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I spent the better part of a week assisting Lopside in great leaps of verbal cognizance and vocalization, although to my doggish sense of time, the long daily efforts felt more like months. As I mentioned before, Lopside seemed suddenly possessed by a new inclination to heed me and my efforts at education in language. His newfound attentiveness was such that kibbles shortly proved unnecessary.

I was initially heady with the growth of my pupil, but I did notice that he lagged in certain areas despite any coercion or repetition on my part. It seemed almost as if Lopside simply had trouble wrapping his unique mind around certain issues and thoughts. In particular, he struggled with more developed usage of adjectives. When it came to describing things, Lopside just felt that a picture or a sketch did the matter far more justice. We fought on the matter several times, especially when his talking lapsed and he fell into drawing a sketch on the ground to express himself.

For my part, I too got better at reading Lopside's pictograms because it was clear after the first day that the shepherd mutt would not tolerate me broadcasting my ideals to him without giving something back myself. The symbology that Lopside used had unusual quirks, but actually was not that hard to decipher once I began trying to understand his point of view. I had to get used to the idea that the scratches he made on the ground were more than lines and circles and see past them to the meaning that they represented, but I'd already made that leap in our initial efforts to communicate. What I was learning now was more akin to vocabulary than anything else. For instance, while the figures for dogs and humans were fairly obvious, Lopside used a short hand to represent other elements of life, like curly lines in the air for wind, and a specific kind of swirl above a figure's head to denote hunger; and still more lines or patterns for things like aggression, fear, and excitement. I also learned that the way in which Lopside drew had an impact in his meaning. Sometimes my flop eared friend would draw smoothly and cautiously, other times he would be faster and more forceful. I could see the effect in the subtle lines of the art afterwards, but for me, I got more meaning actually watching him draw; the effect of this emotion could have a profound effect on the meaning of the resulting artwork.

However, despite the fact that Lopside was quite proud of himself to have something to teach me as well, he recognized the many inconveniences associated with his manner of communication. Far easier was it to wag a tail or whine than it was to find a bare patch of soil with the right moisture level and scratch in the ground while your partner had to wait for you to finish. I think this, more than anything convinced Lopside to adopt most - but not all - of my attitudes concerning canine communication. That, and as I mentioned before, he seemed to have something he longed to tell me.

It took two days to get Lopside to start stringing words together into simple sentences and then three more days to build his vocabulary and begin speaking more conversationally. If this seems like a remarkable timeframe for humans to learn a new language, just remember that at the time, we were both less than or barely a year old and we yet had the youthful gift of retaining new information like sponges. But more than that, Lopside made leaps and bounds in his understanding of the language thanks considerably in part to the simplicity of the hodgepodge lexicon the black lab and I had crafted over several weeks, but also due to the fact that it was built on the firm foundation of instinctive body language universal to canines.

At the end of the five days, after dinner and after my post-dinner nap, Lopside nudged me awake with his snout pressing into my left eye.

"Topsy..." he said earnestly. "I want to talk."

I woke up but slowly, but the fact that for Lopside this request was unprecedented was the prod that I needed to get up. In fact my tail was wagging slightly as I asked "What do you want to talk about?"

Lopside looked unsure for a moment, cast his eyes aside and then looked back up at me. "I want to talk about the symbols... and the lock."

I immediately grasped the gravity of the situation. This was what I'd been waiting for all the ungodly long week that I'd been struggling with Lopside; any remaining sleep drained from me as I got to my feet, joints creaking because I did so too quickly. "Let's go talk outside." I said.

Lopside seemed grateful for my suggestion and indeed, I wanted some privacy because I knew that Lopside was a shy dog. It was in the late evening and twilight was passing. We sat under the lamp on the bare dirt were we often had our conversations. Out in the yard, I could see Pink Nose silently watching the closed gate, but only with half an eye. Spinner and Dizzy were caught up with a large romp with some younger pups whom they were dominating. No one gave us a second glance. "Let's talk." I said finally.

But Lopside did not start with speech. Instead he began to draw. I was beyond exasperation with him and his preferred methods, so I just sat and waited. It didn't take long. Lopside did not in fact draw a picture. What he did was simply draw a set of different characters, some I recognized like the now infamous "2" but others I did not. I gestured to them. "Where did you see those?"

Lopside produced the scrap of paper that he's stolen nearly a week ago after the gate incident. It was torn at the edges but otherwise in good condition. Opening it, I could see a string of characters, Lopside had included these on the ground along with the symbols he already knew from the lock. I looked at the slip of paper on the ground. Though the characters were pregnant with meaning, it was still unknowable to me. "Have you figured anything out with them, Lopside?"

Lopside got up, walked uncertainly around his character and then plopped down again. "Not much." he admitted. Then he drew a line in the dirt dividing some characters from the others. "These seem different."

I nosed the ground near the symbols, but I could detect no clear difference between the two groups. "Why do you say that?"

Lopside gestured with a paw. "These are on the lock. These from the paper."

I nodded, it seemed like a sound deduction. I knew better than to ask Lopside if he had deduced the meaning of the symbols from nothing, so instead I asked. "Can you explain how you opened the lock?"

Lopside stole a glance at the symbols he'd been puzzling over and then back at me. "The lock has a trick. Look"

A half grin infiltrated my face. "Look" was definitely one of Lopside's favorite words. So I did look and I watched him as he produced a new string of characters, just three and they seemed to be from the larger group that Lopside knew. "These are the keys."

"These symbols open the lock?" I asked dubiously. How could characters scratched in the dirt have anything to do with the lock?

Lopside nodded. "The lock turners... the wheel parts... on the lock." Lopside struggled.

At first what he was saying didn't make any sense, but when I recalled what the lock looked like, I did remember there were some parts on the bottom which did display the odd characters. "Wheel parts, huh..." I mulled over the idea. It was certainly possible that those parts of the lock were mobile. "Are you saying that when the lock showed these three symbols, the lock will open?"

