The tiny puppy had smashed its way out of Catherine’s yard, but Natsumi certainly wasn’t going to fit through that hole.

No, she had to ask the neighborly old lady, Asada Naoko, for the way around, and boy did that lady talk. She was still talking while Natsumi walked away. She rounded the corner and found herself staring at the mouth of the alleyway. She made her way down the slim asphalt road walking between houses.

Natsumi recognized the modern construction of Catherine’s house first and her disheveled backyard second. Dead grass poked through the ruddy fence posts. For a girl who kept her home clean, she certainly didn’t have a knack for yard work, but somehow being a dominatrix and a gardener didn’t seem to overlap in the Venn diagram of occupations.

Splinters and chunks of the smashed fence post littered the alleyway. Even after a few days, all of that junk remained and it probably spoke to how lightly trafficked the alley was.

Natsumi examined the bits of fence debris on the ground. It had been scattered everywhere and she was certain that it would not give any clues to where the dog went. Naoko was certain that it went in the opposite direction from Catherine’s house. Natsumi peered over at Naoko’s home and realized, if anything, it was the way she had come from. She traced her steps back and looked for anything that might give away the presence of a tiny dog.

In a little patch of mud, she saw the distinct paw print of the dog, not something she would have seen walking towards Catherine’s house, but now that she had an inkling of what she was looking for, it popped out against the mud. There were other paw prints and they led to a bush where she saw the prints standing parallel to it. No doubt, Natsumi thought, that the pup relieved himself. More paw prints corroborated her findings, and she continued to follow them. The mud tracked here and there as the pup wandered from one point of interest to another, taking a scenic route through the alley.

Natsumi followed the paw prints out of the alley, and based on the trajectory they were heading up the street. She followed them, scanning for anything that might give up the destination of the puppy. The dog had horns, and Natsumi saw what appeared to be scrape marks against the side of a wooden fence.

At least she was going in the right direction.

As Natsumi walked, she came upon a busier street. People were going about their day. Natsumi pressed herself to the wall and watched the people pass by. Most of the pedestrians, she imagined, were busy trying to catch a bus or subway. She was looking for a different kind of pedestrian. Someone who wasn’t in a hurry. Someone who lingered.

Someone like a salaryman stepping out of a conbini at the corner. He walked without haste, and Natsumi approached him.

“Hey,” she said.

The salaryman stopped cold in his tracks and adjusted his glasses. He glanced down and let his gaze linger on her. Natsumi cleared her throat. “You see a tiny dog around here?” Natsumi asked. She reinforced her words by using her hands to mime the size of the small animal. The salaryman glanced up at her. “Uh, with horns,” Natsumi added, hoping that it would make the animal sound more distinctive.

“A horny dog?” the man said.

Natsumi sighed. “Yep, haven’t heard that one before.” With the way his eyes wandered all around her body, the words were probably more of a self-reflection than a rhetorical question.

The stunned salaryman stumbled forward and tried to speak, but she was already on her way. She scanned the crowd looking for someone else. There were high school kids sitting together by a vending machine on their phones, and while Natsumi asked in good faith, all she got in return were flirtatious come-ons and unsolicited Line requests. Instead of teenagers, she went for adults but got the same leery eye and preposterous double-speak.

A woman stood against a wall scrolling through her phone and twirling her long locks of hair around her finger. At least Natsumi could avoid the harassment from her own gender.

“Hi there,” Natsumi said.

The woman glanced up from her phone and tipped her head over to the side. Natsumi asked her about the dog.

“Dog?” the woman said. She brushed her fingers through her locks of hair and smirked at Natsumi. She turned her gaze downward and spoke, “Why I’m lookin’ at…”

Natsumi groaned and mimed her gesture and speech. “Two puppies right now!”

“Why, how’d you know…”

Natsumi cut her off. “You’re only the tenth person to say that to me…” she said. “You’re so clever…” she mumbled.

“Well, look, I haven’t seen any dogs around here, but I can help you look for a kitty cat…”

Natsumi rolled her eyes at the woman and walked off.

Younger kids wouldn’t be so inappropriate, and they most likely would notice things that adults would overlook. Natsumi found a grade schooler walking down the street. He adjusted his baseball cap and weaved through the crowd of adults. Natsumi caught up to him and asked about the dog.

“Dogs aren’t real,” the boy said.

Natsumi sighed. “Kid…”

“Look it up, Lady! Dogs were sent here from outer space. They’re aliens observing us preparing for the day they plan to invade…”

Natsumi walked some distance away. “Ugh!” she announced to the heavens. “Just kill me!” She made a finger gun and pointed it to her right temple. She blew raspberries as she pulled the pretend trigger and shook her head from side to side.

Ahead of her were more people pouring out of the subway. “I’d rather put a drill through my head than look for this dog! There’s got to be a better way to do this!”

Asking people drained what small reservoir of energy Natsumi had for this task. Asada Naoko had already talked her ear off, and now she had to endure the catcalls and caterwauling of lunatics. Well, granted what she was looking for wasn’t exactly something that existed, and all Natsumi could really bank on was someone who was susceptible to the paranormal.

But she had to work smarter. And that involved talking to fewer idiots.

To be continued…