The dog woke up with a whistle. It perked up its ears as it raised its head, being met with the familiar sight of Ivan. Standing barely two feet from the crude doghouse, he looked down at the dog with a tired expression.

“Get up”, he said, leaning over as he let the mongrel off his leash. “We’re going for a ride.”

It wagged its shaggy tail as it barked and ran in tight circles along the driveway, with Ivan calmly walking toward the back of his truck. He pulled aside an old tarp and produced a cheap chain leash from a duffle bag, letting out another loud whistle as the dog started to stray too far.

“Here”, he said as he leaned once more, snapping the leash to the dog’s collar.

The two set off walking throughout the end of the driveway and along the dirt road toward the entrance. Ivan would let his unlikely partner lead the way at first, if nothing else to get the rhythm going, but at one point he started steering him toward the trees, yanking the chain ever so slightly.

He watched closely as the dog sniffed around the dry leaves, occasionally raising its sight toward the trees and dragging Ivan along. He wasn’t entirely sure what he was expecting to find, but he had woken up with the urge to go seek it. It was still early enough that the woods weren’t entirely soaked by the autumn sun, and the silvery gray of the sky was just about barely visible behind the ashen branches.