched back away from her. Sandy had to run a little way to stay beneath the flying toy, but caught it firmly between her jaws again. It squealed loudly. The samoyed let out a joyful yip and rushed back up the trash pile to Shimmer. When the samoyed reached Shimmer, she loosed her jaws and tightened them again, making the toy squeak and squeal. Her eyes stayed on the pup, waiting for her reaction.

[Nexus]

At first Shimmer stayed where she was, continuing to clean her minor wounds with efficiency they weren't very deep and didn't seem to be caused by anything rusted or dangerous. After all they were just a few scratches, nothing she couldn't handle or get over in sufficient time... Suddenly she heard the loud squeak of a toy and her head shot up her ears at full height and pointed straight forwards with all the interest in the world.

Her eyes grew large at the sight of the squeaky toy sitting joyfully in Sandy's jaws, as though it were happy to be there. Shimmer sat up her own jaws partly open as she salivated in eager anticipation did this pup want her to play now? it took a few drawn out moments for Shimmer to regain her memories of the past few minutes as she sat there staring at the toy. Squeaky toys had been her favorite thing to play with since she had been separated from her mother, in fact she had used to chew on them like a pacifier when she was tired or locked up in her travel crate bored out of her mind.

She'd destroyed most of her own toys though whilst waiting for her human family to return, the sudden return of a squeaky toy here of all places had rekindled some of those painful memories though and she was almost drawn to look away. It was almost impossible though, shivering with excitement now Shimmer stood up and approached the Samoyed carefully "You want to play?" She asked quietly trying to contain the excitement as she drew closer panting lightly.

Word Count: 279

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Sandy watched the pup's eyes shine with exitement. She knew her own eyes were shining with exitement as well. The samoyed dropped her front legs down to the ground, leaving her in a crouched position. This is the universal dog sign of play. She wagged her tail back and forth a few times with the squeaky toy held tightly in her maw. "Ou wank ge goy?" Her speech was impared from the toy stuck in her maw. "Ken ou gotta con get it!" Sandy suddenly jumped up and took off running down the hill, her tail waving high in the air with her long fur streaming out behind her. She then dropped her front legs down again at the bottom of the hill and gave the squeaky toys a few good squeaks. Then she turned and started running again. Her quick light pawsteps made a lot of noise as she was continuously stepping on cans and other noisy things. Up ahead she saw a long strethch of dirt tha she figured would be much easier to run on the hard packed earth then the trash that would continously shift beneath her feet. Her paws almost seemed to sigh with relief when the hard earth met their strides instead of the sharp edges of cans and other poky things.

[Nexus]

Shimmer tilted her head sharply to the side, unsure of what exactly the samoyed was trying to do or say to her. It looked like Sandy wanted her to get the toy through some sort of chasing game, Shimmer couldn't think of anything more fun she loved to run and she loved to chew on squeaky toys so it sounded like a great idea.

Ideas always have problems though and Shimmers only problem here was that she had to scale mountains of sharp rubbish to catch up, something she was a little concerned of now considering her friend had just been stuck down a rather large hole. However, Shimmer never was one to be a wet blanket and so she bounded off down the mound of sharp cans and other poky things sliding a little as the trash shifted here and there until she got to the bottom. She noticed this was the same dirt strip she'd been running along before and her feet found safety.

Taking off like a jet aeroplane it didn't take long for Shimmer to catch upto Sandy in the straight run of dirt though she seemed to have trouble turning back around to go the other way, being younger than Sandy she had little experience turning sharp corners so whilst she could overtake Sandy on the straight she always went sliding and fishtailing into the trash when it was time to run back the other way.

It didn't stop shimmer from having fun though, and she quickly became thirsty and tired "You thirsty? I am..." Shimmer panted heavily looking around for some water to drink or something that might have caught the rain to keep for another day although whatever had water in it here was probably filled with mosquito's and frogs by now she desperately needed some water.

Word Count: 309

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Sandy too had begun to pant after their little run. It was true that the weather had turned cold now that it was fall, but she still had her long fur that made her overheat in even the coldest of weather. "Yeah, I'm thirsty too." she said between pants. The samoyed closed her maw and inhaled deeply, trying to find the refreshing scent of water. She dropped the squeaky toy as the rubber taste only made her thirstier. The dog's sensitive nose found the slight smell of water that was flowing toward her from one of the many junk piles nearby. She lifted her maw in the air to follow the path the scent was taking. She soon found herself before a large coffey tin that was filled to the brim with lifegiving water. She thought about how nice the water would feel rolling down her throat, even if it was a little muddy. But she felt she had to show her manners and lifted her voice to the pup. "Hey Shimmer! There's some water over here!" Sandy then looked back to the water and licked her dry chops, but waited for the pup to come and drink first.

[Nexus]

At first Shimmer was too preoccupied watching the lifeless squeaky toy for movement to bother with Sandy's great discovery but as the barking echoed through her ears she finally snatched up the toy and squeaking it repeatedly she made her way over to where Sandy stood over the coffee tin of water.

"Tanks..." she muttered whilst panting with the squeaky toy in her mouth, briefly dropping it for some water Shimmer lapped it up quickly not taking much but enough to keep her happily playing with the toy for awhile longer. She finished drinking and backed up out of the way to grab the toy again and move away a little to give Sandy a turn at drinking, squeaking the toy again even faster this time so that it only made a "squee-squee-squee" sound rather then the whole squeak as she lay down to have a rest still panting but thoroughly enjoying herself. Her ears lay back against her head as she stopped squeaking a moment to chew the toy instead, holding it between her paws she closed her eyes enjoying every minute with the dirty little thing, suddenly she noticed another puddle and ran over to it the puddle was dirtier and had a few half buried plastic bags but it was a great place to wash the toy.

Dropping it in the water Shimmer rolled the toy around in the edge of the puddle getting it muddier than the thing was already, but as she pushed it and rolled it with her paws it moved further out into the water. At first Shimmer didn't bother following it, she stayed on the dry ground by the side but the squeaky toy seemed to float further and further away finally getting clean but now Shimmer had to try and get it. She circled the puddle at first not daring to get her feet wet as she barked playfully at the toy to return to her, eventually Shimmer launched herself into the puddle causing a great wave of muddy water to wash over her stomach knocking the toy further out of reach but the puddle was barely ankle deep and so she went and fetched it without any further problems standing in the puddle awhile longer as the mud dripped off her elbows and the tip of her tasselled tail.