Mina was sitting in the coffee shop drinking coffee, eating an apple, and generally having a nice time reading the paper when a pigeon flew in through the open door. Crap, he found me again. Mina thought, sinking down in her chair and raising the paper she was reading to shield her face from view of everyone, hiding her blush.

Lionel had been following her around for days complaining about nature’s cruel tricks on him. He was a normal everyday pigeon who had decided to pester her until she did something about how he was treated. But she couldn’t do anything about it. Not in New York City. So she had been forced to hide and watch the skies for any sign of him.

The pigeon followed her scent, hopping up on the table she was sitting at, he pecked at her newspaper.

“Get out!!” She roared swinging the paper at him, causing him to fly up in the air and attack her head.

I told you to do something about this!! I got kicked again today! And a child tried to catch me step on me!! Make them stop!! The crazed bird screamed at her pecking her head, plucking at her ears, and slapping her face with his wings making her eyes water.

“I can’t! No one in New York likes pigeons! I don’t like them! Not after you!” she screamed back flailing her arms at the bird. Once she finally got free, she ran out of the coffee shop, yelling over her shoulder at the bird “Would you just leave me alone!! There’s nothing I can do!”

She ran a few steps, watching the bird over her shoulder, before running, full-force, into someone.

Paul Bleaker shifted the weight of his back and grimaced as a drop of sweat rolled down his neck. “Freaking 100 degrees today. What the hell?” He grumbled, looking down at the smallest dog in the pack, a Chihuahua named Pork who was sitting on his haunches while Butler, a Great Dane, took a crap right in the middle of the sidewalk. The little guy cocked his head at Paul and tugged on the leash a little. “Sorry dude, but you have to wait for Butler here.”

For three years, he had walked dogs to make extra money in addition to his other odd jobs. After a particular incident, he began walking the male and female dogs separately. He also walked one cat, Mac Smellbottoms. The feline had a terrible case of farts most of the time, but outside, that didn’t matter. He always felt sorry for her because she had a horrible name.

As Butler rose to his full height with a steaming pile of crap below him, he looked at Paul proudly and expectantly. “Yeah, I know my job,” he snapped, bending down with a blue plastic bag in hand to pick it up. As he bent down, the weight and momentum of someone running hit him.

“Oof!” He fell onto the sidewalk and onto Butler’s lovely work of art. “Shit,” he grumbled, lifting his hand and staring at it disgustedly. He glared at the woman who had knocked him over. “You’re lucky that I had a bag on this hand,” he said, holding it up for her to see.

Mina looked at the man she had knocked down for a second, “Sorry, did you say something?” She asked, screwing up her face, trying to ignore the many voices of the dogs that had invaded her mind.

He shook his head and rose to his feet. "It's nothing. I was just cleaning up Butler's poop... and... you made it go a lot faster." He sighed and tossed the dirtied bag into a trashcan nearby, the four dogs following closely. One of the twin chocolate labs, Cruse not Vin, decided to turn and bounce towards the woman with a lolling tongue.

"Come on boy," he said calmly as he turned back around and steadied the leash. "Looks like he has a crush on you." He winked with that comment, blue eyes gleaming.

The dogs had noticed her, so the voices got louder as they started to talk to her.
“Oh. No, no no no!” she whisped each word louder than the last.

Why can’t you make them stop!! You said you would try! This doesn’t look like trying to me!! Lionel had landed on the pavement near her, his ranting adding to the stress of all the voices. She slapped her hands against her ears, trying, in vain, to end the senseless noise in her mind.

She curled up into a ball, and pulling her hands tighter against her ears, yelled “NO! NO! Shut up!! Stop talking!! Just leave me alone!!” It was like trying to shut out the sound of a cafeteria filled with people that wouldn’t and couldn’t stop talking.

Paul backed away a little, dragging the whimpering, over-excited dogs with him. "I didn't mean anything by that," he insisted, one brow rising in an arc.

One voice cut through the others for a second, seeming to be louder than the rest. Mina’s head snapped up, she looked at him for a second, through the long platinum blonde hair that had fallen in her face. “What? Say that again.” Her orange eyes widened in amazement, she stood up and grabbed his arm, on the verge of dancing. “You’re louder! I acctually heard you!!” she said astonished.

Unsure of how to react, Paul gently removed her hand. "I'm sorry? Did I speak too quietly before?" He squinted at her. Maybe she was partially deaf. Maybe she had thought he said something else before.

Pork hopped at the woman's leg, yipping excitedly as if to say hello. He tugged at the leash and the Chihuahua calmed himself, stepping back to sit on his haunches with a huff. Butler licked the little dog with a big, wet tongue. The two labs wrestled with each other. This was exactly why Paul hated stopping for too long.

“No, that’s not it. I might sound crazy to you, but I can hear animals talk. Normally talking to people is like trying to hear one quiet thing in a room full of loud obnoxious monkeys banging pans together, but your voice, oddly, cuts through the noise so I can hear you. But before you panic, I can prove it.” She pointed to the Chihuahua, “That’s Pork.“ The Great Dane, “That’s Butler.” The two chocolate labs, “Cruse and Vin. and they all know a cat named Mac Smellbottoms.”

Mina turned back to him and blushed. “I’m sorry.” She said not looking at his face.

He scratched his head with his free hand. "So you know a few names," he said thoughtfully. "That doesn't prove... well, actually... it is kind of weird. Especially since you know Mac Smellbottoms." With a sigh, he admitted, "Okay, so you can hear animals." Pork looked up at him and yipped, causing Butler to bark. The pups kept wrestling.