This one Lopside was sure of. "Yes!" he woofed.

I nodded my head. So that was the secret. "Let me see these symbols..." I said and then set to committing the characters and their order to memory. Looking up from the ground, I saw that twilight was quickly passing into true night. Assuming that the gate could now be opened, I had a decision to make. "Lopside." The shepherd mix lifted his ears towards me, "What do you think about leaving the yard?"

That one set Lopside thinking. Naturally he looked at the ground but then apparently decided against a drawing. He got up, walked in a circle around the figures again then turned to face me. I stood up as well as he said, "I feel we need to get out. Outside is big, in here, small. Our... Er, future not in yard-home, or we be puppies forever... ugh, I don't say right."

I reached over and rested my chin on the back of his neck. "No, you say well, Lopside. We need to see what's out there."

Only a little while later, we had the whole Talkie together in the yard in front of the fence. Everyone seemed to know that something big was going on. Even Spinner and Dizzy were sitting still and behaving. Patch and Slim, I noticed were bright eyed and attentive. In the time that it'd taken Lopside to gain an understandable grasp of spoken language, these two had nearly complete mastery and were, in fact getting ready to start training new dogs of their own. When everyone has quieted down, I spoke. "Lopside has just told me how to open the lock on the gate."

As I expected, that got an immediate response. Fatty was enthused and said, "That's great Topsy! I've been waiting forever for that mutt to start talking." He whined a bit and wiggled his oversized bottom along with his thick tail ,"My mouth is watering thinking about the treats we might find out there."

I wooffed loudly as the dogs were getting riled up. "Hey hold it. We haven't yet decided what to do with the gate yet."

I saw Fat Gut raise an eyebrow at me, but it was Pink Nose who spoke. "But Topsy, wasn't the whole point of getting the trick from Lopside so we could go out and explore again?" Fatty seconded Pink Nose loudly as did his student Patch.

I had to growl a bit and lift my head high above the rest of the crowd to retain order. "I do plan on us getting outside the yard. But we need to do this smart and not get ahead of ourselves."

Fatty, surprisingly offered the most amount of resistance. "Topsy, I think you're being way too careful. You said yourself there's a big fence out there and the lot is empty. I don't think that there's anything to be afraid of outside the yard."

"I don't remember anything particularly dangerous out there." piped up Terrier-face on the other side of Fatty.

And thinking about the matter now, when it seemed so much more real than it had merely a few hours ago... maybe I was being too cautious. Remembering back tot he week before, the area outside the yard had been mostly empty. The tension had mostly come from the missing pups. What was there to be afraid of? I cleared my voice, I needed to stick to my guns here. "I don't think there's anything really dangerous out there, but we need to keep from getting lost and everyone needs to be able to get back here right away if something happens. I've been speaking to both Fat Gut and Pink Nose about this and I think that we should go out in teams so we can keep each other safe outside."

That seemed to relieve some of the tension that had been mounting. Spinner jumped up on his hind legs and danced a circle. "Does that mean we're all going out?!" Dizzy echoed his friend with his own yap.

I sighed and looked back out at the gate. It'd been my intention for only half of us to go outside tonight. Now it seemed as if there was going to be no keeping the rest of them here, however. "I don't think that will be a problem, as long as everyone stays with their group... and as long as someone stays here to keep the rest of the pack from leaving while we're out."

Sad faces momentarily sprung up, but Spinner spoke exuberantly. "Fat Gut'll stay here. He doesn't want to walk around out there."

I grimaced slightly. Spinner could certainly have phrased that better, but I turned to Fat Gut anyway just to confirm. "Fat Gut?" I asked

The huge shepherd-lab shift his bulk slightly, seemingly setting it swaying on purpose. "I'm fine here." he said simply. I nodded and our eyes met, sharing the complex emotions in the relationship that we shared and his own feelings about his mobility.

"Alright. Let's get in groups of three..." I started and began walking among them. I didn't put the lean dogs together because I didn't want some groups to be more hindered than others. Fat Gut had already helped me with the divisions during the weeks before. I separated Dizzy and Spinner of course. I put my bother with myself and Fatty. I put Spinner with Pink Nose and Slim. Patch went with Terrier-face and Lopside. "So, we know our partners right?"

Although some of the faster moving dogs seemed a little down, Pink Nose was supportive. He gathered Spinner and Slim to him, leaning against them and wagging his tail fiercely. Slim, who was not quite as heavy as Pink Nose looked a bit uncomfortable with the heavier dog leaning on him. "Come on Topsy, show us how to open the lock."

I grinned at the dogs' shared enthusiasm. There wasn't a still tail in the group, even Fat Gut was slowly waving his, though it could hardly be seen behind the massive swell of his rear end. I looked to Lopside and our eyes met, I saw approval and earnestness in them, so taking a deep breath, I turned and went towards the gate.

I remembered the symbols Lopside had told me and I remembered the turners on the bottom of the lock, however, it was still an effort to work it. I tried to rotate the wheels with my nose, but the wheels weren't very easy to turn and the little ridges soon rubbed my nose raw. What I eventually had to do was take the whole lock in my mouth and work the wheels with my teeth. This was bothersome because I had to keep lowering my head to make sure I was getting the right symbols into place.

It took a while, a long while, in fact. I didn't mind so much standing upright for so long so much as fumbling in front of the others. Fortunately none of my friends said anything, not even Lopside who could have probably managed the lock fast than I. When I got the right combination in, a quick tug freed the arms in the lock case and I was able to nose the thing out of place and it fell to the ground. A moment later, the gate swung open. The members of the talkie let out a loud chorus of cheers and barks. Without further invitation, the dogs began to stream out, Dizzy and Spinner at the fore, but mindfully staying with their partners.

Naturally most of the dogs were too excited with sniffing and looking around for speech, but Pink Nose brushed up against me while we were still all stuck together in the lane right outside the yard. "I'm happy that you split up the groups the way you did, Topsy. Real smart."

