*The Giver* Whines, barks and snarls echoed painfully in the cold hallway. An angry shout from the shelter man silenced many, but a few daring canines dared to continue their ranting. The man simply sighed, turned out the lights, and closed the heavy doors. For some time the dogs howled their complaints before giving up an settling down. Sad, dark eyes glowed in the darkness. Some dogs whined pitifully. Others sighed heavily and closed their eyes to sleep. There was nothing but soft murmuring. Until The Giver decided to pay a visit. The darkness was pierced by a soft pale light. A German Shepard lifted his scarred head to see. A glimmering figure gracefully leapt through the door and trotted towards the cages. Dogs scrabbled and scraped at their cages, begging The Giver to come to them. The spirit wove through the cages and stopped at the scarred dogs cage. He gaze wide eyed up at The Giver as it's silvery muzzle brushed his. Immediately, the ugly scars vanished. The Giver visited each other cage and blessed every dog. Then, it loped back to the door and disappeared. The next morning, a surprising amount of dogs were adopted. By the end of the week, every dog had a new home. And somewhere in a little neighborhood home, a scarless German Shepard is staring out the window at the stars, thanking them for sending The Giver.
-Pools- I was drifting; drifting away from the safety of the shallows and the shores of the beach that I called my own. My lungs were screaming as I was tossed and tugged by the ocean tide. Terror pounded in my heart; the kind of terror that makes you forget what you're supposed to do in an emergency. Why was this happening? What did I do to deserve this? Suddenly, my terror faded. My chest was no longer sore and tight, and my aching muscles ceased to hurt. Bubbles escaped my lips as I drifted down into the darkness, until everything around me was black. I wondered if I was still underwater and tried to swim upward. I glided smoothly through the silky blackness. It turned to a silvery gray and then a blinding white. Unusually, the light did not blind my eyes; they seemed to be perfectly adjusted to it. Finally, I broke free and stepped into soft grass. It tickled my toes as I gazed around. I was in an unusual place, with pools the color of fresh milk. When I walked to the closest one, I was startled to see a scene rippling on he surface. It was horrible- I thought that it was someone's death. For a moment, I was frozen with horror. Then, I turned around slowly and walked back over to the pool I had emerged from. I dared to look down at it's pure and clean surface. What I saw froze my blood . I screamed.