Offsite
For a while, there was a long pause. Your weak voice cracked as you barked your response, you took a moment to think. The situation around your living wasn’t the first thing you thought about when putting on the suit, but now it seemed far more significant- practical for your new job, and now faced with this decision, you thought it’d be best to refuse this offer, and remain alert for any future opportunities out there for you in the meantime.
. “No thank you, miss.” You concluded.
“That will be fine.” She retorted, understanding. “The next training day is today, surprisingly, in about an hour. Would you like me to guide you to where this event will take place?” she said in a cheery tone.
“I would be more than happy to!” You said wagging your tail subtly behind you.
“Okay, well the next group of babysitters are to have orientation in the ‘Childrens’ Rising Medical Wing, or CRMW. That facility is located right across the street from here, if you’d like I suppose your guide can show you there!” She said with optimism.
“Wait a minute? That’s everything?”
“Yep!” She replied. “We’re a bit short on staff in every department, and you seem like a pretty sound person! So of course we can give you a try.” she maintained eye contact with you, and breathed the last part of her sentence in one long sharp breath, “and of course, if you can’t keep up we’ll just fire you.” It came like a sudden slap to your face, but you tried not to think into it and continued to be a polite professional.
“Okay! Well thank you for your help, and I hope you have a nice rest of your work day.” You said genuinely before turning back to your guide. “Did you hear?”
“Yes! Congratulations missy!” he said in a slightly condescending tone, maybe it came with the territory.
“Shall we go?” you said, leading the way through the door, waving him on to follow you through. From the outside you could see the front door of the facility completely opposite to the doors on your side, it was a simple matter of crossing a street. As you approached, something strange came across your mind. “It’s funny how they needed my Identification to get on the train… But not to get this job.” you directed your voice upwards at your guide.
“You heard her, they’re short of staff.” He looked at you and smiled. “Plus, why question it when you’re getting a job!” he reassured you.
“Right!” you said as you both entered the alternate building. Something seemed a bit funny to you, but when you entered and the sound of happy puppies in the other room filled your senses, there was nothing else on your mind but how much fun you were about to have.
“In through here.” The guide led you into the main daycare room. It was clearly designed for young children, and the bright hues seemed to pop in your view as your half-color blind eyes took in the bright room.
Suddenly, like a swarm of cuddly insects around your feet. They made tiny yipping sounds and their entire bodies swiveled back and forth as their aggressively wagging tails swung back and forth like a wriggling flagellum propelling their proportionally large heads into your ankles. They headbutted you playfully and reared up around you as they sniffed their introductions with you excitedly. Some of the more shy puppies remained in the back, a few were older, and they watched you with a curious gaze. A few of them paired up, and some stood solitary, each with their own unique expression and correlating emotion.
“Hi there!” you said to each of them, the smile on your face was so large that you could barely keep your eyes open, and the way they crowded around your legs caused your beating heart to nearly leap out of your chest in excitement. The room was filled with many different breeds of puppies, both large and small, but their bodies were absolutely dwarfed by your full grown size, despite your smaller female stature.
“What are we going to do today!?” The child asked, and for the first time, you thought about this yourself.
“Well now…” You began, taking your time with your speech as you intricately thought about every word before saying it.
Written by DriftingDragon on 14 May 2021