Over the course of the few days he’d been there, Nicolae’s anxiety about his situation hadn’t abated. Logically, he knew his feelings weren’t unique to himself. Other people had been there longer, but that train of thought didn’t help and maybe made things worse. His life had been sheltered. His grandparents escaped the horrors of war. His parents escaped the horror of a dictator. In an attempt to ensure their son never experienced any of awful things they did, his family spoiled him immensely. A lot of good all that charmed upbringing did for him now.
The laughable thing was the worst thing that happened in his short years up to that point was failing an important test in a critical class. If only he could wave this away like that professor did. He could write an essay for the present situation like he did that one.
A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mr. Nicolae Dobre
They could bring back the captivity narrative. There would be Showtime specials, an entire series on HLN, and nonstop commentary on all the major news networks.
Nicolae knew he was spiraling and would go insane if he let himself continue living an existence akin to that of a cryptid, only ghosting around the house to grab food from the kitchen. Christmas day snapped him out of it a bit. He was genuinely surprised by the kindness of the other occupants. They didn’t even know him and still included him. The vibrator and the porn confused him, admittedly, but everything else was very thoughtful.
The morning after Christmas, Nicolae went to the computer to see what the blinking message was about. After filling out the questionnaire, he looked nervously at the bathroom. Something in there pattered across the floor and let out a rather loud bark. Confused, he opened the bathroom door and looked down to see a stubby-legged corgi puppy wiggling at him in greeting. Nicolae smiled despite himself and knelt down to pat the little -- he did a quick check -- girl on the head. Her ears seemed giant on her tiny body. With a little difficulty, he moved around the bathroom to see if there was anything else in there. The puppy nipped at his heels, trying to herd him.
“Hey, guess you need some food, huh?” he asked and realized it was the first he’d spoken aloud in a while. God, he really was going nuts. The puppy was running zig zags sniffing things around the room. Occasionally, she came back to him, tongue lolling. On one trip back, she barked. For such a small thing, she had a really loud bark. “Okay, okay. I’ll go find some food for you just… stay…”
With some effort, Nicolae managed to corral the pup back into the bathroom. Ha! Herding the herder. Closing the bathroom door behind him, he tried to ignore the piteous whine that emitted through the door. Even though he’d only just met her, the little corgi had already endeared herself to him.
“I’ll be quick!” he promised, then exited the room.
Unlike his usual excursions out, Nicolae doubled down the stairs to the second floor, hand gripping the railing as he swung himself around. It was the first time since he arrived that he actually felt something other than despair. He landed in the foyer, sliding a bit in socked feet, before turning toward the kitchen. The cold floor made him regret not putting shoes on, but he was too far into the venture to turn back.
Once in the kitchen, he started looking through the numerous cupboards for puppy food. He also needed bowls… and maybe a collar and leash? Definitely needed toys. Nicolae stopped his search and crossed his arms, putting a hand to his chin in thought. There was a lot more to this than he originally thought… He never had a pet mammal before and while he knew vaguely how to care for a dog, he didn’t have any practical experience in the matter. He resumed his search and the next cupboard he checked held a vast amount of puppy food. Jackpot!