I grinned and bumped against his soft flank. "It was mostly Fat Gut's idea actually."

Pink Nose stole a glance backward to where he could see Fat Gut himself waddling up to the gate to close it behind us. He grunted affirmation at it clanged shut behind us. "But I was wondering if you thought about where to send each group."

I looked at Pink Nose blankly. "What do you mean?"

"I thought that it might be better if you sent the groups to different areas outside. That way, we know vaguely were each other are and we're not just wandering around. Also, we might cover more ground that way."

"That's a really good idea, Pink Nose!" I yapped and the chocolate lab beamed. I waited until we were at the end of the lane which opened into the complex and the parking lot. With some effort, I got ahead of the group and addressed each of the group leaders, in this case, Pink Nose and Terrier-face. "Quick change of plans." I announced. "Pink Nose, take your group around this building. Let's see if there's anything on the other side." he nodded. Looking at Terrier-face, I told him, "Follow the fence around the place. Maybe there's another way out.. I'll take my brother and Fatty to the other building."

There wasn't any dissent. For most of them, having a job was even better than just wandering by themselves; we were dogs after all. I took Dizzy and Fatty across the long length of the parking lot and it wasn't long at all before the other six dogs were out of sight altogether.

It was quiet save for the steady hum of the lamps illuminating the area in circular pools of light which was mostly blinding. I found that the asphalt was not scary at all this time, but I noticed Fatty was a little ginger on his paws for the first few yards. A few yards more and Fatty added his heavy breathing to night chorus and I added mine a little after that.

Being the second fattest dog in the yard, perhaps it was nit the wisest decision of mine to take him across the long length of the parking lot to the second building, but since Fatty had been very excited about leaving the yard, too excited in my mind, I wanted to keep an eye on him. Besides we were both going to have to get used to crossing longer distances if we were going to made these expeditions a regular event.

About halfway across the parking lot, however, it became clear that Fatty was not going to be able to cross the entire distance without rest. Fatty's breath had begun to wheeze in the back of his throat and he clearly had a stitch in one of his legs which was causing him to limp, jiggling his very generous belly as he did. To his credit, he said nothing, but I noticed the signs and he seemed relieved when I stopped the group in a darkened area in the center of the parking lot.

Fatty all but collapsed, his breathing shaking the entirety of his sausage-like frame. "Thanks, Topsy..." he panted breathlessly.

I sat, glad for a rest myself despite myself. "Stretch that leg out, Fatty. It'll get better faster." my beta silently did so. As I watched Fatty struggling with recovering while his back quivered like the surface of a small sea, I wondered if any amount of exercise was going to get Fatty able to carry all that bulk over long distances. Dizzy saved my from my distressing thoughts by rapping my paws with his and then slipping into a play-bow.

"Topsy!" he barked, "Are we going to meet the other dogs again?"

My brother still managed to surprise me at times with his sudden brightness. "That's right. I want to know more about them."

Dizzy nodded and sat looking up at me, obviously trying to be patient. However, Fatty was still catching his breath and would probably need several more minutes. I mulled over a thought and then said, "Dizzy, how would you like to scout around the parking lot for a while?"

That grabbed his attention and my golden brother started wagging his tail. "I would love that!"

"Good. Just stay in the parking lot and sniff around. See if you can find anything interesting around here." I didn't need to say more, Dizzy ran off and I hoped that he would remember to heed me and stay inside the parking lot. Fortunately, with his coloration, Dizzy wasn't hard to spot at a distance.

I laid down and Fatty spoke up, breathing a little easier now. "Sorry I'm... holding you guys up."

"It's alright, Fatty." I said, stretching a leg myself which was cramping a little.

Fatty heaved a couple small laughs. "Heh, I... had no idea... walking around was this... difficult."

"Well..." I hesitated, that uncomfortable feeling steeling over me again, "There's no where to go in the yard." I looked down at Fatty, his thick neck swelling around his well fleshed face. "I think we'll get used to it if we spend more time out here walking."

Fatty swallowed, still panting, he shook his head slowly, "I don't know that I.... want to get used to... this." I lapsed into silence, listening to Fatty breath. Then he voiced the thought that I'd been trying avoid. "Ever think... it'd be better to be... not so heavy?"

The ugly thought had been stewing around in me since the first expedition and now I had to actually think about it. I hadn't wanted to think about an idea that possibly went contrary to everything I'd grown up believing about appearance and my own self image. "Well... maybe it'd be better for some things." I had to admit. "Like running around like Dizzy and Spinner. But we both know the humans like us large, the larger the better."

Fatty continued to pant, although at least the air was no longer whistling in the back of his thick throat. "That's one thing about being heavy, sure, But..." I could tell he was struggling with the concept, "Isn't that really for them and not for us?"

"We ought to be happy doing anything that makes the humans happy. They treat us well." I said confirming what I wanted to believe.

Fatty sighed, doubting himself now. "I guess that's true. I just was wondering where it ends, you know? I mean Fat Gut is so huge and he's still putting on weight; I'm getting to be as big as him now myself... But when does it stop?"

I looked up the the stars overhead. I hadn't thought of that aspect of our situation either. I honestly don't know why it'd never occurred to me. "I don't know Fatty. But I'm sure our humans know what they're doing. We ought to have faith that we're doing the right thing. Besides, it feels right doesn't it?"

Fatty heaved a weak laugh, "Most of the time it does. Just not right now, ha!"

I grinned and leaned down and gave Fatty and friendly lick on the cheek. We waited for several more minutes as he gradually cooled down. I was starting to get a little worried about Dizzy, but my fears were unfounded when he returned shortly before Fatty was about ready to move again. I saw him walking brazenly under a parking lot lamp. He was carrying something. "What's that you found?" I asked.

He dropped the thing in front of us. "I don't know. But it smells sweet!" he yipped, wagging his tail. Fatty got up heavily and ambled over.

