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Galo woke not to his alarm clock, but to a loud squalling. It momentarily confused him. That wasn’t the fire alarm, was it?
Then Galo rolled over and saw the cage sitting on the table next to the window.
“Oh, that’s right,” he groaned.
The cat-sized pink dragon in the cage was making its displeasure known. Its neck was stretched out, mouth wide open.
Galo scrambled out of bed, panicked. He pulled the cage’s door open and reached inside to grab the little dragon. It stopped squalling immediately and its forked tail wrapped around Galo’s arm as he lifted it to his chest. The dragon made happy cooing noises as Galo laughed.
“I guess I don’t need an alarm clock now.” He set the dragon on his shoulder. It wound its tail around his neck as Galo headed into the kitchen to fix himself some breakfast.
“You brought it to work, Galo?”
The dragon snapped at Remi’s glasses as Remi peered at it curiously.
“Yeah. I thought it might be lonely at home,” Galo explained.
“You don’t know if it’s a boy or girl?” Aina inquired.
“The pet store didn’t know either. Apparently dragons are unusual,” Galo said. “This one had no chip. They think it came from the black market.”
“Aw, poor baby.”
The dragon jumped from Galo’s shoulder to Aina’s, claws digging into her shirt.
“Hey!” Aina protested, but the dragon settled quickly, making the same cooing noise it had made with Galo that morning. Galo figured that meant it was happy.
It certainly looked much happier today than it had looked when Galo had seen it in the pet store’s window. It had been curled up on a cushion, an aura of depression lingering around it. Galo had felt sorry for the creature and bought it. It had cost him a month’s worth of wages, but Galo was starting to think it was worth it.
The dragon, which Galo eventually named Spark, soon became the fire station’s unofficial mascot, sharing the role with Vinny the rat. Spark was, for the most part, a happy companion, but sometimes Galo would find it staring out a window, or curled up in a dark corner, looking just as depressed as it had on the day Galo had purchased it. Galo had no idea what to do about it, but through his research on the internet, he discovered that it was relatively normal behaviour for these pets, and he shouldn’t be concerned about it.
Galo and Spark settled into a comfortable routine. Spark was good company, clean and well-behaved. But, three months after Spark had come to live with Galo, Spark disappeared.
Galo panicked.
“I can’t find it anywhere!” he told Aina as he upended his laundry basket onto the bed. Obviously, Spark wasn’t there. If that had been a possibility, Galo wouldn’t have handled the basket so roughly, but Galo was desperate. He’d looked everywhere, and Spark was gone.
Aina’s voice came through his phone, sounding rushed. “I’m sure it’ll turn up, Galo. Don’t worry. Maybe it went to the fire station?”
“Yeah. Can you check for me?” Galo asked.
“Sure. I’m on my way there now. We’ll find it, don’t worry.”
Aina hung up. Galo decided to go for a walk. It was possible that Spark had decided that jumping from the top of Galo’s wardrobe wasn’t adequate flight practice and had gone out to the neighbourhood to properly spread its wings.
Galo discovered, to his immense relief, that Spark hadn’t gone far. Spark was curled up comfortably in the arms of a young person who was sitting against the wall in the alley beside Galo’s building. Spark lifted its snout at Galo’s approach, though it didn’t move from the stranger’s arms.
“Excuse me?” Galo asked. He kept at a wary distance, since he didn’t know who this person was.
The person lifted their face to Galo, and Galo’s eyes widened. Their eyes were the exact same pink shade as Spark’s.
The stranger stood, posture defensive as they held Spark close to their chest. They wore a red hoodie and baggy jeans, both items looking too big for them. Their hair was blond, with just a hint of mint if they tilted their head just right to catch the thin beam of sunlight, which they were doing right now.
“That’s my dragon,” Galo said, gesturing to Spark.
The stranger’s lip curled in response, though they didn’t say anything. Instead, they just clutched Spark tighter.
Galo took a careful step forward. “Look, I just want to take it home,” he said.
Spark extended its neck to sniff at Galo’s outstretched hand. It bumped its snout against his hand before nuzzling it. The stranger watched, wariness slowly evolving into confusion.
Galo looked the stranger over again, noting how skinny they were. Probably a street kid. They didn’t look like they were doing drugs though. Their eyes were alert, though they were cushioned by dark circles that indicated they probably hadn’t been sleeping well lately.
Spark chirped at Galo before cuddling back into the stranger.
Well, this person couldn’t be all that bad if Spark was acting so affectionate toward them, Galo decided.
“Look, do you want to come up to my apartment? It’s a bit chilly out here, isn’t it?”
Galo had a warm coat, but the stranger’s hoodie looked pretty thin and ratty. Galo doubted it was enough to keep them warm.
