Reborn for My Loyal Dog

Three years after I died, it seemed my boyfriend had gone completely bankrupt. Down in the underworld, the only offerings I received were pilled, old sweaters, cheap discounted fast food, and low-quality sausages.

A knot formed in my throat. I couldn't just sit here. I floated back to the human world to see for myself.

But the first thing I saw was my little dog being chased and beaten by a mob.

"It's this filthy mutt! Always stealing food!"

Archie limped away desperately, his jaws clamped tight around a strawberry milkshake. A soft whimper escaped his throat: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry but I just wanted Mommy to have the sweetest strawberry milkshake"

Chapter 1

The Underworld Soul Transfer Station. After standing in line for an hour, I finally got my package.

"Wow, my mom sent me a huge mansion, plus the newest designer bags and a top-tier smartphone!"

"My dad sent me ten billion! I can just lie flat in the underworld now."

A few female ghosts chattered next to me, showing off their haul.

"Oh, look, Harper. Your boyfriend sent you something again." Another ghost chimed in with a smirk, "Don't tell me it's another near-expired discounted takeout meal snatched for a few cents?"

My fingers dug into the pilled pink sweater in my hands. A bitter taste coated my tongue.

"Why does your boyfriend keep sending you this garbage every few days?"

I lowered my head. "He used to send me a lot of good things." For the first few years after I died, Julian always sent me money and clothes during the holidays. I even saved up enough underworld currency to visit him in his dreams.

But this year, packages arrived almost every day. Cheap, worn-out secondhand clothes. Discount fast food. The occasional low-quality sausage.

He stopped thinking about me, which meant I couldn't enter his dreams anymore.

A cold shiver ran down my spine. "Chanel, do you think my boyfriend went bankrupt?"

Chanel had been dead for ten years. She was the local rich girl in our block. She threw a disgusted glance at the ragged sweater. "Look at this.

Some young girl definitely wore this. Your boyfriend has a new flavor of the month. He's sending you his new girlfriend's trash just to piss you off."

"No," I blurted out, shaking my head. "He isn't like that"

Julian and I were each other's first loves. We dated for three years. He treated me perfectly. We saved up for a house together.

We adopted a dog together. Then, during our wedding photoshoot, a rockslide hit. Instinct took over, and I shielded him with my body.

He lived.

I didn't.

I died in the year we loved each other the most.

It had been three years. Moving on and finding a new life was a good thing. But I refused to believe he would purposely send his new girlfriend's old clothes to mock me.

Chanel let out a dry laugh. "My boyfriend acted like he couldn't live without me, too. Guess what?

He burned paper money for a year and never showed up again. Now, the only ones who still remember me are my parents."

Another ghost nodded eagerly. "Exactly. Even if he went broke, he could at least wash the clothes before burning them for you, right? Look, there's even dog hair on this."

My breath hitched. My eyes locked onto the golden strands clinging to the fabric. My vision blurred.

"This is Archie's fur"

Three years. Was my dog doing okay?

"Ugh, your man and your dog belong to another woman now. It's been three years. He moved on ages ago, and you're still stuck playing the tragic romantic."

Chanel glared at me, annoyed by my stubbornness. "Throw that trash away. You're making yourself miserable. Just come work at my mansion."

But my stomach remained twisted in knots. Did Julian really have a new girlfriend? What about our dog? Julian worked crazy hours.

Did he remember to feed him? Keep up with his flea treatments? Take him on walks? Would his new girlfriend even like him?

My fingernails bit into my palms. "I need to go back to the human world."

"A one-way ticket to the living world costs a billion! How long are you going to work to save up for that?" They stared at me like I was insane.

"I just need one look. Then I'll come back."

Chapter 2

I worked four jobs a day for a solid month. Combined with some crowdfunding from the girls, I finally scraped together a billion. I applied for a one-day pass to the human world.

I floated from my grave straight to the apartment we bought for our marriage. I raised my hand to knock, but my knuckles passed right through the wood. Right. I was a ghost.

Doors couldn't stop me, and the living couldn't see me. I drifted right through the solid panel.

The small three-bedroom apartment still had the same cozy setup from three years ago. Then my eyes landed on the massive framed photo on the living room wall.

My lungs seized.

It was a wedding portrait. Julian, standing next to another girl.

A suffocating weight crashed onto my chest, stealing all the oxygen from the room. He really did get married

I swallowed hard, forcing the lump in my throat down. It was fine. As long as he was living a good life, I could rest in peace.

The bedroom door clicked open. A young woman walked out.

"Hubby, let's take Winston down for a walk." She was holding a poodle, her other arm looped through Julian's.

Julian looked down at her. "Okay." He reached out and ruffled the poodle's ears.

The little dog practically vibrated with excitement, rubbing its head against his chest.

The girl stroked its curly fur. "Our Winston is the cutest. Not like that ugly stray mutt.