"Good going Dizzy!" cried Fatty. "I knew there were goodies out here. What do you think it is, Topsy?"

I sniffed at the thing. It was a tall, cylinder-like object, about half full of liquid. I could smell the sweetness that was inside. "I don't know..." I glanced at Fatty. "Want to taste test it?"

Fatty barked a sharp laugh. "Would I? You don't have to ask, Topsy." said Fatty with gusto. Fatty stepped up the the cup and nosed it a bit. The way to open it wasn't immediately apparent as something was covering the top, but it popped off readily when Fatty mouthed the cup lightly. When the top was off, the large brown dog stuck his nose in. I could hear him slurping immediately.

"How is it?" I laughed, slightly fearful he would chug down the entire thing before either of us could have a taste.

Fatty lifted his head. "Wow, sweet water! This stuff's great. Try it Topsy." said Fatty wagging his tail. If the long walk had had any negative effect on him before, there was no sign of it now.

I actually lowered my head towards the cup before I looked at Dizzy who was sitting across from me, looking quite pleased with himself to have found something good. "Dizzy. Why don't you take the next lap?"

"I'm fine Topsy, you go ahead." said Dizzy. Fatty was looking at me too, so I guessed I had to taste it next after all. I already knew the opinion of my gut so I followed through. The soda inside the cup was warm and stale, but I didn't know the difference. All I knew was that I hadn't tasted anything this sweet before in my life. It was a struggle to keep from gulping the stuff down. It was a struggle to leave anything for Dizzy. I gasped and licked my chops when I finally managed to pull myself back.

"That's good eh?" laughed Fatty. I had no words but a breathless nod.

"You take the rest Dizzy." I said while cleaning my nose, trying to scrap the last of the flavor off of it that I could. While Dizzy was slurping down the rest of his find, I couldn't help but think of the amazing taste on my tongue while I'd been lapping the soda. All I wanted was more. It was almost as though I'd been exposed to an addictive substance. Looking at Fatty, who was also licking his chops, I could see that he'd been affected in a similar way.

He whined a bit when it was all gone, I almost did as well. Dizzy was less discouraged and said, "I knew that was good stuff. I wonder what else is lying around out here."

"Well, let's find out." I said and began leading the group again towards the second research building.

Seeing as the pace set by Fatty and myself was obviously too slow for Dizzy, I reluctantly sent Dizzy out to our flanks, having my brother return every few minutes to check up on us. He seemed excited, but given his weight, he soon worn himself down with the extra running. He didn't find any additional treats either before we finally made it to the opposite side of the parking lot.

Fatty collapsed again on the grass out in front of the building. As he sought for breath again, stretching the cramps out of his legs, he looked back at the distance we'd just covered and said, "Jeez, we've come a long way."

I could hear in his voice that he was less than enthusiastic about the return trip, so I said, "It'll be faster going back." I reached over and gave the heavy dog a quick pat on the back. "What do you want to check out, Fatty?"

He looked up at me with esteem and then out across the darkened area, "Where do you think the humans keep the good food?"

I shrugged, "I don't know. Probably inside the building. But they also seem to leave some food just lying around."

Dizzy, who was a short distance away from us, shouted us over. "Hey guys! Come and smell this."

With little coaxing, Fatty was on his feet again and walking over with me. It turned out that we were in for a treat. Dizzy had found the dumpster out in front of the building.

"What is this?" asked Fatty as he sniffed around the bottom of the container.

I too could smell the interesting aromas wafting from the tall cylinder. "I don't know. But it smells like there might be food inside."

Let's knock it over!" barked Dizzy who reared up and planted his weight on the trash bin. It rocked dangerously and it was only through my reflexes that I managed to brace it against my flank that stopped it from falling over.

"Wait a moment!" I growled at Dizzy. "Someone's going to notice if we start knocking things around."

But Fatty lifted his head, "But Topsy, there's no way we're going to see what's inside with it standing. I'm sure I'll knock it over if I try standing up against it anyways."

Fatty had a point. "Well... Maybe we can set it back up after we're done looking through it. There might not be anything in there."

"Great!" barked Dizzy and launched himself on the can again. I took the brunt of the force and growled at my brother until he stood down. Then I gently pushed the can over with my neck. The thing bounced against fatty's flank before toppling over onto the ground. To my surprise, the top came right off and things spilled out. Fatty and Dizzy threw their noses into looking through the mess. They were excited, but I was just worried about cleaning up everything... that is until my nose happened upon a greasy cardboard box half full of stale french fries. After that, I forgot about everything for while.

Human food, even in the condition we found it in trash can was a level above the monotonous, but still satisfying, kibble we'd been fed all our lives. We were fed a high quality, greasy and tasty kibble, but we simply had no variety. But in that can, we found a treasure trove of olfactory and palatial experiences. People had thrown out ham sandwiches, more soda containers, gum, greasy fast food containers and things we couldn't even identify. We even ate the fruit and the vegetable matter. Between the three of us, we left nothing edible inside the can; it wasn't nearly enough.

Afterwards, I sat with my belly resting on the ground behind my forepaws. Dizzy was wandering off again in search of more treasures and Fatty was still picking through the remains of the can, showing surprising stamina. "I never knew food could taste like that." I commented.

"And to think that the humans just threw this perfectly good food away. Though I guess it turned out well for us." said Fatty finally giving up on the trash pile which was thoroughly scattered at this point.

"You think they threw this stuff away?" I asked. Honestly, I hadn't given a thought to why the food was in the can in the first place.

"Well... I think so," said Fatty, unsure. "It's just that there's all this other junk mixed in there with the good stuff. I don't think humans would want to mix their grub in with the paper and stuff."

I studied the area a little more closely. "I think you're right Fatty." I said, it made the most sense after all. "But now I think we have to clean up the mess. Or the humans are gonna know we were out here."

