Kevin dried his eyes, got off the bed and walked to the door. He admitted Shaggy, who bounded into the room. Although Kevin knew the large, shaggy canine was really his brother, Jared/Shaggy didn't seem to have a care in the world. Jared leaped and got his shaggy body onto the covers of his brother's bed.
"Maybe it won't be so bad, boy," Kevin said.
He petted Shaggy's head, and the dog responded by licking his hand.
Kevin's parents found him, sound asleep, the dog curled next to him, a few hours later when they checked on him.
"Isn't that sweet?" Kev's mom said. "But he knows he can't have Shaggy stay inside at night."
"I'll run him to the yard," Kev's dad said, grabbing Shaggy's collar and forcing the big dog off the bed.
"C'mon, boy," he commanded, and Shaggy, more or less, let himself be led downstairs and out the back door. He fastened Shaggy's collar to the metal tie in the ground, which allowed plenty of length on a long chain to let the dog crawl into a nice doghouse that offered some shelter from rain and wind.
He scratched Shaggy behind the ears, smiling when the dog's mouth fell open and the big, wet tongue rolled out. "Night, boy," he said and returned to the house through the back door.
Shaggy, after a couple of circles, settled for sleep inside the doghouse. It wasn't as nice as his master's bed. It felt wrong and lonely. He wanted inside the house. He sat up on haunches and howled. After a couple of howls, other dogs in the neighborhood joined the ruckus.
For Kev and his parents, it was a very long night.