So aggressive and hideous. Thank God we beat it and threw it out."

Julian pulled her close, his hand rubbing her shoulder. "Alright, let it go. That was a long time ago."

I stood frozen. An invisible blade twisted violently in my gut.

"Julian, where is Archie?" I stepped forward. "Where is our dog?" My voice cracked into a scream.

"You threw Archie away?!" I screamed at him, my throat tearing, but he didn't even flinch.

He couldn't see me. He couldn't hear me. He just held his new girl, walked his new dog, and stepped out the door laughing.

I trailed behind them like an empty shell. He used to tell me I was the only woman he'd ever love. He swore Archie would be the only dog we'd ever own. Three years of promises, all shattered into a sick, twisted joke.

Where was my Archie? He lost his mommy, and now his daddy threw him away.

The weather was getting freezing. Was he starving? Was he shivering out there in the cold?

Flashes of the packages I received in the underworld suddenly flooded my mind. The broken sausages dug out of the trash, the muddy old clothes, those cheapest near-expired takeouts

The realization hit me like a freight train. Julian didn't send those.

Archie did

The takeouts. Yes. The delivery receipts on those bags were all from the University District.

I shot through the air, flying frantically toward the campus near our apartment. The streets were packed with people. I drifted for what felt like hours, scanning every alley, every corner.

Where was my dog? Hot tears streamed down my face as I desperately searched.

Just as my vision completely blurred, a furious shout ripped through the air.

"You filthy mutt! Don't you run, I'm going to beat you to death!"

I whipped my head around. Three guys were chasing after a frail, emaciated yellow dog. The yellow dog limped away desperately, its jaws clamped tight around a strawberry milkshake.

My chest caved in. That was my dog.

Even though he was reduced to nothing but skin and bones, I knew him the second I saw him. The custom collar still hung loosely around his neck, the metal tag engraved with my phone number. The white tip of his tailthe one he used to wag so proudly in the airwas now tucked firmly between his hind legs as he stumbled and dragged himself forward.

"Don't hit my dog" I choked out, lunging forward. "Archie! Mommy's right here! Archie"

But no matter how hard I screamed, he couldn't see me. He couldn't hear me.

Chapter 3

He limped, his pace too slow. One of the guys caught up and delivered a vicious kick to his ribs. He slammed hard into the concrete. The guy reached down, yanking at the milkshake in his mouth, but Archie clamped his jaws shut, refusing to let go.

A muffled, desperate whimper vibrated from his throat: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry but I just wanted Mommy to have the sweetest strawberry milkshake"

I didn't know why I could suddenly understand him. The world blurred. All the air left my lungs in a sharp gasp.

The guy rained heavy blows on him, but Archie's teeth didn't budge.

One of the others hesitated, grabbing his friend's arm. "Dude, let it go. The dog's pathetic enough"

"Pathetic? It's a menace. It's always stealing takeout around campus. A mutt like this deserves to be beaten to death."

"Hey, if it steals food every day, why is it practically a skeleton?"

"Damn it! The strawberry milkshake I waited in line for my girlfriend is ruined by this filthy mutt! You won't let go, huh?" With a savage sneer, the guy raised his heavy boot and stomped down hard, completely obliterating the cup.

Archie stared at the pink liquid bleeding across the pavement. A raspy sob tore from his tiny chest: "Wooo I'm sorry, Mommy. I'm useless. I can't bring you your milkshake anymore"

My knees gave out. I threw myself onto the dirty ground next to him, wrapping my translucent arms around his shivering body. Heavy sobs racked my chest.

"Archie, Mommy doesn't want the milkshake. Mommy just wants you to live"

But he didn't feel a thing. He pushed himself up, his back leg dragging uselessly behind him. He hobbled toward the dumpsters behind the campus buildings.

His frail paws dug through the rotting garbage as he mumbled to himself: "Mommy doesn't have any family down there. It's getting cold. She won't have any clothes to wear."

A pack of stray dogs trotted over. "Hey, Yellow, what are you digging for now?"

He lifted his head. "Guys, help me find some thick winter clothes. I need to send them to my mommy.

And my name isn't Yellow. It's Archie. My mommy gave me that name."

The other dogs erupted into mocking barks. "What a sissy name."

Archie growled softly, a flash of defensive anger in his eyes. "It's not a sissy name!"

The strays huddled together. One of them puffed out its chest. "A college kid actually fed me a whole can of wet food today. Tasted like heaven on earth."

Archie didn't even look up from the trash, letting out a dismissive snort. "Tch. It's just canned food. I used to eat that every single day."

"Yeah, right. Keep bragging, Yellow."

"My mommy loves me very much. She always gave me the best wet food, freeze-dried treats, and dental chews. She even took me snowboarding." When he talked about the past, his dull eyes sparked with a faint, beautiful light.