Fatty sighed and sat his large rump down. "Ugh... do we have to? It's just a bit of trash. It'll probably blow away before morning."

I stood my ground against the fatter canine. "No, we're responsible. Now help me get this stuff back in the can."

Fatty struggled to scratch an ear nonchalantly, but mostly failed due to the thickness of his torso. "Well, Dizzy could..."

"My bother's the one whose found all the good food tonight. The most we can do is clean up after." I paused as a thought struck me, "Besides, while we're doing this , Dizzy is out there sniffing around. Unless you'd rather have me call him back and you can do the legwork."

That seemed to shock some sense into the lardy shepherd-mix. gingerly, he picked up a soda can in his mouth and tossed it into the container. "Um, I think I'm fine with picking up actually."

Feeling playful, I rounded on him, raising my neck to tower over him, "Oh no, I think you'd be the perfect scout. I bet you could run a lap around the lot no problem." playfully, I nibbled on his shoulder, "Better do it twice to make sure you don't miss anything."

Fatty yipped when I play bit him and jumped surprisingly far given his size. I lowered my upper body into a play bow and he accepted my invitation, running into me and knocking me over with irresistible inertia. We both laughed and tumbled onto the ground, rolling with each other in the delectably pungent garbage. It was the first time I'd ever rolled in garbage and that itself was an experience, but made the better because I was doing it with a friend.

We were both out of breath quickly and had to sit down and pant for a while. Afterwards, because Dizzy still wasn't back, we started cleaning up the mess we'd made. I wasn't terribly worried about Dizzy because I'd caught glances of him moving about in the gloom now and again. However, when we finally finished, and I'd righted the can after a few false starts, I looked up and found that Dizzy was nowhere in sight.

I barked as loudly as I dared for maintaining at least some semblance of concealment, but heard nothing in response. "Looks like our golden boy has run off." Fatty commented, "I hope he's not thinking about not sharing whatever he's found."

I growled a bit at my beta, "Fatty, this is serious. We're a group so that we don't lose anyone out here again. Now we've got to find him."

Fatty still didn't seem to share my concern, but he remained quiet and followed my lead as I set out. I quickly eliminated the front of the second lab building. The place was pretty well lit and open on either side. After that, I decided that there was really was only one other reasonable place Dizzy would go. I began to walk down the path leading around the building. "Ready to meet the other pack of dogs?"

Immediately Fatty began to wag his tail, shaking his entire fatty croup heavily. "They live here?! I can't wait to see them."

I grinned, "Just a little ways down here." I led Fatty through the corners leading around behind the building. I remembered the last corner from the last time and halted. "Better stop to catch your breath... It'd probably be better not to look too out of breath." I said, thinking of the laughter in the dogs' eyes before and Fatty's even more corpulent frame.

"Good idea..." Fatty panted, he'd lost his wind even more quickly this time. I honestly didn't know if the exercise was doing him any good or if it was simply too much too fast. I hoped this would get easier for him in the future. After about a minute, he swallowed and then asked, "You think... Dizzy's with... this other pack?"

"I can't think of anywhere else he'd gone." I said with a shrug. I wasn't sure what I'd do if he weren't here.

I need not have worried, however. I spotted Dizzy by the fence right away, he was sitting near the female half of the divided yard, wagging his tail steadily as he and the crowd behind the fence sniffed each other.

Heads turned as soon as we rounded the corner. Like last time, their eyes lingered on us, however, they weren't lingering on me so much as Fatty. I could see even more shock this time around in them, but fortunately, Fatty seemed blithely unaware.

"Holy cow, those dogs are as thin as rails!" Fatty exclaimed as he waddled closer to the fence. Laughing he said to me, "Gosh, you can see that one's ribs! They must be starving in there, don't you think?" He began to snuffle at the boundary of the fence, touching noses with dogs who weighed less than half or less than a third of his weight.

I stood beside him, looking down at the strange dogs, keenly aware of the language barrier between us. "I don't get the feeling that they are starving."

"Well of course they are!" Fatty insisted. "They look like a breeze will knock most of them over. They have no substance."

I grinned and looked away. I wasn't going to argue with Fatty on the point, after all , Fatty had more than enough "substance."

I left Fatty and went over to my brother. He looked up and acknowledged me, but otherwise didn't move. The females were clustered near the fence. They seemed to have taken a fascination with my smaller, cuter sibling. I in turn found myself fascinated by them, or their scent rather, because the females had quite the difference scent from the male musk I was used to. The differences were subtle and engaging and spoke to something deep inside of me that I was still far from understanding. All I knew was that I found the scent of them extremely interesting. I only wished that I had words with which to speak to them.... and the other dogs as well, I supposed.

Gradually, some of the dogs inside the yard began to move away from the fence and go about doing other things, but quite a few stayed besides the fence. Every so often, one or two would approach and attempt speech with us. But of course, neither of us could understand their english dialect, the best I could do is catch words here and there.

Dizzy seemed to pick up on the source language pretty quick, though. Twitching he ears in confusion, he looked up to me and asked, "They're speaking the human tongue aren't they?"

Honestly, I was shocked that he realized this by himself, the idea was still only conjecture on my part. But I nodded like I knew better, "I think they are."

Dizzy cocked his head, he was looking up at an admirable looking shepherd-mix who was well muscled if thin. She'd spent the last few minutes vocalizing phrases at us. She was a bit more persistent than the other's who'd tried speaking with us before. Dizzy was quiet as he mulled something over. When he spoke, he shocked me further, "Well, it shouldn't be too hard to learn to talk to them then, right?"

I was too surprised to think clearly, "But we don't have anyone to teach us to speak human."

"We do too." said Dizzy before he gestured to the dogs inside the pen, the female on the other side of the fence in this case.

