Excerpt: The Grazer

Lucy had no idea how much she depended on her people until they were gone. Her food dish lay empty, her water dish bone dry. She was trapped inside the house with three dead bodies, without so much as a single person to let her out into the world to fend for herself.
At first Lucy barked a great deal in the hopes that someone would hear her plea for help. She kept hoping some extended family member or neighbor would realize something was wrong and come to check it out. The only answer she received was in a language she had no problem understanding. She heard Booger, the old bulldog that lived next door, barking and scratching at the door and windows. The dog from two houses down, the one Lucy only saw from time to time when his people took him for a walk, was outside in his yard, howling to the sky. Lucy looked out the front window, but never saw any people come by or anyone going for rides. When her people died, they had almost condemned her to death with them.
Almost.