A sharp sting hit the back of my nose. The tears wouldn't stop, pouring down my face like acid.

I was an orphan. Archie was a stray. The winter after I graduated, I was bullied out of my first corporate job.

Wandering the freezing streets alone in the dead of winter, I found him. A tiny, shivering furball, desperately digging through a trash can for scraps.

I scooped him into my arms. A passerby had scoffed, warning me that a dog with a white-tipped tail was cursed, that it would bring nothing but bad luck to its owner. I remembered my father saying the exact same thing when I was a kid. He called me a worthless burden, claiming I was cursed from the day I was born.

But was it our fault? I carried him back to my tiny rented studio. Just one girl and her dog.

He stayed by my side through every eviction and every empty fridge. He was my anchor when I had no home to speak of.

Later, I finally got promoted. I started making real money. I upgraded him to a luxury orthopedic dog bed and spoiled him with premium imported treats.

My coworkers couldn't understand why I spent so much on a street mutt. They said throwing him table scraps was enough to keep him alive.

But he wasn't just a dog. He was my baby. Through every late-night breakdown and every suffocating panic attack, he was the one who stitched me back together.

Chapter 4

Dogs don't live as long as humans. I used to worry that when he crossed the rainbow bridge and talked to other dogs in the underworld, he'd feel left out if he hadn't tasted the things they had. But in the end, I was the one who left him behind.

Another stray barked, cutting through his bragging. "Yellow, we've all heard the rumors. The phone number on your collar? People have tried calling it. It's a dead line."

The pack erupted into a chorus of mocking howls. "Your mommy abandoned you! Your mommy doesn't want you anymore!"

Archie bared his teeth, his frail body trembling. "Shut up! My mommy didn't abandon me! She's just sleeping under the ground!"

"That means she's dead, idiot."

He barked back frantically. "She's going to wake up! Snow White woke up! Superman came back to life, and my mommy will too!"

"That's all fake stuff on TV. When humans die, they never come back." An older, scarred dog stepped forward, delivering the cold truth.

Archie's ears flattened flush against his skull. The frantic light in his eyes shattered, his pupils blowing wide as he shrank back.

Another stray tilted its head. "Humans always say a dog with a white-tipped tail is cursed. Did your curse kill your mommy?"

Archie froze. Tremors wracked his emaciated frame. "I Did I really kill Mommy with my curse?"

He shoved his snout back into the garbage, finally dragging out a torn, stained winter coat. Gripping it tightly in his jaws, he dragged his bad leg and bolted toward the cemetery.

He curled into a tight, shivering ball in front of my headstone. Large, wet droplets spilled from his cloudy eyes onto the cold dirt. "Mommy, it's getting freezing out here. You need to wear more clothes

Mommy, did my curse really kill you? I didn't want you to die Mommy, are you really never going to wake up?"

His bony spine rubbed against the hard granite of my tombstone. "Mommy, please wake up and hug me. Just once. Without you everyone bullies me"

My knees gave way. I collapsed into the dirt, gripping my chest as dry, agonizing sobs ripped through my throat. I threw my arms around his neck, desperate to hold him, but my translucent hands slipped through his fur like empty air.

I could do nothing but watch. After he cried himself dry, he pulled himself up and limped all the way back to the university's takeout drop-off rack.

A delivery driver was shouting into his phone. "Bryce? Your food is on the rack at the gate. Come grab it."

Archie hid in the shadows. He waited until the driver's taillights disappeared down the street. His head swiveled frantically, scanning the empty sidewalk.

"Bryce, you bullied that girl in class. That means I get to steal your food. Mommy, I know stealing is wrong. But I just want you to be full.

Did I turn into a bad dog? Are you going to stop loving me now?" He mumbled to himself as his teeth carefully closed around the plastic handles of the takeout bag.

But before he could even turn, a heavyset guy lunged out from behind the gate, his face flushed with rage. "You dead mutt! Stealing my food again! I'll beat you to a pulp!"

Bryce snatched a handful of heavy jagged rocks from the landscaping bed and hurled them violently at Archie's fragile body. "You piece of trash! I'm going to kill you sooner or later!"

A rock struck Archie's ribs with a sickening thud. He let out a piercing yelp. I threw myself over him, stretching my translucent arms out like a shield, but the rocks phased right through my ghostly flesh, striking him again and again.

"Archie, Mommy doesn't want the food" I screamed, my voice shredding into nothingness. "You're not a bad dog! You're Mommy's baby! You're the best boy in the whole world!"

Blood matted his yellow fur. My ghostly fingers desperately grasped at his bleeding wounds, catching nothing but air. How much did it hurt? Why?

Why were they doing this to my baby? Why couldn't they hit me instead? I would take the stones. I would take the pain a thousand times over, if only they would leave him alone.

The edges of my vision began to glitch and fade. My translucent hands dissolved into mist