As I looked at her myself, I was filled with a new sense of unexpected anticipation. Of course, why hadn't I thought of it before? I guess it took the clear mind of my brother to see the obvious. We could learn from these dogs, just as I'd taught the other members of the Talkie. We all even knew a little bit of human already; commands mostly, but more than nothing. "Dizzy, you're a genius." I said and then moved over to sit in front of the dog sitting on the other side of the fence.

She was a shepherd mix as well, but with more of another breed I hadn't see before. Husky, I think it was. Her neck was ruffled quite a lot with thick red fur and her throat was as white as snow. She said something I didn't understand and I endeavored to repeat her. That's how we started.

Dizzy and I got to repeating the bitch and trying to interpret the gestures she began to use to illustrate and give meaning to the words we were memorizing. At the same time, Fatty lost interest in the skinny dogs behind the fence and began ambling up and down the fence which was lined with litter. I supposed he was finding treats because every now and again, I'd hear him crunching or chewing on something.

The night worn thin playing charades on either side of the fence. Learning the human tongue from these dogs was painstakingly slow and unrewarding, even when other dogs began to join in besides the persistent shepherd-husky bitch. Still we made some progress before I just had no more energy left to sustain the gesturing, the miming and the deciphering of the other dogs' movements. Dizzy had left long before I quit as his attention span was still limited. At the end of it, I think my understanding was little improved, but the effort I made to learn seemed to impress the dogs on the inside of the fence.

Breathing a sigh, I turned only to be confronted by Terrier-face, Lopside and Patch. Lopside was hanging back, obviously fatigued, but still intrigued by the dogs behind the fence. Everyone seemed to have been waiting for me to finish my dance-style inquires with the other dogs. "What're you doing, Topsy?" Terrier-face asked.

"Are these the other pack?" asked Patch nervously, sniffing the air towards the fence, but staying mostly behind Terrier-face.

"Yes," I said, addressing Patch, to Terrier-face, I said, "I'm trying to learn their language."

"How's that going?"

I laughed harshly, "Slow. They speak human for some reason."

"Well... Speaking human could be really useful you know." said terrier-face emphatically.

"I know... but it's hard, It's going to take a while to learn."

Terrier-face looked behind me. "They seem friendly... even if they look a little odd with all their bones sticking out." My beta laughed.

"And they are at that. " I said, "They seem real interested in us."

"Why don't they come out then?" asked Patch, still behind Terrier-face.

I hadn't thought of that either. Why didn't they come out, or could they? "Maybe their lock's different from ours..."

Fatty waddled up from where he'd been reclining against the fence. "If that's the case, then we better make sure we're not found out here, or they might lock us in for good."

I nodded. "That's right, good thinking." I looked around us, at the dogs assembled and their forms ranging from plump to rotund. I thought that we'd already accomplished a lot for one night. But I couldn't resist asking, "Did you find anything interesting around the fence, Terrier-face?"

My beta began to wag his tail. "Several interesting things. But we should talk about it when we're all together."

I nodded. "Alright then, let's go find Pink Nose and his group and get back to the yard."

We began to move out, but I noticed, Fatty rising slowly as other dogs moved past him. I sidled up against him and said, "You can head back to the yard by yourself, if you want Fatty. You know the way right?"

But Fatty finished lifting his huge bulk and began to waddle after the others, "I'm fine, Topsy, really. My place is by your side. Let's go get the others then I came sit my fat ass down for the night."

I chuckled softly and made my way steadily to the head of the pack. As we walked back around the lab building, I kept looking sidelong at Terrier-face. I was burning to know what it was that he'd found walking along the fence. From his face, I could tell he was smug with his discovery, but he didn't let anything slip. It was infuriating, but I think he knew I wouldn't take it out on him by now, and I could understand him not wanting to have to repeat himself when we gathered up the last group.

We paused for a couple minutes in the shadows outside the front of the building. Fatty obviously needed a break, but to my surprise, Lopside was looking fatigued as well. I sidled up to him while we were stopped. "How're you holding up?" I asked.

Lopside continue to pant for a bit before answering. "Not used to... walking so much..."

I nodded and looked down, noticing Lopside's generous stomach and how it rested heavily on the ground and his thick flanks as well. "It'll get better." I said to reassure him, "What do you think about the outside?"

Now Lopside cocked his head in thought. "It's... big." he said and I chuckled, "I like the smells." Then his face darkened slightly, "I didn't like that other pack, though."

I cocked my own head in confusion. "Why not, Lopside?"

The heavy shepherd mutt turned his head, "I... didn't like they way they look at me... us. They... They were laughing."

Lopside's words sent a chill down my spine. I'd sensed the exact same thing, but I hadn't yet mentioned it to anyone else. I think I already knew in my heart what the truth was, but I wasn't ready to accept it, or even admit its existence. So instead I said, "I think they're good dogs, Lopside. They weren't laughing at us. They're just..." I searched for a word, "Just different from us, that's all."

Lopside unconsciously touched his protruding belly with his paw, "Different... yes they are."

I frowned, then reached over and stroked Lopside on the back. "Don't worry about it, Lopside. Things will make more sense later, I think."

All Lopside did was nod silently. I got up and moved away. After a few more moments, we were rested enough to begin the trek back across the parking lot.

We were traveling as a large group, but as it had become apparent that we were quite alone, hardly anyone was taking the trouble to hide in the shadows. The passage was fairly silent and uneventful aside from the heavy breathing of our heavier members and myself. An owl passed low overhead once. It frightened more than one dog with its shriek as it passed, but my instincts told me there was no real danger. In fact, I rather enjoyed watching it fly away... after the initial shock had run its course, however.

Half the dogs in the group were winded again by the time we reached our side of the parking lot. Fatty rolled over onto his back, his flanks spreading over the grass and his belly heaving upwards, clearly unable to go any further. I myself was hardly in better condition. It felt like I had a line of fire spreading up my right leg and into my hip and I was just feeling achey and tired in all of the muscles of my legs. Patch and Dizzy were just about the last ones in the group who still seemed sprightly, and then Dizzy was only marginally better the rest of the group.

