Ashes Paw Patrol

No... no no no, please! M-mom, dad! Where are you g-going? Don't leave me here! Come back-

The young mix-breed's nightmare was interrupted as he awoke with a scream, breaking the silence of the night as he shot upright in his bed. Gasping for air, the pup sat there in panic and fear. He was violently shaking with his ears pinned back, eyes wide with terror before understanding what was going on. Scanning his surroundings, he realized it was just another nightmare, which he experienced all too often. He knew that's all it was, and that it couldn't hurt him. But no matter how many times he was terrorized in his sleep, it always caught him by surprise.
So much for sleep... maybe tomorrow night," the pup sighed in sadness as he got up onto his paws.

The mix wiped tears from his eyes and cheeks as he tried to calm down and get his breathing back under control. Still catching his breath, he made his way outside. The mix's makeshift house wasn't anything special, but it did the job. His home was fashioned from old boxes, stacked as walls with rusted sheets of old metal as a roof. The floor was littered with all kinds of trinkets; old cans, machine parts, sketches, and scraps of paper strewn about. But hidden away safely, enclosed in a case in the back corner, was something more sentimental than all the junk he had collected. A photo that held more importance to him than anything else in life did. It was the only reminder of his past, the last piece of the pup's old life left. It wasn't much, but it was all that remained. He hardly even cared about his name. With no friends or owners to be with, it almost didn't matter what he went by. He was called a filthy mutt most of his life anyway. ....