“Of course I can, but that’s not the point. My name is Mina. What’s yours?” She held her hand out for him to shake, wrinkling her nose in concentration, still trying to ignore the voiced of the animals around her.

Strange, most people wouldn't introduce themselves immediately like this. Slowly, he shook her hand. “I’m Paul,” he said stiffly. “Nice to meet you…” His words trailed off. It was very strange to him. The whole situation.

Cruse rolled onto his foot and Vin followed, barking happily. He shuffled a step back and stared the leashes that were quickly becoming tangled. One more reason not to stop for strangers, he thought to himself but kept a friendly smile somehow.

Mina leaned down to the dogs and told them to be quite, and be still, the people were talking, that she needed to hear what their paerson was saying. Then turned around to the pigeon and screamed at him "Loionel! Shut up! If I could help you I would have by now, and now that you’ve pestered me so much I most certainly won’t if I ever find a way to do so!!”starting to cry at his abusing words he'd been screaming the whole time.

You dare?! Why you! Such impudence. I’m going to teach you! Lionle flew up from the pavement and went to attack Mina but missed when she dodged him, which sent him heading for Paul.

Oh dear god, she's talking to the pigeon. Yelling more like. He shook his head a little, his eyes wide. Suddenly, Butler jumped up and knocked him to the ground. "Butler!" He gasped, trying to push the dog up. A terrible squawking came next as Pork jumped at the pigeon and snatched him from the air. The Chihuahua pressed down on the bird’s neck with his paw and growled.

Paul finally pushed the Great Dane off of him and stood, his brow wrinkled with anger. “Why did you jump on me?” He asked, more to release anger than to get an answer.

Pork snapped the pigeon’s neck finally and then looked to Mina. “Could you please tell him our reasoning miss?” He asked politely.

“He was keeping the pigeon from attacking you. It was a crazy and truly horrible bird.” Mina told him feeling bad for being so relieved at the death of a living thing.

Mina knelt down and petted Pork, whispering to him “Thank you, Pork, I hated Lionel so much. He wouldn’t leave me alone.”

“That pigeon was evil.” She told Paul, smiling at him.

She frowned momentarily, hearing a tree complain about the cat stuck in it and the cat complaining about the tree it was stuck in. She turned around, noted which tree it was so she could come back later, and turned back to Paul.

“This must be new to you, huh?” She knew it was a stupid question but she didn’t want to stop talking to him, since she could talk to him without losing the whole conversation.

Paul stared at the dead bird and then at Pork. Of course it would be the Chihuahua that killed the stupid bird. He was the smart one, the tough one. The rest of the boys were silly dogs that loved to be loved. A pat on the head and a little attention was all they needed. Pork, however, had a brain.

He nodded slightly. "I once met someone who talked to his car, but... this is new. Yeah." He cleared his throat. "If you don't mind, it would be helpful if we walked. These guys get antsy fater a while." He fumbled with the leashes as he spoke, trying to untangle them.

“That’s fine.” Mina was getting tired of standing in one place anyway. Pigeons were starting to gather, begging for food and people were staring.

Mina took a few steps forward and, trying to make conversation, asked “So, where’s Mac Smellbottoms?”

The dogs happily continued their morning walk, prancing as if they owned the world. "Mac Smellbottoms is next, actually. He lives with Pork," he said, nodding towards the Chihuahua. "She's a really neat old cat. Well, she's not old, actually. That was just an expression." He had no idea why he explained that.

"Those pigeons won't follow us, will they?" He glanced over his shoulder.

“No, they won’t, they just think it’s time for them t eat. Um, and I’m different, not alien, just so you know.” Mina laughed, petting Butler, as they walked.

“So, can I keep you company today?” She had other things she could do, if he didn’t want her sticking around.

"I assure you my mind didn't jump to alien," Paul replied with a short laugh. "And I suppose you can tag along." He glanced at his watch. "After the boys, I walk Mac Smellbottoms. Then, I'm done." He shrugged at that.

"So... tell me about yourself. What's with the animal thing?"

“Well, you’re going to think I’m crazy but I can call my twin to prove it. My mother was an Angel and my father was a Demon. Lina and I can both hear animals and nature, but she takes after Mom and is all angelic looking during the day, and I take after my father, looking demonic at night. I’ll call my sister if you want me to.”

"You're right," he said without looking at her. "I do kind of think you're crazy. Wouldn't you keep it a big secret or something if that was true? That's just not something you go around telling people." At least, he didn't think it was.

“Nope. It’s not that big of a secret, angels and demons like their privacy, but not that bad. The only reason you haven’t heard of them is most people who try to tell anyone get put in Asylums as loonies.“ Mina smiled widely, staring at the sky, thinking of her childhood friend, Gerarald, who had had it happen to him. She giggled, “Gerarld had it happen to him.”

Paul shook his head. "Wow. I'm sorry." He couldn't imagine why they would be put into mad houses. "Oh, hang on a second."

He stopped at the stairs to a blue door and walked up to it, pulling out the house key as he did. "I need to drop off the twins," he said, nodding towards the pups. He was back out shortly and locking the door.

“Why be sorry, all I had to do was show them what I looked like at night and what Lina looked like during the day and they let him go.” Mina said with a laugh.

She waited for Paul to return, and when he did she pointed to a woman across the road. “That woman is a demon. She’ll look really gross and scary tonight.”