It was as we were laying down and recovering, that I was approached by the lighter pair. "Topsy, why don't you let me and Patch here go find Pink Nose and the others?"

I was panting, my tongue feeling hot. Just then, it seemed like a good idea, but I still didn't really want my brother heading out on his own again. "Dizzy, I don't think."

But he interrupted me, "Topsy! This isn't any different from the scouting I've been doing tonight. We won't run off, I promise."

I sighed, it was true I'd been having him out and about a lot, mostly out of necessity. But he'd done a good job. "Alright, Dizzy. I trust you. Go and find Pink Nose and bring them back here. We'll all head back into the yard together."

Dizzy was ecstatic and yipped his pleasure before running off with the eager Patch. I watched them run together, feeling a form of envy at their easy movement. We ended up waiting longer than we had to to recover, but no one seemed particularly eager to be up and heading towards home. I was growing anxious actually when I caught sight of movement in the gloom at the far side of the building. I assumed it was my missing canines and stood up. However, what met my eyes instead was a pair of gleaming gold eyes, quite un-canine in appearance. Also, they were closer to the ground than I was used to. I began to walk forward, curious.

A puff of breeze brought the strange creature's scent to me. It definitely wasn't a dog! I kept walking towards it and I still could barely make out anything besides the glowing eyes. It was keeping absolutely still. I was still a fair distance from the thing before someone came running out from behind the building, tearing across the grass and through the landscaping. It was Spinner! His barks sent the creature dashing across the concrete as fast or faster than a bird on the wing.

The creature was a cat, but I had no idea what it was at the time. All I knew was that the moment the small creature began to move, I felt a powerful urge to chase it. The chase instinct felt less like glee so much as a compulsion. In that moment, I had no control of myself, it was like my legs began to work automatically without any input from me. After the first couple of seconds, the emotions began to bleed through and I began to enjoy myself.

I wasn't nearly fast enough. Even Spinner, who could run faster than just about anyone else I knew wasn't even close to catching the wild cat. The thing was gone into the night in moments and I was left panting with Spinner giving up another dozen seconds after exhaustion set upon me. I called to Spinner to return and he came easily, sensing that it was hopeless. I was left with a surprisingly strong sense of disappointment for such a brief and unexpected affair.

"What was that?" asked Spinner when he joined me heading back to the group.

"I don't know." I admitted.

Spinner was silent for a moment. "It sure was fun though." I grinned, despite the renewed ache in my muscles, it had been fun.

Spinner continued, "Think it's good for eating?"

I barked a laugh, "Don't be silly, Spinner, it's not kibble." Spinner grinned back at me, as if he'd told a joke.

It didn't take long for Pink Nose to arrive with Slim to the rest of us. We exchanged greetings, but quickly decided that the finds of this night's exploration ought to be shared in the yard so we didn't leave Fat Gut out. Compared to the large distances out in the compound, the trail leading back into the yard seemed small. The yard itself was smaller still.

Fat Gut was still lying were we'd left him and it was likely that he hadn't moved an inch during the whole time we were having our adventures outside the yard. He did get to his feet however when he saw us. After Spinner nosed open the gate, he took a few steps towards us apparently eager to partake of the scents that clung to our fur from the outside. I paused to close and re-lock the gate to the best of my ability. When I turned, however, there was a great mass of dogs around me. Virtually every dog in the yard had come out to smell and rub against the returning dogs. Everyone knew something was up, even if they had no words to express their curiosity... yet.

I supposed it was natural for each member of the Talkie to feel like something of a celebrity as they were jostled and sniffed by the other dogs greedily. It took some time for us to form the Talkie proper, but I managed to assert myself in making enough room for everyone to gather around in a circle. The other dogs in the yard had to sit around us.

I started, "I'm sure we're all waiting to hear what each other has to share. So I won't keep anyone waiting. When Fatty, Dizzy and I left the group, we hiked across the black stuff to the opposite building, along the way, we found..." I went on to describe the various things that we encountered on the way to the dog pen behind the other building. I let Fatty give his impression of the dogs there himself.

"Oh, sure the dogs over there seem friendly enough, but they are so dreadfully skinny. I swear, half of them are as thick as my leg! Poor things, it was almost too much to look at." He heaved a sigh which expanded his thick torso, "I just feel so bad that they're starving like that. I'd hate to imagine what its like when they do get fed. There must be fighting."

"I don't know," said Dizzy. "They didn't seem like the fighting sort, and they didn't look too desperate either."

"Well of course they were." snapped Fatty to you younger dog, "Did you see the bones poking out of them? I almost lost my dinner."

I had to suppress a laugh. It'd take far more than that to cause Fatty to lose his dinner. After that, I went on to talk about my experiences with the other pack, including my previous discovery that they other pack actually speaks human. "I think that it's in our best interests to learn how to speak human from them if we can." I said, "They're willing to teach us too."

I was glad that my audience seemed suitably impressed by my announcement. Pink Nose started up right away. "That's remarkable Topsy. Why on earth do you think these dogs speak human?"

"That's besides the point." said Fat Gut, "If we can learn the human talk, then maybe we can finally get some answers around here."

"What do you mean, Fat Gut?" asked Pink Nose.

"I mean, we'll be able to eavesdrop on the humans of course!" snorted the fattest dog in the group.

The idea came as a shock, but a good one. At once, dogs were agreeing around the party, Slim in particular. Honestly, I had no reservations against the idea either, other than that it seemed a little wrong to be prying on the people who provide for us. Then again, there was a lot of enforcements on our lives that we had no say in and still didn't understand in the slightest. We had to do what we could. "How are we going to go about trying to learn the human tongue, then?" I asked the talkie.

"Well as soon as one of us learns the language, he can teach the others." said Pink Nose.

"But it would save time if more dogs could learn from the other pack at once." said Terrier-face.

