At about the same time in Otter Falls, Shawn Kensington walked into his home. Shawn was a tall well-formed man, not a body builder, but
he had a good natural build. He took of his hat and jacket and sighed then rubbed his right hand through his thick glossy black hair.
“Here Wally.” he called and a large German shepherd bounded up to Shawn. Shawn smiled and gave his dog a nice long scratch behind
the ears. The German shepherd Wally panted happily and wagged his tail. “Good to see you too boy, lets get you something to eat.”
Having said that, Shawn walked to the kitchen, grabbed a bag of dog food and proceeded to pour out his dog’s dinner. He also
emptied what was left of Wally’s water from this morning and got him some more fresh from the tap. Wally woofed happily and walked over to the bowl and started eating. Shawn
sat down and scratched his thin beard. It had been a rough day to say the least.
Shawn was the deputy in otter Falls. Essentially, the town was small enough and emotionally close enough that a large or even medium
police force was redundant. Even the vacationers behaved themselves for the most part. Shawn found his job simple. He was
everybody’s helper and was well liked by the town.
He had finished high school and decided law enforcement in the town was what he wanted to do. The Sheriff had only been too glad for
the help and after he took and passed the requisite exams, both physical and written, he started work. He was the only law enforcement
official in the town besides the sheriff, but in a crisis a few other trusted, level headed, members of the community could be called on for
help. Level headed was the key to this, unlike in the movies sheriffs were not foolish enough to deputize hot heads. To do so would be
insanity.
Shawn had worked hard that day arresting a few drunkards. That had been the actual job, but there had been a lot of paperwork that
day. For some reason it had built up without his noticing. He had also been called out three times by Miss Hadlemen’s because her cat
was in a tree and squirrels in her garbage can.
How he hated those squirrels! Somehow these excessively dumb squirrels kept getting stuck in her garbage can, no thanks to Miss
Hadlemen. She didn’t believe in compost heaps, so there was a lot of food in the can and she didn’t take it out for a few weeks as it
was a large can. She, naturally, felt obligated to let it sit until she filled it. This, of course, attracted animals. Shawn had given up trying to
explain this to her. He had spent the rest of the day on a foot patrol helping people out.
His job was fulfilling, yes and he did a lot of good; that was true. But on days like this he could become exhausted very quickly form the
sheer amount of things to do. The worst part about tonight was another date with Mindy. A relationship going nowhere fast.
They were obviously incompatible, but both were desperate for something in their lives. The simple fact was, most of the people in town
had hooked up by now and they were the last two decent people left to be matched. So they both felt stuck because they really didn’t
mesh, but they didn’t want to break up and this date had just been draining in of itself.
Sometimes Shawn thought it would be easier if he was gay, which he wasn’t, but it would be easier considering his options. It would
mean he wouldn't feel compelled to date Mindy or anybody, as there were ostensibly no gay men in town; supposedly. Everyone knew
differently, but like any small town they didn’t talk of such things. Reflecting on that a second Shawn realized he would still probably be
forced to date and it would still be awkward if not more so.
Wally had fished his food dish and lapped at some of the water Shawn had just put in his bowl. Now he came over and cuddled with his obviously tired and distraught master on the couch. One could argue dogs had a sense of
these things and wanted to be comforting. One could also argue that dogs just like cuddling. Either way humans like Shawn are only too
happy to oblige.
Scratching his German shepherd behind the ears, Shawn smiled at him. He remembered finding Wally three years ago. He had gone
over to the old Jacobson place. It was old and dilapidated; so, of course, children loved to play in it. Shawn made a point of checking
on it regularly. He wanted to make sure children weren't in any danger and to scare them off.
It was a winter day and they were predicting snow; a lot of it. He had heard a sound under the house and when he looked under he
found a small puppy. Wally was an adorable German shepherd puppy, just as he was a very handsome dog now. Shawn had crawled
under the house and rescued the puppy. Taking him to the car, he had bundled him up and then gone in search of his mother. Wally was
too young a puppy not to have his mother around. Hell it looked like it was only a week old if that, his eyes weren’t even open yet.
Shawn found his mother all right, but she was dead along with two other pups.
Shawn guessed it was some mean spirited teens. He had taken the Wally home and seen a vet about feeding. He adopted the dog and
loved the puppy to bits. The feelings were returned a hundred fold, as is the way with well loved dogs; they love right back.
Shawn had found the teens that had brutally killed Wally’s mother and made sure to prosecute them to the furthest extent of the law.
Unfortunately, the law doesn’t protect animals to the extent it protects humans and all that happened was that their parents paid a fine
after the kids admitted to killing the dogs; so Shawn had also made it known, specifically to every dog owner, in town what they had
done. Considering how many dog lovers there were in town, that was a substantial amount of trouble he had made of the boys.
Wally had no idea of course of any of this; he just loved his owner dearly. He had no idea he owed his life to Shawn and Shawn knew
that.
“Sometime I wish I could find someone to love me as unconditionally as you, you silly mutt you!” Shawn said the "silly mutt" part in that
“you’re so cute” voice people use with both their pets and babies.
Wally gave him that dopey grin dogs are famous for, panted and then nuzzled into his hands wanting more cuddles.
Shawn was only too happy to comply.
Shawn petted Wally and began to doze a bit. He was pretty tired and didn’t notice that Wally had begun to change. Wally whimpered a
little and had moved up close to his beloved master on the couch. Wally’s cock was swelling and he began to pant. Dimly, more
complex thoughts were beginning to form in his changing brain. His thoughts grew more sophisticated and his emotions were becoming
more advanced. His love for Shawn was developing; becoming something more than the simple, unreasoned love a pet had for his
owner.