“I’m not some creep or anything, I promise,” Galo insisted. “You just look like you need a good meal. And Spark likes you, so…” Galo trailed off, hopeful. If the stranger agreed, then at least he’d be getting Spark home.
After several seconds of stroking Spark’s scales, the stranger nodded. Galo led them up to his apartment.
Galo learned that the stranger was male, and his name was Lio. Unfortunately, Galo couldn’t get much more than that out of him. He and Spark appeared inseparable, with Spark only leaving Lio for brief cuddles and play with Galo.
Galo found it unsettling to see Lio and Spark both staring at him as he put a call through to Aina explaining the situation. How could a human have pink eyes—dragon eyes?
“Hold on. Lucia wants to talk to you.” Aina transferred her phone to Lucia, who immediately started in with the questions.
What did the guy look like? How was Spark acting? Had the guy told Galo anything? Galo quickly became frustrated.
“I don’t see why any of this matters. I should just call the police and let them figure out who he is.”
“No! Don’t do that!” Lucia’s demand was so vehement that it shocked Galo.
“Uh, okay?” he said uncertainly.
“I’ll come over.” Lucia hung up.
She arrived about twenty minutes later, Vinny on her shoulder. Lio was working his way through his third bowl of cereal and Galo was starting to wonder if he needed to go shopping. He hadn’t planned on feeding a starving boy.
“That’s him?” Lucia inquired, studying Lio thoughtfully.
“That’s him,” Galo confirmed.
Spark was sitting on Lio’s shoulder, rubbing its head in Lio’s fluffy hair.
Lucia grabbed Galo’s hand and dragged him into the bedroom.
“You can’t call the police,” she said. “He’s a fugitive. Kind of.”
“What?” Galo demanded. Spark was cosying up to a criminal?
Lucia paced, frowning. “He hasn’t done anything wrong exactly, but he shouldn’t be here. Any more than Spark should.”
“Lucia, what’s going on?” Galo asked, feeling thoroughly confused.
Lucia leaned against the door and stroked Vinny with one finger. “Haven’t you ever wondered where they come from? The animals that are too smart to be normal animals? The dragons and phoenixes and other creatures?”
Galo shrugged. “I’ve never really thought about it,” he said.
“Of course not,” Lucia muttered before continuing. “They come from another dimension.”
Galo laughed. “That’s crazy,” he said.
“No, it’s not. Spark comes from another dimension, and so does Lio. I don’t know how he got here, but…” Lucia started to pace again. “What you think of as a pet is actually a part of someone’s soul. In this case, Spark is part of Lio’s soul. I haven’t been able to figure it all out yet, but I think that someone either from our dimension or theirs is stealing these souls and selling them in our dimension.”
“Spark was stolen? From Lio?” Galo was having a lot of trouble wrapping his mind around that. It fit, though. The way Spark was sticking to Lio like glue, and the way that Lio was keeping it close and watching Galo like he was a convicted thief in a jewellery store. It was a wonder that Galo had managed to convince Lio to come to his apartment at all. Maybe Spark had something to do with that?
“Yes. Spark is a part of Lio’s soul, and being separated from it was probably agony for Lio. He must have found a way to cross over to our dimension so he could find Spark.”
“Shit. I guess I’ll have to let Spark go.” Galo felt miserable, but it was the right thing to do. If Spark was a part of Lio, then it belonged with Lio. Galo would never force them apart.
“Maybe not,” Lucia mused. “All of my research indicates that the trip from their dimension to ours is one-way. Lio can’t go home, Galo. He looks like he’s been sleeping rough, so he probably doesn’t have anywhere to stay right now either.”
Galo brightened. “Do you think he’d stay here?”” he asked.
Lucia shrugged. “How would I know? Go ask him.”
Galo ventured back out to Lio, who was standing in front of the television, flipping through channels. His head was cocked to the side as he studied the screen. Spark was sitting atop his head like a crown.
“Hey, Lio?”
Lio turned, posture stiffening. His expression was not exactly encouraging.
Galo boldly pushed ahead anyway. “If you don’t have anywhere to go, you could stay here.”
Spark chirped and jumped from Lio’s head. Galo caught it, a smile forming reflexively on his face. Spark’s tail whipped around Galo’s neck.
Lio stared, his expression too complex for Galo to pin it down. Was he confused? Bothered? Betrayed? Finally, Lio’s face settled into a wary uncertainty. He nodded.
Galo grinned broadly. “Okay. I’ll fix up a bed for you on the sofa until we can arrange something else. This’ll be great!”
Lio turned back to the television screen, though doubt radiated off him like smoke from a fire.
Spark cooed happily, as if it had understood everything that had been said, and very much approved of the arrangement.
Well, at least one portion of Lio’s soul was on board. Galo hoped the rest of his soul would agree soon as well.