"I think that a group, including myself should focus on going out nightly to learn from the other pack how to speak human. Pink Nose?" I asked.

Pink Nose initially turned his snout away and then came back strong. "Yes, I will join you Topsy... though I don't really like the idea of walking all the way over there every night."

I rested my chin on the top of the round lab's head. "I think it will get easier with time." I said, "Anyone else?"

To my surprise, my brother sat up. "I'll come! I'll learn with you Topsy."

I grinned down at the small golden. "You can come with us too, Dizzy." I didn't say that I honestly didn't expect much from him, but having a lighter dog with us might bolster the spirits as we trudge the long distance every night. "No one else?"

Nobody else volunteered, and I supposed I understood why. The task of learning one language had been taxing for most of them, let alone a more complicated alien language. Really, Fat Gut was the only other dog besides Pink Nose who I thought had the brains to readily access another language, and he didn't volunteer for obvious reasons. "Alright then. That's settled." I said, feeling good about the task ahead of me and Pink Nose. "What else did we find tonight?"

"Well," said Terrier-face. "I don't know if this is as important, but when we were walking the fence, we found the way out."

That news hushed everyone for a moment. "A way out? What do you mean?" I asked.

"We found where the fence ends." said Terrier-face with gravity.

I honestly was shocked. No fence? What did that even mean? "Did you go outside it?" I asked hesitantly.

"Uh... no." said Terrier-face, and then Spinner interrupted.

"The opening was guarded by a human!" cried the young collie mix. "There was like a house thing the human was sitting in. We had to make sure to stay out of sight. I got the closest, but there were lights."

Spinner began to mime his sneaking ability while Terrier-face sighed. "There was a man sitting in some sort of glass box. I think he's there to make sure that nothing gets out of the area. There were a lot of lights around, so we couldn't get out even if we wanted to."

Personally, It'd never occurred me to think to escape, though I suppose it would have been a natural progression of what we were doing. It was actually more comforting to have confirmation that escape was impossible than to actually have to think about it for real. "You did good, Terrier-face. Are you sure no one saw you?"

"He wasn't facing the inside of the lot, so I don't think so. We stayed out of the lights."

I nodded and then Fat Gut spoke up. "I think we ought to stay well away from that glass box."

I looked at my former rival, "I know it's dangerous, but I think it'd be wrong to ignore the way out of this place entirely."

"You don't understand what kind of danger this places us all in!" said Fat Gut strongly, actually heaving his chest up a little for emphasis. "If anyone gets caught out there, it could affect everyone here. What if the humans get angry at us and decide not to treat us so well? We already know that they are starving the other pack. They could decide to do the same to us!"

Fatty agreed as well and Terrier-face suddenly looked less smug. I had to admit, Fat Gut had a point. It was clear that we were taking a risk and there was evidence that the humans were capable of feeding their dogs less than "optimal" quantities. "How about we focus on learning the human tongue before we talk more about the glass box and what's outside the lot."

"First sensible thing I've heard all night." scoffed Fat Gut. I shot him a look and he turned his snout down, however.

"What did you find?" I asked Pink Nose, maybe a bit roughly.

The large chocolate lab flinched slightly, but then spoke, "We walked around the building. What we found was a really big door made of metal and something that might have been a really big trash can, like you described, Topsy."

I cocked my head, "What do you mean?"

"Well, it smelled like there was food inside the thing, but it was so big and tall, we couldn't get into it. And there's no way anyone could ever knock it over."

"Now that sounds interesting..." said Fatty.

I grinned slightly. "Well, if this can has at least as much food as the one we found, it'd be worth trying to find a way into it."

"I was thinking that maybe one dog climbing up on another's back might be able to get over the top." said Pink Nose hesitantly.

"Sounds like a good way to get a dog trapped inside." laughed Fat Gut.

"You just say that because you're too heavy to ever get over there." growled Pink Nose with surprising vigor.

I snapped in front of his nose to silence him. "Pink Nose, you're going to be with me at the other pack. We can let the others work on the trash can problem. We ought to have something to do while we're busy learning."

Pink Nose nodded slowly, but I had the suspicion that he would have rather led the other group as well.

"Anything else?" I asked the talkie.

The dogs looked at each other, well most of them. Fat Gut steeled himself again and spoke, "I just want to say that I know I don't have a proper say in what goes on outside the yard cause I can't walk that far. But we're getting in over our heads here and messing in things we don't understand. I just want everyone to be aware that we aren't playing a game here and that there could be consequences that affect everyone else here as well."

"I understand your concerns Fat Gut. I also get that we have things pretty good in here. But there's a reason why we're going out there. The only way we're going to find out more about why we're here and where we're going is by leaving the yard. So it's just as important that we get out there as it is to stay safe."

The others seemed to agree, so that was good. The last thing I needed was a second Fat Gut saying we should all just stay here until the humans took us to goodness only knew where. There wasn't much to say after that.

From that point forward, leaving the yard became a common affair, but it never really became easy. There was always a thrill and a sense of roguish delight that accompanied being outside the yard at night. But there was fear too, stronger on some nights than others.

With the lot now thoroughly explored, our missions each night became threefold. Pink Nose and I traveled across the parking lot each night in our attempts to interact and learn from the other pack of dogs. Fatty took the lead in acquiring food stuff from the various sources around the yard, but in particular the large trash bin around the other side of our building. Terrier-face, however, took it upon himself to observe the watch post from the shadows, learning by observation the one obstacle which barred us from ultimate freedom; not that we even agreed on if we wanted ultimately to escape.

For my part, the nights were long and sometimes seemingly fruitless. I sat on the opposite side of the fence constantly playing a crazy game of charades and repeating words whose meanings I did not know. The human language these dogs spoke did not roll off the tongue easily as I discovered. Pink Nose was my salvation as not only was it good to have him there for moral support, but he frequently caught on to concepts that I was struggling with. Though it was slow going, we were both learning words and simple phrases by the end of the first week.