soft, golden fur the color of a spring sunrise covers this femme from tail to nose, only varying to brighter shades underneath her muzzle and in random places about her chest and legs. unlike most dogs, she is very careful about her grooming, always determined to keep her pelt at its smooth and shiny best.
with legs that are medium length but thin; the gentle curve of a feminine spine; a round head with an elegant snout; a short and fluffy tail; and standing at roughly two feet tall, she is strongly built but obviously female. if you can't tell simply by looking at her, the vague lilt when she walks will certainly give away her gender. it wouldn't be wise to stare too long though. her bright emerald eyes can hold a stare when necessary, though more often she has a look of warm friendliness in these windows to the soul.
personality:friendly; naive; strong; clever; loyal
reigning from Paris, France, she every bit of the confidence one may expect from a lady of such expensive accommodations. her master was one of utmost grandiosity, and having no children nor husband nor any human of sentimental value, she spent all of her vast earnings on her pup. while one may expect this treatment to turn someone spoiled, Leala was taken for many walks and was not immune to the sights of poor dogs laying helpless and abandoned in alleys and gutters. while she could never approach these dogs with her lady around, she did wonder how they got along; and admired them for it.
while Leala enjoyed the sweet life, she did always wonder what else was out there. never a day went by when the femme didn't wonder what was outside not only the walls of her extraordinary mansion, but what lay outside of Paris; outside of France; outside of Europe! how great it would be to travel, far far away, with no one to worry and fuss over her.
but she would never call herself adventurous. confident, but modest and realistic, Leala always sensed the face of fear lying in the shadow of the unknown. as exciting as it seemed, she couldn't help knowing that there would be danger outside of the walls of her home.
once she was on her own, she quickly discovered that street-living IS difficult, but that knowledge would not stop her. she would be strong, perseverant; she would learn to be a stray, somehow. hopefully her newly discovered shyness would not stop her from hunting down a good mentor. if there was one thing she would prove to herself, it was that she could overcome drastic change.
history:simple; lacking; easygoing; changing
this particular pup of rare breed doesn't remember much of her birth mother or littermates. most of it is a jumble of warmth and movement, though towards the time when Leala first met her lady, she can recall that she had two brothers and a sister. they were always chattering, but rarely about anything of importance. sharing the same immense sense of curiosity, they would all go "exploring" at the same time; though before they could get far, mom would always come bounding over and carry them back.
she was still very young when her master came to take her away. while she had no real regrets about leaving her family, she couldn't help remembering the looks on their faces as she was carried off. it seemed they would miss her, and whenever she remembered that now, a cold feeling of nostalgia would steal over her. she would have liked to know them as they grew older.
life with her lady was eventful at first. often, she would have many visitors over at once; or, if the day had not seen any other faces, she would take Leala with her to place where there were. it seemed to the dog that her lady was popular and loved other humans. as it turned out, Leala was usually kept in a handbag of sorts, or, as she got older, on a very short leash. there wasn't much human-dog socialization there.
as months went by, however, her lady stopped seeing so many people. days would pass where Leala saw not a single unfamiliar face. she grew worried about her master, although she was loving the attention suddenly being lavished upon her. still.. there was something missing.
after a year and a half this way, she realized what it was. adventure. excitement.
adrenaline was missing from this dog's life, and while she was fiercely loyal to her lady, she couldn't help admonishing the woman in her head for not doing more exciting things, more fun things. it was driving her mad, being cooped in this house all the time -- or else walking the same route every day at the same time.
one day, as she was staring dreamily out of the glass wall that only had a view of the next large house over, she got her wish. her lady came in, said something about "traveling", and Leala was up and running. they went straight to the airport.
Leala hated planes.
but she put up with the ride without so much as a whimper of protest. she was going someplace far away, and that was what mattered to her. nevermind the means.
bien pensant, my lady!
she knew not where she arrived, but the spoken language was English. luckily her master had begun speaking things in this rough tongue and Leala knew a fair amount of which words meant what. she would always prefer her lovely French though; this foreign stuff sounded so..
rude to ears accustomed to the rolling lilt that was the French language.
for a few weeks, her lady spent most of her time furnishing their new home. it was much, much smaller than the one they had before, but Leala liked it. it smelled of new things, and new things smelled of excitement. she was going to like it here, wherever she was.
they had been settled for nearly a month when her lady did not come home one day at the time she promised. her master was never late; in fact, she seemed to hold a person's creditability in direct accord with their punctuality. this was not good.
a few hours later, men she didn't recognize came into the house. furious at their forced and unwanted entry, Leala barked and barked, even tried to bite a few times when they got too far in the house, too close to her. a sudden pin-point of pain in one of her legs though, and she lost sense of everything.
. . . she was in the arms of someone who didn't know how to properly carry a dog. with a snarl of what was mostly fear, she lunged, and was surprised but relieved to find that she had broken free. without a second look, she turned and bolted, weaving through unfamiliar surroundings, dodging people and machines, pushing herself more than she ever had. it felt great. she was free of everything that had ever tied her down.
only one question remained.
now what?
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